It had been a tough week this week. I had to study for my CISSP exam, then work pressures from trying to get promotion and sudden increase in workload. Then I attended 2 days of FS-ISAC conference on Tuesday and Wednesday as well.

The conference has pretty good food but I only took 2 photos of the food. I took the photo of my snacks on the first day and wow, the sushi is very, very nice.

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Then I took photo of the lunch on the second day.

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It was great to meet my ex-colleagues at Grab and PayPal. I even saw my interviewer for SAP and six group. It’s the same guy and he remembered me. He even came over to say hello to me on the second day when he saw me eating at one of the tables. I was shocked that he remembered me and he was like, “Of course I will remember you.” Haha, did I do that well in the interviews? But then again I didn’t make it to the next round for six group leh… Shrugs. I went to add him on LinkedIn and he accepted it. Woohoo to a new LinkedIn connection. Haha.

Then I went to Singapore International Jewelry Expo 2024 at Marina Bay Sands on Thursday and Friday. I got myself a string of rainbow tourmaline beads and a pair of Akoya pearl earrings in set in 18K gold. 😀 It’s my first ever Akoya or saltwater pearl jewellery and wow, the lustre is very impressive. I really love it and it looks so much better than my freshwater pearls jewellery. I actually dropped 1 of it on the floor and then it kept bouncing because it is so round. Yes, it’s quite expensive since it is Japanese Akoya and also it is quite round. I really love it though and have been wearing ever since I got it. Not supposed to wear it daily though so I guess I will rotate it with my blue sapphire earrings for now. Haha.

I looked so pretty with the new Akoya pearl earrings though. Its shine and lustre makes my face looks even fairer and prettier lah. 🙂 Love it so much now!

I’m quite glad that I did not get any tanzanite or blue sapphire gems since I didn’t manage to find one that I am truly satisfied. It’s either the colour is nice but cut is meh or the other way round. I think I will just send my current tanzanite gem for certification to confirm that it is really tanzanite before getting it set into my jewellery piece. At least the cut is really nice on that gem even though the colour could have been better. I might consider getting pink diamonds some day but let’s see how it goes.

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I also presented a patent idea to my Patent Legal team on Friday and I think it went well. Hopefully I get another patent approved soon. 🙂 It was my first presentation with the legal team ever since I took over the entire innovation4good program. Yes, I’m now a program lead for it. I was also invited to present in 1 of the company events (India Innovation Forum) next, next week. It’s my first presentation whereby I was invited and going to present it by myself. Whee! I’m going to start to prepare the slides after my CISSP exam. It’s really different when you are invited because the organisers will send you the list of stuff to cover as per your request. It’s like you don’t really need to push or market yourself hard. I told the good news to 1 of my mentors who has been focusing on improving my own presentation and marketing myself better. Maybe I will get his help to help me review my slides. Hehe.

I had some health issue at the moment and I hope it clears up soon. If it doesn’t clear up by end of this month then I will have to be referred to a specialist and potentially take a biopsy. Sigh. I already had 2 cancer scares last year and really don’t want to go through it again. Please let it recover soon.

I was studying for CISSP at night last weekend (not this weekend) and I felt I was seeing stars. Felt quite dizzy and stuff. I think I have been too stressed recently and I just kept pushing on (which I am very good at) so my body is like pressing all the alarm bells to force me to rest. 🙁

It certainly doesn’t help that for the past week, I am like going out everyday and rushing here and there – be it work or personal life. Mostly due to work though. It’s tough to earn money these days, especially with the widespread layoffs in tech industry.

I met one of my mentors at the FS-ISAC conference and she commented that I should drop the part of finding love/husband. “Dun spread yourself thin.” is what she texted me on WhatsApp. I’m shocked to hear it from her because I didn’t say much about my personal life recently. I also didn’t tell her about my health issues recently. It’s interesting how Gulabi is also saying something along the same lines but that’s because she knew I have been sick for the past few months. She’s like… I know you can push and stretch yourself and will continue to do it but please take breaks.

My mentor also commented that she is happy that I have improved. I asked if I wore better and more suitable clothing for the conference and she said, it is not just the clothing that you have improved. You also improved in your demeanour and how you present yourself in a work setting. It’s impressive because I did it in 3 months and she told me that I need to spend time alone to be my true self. Everyone has different sides and I need to rest more and spend more alone time to recover. It’s going to be very tiring for me to keep up to the work demeanour. This reminded me of what my manager had told me before. Everyone has a different sides to show at work, at personal life and with their spouses.

I did a lot to reach to this stage. Reading lots of audio books, having multiple mentors, had therapy (to recover from my toxic relationship and face my own giants), researching on the dressing sense and how I can carry myself better. I’m also getting better at makeup and I definitely look way better now haha. Alex was commenting that 1 of my outfit of the day photos how I look like 28 years old and the clothes are like 18 years old so average is 23 years old. Wow, for a guy who always suan/disturb/bring me down to say that I look younger than my age (33 years old), it was quite an achievement. Makeup and dressing really can make one looks younger. Gulabi also commented how I look like same age or just a bit older than the new intern in 1 of the photos. Mind you, the intern is like 24 years old? Now the question is whether I can sustain this stage without pushing myself to my limits.

I guess I have to pick the right balls to manage now. Cannot drop the glass balls in my life and that includes health. I probably will stop swiping on the dating apps a few months to refocus my life in some important aspects that are coming up.

But I’m still curious to see if my fengshui master is right that I will have peach blossom luck in August. He specifically told me to look out in June and July this year. Well, I think I already rejected 2 men so far after having a few dates with them. Cause…. cannot make it lah. Sometimes good looks can only bring you so far. I had enough of mummy’s boy and indecisive dudes. All these rotten peach blossom luck arh… 😐 Then there’s 1 that seems quite high potential but not sure if we will actually end up meeting given that the conversation is slowly fading/dying after I told him I am not free to meet this weekend and said will prefer to meet after my exam next Wednesday. Lol. Maybe he is not meant to be or just one of the dudes who is either married or attached but still swiping to find ladies to spend time on weekends. Shrugs.

The next time I see my fengshui master, I must definitely bring this up. How come he is so accurate about being May 2024 will be a very tough time for me but in terms of the peach blossom part, he isn’t very accurate. 🙁 However, I did reject 2 men within the same month so hmmm…

Dear God, please just send my future husband to me. Stop sending men to teach me stuff that I need to know. Have I not learn enough? :'(

Anyway, just 3 more days to my CISSP exam. I really hope I can pass and get my ISC2 membership. If I pass it, then maybe I will consider learning driving so that if I relocate to US for work, I can still drive myself around. Oh well, a girl got to do what she needed to. I’m not going to be able to be a passenger princess sadly. 🙁

I got 2 new jadeite rings in a week – both from Lihong Jade. I’m becoming a lover for rings. Hoho, what is happening to me? 1 year ago I don’t even like to wear rings. Hahaha. Now I am wearing 2 jadeite rings with 1 gold ring.

I’m usually on full accessories mode these days. It’s like a little ritual that I enjoyed while preparing to go out. Like the “time to decorate myself” ritual. 🙂 It definitely helps that I do have a small but extremely good (in my opinion lah…) collection of accessories. I do have the standard few accessories that I will wear when I am not in a mood to think what to wear/match.

Satyadev was sharing how money can help you go into any store and get the stuff you want without asking how much is it before paying for it. That’s quite true and a privilege to have. I am already doing that for food and also jewellery – both fine and costume ones.

It’s the little things that I need to start to learn to appreciate and have more compassion in myself. I’m actually doing really well in many aspects in life – probably getting better as the time goes by.

I finally figured out the best barely makeup makeup look too! It’s actually full makeup minus contouring and eye shadow. I guess I am getting better at my makeup skills and choosing the suitable makeup for myself. Hermes is indeed a brand that suits me in many ways. Hahaha. 🙂

I went to ACrysty Co new store opening today and Public Gardens. I wanted to get a pair of pearl hoop earrings from Stories in Jewellery (a Taiwanese handicraft jewellery shop) and is very glad that I found it. I actually saw it in an Instagram advertisement but forgot the name of the shop. I only know got the one “stories” in it. So I walked the entire Public Gardens to try to find it. So glad that I found it. It’s quite expensive though because it is made of real pearls. Most likely is freshwater pearls given the price lah… It costs S$75 and it was the last pair. So glad that I managed to get it. Pretty sure someone tried it on because I saw a hair strand stuck in the earring but I really like the design so I just took it.

I went to ACrysty Co and did their AYO (ACrysty Your Own). Basically I customised my own earrings. I picked silver rutile and a chinese knot as design. It’s quite pretty lah. Took me some time to decide which crystal to use though. It’s a dangling earrings which I know will look good on me. Hehe. It costs S$32.40 after opening day discount.

I also got a new pair of pearl ear studs for S$43.20 (after the opening day discount). Somehow all the costume earrings I got these days all have pearls (freshwater pearls or faux ones) in them. I’m definitely in my pearl era. LOL. 😀

Something happened this morning and I am very glad that I have supportive friends around. People like Zijian and Rui Yun agreeing with me and Alex and Jin Quan for hearing my morning rants. It lasted quite long lol. The grand award for gratitude goes to Gulabi who took the call and was advising on the spot while the entire thing unfolded. Thanks to her advice and reassuring that my gut feelings was correct and stuff, I was able to elegantly handle the situation while still holding back my power and at higher ethical/moral grounds.

I’m definitely improving my gut feeling. All these internal self work and healing is definitely helping! 🙂

I ordered another bag recently. This time it is from Pleats Mama! Actually I wanted to visit it when I was in Seoul last May and October/November. I didn’t manage to visit and didn’t get to see the pleated tote bag. I was able to try it out when Pleats Mama have a popup shop at TANGS Orchard. The quality seems pretty good and I decided to get it online – because the design I wanted is limited edition and is only available in Seoul and online.

Can’t wait to get it soon haha. I have been thinking about it for some time and was even discussing with some of my friends about it. The new Sakura is so much smarter with spending money now. Well, because I spent a lot last year in getting assets so yeah, need to save money now. 🙂 Haha.

In fact, the entire discussion I had with one of my friends is like lowkey funny.

Me: Serious topic. Even more serious than other stuff. Is to decided whether should I add more clutter and spend money hahahaha. (I’m supposed to declutter)
Gulabi: (rofl emoticon x4) It’s cute but do you think this is giving value for money?
Me: Like tote bag for work. I actually got backpack for work. Then another tote bag (green) too.
Gulabi: (sends a photo of her new sunscreen and also her new manicure)
Me: Wah got flower de!!!!! [I’m referring to her new manicure]
….
Gulabi: So do you need this? It’s cute but not very cute tbh
Me: It’s never a need.
Gulabi: Yes, to celebrate spring [referring to her new manicure design]
Me: I like this reason. Going to use this reason for the bag too. Hahahaha.
Gulabi: Your mind was always set, Sakura.

Hahaha. So that’s how I convinced Gulabi that I need the new cherry blossom bag from Pleats Mama. Going to take photo of it when it arrives! I got the bag insert for the bag too. I’m excited now!