2013 in Pictures

JANUARY



2013 marked the year I started knitting. (1) I bought this kit from Madrid (for only 1euro if I remember correctly! So cheap) and slowly started to work my way from there. (2) A ribbon I made to use as hair accessory -- one of my first projects from scratch.^_^ (3) Like I've always wanted to do, I sketched something from one of my trips, this of the illustration from the Berlin Wall. (4) Was never good at watercolour so I try my best to use this medium and improve myself. :D This one is my impression of Sol. After having only 2 days in Madrid, staying close to Sol marked the most impression on me of this city.

FEBRUARY



(1) I made curry with soumen! I was having a jap food rampage this month and made a lot of japanese-inspired food. (2) Mr. Brown Coffee from Taiwan. very good! A little expensive but cheaper than japanese ones. ^^ (3) rolls; and more food. (4) onigiri! I love looking at, making, and eating onigiri. Something about it is just so cute. (At least these are not as horrible as the ones Nodame made for Chiaki! --err--I watched this anime so many times the scene is playing in my head...without meaning to.XD

MARCH



(1) Celebrated St.Paddy's like the Irish, with Guinness. My close relationship with Ireland has its roots. Hehe. (2) Ate a lot of Kinder Surprise. To my disappointment, toys were pure rubbish. This was made for the Asian market, and I've only ever gotten fugly toys. The chocolate inside is insanely good though. (3) The summer only means one thing = SUIKA! Ate a lot of watermelons and just can't get enough! (4) Also drank a lot of cold beer like Hotaru. Summer can't get any better.



(5) Cut my fringe on a whim. One day I stopped caring what people think and just did what I wanted to do. (this doesn't happen often. How I wish that was for real!) (6) Bought some cute hair accessories. I keep losing them all the time. T_T (7) Found some time to re-organize and appreciate my penny collection. (8) Bought a chuckload of shoujo manga to read. (half of which I honestly haven't touched since).X3


APRIL



(1) Found some cute pyjama with sheeps all over it. :3 Has been one of my favourite things to wear. Haha. (2) My kind of dinner. Baguette, cheese, Spicy Sardines, Garlic spread. (3) Started painting my room white, and all other things white. My room has become a dull shade of pink and wanted something for a change. No, white is not dull.:D (4) Cannot forget about these yummy doughnuts from Krispy Kreme. Like I said, not so much a fan of this chain as it's too sweet, but these were so good..definitely an exception.;)

MAY


(1) Reawakened my love for literature. Have not read a book (novel) in the longest time. When I started Child 44, I was turning one page after another. It was THAT good. Seriously. (2) Found my old Sony discman from 2002. Was my first time buying something by myself in a foreign country (Taiwan)-- and one with a little language barrier (I speak Mandarin but not in conversational terms). I can never imagine how I managed to pull that one. X3 Probably spoke better then than now. (3) tried to be productive and started a short project using fabric pastels. I had a lot of fun. This is Rilakkuma on a canvas bag. (4) I bought a lot of cute stamps which I wanted at that time but never actually used... and have no use for, honestly.



(5) Bought another Eiffel Tower keyring which has joined my growing collection of (6) Eiffel goods. Haha. (7) I bought 2B pens and charcoal pencil. Great for sketching. Was planning to draw something but never got to.. YET. (8) Picked up the guitar again. Heard a song I wanted to learn, it was Asturias by Albeniz. I know this is pretty basic stuff for people studying classical guitar, but for someone learning it at home, I found this quite challenging. The playing style was not something I was accustomed to and being able to play it fairly decently makes me happy. :D I made some videos but we'll save that for later. ;P



Emptying my cabinets for new things in my life; while doing so I found these from my study back in Taiwan in 2002. (1) My school id (2) A cloth we designed with a local Taiwanese tribal pattern, We were free to draw however we like, as long as it follows some pattern. (11-12) some brochures of the places we visited while there. ;D I do miss the feeling of studying in a foreign country. You don't really have much freedom living under the same roof as your parents. (They don't like the idea of me wanting to live independently. -_- Only when they get mad, but never really mean it.) As much as I like company, I also like solitude. :3 I want to make my own decisions and not be blamed for making that decision. You know what I mean? XD Well, simply put, sometimes I'd like a little space and time for myself. For instance, I want to study but cannot concentrate when someone keeps bothering me about petty stuff... simple things like that. (but I am going off-topic...XD)

JUNE



(1) Bought a burger beanie.;D (2) Did more watercolour. I copied this design from a travel magazine. (3) I finally bought a new phone after so many years! :3 (4) Revamping my room, and more to do.

JULY



(1) Bought a vintage German language book which I hope to learn soon. (2) Organic lipbalm.. I doubt how organic it really is but I do love the light -not so artificial- citrus scent when applied. (3-4) Made yummy pancakes for myself, --it is my birthmonth after all-- made with layers of bacon, eggs, cheese, some herbs. The marshmallows are for photo-purposes.;D Also made some waffles with marshmallow filling, that was quite nice but so sweet! XP



(5) Bought mini oat cookies to much on when I'm hungry. Eating oat cookies makes me feel less guilty than chips. (6) Ever wonder how I'd look with glasses? well, I do! and this is the result. I found these sun shades from a toy from my childhood and pushed the lenses out (like the fad going around Japan some time ago). In real life I don't wear glasses but need to. (7) I seriously need to stop buying but sometimes I can't help it.=_= This is a cute phone charm I happen to come across. (8) Preparing my trip to Tuscany -- well, just one city anyway -- Florence. I thrifted this and bought during a sale, so worth every penny. (9) Was reading this book by G.P. Taylor at that time. A simple children's book which sparks one's imagination. What I didn't like about it was the enormous amount of typographical errors (I am so O/C, I know.). Don't they have a proofreader for these kinds of things? (10) My err, birthmonth became an endless month of feasting, beginning with my favourite pasta. :3



(11-16) Like I said, and endless month of feasting with all my favourite food. X3

AUGUST



..and the feasting continues until August. I kid!! :P (1) Beef Bowl and Gyoza from Yoshinoya, my favourite for some time until they started serving me smaller portions (for the same price!). (2) Fox's chunkie, one of the nicest choco chip cookies I've had. ;D (3) Warm cocoa on the cold days. (I exaggerate. This is the month of torrential rains.) (4) Roast chicken. Period. :3 (5) Kit-kat bars. (6) I continue my food venture by trying this Korean place. I am not a fan of Korean food, this was like Omu-raisu without the ketchup inside. It was nice, however; and the serving was huge.

I was busy planning my trip this month, deciding which city to go to.

SEPTEMBER



(1) A healthy pizzs from Jamba Juice. (2) Matcha Latte from AGF Coffee Please. I love this stuff. (3) Remember when I said I was redecorating and painting my room? Here is it. It is only 1/4 of my room but it's a start. :D (4) I did not abandon knitting as a hobby, and here I am looking for new ideas for my next project.

In September I was busy acquiring the papers I need for my visa application.

OCTOBER



(1) I bought a cute owl keyring for my housekeys (the old one broke.XD) (2) I bought these plushies (they were on sale) (3) I received a postcard from Japan which brightened my day. (4) Enjoying a caramel sundae while watching anime. :3



(5) I saw these choco-coated pretzels at a store and took a photo only because they looked good. I did not feel like eating it. (6) I bought another Japanese drink which tasted quite tropical. It was too sweet but was good mixed with some beer. (7) Daiso sells these cute little purses (panda, frog, cat, etc) and I chose this. :P I like cute frogs and frog plushies. My first frog plushie was from Hong Kong in 2000. My mom picked it for me and I love it to bits. Real frogs freak me out, however. =_= (8) Meiji Assorted Mini chocolates. Yummy. :P I love the Coffee and Apollo ones.

NOVEMBER



(1) Cute earmuffs which I got at a sale (again!). (2) Trying out clothes before stuffing them in my luggage. (3) A little coffee during the weekends while I read my travel books. (4) Christmas displays are up at stores and I love it.



(5) Printed my own maps of Munich and Vienna to use on my trip. (6) Took some time out to take a photo of this wonderful view. :3 (7-8) I started with a simple butter cake and at this time made some banana squares. The wonderful things you can do with cake mixes! :D These were absolutely gorgeous and I experimented with pumpkin shortly after. I'm going to try Carrot next.;)

DECEMBER



(1) I met up with my mabudachis from univ. I miss them so much and we met over <2> lunch @Cibo (the italian word for food.:3) I met them two weeks before I went on vacation.;P (3) Finally the Christmas Holidays came and this was taken when we left for Taiwan. (4) And here you see the plane approaching Taipei.



This month I had the opportunity to visit four wonderful cities, (1) Munich (2) Vienna (3) Florence (4) Amsterdam.



I bought a lot of souvenirs home as well (9) German mints from the Schönbrunn museum shop in Vienna. (10) I got to taste a lot of yummy food (11) I had the opportunity to try train travel, and enjoyed it. (12) Go market-hopping and drink more Glühwein -- Haha. actually, just three.^_^ And mostly because I wanted to collect the mugs.


==

So far I had a good year and ate a lot. =_=

I had to endure 11 months to finally have a very fulfulling 12th month -- and I do not regret it.

A lot of problems came up this year but these things have passed. Many times I feel very unhappy about work because I hate it [not the idea of having to work but my line of work particularly], but having the opportunity to travel is priceless; and I don't want to give it up just yet. XD

Many people think I live an easy life getting to travel every year but what they do not know is the hard work I have to put into this and the many sacrifices I have to make. :O


[I finally finished this post today 01/05/14. Took me so long. :P]