Tuesday, August 31, 2010

Updated list of 100 things to do before I die

Places To Visit

1. Japan for ohanami
2. Australia for a few days of farm stay
3. Negri Sembilan
4. Penang
5. Kedah
6. Pahang
7. Kelantan
8. Perak
9. Perlis
10. Selangor
11. Sabah
12. Sarawak
13. Beach resort like Langkawi
14. Genting or Cameron Highland

Things To Learn
1. Acoustic guitar (doing)
2. Japanese language (doing)
3. Electric guitar
4. Drums
5. Learn one martial art form
6. Malay language (bahasa melayu)
7. Technical analysis applications (not just theory)
8. Drive a car (doing)
9. Swim well in the 4 types of strokes
10. Master and bake 10 types of desserts cakes (doing)
11. Make most basic types of alcoholic cocktails by memory (doing)
12. Music theory and foundation
13. Compose musical pieces
14. Draw the ideas in my brain down on paper
15. a couple of Magic card tricks
16. Chinese calligraphy
17. Learn how to brew beer
18. Learn how to make wine
19. Animation
20. Character creation
21. Storyboarding
22. Website design using computer language instead of just copy-pasting codes
23. Sculpting (be it ice or stone or wood)
24. Oil-based painting of scenary
25. Design and make clothing
26. Learn Hair styling
27. Learn to cook more authentic Chinese dishes >20 dishes
28. Learn candy-making (french style dessert)
29. Learn proper chocolate-making (gourmet chocolate)
30. Learn a Chinese instrument - Flute
31. Metallurgy to make trinklets
32. Jewellery design and making

Things To Try At Least Once
1. Wave-boarding
2. Cosplay an actual character from anime/j-rock
3. Bungee jump
4. Fly a glider
5. Fly in a helicopter
6. Surfing
7. Go for a sauna
8. Go for a full spa treatment
9. Jet ski-ing
10. Archery
11. Shooting at gun range
12. Snow ski
13. Snow board
14. Fishing in the open waters
15. Ride that banana boat pulled by a speedboat
16. Ride or drive a speedboat around
17. Go for a cruise trip
18. Ride a bike (not on road, on dirt track type)
19. Sit in the side-car while a bike ferrys me around
20. Go for a wine appreciation course
21. Pottery

Things To Eat At Least Once In A Lifetime (Resembles fear factor)
1. Escargot
2. Foie Gra
3. Sea Urchin
4. 海盗饭团 (taiwan)
5. Frog legs porridge
6. Fried worms (thailand)
7. 盆菜
8. Authentic Peking duck
9. Braised Pork Trotters/Knuckles (stewed until it melts in the mouth)
10. Ma Han Quan Xi (Emperor's full 100 course dinner)

Things To Achieve In This Lifetime
1. Be my own boss (a firm dunno what biz)
2. Finally achieve my ideal weight...
3. Get $250-$300k in cash by the time I am 35, $500k cash by time I am 40, $800k-$1mil cash by the time I retire.
4. Own my own place

Total:  81

I guess what inspired me to build up on this list and to re-visit time and again is to see if I am making progress somewhere towards things I want to do. I have come to the realisation that Life is not about waiting for the things you want to happen by chance, its more about making them happen for you. I have not fully internalized it yet but am making some changes here and there.

Life is a complicated passage for me. I am plagued at times by the seemingly lack of 'purpose' and yet the supposedly 'right' path of studying hard, getting married, working until retirement and thus living a fulfilled life doesnt seem that doable for me. As the years go by, the prospect of a lifetime of singlehood is something that is a real reality.

Yet a lifetime is a pretty long time. There are periods of 'free time' that is not occupied by much but more of repeating the same routine of life - be it heading out for dinner and stuff or staying at home and stuff. Whatever the routine, if there's no variety, Life suddenly seems pretty grim and dull. Yet many stuff that we do are 'forgetable'.

Ask me what I did 2 weeks back that was memorable... the one that comes to mind is the chocolate strawberries. I cant remb the conversations I had with friends, nor what I had eaten or where I had shopped.

What was memorable last week?  Its going to Universal studio after hours.

Things out of the ordinary are definitely more memorable than those of the usual manner. Sometimes we get caught up in too many of the life's mundane routine that we forget that by adding variety, it can be rejuvenating, yet it actually requires more effort to add variety. That effort is something I wanna make sure it stays.

I get bored of the same stuff pretty fast, hence would like to move onto new stuff. Eg I wont want to keep making the same dessert over and over again. I like to move on once its sufficiently mastered to keep the newness and variety going.

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