Hey guys!

How's everyone doing recently?

I've been pretty interested in Numerology.

It all began because I kept seeing angel numbers.

Angel numbers are repetitive numbers that you notice in daily life. For example, you may find that you keep seeing 1111, 222 or 555 wherever you go. You get the idea. 

Why are these called Angel Numbers? Some believe that these are signs or messages that our angels are sending us. Each number pattern has a certain meaning to it.

For example, 1111 is a message that means that you are on the right path, while 888 is about karma and how your efforts will reap rewards.

Some guides suggest that angel numbers are only deemed so if they are seen repeatedly for say a minimum of three times. 

However, each time I see an angel number, I usually Google it immediately to find out what it means. I'm always feeling kind of uncertain of my path in life and the angel numbers have helped to reassure me quite a bit. 

I mean, just throw the dog a bone haha. Let me believe !!!

I see the numbers mostly when I check the time like so:

Now remember, I don't actually stare at the clock all the time. It's just a moment where feel compelled to LOOK.

And I'll admit, we might have some frequency bias here (where we start to notice things more often because we are attuned to looking for it).

I also forgot to mention a very important thing: After I see the numbers and if their associations are a positive, I usually experience something really pleasant. For example, I was thinking about how to deal with a tricky situation, when all of a sudden it resolved on its own by a major stroke of luck. Life suddenly becomes extra smooth. Someone steps in and tells me some wonderful news. I even receive things. Wow. When things like this happen, I can't help but feel grateful and lucky 🙏 , even though obviously this isn't really backed up by science. To understand this a bit more, I also borrowed a book on Numerology. I now know how to draw a simple birth chart (Western), and a little bit about the symbolism of each number. The book also teaches you how to interpret the birth charts and how to use them. I also learnt about Ruling Numbers, peak dates etc. These centre on our birth dates. The book uses famous figures like Queen Elizabeth to illustrate their examples too. One major takeaway for me is how our names also involve the use of numbers and can kind of balance out your birth chart. For example, your name will be used to strengthen absences of numbers in your birth chart. This is really intriguing to me because I feel like this might be how the Chinese people use their bazi? Chinese astrologers use bazi to calculate auspicious timings, name children, match couples, as well as things like career success. I feel like this 'balancing out' concept might be used in a similar way, but I'll update on that because I have not studied Chinese birth chart readings at all.

P.S. Told my family about this as well and my dad just told me to dream up 4 numbers for the 4D lottery. LMAO pls 

P.P.S New blog posts every Wednesday! :)

Hey guys!

Alright, I'm going to try to keep the blogging streak going and stay consistent. 

Recently I had the opportunity to attend a coffee workshop as part of my dear friend's bachelorette's celebrations. 

So we surprised her and brought her to Dutch Colony at Defu Lane, which is their Roastery and Academy. 

Our workshop, 'Fundamentals of a Barista', was for 5 people and was led by our trainers Khai and Junnie.

Before we settled in to learn some theory, we were each given a nice cuppa (of your choice) to start the day off! :D That's an excellent way to make sure the students are paying attention...

I went for a latte as usual~

Next, we learnt some theory. 

I learnt that Starbucks and most coffee chains usually go for more of a French/Italian roast, while local coffees like Kopi are way more roasted and are off the literal charts (bottle in this case).

We learnt about types of extraction, the equipment used in making coffee, types of espresso based beverages, and also the skills a barista should have. There were also more technical aspects like the science behind the heating of milk and extraction etc but we are more of an experiential crowd so we focused less on these. Our trainer also touched a little on the coffee industry, the turnover rate or the usual career progression for a barista.

I think the workshop can be tailored according to the participants. You may have more casual learners like us who prefer a more hands on, 'fun' and 'one-off' approach (also good for team bonding), or this course can also cater to more serious baristas or business owners wanting to start a cafe.

Soon after, we put on our aprons and got to learn about how to work the espresso machine!

"We are called Dutch Colony not because we want to promote slavery." It's more about how the Dutch grew coffee bean crops in their colonies and spread the love of coffee.

After a while we finally got over our fears of the hissing sound from the steam wand, and got down to preparing espresso shots (counting down to 27s to stop the machine!), frothing milk to about 60-65deg and attempting simple latte art (the most basic is the heart). You learn about techniques like how you should hold and angle the cup. We also learn how to 'cleanse' the machine after each use and how different towels are used for food hygiene. 

Group shot. Haha!

Big takeaways from the class: coffee making is a very serious business! (if you care about it enough...)

I definitely appreciate cafe baristas a lot more~ 

And the next time I visit a cafe, I will pay even closer attention to my coffee. 

It was a really fun experience for all of us! Big thanks to our trainers who were very patient and encouraging with us!

I really enjoy workshops and hope to get another opportunity to learn something new soon. Maybe a cocktail making session or art class is up next?

Love,

Skye

*Once again, this post keeps my friends anonymous because ~privacy~. 

The copy was also cute: English translation - Taipei girls are afraid of being poor, being ugly and failure.

 Till next time!

Love,

Skye

Hello friends of my blog:

It's been two or more months since my last post! Well, well, well. So much for the weekly Wednesday postings. I sure tried to continue it for quite a long time!

Anyway, here's my list of books read in 2022. If you're new here, we do one every year. Each year, the aim is 100 books.

I fell short this year and closed with 96/100 books.

I did contemplate trying to rush 4 books on the last two days of the year, but it just felt very unnatural so I decided against it. I'm not particularly disappointed that I did not hit my goal - I mean, I have been doing this challenge every year since 2011.