Invention of Google Depreciates The Value of A Degree

On first thought, it seems it's true that Google does depreciates the value of a university degree.

Or does it?

Half a century ago, a degree implied about the ability to carry out and contribute to scientific research, as well as profound analysis to shed new insights on current issues. 

But it is so different now. 

I'm not saying the statement doesn't hold ANY truth now. It still does, but it is a fact that it has been much diluted because we all know that the MAJORITY of us will never generate any scientific research or analysis that is of any more value than those readily available on Google Scholar. 

I used to question the use of high school education, where we cracked our asian brains on alien-looking mathematical annotations and scanning through those piles of theories/histories/principles/application examples. Now I can better appreciate them because even though it's still true that most of us will never use differentiation nor integration in our actual life, those practices structured my logical thinking and exercised my brain as a whole.

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But what abt now?

I dont even think I can justify my university education with those reasons. Everything seems like I'm just doing it for the sake of doing it. I choose my courses STRATEGICALLY to ace the desired GPA; I memorise word by word --- trust me, sometimes english words are fully capable of disguising as ancient latin --- example by example just because our exams are marked based on KEY WORDS; I  have been told a millions times by our professors that "things are totally different when you enter the real world as you realised whatever you've learnt might not apply at all".

I'm not complaining, because it makes things much easier for me to get my degree with such system in placed. But sometimes I wondered what kind of education I would otherwise get with these years of time and thousands of money.

Such thoughts are especially amplified after watching Big Hero 6 a few days ago (me being an animation cray). I am so envious of these guys in the movie, where their extensive knowledge can actually become a skill that is so capable of creating change and impact. Of course, both science and arts education have such ability, but I fail to relate to neither with my own.

Now excuse me as I go for my nap. 

I woke up at 430am today (of which I had a 9am paper) because I literally studied half of a core module in the span of 2 hours last night. It sounds so ridiculous that it can't even be passed as one of those 'omg look how little I've studied I'm so gonna fail' claims.

I have zero intention to brag but you know what? I'm still gonna pass this module with at least a 'B' because I've been living in this system long enough to figure out how to survive. One-day effort of memorizing, that's the worth of a 'B' now. 

The How to Happiness

There are always these few days every month (especially girls) where you just feel so out of reach of happiness. It's like everywhere you look you see everyone else twirling around in their happy skirts, posting on Instagram telling the world how #happy and #blessed they are.

And then there's you - Feeling like a failure in every aspect of life and somehow shit things jussst had to occur more frequently during these times.

l

l

l

You lost your stuff. You craved for fatty food but felt all greasy afterwards. You argued with your family. Your tons of deadlines suddenly closed in altogether. Your favourite drama got boring. Your skin went downhill. You met strange and rude people on the streets. You started to get sick.

l

l

l

ok you got me right. 

I used to think this only happens to me, but after a good 22 years (No my birthday is not here YET so dont count it as 23) in this world, I can almost be certain EVERYONE felt like this before and still feels that way every now and then. 

YOU ASKED WHY.

Because this is life. It's not a never-ending upward escalator, which is engineeringly impossible. 

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And Google (omg I didn't know Google has such a weird colour combi. It's like the guy had stopped trying to think of new colours after orange and the boss happened to check on him after G so he tried again with L, but then gave up altogether at E again. Seriously. Google you should have invested in a qualified colorist) And ✓spell-check you can go ahead and put all your ugly little wobbly red lines under my 'engineeringly'. It IS a WORD if readers can understand it PERFECTLY so who are you to suggest me to change that to 'SNEERINGLY' and 'LINGERINGLY'. Imagine how smarty-panty (again I deem smarty-panty more adjective-like than merely 'smarty-pants') I would sound if I were to listen to you and come across a depressed suicidal guy one day on a rooftop and I were to tell him 'HEY! Life cannot be a never-ending upward escalator because it is SNEERINGLY impossible. Are you seriously trying to make me confuse a suicidal guy Google????

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Ok let's go back.

The truth is, there are only this much of times that you can mentally convince or do little things for yourself to be happy, but other subjects (people, pets, activities) can easily make you much happier instantly. The reason is simply because we are wired as social animals from the beginning, our share of happiness can only be magnified when shared with members of our community. 

With that said, you need a healthy balance between both personal and social happiness (that's what I coined them) and any disequilibrium will --> sense of emptiness --> start of unhappiness. 

Omg. I didn't know I've lived that long to have figured out the balance of happiness. I thought I was just bullshitting but I think I actually made sense. Is that how I've been surviving my education all along?

Anyway here we go. For the following, I will go through some of the things I do to cheer myself and as for the social happiness, you JUST have to get yourself out and meet your friends.
Everything else will come naturally. 

Personal Happiness

• Write something. Letters, diaries, poems. Hand-written is the best because somehow it will make things feel really special

• Listen to classical music everyday. My mum asked me to do this in her letter to me when I turned twenty-one. Yes she's cute like that. I always go for Ludovico Einaudi - Una Mattina.It doesn't make me super cheery flower-throwing and all, but I always feel very very calm in my heart after listening to it. Try listening to it in a dark quiet room by yourself, the healing effect is really amazing. On a side note, try making yourself some tea as well. My favourite now is TWG Black Tea with a slice of lemon. So so lovely :)

• Read a (comical) book. Reading is always magical to me, though I am totally guilty of my poor consistency.

My favourite book so far this year is Let's Pretend This Never Happened, an autobiography that almost gave me courage to fully embrace my weirdness because I didn't know it could be such a treasure in today's world, where everyone is encouraged to behave and think the same.

 If you prefer fiction, you might want to try Where'd You Go, Bernadette, its totally chic cover is an instant mood-booster. 

• Cook a meal for yourself and your loved ones. Even if it's only mediocre, the eating will make you happy. Or if that's too much effort, try making something simple and pretty.

Tumblinbumblincrumblincookie (Yes quite a mouthful I know) is my favourite food-instagrammer for the moment and you can check out her beautiful blog here. Get ready to fall in love. 

• Shopping.

I didn't believe this either, cos I always brand myself as a non-superficial female individual whose mood will not be easily lifted just because of a material gain. BUT NAH IT'S NOT TRUE. I am an equally superficial girl at heart apparently and I believe all girls have that side to them, just of varying degree.

Go out and hunt for your clothes/cosmetics/bags/shoes, or if town is too far for you, go do some online digging. Just remember not to splurge or buy things you wont actually use in the future. 

• Sleep early. Wake up early.

Sleep early (e.g. Before 1130pm) and wake up early (e.g. before 730am). Sufficient sleep makes you less grumpy and an early day makes you more productive. You ever wonder why you were so much happier as kid? Maybe that's part of the reason.

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Hopefully you will find this useful at one of those days and I know me myself will definitely refer back to this post frequently as well. It more or less ends here and actually everything I said has been said before somewhere else. 

The rule is: you just have to STOP being grumpy at the world and at yourself, just start doing ONE THING from this list.



May you be happy. 

Chagrin Valley for Asian Hair - First Wash

To set the context, I will provide some background information before I get to the review.

HOW I STARTED MY NO-SHAMPOO JOURNEY

1) I have always been told about the harmful effects of commercial shampoos (thanks to a very health-conscious Mum). If you are interested, go Google it and considered yourselves warned that you are gonna be very paranoid when you wash your hair afterwards.

However, it's just impossible for me NOT to wash my hair EVERYDAY. I have rather thick hair and I live in Singapore, where it is very humid and hot ALL YEAR ROUND.


2) Then I came upon SHAMPOO BARS *adds sparkles all around* and I almost became PASSIONATE about them. The Chagrin Valley website was very homey and informative, let alone the very very yummy photos of the soap. I was intrigued right away and I couldn't wait to get my hands on them! I kept thinking about these wholesome organic shampoo soap bars the whole time during the shipping period, reading their reviews and telling everyone about them. OMG I WAS SOSO EXCITED!

Just look at them! Almost as delicious as comfort food!

THE SHIPPING PROCESS

The international shipping cost was quite steep - US$23.95 for orders under $75 - but nothing could stop my burning passion for organic soaps at that point in time. When the package finally arrived after 10 days, my heart was literally racing. 

Oh my dear babies  ♥ ♥ ♥

The envelope was a flat priority mail box and the soaps are packed with fully recycled paper. 

MY HAIR HISTORY

• Permed 3 times this year
• Last dye was 1 year ago
• I NEVER use conditioner cos it is SO slimey and I have to use so much time rinsing it
• Scalp gets slightly oily at the end of the day but hair is normal

There are a lot of positive reviews about the CV soaps, but there are very few by Asian customers and different hair types may react differently to the same soap. So here's one review by me (who is obviously a very certified Asian) to recap about my first wash with CV soaps.

PRE-WASH PREP

I decided to start my journey with the Honey, Beer and Egg Shampoo Bar.

The website says:

Beer and egg yolk create a mild, protein rich natural shampoo that adds shine, bounce and body to your hair. The proteins from the malt, hops condition hair and help repair damage. Vitamin rich eggs revitalize dull and dry hair and improve texture. Enriched with cocoa butter to provide deep nourishment for the hair shaft. 

Ingredients: Organic Coconut Oil; Organic Avocado Oil; Organic Sustainable Palm Oil; Organic Beer; Organic Jojoba Oil; Organic Castor Oil; Sodium Hydroxide*; Organic Cocoa Butter; Organic Mango Butter; Organic Canola Oil; Organic Aloe Vera; Organic Honey; Organic Free Range Eggs; Organic Rosemary Oil Extract 

OMG GO ON MY HAIR. NOWWW!

Anyw, to avoid wasting the soaps in the bathrooms, I cut out a small cube and put the rest into small containers for travel and storage. Btw another reason to use soaps is that the annoying aviation 100ml rule does NOT apply to them AWESOME!

Since Singapore has very hard water, I prepared a vinegar rinse, which was highly recommended for hard water users and beginners (whose hair normally need a transition stage from the sudden switch from chemical-loaded shampoos to organic alternatives).

I did not use the Apple Cider Vinegar rinse because I personally hates using them SO MUCH. I bought a bottle of Bragg Organic Raw to use it as a toner and omg I really hate it. IT IS .REALLY. SMELLY, and I already diluted it like 10 small drops to 100ml of water. Sometimes I would accidentally spray the ACV toner too close to my nostrils and that would leave gagging from the stench for a whole minute.NO WAY this thing is going up my hair!!

To give justice, ACV from Bragg is really one of the best for its kind becos it has the 'Mother' and is authentically organic. And right becos it's so pure, its smell also doubles that of the other brands. So it's still a very good ACV, it's just I cant take the smell personally.

So I used a Black Vinegar, which is very common in Asian culinary. My mum has been doing a Black Vinegar Rinse (albeit still with commercial shampoos) for years, and her hair is the one of the best I've ever seen. There are A LOT of benefits of BVR for hair (e.g.adding shine, softening, anti-dandruff, slowing hair whitening process etc) and it seems like a more apt option for Asian hair, since yea it's from Asia too. Haha I hope I made sense here...

FIRST WASH REVIEW

Many people talked about how the shampoo bars are hard to lather and to wash off, especially in hard water, so imagine my surprise, when mine worked so smoothly almost like all my other commercial shampoos.

The lather was of course not as much, but it was comfortably sufficient and came off very easily. I massaged it into my scalp first then the rest of my hair. It felt so good that I massaged a little too long, and that was when I realised the lather was disappearing. So I quickly rinsed it off. Though the rinse was easy, my hair felt squeakily clean afterwards, and it was TOO squeaky to feel comfortable.

Thanks to all the reviews I read beforehand, I didnt freak out cos this was a very common thing for many. So I proceeded to my BVR, where I just poured bit by bit all over my head. I massaged a little more, waited for a while, before rinsing it off.  

Note: It's very common for hair to smell quite a bit of black vinegar after the rinse (I used to complain about about my mum's), but it will COMPLETELY disappear once the hair is dried. The same goes for the bathroom, so you really dont have to worry about that. In my opinion, it is still like ten times much better than the ACV.


I do not know if it's bcos of the BVR or that I have been preparing my mentality for the switch, but I did NOT experience any uncomfortable transition stage (e.g. waxy hair, oily scalp, tangled hair etc). In fact, my hair was completely normal after the first wash, but just softer and seemed to be lifted with more volume when it dried.

How my hair looked when it was almost dried after the wash.

I was so glad that I didnt experience the clumpy hair/wax residues that the rest had mentioned about their first wash.

My hair felt absolutely wonderful when I woke up the next day!

Thanks so much to Chagrin Valley for making such amazing shampoo bars and also Mummy for introducing the black vinegar wash!

The first wash has been marvelous for me and hopefully it will continue be as such from now on.

:)