And The Award Goes To … Me!!!

There are awards and there are awards. There are those which, to be perfectly candid, irk me in their somewhat pesky nature, not dissimilar to chain letters and mass advertisements. And there are still others which appear wishy washy and dubious. Today, however, I’m talking about the Versatile Blogger Award which, my friends, is no insipid title of a suspicious nature. It is, in fact, a credible, prestigious recognition, one for which I am truly thankful to have received, thanks to the incredibly lovely Kirsten of The LIFB Issue. If you have not yet explored her blog, you are missing out.  Really, really.

How it works

1. Thank the person that nominated you and include a link to her blog.

2. Share 7 things about yourself (perhaps little known facts?).

3. Name 10 bloggers you’ve recently discovered or perhaps already follow regularly.

4. Nominate those 10 bloggers in turn for the Versatile Blogger Award.

7 things about myself

1. I’m ambidextrous. Growing up, I figured if I learned to write with both hands, should I be kidnapped (such flights of fantasy, fueled by a literary diet of Blyton, Tolkien as well as Christie), and forced to write a note, I could use the non dominant hand to write in such a fashion that my family would instantly recognise as being faux, whilst fooling my captors, and effectively foiling their nefarious plan. Sadly (or fortunately, I could say), I’ve never had an opportunity to put this skill to the test.

2. I never ate veggies until about six months ago when I started working out in earnest. As a child, I would push all the greens into one cheek then spit them out when no one was looking. Today, I have salads for lunch almost on a daily basis and I love them. Same thing with water, plain water. I couldn’t stand the taste of it (or lack thereof), and never drank it unless it was mixed with cordial or part of a hot beverage. Around the time I began exercising regularly, I became so dehydrated that I almost fainted after every workout session. The water-drinking began then and now, I easily consume 3 litres each day.

3. Speaking of exercising, up until the year 2011, my mantra was, “I don’t do sweat”.  Four years later, I am officially a gym rat. I work out seven days a week. In fact, I go to the gym twice a day, mornings for cardio, evenings for weights. Someone up there is certainly laughing at me 🙂 now, I can’t imagine a day wherein I don’t work out and, in fact, I’m thinking of working towards being a certified personal trainer this year.

4. When I was a child, around 6 or 7, I told my parents that I wanted to marry a dark, handsome man, preferably Italian (blame it on Mind Your Language and Fantasy Island, I mistakenly thought Ricardo Montalban was Italian). Years later, I’m married to my soulmate, Pierluigi. And yes, he’s from Italy. Montauro in South Italy, to be specific. Wishes do come true.

5. One of my ears sits lower than the other. Way lower. Shhhh.

6. When I was 13, I was prescribed reading glasses. When I turned 17, I could no longer wear them because my vision had corrected itself.  My eye doctor thinks I’m, well, weird. The 20/20 vision stayed with me until a few years ago when I moved into my 40s, and I now wear contacts. However, the rollercoaster ride has yet to stop. I can’t order lenses for more than a month at a time as my vision is still changing. For instance, at my last check-up 4 weeks ago, my left eye had completely corrected itself (again) whilst my right had gone up to 0.75. I have no idea why this is happening.

7. English isn’t my first language. It’s Bahasa Malaysia. Born and bred in Sarawak in East Malaysia. Yes, I went to a convent school whereat all subjects were taught in Bahasa Malaysia save for English. However, I think and dream and breathe English so there you have it. And with a British accent too. I attribute it to aforesaid authors plus the fact that Sarawak is an ex-British colony. Consequently, the vast majority of our groceries and bookstores and apparel shops stock inventory, if not from the UK, from within the Commonwealth.

8. Bonus fact GRIN I had typical Asian eyes (read: narrow slits) my entire life, with nary an eyelash until I turned 26, and then POW they became the size you see now, with lashes that are decently lush. Again, I have absolutely no idea why this happened.

Onto the fun part.

These are my nominees.

Basically Blonde | Kremb de la Kremb | After 40 What Women Wear | A Hemad und a Hos | Kat Walk SF | Chocolate Cookies & Candies | Big Hair Loud Mouth | Mama Stylista | Live Life In Style | Erica Bunker

I CANNOT wait to see what these ladies share, yes?

Love, Sheela