When I was 17, I read a quote that went something like: "If you live each day as if it was your last, someday you'll most certainly be right." It made an impression on me, and since then, for the past 33 years, I have looked in the mirror every morning and asked myself: "If today were the last day of my life, would I want to do what I am about to do today?" And whenever the answer has been "No" for too many days in a row, I know I need to change something.

Remembering that I'll be dead soon is the most important tool I've ever encountered to help me make the big choices in life. Because almost everything — all external expectations, all pride, all fear of embarrassment or failure - these things just fall away in the face of death, leaving only what is truly important. Remembering that you are going to die is the best way I know to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose. You are already naked. There is no reason not to follow your heart.

- Steve Jobs

Stay Hungry. Stay Foolish.

-Stewart Brand

No one wants to die. Even people who want to go to heaven don't want to die to get there. And yet death is the destination we all share. No one has ever escaped it. And that is as it should be, because Death is very likely the single best invention of Life. It is Life's change agent. It clears out the old to make way for the new. Right now the new is you, but someday not too long from now, you will gradually become the old and be cleared away. Sorry to be so dramatic, but it is quite true.

Your time is limited, so don't waste it living someone else's life. Don't be trapped by dogma — which is living with the results of other people's thinking. Don't let the noise of others' opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary.

- Steve Jobs

Sometimes life hits you in the head with a brick. Don't lose faith. I'm convinced that the only thing that kept me going was that I loved what I did. You've got to find what you love. And that is as true for your work as it is for your lovers. Your work is going to fill a large part of your life, and the only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work. And the only way to do great work is to love what you do. If you haven't found it yet, keep looking. Don't settle. As with all matters of the heart, you'll know when you find it. And, like any great relationship, it just gets better and better as the years roll on. So keep looking until you find it. Don't settle.

- Steve Jobs

Of course it was impossible to connect the dots looking forward when I was in college. But it was very, very clear looking backwards ten years later.
Again, you can't connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking backwards. So you have to trust that the dots will somehow connect in your future. You have to trust in something — your gut, destiny, life, karma, whatever. This approach has never let me down, and it has made all the difference in my life.

- Steve Jobs

You are here in order to enable the world to live more amply, with greater vision, with a fine spirit of hope of achievement. You are here to enrich the world and you impoverish yourself if you forget the errand.

-Woodrow Wilson

Life loves to be taken by the lapel and told: 'I'm with you kid. Let's go.'

– Maya Angelou

Do not underestimate your ability.

-Geshe Chekawa

Put your heart, mind, intellect, and soul even to your smallest acts. This is the secret of success.

– Swami Sivananda Saraswati

I swam 20 laps yay! I'm a bit surprised at how 'good' my stamina is, I felt a bit tired after the swim, but I still didn't expect to reach the 20-lap mark so easily.

Correction: breakfast I had oatmeal instead of yoghurt. After swimming I had a piece of wholewheat bread and 1 grapefruit.

I did some research on swimming, it appears that it's a bit of a controversial sport, in the sense that it seems that it is good exercise for your body, but it doesn't seem to help you lose weight. Which is ok I guess, as long as it helps me lower my cholesterol level.

I also read that high triglyceride levels may be hereditary, especially in families that have a history of diabetes, like my family. So I really better limit my sugar intake from now on.

It's a blessing in disguise actually - my bad blood test results have forced me to take action and change my lifestyle to a healthy one, which I hope will have long-term positive effects on my health, stamina & energy levels =) Hope it helps me to look happy & healthy as well =)

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Breakfast by Han my honey =)

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I felt very sian today but luckily that feeling went away by itself.

Yesterday after the swim I had 1 piece of wholewheat bread. I forgot to mention that I also mistakenly ate 1 durian puff and 1 deep fried durian something yesterday at Humble House. Why? Because I didn't know it was durian when Se Fu gave them to me, and I couldn't spit it out, hehe.. But it was actually all right.

This morning for breakfast I had 1 cup of low-fat peach yoghurt and 1 glass of soy milk. Lunch at Humble House I had rice + fish & lettuce soup. Dinner ate at Raffles Sakae Sushi again with Han, ate 1 small cha soba, 3 pc salmon sushi, 4 pc small cucumber maki, 2 pc small salmon maki, 2 naruto from Han's wakame udon, 1 pc spicy salmon sushi, and I tried some of Han's wakame udon. Plus 3 cups green tea. Wah it sounds so much, but it didn't seem like it.

Going swimming again soon =)

Yay! swam 16 laps =) I didn't feel tired yet actually, but I stopped myself because I was afraid I would feel tired tomorrow morning. I swear I can see a tiny difference in the shape of my waist hehe =)

Catch up catch up..

9 Oct: 1 oatmeal porridge for breakfast, 1 Subway turkey breast sandwich for lunch, at school we had Rice + Shandong braised duck + steamed garoupa Cantonese style + Szechuan eggplant and I also had 1/2 a chocolate muffin and 2 pieces of watermelon. Chef Xihong's lesson - it was one of the rare times that I got to work with Han =) Plus 1 Yakult at night.

10 Oct: Han made breakfast for us, omelete sandwiches with only egg whites & on wholewheat multi-grain bread =) for lunch we ate at Dhoby Gaut mrt: chicken rice + cheng teng, for dinner at school we had aloo ghoby + pork vindaloo + chicken tikka + veggie sambhar. It was Chef Sony's last lesson.. feel a bit sad about it.. I remember his first lesson, he roasted the spices for garam masala, and he did the very same thing for his last lesson.. memories... I'm such a sentimental person.. sigh...

11 Oct: Breakfast I had 1 cup of aloe vera yoghurt, lunch I had fried rice at Humble House - staff meal; for dinner I went to McDonald's with Han, I ate a corn cup because they ran out of apple dippers, then I had 1 salmon handrolled sushi + 2 pieces salmon sushi + 1 wakame sushi from Jason's.

Going swimming now =)

Day 1 of 'The New Me' Diet & Exercise Regime

Today for breakfast I had a cup of Marigold non-fat aloe vera yoghurt and a banana. An almost-over-ripe-but-not-quite-yet Dole banana, which I bought from Isetan Scotts last week. =)

I also managed to swim 10 laps at the swimming pool. Yay! *weak cheer*

Why the sudden change in diet & lifestyle? Because even though I'm not fat, my cholesterol & triglyceride levels are too high. Which is scary according to my mom, considering the fact that I'm still young. But at least I caught it early, for which I feel very grateful, because if not I would have blissfully-yet-dangerously kept gobbling down char kway teow & sambal stingray.. which is not to say that I still won't do it every once in a while =) wink wink ;)

I also need to drink more, because according to *THE INTERNET* water is needed for the body to break down triglyceride. So now I'm starting to become like a camel, and I've started to avoid sweetened drinks like my all-time favorite Four Seasons Ice Lemon Tea, because apparently sweetened drinks also contribute to higher levels of triglyceride in the body.

We keep moving forward, opening new doors, and doing new things, because we're curious and curiosity keeps leading us down new paths.

- Walt Disney

When you finally accept that you're a complete dork, your life gets easier. No sense in trying to be cool.

- Reese Witherspoon

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