Working 9 to 5

Hello! 

I hope I haven't lost you dear readers. I've been preoccupied with working, adjusting to "real life" and trying to keep my YouTube channel active. 

I've had many thoughts, ideas and changes that I need to update you with. So instead of putting it all in one post I'll split it up to keep you returning ;) 

I'll start with work. 

I've been at my current place since 3rd July. It was a 4 week placement that's just continued due to the work load involved and holidays of the workers. 

Firstly, I am a finance assistant. While this enables me to pretty much always find a job, it is rather dull. Fortunately I'm allowed to listen to my own music, which I do almost daily. My preference is meditation music but recently I've been listening to chill out music (2015 dance hits slowed to a more chilled tempo) and over the last few days I've really let go with cheesy pop like Britney Spears. Of course this means I'm biting my tongue to avoid bursting out into song, but it does happen occasionally. I mainly save it for my frequent toilet trips. 

The toilet trips can be twice an hour. Mainly due to drinking so much water,  but then other times a bite of food will urge my more solid movements and I'll have to return. I often wonder if anyone notices or counts my toilet breaks. It seems the people closest to me never leave their desks! I am grateful that I no longer suffer with constipation or IBS anymore because they're worse in my opinion! 

I cycle to the train every morning and then I cycle from the train to work (I get 2 trains over to the Wirral), and reverse for home. I do this in all weathers because getting the bus just isn't viable. It's made me appreciate nature a lot more than I did, but I don't enjoy getting flies in my eyes... 

I also make sure I leave the office at lunchtime for a 30 minute walk or a trip to ASDA to pick up some food/water. Sometimes I sunbathe if it's nice enough. Although when it's raining heavy I stay at my desk and browse the Internet. 

Yesterday I actually decided to join a lot of meetup groups in Liverpool and I plan to do activities on the days where I'm not at the gym. I have been experiencing terrible compulsive eating and I need to sort it out. Being at work has highlighted the issue even more because I mainly do it out of boredom. More on this in a future post. 

I have been asked to stay on until the end of September so I will save up some money to go onto my next travelling adventure. Again more on this in a future post. 

In case I don't post again before Saturday you should come and check out Kapucia in Liverpool. They have a taster session from 11-4pm with raw food to eat. It's based in the basement of 27 Lord Street near Boodles and Debenhams. I'll probably be there at 11 so come and say hi and hang out! 

Until next time keep smiling beautiful 

Love Jennifer xx

Thailand Blog :: weekend round off

Right, I've been slacking. I'm going to try to sum up my last few days in a paragraph each and no more.

Friday was an early finish at the school. Some kids stayed over on Thursday night (and I watched Charlie and the chocolate factory with them -  the Johnny Depp version. Wow is he fit when he plays odd characters!) I didn't really do much either. The kids played "Olympics" and I was the score keeper! After lunch I got on the bike and rode to Bang Saen with ukulele in tow. I found a park (with no grass) and cycled up the promenade where there was so much seafood and surprisingly durian! I bought an avocado for 75baht at Tops Market and cycled home.

Saturday I debated cycling to Pattaya. It took about 2 hours before I finally decided I was going so I got on the bike around 10.30am. Pattaya is 37km from where I'm staying and there's just one road, Sukhumvit highway 3. It took just over 2 hours and I was so happy when I saw Rasayana. So easy to find. I got 3 courses, veggie sandwich, nut loaf and strawberry mouse pie, which was frozen! Then I cycled to Central Festival Mall, bought mosquito spray, nuts and watched some guys dance in the arcade area. Then I cycled to find The Sanctuary of Truth, but the price said 500baht and with the sun falling I decided I'd go. I was almost hit once on the way home, I started crying shortly after and I stopped at the market before finally settling back at home. 

Today I had pins and needles and numbness in my hand, the one I fell onto when I fell over with the bike. I ended up cycling to the 2 temples though and buying coconuts. Then I went to the market and have pretty much eaten all day long. I just watched the documentary called McLibel and now I'm in bed listening to Nelly Furtado and sending pics of my silly faces to someone! 

The first mangoes were harvested from the farm yesterday so I'm going to be stuffing my face before I go! Yum. 

Off to bed and ready for another day of school tomorrow. Goodnight! 

Update

It's been a few days since I've posted. I haven't been doing much, just spending time with myself and enjoying these moments. 

For the majority I have been in Benjakitti Park, jogging, cycling, doing yoga and meditating. It has be wonderful. Add a ukulele to that and it has been a good time for my creativity. 

I climbed a tree for the first time in years. I didn't go too far up, but it was high enough for me to feel I accomplished something great! 

I attempted another waterfast but this time I didn't even make it 24 hours before I ate! It's been suggested that I do a colon cleanse first so the food is out of my system and that should take away any food cravings. In all honesty Bangkok isn't the best place to do it, especially being surrounded by food everywhere you go. There's not one street that you can walk down without seeing some form of food, even if it's something I wouldn't eat. 

I have been in contact with a few people recently trying to organise hangouts, a girl I met in KK is now here in Bangkok but we haven't been able to meet yet, then I have a new fruity contact who is arriving tonight and there's another world traveller who I met back in Liverpool who is arriving by plane tonight. We'll see what happens, but it is difficult organising meetups over the internet when I can only access WiFi when I'm in my accommodation. 

I have paid for 4 more nights in my hostel but I have to move to another room this morning. I had the room to myself last night, but they don't want me to be in this room again whilst it's empty, probably for electricity purposes, I'd rather be alone though! 

I have started to feel confused again with life. What I should be doing, what my purpose is. I feel like I'm waiting for something to happen and that's not a fun thing to do. Sure, I'm travelling and enjoying it, but I don't feel like I'm making adequate use of my time. I do appreciate that I am here and have this life, but I'm not perfect so of course I'll have these thoughts. Perhaps I'll start looking into working in return for accommodation and some food. 

With regards to my new found obsession with the ukulele, I haven't decided what I'll buy and now I'm even doubting my decision to buy one. Mainly because the guy in the shop was awesome and my stupid sun sign trait of perfectionism is making me feel inadequate, but also because I don't know if I will just get distracted by other things and feel like I wasted money buying something I never use.

But let's face it, the last few days have been the best because I took the time to learn how to play it, so I think it'll be a worthwhile investment overall. 

So let me get a bit more personal here. I've also been craving attention, particularly from men. I know I've decided celibacy is the right path for me to take now, but that still doesn't dissolve the thoughts of having male company. Perhaps it's just my old habits coming into play, but I do miss the warmth of another human, from just being close to someone, cuddling, holding hands, kissing, but I don't miss the act of sex. Quite the contrary, when I think about sex I just cannot imagine me ever doing it again. I just want an intellectual conversation and some snuggles. 

I guess I need to try harder to find out why I want this attention. Is it habit? Is it because I see others have it and social convention tells me that's what I should want? 

This is causing so much confusion that I feel I am ready to go and take part in this 10 day silent meditation retreat. Or perhaps I should just do my own. Go to a remote area, switch off my tablet and take part in this water fast. The city has many distractions. I feel I need to go deeper within myself to find the answers I'm looking for. 

Soulful Sunday - November update

Well hello there. I have been in the Canary Islands since 31st October and I've been making more YouTube videos as opposed to blog posts! This adventure was last minute, like a lot of my previous trips. There's nothing more exciting than booking a flight less than a week before you fly! 

So what's been happening? Well I arrived in Tenerife in the morning and had to catch a ferry at 6.30pm I had lots of time so I found a fruit shop and ate cherimoya and papaya. After arriving in La Palma I stayed the night in a very quaint guest house. Unfortunately my trip has been full of noisy nights and a lack of sleep. My first night was Halloween and that meant lots of partying on behalf of the locals. 

Since arriving in the campsite 9 days ago (which was an adventure in itself!) I have had approximately 2 decent nights sleep. I'm living in a tree house that sways with the wind and makes loud noises when moving and is directly above the communal area so I've been kept awake from people eating late, playing music and drinking. 

I really like the tree house, it's perfect with the exception of noise and swaying, but I am considering asking to be moved because I'm fed up of having broken sleep. Especially as I'm cycling and today I went jogging. I'm physically tired and mentally drained so I need this time to recover and I will NOT sacrifice sunshine just to catch up on sleep. Night time is for sleeping! 

The landscape is beautiful, the weather is good, fruit is amazing and cycling around is brilliant although hard work coming up the hills. 

I am really enjoying this place apart from what I've mentioned. There's papaya, mangoes, bananas, persimmons, bananas and avocados. There's also more fruit and vegetables but the ones listed are my staples. It's the perfect place, with the exception of no durian! 

If you want a great winter getaway I highly recommend La Palma. 

Jennifer x

Wishful Wednesday - flashback!

Wow, it was just over a year ago that I wished for a vegan vampire boyfriend. To those who missed it, here is that post.

I have some more thoughts and opinions on this. I believe I was presented with a vegan vampire, yes it is true! My wish was fulfilled, although when I asked for a boyfriend I meant long term, but I suppose I didn't specify the longevity of our relationship.

When you think about vampires you'll either think of Buffy (if you're male) or Twilight (if you're female). As beautifully poetic as the twilight vampires are (sparkly and somewhat handsome) these characters are merely allegorical. Vampires are not infected beings who suddenly turn into blood thirsty immortal beings. They are, however, immortal.

Going into more detail, vampires are simply immortal human beings that are able to walk the earth for a very long time (until they're killed or their higher spirit decides they've accomplished their goals I guess) and have somewhat conquered the universal laws - meaning that they are no longer bound by time, ageing, etc.

I believe that it is very possible for humans to become vampires in this sense. As far as I am concerned I once believed that the human life should last until at least 120 years and over the last 100 years we have severely fallen short of that number. Nowadays you hear of people living till well over 100 and it's not actually that special anymore. 

However, you cannot become a vampire over night. You need to be taught the secret.

Yes, just like every other worthwhile society there is a secret. 

It is too early for me to reveal the secret, but if you are curious then my first and most important suggestion is that you need to stop eating meat. I swear on my life that this is not just a ploy to turn you vegan, it is the truth. It depends on how ready you are to face the truth.

In time you will see.

When you are ready, take the first step and if you are already vegan, well you're already one step ahead of 95% of the world.

Stay tuned to find out more about vampire vegans.

Jennifer x

Soulful Sunday - Meditation, Gratitude and a General Update

Meditation

I have been trying to implement meditation into my morning routine. I wake up naturally, no alarms (unless I go to the wholesale market very early) and I get myself a drink of half a squeezed lemon and 500mls distilled water. This is important to get my system powered up and cleaned out from the day before! I take this back to bed and put on some meditation music off my YouTube playlist, lately I have been listening to the Chakra Chants. I think I did this 3 consecutive days in a row and I find that as soon as something disturbs the routine I am thrown off easily.

"They" say the best time to meditate is in the morning, but I get so relaxed that I end up falling asleep again! I seem to be sleeping a lot these days, going to bed at 9pm and waking up at 7am, but sometimes I have slept till after 9am despite the early night. My exercise is somewhat none existent, so I am rather confused as to why I sleep a lot! 

I find that the best time for me to meditate is in the morning because I have less disturbance from my house mate, alternatively I will meditate when he goes out. Some days I will get into a really deep state and one time I felt like I was above my body (I was quickly brought back though), but other times I will find it hard to keep my mind quiet. 

If you want to start meditating and need some tips then I recommend you get acquainted with the Chakras. I find that I get more from working on my Chakras than just breathing, but a good place to start is being aware of your thoughts and your breathing (e.g. take a deep breath and follow it to your stomach, legs, feet, toes, etc. feeling the sensation as it gets to each of these body parts).

Gratitude

I am currently on Day 26 of my gratefulness challenge and I have 5 more videos to film. I started an appreciation blog a few years ago and I made 146 posts! That is quite an achievement for me, so hopefully when the videos stop I will be able to carry on being grateful and thankful throughout my day. I want to be aware of everything in my day to day life and I think being grateful should start first thing in the morning. 

General Update

My house mate and I have decided that we are going to cycle to the Wholesale Fruit and Veg market 3 times a week. We have been getting a lot of free food recently and believe that we could probably sustain ourselves on this produce and reduce our spending. We would still have to buy bananas in bulk and we seem to have to buy tomatoes too. I will be spending some money on persimmons and cherimoya too because I enjoy these fruits a lot.

I had a Tarot reading on Wednesday and it was my first time. I actually started my day in Liverpool after spending the night at my dad's house (we had a father-daughter trip the day before). My dad had turned the TV over to the psychic channel and we watched a bit of Sally Morgan, she has a TV show that follows her around during her tours and one on one readings. From what I have experienced, my dad is a logical thinker and needs to see proof before he accepts the idea. Sally can speak with spirits and she was doing just that on her show whilst my dad tried to express his opinions that she is just a performer. I too used to think like my dad, "it's made up", "it's staged", but Sally seems really genuine.

I told my dad I was going for a reading as he dropped me off at the train station. I thought it was quite funny that we even had the discussion in front of the TV because he didn't know about my reading at that point! I don't want to tell you what was said to me, but a quarter of the way through I had a spirit come to tell me that I will be OK, I broke down in tears! I wasn't expecting any message, but to have one after the morning's discussion just hit me from nowhere! 

The rest of my reading was so accurate to my current journey I was just shocked that this is so real and I have now witnessed first hand that there really is something in the Tarot and people with psychic abilities. Out of all the cards I could choose, I got the ones that suggest I will be OK and everything that I am working for will work out. 

This afternoon I am going to a spiritualist church for the first time to see what it is like. I have really been feeling a calling recently.

I am going to leave it here and wish you all a wonderful Sunday afternoon. I hope you will get in touch if you want to tell me about your experiences.

Love

Jennifer x

Overdue Thursday

It is about time I wrote a post about what I experienced on the juice cleanse.

So Steven and I did a 3 day colon cleanse and a 1 day kidney cleanse, followed by an apple and carrot juice fast/feast. It was fairly easy and was not a struggle at all. The first 4 days (on the colon and kidney cleanse) were the worst simply for the fact that we were house bound due to needing to use the toilet regularly. It cleans you out and literally gets rid of all of the shit!

We had some good sun over those 4 days, so we lay outside on the grass, which was so good. We found that drinking carrot juice before sun bathing really helped our skin and we had an added glow. Our sunburn healed faster and our skin looked amazing.

The main benefits that I experienced were weight loss, clearer skin and improved bowel movements. 

I started taking a probiotic and this has helped with my digestion and bowel movements, as has incorporating the juice of half a lemon mixed with 500mls of water every morning. 

In January / February I was struggling to be raw and my weight was 10st.5.0, I have been raw since 13th February and upon starting the juice cleanse I weighed 10st.1.2. At the end of the juice cleanse my weight was 9st.10.4. Since I started being 100% raw in February I have gone from 27.5% body fat to 23.4% (at the end of the juice cleanse).

I had a spot problem from October last year and being fully raw has definitely help clear it up, as has sun bathing and the use of a sun bed.

I am very happy with the results from the juice cleanse and I feel like I have had a really good clean on the inside. 

Moving forward I want to start eating juicy fruits for breakfast and leaving the heavier fruits for lunch and dinner. I want to see if eating this way will improve my overall feeling and whether it will affect my weight loss.

Tomorrow I have accepted a challenge of going barefoot. I might write about it, especially as I have to go to Tesco to do some shopping for my Bon Voyage party! I just hope I don't step on any glass or sharp objects.

Jennifer x

Soulful Sunday

Update

I took some time off blogging to try to get my final project for TEFL completed, I'm about 60% done, so I'll aim to finish it early this week. Then it'll be study every night to revise all of the units. 

I purchased a hotel and train ticket to Gatwick Airport yesterday, so all I have left is to buy travel insurance and sort out a bed for when I get to Bangkok. I arrive at 6.30am so I have plenty of time to get lost in the city. I preferably want to be close to a fruit market so if you know of a place close to one let me know soon!

I also purchased a tablet yesterday. I ended up choosing the Asus MeMO HD 7 pad in pink, so far it's good. I'm writing this post on it right now. I think I am going to purchase a case with a keyboard as I cannot read the screen as I'm typing this in landscape mode!

Had a chat with an Australian raw foodist this morning, It taught me to be more prepared for other/future discussions. Every new experience is a tool for us to learn and develop personally. I am grateful for that.

I'm am also organising a bon voyage for 31st May, so if you want to come be sure to let me know. I'm thinking mid afternoon gathering with raw food, music, dancing and party games! It's how I roll :)

Love Jennifer x