6 Things That Make Me Happy

I’ve been tagged by Sinta, the lovely bride-to-be who knits and draws, and loves roses and tea, and has a cute little cat called Pascal. I wonder if he’s named after the programming language. Speaking of which, I have vague memories of writing lines of code using that language, way back when I was 16… Something that involved writeln and readln, feeling elated when my mini program worked (I did that?!), feeling exasperated when it wouldn’t work like it should. I was a lousy programmer :P

Oops…where were we again? Ah, yes, the tag.

This tag’s pretty simple — I only have to write about 6 random things that make me happy. Now, if I’m to mention anything involving my 3 passions in life — my kids, travel, and photography — that would be too predictable and way too easy.

Sooo…lemme think…

1. Chocolate. The all-around panacea for all sorts of ailments, particularly work-related stress. A wise man once said, “If all else fails, there’s always chocolate.” Or was it just Garfield? :D But seriously speaking, scientific studies show that consumption of chocolate triggers the release of endorphins, reducing the chocolate-eater’s sensitivity to pain, and contributing “to the warm inner glow induced in susceptible chocoholics.” I’m a chocoholic. I am, I am.
2. Serendipity.  This is defined as “good luck in making unexpected and fortunate discoveries.” Sometimes I’m googling something out but find something else instead, which turns out to be very useful. Sometimes, I stumble upon a site through another site which I found through a friend’s blog, which gives me the solution to a problem that’s long been nagging me. Sometimes, it’s when I’m out shopping for an item that I need…then find it on sale…then get an extra 5% for buying the display item. The latter happened to me when I bought a Kenwood Chef — the British equivalent to the American Kitchen Aid — a few months ago. I found one at Harvey Norman’s in Pavilion. It was heavily discounted because Kenwood won’t be manufacturing that particular model anymore, although spare parts are still available. It was  in pristine condition and still covered by Kenwood’s warranty…and I got the extra discount for buying the display item!
3. Free stuff. Free gifts. Free meals. Buy one, get another one free. I could very well have been the person who came up with the saying “The best things in life are free”!
4. New toys. As in gadgets. Phones, laptops, and other thingamajigs. I looooove toys. I’m such a tech-geek at heart. If I could have my way, I’d spend hours (perhaps days?) browsing the shops in Plaza Low Yat to ogle the latest laptops, hold the latest DSLR’s, try out unlocked cell phones.
5. Reconnecting with old friends in the most unexpected of ways…and making new ones along the way. Facebook. Multiply. Stumbling upon blogs of people who turn out to be friends/relatives of friends. Ain’t the internet wonderful? :)
6. Weekends and public holidays. No explanation needed on this one! :D

Now, I’m tagging LittleMsFirefly, Sheng and WitsAndNuts. It’s your turn, ladies…

What about you? What are the small things in life that make you happy? Happy weekend, everyone!