The music I played today while working around the house. I didn’t know what to play and was scrolling thru the lists of albums in my Spotify when AKB48 songs blasted out from Che-che’s phone. ๅฅฝๅง I shall listen to my Japanese songs then. Moving to the music just makes housework less mundane.
Have I mentioned about Hikaru Utada before? Her song, First Love, was a tune I loved. When I was watching those Inside Flow yoga moves (I really want to go for the class) and they kept playing this song. I didn’t know the title until one day che-che played it on her phone. I was doing something in the house and shouted excitedly to ask her for the music title. Only then did I know it’s from a movie. I watched it, I cried and wonder why no happy ending for the two people. Sigh…
Anyway, I only listen to the songs and not that crazy over the artistes.
Changed to this album.
Aoi Teshima has some really nice songs. This is one of my fav
When I’m working, the phone is away from me so I don’t check what song is being played. The album plays the music randomly and somehow I must have been paying attention to the words when this song came along.
Ok, some words like maybe only 5% I catch some words I understand. I don’t know why but I suddenly thought of my Japanese girlfriend. It’s like this song suddenly is reaching out to me and giving me a message. I went back to the phone and screenshot the singer and song title
Since I have my phone I sent her a message just like that, out of the blue. I dunno why prompted me to do so but … I think the words hit me or maybe not ๐คฃ since I only picked out 5% or maybe 1% of the words
So out of curiosity after I had finished my work, I had to find the lyrics of the song. AI summary was given as :
"Himawari no Yakusoku" (Promise of Sunflower) by Motohiro Hata is a poignant ballad that focuses on finding joy, warmth, and hope through deep, unwavering, and sometimes bittersweet, human connection
. Released in 2014 as the theme for Stand by Me Doraemon, the song uses the imagery of a sunflower—representing loyalty, longevity, and honest warmth—to illustrate the comfort of having someone special by your side.
Key themes regarding joy and warmth in the song include:
Warmth in Everyday Moments: The lyrics emphasize that seemingly ordinary or "useless" days become treasures when shared with someone special.
Warmth as Comfort: The song likens the love and kindness of a partner to the "upright gentleness" and "warmth" of a sunflower.
Finding Joy After Sadness: It explores the transition from loneliness to finding true happiness, with the singer expressing a desire to return the warmth and support they received.
Hopeful Future: Despite themes of potential separation and, the song promises that even if paths diverge, the memories and connection will remain, providing comfort and a "bright future".
The song's gentle, nostalgic melody, often featuring acoustic guitar, is specifically designed to evoke feelings of comfort and emotional depth, similar to a "warm hug".
So did I get the correct interpretation of the song to suddenly send her a message? Did I understand 5% or 1% or none at all?
I miss Mio, I haven’t seen her since July 2024. Che-Che and lil’ one met up with her last year during their siblings trip. I should make my pilgrimage this year. A friendship which I truly cherish even though we’re miles apart.
Unknowingly almost 3hrs with the headset on and off my ears, ears still feel hot. Needed to clean my headphone. and feeling
So in love with my new headset. Need a break coz putting pressure on my not so big solitaire.
Was looking for headphones to use when I’m doing housework, ideally is to use the speaker at home to amplify but it isn’t possible most times now. I’m still happy with my AirPods Pro but recently my ears starts to itch when I use them. Has nothing to do with dirty earpiece coz I do clean them regularly. Anyway, also feel a headphone will suit me coz so many times while prepping ingredients, handwashing floor mats or cleaning I’m so worried if my earpiece will drop into the water ๐คฃ.
Then I began my search for suitable good quality headphone. I’m no audiophile, just needed one that can do its job BUT with noise cancelling coz I want to be fully immersed in my world. I could have settled for a cheap $50 or $100 headphone It was a comparison between Apple, Bose and Sony. I settled for Sony’s XM6 coz it’s the lightest amongst all and can play longer than Apple. Apple is the heaviest headphone and surely I do not want a heavyweight on my head when I’m working around the house.
Price comparison
Need to compare around since I’m not earning $$. I could have just settled for budget headphone however it will be a long term investment for me for the next 3 years or more so might as well get one that I put my heart into research. (Disclaimer : I may not be a good researcher)
Compared prices in Best Denki/Challenger : KrisShop : online. I want to find a place where I can either use my mall vouchers for discount or earn miles (it’s 3 Krispay miles for every $2 spent in KrisShop). When I had a eureka moment - ask che-che to check in Bic Camera or Yodabashi since she’s currently in Japan. SONY = JAPAN so price should be cheaper + tax-free means more discount.
(1) Best Denki / Challenger states original price $649 (true or not?) but selling at $519. I have $15 Lendlease voucher. Final sum $504
(2) KrisShop states original price at $595.41 but selling at $476.15. I will get 714 Krispay miles which basically means I can offset $7.14 from any merchants that accepts Kris+ or 714 goes into my Krisflyer miles. Not that it will increase my chances to get back into Elite Silver or jump to Gold so the little miles I’ll keep in Kris+ to offset $$.
(3) It’s ¥59400 in EdiOn. Without tax is ¥54000 according to her, strange that it’s less than 10% (or did my daughter try to earn extra ¥ from me? ๐คญ). That sum equates to S$438.59. Transferred her $440. Saved $36.15 for the same product why not?
As she went to work the same day she returned, she only unpacked her luggage the next day. And … I opened up my new headphone the next day ๐คฃ. Tested it. I LOVE IT! I tried the Cinema listening mode and what better music to test other than the orchestral piece Merry Go Round of Life.
You can take a Singaporean out of Singapore but you can’t remove that Singaporean in you. I MISSED HOME FOOD!!!
Only 3rd day into the trip and I was craving for laksa, mee siam and chwee kueh. Lil’ one craved for Uncle’s wanton on the 6th day ๐. Another thing I wanted was tong shui ็ณๆฐด, I wanted cheng tng.
On 27th we had our lunch in the food centre. I wanted to eat everything! Bak chor mee, wanton mee, chicken shredded noodles, lor mee, mee rebus, mee Soto, mee siam. Jialat! How to choose? I don’t know why I had kueh chap instead when it was not what I wanted, maybe coz there’s no queue at all? It’s the chilli that I miss.
Hubby also must have craved for ็ณๆฐด. Asked if I wanted, I showed him the widest smile. Of course I wanted my cheng tng
Packed 20 sticks of otah from Lee Wee Bros for snacks. And packed my economical fried bee hoon for dinner.
Few days later, I kindda still desired for longan based dessert again. So today (1st) got my action going and …..
I can safely say Capcut editing tools is so so much better and has more features compared to Vivavideo. I subscribed to Vivavideo but don’t understand why I still can’t access to some extras. Anyway, I will not renew once my subscription ends in April.
I like Capcut better but I hate the way I have to select the items manually into the edit album. For a better explanation, I usually put all pics and videos into one album in my phone and from there I’ll pull out the items into the editing app. In Vivavideo, the moment I open my phone album all pics and videos are in there, so I just click them all in order. BUT in Capcut, they separate the pics in one sub album and videos in another. Thus I have to go back to my actual phone album and memorise the sequence “P,P,V,V,V,P etc…” it’s a tiring process coz I need to go to and fro my phone album, go back to app, select, go back to phone album.
Comparison between Vivavideo and Capcut
V subscription price yet so lousy, tried certain ‘diamond labelled ’ features but kept prompting me that I needed to have membership.
Oops! I missed to end my cheap subscription before 26th Jan. Alamak! I must have set the wrong date alert to myself in Jan. Argh! It was a promo price of more than 50% discount. Now I’m paying extra one month to Feb. Must set a reminder to self to end subscription on 24th Feb.
Checked their subscription plan. Wah! Why do they have so many different prices?
Their yearly plan has a huge difference between the cheapest and the most expensive. No way am I going to spend more than $50/year. How often do I do all these collage anyway? I mainly need it for my holiday family video which goes as long as 40+ mins to an hour.
*** edit : I found the screenshots taken on 27/12/25 12.50am where I took up to subscribe for a month
I want to quickly finish all the family videos but it’s taking me a very long time to finish.
I can probably finish the family videos only …
if the moment I wake up, I’ll continue lying on the bed or sofa without doing any houseworks. Without the need to cook (I mean I don’t cook daily in the first place), without leaving the house, be fed and leave the washing up to the family and continue doing the videos until I sleep. I might be able to finish one day of family video in a day.
Drumroll ..
and Click HERE to view my Shirakawa-go’s collage. Hmm…haven’t been able to embed YouTube videos in here like I used to.
Rushing to make a few more aesthetic looking Instagrammable quality video collage with the CapCut app as it’s nearing the end of my “special price 1 month subscription”. Decided to make the highlights of the new places I went in June.
I miss Gujo Hachiman!!! I think I blogged about this last year how I love this place. I’m so tempted to go back again this year, maybe bring a mat and sit down by the river to listen to the rushing water ๐คฃ.
Here I am again at 2.38am (26th) in Terminal 1 when I barely touched down 20hrs ago in T2 from our long trip.
She’ll have 1 day or maybe 2 days of work before she flies off for her next trip. Cabin crew lifestyle ๐คฃ.
My day after touching down
As usual, hubby and I will need to clean the house.
Mopped the floor twice, pulled out the bedsheets and Che-che’s towel for wash, washed outside toilet, can’t possibly clean every part of the house but I cleaned the important areas first. Ahh… my Thermomix simmering basket wasn’t cleaned properly so did one round of wash. Wanted to unpack but was so tired. Slept at close to 12 for 5 hours.
Woke up, cleared the luggage and left some items inside coz I didn’t want to re-take items from my room to put into luggage again a month later. But lil’ one and my sweaters and thermal have to be hand washed, so I left them aside in a bag where I will take them out bit by bit to wash.
Woke up to a weird dream. Feeling so fucking stressed the past few days. Damn pissed. Why? Thought we can go and enjoy the holiday properly but …
“dreamt drop handphone in drain meaning”
Dropping a handphone in a drain in a dream often symbolizes a
loss of communication, connection, or a feeling of being overwhelmed by emotions or life situations. The specific context of a "drain" adds an element of something being lost to something dirty, hidden, or irretrievable.
Here are some possible interpretations:
Loss of Connection: Phones represent communication and relationships. Dropping it may indicate a disruption in an important personal or professional connection, a potential breakup, or a feeling of being unable to reach someone important.
Emotional Turmoil: Water often symbolizes emotions, intuition, or the subconscious. Dropping your phone into it could suggest that you are feeling overwhelmed by your feelings or experiencing emotional turbulence that is interfering with your ability to communicate effectively.
Loss of Control or Opportunities: The act of dropping something can reflect a feeling of losing control over a situation or your responsibilities. The drain specifically suggests that the loss might be related to something that feels "dirty" (perhaps a shameful situation) or something that has simply vanished, potentially symbolizing missed opportunities or a fear of falling behind in life.
Difficulty Expressing Yourself: The dream might suggest that someone or something is preventing you from expressing your thoughts or opinions freely, essentially "shutting you off" from speaking your mind.
Warning or Internal Conflict: Some interpretations suggest the dream could be a warning to be more cautious about your possessions or plans, or it might reflect an internal conflict where you feel you have made a faulty life choice and are having difficulty finding your way back.
Ultimately, the most meaningful interpretation will depend on your personal feelings and current life circumstances. Reflect on what the phone, the drain, and the feeling of the dream mean to you personally to understand its full significance.
“dream drop handphone in gated drain meaning”
Dropping a handphone in a dream generally relates to a
fear of losing important connections, communication, or something valuable in your waking life. The specifics of the "gated drain" suggest feelings of being unable to retrieve what is lost, or that the loss is contained or blocked off in some way.
General Dream Elements and Interpretations
The Handphone (Cell Phone): This typically symbolizes your ability to communicate, maintain relationships, access information, or stay connected in society. Losing it often implies a disruption or fear of disruption in these areas.
Dropping the Phone: This action can indicate a fear of failure, an accidental loss, or feeling clumsy or out of control in a situation where something important slips away.
The Drain: Drains often represent a way for things to be washed away, discarded, or disappear into the subconscious. It can also symbolize emotions or feeling overwhelmed, as drains are associated with water flow and waste.
"Gated" Drain: The presence of a gate or cover is a key detail. It suggests that the item is irretrievable, or that a physical or emotional barrier prevents you from recovering the lost connection or valuable item. You may feel a situation is "blocked off" and cannot be reversed.
Possible Interpretations
Combining these elements, the dream could be interpreted in several ways:
Loss of Connection: You may be experiencing anxiety about losing touch with significant people in your life, and the "gated drain" means you feel unable to fix it.
Blocked Communication: There might be a specific communication channel that has been cut off, and you feel the problem is now out of your reach or "down the drain" permanently.
Feeling Helpless: The dream could reflect a situation where something valuable to you was lost due to circumstances beyond your control, and the "gated" nature emphasizes a feeling of finality or helplessness in recovering it.
Privacy Concerns: In some cases, a phone can hold personal contacts and information. The dream might suggest a fear of losing control over your private life or essential personal/business contacts.
Ultimately, dream interpretations are highly personal, and the meaning that resonates most with your current life situation is usually the correct one for you.
So we’re 2 days from our flight. 48hrs before, at 9.16pm hubby told me can check in.
Days ago when lil’ one checked out assigned seats were 50++ but today noticed we’re assigned to the paid Fwd zone.
So cute! Saw this in Kris Shop
And to add to my sadness, noticed my favourite orh orh album is no longer in the inflight entertainment. I saw Muromachi Outsiders in the Japanese movie list. My son-in-law is acting is that movie ๐.
Found this. Then I remembered I brought it home after my last trip to try using it as one pin headphone on the laptop. Obviously I must have wanted to quickly pack up my things and chuck it aside.
On the package it says “I am reusable. Keep me for your next flight.” Will anyone bring it on board? I doubt so.
Feel more wastage when they switched to this, though it has cut down the pre-flight preparation AND the distribution after take-off. Gone are the days when we had to help prepare bags,seal it up with the yellow seal for the return sector or 2nd second crew, leave a note if we’re not seeing them to handover info. The crew now have an easier life compared to us. No need to give out menu cards or immigration forms now.
I was so tempted to procrastinate the cleaning and tidying but if I don’t do so, who will do it? Just so fed up when it seems like I’m the only person living in this house. Girls don’t even know where certain items are placed in the house ๐คจ. My favourite phrase when I tell friends how my house is kept a little tidier is “I’m a magician. Leave plates on the table, suddenly it disappears. Leave cups in the sink, suddenly it disappears. Dirty clothes become neatly pressed clothes.” ๐ง๐ช
Decided to throw out all the soil and fertilizers they didn’t seem to be useable. Should have just cleared out the same time we cleared the cabinet. I let out a loud scream when I saw a teeny lizzie. I was smart enough to use the broom to smack the items on the floor and indeed the baby popped its head out, as dramatic as ever I screamed. Che-che who was on the phone at that time in lil’ one’s room closed the window ๐ฌ.
Will I be buying new soil and pellets and fertilisers? Yes, I need to buy new fertilisers especially for my adeniums, my ang ang huey. I’ll probably not buy anymore soil or pellets anymore or small pots coz my sunflowers ๐ป attempts were futile for the last 5x. As much as I’d like to plant the new flower seeds I bought, I honestly feel I don’t have the energy to do that now. I should set my priority to stay indoor now ๐คญ and only step out in my PES in the night to water my plants.
Bought a new scrub in October (so this job in tidying the PES has been an ongoing thoughts) coz I can’t find the handheld scrubber!!!! Anyway, I feel age is catching up with the backaches, that I decided to get one with a longer stick so I didn’t have to squat down, stand up n feel giddy, squat down. It’s no joke! The last time I did this kind of massive scrub, I only did the area near the small gate to the water feature and I was screaming internally for help. Was under the hot sun.
Is this a good purchase? I can’t get back the clean clean floor as we used to have 10 years ago. It did help in some ways but I found myself with another kind of backache with shoulder pain. I had to hold on to the stick coz the 1500RPM brush was trying to “run away” if you know what I mean. It’s as if I was holding onto my dear life to a scrubber pole in a Signal 8 typhoon. I lessen the energy used to scrub the floor with a hard bristle broom but instead used up my energy to hold onto the stick. ๐ equally tiring and backbreaking.
Actually I do like it bare there. Or maybe I shouldn’t put the cabinet there anymore? Less thing to worry about ๐ฆeverytime I open the cabinet to get the fertilizer.
We cleared the two cabinets on 14th Dec, the last day of the two designated dates for residents to clear their bulky items. My PES is in a mess as we took out items from the outdoor cabinet and I was lazy aka tired aka fed-up-to-do-everything-myself to check what I want to keep in the new cabinet. The back part / the unseen part ๐คญ of the balcony is messy ever since the 14th. ๐ I’m so worried to find lizzie hiding in there somehow.
28th Dec (Sun)
Had to fix this up. And I also had to settle the travel insurances and pack the bags. Argh! Took me so bloody long to fix it up. Left it by the main door coz I need to clean the balcony first before I can bring out this new cabinet.
Tomorrow. I hope tomorrow I can scrub the floor. Sobs …. I really want to hire someone to help me to scrub the balcony ๐ญ. If my neighbours hear me scream tomorrow means a bloody lizzie found a hiding place.
** edit : indeed a baby lizzie found a place in the packet of soil. Yeeks! Whether it’s baby or hugeass lizzie, I let out a scream.
Wanted to do a second video collage of my Nakasendo hike as the first video I did I couldn’t decide which was the best or the highlights, my video turned out to be 20+ minutes long. Haha! But that was one impressive video editing as well.
Racing against time as I couldn’t delete the photos and videos in my phone until I do the second collage. As you would have read my previous post that I’m desperately cleaning up space to make way for new ones.
My solo holiday blog entries are still being edited ๐คญ. I think maybe it will be posted out a year late. This new video link will be posted in there when I’m done with editing.
This second video is 6 minutes long will not bore you for sure, but I must say there were tons of nice shots I took in that hike and it was hard not to include the photos in.
Decided too to pen in some of my thoughts. Ah nia is not that good in writing, I wrote my grandmother story and learnt there’s an AI poem generator : https://aipoemgenerator.io/ to help me. Wah….come out with the goodest england, I’m so impressed. I attached that in the video collage but it may be difficult to read.
If only I can write that well. AI read my transcript and abacadebra
I miss this easy hike, I would want to go back and do it all over again. However this time I need to make sure I start in Nakatsugawa, stay in Magome longer (I couldn’t do so as I had to start my hike), hike faster and not take too many photos & videos (laughing at myself, when will I not take tons of photos and videos? When I was on solo it made it easier for me to take nicer looking photos n videos) and arrive in Tsumago early. Or maybe stay overnight in Tsumago. The whole place will be so quiet when the tourists leave (I thoroughly enjoyed my stay in Shirakawa-go where the whole place was so quiet after 5pm). Hike to the shorter distance Nagiso.
Hike another portion from Yabuhara to Narai. Narai is another place I want to stay overnight. That said, even before I plan the newer routes I must check carefully with regards to bear activity. Want to hike but I also want my life.
Somehow I’m so tempted to do a summary of my holiday collage especially the new places, should I? Means I still can’t delete some pics for 5th June. hmm….. ๐ค
And here I am again desperately clearing photos which I haven’t got the time to do so.
Although I must admit this time round I’m not under tremendous pressure having to cope with itinerary planning, houseworks, clearing pics. I left this holiday to the man, ๅธฆๆๅปๅๆไนไธ็ฅ้๐。
I notice a pattern, I’m always in urgency to delete whenever I am going on a trip. On normal days when I can find the time, I will delete but I do them slowly. I wouldn’t know when is the next time I can find the time to delete photos again. How about the albums with the photos I need for iMovie? Currently I have 2 albums where it’s ready for video editing when and IF I can find the time to do so. Most times the project is left in the app.
Sigh……. I’m not joking when I say I need a time away from home in a hotel on an island perhaps with no distraction and I’ll probably finish up my iMovies. Bring my laptop and hard disk to transfer all my pics. I need wifi tho!
Desperately clearing photos in phone and came across these photos taken in Desert Hot Springs, CA.
The day we arrived in hotel late coz we drove long distance + many many breaks in between to stretch out legs etc..
Hubby came back to the car after checking-in. “Guess what? They ran out of rooms. And guess what they gave us a suite now.”
I laughed at us eating our packed dinner from Stater Bros. Macam like trying to act rich and post in Instagram, but behind doors ๅพๅฏๆ must eat cheap cheap food ๐
Singapore’s latitude at 1.3521 *N makes us in the northern hemisphere ๐, so by right we should be experiencing winter ☃️❄️ Winter solstice is an astronomical event making the shortest day and longest night of the year in the hemisphere. We still get 12 hrs of day and night just coz 1+ *N makes no difference. ๐
Chinese communities globally eat ๆฑคๅ. Key Reasons for the Tradition are :
1) Symbol of Reunion: The roundness of the balls signifies the family coming together, just as the sun begins its return after the longest night.
2) Completeness: Eating them signifies a complete and harmonious year ahead.
3) "Gaining a Year": Eating tangyuan marks the end of the year and symbolically adds one year to your age, preparing you for the new cycle.
4) Homophone for Reunion: The word tangyuan(ๆนฏๅ) sounds like tuanyuan (ๅๅ), meaning reunion, reinforcing the family theme.
I’m using ginger paste coz I don’t have any ginger in the kitchen ๐ฌ
The girls like theirs plain. Bought the riceballs late so there’s no peanut or sesame fillings ๐คจ
