Confessions of a City Slicker

Well, 2008 has come and gone.

As I looked back at the year that was, I would say that when it comes to resolutions, 2008 is the only year that I actually achieved all of them.

Congratulations to me!

Coming into 2008, I had only two things in mind

• Lose weight
• Write my first sales copy

Well, I definitely lost a lot of weight this year. In all my life, exept when I was a kid, I have never been in the 40s weight range. My weight mostly yo-yoed around the 50s range. After joining the gym, I managed to get it down a little but it sort of stayed stagnant after some time. It didn’t go up, but I couldn’t get it to go down either, no matter what I did.

I am so glad that I went for that very first meeting with coach.

Now, after getting the kind of results that I got, I’ve just got this one nugget of wisdom to give those who are trying to lose weight.

It doesn’t matter what kind of program you take up. Of course I would highly recommend Herbalife because this is what gave me results, but everybody is free to choose the one that they are most comfortable with. But at the end of the day, the programs work only as well as the amount of effort that an individual puts in. Bottomline, to lose weight, you’ve gotta want it bad enough.

I’ve seen friends who took up the program because they saw the results that I’m getting, only to abandon it halfway because they couldn’t live with the sacrifices that they had to make. Mom didn’t survive pass her second week.

So in short, if you really want it, you take the whole package - sacrifices, cravings, altered lifestyle and all. There is no half-a-package here.

I also finally wrote the first salesletter that the boss didn’t butcher up about 90% off. Of course, it’s with the help of swipe files from the top copywriters in the business. The next level will be to write something original that is good enough that other people will want to swipe.

Check it out here. Can you tell which part is me and which part is altered by the boss?

This year is also a memorable one for some friends because finally, all of us, the whole group, are FREE! We have each found our own successes in the outside world. We defied the b*****ds in that Cina Apek company and made it on our own.

Congratulations, girls! Let’s show them who the losers really are.

And lastly, getting to belly dance before a live audience! The thrill of being on stage is indescribable. There was nerves, tension, dread, fear, yet there was also the andrenaline pumping excitement.

For the year 2009, I don’t really have a lot of expectations beyond doing a good job for the coming WBDD event and getting to perform as part of the opening dance troupe.

Other than that, my only other wish is that 2009 being the year the ox, I’m keeping my fingers crossed that I don’t have to work like one just make ends meet :p

Here’s wishing that 2009 be kind to everyone.

Cheers!

And it blew over so fast.

Made my traditional turkey again this year. Got my bird from Gama instead of my frozen food supplier. Price is also so much cheaper.

My bird came with a timer. See that red thingy in the red box? It pops up when the bird is done. There was also a plastic thingy that holds its legs together so you don’t end up getting a kang-kang bird like mine. I always remove it.

Still remember the first year I made turkey. Nearly lost a few fingers pulling that plastic thing out of the bird. It was only later that I learned from Lillian that you’re not supposed to remove it. Still, it’s plastic, and I’m not really comfortable putting it in the oven.

Decided to try a Jaime Oliver and stuffed some butter under the skin to make it crispy. Also placed a few dollops on top of the breast before putting it into the oven.

The wonderful aroma of butter was permeating from the oven throughout the whole baking process. Oh my!

For the baby potatoes, I skinned and boiled them. It will take too much time to remove the skin after boiling them, so I skinned them first. When they are done, I melted some butter in a pan and added a slice of cheese before folding in the potatoes.

Got the inspiration for that from Kenny Rogers’ mac & cheese.

I think I could have added more cheese and since I had so much leftover parsley, it would be great to chop up a little to sprinkle over the potatoes.

Oh well, there’s always next year, right?

Girlie loved the potatoes, though and the turkey sure is popular this year. I forgot to keep a little bit of the turkey aside for the pie I wanted to make with the leftovers. To my surprise, at the end of the night, there was nothing left of the big bird LOL.

Meanwhile, am absolutely luuuuuuurrrrrrrrvvvvvving that 4GB memory space that Eleen gave me for my Christmas pressie. Been wanting to get one for the longest time but was too cheap to fork out the cash for it despite them being so affordable.

My reasoning was that since I get the use the one from the office, why bother, right?

Now, I get 4GB to call my own. Thanks, Girl! Happy, happy me