2015

GOODBYE 2015! HELLO 2016!

January 1, 2016 by Little Miss Honey 408 Comments

Goodbye 2015! You have been a challenging year for me. But you made me stronger and taught me a lot of things about life, my strength & capabilities and my weakness. Being a new mom, a wife, a full-time doctor, a blogger and all the other hats that I wear can test my ability to manage my time and priority-setting. You have opened up opportunities for me and new horizons that I never ventured before. Overall, you were a good year that made me a better person and well-equipped to face 2016.

I love looking back at the highlights of my 2015 before venturing into the fresh new pages of 2016. Here we go:

NEW BLOG LOOK

For 2015, one of my new year resolution is that I will have a blog makeover and that I will be more consistent in blogging. I ask help from Martine De Luna and Patricia Alix-Villa in improving my blog. Martine gave my blog a clear direction while Patricia gave me a fantastic blog design that resonates with my blog manifesto. Like wonderful (blog) fairy godmothers, they worked their magic in my blog and soon after, I have consistent blogger invites, collaborations and sponsorships. It kept me busy, happy and satisfied. I am really an authentic blogger now! Hahaha! I gained a lot of new blogger friends, created great relationships with brands and discovered new restaurants/boutiques/spas/salons/brands. But I also realised that I don’t want to blog because I want to be famous or use it as my sole source of income rather it is my outlet for inspiration and creativity. I am extremely proud of what Little Miss Honey blog has come about this year. I hope for more collaborations, more invites, more opportunities and more inspirations from me to you & from you to me.

2. NAJ’s BAPTISM

I was happy that Naj this year became a member of the Catholic Church. My religion and faith are very important to me. I want Naj also to be part of something that I strongly believe in. I would love to raise him to be a good Catholic boy and have a close relationship with God.

3. NAJ TURNED ONE YEAR OLD

Wow, I can’t believe I have a one-year old son! Time does fly so fast. He was just this teeny-weeny fragile baby that I use to carry with my K’Tan carrier and now he is this self-efficient toddler who can run faster than me, climb chairs to get what he wants, dance, say a few words and give you the cutest smile that will melt anyone’s heart. We celebrated his birthday in Kuala Lumpur . It was a simple but fun travel birthday for our 1-year-old adventurer.

4. BABY #2

We did planned for Baby #2 this year. We hoped that I would get pregnant by the end of the 2015 but Baby #2 came a few months earlier than we expected. But hey, it was such a beautiful surprise! We were ecstatic! I am currently 7 months pregnant now and I will be giving birth soon this year. We are having another boy! We will name him Howell Fynn. We are so excited to meet him. I am grateful for this gift of life God has showered into my family. Please keep praying for both my health & my baby’s health and also, a safe delivery.

5. MALAYSIA TRIP

We went to two places in Malaysia this year : to Kuala Lumpur for Naj’s 1st year birthday and to Malacca for babymoon. I think travelling is the best teacher. It teaches you of new cultures and new discoveries. You also learn more about yourself and your travel partner along the trip. Few of my best realisations often happen in my travels.

In Kuala Lumpur, we got a taste of the urban vibe of the city that is very similar to Manila. We got to have a quick trip to the windy Genting Highlands and visited the entrancing Batu Caves. Of course we got to see the beautiful Petronas Towers.

In Malacca, we were able to see the rich culture & colourful ambience of the place. We enjoyed taking lots of photos, walking around the streets, eating lots of satay, eating coconut ice cream and learn more about the Peranakan culture. Too bad, we weren’t able to try their famous Gula Melaka Chendol.

6. OLD & NEW FRIENDS

I also realised that I am grateful that I kept a wonderful group of friends that I have been friends since I was in Grade 1, friends in high school in Saudi Arabia, friends in medical school and friends I met in my clinic in Singapore (some have left the clinic already but we still keep in touch). I also gained new friends this year which gave my life more color and happiness – blogger friends, new doctors colleagues, new sisters in Christ, etc. Friendships should be nurtured and valued. Friends should not be taken for granted nor used. Keep people in your life that will give you inspiration, support and love. Avoid toxic people as much as possible.

7. RELATIONSHIP WITH GOD

One of the most rewarding aspect of my 2015 was my relationship with God. I promised that 2015 is the year I will try to cultivate a more personal relationship with God. No lukewarmness or being a “cafeteria Catholic“. I have to say it is getting better and better everyday. Like any relationship, it takes time. But I am happy that it is in the right track. I am putting all my trust, my obstacles in life, my plans, my fears all up to Him this year.

So there is it, my 2015. So 2015, I am letting go of the past; letting go of the things that we don’t have control of or we cannot change; letting go of dreams that is not for us. This 2016, I am opening my world to new adventures and new challenges; opening my heart to a different type of love; opening my mind to a whole new way of thinking. 2016, I welcome you. Be gentle to me. Be kind to me. I am ready!

I can’t wait for what 2016 will bring for me. I am excited to make my new resolutions tomorrow. I may have not mentioned to you that New Year is my favourite holiday. So tell me, what do you expect for 2016?

COURSES IN SINGAPORE

January 21, 2015 by Little Miss Honey 1,320 Comments

I have listed down my New Year’s resolutions on paper. I am intent to keep my resolutions this year. I said to myself, A New Year, A Better Me. This year, I am aiming to improve myself, do more travels, spend more time on those things that I enjoy doing, travel more, lose weight, improve my blog and bake some more. But it is easier said than done. Based on the book This Year I will by MJ Ryan, one of the 10 resolution pitfalls is being vague about what you want. So I am going a notch higher by listing done the specific actions that would lead me to better fufill my resolutions for myself.

I have discovered this site that offers courses in Singapore that can help me with my goals for this year. If you know me, I love workshops and short courses of things that I am passionate about. You are talking to a lady who takes three classes on weekends when I was in college. I would take ballet classes, vocal coaching classes and classical voice lessons in one day. Sounds a bit crazy, right but I enjoy those things. It makes me grow more as person and I feel happier pursuing things that enhances my creativity ad self-improvement.

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TRAVEL

I love travelling and I love learning new languages. I enrolled myself once for a French language class but it didn’t push through because there were not enough students that enrolled. This year, my hubby and I plan to travel to Korea. I would like to learn a little bit of Korean before our trip. I would love to take a short course on how to speak Korean.

IMPROVE BLOG

This year, I want to take my blogging seriously. I would like to improve my blog and give it a more professional feel. I went for a blog critique session and one of feedback was to improve my phototaking skills. My mentor suggested I enroll in some photography classes to improve the quality of pictures I post. With the rise of Instagram and Pinterest, the visuals are important in gaining and retaining a better audience. There are courses offered for DSLR photography, expedition photography, events photography and mobile photography.

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WEIGHT LOSS

I still haven’t manage to kick off the remaining 5kg postpartum weight gain. I know that I don’t like jogging or running and that I hate fiddling with gym machines. But I know that I lose weight easier by dancing or yoga which I love. There are classes like Zumba, Basic Hip Hop Dance, Aerobics and Yoga. I could even try the Creative Movement or Animal Movement. They sound very interesting.

BAKE MORE

My oven is sitting quietly on my kitchen counter, begging to be used. I vowed to cook more cakes and cookies this year. There is a cake and bread class that I can join. Who knows this baking hobby might end up being very profitable this year?

I am so glad I am able to discover a site which can help me reach my goals for this year. They even have barista classes which I know my sister would be interested in.

For more information, go to www.learningcourses.com.sg

THE DAYKEEPER 2015 & MY KIKKI.K 2015 WELLBEING DIARY

January 19, 2015 by Little Miss Honey 783 Comments

I am a person who loves planners, checklists and to-do lists. I get giddy if someone would give me gifts of journals and notebooks. Nothing is more satisfying to me than a tick on my to-do list. Get my drift. I just love organising my day, weeks and months. It makes me more productive, driven towards my daily & monthly goals and more happy. So it is no surprise that I have two planners for 2015. I am so OC (Obssessive-compulsive) like that, haha….

My friend got me a The Daykeeper 2015. It is a datebook to chronicle my dreams, my days and aspirations. This is more of my creative journal. It is like my little colourful diary. I would write things that happened during the day and some realisations and lessons I learned on that day. I put phone numbers I need to remember and I would pasted pictures of fun activities I’ve done on that day.

Behind The Daykeeper is the talented Kat San Juan. She created this wonderful datebook that I absolutely love. I like that it contains bible verses. I would look into my bible and write down the verses that was on that week’s page. I like that every pages never the same. There are a lot of beautiful pictures on the datebook that was shot by Kat San Juan herself. Each week has a page called What Made You Smile Today. I can get crazy writing down stuff, doodles, stamping and posting Instamax pictures. Mind you, my drawings are horrible. I am no artist, haha.

I can get inspired and get creative with this wonderful datebook. I can keep this journal to remember my 2015. Yes 2015, amazing things can happen.

I also have another planner which is more for jotting down what I need to do for this month, this week and today. This is also where I put some of my to-do list and goals for the year. I got myself a Kikki.K 2015 Wellbeing Diary.

I always been an advocate of self-improvement. We will never be finished products. So I believe we should have this desire to improve and better ourselves. This planner just helps you with that. Each month there are themes like dream, exercise, healthy diet, de-stress, gratitude. There is a calendar for one month to write down the events for the month. And weekly there is one page on the left for the things to do that week and on the right side is a box for a a question for you to answer or an activity for you to do to reach the goal and resonate the theme for the month. I love things like that. Not every week is the same so this week can be, share your dream to a friend and next week would be, write all the things you are passionate about. I think that is so fun. Also below the workbook box is a space for notes which you can write stuff like your to-do list for the week or your grocery lists or budget for the month.

I love my two planners!! I can’t complain at all. It both suits my personality. What is your 2015 planner? Care to share.