Preferring to read a book if I was really interested in a story, I'm not particularly entertained by watching movies — every time I step into the theaters willingly, it's always for a Taiwan movie. I can't explain my attraction to them, but everyone knows I'm pretty damn passionate about my Taiwan movies. I've been counting down to the days At Cafe 6 (六弄咖啡馆) hit the shores of our sunny island, announcing daily in the office that I'm one day closer to catching the movie.


Before my movie, I did a quick google search and every Singaporean blogger who reviewed the movie raved about it so naturally, I was thrilled. Expectation breeds disappointment and I'll start by saying the movie fell flat of my expectations.

Yes, I wept. Not once, not twice, but I wailed for a grand total of FIVE times throughout the movie, yet I'd say that I was disappointed by the movie. A self-proclaimed Taiwan movie addict, let me explain why I walked out of the theater feeling upset by the outcome of the movie.

(Warning: lots of spoilers ahead)

Growing up, my mom constantly nagged at me, “世界上没有丑女人，只有懒女人。” (Translation: There's no ugly women in this world, only lazy ones.") And you know they say about mothers know best. Unfortunately, cursed with the lazy genes, I never found myself sticking to skincare routines my mom or any beautician created for me.

It got even worse when I stepped into the work force — challenged by the lack of time, I found it even harder to wake up earlier every morning to apply make up before leaving for work. Even worse, I couldn't imagine myself going through the trouble of removing my make up then slapping on a thousand and one products when all I want to do is collapse on my bed.

To top everything off, I have to frequently travel to various drugstores hunting for different products and they, annoyingly, get used up at different rates, which means I have to travel several times just to get different products.

As everyone says, lazy people find the easiest method to complete a hard job. In a bid to maximise the time I have for sleeping and nua-ing around, these are three of my personal favourite tips I learnt after almost a year of working in an office.

1. Need more sleep? No problem!

On slothful days, on days you woke up late, bad hair days, when you spent too much time on your make up because your game is damn weak — you just need one bottle of dry shampoo to solve all your problems. It's not hard to see why this is my holy grail ;)

A few seconds and one spray is all it takes for you to freshen up and step out of your house feeling like a goddess, but remember to only use it between washes to give your scalp some time to breathe!

2. Make up removal, cleanser, facial wash... Where got time?

The process of removing make up is the main reason I hate dolling up! Instead of standing in front of my mirror, removing layers of make up step by step, I just want to crash after a long day, which is why when my mom introduced foam cleansers to me, it changed my entire life. Imagine removing make up and cleansing your face at the same time — probably the second miracle after Jesus' resurrection.

3. Skip the queues


In this age of technology, is there anyone who hasn't shopped online? Because I absolutely loath jostling through the crowds during GSS to I get my beauty products at a cheaper price, this tip is my favourite of the lot. Browsing through beauty products in your ugly clothes might seem like the world's largest irony but trust me, nothing feels more satisfying than shopping at the comfort of your home.

You can window-shop without getting judged by salespersons, have all the time in the world to research about different products, and most importantly, it's easy for you to compare prices. Then again, if you're a lazy person like me, you'll probably find it more convenient to get all your items in one place.

(Products were lined with ample bubble wrap that were removed by me for photo taking purposes.)

Fortunately, bringing you the BEST PRICE is one of Althea's three guarantees, with the other two being 100% AUTHENTIC and FREE SHIPPING. A platform to solve all my beauty woes, I was beyond thrilled when Althea approached me a year ago. Today marks the first day of their birthday celebrations and YOU'RE INVITED!


For this joyous occasion, Althea prepared four surprises for you lucky readers ;)

1. Limited Edition Birthday Box + DIY Party Kit



It's the one I have and you can get one for yourself too. Keep your birthday kit because there's prizes totaling up to KRW10, 000, 000 (approx. SGD $11, 855) to be won! Available from today on, while stocks last.

2. Free Goodies for first 1,500 shoppers


Did somebody say FREE?! Yes, Althea is giving away full size beauty products to the fastest fingers. Hurry along now, the magical code is ALTHEATURNS1!

3. 100% rebate!


Rebate will be credited into your account when you purchase from their rebate collection (made up of Althea's top sellers so you can be sure that they aren't making you purchase something you won't need!)

4. #AltheaTurns1 Instagram Contest


Remember your Althea party kit? Give Althea a birthday shout out with #altheaturns1 and stand a chance to win Macbook Air, Ipad Air 2, iPhone 6S, Galaxy S6 Edge, Canon EOS M10 Selfie Camera, Althea credits and beauty hampers from Althea! Contest starts from today (20th July) to 15th August, 2016.

Dreamworld was on the itinerary on my second day in Gold Coast, mainly due to its BIG9 THRILL RIDES — some of the most exhilarating and thrilling rides in the whole of Australia. As an avid thrill seeker and roller coaster lover, of course I have to experience the rides first hand! I was really excited for this day because visiting Dreamworld was... ahem, a dream come true for me.

As usual, we bought our Dreamworld tickets online beforehand to save us the queue and even some $$$ aka more money to spend on SHOPPING!




Taking a touristy shot donned in the romper I bought specially for this travel. No ragrets about getting our Dreamworld tickets online again because it was a whole lot more convenient. Can you imagine queuing for tickets IN THAT AUSTRALIAN SUMMER HEAT? No thank you wtf I would very much rather just buy everything online than to melt while queueing.


Did you know that Dreamworld is Australia's largest theme park? It certainly lived up to its name as I couldn't even finish going on all the Big 9 thrill rides! Certainly one of life's biggest regrets but no worries, I'm sure I can return if I want to hehe.

Singaporean Chinese usually share one thing in common — we hate Chinese with a burning passion. Other than being one of the hardest languages in the world to master, the minimal hours per week given to Chinese lessons weren't enough to pique our interest. Besides, we assumed we'll never use the language again after graduation, leaving us to deem Chinese lessons as useless and using them as napping sessions.

At least, that was the case for me.

Scoring a B3 for my Chinese O Levels, I was more than satisfied with myself and swore to my Chinese teachers that if my future company wants to deal with Chinese-speaking clients, I'd rather lose the client. Ahhh, the naivety of a obstinate, rebellious teenager — as if I had a choice, and I probably didn't know how big of a market Chinese speakers are.


It worked out perfectly for a moment as I managed to steer clear of the language I was horrible at for three years while pursuing a diploma in Mass Communication. Upon graduation, I landed my first full time job......

In a Taiwanese company. 

Emails, texts and paperwork were sent in Traditional Chinese. It was an irony for the girl who couldn't even read a sentence of Simplified Chinese back in school. Before long, I was sent on my first work trip to Taiwan, where I felt handicapped with the language barrier and struggled with basic normality like ordering food.

Sent this photo to ask my colleagues what was on the menu

Despite being a chatterbox back in Singapore, I felt so self-conscious of my sub-par Chinese that I kept my mouth shut half the time I was there initially. I was so quiet, there was once I spoke up after a couple of drinks and my colleague exclaimed, “大家安静！新加坡人终于出声了！” (Translation: Everyone keep quiet, the Singaporean has spoken!)

As time passed, together with a few bottles of Taiwanese beers to speed up the process, I got to know everyone better and could finally participate in group chats. That was when I realised ordering food and reading news should have been the last oif my concerns. Those were the easy parts of living in Taiwan — texting, however, was another ball game itself.

Singaporeans have Singlish that no foreigner seem to comprehend. Likewise, Taiwanese have their own slangs that took me quite some time to decipher. The thing about colloquialisms is that they cannot be translated even with the help of Google Translate and a lot of times, Google doesn't give you the accurate results you're looking for either unless you spend time trawling through forums (which I did, in desperation — never thought the day I need someone to teach me how to text would come).

In the name of fun, and maybe this will help someone who's relocating to Taiwan, here are 15 text lingo I came to understand from scrutinising the texts between my colleagues.