Lost in Time

 Telisik by Danilla

Whew, today has been a very very happening day. But well, I suppose it is a sweet ending to April. A month that to me, seems to fly so so fast. It didn't feel like a month has passed. It felt like... 2 weeks have passed, within these 29 days. Perhaps I was really busy, there's always something that I have to do everyday. People to meet, things to settle, this and that. But well, it's ending well! :)

It's like 4:40 AM now and I just finished doing some work. I discovered a wonderful female singer from Indonesia who has become a new favourite singer of mine now! Her name is Danilla and I just bought her debut album, Telisik, which arrived today! So I was just listening to the album while doing work just now, and it felt heavenly. Love her voice, and it's a perfect accompaniment for the late night.

I love the night, as you know it. It feels so blissful to be in the silence and calmness of the night, listening to wonderful music, and watch time goes by. It's like... I started doing work at 3:30 AM and when the whole album finished, it was already 4:15 AM! I was just pretty engrossed with the music and work I suppose, that I didn't take note at the amount of time that has passed by.

Anyway, it's the end of the month. Time to share the music I discovered in April!

Great Music of April:

- Hermes by Hayato Hirose

- Icarus by Madeon

- The City by Madeon

- Turning Back Around by Rhodes

- The Lakes by Rhodes 

- Dancin (Krono Remix) by Aaron Smith 

- Swim Deep by Brolin

- Ada di Sana by Danilla

- If You Don't Mind by Lightcraft

- Untuk Perempuan Yang Sedang Di Pelukan by Payung Teduh

Song of the month: Dancin (Krono Remix) by Aaron Smith

Hermes is actually one of the two set pieces for this year's concert band SYF! It is such a sweet but grandeur music and I think the kids in this year's SYF are pretty lucky to be able to play this for SYF.

I discovered Madeon through Brenda and he just released his new album called Adventure! Pretty much love the vibe and energy of the songs in this album! Feels very fresh and uplifting to me, makes me wanna go for an Adventure :P Rhodes also just released his new EP Turning Back Around and I love all of his songs in this EP! My favourite would be Turning Back Around. I can't wait for his album.

Dancin (Krono Remix) by Aaron Smith is such an addictive song! I actually discovered this song like last year I think, through the channel The Sound You Need. But it is not available for download in Soundcloud or iTunes. But then I discovered that it is available in iTunes on the 19th of April! So I patiently waited for it. Although strangely, I discovered that it's been there all along (and not released on 19th of April) so... I'm not sure. But oh well whatever the case, I have the song now and I'm addicted.

I discovered Brolin while streaming Soundcloud one night. His song Swim Deep was playing and I was like hmm I love the beat of the background accompaniment and well, I'm hooked! Bought his song on iTunes right away. He also has a song called Reykjavik and somehow it reminds me of my time there.

Alright I haven't really given a proper proper listen to the albums I bought in RSD but these are some of my favourite songs from the albums I got there. The opening music for Lightcraft's album Colours of Joy is a wonderful song and it really made me want to listen to the rest of the album! Untuk Perempuan Yang Sedang Di Pelukan (For the woman who's being hugged) by Payung Teduh is by far my favourite song from them. The rest of the album is amazing as well. Such a beautiful Indonesian talent!

Yup, these are the awesome music that I discovered in April! I am pretty stoked for the next coming months cause so many of my favourite bands/artists are releasing their albums! So many of them, that I decided to create a list of their release dates haha. Alright, I hope April has been a wonderful month for you too! April has marched on, come what May! :P See you soon again.

Nostal-gila

Okay so somehow somewhat, this favourite old song of mine was playing inside my head last night. It's the famous Johnny Hates Jazz song, Shattered Dreams! I know this song through my late aunt, and together with my cousins, this became our favourite song back then. Although we don't even know what the song was about and what the lyrics are. So yes, it's pretty nostalgic reuniting with this song again.

I know this is kinda embarrassing but we created a dance to that song when we were young.

But anyway, thanks to this one song, I was feeling nostalgic about everything. I began downloading some old songs which I don't have on my laptop now. JHJ songs, and also Breathe's song "Hands to Heaven", which is a song I clearly remember listening to in Gold 90 FM when I was in Singapore. You know back then we have no Soundhound or Shazam. So I had no choice but to wait for the radio DJ to announce the song after that. But sadly this song is always played during off-air haha.

So last night I just Googled the lyrics and found it! There are a few more song which I still don't know the title but well, I don't know the lyrics. Man, I wish I had all the CDs of these great songs and artists! You know when I was in primary school, Gold 90 FM is the only radio station I listen to. So I actually know a lot of oldies from the 70-80s. Which is something my friends found me weird of hah. 

To continue my nostalgia, I streamed Gold 90 FM online just now (don't you just love technology!). And they were playing Kelly Clarkson's A Moment Like This and I thought to myself: "Isn't this kind of a recent song?" Until I realised that it is actually 12 years recent! Like what the fish man seriously. Thirteen years ago! Can you believe it. Time flies like a boss really.

Although actually I only started following American Idol from their 3rd season. But I know Kelly Clarkson won the first season, and that "A Moment Like This" was a pretty famous song back then. I can still remember quarreling with my friend over who should win the second season. I was rooting for Fantasia Barrino while my friend was rooting for Diana. Man, those were the days!

Not sure why but I've been missing those late nights when I was still in Singapore. Quiet nights, listening to radio or watching the TV. Well, I just miss Pandan Valley heh. I remember when I was in Primay 5 I used to spend late nights at Vesti's room with her brother Bobby. We would play PS2 or just chat around, and deciding where to go the next day (cause it was holiday already). And cause we were making quite a loud noise back then, my guardian complained to me. Oops.

It's just pretty surprising how fast time could fly. It feels weird to realise we are here now.

After traveling through this life, through the years.

Malam Sabtu

Saturday night is probably my favourite time of the week. I used to think that Friday night is my favourite, but then again nope, Saturday night is more awesome. Well I love Saturday night here because usually it is the time when I would be done with my work for the week. Unless during the occasional time in which I have calculations to do. Even if there is, then the time after my calculations will be my favourite time of that week. You know, that awesome feeling that you're finally on the weekend, and you can just chill for the rest of the night. And (sort of) wake up to a day with little work.

And I realised it goes the same with the days I had in Singapore. Although yes, Friday is my favourite day, but Saturday night would be my favourite time too. Cause I would usually spend my Saturday morning doing revision/notes/work till the late afternoon where I would go out. But I know I won't do anything on Sunday morning unless there's a test/exam nearby and I'm running out of time. And also excluding the temple prayers I went to at Mangala Vihara. Which is something I always enjoy.

Well my dad's favourite time of the week is Saturday night too. He wishes that he can freeze this particular timing and be in this timing for as long as he likes. To me.... Yep, Saturday night is the time of the week in which I feel that time ceases to exist. It feels like everything is in harmony, I just love the feel and the vibe of Saturday night. You can't get it on any other nights, in my opinion.

My ideal Saturday night (of my imagination) would be a stay-home night actually. Staying at home, with a hot cup of tea, with music blasting through a sound system. And when I own my own house next time, I want to make a balcony so that I can stare at stars on Saturday nights heh. Or even watching movies on Saturday night sounds like a great plan too. I just want to chill on this night! :P

I used to do these things too when I was in Singapore. I remember spending Saturday nights watching movies till late at night. Or there are also days when I got insomnia and I just went outside my room to stare at the night sky and look at the stars with a cup of tea beside me. I just feel at peace and it feels like time and my soul are in a perfect harmony. Pretty indescribable feeling.

I'd like to keep malam Sabtu in such manner. Till the day where I can't enjoy these anymore.

Happy (belated) Record Store Day!

"Who needs a boyfriend when you have a record collection"

First of all, wishing you a belated Happy Record Store Day! So on the third Saturday in the month of April, the whole world celebrates Record Store Day (RSD) which is a day in which different artists release special releases in a physical format. Be it in the form of vinyl, CD and even cassette. And also to me, it is a day of celebration for people who believe that music still needs a physical manifestation!

Although RSD happened on Saturday, I'm so sorry but I just have the chance to blog about it now!

This is my first time participating in an RSD. Last year I wanted to to but I was having something on that day so I couldn't go for it. This year I am determined to go for it because I've been wanting to experience it! Although I myself don't have a vinyl player, and all I'm looking for in RSD is CDs, which I think is fine too. It is still a physical format for music. Besides there are many booths participating and majority of them are selling CDs too.

So I left my hometown in the morning for RSD Indonesia which takes place at Bara Futsal Building in Kemang, Southern Jakarta. I was feeling really excited as I came with a list of CDs I am looking for. And I was also trying my luck in finding great albums that I chanced upon.

Happy digging!

There were lots of booths from various record stores and music stores and they were selling a lot of albums, mostly in the form of vinyls (duh!). But they also sell CDs and cassette tapes, and some booths specialise in only CDs. I love the feel and the vibe of the whole event. I find it very intimate, raw and communal. The camaraderie of the whole place is beautiful, it is indeed a place where people who share the same passion mix and mingle together, you can feel the love everywhere.

I was just digging through the piles of CDs from the different booths. The first one I went to was the booth from Kedai Musik - which is a shop I've been following on Instagram haha. It feels kinda awesome to meet the man behind that shop (although we don't know each other heh). In his booth I discovered Deep Forest's Boheme album!!! I have been looking for this album for years, back when I first discovered them. HMV doesn't have them, the different CD shops I went to don't have them either. Contemplated to get it through Amazon but they no longer ship to Indonesia. So when I discovered the album I just took it and keep it safe hah. I mean... I'm preventing other buyers from taking it hahaha.

My haul

Anyway here are the CD haul I got from yesterday's RSD:
- Bjork's Vulnicura
- Lightcraft's Colours of Joy
- Payung Teduh's Dunia Batas
- Deep Forest's Boheme

Bjork released her new album this year and I've been looking to get a physical copy of it! So much raw and beautiful emotions in this album. Such a heart-raising album, I wanna see her live one day.

Lightcraft is an Indonesian Indie band and I actually discovered them yesterday while they were performing live. I was about to leave the event when they started playing. Their opening song totally caught my ears and I went back all the way to the other end of the building to catch their performance. I asked one of their personnel who was standing near the stage if I can get their album and she kindly brought me to a booth that sells their album. Thank you for your help! You have a new fan :)

I discovered Payung Teduh back in 2012 I think... I know I was definitely still back in Singapore when I saw one of their videos on Youtube. I thought hey, I will find their album when I'm back in Indonesia but boy I was wrong, their album is nowhere to be found hah. Everyone was looking for their album as it was made a limited number of copies I think. So I was determined to look for it in RSD and I'm so glad I did! They are an awesome band, and I love how chill and "cooling" their music is. Definitely the kind of song you wanna play on a rainy day, or late nights. Definitely a great Indonesian band!

Isn't this too pretty

I also bought this notebook with a Sigur Ros Takk cover printed on wood covers! It is such an exquisite notebook and my notebook fetish just boils strongly inside and I was like... I have to buy this. So I burned a hole in my wallet and got it. But it's cool, cause well the lady said they only made this specially for RSD so I'll take it as a memoir keepsake too. I'm still drooling over it now.

Anyway all in all, I truly love my first Record Store Day experience. It is a day where we take our pride in owning physical forms of music - physical manifestations of music. During my experience in RSD Indonesia, I chatted with a few different people. Some of them asked me what CDs I was looking for, what genres I like and stuff. I realised that we all share one love - of owning physical forms of music. For example I met this guy who has been looking for Payung Teduh's album but had no luck (oops I bought it already haha). And then there was also the owner of Kedai Musik who was offering me some CDs who will definitely become a rarity in the future.

So I realised one thing - even know deeply I know that the CD industry is dying slowly, it is still something that people are looking for. And knowing that I owned quite a number of CDs made me feel "special", knowing that in the future, other people might be looking for what I have been owning for years. And this is what makes owning physical forms of music so unique and so awesome. As the year goes by, the value of your albums will increase. Well maybe it's not that much for CDs but definitely for vinyls. Although I know in the future, the number of people who are actually still looking for physical forms of music is going to decrease. Or well, I hope it is going to increase!

I have been collecting CDs and albums for as long as I can remember. I can still remember back in primary school, I would spend my hard-saved cash on two things - Lego and CDs. I remember back in P6, I went to HMV with my sister and they were having a sale promotion. Like buying three CDs (of this special rack) for the price of 21 bucks. One of the albums I got was this compilation of different instrumental music, mostly by Japanese arists. Believe it or not, some of the music that I bought back then is still inside my iPod now. And of course, I still have the CD with me.

Record Store Day is a pretty special day for me. To be surrounded by people who share the same passion as you, to meet like-minded people in terms of owning physical forms of music, and to be hopeful for the future of this industry. I am definitely coming back next year, and if you are interested, you can start collecting the CDs of your favourite musicians as well :)

Event-full

Today was such an event-full day really... From the start till the end, I was just pre-occupied with things. So much so, that at the end of this day, it felt like I didn't have a chance to catch my breath. So it was pretty good that I had a bit of a moment to enjoy quietness and just a moment of peace, before my mind gets back into being pre-occupied again. I was feeling happy at the end of the day, to know it's coming to an end. And now I'm slowly regaining my breath back. 

So in the afternoon I was meeting someone at the farm. And then we had to settle and plan the packing of the flowers. I reached home and was settling the fees and stuff, and I thought to myself, okay let's rest for a while. Then suddenly the driver called me up to tell me that... The car lights broke down, and it is most probably due to a burnt cable from the central cabling system. And after checking it at a nearby car workshop, yup, it is most probably a problem sourced at the central cables. And if we were to just "force" the truck to function the whole cabling system might burn off.

The truck was packed to the brim (literally) but now that it cannot be used for delivery, we have to shift EVERYTHING into a new truck. Yes, everything. I was feeling rather annoyed to be honest, for all these things to be happening right now. Although none of us has any control regarding this matter. No one wanted this, and no one can stop and prevent this from happening. I was just gathering my thoughts and composure and told myself, alright, let's just shift everything. So we shifted everything.

After the car ordeal, I wanted to rest. But then I realised that it's late already (11 PM) and I still have a calculation waiting to be calculated. So I prepared some tea and went to work on the calculations right away. And then the night goes on and I just went on to finish up the rest of the work I had. It was 2 AM and I was finally done with work. And I realised that well, it's been almost 12 hours that I am pre-occupied with something continuously. I was so glad it's over.

I've been trying hard and training myself to be more patient. I've been learning to avoid and let go anger, and I think I'm doing it well. But I find it really difficult to let go of annoyance. This feeling of being annoyed at something, of being irritated by something. And I know deeply that these thoughts and feelings are detrimental for my mind. I am practising hard to let go of things that I cannot control.

Although I've fully accepted that there is really nothing that we should all be unhappy about when something out of our control happens, I suppose I let too much of my emotions stir up easily. Sigh, okay, let's stop feeling easily annoyed heh. I always feel that unhappiness is the result of us letting our minds go away somewhere unnecessary. Like for example, what happened to me above, I let my mind wander to annoyance instead of directing it to me focusing to solve the problem.

I need to meditate more. Come to think of it, I haven't been meditating for 2 days. Cause... 2 days ago I was feeling super sleepy and as for yesterday, I was having a huge and painful boil on my butt and I couldn't even sit for 2 minutes heh. It's getting better now, so I will get back on track :)

Alright signing off for now. It was such a happening day, let's enjoy the rest of the week.

PS: I know that this post is posted at 23:49 and I am talking about things that happened beyond that time. Just letting you know that I am blogging this at 4:37 AM, and to ensure that the post is about the day of occurrence (15th of April), I changed the time to adjust the day.

Inseparable Emptiness

色不异空．空不异色．

色即是空．空即是色．

So a week ago, we celebrated the birthday of Avalokitesvara here at the temple. I'm not sure when is the exact day of his birthday. But after doing some research, apparently there are three important days that we commemorate for him: The 19th of the 2nd lunar month is to commemorate his birthday, 19th of the 6th lunar month to commemorate him following the Boddhisatva's way (I think) and 19th of the 9th lunar month commemorating him becoming a Boddhisatva. Although I'm not too sure how these dates come into tradition. But nevertheless, it's always good to contemplate and to reflect on these date.

Like I once blogged last year, Avalokitesvara (or Guan Yin) is someone I strive to be. He is the Boddhisatva of Compassion, and his name means "the lord who observes the sounds of the world". So I deeply and gratefully celebrate these dates. The temple was filled with people last week as we chanted sutras in that lovely evening. Felt good to see the temple crowded with people. Young and old, chanting sutras together.  I love chanting sutras because it brings me great peace.

There are a lot of famous sutras in Mahayana Buddhism. But I suppose the two really famous ones are The Great Compassion Mantra (大悲咒） and The Heart Sutra (般若波罗蜜多心经). Okay I suppose I am a bad Buddhist. Before I know Buddhism as well as now, I thought these two sutras are like "Chinese Sutras" that's not really related to Buddhism heh. But of course not. I discovered later that 大悲咒 is Nilakantha-Dharani and 般若波罗蜜多心经 is Prajna-Paramita sutra. I realised that the Chinese words share the same meaning and translation of the sutras!

I've been researching about these sutras and recently, I've been reading up articles on The Heart Sutra. This has become my favourite sutra. "Prajna Paramita" means the Perfection of Wisdom and well at first I don't really get the "wisdom" of this sutra, until I read and read the sutra again and again, and do some research of different translations and interpretations of the sutra, that I realised how beautiful it is!

I think the beginning of the sutra already has so much wisdom we can take. It says:

色不异空．空不异色．

色即是空．空即是色．

受, 想, 行, 识, 亦复如是

It translates to: 

Form is inseparable from emptiness, emptiness is inseparable from form.

Form is emptiness, emptiness is form.

The same goes for feelings, conceptions, mental formations and consciousness.

Okay first of all, form, feelings, conceptions, mental formation and consciousness are the five aggregates (or skandhas) in Buddhism. To give an easy example, here is how it goes. We pick a flower and hold it in our hands (form), we smell it and the smell is picked up by our nose (feelings), we discovered that the flower is a jasmine flower (conception), jasmine flower reminds us of tea or whatever feelings we had encountered in the past (mental formations), we are aware of all of these (consciousness). And the cycle goes on and on in our lives.

It is said that clinging to any one of these aggregates is the cause of suffering. And hence, in the Heart Sutra, these aggregates are inseparable from emptiness. This is a reminder that we should not cling to all of these, if not we'll just continue to suffer, forever, trapped in Samsara. These few lines alone have made me fall in love with the Sutra. It is so simple, yet so profoundly beautiful and rather difficult to practice. How do we practice it? I'm not exactly sure how, but this is my take on it.

The five aggregates work in a chain, together, to form consciousness. From this consciousness we'll create suffering, if we ever cling to them. So I suppose reminding ourselves of this inseparable emptiness can help us to stop clinging to all these? Let's do this in another example.

Say someone says something hurtful to you (your ear picked it up (form)), and then you felt angry and annoyed by it (feelings), you discovered that those words hurt you (conception), and suddenly you just think of all the negative things this person did to you (mental formations) and then this feeling of you, needing to be angry and to be made at this someone arises (consciousness). 

Now you remind yourself of the sutra, that these aggregates are inseparable from emptiness. And you realise that these aggregates are nothing but emptiness. They come, and rise, and... Go away. This will prevent you from clinging onto these aggregates and congratulations, you're one step closer to becoming the happiest person ever alive in this world! Now keep on practising this.

The Buddha said that no matter how many times you read the holy words, they mean nothing if you don't practise them. So yep, you can chant the Heart Sutra like 100 times everyday, but they mean nothing if you don't understand and apply the teachings. I do read the Heart Sutra everyday. To me reading these sutra is a reminder for me to apply this technique every day. And also, I realised that the more I read this sutra, the more insights and wisdom I get from it. Hence, more application!

Okay what a long post! But I've always wanted to blog about this. I hope you enjoy reading this post and may it help you in life as well. Have a great day everyone :)

Gate gate paragate parasamgate bodhi svaha.

Qing Ming (Last Week)

Okay so as promised I am going to do several late-posts. A week a go my family and I went for Qing Ming AKA the annual visit to my grandparents and great-grandparents cemeteries. I love Qing Ming - the part where the family gathers, and also because the cemetery is located in this beautiful location overlooking the lower part of my hometown. The view is pretty awesome I must say.

Though it came as a shock that someone is building a freaking warehouse right beside my grandparent's graveyard. Like wow dude you've got balls. Well as long as it doesn't hinder and it doesn't damage my grandparents' graveyard, I'm fine with it. But seriously though, who would build a warehouse beside a cemetery. Well, we have that guy heh. Mixed feeling about the building.

Qing Ming always comes in with some surprises. For example I discovered that the late Mr Lee and I shared the same ancestral village! So our ancestors came from Tai Bu village in China's Guang Dong province. I would love to be there one day! :) Sometimes thinking about my ancestors and where they come from etc sends shivers down my spine. You know, just imagining the kind of life they were living a few hundred years ago and stuff. Pretty amazing isn't it.

Anyway today was quite a sad day for me... Because I discovered that half of our tomato plants just died! Well we plant them without the use of any pesticides and chemicals so... They are very prone to pests. Today I learned why organic food is super expensive. To trade for health and purity, we need to prepare for the sacrifice of failed crops. We are replanting the tomatoes anyway so I hope the next planting will be a successful one. We're adding more fertilisers.

Alright stopping here for a while. I promise I'll blog more to make up for my absence! :)

100/365

Right I just finished helping transcribing the Chinese book! Whew, done with proof-reading and so on, and thankfully there isn't much to be edited. Except for one part where somehow, this part of the document, has a different font from the rest (for the Chinese characters). I freaked out, and I got to change them. But nevertheless it's all done now and all good. I can go back to my daily "routine" now, and no longer have to spend the nights transcribing the document :P

Which makes me wonder... Well I have to admit that the past week felt pretty quick! Perhaps it's because of this routine. I have something to keep me busy every night and so time seems to fly more quickly. But anyho, I'll be busy for the next coming nights too cause... I gotta update this blog! Well I hate to do this but I'm going to do a bunch of late-posts because well, a lot of things happened while I was doing the transcribing so yep, I'll update the past events in the next few days.

Okay first thing first, it's day 100 of the year now! Can you believe it. I don't think the first 100 days went this quick last year. Oh well, maybe we're just growing old and growing busier. 

And well I haven't talked about this, but now let me tell you my project for this year:

Yup I have actually been drawing for the past 100 days....! Not.

Okay here's the story. I bought this book at Typo while I was in Singapore last year for Chvrches and I told myself... Hey this is going to be an interesting project I can do for the new year! Like I said in my last post about resolutions, I actually don't have anything in mind for 2015 back then. Well except for the fact that I'm not going to continue Project365 2014 into this year. 

So when I saw this book, I thought to myself: If I can take photos for 365 days in a row, I'm pretty sure I can draw something for 365 days right? Hah. Now I'm laughing at myself.

I was very excited in first few days of the year, or even weeks, to come up with different drawings and doodles in this book. Until about day 20-ish when I got mind-blocked a lot. So I decided to change the game in which I change the "draw something" to "create something". I decided to let loose, and instead of simply drawing, I get to write poems, lyrics, and so on and forth.

So far everything has been going fine. I do keep some photos of my work. But first of all please do know that I can't draw for nuts. Seriously, period. I can't draw, and my first few drawings and doodles were pretty horrible. Well of course, by the end of this project, I hope I can get better in drawing. And I know I will. Some days are very inspiring to me, and my hand seems to be able to draw whatever is in my mind. Some days are very horribly uninspiring and I ended up writing what's inside my head. Or just things that seem to sum up the day for me. Which is pretty... Un-artsy like.

But I suppose it's better than just leaving empty pages right? Like now, I can just flip to any page to come into a page of "inspiration" or "motivation". Most of the doodles I do are from song lyrics, so they're sometimes relatable to my feelings. And yup, so I've decided to basically just create anything everyday. Be it drawings, doodles, poems and so on. And I've been enjoying this so far.

Why am I doing this project you might ask? Similar to Project365 last year, I just want to keep my creative juice flowing. Because well, what I'm doing everyday is not art-related. And I want art to be part of my life. And this is a good way to keep it inside my life. I pretty much enjoy anything that has something to do with photography, writing and music. I can't draw for nuts, but well I suppose, if I paint with light in photography, it's time for me to paint with my pen on these empty pages.

Oh and PS: Yes I draw with my pen. So if I make a mistake, I'll have to find a way to salvage it.

Alright, that's all for now, for this project update. I can't wait to see my book filled with many drawings and doodles and poems and lyrics and so on! I shall call this project: Create365!

Busy Book

Hey everyone, just a really short update. The reason why I haven't been updating for so long is because... I've been busy the past week! Anyway the story goes like this. My sister has a printing order to print this mini book which consists of Buddhist and Chinese literature teachings. And since no one in her printing shop can read Chinese, she asked me if I can "re-create" the book in computer so that she can have the file. And of course I gladly help her.

So yup I've been busy transcribing Chinese words into MS Word and stuff. The most challenging part of this task is that the Chinese words are in traditional Chinese. Which is something I'm kind of familiar with but not fully! So I have to rely on Google Translate to change the words from traditional to simplified, where I can then know the hanyu pinyin, and then back to traditional Chinese.

Pretty tiring and troublesome process but no worries! I'm done now :D

Still left with proof-reading the document, and then we gotta meet the man in charge of the book to give him a look of the words and stuff.

The past week just made me so so glad that I don't have to learn traditional Chinese.

Till then! I will update more when I'm done :)