Gratitude and a whole lot of emotions.

Its been really long since I last wrote anything on this blog.

However, at the current moment, I feel like this is my only escape.

It has been a rollercoaster ride with everything that has been going on in my life the past few years. Firstly, I graduated from my degree studies and entered the workforce in 2014.

Since then, I have held jobs in e-commerce and marketing and even arts management. I finally found a place that I really felt could provide me fulfillment - Insurance.

It may come as a surprise to others. However, it is something I thought long and hard about. It isn't easy going through all the exams and interviews getting into this career coupled with the training that I have attended the past 3 months as well. (Yes, its been that long since I entered the industry).

However, I really want to make this a long term career.

Most people that know me asked me why did I leave the marketing industry just as I was stepping up into bigger roles and progressing in my career. Simply put, I felt a little empty inside as I go to sleep each day after a day of work. I felt like I wasn't making an impact with what I'm doing. Sure, marketing is my passion. I really enjoyed what I was doing before this. However, I also got to experience a whole different side of the insurance industry.

Earlier this year, I was warded quite frequently due to severe gastric reflux issues. This was due to long term "abuse" of irregular meals and extreme meal portions (sometimes I eat too much, other times, I eat too little or not eat at all). After medical screening, I realised the severity of my condition even though it may sound small. This new finding could have massive impact on my lifestyle in future. Thankfully, I was brought up in an environment where insurance education from my family started from a young age. My maternal family was a big believer in the benefits and necessity of insurance and hence I had adequate coverage for medical expenses. At the same time, I was lucky to also have gotten a policy for myself when I completed one year of my full time job. With my new medical condition, it may be excluded in my future policies and thankfully I already had something in place.

This may sound like a small and irrelevant issue but being at the age of 23 and being told that my condition may deteriorate to something of severe complications in future was a scary thought. I thought to myself of all the people around me that I cared about who don't have basic insurance in place. I took it upon myself that insurance was really something that is beneficial to people - whether you need it now or not. Purely because you won't be able to get it when you realised you need it! Its one of the few things in life that can only be bought with health and not just purely wealth.

When I entered the industry, of course there were many negative opinions that surrounded my choice. Some felt that I was crazy to abandon my career that I've worked to build up for the past few years for something completely new and shunned from in Singapore.

It was really tough for me - someone who really enjoyed social interactions - to suddenly receive so many objections from my friends once they knew that I was a financial planner. Most of them avoid contact and some even complete deleted me from their social circle. It was a huge blow for me to handle.

Even right now after 3 months in the business, I often feel lost and confused. Negative thoughts often fill up my mind and cloud my judgement. I feel less of myself and unable to handle the expectations that everyone had of me including my own expectations of myself.

However, thanks to some really encouraging people, I managed to stay as positive as I can in my career. It gave me the motivation and hope that I can really make this work.

I know that I am still a long way from reaching my goals that I set for myself joining this business. However, knowing that I made an impact in the lives of people I met and those that trust me in my role as their financial planner gave me a huge comfort and kept me going.

To all my clients, friends and family who showed me love every step of the way to not give up, I thank you from the bottom of my heart. I'll only work harder to be better than I was yesterday.

Presents from Japan!

R was on holiday in Hokkaido for a week and has just returned on Monday. Been trying to fill my days with him away. LOL. Of course, for rewarding me being left behind, he bring presents all the way from Japan! :)

Those suspicious Kani Mayo chips he brought back actually taste like real crab with mayo! Totally amazing how the Japanese can mix those flavors into chips! :D Those food snacks he brought back from Maruyama Zoo is so cute! All of the items are Polar-Bear themed cause thats their mascot! <3

Totally can't bear to eat those cute looking snacks! :P In case you're wondering why there's an Oshawott plushie, that's cause we play Pokemon! lol. yes we do! We both bought a DS/3DS to play pokemon. Even went to invest in a r4 card and now we have infinite number of games to play! :D Oshie is my first starter for White2. Hence he bought it for me cause he thought of it while passing by. My always random boyfriend! :) LMum was complaining that he was constantly buying gifts for me throughout the trip. I felt so bad! :X He even went to get a health amulet cause I was constantly falling sick this few months due to long term exhaustion cause of school and project work. :') I love my boy! hahaha. 

He also managed to get stuff for my parents and my sister too! Exactly what they needed. :) I can't imagine a sweeter boy. <3

Anyways, just yesterday, R also surprised me with an impromtu dinner! This is the first time he's made a proper meal for me! We had home-made mash and pepper steak. It looked plain but trust me, the cheap steak tasted awesome. I'm not just saying it. Somehow, he had a secret ingredient when marinating and it was super tender afterwards! I shall not disclose this secret ingredient. I never knew it could tenderise meat that well. Gonna use it on making my steaks and chops from now on!

We had this cute little cheesecakes afterwards! It wasn't the conventional kind of cheesecake. It was literally cake with cheese in the middle! It taste really good! :)

Anyhoohows, I really loved this sweet surprise. :) R's offering to cook me dinner again this Sat! He wouldnt tell me what's gonna be for dinner but he mentioned its gonna be a 3 course dinner. hahah! Thank you my sweet boy for everything. :) <3 Have a good weekend everyone! Will let you guys know how Saturday's dinner is going to be!

The Prayer

I've actually never heard of this song before until ChildAid a couple of years ago where I was the chaperone for the vocalists segment.

Nathania Ong, did this rendition with her father, Kelvin Ong and it literally moved me to tears! Here's the video of their performance! :)

The lyrics of the song really touched me and I have always remembered it ever since that day. <3 I also saw a rendition of this song being sung by a sibling pair at a wedding. It was FANTASTICAL! Comparable to the original version itself! :D Pity no one clapped! :(

I think this song is very apt for a wedding! Hope that I can find singers who can do this song live at my wedding in future perhaps? Hahaha! Well, you can't blame a girl for dreaming! :D

La forza che ci dà 
We ask that life be kind 
È il desiderio che 
And watch us from above 
Ognuno trovi amor 
We hope each soul will find 
Intorno e dentro sé 
Another soul to love

The really original video of Celine Dion and Andre Botticelli singing The Prayer written by David Foster. :)

<3