Que Sera Sera, what ever will be, will be.

2012 Achievements:

1. Became a qualified beauty therapist.

As I have mentioned before, I did a Diploma of Beauty Therapy. I finished the course in August after a year and 2 months of ripping hair off people's vajayjay, armpits, legs, face, cleaning their faces, fingers and feet, and stroking their full body... no not in a sexual way. Its funny how as someone who has never stepped into a beauty salon or gotten a massage in her entire life, decided to pick up the course. Gotta say it's interesting and I didn't regret a single bit of it :)

2. Became a permanent resident.

And it happened on Valentine's Day! The timing just couldn't get anymore perfect. After years of planning, it finally happened. Nothing much changed, but it certainly opened a lot of doors for future planning.  

3.  We've hit one decade.

It's scary but amazing too how quickly time passes by. Looking back, who would have thought we would be here in a suburb in Melbourne, sitting next to each other in our little cosy apartment, relaxing after a hearty home-cooked dinner we whipped up together?

4. I am employed.

Yes, finally, as a beauty therapist. The search was frustrating and disheartening at times, but I'm glad it came to an end when my employment was confirmed. Really, seeking for a job is all about luck. You need the skills too, but probably only 30%, the rest is all luck. I'm sorry if it comes of as discouraging but that's just life. It's been only 2 months and I'm still in a probationary period though. I shall elaborate on it once I'm out of the period.

5. Goals

Out of 8 goals/resolution I've set last year, I'm super happy to report that I've achieved 7 out of them! I couldn't even remember all these goals I've set for myself until I looked back at my blog archives. Things tend to happen when you're not stressing over them don't they?

I've learned:

1. To have self control and save money.

Coming here and leaving all the convenience I had in Malaysia has definitely made me so much more disciplined when it comes to money. I'm not the best at it, like I don't think I can be a stingy arse or only shop in thrift stores or only buy reduced price groceries, but I'm so much more disciplined now. I go to Asos.com, I see so many things I like and saved them in my cart, at the end of the day I don't buy them because I know I don't need them. I call it window shopping at home, haha. Besides, I don't have the space to buy so many stuff anyway.

2. The art of selling.

Being a music teacher in the past, I have never had to sell a single item until I started helping out at my dad's shop. We do framing and glass work services and we sell paintings. I hated doing sales, SO. FREAKING. MUCH. And I stink at it. I hate it when I have to pretend to know the stuff and promote the product, or when people ask for discounts (MAJOR HATE, damn hagglers) or free delivery etc. Being a beauty therapist, we're required to retail the products. Its slightly different because with beauty, I know what I'm talking about and I know what to recommend, and you can't bargain for these sort of products (YES!). And when they actually buy something, oh gosh that sense of reward is priceless. Slowly but surely, I'm getting there.  

3. That hard work pays off.

It's true and it applies in every single situation. I know I said looking for a job is all about luck, but without the effort to actually look for it, you'd end up with nothing anyway. When I was studying, eventhough it was only a diploma, I did and gave my best in everything. And I dare say that's exactly how I landed myself in this job. If I had not been serious in it, I wouldn't have gotten good testimonials from my instructors, I wouldn't have gotten recommendation from a friend who's working there.

4. That being a beauty therapist is not easy!

Honestly I've never thought that being a beauty therapist involves so much of knowledge as well as stamina. I don't know about Malaysia, but when I'm working an 8 hour shift, it's 7.25 hours of standing (unless it's a facial or mani/pedi), 45 minutes are all you get for break where you can sit down, eat and think about nothing. That being said, I'm not complaining as I prefer this over sitting by a desk for 8 hours for the rest of my life. Being in the industry myself has definitely changed my thoughts and views on beauty therapists.

5. To let go.

As much as I would love to continue living in the world of music, I know that I'm not young, I need to pay bills, I need a retirement fund, and I need to secure my future. And I don't see all of this happening if I were to teach music or do anything related to music (with my fading experience). It's funny how having learned and taught music all my life couldn't even get me a job but a little diploma course has managed to get me a job that gave me the capability of paying bills and supporting myself. In the past I've told myself and everyone else "music is my passion, I will do it in the future". Pfffft. How silly. Nobody knows the future. I'm letting the thought of doing music go for now, but the experience will always be a part of me that I'm proud of. Que sera sera, what ever will be will be, the future's not ours to see.

This year I shall:

1. Be positive.

So many times I've allowed myself to dwell in so much of negativity whether it's at school, searching for a job, or at work. Fortunately I have someone who's always there to pull me out of it and inject as much positivity into me as he can, and continuously reminds me of all the positive things that exist along with the negative.

2. Save more money.
Because everything is about money when you get older.

3. Buy a piano.

Eventhough I stopped learning to play the piano many many years ago, I still find myself going back to it and just casually playing some pieces. It's really therapeutic (if you don't play the virtuosic ones of course) and relaxing, something I tend to do when I feel stressed. I've never realised how important is its presence until I moved to Melbourne, leaving my good old companion behind back in Malaysia. I really do miss getting my fingers dancing on the keys of a piano.

4. Stay healthy.

Exercise, eat healthy, and get a health cover. Because nobody gets healthier as they get older.

5. BLOG MORE.
I really do miss the feeling of being able to type on and on about a simple day I've gone through, or a funny encounter, or just any kind of random events. Sad to say I'm slowly losing that ability. Probably because as you get older you just tend to not give a shit? Haha. I like how I have all these stories or thoughts saved in my archive and whenever I feel like I want to relive or remember what happened, I can just look back into my archives. I really want to be able to write like there's no tomorrow again.

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Ooh I managed to do everything in 5... what a coincidence. No... totally planned it. Anyway, anyone's still reading this lousy blog? Haha. Share with me your resolution/goal/whatever. Would love to know what people like to say they'll do but never end up doing LOL. No just kidding. Have an awesome 2013.