I'm finally here.....at my 500th post! *woot woot*

It's been a long time coming.....but I'm finally here....I've arrived at my 500th post (8 months after reaching 400 posts)! ^.^

When I first started this blog, I told myself that I should set a target so that I have something to achieve and look forward to.  So, I did.  I set myself a target of 500 posts or 5 years (whichever is sooner)...and it looks like I got to my target in just a little over 3 years (I actually did a mental calculation of writing 2 posts a week, so it'll take me 5 years to write 500 posts, but I ended up writing more than 2 posts a week).

Ok, maybe some of you might think that the target was too modest but I doubt I'll continue blogging for 10 years, so I couldn't (and wouldn't) set a target of 1,000 posts! :P  Those who can keep going for 10 years or more certainly have my respect as I know it isn't easy to be continuously motivated...without some kind of 'benefits' involved (though I did make some money during the initial days for submitting my already written reviews to an online dining guide) ^_~

But since I have neither free food nor free stuff (though I did receive some invites which I graciously turned down) as that is not my blog's direction, so keeping continuously motivated and the passion to write alive is proving to be more difficult than I thought.

Call it whatever you want...blog lethargy, not as motivated as before, not as exciting as it initially was, preferring to eat at familiar 'same old same old' places or not eating out often enough are some of the reasons my interest is waning.  I had to keep reminding myself that this project is a "labour of love" more than anything else (though these days it might be more labour than love...haha)! >_<

Sometimes, when I feel I'm running on empty with only my passion for writing to spur me on.....your support definitely keeps me going for sure (and, yay!, I've just passed my 500,000 pageviews yesterday, slowly but surely).  Besides this, my other source of motivation comes from my interaction with other bloggers (who render encouragement with their kind comments).

I guess I need to persevere to give readers a choice of reading honest reviews on the food I paid for and ate, according to my personal taste buds (of course), with readers who'd want to read these type of reviews other than those invited (or paid) reviews.

The one setback I experienced with food blogging is that I miss not eating at my regular joints or visiting my favourite places often enough....coz who would want to read the same reviews (of probably the same food) over and over again, right?  So, I have to try to give people variety! ^_*

But, on the flip side, I've also eaten at so many new places (and discovered some truly good food along the way) that I wouldn't have done if I wasn't blogging.  So, in a way, I'm grateful for that.  But now that I've reached what I wanted to achieve, I'll no longer be so focused on showcasing new eateries on my blog.  If I want to try a new place, I will, otherwise I'll just enjoy eating at the places I want to eat at and the food I like to eat, some of which I'll blog about (again) and some I won't.

One thing I've learned is that whether you like or dislike the food is something very subjective.  Dining out is a very personal experience and it really depends on the experience that you yourself received.  It's different for everyone, be it tastebuds, ambience or memories created.  That's pretty much the principle of my blog anyway...I write honestly about what the food experience meant to me (but that same experience may turn out different for you).  So, decide for yourself, form your own opinions and don't take someone else's word for it (even if the restaurant has received great reviews).  

Now that I've reached the target I first set out for myself, there's no need for any more milestone recaps that have led me here, so this will effectively be my final milestone post!

I can choose to "retire" now...hehe! ;)  This is a good time as any for me to slow down and write less frequently.  Any additional posts from here on will be considered a bonus.  I'll probably continue to write, albeit at a much slower pace, until such time when I don't feel like writing any more....and then I'll just stop.