I cried so hard watching To All The Boys I've Loved Before on Netflix this week, a film based on the book by Jenny Han, which I haven't read yet but the trilogy is now on my to-read list.

I was embarrassed because it's such a sweet and funny TEEN movie so I didn't understand my feels. Why so emotional about a cute teen coming of age story? That night I went to bed still thinking about the film. The next morning I rewatched it because I'd enjoyed it so much the first time and also to see if I could figure out what about it intrigued me so.

I related to a film that had close to zero resemblance to any part of my life as a frumpy, grumpy, anti-social teenager. If anything, adult me is more like the lead character - I'm sensible yet emotionally naive and found myself in a 'second best / fake best' situation with a boy. But that's not why I loved the film so much.

As a tween I used to obsessively write fictional stories with teen girls as the lead characters. I have no idea if they were any good and they are all long gone because I wrote them on a typewriter and those pieces of paper were probably trashed by Dad Pham. He always threw out our homework as kids. I never realised until now that all of my fictional characters were white. That was all I read in books as a kid, that was all I knew. Representation is so important.

Watching To All The Boys I've Loved Before, I cried for younger me who would have admired and adored an Asian-American character like Lara Jean. I cried for what I missed out growing up, that feeling of belonging and acceptance. I cried because younger generations like my nieces will have books and films like this and realise they have a place in this world. They are not 'other', they are not invisible. I am so grateful to Jenny Han and Netflix and Lana Condor (who has Vietnamese heritage - woo)! Fingers crossed the other books in this series get adapted for film.

I'm going to see the movie Crazy Rich Asians on opening night with my (Not So) Single Ladies Valentine's Day Birthday posse. Wish me luck. I bet I'm going to cry like a baby.

After a year of ups and downs, I'm craving peace and calm. I look forward to not doing much for a while, please and thank you. I'm at my most relaxed lazing in bed so I finally took the plunge and sunk hundreds of dollars into fresh sheets and quilt covers. Boyfriend got me into top sheets when I used to crash at his, and I've since upgraded all my sheets to nice sets. It's 1000TC or nothing, baby!

I have been sleeping on soft, silky, sublime, hotel quality bed sheets and it is life changing. I can't believe I waited so long to do this. So many nights of luxurious sleep wasted! I could never afford this in my early days of minimum wage employment, but I earned enough to this year finally pay off the last of my HECS debt so it's about time I treat myself. There are some perks to being an adult.

I've had crummy bargain bin sheets my whole adult life because I never upgraded them since moving to Melbourne as a poor graduate. As a result I have slept on ratty, old sheets for over a decade. They are so worn down the threads have a lot of dye so it's streaked with white and discolour. If you can afford to give a shit about sheets, please do.
The downside to having unbelievably comfy bedsheets is it makes getting out of bed even harder in the mornings. Lucky Boyfriend starts work early so I feel guilty staying in bed for too long when he's up and atom.

I never knew I took soup for granted until I started dating the soup nazi. No, he doesn't make amazing soup and withhold it as punishment for misbehaving. He hates soup as a food category because he has terrible taste (why do you think he likes me?) and we eat dinner together so I now never eat soup for dinner. Noodle soups, hearty soups, chunky soups, wonton soups, laksa, gia ri (Vietnamese curry) - none of these are in his realm of edible foods. It kills me.

Before this I never carried soup to work because it's messy and I only had cheap takeaway containers that aren't spill proof. Since soup for dinner is no longer an option, I'm eating more and more soup for lunch at work because my cravings are next level especially during winter.

I had a couple of spillage issues on the way to work with my regular cheapo takeaway tubs so I went to my old favourite, Biome, to get a soup-friendly reusable food container. Hello, Thermos. I don't need it to be insulated because there's a microwave at work but boy-oh, it's sooo nice to travel with and I like having the option to take hot or cold foods with me on a picnic that I won't share with the boyfriend because he doesn't do soup.

My Thermos Funtainer Food Jar in Charcoal (470ml) came with a folded metal spoon in the top compartment but I took that out since we have cutlery at work. Instead, I fill it with fresh garnish like spring onion and chilli or coriander and fried shallots instead. I've level upped my office food game this month. Yay me.

One thing I've learned transitioning from a small business where it's usually me and the owner then maybe another colleague or two to medium and corporate offices is that shared spaces with five colleagues and more is never a good time. There are always the clean freaks, the careless and the adult kids whose parents never taught them any better. Put the spectrum in one space and sparks, in the form of passive aggressive signs, fly to no avail.

Don't get me wrong. I'm on the passive aggressors' side. Clean up after yourself, follow Dan Savage's relationship advice - leave the campsite better than you found it... There shouldn't be the need to put up signs instructing people to be decent human beings. Why am I picking old banana peels and plastic bags out of the recycling bin when someone put up a sign that explicitly explains what can and cannot be recycled? Ew!

One of my favourite signs in the office though is in the toilet cubicle. There's a not so secret war against whoever is not replacing the toilet paper roll. Something about the sign combined with the toilet paper brand name 'Who Gives A Crap' gives me the giggles. Clearly the culprit does not give a crap when they take a crap. Not knowingly at least.

The culprit is still wiping right by wiping at all because the more toilet paper we use, the more Who Gives A Crap can contribute to building toilets for the less fortunate. We take toilets and toilet paper for granted in Australia but it's crucial for hygiene and health.

Work uses the regular Who Gives A Crap toilet paper but I am a Premium subscriber because I want only the best for my bum cheeks given the choice. The subscription is 100% flexible - you can log in online and change the next delivery date if you have too little or too many toilet rolls left. They come in boxes of 48 so prepare to store a big box of toilet rolls. I build a pyramid next to my bed currently but when I move to my own place this weekend I'm going to stake a spot and claim if for Who Gives A Crap toilet paper storage. I also use their facial tissues. I tried the paper towel but it's not very absorbent so I haven't ordered more. The delivery service is super quick and free to metro areas. Plus, their customer service team is excellent - I've canceled subscriptions before to change my order and both times I contacted them, they were quick to respond, helpful and stupidly friendly. These people give a crap and so should you.

I've been dying my hair black since my early 20s. I don't know what I was missing in my diet or if it was all the stress of being zen but I've had grey hairs for as long as I can remember. That said, I have a terrible memory and can't remember much about most things including university even though I'm still paying off that debt - good one, brain, you waste of money; high school; and childhood. I do remember having grey hairs in early high school though so I may have had them in primary school and only noticed once I hit puberty and self-consciousness in high school.

I used to have bright red hair back in the day which was a high cost, high maintenance time in my life. These days I dye my own hair using a supermarket dye because black is easy peasy; it's an all over even colour, and very low maintenance.

I swim 2-3 times each week and chlorine dries my hair out something awful so I need a hair dye that is gentle enough not to wreak havoc on my already damaged head. Schwarzkopf Perfect Mousse is the gentlest permanent dye I've found. I've been using the black 1-0 shade every 5-6 weeks for years and have had no issues with it. I am a messy person due to clumsiness so I have accidentally dyed things that aren't my hair using regular dye pastes. The foam is super easy to apply and manage, and if you do manage to get it somewhere it's not supposed to be (like a bathroom wall) because it's gentle, you have time to wash it away without staining.

Chemist Warehouse has them for $8.99 ($6 less than the RRP). Bargain!

Besides things like family and a handful of friends, the next longest relationship I've had in my life is with iPhones. I made the switch from Android to Apple back in 2011, and never thought I'd come back but here I am.

World, meet my new long-term potential, the OnePlus 5t. I wouldn't know this phone existed except work filed me under nerd and sat me with the IT & Development teams so I'm surrounded by tech heads - all of whom now have a OnePlus 5 or 5t phone. They tell me it's the amalgamation of features the premium phones like Samsung, iPhone and Google but at about half the price. I got the pimped up OnePlus 5t with 8GB RAM and 128GB storage on sale for AU$750.

I wish I'd move back to Android sooner. So much freedom, more functionality and better user experience all around. Guess that's what comes of giving developers more freedom. There is risk with open-source platforms where anyone can make anything so I keep to the trusted apps from mainstream, well-known companies.

I should have had ditched iPhone after my 4 because the 6 Plus was disappointing. The camera is awful - it's so bad that when I compared it to my sister's iPhone 6, I thought mine was broken so I brought it back to Apple who said no, the pixelated grainy image is the camera working normally. The OnePlus camera is crispy as and handles low light situations so well. You'll see the difference on my blog photos in coming months. The selfie is the front-facing camera. The cat photo below is main camera. Crispy!

The only downside of my OnePlus is no one will replace my handset if something goes awry because I got it online from GearBest (China). But if you don't want to risk it to save a few hundred bucks, you can get it locally from Kogan.com. Go forth and OnePlus!

You should totally try ballet if you want to ache all over, all the time. Oh god, why does it hurt so much? I exaggerate. It's been over 2 months of classes now with Queensland Ballet and my body is handling ballet better. In fact, I feel stronger, and have used my new knowledge of how my muscles work to improve my swimming technique. Bi-winning!

But boy-oh, the first week back in ballet, everything hurt SO much. I did the free trial class at the start of the year to see if I could get to class on time coming from work. And also to see if my old, inactive, inflexible joints could handle it. My thighs, my butt, my hips, my core (who knew I had a core?), my arms - it hurt to sit, stand, and move. I could barely think without flinching the next day after class, but I knew that was a good thing so I' enrolled in the 8 week Ballet Basics course, and now I take casual beginner ballet classes throughout the week.

Ballet is great for strengthening muscles, posture, wearing high heels and in my case, helping with my pigeon toe situation (though nothing will help the fact my hip is wonky making my left leg longer than my right). It seems like a gentle exercise and I suppose it is compared to impact sports like boxing, but it's a lot tougher than you'd imagine to keep control of all your muscles. I still ache after every class, though it's more developmental pain now and less these-muscles-have-never-been-used pain.

I was so nervous going into my first Ballet Basics taster class. It's been years in since I did beginner ballet the first time around, and I was younger and fitter then. I'd been thinking about it for months but it took my friend B prodding nonstop for me to book the class. Everyone needs an annoying, stubborn and pushy friend in their life.

I did beginner classes a few years back with Centenary Dance Academy on the Southside and even performed in their end of year showcase (I was so bad, it was good), but then I changed jobs and the commute was too far to make it in time for class. So I stopped. Until I started doing Groove Therapy classes and it got me thinking about body movement, and dance. I'm slowly becoming more active. I started with walks, then added weekend swims, then Groove Therapy, before I upped my walks to jog-walks (one day I hope to jog then run the full route).

Now I'm doing Queensland Ballet's Ballet Basics 8-week course before I get back into Beginner Ballet casual classes. They also offer Pilates, Barre & Tone and a bunch of other classes I'd like to try once I'm in better ballet shape. I need to pace myself though, because I am dopey and prone to hurt myself whenever I try new things with my uncooperative body.

I went back to liquid shampoo and conditioner this month after trying plastic free hair for a year and a half. This is the longest time I’ve tried anything because I really wanted to make it work - I even cut off 60% of my hair to make it more manageable, but in the end I have to admit shampoo bars are not right for me. I do think it will work for people with finer hair, though. My hair is thick and coarse, and the bars cling to it leaving my hair thick (which I like), but also sticky and dusty. I still travel with shampoo and conditioner bars because it's convenient, but for long term use, I need to mix in a liquid shampoo and conditioner to rinse out the shampoo bar gunk that collects.

These are my recommendations for shampoo & conditioner bars if you want to give it a whirl yourself.

Shampoo bars - The Beauty & The Bees - Voodoo Black Bamboo from Biome was my favourite. It lathers up nicely when you rub it on your wet hair, it left my hair 'volumnessy' as someone at work described it. I chop my bars in half because I have tiny hands syndrome (it hurts my feelings that I have something in common with Donald Trump) and also makes one bar last longer.

Conditioner bars - I tried diluted Apple Cider Vinegar twice a week instead of conditioner for three months, but no matter how watered down or infrequent, I found it irritated my scalp. My hair also smelled a bit gross because the vinegar smell clung to it. So I moved onto conditioner bars.

Lush sell 3 conditioner bars and I’ve tried them all. Eldest niece who is somehow old enough to have a job (when did that happen?!) bought me "Jungle" for Xmas. I used the whole bar, but it didn't work wonders for my knotty shampoo bar hair, even though my hair 'smells amazing' according to another workmate. Why do so many work people comment on my hair?

I tried a couple more from Lush. ‘Sugar Daddy-O’ didn’t do much to smooth my hair either though it smelled great. But ‘Big’ makes my hair nice and soft, and smooth - it’s my favourite of the Lush conditioner bars and I’m still using it now.

I went to Germany to visit my birth town and see where my parents lived for a decade before they moved to Australia. Little did I know I'd be meeting the origin of my chilli trees there too. Maybe don’t tell border patrol that. My German Uncle’s chillies are all over Brisbane and who knows where else it has migrated. German Uncle is the coolest as you can see from the photo. He rules.

When I was little, I avoided chilli like the plague. I was the wuss at the dinner table who needed to have my own spice and fun free dipping sauce, while the siblings had a medium hot sauce and Dad Pham had eyebrow singing chilli sauce. My, how the tables have turned.

Dad can no longer stomach hot chilli - he can have it mild. Siblings are still in the middle ground but these days I chomp through hot chilli like I don't need my stomach lining in tact. I'll each chilli with nearly every savoury meal in different forms - fresh, minced, paste, pickled, and sometimes combined with sriracha or other hot sauces 'cause I like to feel the burn. It's a combination of the flavour and the spiciness that I love. The trouble is, the more I eat the less I feel the burn so I up the quantity. When it starts upsetting my belly, I take a little break so my body can reset then I start out with a little spice and build back up again. It's a happy cycle.

When we first moved into the house Dad Pham said I'd be rubbish at keeping chilli trees and make a mess of the yard. But I think he got tired of me stripping his chilli trees bare every time I visited on the weekend, so when his old plant started to die, he split its seedlings into 5 smaller trees - one went to B at work, two stayed with Dad and two came home with me. After nearly a year they're finally growing a handful of chillies and boy-o am I excited for when they're in full bloom. Right now, I have to pace myself and have been scavenging chillies from Dad, B, and Uncle T. Crazy to think, these babies originated in Germany like me!

I'm a deep level of dopey that makes strangers offer to help me carry groceries even though I'm totally capable...I'm just super awkward and uncoordinated. So when work helped launch Groove Therapy 101 in Brisbane & the Gold Coast (good job, Queen B!), I thought it'd be a great idea to go along and embarrass myself in the name of team building. And also, I like to try new things. I've been going every week since!

Groove Therapy isn't like other 'beginner' dance classes where you need at least some dance background plus the ability to follow choreography. The format for Groove Therapy is so much simpler - the dance therapist shows you a move facing the room, and you mirror them - that's it. You don't have to remember a bazillion steps, they read the room and simplify steps or add little extra grooves to suit the skill levels so everyone can follow along. Plus there are no mirrors and the lights aren't bright so you don't have to see what you look like, you just feel like a damn queen nailing all the moves (even when you aren't).

I totally sucked for the first month at Groove Therapy because my body is not used to moving in a way that resembles having rhythm, but I eventually got used to mirroring the instructor, and even add my own little grooves once I nail the basics. In Brisbane, we play little dance games and end each class with a little combo which is a few steps from today's class combined.

A post shared by GROOVE THERAPY (@groovetherapy_101) on Oct 7, 2017 at 5:59pm PDT

Wanida, the Brisbane dance therapist, is a little pocket rocket - so cheerful and energetic and encouraging, she brightens up my day and gets me pumped for the rest of the week! I notice I've been dancing along to music at work more as a result, and while I'm driving and singing car karaoke in the mornings. Seriously, dance brings so much joy - if you've ever wanted to groove along to things but don't know how and don't want to take formal dance lessons, get along to a Groove Therapy session and party in a super-chill and welcoming space! I love, love, love Groove Therapy. I start my week by partying with Groove Therapy Brisbane @ the Latvian Hall in Woolloongabba @ 6.30pm for an hour.

They hold sessions in Brisbane, Gold Coast, Byron Bay, Sydney and Melbourne. Check it out: groovetherapy101.com.

Tips for traveling with Little Sissy Pham: don't. 

The girl suffered through swollen ankles then a cold then constipation then headaches then motion sickness then claustrophobia. It was literally one thing after another for the whole 5 weeks. It was the worst.

Tips for traveling long distance flights: compression socks. 

Our friend told us to get socks the day before we spent 26 hours commuting but did we listen? No. We were lazy about going to the shops because we'd already tapped out and slid into holiday mode. It ruined Paris for Little Sissy - she was in agony the whole time we adventured to all the grand and beautiful sights. It also meant we couldn't pack as much into each day since she was in agony and didn't enjoy herself.

Instead, we bought compression socks in Paris for a lot more than we'd have spent at home as a lesson to always listen to clever friends who care about your health and well-being. Ijiuts. We wore the socks for the return flight and it helped a lot. We also wore it on long haul train rides between countries because in Europe you can get to most countries by high speed rail unlike in Australia where trains are slow and cumbersome. And in Brisbane where sometimes folks can't get home from work by train if the weather is too rainy or too hot. Australia's just not great at trains, hey.

So now I'm hoping that people reading this who are about to go on long haul flights will heed my warning to not be dumb like us. Wear compression socks and keep those legs moving - will save you a world of pain on the other end.

Finally! A bicarb free, palm oil free and aluminium free deodorant that works really well, and lasts all day!

I was using crystal magic for the past year after trying half a dozen ‘natural’ deodorants. By natural, I mean aluminium chlorohydrate free. Most people who wear 'natural' deodorant are avoiding this compound that is possibly linked to cancer. I don't care about that though. I wanted a palm oil free deodorant because all the roll-ons in the super market contain conflict palm oil derived ingredients, which is killing orang-utans and devastating lands in less fortunate countries. So 'natural' deodorants was my only palm oil free option. Unlucky me though, I am sensitive to bicarb, which is the most common anti-odour replacement for aluminium chlorohydrate - it gives me painful, red and dry rashes. There are bicarb free pastes and roll-ons but the ones I tried only lasted a few hours and I was stinking by lunch time after applying in the morning. So for the past while I've been using crystals but they only fight my stench, they don’t help with my profuse sweating.

No Pong came across my Facebook feed as a sponsored ad and at first I was sceptical because advertising. But then I kept seeing real people’s comments raving about their product, so I had a look at the ingredients list. Alas, it had bicarb so I couldn't use it. But then a bicarb free version was developed. Again, I was sceptical because I had tried other bicarb pastes and still ponged but their bicarb version had such mad fans, I decided to give it a go. I am so glad I did - game-changer!

No Pong does what its name says. It stops the stink, and also absorbs sweat so you're nice and dry. A tiny pea-sized blob rubbed under each arm lasts all day. It also has the most pleasant and mild scent, which is another thing I didn’t like about other natural deodorants - they all used really strong oils that made smell like an incense stick whenever I raised my arm.

I’m now onto my second tub of No Pong already, and have not had a day where I needed to reapply! Though, I should note I do morning exercise then shower before I apply the anti-odourant - I’m not sure how it holds up if you go to the gym after work. I have just started going to Groove Therapy (pre-beginner’s dance class) once a week after work, and that’s fine. I’m not fresh afterwards because so much sweat, but I don’t reek either. Similar to how I felt after adult beginner ballet classes when I was using Dove deodorant  roll-ons. Not fresh, but not gross either. What can I say? I’m just a natural stinker. But No Pong helps with that while being bicarb-, aluminium- and palm oil-free! It really is wonderful, and I cannot recommend it enough!

We’re pretty excited about this announcement! Meet the newest member of our family - No Pong Low Fragrance, Bicarb Free! We’ve designed this No Pong especially for people sensitive to fragrances and bicarb in deodorants. As you can imagine, we wouldn’t release a product unless we were pretty sure it did what it says on the tin, and we believe this No Pong is just as ridiculously effective as our original, whether you are sensitive to those ingredients or not. Our all new patent-pending formula comes with some new premium all natural ingredients to get the job done, and a month of freshness is available right now for $6.95 + postage. -www.nopong.com

A post shared by No Pong, All Natural Deodorant (@nopong.deodorant) on Apr 28, 2017 at 12:41pm PDT

I've never worked in my own office without other people, unless you count that time I worked from home alone in my bedroom with only a few crows and a spider for company. All other times, I'm in low partitioned pods or big open spaces - never in small confined spaces. The social aspect is great, and I often pick up bits of knowledge that I can use in my work or to help others. But most of the time it's just noise I don't need to absorb. Open plan offices must be great for headphone sales.

In small teams of 2-8 people I used the free ear buds you get with super expensive smartphones, and that was fine. But this year my team has doubled in size and suddenly it went from sometimes not hearing people I was speaking to on the phone to me not being able to hear myself think. Using my mobile phone to make calls fixed the first issue. The second issue required big, on-ear headphones.

Considering I studied music & sound recording at university, you'd think I'd know something about headphones but I don't. I don't remember anything from university, except I met some most excellent people in my film class, and I've managed to keep in touch with one even though she lives in Kuwait these days. Yup, the HECS debt I'm still paying off was worth it.

A little browsing at electronic stores - I know shopping that's not in my pyjamas on the couch is so foreign to me these days. And then some googling brought me to House of Marley. A brand run by Bob Marley's family. They create headphones, speakers and accessories using recycled and repurposed materials. I was sold on those two facts alone.

I got myself the Positive Vibrations headphones because the name is so me, and also the colourways are super cute. Since I haven’t owned on-ear headphones since 2007, I have no idea where these sit on the sound quality scale apart from the fact they are better than the Sony headphones I had a decade ago. The sound is nice, crisp and light. I hate bass-heavy headphones like Beats since I prefer to hear my music not feel it shaking my skull open. Best of all these babies block out my teammates. Ideal!

I don’t know why I was tasked with dressing my eldest niece for her formal last year. Seriously, her mum sees me every weekend. She knows I dress like I rummaged through a kindergarten lost and found box. But even though I look like rainbow vomit, I suppose I am the most responsible and reliable of the Phamlings since I have zero obligations of my own since I am a commitment-phobe.

Yes, I don't have a home, a loan, debts, minimal keys, no lease, no lock-in contracts, any accounts I have are month-to-month. I also prefer work to be on a fixed-contract basis so I know there is a set date to decide whether I stay or go. I like to know I can up and leave at any moment because commitment isn't my thing. I suppose it means I can pick up other people’s duties since I don’t have many of my own. And so, Aunty Ngoc had to learn what girls wear to formals since I never went to my own.  I especially don’t know how to shop for fancy things that fit short, petite teens who don't fit dress or shoe sizes in regular stores. I was clueless.

We went to SO many shops across SO many days, and had zero luck. All the shopping centres, all the known shopping strips - it was only thanks to the Google Maps God on our fourth all-day shopping fail. I had absolutely zero more ideas of where to try so I googled anything on the south side we could try on our way home, and up came Gossip Gowns in the middle of nowhere yet somewhat on our way home. Well, it was in the middle of somewhere obviously but it’s an odd block - almost a traffic island at an intersection in Norman Park, Brisbane, QLD. I didn’t have high hopes after seeing her try on dozens of dresses that didn’t sit or feel right. We were both feeling deflated on what should have been a fun experience.

At first looking at the hundreds of gorgeous gowns, I had a sinking feeling everything would be out of our poor people budget but the lovely ladies saw us looking lost, and offered us help to find a dress we could afford yet looked fabulous.


As soon as eldest niece put the rose gold sequin on, I knew we’d found it. Her body language changed from defeated to excited twists and twirls - the way Disney princesses do when they get makeovers. Disney has ruined reality for us, hasn’t it? But she also tried on a second dress that the sales assistant had offered. When the lady saw her in option 2 she shook her head and said it didn’t show off her great body the way the cheaper sequin dress which I really appreciated and agreed with. It irks me when sales people tell you something looks good when it doesn’t ‘cause they want to make budget more than they want to help you find what’s right for you.

I honestly loved the vibe at Gossip Gowns even though I was a fish out of water there. The ladies there know exactly what they’re doing when it comes to fitting dresses. They have a stand to help short people, can show you where the dress needs to be taken up, have heels on the ready to help envision the final look, and I trusted their knowledge and guidance. It made shopping for a gown so much easier than me blindly leading my poor niece all around Brisbane. If you ever find yourself in need of a school formal dress, I recommend you pay Gossip Gowns a visit!

When we first moved into our apartment a few years ago, Dad Pham told me under no circumstances was I to get plants because I’d kill anything dead and make a mess and fill the garden with weeds. Father knows best so I left it alone for two years. Then one day on the way back from Boxing Day shopping at Pacific Fair where I bought everything full priced and shamed Little Sissy Pham’s gay friends to the core, we stopped off at IKEA for more impulse shopping. But this time I bought a stack of self-watering planters on SALE. Finally!

This IKEA planter is perfect for the lazy gardener (i.e. me) because you water the top pot and it trickles all the way through. Minimal effort, maximum impact - that's my life motto.

Surprisingly, I've kept my herb garden alive for half a year. Though, if I’m real - there have been some unfortunate events and a couple of deaths. First, I let a bunch of insects obliterate most of the herbs. Then when I tried to remedy it I didn't know to spray the plants at night and sunburnt the heck out of the surviving leaves. But with some patience and care I was able to salvage most of the plants and they're thriving.

There's something therapeutic about caring for plants. It's rewarding seeing something flourish directly because you worked on it. It's also bloody delicious having fresh herbs to throw into your dishes. Still, it’s early days - I could well be writing an obituary for my plants soon. Dad does have a way of being right about things. Like that time he told me I was too stubborn a child he couldn’t raise me properly so had to let me do my own thing and learn life the hard way, and I refuse to believe that he didn't raise me because that’s absurd and I always know best. He can't tell me how he parented me!

I don't get the flu injection every year. I am totally pro vaccinations but with the flu jab I don't bother because I'm at low risk of exposure. Little Sissy Pham gets them free at work because government and also she crosses paths with the masses every day. I, on the other hand, don't particularly want to pay to be stuck with a needle, and expect my immune system to handle a solo drive to work and a tiny team.

That being said: Betadine Throat Gargle - Little Sissy Pham and I swear by this stuff. As soon as I feel a sore throat coming on, I head straight to the supermarket or pharmacy to stock up on the gargle and the Betadine Lozenges (lemon flavour is my fave). I am rarely exposed to confined public spaces like public transport, so I only get sick if someone in the office is kind enough to share their germs with work. But on those rare occasions I start waking up with a sore throat, my go-to best friend is Betadine Throat Gargle. 1-3 days of gargling usually gets rid of the sore throat.

Recently, I caught a bug from my desk buddy but I hung out with Betadine and bounced back after a few days in bed. In a feverish haze, I accidentally drank 5 ml of the stuff before I remembered it was a gargle and not cough medicine. The good news is I didn't die. The bad news is it tastes bloody awful going down. It burns! It burns!

My desk buddy was very sick for two weeks from the bug, and I got back to life in 3 days (1 day off, and a weekend). Sure, I wasn't 100% and I kept calling 'denim' 'dinner' for a couple of days, but I made it to work, and was somewhat functional and I swear it was thanks to Betadine reigning in the virus that was trying to infect my throat and life. Give it a shot (but don't swallow) next time you feel a sore throat coming on.

When we lived in the council flats, Dad Pham used me as his megaphone. I could be heard from blocks away when I yelled from the balcony so if I was home he'd use me to call my siblings. These days he has a mobile phone to do this, so instead I use my lung capacity to belt out tunes in my car on the commute to work. I don't sing in front of other people normally but I make an exception at red lights where they can probably hear me warbling since I have my windows open (air con dries out my eyeballs - they haven't been the same since laser surgery, but vision = worth it).

I treat myself to car karaoke in the mornings or on long solo drives up or down the Coasts. I sing from the belly - no gentle throat singing for this normally quiet one. I roar for 50-ish minutes to work because I need the extra oxygen to wake me up since I don't do daily coffees like most of my colleagues. Dad is always encouraging me to do breathing exercises every morning - sucking in air to yell at songs each morning is my version of breathing exercises. On the way home I don't sing, I prefer to destress from work by listening to the soothing voices of podcasters discussing true stories of murder, rape and torture.

I have two core playlists - old school (60s-70s) & less old school (90s rap & hip hop to modern pop) - that are always there so the songs come and go as I get bored of singing along or learn the hard way there are some notes that just hurt my throat and ears. Then I'll occasionally go through phases like Beyonce's Lemonade, Disney's Moana soundtrack. I wanted to go through a Dr. Dre 2001 but I really cannot rap - I barely remember lyrics to regular songs with many less words.

Car karaoke, guys - I highly recommend for your morning commute. Would not recommend for public transport though. You may get a punch in the throat if you do.

I kept handwritten journals from primary school through to university. In the past decade or so I’ve lost the good habit. I rarely sit down without technology - my laptop or my phone, so I decided to digitise my journal and see if that worked. It did. I created a Gmail account that I email every 1-3 days with my latest news, thoughts and meanderings. It mostly acts as a log of my mediocre life, but every now and then it’s good to vent privately about the state of something in my life or the world, or anything really.

Even though I have this blog - which is also like a weblog of my life, I still want to keep a diary of my (im)proper private thoughts because not everyone needs to know I ate breakfast in the courtyard so I could spend quality time with my plants…and the PokéStop next door. Or that I’m constipated from eating potato chips for dinner for half the week. No, really, I am that interesting I want to record every useless thought I have. But I know it’s not for everyone so I'm doing the internet a kindness and keeping a private journal.

The perks of a digital diary means I can easily search for things if I want to recall an event without manually trawling through a dozen thick A4 books to try and find a bit of information. It took me 30 minutes to figure out how old our cat was when the Vet asked her age - a quick Gmail search would have pulled it up in seconds. It’s also handy not traveling with a book. I used to write in my journal a lot when I went on holidays away - the quiet time at night not in my own home was perfect for focussed writing, but that required forethought and packing my diary in the first place. Now I can simply email my diary from my phone any time, anywhere.

For anyone wanting to keep a journal but never quite getting started or if you have a journal and dropped off because you never seem to have time to sit down and write your thoughts, I highly recommend digitising your entries. If you’re on the internet often, it makes sense to email your entries to/from an exclusive address instead of finding time to sit down with a notebook and handwriting the story of your life. You can also attach photos and videos to keep a visual diary of your memories too. I love it.

I wish I had known about and tried Menstrual Cups sooner - I would have saved so much discomfort, and money, and waste. I discovered them last year through my obsession with all things Biome Store. Then a stellar friend vouched for them so I gave it a go. And, boy-o, am I mad at myself for not getting one sooner.

I have the Lunette Cup - Size 1 in blue (pictured). It is SO much better than icky tampons or pads. I actually forget I have my period a lot of the time because I can't feel the cup inside me the way I felt tampons and pads. The only time I am aware of having my period is on my heavy flow day where the bleeding is so heavy it leaks from the cup. On these days I'm aware of the my period because I use Ecomoon's reusable menstrual pad as a pantyliner and sometimes when the cup is really full I can feel the blood sloshing around when the cup is nearly full and I'm overdue to empty it.
It hasn't been all smooth sailing. The first time I slept with the cup it slipped further in (this is normal), and it took me half an hour to figure out how to get it out. I, of course, didn't read the instructions until I absolutely had to. You need to bear down, using your muscles to squeeze it to the base of your uterus where it normally sits. Then you can easily reach up and wiggle the cup out like usual. I also had another incident where I used the bearing down trick with a full bladder and accidentally peed all over my hand. Mm...That's a warm memory. Now I know to pee before I bear down. Yup.

The joys of womanhood, hey? Even though it can be a messy learning curve go begin with, I swear by the menstrual cup and will never look back. It feels like a big investment to spend $50-ish for a cup but think of how much tampons will cost you over 5 years or more. The cups last for years, some of my friends have had their one for 5-8 years and haven't needed to replace it yet. Seriously, worth giving them a go!

I turned off my social media notifications a month ago, and it’s probably the only good decision I’ve made all year. Washing crystals with my klutz hands in the bathroom sink and chipping the basin - terrible idea. Spraying my herbs with a homemade mix that sunburnt all the leaves cause I did so at the wrong time of day with a too-heavy mix and breaking my sister’s spray bottle when the cayenne pepper clogged the pump - also not great ideas. Hanging out with someone I referred to as No Fun - worst idea. But reducing the number of notifications I get by turning off notifications for non-essential apps? Best idea ever.

I was forever guilty of checking notifications when they popped up on my phone, then spending the next 10-30mins scrolling through whatever app I had opened. I no longer get notifications for Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, Tinder, Twitter and LinkedIn - the worst offenders on my phone. I also started scheduling social posts for my blog using Hootsuite so I don’t need to go into any apps.

I turned off email notifications except for direct, personal e-mails - G Suite / Gmail is my hero here, you can set it up to filter out all the non-essential emails like e-newsletters, order updates, social media updates etc. And work emails no longer ping my phone unless it’s from an address marked as “VIP” - as in, the boss, the CEO etc. The rest of the digital world can wait until I’m in the mood for virtual socialising. And if it can’t, the people who need to reach me have my mobile number. Yup, I’m one of those old people who still uses their phone for calls some of the time.

I still love a good scroll through social media but these days it’s at my own pace and not when someone else is interacting with me on the apps. So sorry (not sorry) if I haven’t gotten back to anyone on social media - take no notice, I am not ignoring you, I just haven’t gotten around to opening the app yet.