My New Life Day 2: Faking It
Special thanks to D for inspiring this post and my new life. She pointed out to me yesterday (hence today is Day 2) that I am at a unique point in my life where...a) I'm expected to be completely selfish,
b) I can do whatever I want without answering to anybody and,
c) I actually have the financial means and freedom to do so.
So we drafted a rough plan of what's possible, intersected that with my personal interests and voila! A 6-month plan to get me thru the rest of my stay here in Singapore. Since I'm a true proctoid, the plan of course, has principles which I need to follow:
1. I cannot spend more than what I earn. BUT for the next 6 months, I can spend everything I make.
2. I have to learn something new every month.
3. The plan will be flexible enough to allow for travel, which is my reward for all this growth I'm forcing upon myself.
I broke up the skills I have to learn into themes -- beauty, health, cultural, spiritual and domesticity. And for the next 6 months, I have to learn at least 1 from each theme. Heehee... this is so much fun.
Here are my lead options under each theme:
BEAUTY - Personal make-up lessons, Spa-ing (Ok ok, I know. Technically, going to the spa isn't a skill... but it makes me feel beautiful so there. :)
HEALTH - Absolutely no gym-ming. Salsa, Hip hop classes, maybe some flamenco on the side. Lap dancing, exotic dancing (translation: strip tease, which is getting quite popular here as a form of cardio, you dirty minds)... I'd learn how to pole dance too except you don't run into that many poles in regular life for it to be an actually useful skill. Unless I start performing in the subway and uh... that's just not something you'd want to see.
And just maybe, some golf. It would be so me to pick the laziest sport. Diving is also something I want to do, I'm just afraid it's too expensive a hobby. Sigh... the Chinese in me won't quit.
CULTURAL - If you guys don't watch "Faking It", you absolutely must. It's a great show that airs on Discovery Travel and Adventure and it's about taking a fish out of the water and plopping him in entirely unfamiliar territory. Now obviously, I'm not talking literal fish here. They've turned a mild-mannered Kindergarten teacher into a bodyguard, a pizza delivery guy into a chef, a carpenter into an Interior Designer, etc etc AND all in just 4 weeks AND at competition-level on top! At the end of the show, these guys have to compete with other people who have been in the industry for yeeeears, "fake it" and fool the judges who have to pick out the "faker".
It's a truly inspiring show because 99% of the time, these guys can actually fake it! A totally new skill picked up in 4 weeks, at a level that's good enough to compete. Wow. I'm not trying to accomplish the impossible here. It can be done. I just have to practice.
So I'm thinking flair bartending ala Tom Cruise in Cocktail. It would be a cool skill I can show off in parties. :) Problem is, I don't think anyone actually teaches that here. Maybe I should content myself with plain bartending. Wine tasting is also interesting.
Before you think I'm turning into an alcoholic, I'm already learning to speak (and write) French so I really should let myself off the hook on this one. But I would so so so love to take night classes, Saturday courses, whatever-hour-of-the-day-or-week classes to learn about art history, photograhy or force me to read literature again. I was thinking about an investment class or some techie class like flash or podcasting, but seriously, like I would ever do it. I need to set realistic targets here.
SPIRITUAL - For someone who can't even make it to regular Sunday mass, my resolution is just to try and do some good in the world. Thankfully, I work in a company that makes this easy for me. Because P&G is partnered with a non-profit organization called World Vision, we can educate and feed a child for just S$45 (or about P1500) a month, deducted automatically from our bank if we choose. This isn't a skill but an ad - anyone who wants to do this, drop me a text or comment and we can figure out later how you can pay me back.
To feed my soul, I'm also volunteering at either Habitat, Gawad Kalinga or World Vision. I'm going to start building houses or schools. Good karma + learning carpentry! Who said doing good didn't have any rewards?
DOMESTICITY - Ew. This was the difficult one. What skill could I learn? Cleaning the house? No thanks. Ironing? Like anyone in their right mind would spend extra time ironing just to teach me. I ended up with cooking, and even more challenging, learning how to cook a 3-course dinner for a party! Ha! No one can ever accuse me of not setting stretching goals. If I pass that, I may just learn how to go to market too (you'd be surprised at the courses they offer here in this country).
And as if I didn't have much to do already, I've added a few more goals for myself to accomplish over the next 6 months:
1. Expand my circle of friends.
2. Invest in a kick-ass new wardrobe.
3. Go to a fancy new restaurant AND learn to make a new dish every 2 months at least.
You'd think this was trying to do too much, but trust me, live in Singapore and tell me you're not bored. This is a pretty long post already so I'll save the travel plans for tomorrow. Any votes which skill I should learn first? :) I'm so excited to start!!!
posted by moan @ 11:29 PM
4 Comments:
you don't need beauty na! so i vote for spiritual. LOL! or pole dancing. PERO puh-leeeze don't practice at our house!!!!!! -wong
I SAY DUMP THE BORING ONE...definitely dump domesticity, you can do that when you're hitched.
I vote for Habitat for Humanity. You get to build houses AND stay in shape too. Those hollow blocks are a killer haha. O diba? Two birds with one stone!
i had to do the habitat thing during first yr and i came out with a tan! :D
ooooooh! the cultural thing is sassy!!! :D:D:D
-ken
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