Category : LIFE
Lipton, everyone’s favorite tea brand that’s instantly identifiable by its bright yellow tag, is celebrating the feel-good moments of their tea fans with the launch of Lipton Moments Singapore. If you’ve been following my Instagram feed (hellopleasefollowmeyaythanks), you may have noticed that I’ve been posting several photos with the hashtag #LiptonMomentsSG. It’s an Instagram photo sharing contest where you share images that capture a positive moment and inspire others to do the same through this online social media channel. Plus you also stand a chance to win great prizes including a trip to Bali and a luxurious spa experience at Hyatt Hotel! :)
Lipton Moments Singapore comes at a time when Lipton is encouraging new and younger consumers to drink tea on a more regular basis to provide that much needed lift during their hectic daily lives. This campaign reminds all of us that Lipton Moments are all about happy and positive times. So brew a cup of your favorite Lipton tea, kick back and enjoy the moment.
I am a big tea drinker so I’m thrilled to have stumbled upon this photo sharing contest because I totally am in sync with the idea that drinking tea is a positive sensorial experience. Tea is calming for me and I associate drinking it with happy moments, especially the tiny ones throughout the day. Let me share with you some of my fave feel-good moments below.
ME time = art time. The time to push myself creatively and explore the different processes to express this. Okay, that first part of the sentence sorta came out wrong. I don’t like thinking of it as pushing myself, it should ideally flow effortlessly through me while I surrender myself to an enjoyable experience and lose track of time. Thing is, I often kick myself for not doing enough of this. I know that for the most part, it’s due to the peripheral grievances that I’ve received whenever I bring up the importance of ME time. I get this little voice in my head reminding me how it’s hurtful to people who feel neglected and ignored, and then I feel guilty for having the desire to escape into my own imaginary world.
Meanwhile I see all these beautiful inspiring creations from talents all over the world and I ask, why am I shortchanging myself because of the way others perceive ME time as being selfish? I can’t always be responsible for the way others feel, especially particularly specifically when I am not out to be malicious or hurtful. Why, I guess being ME is hurtful to some? Well then… :[ I can only be who I am and trying to be the best ME that I can be. Sorry, I digress – as I was saying earlier… Curating ideas/inspirations isn’t nearly the same as actually creating something. I believe that as with other endeavors, time for creativity requires dedication and discipline. The more frequently I immerse myself in it, the more effortless it will be. At least in theory, we’ll see… I hadn’t touched my watercolors in a while – still wrestling with love-hate issues - but the other day I thought, what the heck if I don’t make small steps to reconcile, I will never break out of this glass ceiling that I put over my own head. Met with some hurdles initially, of course, lotsa crappy shit came out and my inner critic mercilessly reminded me how much I sucked when it comes to watercolor.
*shrug* I dunno. I suppose slowing down, stepping away and taking a breather when it got way too self-deprecating helped. Came back feeling less defeated and tried again. Then again. And yet again. Doodled mindlessly on the side. Sipped tea on the side. Decided to combine watercolor and ink, sorta looked like something nice was happening and finally I ended up with this painting/drawing/doodling combo you see above of a teacup with bunting. My inner critic was about to say something about that but I decided that it should STFU for now and let me have my feel-good moment. I’m happy and that’s that.
A plate of roast duck noodle with a side of Lipton Asian White Green Tea. What can I say, I love food – and I am aware that I don’t eat regularly enough. But that’s a-okay. Whenever I do eat, I enjoy my food and I like to cap my meal off with a cup of tea whenever I can. I don’t know if this is considered weird, but I don’t like to mix eating and drinking together. I mean, I’d eat, eat, eat and then drink to finish the meal… instead of sipping a drink in between eating/chewing – unless the food is really salty or spicy. Is that weird??? Most of the time I’m too full to have desserts or fruits (oops!) so the cup of tea is my palate cleanser and mock-digestif. It also assists in slowing me down mentally and wrapping myself around the food coma that usually follows after a satisfying meal. Mmm~ moments like these definitely count as a feel-good moment and life is good.
Inspiration can be found everywhere. Aurally via sounds, visually through images and also from words on paper. I don’t read as much as I should anymore (oops again!), but I do have a stack of feel-good boosting paperbacks that I flip through from time to time in my pursuit of positive living and spiritual wellness. Life can be hard to navigate sometimes and people often suck. I, for one, enjoy being a self-sufficient hermit, while having minimal interaction with people and mindfully keeping my distance from toxic situations. But of course no (wo)man is an island and I like to get reminders that the world is filled with loads of awesomeness even when there are way too many unnecessary passive-aggressions going around.
For example: “B!t¢h, you owe me money since last year and you don’t return my messages, whatdafug!!!”. True story.
In the meantime, I drink tea to keep calm. :)
It feels good to extract oneself from the piss pool that other people shoved you into. Rise above it, rise above it. That, my friends, is enlightenment.
On a separate note, lately I find myself feeling crushed and having a lot of doubts. Like, should I really be doing what I’m doing? Am I on the right path? What the fudge am I doing and why the hell am I doing this again? And so on and so forth. Dark clouds of feeling discouraged, not a happy state of mind. It happens, I guess, especially when one’s a juggler. I guess this is why drinking a cup of hot tea has a calming effect because you can’t rush the action lest you want to scald your mouth. It forces me to slow down, sip slowly and mindfully being present in the moment while I sort this out slowly in my head is a positive thing. There’s no other way around it. Doesn’t quite feel as good during the process of mulling over these shitty thoughts, but it sure feels damn awesome when the breakthrough moment arrives. Enlightenment? That’s what I’m talking about.
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#LiptonMomentsSG – a photo contest to share and connect.
I’m sure you experience plenty positive moments in your daily life too, yah? Lipton fans in Singapore are invited to creatively and visually share uplifting moments for the chance to win great prizes, including weekly spa vouchers from Hyatt Hotel Singapore (worth SG$ 184.89 each) for the first three weeks, and a Grand Prize featuring 3D2N trip to Bali (worth SG$826.00 for 2 pax!!!) in the fourth (and last) week.
The contest is running now through 20 MAY 2013.
An image can convey so many sentiments, whether it’s exuding excitement, posi-tea-vity (heh), spontaneity or brightness, images can capture a positive moment and inspire you to feel the same way. Sharing #LiptonMomentsSG photos via Instagram gives people the chance to socially experience that much needed lift. No Instagram? No problem! Alternatively, you can also upload your photos using Lipton Moments app that can be found on Lipton Singapore Facebook Page. Wheee~
So, what’s your Lipton Moment? :)
TGIF with mucho lurv,
-MB.
I’ve been making a conscious effort to slow down and shut down on weekends nowadays. I do this because I need to have my quiet emotional and mental space with as minimal anxiety as possible, and I don’t give a hoot if I end up disappointing people by flaking out or not replying to emails/messages etc. Some may frown upon that and pass judgements like, “That’s so selfish!” or “Such apathy!”. You know what? Those are precisely the sort of negative energies and intensity that I am distancing myself from. Besides, I’ve learned that it’s impossible to make other people happy if you aren’t happy with yourself first.
Even though it appears as though I was “doing nothing” on my hermitic weekends, I’ve actually discovered quite a few gems through my reading and solo explorations online in these quiet moments alone. I got to read a funny cat prose penned by T.S. Eliot, I got to unwind with my down-beat ambient electronic grooves, I got to catch up on reading self-improvement/spiritual wellness articles and gleaned some insights. These are the little things that I like and enjoy, and have an interest in. I want to list them here for posterity’s sake so that I have a handy index to refer to next time.
Lipton Singapore is inviting you to the world’s first high tea bar – a pop-up cafe/bar at Plaza Singapura Atrium from 16-21 April 2013. At this high tea bar, you’ll get to discover the art of tea and food pairing while you sample and experience different flavors of Lipton Tea. Similar to wine-pairing, tea drinkers will discover that having a harmonious combination of tea with food can uplift their mood, excite their senses and enhance their dining experiences throughout the day.
Shoppers can rest their tired post-retail therapy feet inside the high tea bar in a cozy setting. With minimum spend of $25 at Plaza Singapura or $15 worth of Lipton products in a single receipt, tea fans can redeem one Lipton High Tea Set. Redemption is only valid on the day of purchase and must be made by 830PM.
Read on to find out more about the different high tea sets served at this Lipton High Tea Bar.
