My Dog Sokchea

My Dog Sokchea RIP 31st January 2020

I haven't had the heart to post something about Sokchea since she died in January this year. But now I have the strength to.

Rest in Peace little Sokchea, my best friend. She passed away while being hospitalised for Kidney disease and on the third night she suddenly got a blood clot to the brain and she just left this earth. I had just visited an hour earlier and she seemed to just hang on long enough to say goodbye to me.

I realise now as I walk around the house how empty it is without her following me around. She used to greet me at the door with a treat in her mouth every night. She was super friendly and full of character.

I now sleep alone in the bed when hubby works night shift and watch TV without her in my lap. It's been really hard and now I'm in the process of packing away her belongings and it brings me to tears. She was a big part of my life for at least seven years. She really was family.

I know Sokchea is up in doggy heaven continuing to be a good doggy. I love you 💕

Thank you for the condolences and for people who have reached out to me, you've been amazing and I feel the love.

Lilac Dreaming

Wearing: Lilac Dress and Blazer from Pretty Little Thing; Shoes from Zara

Photos taken by Hai with Canon D70 DSLR

Today I caught up with an old co-worker friend and he said: "You're different (in a good way). You seem so sure of yourself now".

In the past I would've said "nah" or say something nonchalant like "same shit, different day", shrug it off and just wave my hand in front of him to dismiss the subject.

But I agreed with him this time, appreciated his observation and said "yups" and continued with "I think working from home and the isolation I felt really broke me. It really forced me to re-evaluate how I spend my time and I learnt how much I value my friends and face to face contact". I came out of isolation feeling so sure of what makes me happy - my friends and loved ones.

Nowadays when I see my friends or get some outdoors time, I really appreciate it and make the most of it. Try and find pure joy in spending time with love ones. Let's be thankful for their existence.

Hai and I went to Mayfield Gardens over the weekend, and Hai took so much time and care into taking  photos of me while walking through the garden. But I stopped him many times to say "I love that you're taking photos of me, but let's stop and appreciate how still this pond water is. Look at that reflection". And we stopped to just admire the still water and peacefulness. I wanted to really appreciate the moment I had with him. Appreciate our existence.

Anyways, do you like my outfit? I wore this to a wedding before the Covid Pandemic hit. My favourite colour is purple. When I wear it, it also makes me happy.

Stay safe everyone x

An Autumn day at Breenhold Gardens, Mount Wilson

Breenhold Gardens, 29 The Avenue, Mount Wilson NSW 2786 Australia. Visited in April. Photos taken by myself and Hai with my Canon D70 DSLR

Entry fee: $12.50 for adults; $5 for children (12 years or older); Free for children 12 years and younger. EFTPOS available; Free parking on site.

Ah, isn't Autumn beautiful? It's honestly my favourite season. The yellows, oranges and reds of the leaves makes me so happy. I love hearing the crunch of them beneath my feet and when the air starts to feel crisper. It is most beautiful when you're driving through country NSW when you see quaint houses framed by the colourful trees, grounds and a bright blue sky.

I like to stick my hand out of the car window to feel the cool air on my fingertips while humming to whatever is on the radio. Roadtrips are my favourite escape.

The Breenhold Gardens is a wonderful destination in Autumn. Its a huge 45 hectares filled with gardens, shrubs, native bushland and fauna. It's easy to spend hours here exploring the grounds and that is what we did. It took us two hours to circle around, and that's not including eating our packed lunch. Take a map from the front and this will make your life much easier because there is so much to admire.

I visited this place more then a year ago. I had planned to come here again in 2020 but yeah, lockdown happened. I hope everyone is going well and trying to stay safe.

I managed to gain some of my sanity back after I was allowed to work in the office three days a week and from home two days. This happened for about three weeks and I was coping.

NSW was doing really well and we were able to start resuming life almost as if a pandemic had never happened.

Then a week ago we had 2 confirmed Covid-19 cases in one of the pubs ten minutes drive from my house. Some of my co-workers frequent this pub and they got tested (they got a negative test result) but now because I live so close to this pub, I have been ordered to work from home indefinitely. My residential area is now a 'hot-spot'. And now I've been shunned from the office. My office closed its borders to me! TT

When my boss called me and told me to stay home forever I was not prepared so I told her to wash my coffee cup because I thought I would be returning the next day. Now I'm stuck at home with a bunch of work documents I wish I didn't take home. At least I still have my good calculator.

I then went to my bedroom to sombrely pack away all my nice office clothes and bring out my UGG boots again. Not looking forward to going back to my old routine of the past three months - "Same Bottoms, Rotating Tops" and eating sandwiches due to laziness. 

I am so not cut out for Work From Home. I need human interaction and I get lonely. I didn't know this about myself before lock-down and I was almost prideful that I like to be independent and enjoy my own company/ But I need my friends,especially face to face contact. It's endearing to know this about me but its not endearing when I actually have to be in lock-down.

So, I spent the rest of my evening preparing more Walkman playlists to listen to while I'll be working from home. The connection I feel from listening to music somehow pulls me through. I like to discover new artists and consume their whole discography for the whole day. I'm currently doing that with BTS and I have no regrets.

 I'll continue to keep up my blogging to remind myself of my life before lock-down. I cant believe we   missed out of the entire Autumn of 2020 and I barely got to see Winter. Wish me luck.