100 things about me

I wrote this entry on 100 things about myself more than a year ago on my moblog. I chanced upon it when I went through some of my old entries and decided to update the list.

01. My spine is not straight. It's actually slightly curved to the right towards the tailbone. This results in my left shoulder, back and hip slightly higher than the right. I had to go for X-rays every half yearly during my school years until the doctors were sure the condition wasn't worsening.

02. I was told that my cholesterol level was dangerously high when I went for my annual medical check 4 5 years ago. I was underweight at that time. Apparently, your cholesterol levels are not directly related to your weight.

03. I had to entertain a lot in my first job as a banker after graduating from Uni. That meant lots of hard liquor, 2nd hand smoke and late nights. After 1.5 years of that life, I got scolded by my doctor "Your blood test doesn't look too good. You've got to stop consuming alcohol completely if you don't wanna end up like Andreas De Cruz. Not a single drop including wine from now on."

04. I started wearing specs when I was in Primary 2. At that time, I didn't even know what shortsightedness was. I was terrified when I realise I couldn't see clearly and thought I was gonna die.

05. My first pair of specs was pink. The power was 200 on each side. And by Secondary 3, my shortsightedness had worsened to 750 for my left eye and 550 for my right, and they have remained this way until now.

06. According to my mum, I couldn't wait to see the world. I popped my head out while my mum was still in the taxi on the way to the hospital.

07. Geese were my greatest enemies when I was growing up in Pulau Ubin. My Great-Grandma was next.

08. A neighbour's puppy ran over to my Grandparents' house in Pulau Ubin on the day I was born and it stayed with us from then onwards where it became my first best friend. I couldn't stop crying when it died 11 years later.

09. I stayed in Pulau Ubin till I was 5. Then I moved to a one room flat in Mattar Road cos I had to attend Kindergarten. However, I would go back to Pulau Ubin every weekend and school holidays until the government took back the land when I was in my teens. I moved to Simei when I was 8. Now, I'm living in Sydney, Australia but my home is still in Simei.

10. Half a 1.5 years ago, I had thoughts of settling down permanently in Sydney, up until 3 weeks ago. Now I wanna move to Whistler, Canada. Now, I can't make up my mind. My recent trip back to Singapore made me realise how much I miss home.

11. I almost drowned twice in my life. Once when I mischievously took my Grandpa's sampan out to sea and it capsized. And the other time was when my Auntie threw me into the sea without any floats hoping that I would naturally learn how to swim after some struggling.

12. I've had a phobia for going into the water ever since. Even though I took swimming lessons and learnt to swim when I was 17, I still panic when the water level is higher than my height. And just like my fav tudi, I can only swim frog style. I can tread water but only for half a minute.

13. I couldn't answer when I was asked recently how many boyfriends I've had. I've had so many I lost count.

14. Out of the many boyfriends I've had, I've only been dumped twice. And I suffered badly for the two times. I think it's karma.

15. I've loved drinking coffee since I was very young. My Grandma used to make out-of-the-world Kopi-O with socks. Now I'm totally addicted to the Vanilla Latte from the Starbucks in Whistler. Not sure if the Starbucks in Sydney has got equally good ones or not. Now I can't do without the very vanilla latte from Gloria Jeans.

16. Coffee drinkers usually do not take tea unless they have no other options. I am not a tea person but I spent S$600 on chinese tea on my trip to Hangzhou cos my mum likes it.

17. I want to have a baby with blue eyes.

18. I used to get very bad menstrual cramps almost every month. It got so bad twice that I fainted from the pain. Once was at some MRT station and the other was in NTU hostel.

19. I don't sleep well most of the time. I get woken up very often because I'm a very light sleeper. I also dream a lot (and I remember most of my dreams) which means my brains aren't exactly resting. Doesn't help that I'm fussy with pillows too.

20. I find it a chore to have to bathe and brush my teeth. I hope someone will invent something someday that prevents us from getting dirty so we can totally do away with these chores except maybe a luxury bath once in a while for pampering myself.

21. Reading storybooks used to be my favourite past-time in primary school. I loved the Bookworm series and encyclopedias.

22. My family was poor and my mum couldn't afford to buy me books all the time. That resulted in me stealing a few books from the school bookstore.

23. Now I read mostly fantasy books especially those with dragons and magicians and time travel. I like reading Chinese history too.

24. I hope to be able to read more on European history.

25. I hate those girly magazines such as Cleo, Her World etc. I think they are a waste of money cos they're full of advertisements and silly articles on stupid foolish women.

26. I used to read a lot of comics in my secondary school days. I collected them too. I would scrimp and save just to buy comics.

27. I've always dreamed of having my own little reading cafe, preferably in a small beach town.

28. I prefer watching DVDs in the comfort of my own bed at home than going to the cinema. Mainly because I'm too lazy to travel and movie tickets are exhorbitantly priced.

29. My favourite movies change all the time. Right now, I can only remember the ones I watched not too long ago - Crash and Casino Royale Deathnote 1 and 2.

30. My favourite James Bond is Pierce Brosnan.

31. I've had gray hair since my teenage years. It's hereditary. However it actually gets worse when I'm under stress.

32. I think I've got very nice eyes. But many people say they look scary cos they're too big and always popping out like a goldfish's eyes. Someone recently commented that although I don't talk much, my eyes react to every single piece of info presented in a conversation and that it's a joy observing the expressions in my eyes.

33. I've got ugly legs and toes full of scars, bruises and calluses. Ugly but full of character.

34. I love watches. Especially big men's watches. But the ones I like are usually too expensive for me to afford.

35. Many of the watches I wear now are either presents from the ex boyfriend I almost ended up marrying or are still his but temporarily in my care.

36. I'd rather spend my money on cars, toys and sports equipment than on bags, shoes and clothes.

37. The most expensive thing I ever bought in my entire life is my Mitsubishi Lancer - S$70k. And I spent thousands of dollars to beautify it. My brother is driving it now and I miss it badly.

38. I am going to take my bike license here in Sydney soon so that I can get the vintage fully restored 1960s vespa I've always wanted since a decade ago.

39. If I have the financial means, I'd love to take my pilot license here too.

40. I just learnt how to ski in Whistler more than a year ago. I have had plans to take up a course to get my Level 1 ski instructor license but current responsibilities prevent me from doing so.

41. I am going to buy bought a cheap skateboard. After I learn how to skateboard, I'm gonna learn surfing and subsequently snowboarding.

42. I like my freedom. I like my single life.

43. But I also like having someone hug me and tuck me into bed and pat me to sleep.

44. I am not a very affectionate person. I don't like public displays of affection.

45. I love to play games - pc games, arcade games, ps2 games xbox games, handheld games etc. I grew up playing pacman.

46. My favourite ps2 game was and still is Final Fantasy 7 and 8. It's not so much about the game or the graphics but about the characters and story. I cried when Aerith died (FF7 I think) and threw my controller down and refused to continue playing. It took me several months to recover from that 'ordeal' and continue the game to completion.

47. I always name the main characters in my FF games as Jack. So I tend to forget their original names.

48. My close friends call me Jac. I used to hate it when people call me Jackie. But now I love it. Ever since my Whistler vacation. Because the friends I made there called me Jackie oh so affectionately I could feel their sincerity oozing out from them.

49. I got hooked onto Maplestory for almost a year. During that period, I could think of nothing else but maple maple maple.

50. The thing I enjoyed most about Mapling was setting up my own shop in the free market. I've earned millions of mesos from just buying and selling stuff. I even spent days on market research and designing an excel spreadsheet just for this purpose.

51. Before I quit playing Maple altogether, I had assets of like more than 60 million mesos.

52. Because of Maplestory, I set up the Maple Rose Gang on Moblog. I made some of my best friends today through Moblog, Maple and the Maple Rose Gang.

53. I never expected that I would meet such a good buddy online - my favourite tudi Littlegeo. She's one of my most missed friends now that I left Singapore. Bamboohorse is the other I miss a lot.

53. I still occasionally log in to the Maple Rose Gang group blog to laugh over the silly hierarchy charts and comics whenever I feel down.

54. I don't like to talk.

55. But I can be very noisy around people I'm closest to and most comfortable with.

56. I'm better at one-to-one conversations than group conversations. That's why I don't prefer going out in large groups.

57. I like to travel. Wish that I can do more of that.

58. My fondest travel memories are of listening to Jay Chou's songs on a road trip in Adelaide, my fav tudi singing along and Hansen and BambooHorse dozing off in the rear seats.

59. I've got long hair for as long as I can remember.

60. I don't like being told what to do or what not to do.

61. And I don't like others making decisions for me without first asking me for my opinion.

62. I have always wanted to live alone.

63. If I live alone, I would walk around my place wearing anything I like or nothing at all.

64. I absolutely hate doing the laundry. That's the only negative aspect of living alone - Mum's not there to do the laundry.

65. I would take homecooked food over all other delicacies anytime.

66. I love dogs. Big dogs. And my favourite is the golden retriever. I would like one as a pet.

67. But I would not get a pet unless I'm absolutely sure I've got the time to really care for it as if it's my child.

68. Contrary to my tudi, I do most things with my head and not my heart. Sometimes I wish I can just go with my heart and the heck with everything else.

69. My ambition was to be a doctor during my school days. That was the reason I took triple pure sciences. Until I had to drop 2 of them in college due to financial reasons.

70. I also wanted to be a SQ girl. I remember someone telling me that the cut-off age for applying to be one is 26. Was about to give it a try until this job in Sydney came along.

71. I despise people who smile at me and treat me like I'm their best friend when I know they don't like me at all. Just freaking tell me in the face that you don't like me. I bet you don't have the guts to.

72. I never go for the looks when it comes to guys. Yeah of course good looks will attract more than one glance from me in his direction. But the 'can click factor' supercedes everything else.

73. I don't understand why there are so many people who thinks that relationships and romance is everything. And they can get so affected by these that everything else in life becomes insignificant.

74. I have 5 6 ear holes all with studs. I pierced the last 3 holes quite recently - in the last 1 year. Each time I was depressed over something, I went to pierce one.

75. I don't wear any other accesories except maybe on special occasions when I need to dress up.
76. Talk about dressing up, I only do that when absolutely necessary. Mostly because I'm always too lazy.

77. I hate having to think about what to wear to work everyday. If possible, I would like to wear the Rex polo T (cos it doesn't need ironing) with jeans everyday.

78. My favourite colour is orange which explains my previous blog theme.

79. I like red, blue, black and white too.

80. I always wanted to dye my hair a bright orange. But lack the courage to do so.

81. I think I've got the flair for photography. But I lack the resources to really refine my skills.

82. I heal amazingly fast. I had many bike accidents and other freak accidents since young that resulted in lotsa scars all over my body. But they healed without leaving any traces. Rather unbelievable.

83. I believe there's an angel watching over me all the time because of the many near death experiences I've had. Hey I'm still alive.

84. And I think that angel is my Dad.

85. I have weird cravings for the oddest foods at the weirdest hours of the day.

86. And I would go to lengths to satisfy my food cravings.

87. I get very upset and irritable when the cravings are not satisfied.

88. I've got a very good memory. I can usually remember most things that I've seen or heard once. But that only applies to things that matter to me.

89. I like soups. Especially Mum's lotus root soup.

90. I don't like to snack in between meals. Unless I've got one of those weird cravings.

91. I will never approach a guy to try to chat him up or get his phone no. No matter how much I think I like him.

92. I hate having to make small talk. So I usually appear very fierce in order to scare people away.

93. I think I will die young. I've had several palm readings and all of those pointed out this same point.

94. But I will die without regrets. As I've had a good (but hard) life.

95. I believe that one should try everything at least once in his or her short lifespan.

96. I don't believe in everlasting love. I think those married couples who grow old together do that more out of responsibility, habit and committment rather than love.

97. I am a true blue cancerian. Most of the cancerian traits apply to me.

98. There are times when I feel insecure. About everything. But I don't let it show.

99. All I want in life is to be able to laugh when I'm happy and cry when I'm sad. To be able to sleep in peace and spend every moment awake just doing the little things in life that matter to me.

100. It's amazing how I can complete this 100 things about myself. Cos I think the most challenging thing in life is to know yourself. I don't think I know myself very well at all.