A Day in the Life: May 2014

This post is another entry for Manda’s A Day in the Life linkup. Feel free to view my previous entries.

This morning I slept in – it’s a wonderful Sunday! I slept rather early last night but I think I needed the sleep. I think I finally woke up at about 9am, even though I had idiotically put my alarm on at 5:30am and it wasn’t even a work day. I make my bed, because it’s the first thing I do when I get out of bed, without fail.

I make myself breakfast. I don’t usually eat much for breakfast during the week, or I am so busy with work that I don’t have much more than tea until 11am, which is when I might have some muesli or cereal… but anyway, I treat myself with something nice on the weekends most of the time. I lightly fry two eggs – sunny side up because that’s my favourite – then prepare two slices of toast with a square of Swiss cheese on top, and a couple of slices of gravlax salmon. It’s a ginormous breakfast, but it looks great and I know it’ll taste great… I ate it before I had a chance to take a picture. :(

Crispy seaweed!
Crispy seaweed!
Lipton’s Russian Earl Grey tea
Lipton’s Russian Earl Grey tea

I ate a bit of seaweed that I got from Costco. I like these packets; they are larger than the ones I usually buy at Asian grocery stores. I have tea (Lipton’s Russian Earl Grey), and breakfast is done.

I spend most of the morning texting James, who is learning Japanese hiragana in preparation for his solo trip to Japan in November.

After taking a shower I spend some time looking for loose leaf tea online, but I don’t buy anything. I was also looking for some cute but practical tea infuser balls. I gave up because I couldn’t find something cute and affordable, and decided that I could buy any ordinary one and put a charm on the end of the chain if I want.

I took the time to be proud of some jewellery organising I did the night before…

Rings I cleaned up the night before. #proud
Rings I cleaned up the night before. #proud
A lion ring holder my mum bought for me!
A lion ring holder my mum bought for me!

I watched a few videos on YouTube, after Cookie told me about comedian Eddie Izzard. I cleaned my MacBook Air screen and keyboard. I looked in my nail polish drawer trying to pick a colour. James came over, while I was deciding between a glittery pink and an emerald green. Since he was hungry he cooked noodles. I bought a packet of egg noodles from Costco and they were really cheap, and taste nice. Bargain! We used those noodles again.

Decisions...
Decisions…
Almond Roca. One of my favourite chocolates. So good.
Almond Roca. One of my favourite chocolates. So good.
James practising hiragana
James practising hiragana

Also, no photos of food because it was too good and I had to eat it right away…

James said he wanted to try something he had heard about somewhere. I watched him cut a slot in a toilet paper roll, just big enough to fit my iPhone. Apparently, putting the phone in the slot of a toilet paper roll amplifies the sound. It didn’t seem to make a huge difference, but it made a little bit of a difference, so I continue to let my phone play music whilst sitting in the roll. :P

The apparent “amplifier”
The apparent “amplifier”

I painted my nails while we watched some Lego animation videos, and some reality television show videos because we were bored. I also found a notebook for James to practice his hiragana in. He did a really great job for someone who had learned in a weekend! Also, it was a cute notebook, but stapled really dodgy, so I was happy for him to use it as scrap. I bought it at a closing down sale anyway.

Calvin Klein emerald green nail colour
Calvin Klein emerald green nail colour

We spent the evening watching 500 Days of Summer. It is a movie I have been meaning to watch since I saw the trailer years ago, but only got around to watching it now. I enjoyed it; it is an unusual movie and quite funny in parts, and isn’t your typical romantic comedy. I also like that it isn’t exactly in chronological order.

Oh, and by then my nails were a nice shade of green. :D

James practising more hiragana!
James practising more hiragana!
Emerald green nails, yay
Emerald green nails, yay

I practiced some video recording on my camera while my family watched television. I might be video recording at a concert soon – they know my skills are not like that of a professional, but still want me on board and to give it a go.

Throughout the day I gave James a few tests to write some Japanese words or read sentences I had written. I also took the time to critique his strokes, haha. After James left, I spent most of the night catching up on The Fanlistings Network Message Board and doing my staffing duties. I recently got appointed as the staffer for the Songs: Bands/Groups N-Z category, so I am taking care of that category as well as Songs: Bands/Groups 0-M. It’s good to have both under my care!

I replied to a lot of emails I had forgotten about over the week. After a lot of tea I decided to post this, and get ready for bed. :3

Comments on this post

That nail colour is really nice. I don’t bother much with my nails because they just get wrecked at work, but when I do, I spend ages picking a colour.
I’ve heard about the loo roll tube amplifier thing, but I never tried it. Now I’ve seen someone do it though, I really want to try it out. (Even though you said it doesn’t make a real difference. I’m weird, I guess.)

Ah! The “crispy seaweed”! Gim, as we Koreans call them! YUM. I love those, and it’s always delicious to eat as a snack or as a side with a meal :D That photo caught my eye, hehe.

And holy, you have a lot of rings. I love rings, but I only have three I wear, and they are the same three rings I’ve been wearing for probably like 8 years!

Almond Roca are my favourite, too. Now I’m craving some.

Yup, I am obsessed with rings! I used to love bracelets but they jingled and jangled all the time. I only have one real silver one I wear all the time. The others would get destroyed if I wore them in the shower or even washed my hands with them, haha.

I love seasoned seaweed. Also, lovely nail polish colour. It’s very pigmented. Also love your ring collection! SO pretty!

PS – What’s the difference between Russian Earl Grey and regular Earl Grey?

The Russian Earl Grey tea is part of the Lipton Tea Discoveries Collection. They are the ones with the dark and slightly exotic looking boxes. As for the taste, the Russian version is a bit more floral… it is a bit hard to explain, but it has a lighter kind of taste. I have also tried the Green Gunpowder in that range, and it’s just like green tea but tastes lighter as well.

I always forget about doing this – I’m definitely going to have to write it on my calendar for June. :( But it sounds like you had a busy, fun day. I love the nail color – I’ve never heard of the toilet paper roll thing…I’ve heard of using a tea cup though. I’ve also never had Earl Grey tea of any sort, maybe I ought to get some. Best of luck to James in learning hiragana, and I hope he has a blast in Japan. :)

Oh boy you have a lot of rings! I have a handful but only wear two. And you have a lot of nail polish! Loving the green!

Mmmm crispy seaweed! All that’s missing is prawn toast!

Oh wow I haven’t been to The Fanlistings site for aaaaages! I had a couple of fanlistings once. Can’t even remember what they were!

TFL has been around for a while, I didn’t get into creating my own fanlistings until 2009, though I had heard of them well before that. There was a whole year hiatus when the site got hacked and it took forever to bring it back. The community isn’t as huge as it was, but it’s still lively!