Chance or Choice?

Happy Valentine's Day!

I was wandering around facebook, when I saw this post in a friend's profile. It's very appropriate for Valentine's day, so I thought I'd share :)

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When we meet the right person to love when we're at the right place at the right time,
that's chance.

When you meet someone you're attracted to,
that's chance.

Being caught up in a moment (and there's a lot of couples who get together because of this) is not a choice.
That's also a chance.

The difference is what happens afterwards.

Will you take that infatuation, that crush, that mind-blowing attraction to the next level? That's
when all sanity goes back, you sit down and contemplate whether you want to turn this into a concrete relationship or just a fling.

If you decide to love a person, even with his (or her) faults, that's not a chance.
That's choice.

When you choose to be with a person, no matter what,
that's choice.

Even if you know there are many people out there who are more attractive, smarter, cuter and richer than him or her, and yet, you decide to love them just the same,
that's choice.

Infatuation, crushes, attraction comes to us by chance.
But true love that lasts is truly a choice.
A choice that we make.

There's a beautiful quote that I believe is so true about this:
"Fate brings you together, but it's still up to you to make it happen."

We came to the world not to find someone perfect to love, BUT to learn how to love an imperfect person perfectly.

iPods...

I've had my classic clickwheel iPod since I was an innocent little first-year in college. I've always been the clumsy type, so my dad got me a hard plastic case to go around it. The case has protected my poor iPod from thousands of potential breakages and scratches, but it also makes the iPod look and feel a little like a brick. Especially since it's a second generation iPod - it's sleek for it's time, but it's still a little heavy. I love my iPod, but I think it might be time for me to get a new one - the new models are much thinner and lighter - and let's face it, more stylish. Other perks - a much longer battery life (mine currently runs for all of 6 hours, MAYBE) and the ability to play videos...which means that I can watch my favourite taiwanese dramas on the go haha.

So I was looking at the different types of iPods last night, and I like both the Classic and the Nano.

IPOD CLASSIC
The new iPod Classic (formerly the video iPod, I think) is really pretty. It's pretty thin - much thinner than the version I have now, and has a nice 2.5 or 3 inch screen. And apparently it's had abit of a feature overhaul - well in four years, Apple's got to have done something, right? I've heard that it's much easier to manipulate songs and the equalizers and all of that cool stuff on the new iPod. It also has a ton of more storage space (80GB or 160GB) - I only have a little more than 9GB of songs, but videos probably will take up a lot more room no? And the battery life is 30-40 hours long - which is leaps and bounds ahead of my worn-down battery! On the negative side, a review says that the new iPod doesn't work with any of the old docking platforms - which is a problem since we have so many of them! - and doesn't have the best sound quality. The latter is okay with me - as long as I can hear the song, and it's not distorted, that's fine. Sells for around USD 250.

IPOD NANO
The iPod Nano is also an option. Originally I clicked on the review as kind of a joke, but after reading its specs, I'm starting to seriously think about it. It's smaller than the Classic, which is awesome, but I'm not sure that I like how wide it is. Nonetheless, it has all the features of the iPod, with the exception of a marginally smaller screen and a smaller clickwheel. It's battery life is around 24 hours...not bad. A big negative is that it only has 8GB of storage...It's less than USD 200 though, which is nice.

Overall, I think the iPod Classic is a better deal, and has most of what I'm looking for. I'm not someone who needs to be able to wholely control and understand my technology (though a little bit of customization is okay :P). I'm looking for a simple little mp3 player that plays the music and videos I want to hear, that I don't have to charge every 10 minutes, that holds all that I need to store in it. I use iTunes, so there's really no point for me get a non-Apple mp3 player. Yup, an iPod Classic it shall be - as soon as my old one breaks.

To sleep, perhaps to dream...

It's official! I'm moving home to Singapore in a week. I have mixed feelings about the move; Singapore has always been familiar to me, since it's been one constant in a life of uncertainties, but I've never had the chance to really live and settle there before. Fortunately, I don't have to go through the arduous process of looking for an apartment, a roommate, etc, as my family has a place there already.

Which means of course, I finally have a permanent room. I haven't had one since Bangkok, so I'm looking forward to having a room I don't have to move out of after a couple of months or so. There's furniture in my room already - some of which I'm not fond of - but I'm going to (as Tim Gunn says on PR) "make it work!"

So there's already a bed, a mini-sofa, a table, and a bookcase in my room, as well as built in closets. I want to get a lamp, curtains, a rug perhaps, a throw and cushions for the sofa, maybe another desk (and get rid of the one I have), and another bookcase. Now anyone who knows me knows that I am a huge fan of IKEA - so I trolled their singapore website today looking for potential furniture for my room...i love this Gustav desk! it's really picturesque, and has an old-fashioned and feminine feel that I love! I wish it were in white (I have dark wooden floors and a small room, so lighter colors would work better), but its so pretty! unfortunately, it's like, $429, which is a little out of my price range.

But I'm probably going to end up getting this Mikael desk instead. It's functional, the right color, and relatively inexpensive at $99.

I also love this chair!! It has such personality, and looks so comfortable. The print's a little kitschy, but it's so adorable. Too bad I already have a chair...

Back to stuff that I actually need.
I've wanted this lamp since I first saw it at Ikea two years ago. It was impractical to get it when I wasn't sure if I was staying in NYC post-college, but now I can! I thought about getting a more colourful floor lamp, but then I realized that this was going behind a blue couch, so it makes more sense something neutral.

I also want gauzy purple curtains, but I can't seem to find them at Ikea...guess I'll have to check out the friendly neighbourhood store. I'm being called to dinner now, but I'm definitely going to continue looking at furniture etc once I get back. I'm going to miss Bed, Bath, and Beyond ...