Dry Season?

It's the last day of July now, so supposedly, we have one more month before the dry season is over. And guess what, it hasn't stopped raining since November! Man the weather has been so weird. And we still have people denying that global warming exists. Well to be honest I would rather have this than last year's 6 months of no rain. That was pretty nasty and kind of stressful hah.

Anyway I can't believe that July has come to an end now! Well after all, we have 10 days of holiday in this month and perhaps time seems to fly much quicker? 5 more months to the end of 2016. Man, time where did you go to. Once again every new year seems to be a year where time seems to flow faster than the previous. Even though every year we go through the same number of days (except for this year, since it's a leap year). But yes, you get what I mean. Perhaps it's true, time is a spiral.

AKA it goes faster and faster as it continues spinning. 

I've decided to change my blog's cover photo last week! Do you like it? I've been using the same cover photo for almost two years now. The previous one was taken in Stykkisholmur in Iceland. This one is takenin Gyantse, Tibet! A random stretch of prayer flags in the old town. I was having a difficult time choosing the new cover photos. But this one seems to fit well. Since it's clouds of Sunday.

This September will mark the 8th year that I'm blogging. Whew. Can't believe how fast time is flying really. I still hope that I can continue blogging forever. Till I die hahaha. Probably not gonna happen. But even if I blog only once a month in the future. I will still do it. I don't know why. I enjoy blogging.

Alright since it's the last day of July, time for more music discoveries!

Great Music of July

- Nothing's Real by Shura

Okay this is quite sad but yes I didn't discover much great music in this month but hey hey hey Shura released her debut album this month! I love the album so much. It's so great and it's been on my playlist ever since it's released. I feel so happy for her album release! Every song from the album is great but my favourite will definitely by Make It Up, Kidz and Stuff and What's It Gonna Be!

Well I did find some nice music on YouTube here and there but haven't been listening to them fully haha. I also did discover a lot of great Indonesian Oldies, thanks to my dad who asked me to look for them. Falling in love with Chrisye songs all over again. Indonesian oldies are awesome.

Alright that's all for now. It's been a wonderful but filled with trials and tribulations first half of 2016. Here's to a better, greater and beautiful other half! I hope you're having a wonderful 2016 so far, lets make the other half a greater one! See ya :)

Fear

Sometimes I often wonder if we are all actually programmed to fear? Well for example, some people are told to fear god. And some countries use "fear" to control their people. Is fear actually part of us? Part of what makes us human. It's quite terrifying whenever I think about it but at the same time, I realise that fear has been part of us. Somehow, somewhat. We seem to have fear in all of us.

Fear of uncertainties. Fear of the future. Fear of a higher authority and so on and forth. Some people say a good leader is someone that can use fear to lead people, so that they can listen to them. Fear of people, where we seem to tell ourselves to be wary and to not trust people easily.

And I often think and wonder if we can live in a world without fear. If we can live our lives without fear.

Faithfully Religionless

 Faithfully Religionless. Thank you Timber for the book!

I've just finished reading this great book by Timber Hawkeye about two weeks ago. It is such a fantastic book - both for people who do and don't believe in religion/God. To me this book strikes a chord within me. Whatever I feel about things, religions and God is summarised in the book. And I even learned more things from the book. I truly recommend it to everyone. 

So I'm just going to share with you the thoughts that I have after reading this book.

Personally I believe there are two kinds of "religious" people. The first kind is the one that is ritually religious. They go to the place of worship, chant, pray, and so on and forth, thinking that doing this is enough to make them "religious". The second one is practically religious. They study about the essence of their religion, the teachings and so on, and put them into practice in their lives.

Just to give an example, there are a lot of Buddhists here who diligently go to the temple to pray and chant, but they don't know who the Buddha is. Or why Guan Yin is called Guan Yin. They don't know basic Buddhist teachings (Foue Noble Truths, Eightfold Noble Path etc). Or they don't even know what the Sutras are about. Or the easiest example: They believe that the Buddha will grant their wishes and make them rich and successful. I don't look down on them, because I was one of them.

I've never regarded myself a "good" Buddhist. I've only gotten to know Buddhism better in 2011-2012 ish, when I started reading more about Buddhism. I've only started to dissect Sutras in 2014 or so, reading different interpretations of Sutras. Right now I'm into the Prajnaparamita Sutra.

I could still remember how when I was young (and even till Secondary School, oops), I would go to the temple before major exams to pray for good luck and good results HAHAHA. I'll be like "Dear Buddha please grant me good grades for this upcoming exams". Of course as I get to know this religion better, I know that's not how Buddhism works. Or how a Buddha works.

Which brings me to my next point - as I study Buddhism more and more, I'm kind of convinced that it is not a religion. I can still remember in Sec One history class, our teacher told us how some people are still debating about calling Buddhism a religion or a philosophy. Now that I've learned a bit more about Buddhism, yes, I'm pretty convinced that it's not exactly a religion.

I'm not gonna go into details about this debate. To me I feel that Buddhism is a contemplative religion. It is a religion where our teacher, the Buddha, tells us about the ways of life. We then contemplate on his teachings and put them into practice in our lives. This is why the Buddha himself said that you should never believe in something until you have experienced it for yourself. And this includes his teachings. He didn't say that his teachings is THE way of life. He's just showing us the way.

In Buddhism there is no God. There is no creator and so on. The law of karma is running but karma isn't our God either. I feel karma is the law of the universe. That what you give, you will get in return. And this law doesn't need a power, or someone to be implemented in this life. Get what I mean?

I've always avoided talking about God because it is quite a sensitive issue. My view and perception about God changes in different parts of my life. I used to believe that God is this man up in the sky and he created the earth and animals and so on, and he punishes us for bad behaviour and rewards us for doing good things. Then my view changes after reading about the Big Bang Theory and I don't really quite agree with God as a creator. I still believe in God, but not as a creator.

And as I grow older, my perception of God changes from a man to a formless energy. God is there, but God doesn't have a form. Like some sort of power? Just an unknown power.

My perception changes again after I meet people who misuse God. I'd like to call it - when people play the God card. Just to give an example: You can't do so/be so because God says so. This shouldn't happen because God says so. This and that. And I even meet people who told me that I will go to hell for not believing in God. But I don't even believe in hell! So where do I go?

I remember I once had this conversation with a friend. So back then we just had a difficult test paper and we actually did quite well. So my friend told me something like: 

Friend: "Oh I thank God for giving me this good grades and getting me through this tough test". 

I just chuckled and said to her: "Shouldn't you be thanking our teacher for teaching us well, and even spending more time to teach us after classes?" 

And to that she replied: "Well I thank God for giving her as our teacher."

After that I just kept quiet because I know where this is going.

I know that some people believe that both good and bad things happen because God made it happen. So it's like when good things happen we should thank God, and when bad things happen, it's a test from God. Now... What if we remove God from this equation. If good things happen, lets be grateful for it and when bad things happen, lets be patient and go through it. Nothing is permanent.

To summarise the top scenario, while some people believe that God = life, I'd like to believe that life = God. Lets switch some words over. When bad things happen, it's just life giving us a test. Nowadays however I'd like to take it that the Universe is my god. Because the universe is created out of nothingness, and they are formed for the sake of forming. It's like they exist on its own. Just like life!

Although yes all in all, the concept and idea of God differs from people to people and religion to religion. To me there's no "ultimate truth" in life. So whether you believe in God or not, it's not right or wrong. As I grow older and meet more people, who have their own definitions of God, my mind is opened. And I don't tell them whether they're right or wrong, but I accept the fact that God comes in many forms.

Wait, I just realised that I'm not back to my previous perception - formless God haha.

So yeah. Right now, I don't deny the existence and/or absence of God. I'm learning to see everything in life as it is. And to me this is the essence of the Prajnaparamita sutra. This is why some people regard emptiness as the God of Buddhism. Currently reading the commentaries of the Sutra by the Dalai Lama and I am understanding the concept of emptiness as God better now. 

Before I end of this post, I'd like to share with you some of my favourite quotes from the book:

"Faith is a spiritual practice of continually letting go of certainty, of ego and of the underlying need to know. I'm simply comfortable admitting that I don't know why certain things happen or why they don't. The freedom derived from letting go of that compulsive need to know is pure bliss."

"being faithfully religionless: open heartedly accepting everything under the sun and joyously celebrating all of life's moments without any judgement."

Thank you once again, Timber Hawkeye, for this amazing book!

Meatless

Presenting: Vegetarian roasted "pork" haha

Sorry for missing this day but... I've now been a vegetarian for 203 days! Mwahaha. I feel good, because I've won the bet my family puts for me heh. My dad gave me 6 months to "give up" and nope I didn't. Well it's been a great experience so far. I still regretted not starting earlier. 

To be honest it doesn't feel as "difficult" as I thought that it would be. I'm not sure why I had so much doubts and worries about turning into a vegetarian last year. Now that I've gone meatless for half a year, whatever I worried about didn't happen! I don't crave meat at all, I don't look for meat, and I'm feeling awesome. I still haven't lost weight though haha. But well that isn't my goal!

The only non-vegetarian thing I miss is bakso AKA Indonesian meatballs heh. And my mum ginseng chicken soup. But she now makes a wonderful gingery tofu soup which is equally awesome so no complains! Besides I've been enjoying the vegetarian dishes that she cooks for me.

So just to give an update.. Do I have any health improvements etc? I'm not sure really. I feel pretty normal. I feel quite good about myself though. And I think my mood is kinda getting better? Not sure why heh. Still enjoying my time in the toilet too, egesting undigested fibers. 

I'm even thinking of creating a blog or another instagram account showcasing what I ate on a daily basis hah. Inspired by the many vegan YouTubers "What I eat in a day" videos! I'm not a vegan yet but I hope it's a step closer to become one. And talking about vegan... I'm starting to give up dairy slowly. I still can't give up eggs urgh. But I'm kinda feeling the dairy effect. Here goes why.

So about a month ago, I went a bit overshot with  dairy. I drank milk tea everyday for a week haha. That's pretty bad right. I didn't really bother much about it but suddenly at the end of the week, I had four pimples on my chin. And on Sunday of that week, my pimples got so bad that my bottom lip was actually swollen! It's kinda scary because I never experienced this before.

I've been reading articles about dairy consumption and acne problems. So I tried going vegan for 4 days. Magically, that four pimples just disappear on their own and so do my other pimples! So yes... That's why I'm starting to give up dairy. I've been avoiding cheese too. Well because I don't really like cheese. And no Indonesian food tastes good with cheese haha. But sometimes I just can't help it!

It's quite difficult for me to give up dairy and eggs because I love cakes and desserts too much haha. But I know that one day I will stop eating them forever. I can definitely live without meat in my food for sure. And I'm gonna keep on going baby. One of my bucket list is to die as a vegan so yeah.

Alright that's all for now. Got a couple of blog posts to blog about. Coming soon! :)

Twenty Four

 Cheese Roll cake from Pizza Hut from my sister haha

Today I turned 24, another year older and hopefully another year wiser! And today is just another ordinary Sunday. There is delivery to settle, and things to do. Nothing special happened. Except for my grandma and aunt who kindly bought me a delicious fruit and coconut cake, my sister who made me a "cake" out of Pizza Hut's cheese rolls haha and for buying me and my aunt (we share the same birth date) a cake for a mini celebration with my mum, brother and his wife, cousins and aunt.

I'm always and so ever thankful to my family for making this day a special one! <3

Like I said last year, as I grow older, I don't really find any significance in birthdays anymore. I take birthdays as a checkpoint in life. You know, like when you're running a race, there are distance markers as we go along right? Same as that, birthdays are distance markers in this journey of life. A checkpoint in which we think about the things we've achieved, the things we can still improve on in our lives, and last but not least, our dreams, goals and hopes. A day of contemplation of where we are in life.

It feels quite awesome to think that I have spent 24 years on earth. In this weird and beautiful place we call life. So what have I done in the past 24 years? Not much maybe. I still have a long way to go and I'm quite excited to see what life has in store for me. You know it's kinda funny how in some days, I feel so eager and excited about what's ahead of me. And there are days where I wish I can skip whatever that is coming and just jump straight to my retirement haha. Nah, I can't do any of this.

I don't really like to think of my achievements because I believe the road is still a long stretch ahead of me. So yes, I'm proud of where I am now but hmm, I believe I can do greater things in life for this world. I think it's true that the older we grow the less we think about ourselves? Because like I once said growing up means being responsible for yourself and others. So we naturally will think of the others.

And of course I definitely feel that I've changed across my life. Change is the only constant and impermanence is what keeps me going. I just hope that I always change for the better and not the worst heh. Perhaps I've become more hopeful, more patient and I have decided to become more mindful! I think mindfulness if the key to happiness mwahaha. And meditation is my vehicle.

I've also become a vegetarian now. So it took me 23 years to stop eating meat heh. And tomorrow will mark the 200th consecutive days without meat so far. And I will definitely make it to like another 20.000 more days. That will be when I'm 75. That's if I ever make it to this number heh. Perhaps I will, perhaps we won't. Who knows the world will end in 1-74 more years to come. *shrugs*

So yeah, I've made a lot of changes and I think the list will go endless. Sometimes I feel that I won't even realise some of these changes. Maybe other people will. But it doesn't matter much since we're all a vehicle of change. In this constantly changing world, this constantly changing life.

You know what I actually feel like making a post dedicated to the things I've learned in the past 24 years or something like that. Like a thoughtcatalog wannabe. "24 things I've learned after turning 24" Hahaha. Okay maybe not 24, but a handful of them. That's an idea, I might do it!

Alright I'm gonna stop here. Once again I wanna say thank you to my family for their wishes and the mini celebration we had. To all my friends who wished me through WhatsApp, FB Messenger and SMSes. And my parents for giving birth to me, and bringing me up until this beautiful day. Here's to a greater 24 than 23, and an incredible journey ahead of me. Cheers everyone! Happy Birthday to Me.

Switched Off

Not sure what happened to "I'm going to blog more often during the holiday" but oh boy, today is the last day of the Hari Raya break! Well I must have enjoyed the break so much that I ended up not blogging haha. Nevertheless, yes I had such a great break! It feels pretty good to do nothing, to do what I want to do, and to simply relax and just unwind, not being bothered by work.

I'm not trying to be anti-social but probably, the best thing in the holiday is... Not meeting people. Well on a day-to-day basis, there are a lot of people to meet and things like that. During the holiday, I didn't! And also no one contacted me on BBM and WhatsApp and oh my goodness it's so lovely haha. Okay I can't deny that I can't live without WhatsApp and how great of an app it is. But yes it feels good to be cut off. To wake up to zero notifications. But things seem to go back to normal on Monday.

So yeah the past ten days were pretty enjoyable. It really felt like my brain has been switched off. Although not a hundred percent, because we were still discussing about work and future projects with my workers heh. But it's okay, it was a productive and discussion with them, and we got quite a few things sorted out. Although I'd love to experience days where I can forget about life for a while.

It's already mid 2016 now and well I am quite excited to see how the other half of the year will look like. Definitely excited about finishing this project we've been working on for almost a year now. The break has allowed me to think and contemplate about lots of things. It's a mix of thoughts and feelings weirdly. But I was just simply trying to focus my mind of taking a break.

It seems like we can never escape for the worries and weird thoughts of life. Even during times when we're not supposed to think about them. I suppose we need to be more mindful about our thoughts. Talking about mindfulness I've been enjoying my meditation sessions too. Since it was so quiet every night during the break and my meditations become more enjoyable.

Alright I guess that's all for now. I'm kind of annoyed that I didn't blog more often during the break. Because weirdly I thought I have quite a few things to blog about. So I wonder why I didn't! Oh well never mind, I'll blog when I can think of the things that I should be blogging of heh. Thanks for the wonderful break! Here's to a greater and more exciting other half of the year! See you soon.

Better Plans

Where you are, is where you're supposed to be

I've been a fan of Facebook's "On This Day" feature which shows our Facebook posts from previous years, ever since we create an account there. They made me sentimental, but at the same time they always bring a smile to my face. Those days when I'm still in Poly, and stuff like that. My thoughts from the previous 6 years are being revisited and they can get very very interesting at times.

Yesterday, 6 years ago, my sister graduated from NUS. And I wrote on Facebook how inspirational her commencement was, and how I wish that I will be one of the graduants in the coming 6 years or so. That would be today. And well 6 years after I wrote that post, I'm back at home! And I am not graduating with a degree from anywhere. This made me feel bittersweet and sentimental.

Ever since young, I've always considered university a place that I have to go, and I want to go. I always picture myself wearing the graduation gown, and putting on the mortarboard on my head. Flinging the mortarboard on top after I graduated. Being a graduate, having a degree. I don't see the degree as a necessity, but the education and experience as a necessity. Since in secondary school, I've learned that I don't come to school to compete but to learn. And how rewarding education is.

But I suppose life happened, and I didn't go to a university. I've always harboured the idea of entering a university ever since I left poly, even though I was, and I am nowhere near a university. I harbour the idea that I may always one day enter a university. But of course life gets the better of me and I know that my chance of entering one is very very low. I'm so busy right now. And there are things I can't leave behind. I can't just leave these things while I pursue my education can I.

Life is a constantly changing journey. Along the journey you will learn things, and come across lessons and thoughts you'll never imagine of crossing paths with. And it's when you do that your whole life might change. Now that I'm back home, handling a business and helping out my parents, it seems like going to a university is no longer something that I have to do. And yes this statement is questionable.

Of course, I cannot say that it is truly not a necessity. I am thankful that I have parents who have found and given me a path, a "container" in which they can put me in so that I can support myself and make a living. If I were to be born in a different life where all of these are impossible, I would fight to death to get myself a university education. Once again, not the degree, but the education and experience.

Perhaps this is how it feels when your dream has turned into nothing else but a memory. My dream of entering a university and graduating from it really feels like a memory. But it's okay. Life is about trusting and putting your faith into the unknown. And about having the faith that better plans are laid ahead of you, even though things don't go according to your plans.

And I'd like to end this post with a quote from Robin Esrock's TedX talk:

"Where you are is where you're supposed to be"

Selamat Hari Raya Idul Fitri 1437H

 

 Happy Ketupat Day!

First of all I want to wish all Muslims around the world Eid Mubarak! Or here in the Southeast Asian region, Selamat Hari Raya Idul Fitri! I hope all of you had a great day today with your loved ones, and eat to your fill haha. Well I have eaten 10 ketupats in the past two days alone. I think at this rate of eating great food, I will turn into a ketupat soon. I hope not. Gotta control heh.

Anyway it's such a quiet day today! Perhaps after a round of Takbiran last night everyone is taking a rest. And they're probably off for house and relatives visit too. My house was so quiet tonight. It's so scary, this huge difference and contrast between last night and tonight. Well I kinda enjoy it, it's not everyday that we get to enjoy such silence. At the same time it can get pretty... Quiet.

I've always spent the first two days of Hari Raya at home (except when I was in Singapore). This time round however I'll be spending all the holidays here. And this is the first time, probably, in 15 years that I'm doing this again. It kinda feels good to be honest, it feels like I've shut off from the usual life and world that I'm living in. It feels like my brain is being switched off for a while. Phew.

And also, this is the first time that I'm spending it with all of my siblings married heh. It feels quite funny at times, realising that now my eldest brother is married with a cute and active toddler boy. My eldest sister is currently 4 months pregnant. And my elder sister is married. So the house kinda feels empty with them not around (except for my brother) but well, c'est la vie right!

So I'm kind of glad that I am spending the holidays back at home. At least there's someone to accompany my parents. Also the quiet night can feel pretty lonely here. It's good to know that I'm here.

For the past three years I've been spending the Hari Raya holidays overseas. Although not all of it, just some days of it. Like in 2013 I went to Singapore with my mum, 2014 was Iceland and 2015 was Australia. Well in the past three years my siblings are still back at home and hence there are still people to accompany my parents. Well things are pretty different this year, so I'm staying in!

Which makes me come up with an idea and plan that... Maybe I should just travel during normal days when everyone is around. But I can stay in during the Hari Raya Holiday where the rest of my siblings can travel mwahaha. This year is the first of such idea and I think it's working pretty well.

I think it's quite funny to think how much time has passed us by. We're all adults now and we stop thinking about ourselves. There are things to take care of and routines to change. It is during times like these that we reconsider our thoughts. Life works in the most beautifully mysterious ways.

Peace

It's the last day of Ramadhan and I have to wake up to the news of a suicide blast in Madinah, outside of Prophet Muhammad's Mosque, killing five people. And in Indonesia another suicide bomber detonated himself at a police office in Surakarta. As if the bombs in Baghdad, Malaysia, Dhaka, and other parts of the world are not enough. This is Ramadhan, a holy month for Muslims and all of these have to happen? I really don't get it. It's beyond my comprehension really. 

I just wish that all of these would stop. Why would these people do this? Sigh... Condolences to all of the victims affected in these incidences. I hope that their family member and friends will be given strength. Please take care everyone. Wherever you are. And may there be peace in the world.

Anyway, it's a pretty much chill day for me on this Tuesday. Didn't do much. Went to the farm as usual with my dad in the afternoon till the evening. And we went home for our yearly Takbiran night satay session haha. We've been doing this every year. Well this time round I don't eat the satay since I'm a vegetarian. I got myself some grilled eggplants! Smothered with sweet soy sauce. Quite yummy.

And at night, we went for the usual drive around my hometown. I'm not sure why but this year's Takbiran feels very.... Empty? Well the mosques are still doing the Takbiran but the streets are rather empty. It's not so crowded like the previous years. Not sure if it's the things that happened this morning that dampen the people's spirit. Maybe. Or maybe time has changed. 

I just feel weird how we've been doing this for years now. In the past, it was my dad who's driving us around the city. Now it's me who's driving, and my sister and her husband at the back. Time flies isn't it. It's so scary but wonderful at the same time. I wonder if we'll still do this in the future. And if the atmosphere of the Takbiran will remain the same as time goes by. No one knows.

The holiday mood has been kicking in so far. The house feels very quiet now that the factory has closed. I've been enjoying the day so far, and I'm looking forward to enjoying the rest of the holiday! I really hope I can do all the things I've been wanting to do in this holiday! We'll see hehe. Well I was enjoying the afternoon reading my book while listening to chillout music. Pretty divine.

Alright that's all for now. To all Muslims out there, I hope you had a wonderful and blissful month of Ramadhan. And have a great time with your family tomorrow. And to every Muslim in this world, I wish you a wonderful Eid ahead. Please, no more tragic news to wake up to.

Miracles Do Happen

Today has been an exciting and busy day. Guess what, I didn't eat any proper meal until night time! Hah. But anyway today is kind of a day we've been waiting for since March. It's the the grand harvest 2k16 mwahaha. AKA the day where we harvest the flowers for Hari Raya. The biggest harvest of the year, and the biggest one so far! This year we succeeded and the universe seems to conspire with us.

Biggest record of harvest so far. 660 rolls of flowers! Last year was just a horrible 300 plus I think. This year I was a bit worried because the flowers have actually started blooming last week. I was so worried that we won't have flowers for today but nope, the flowers bloom at the right time and they are all huge. Okay there are still a few flaws and there are definitely things we can improve on.

Not sure why but we have a huge excess of yellow flowers this year. Which is weird cause I don't remember planting so much yellow flowers. I suspected it's because... These yellow flowers are supposed to be harvested last week. They're fit for harvest but since on Thursday we didn't harvest any, well, we have an excess amount of flowers today. But I'm pretty sure that they will be sold out.

The whole thing about the agriculture industry is that you can't control what you plant. As I said once, we don't make flowers, we grow them. At the end of the day flowers are living things. We try to control as many conditions as possible to ensure we have a great yield. For example pesticides used, fertilisers, when to plant them and so on. But well living things all have a life and just like us, we don't know how we  will grow and what we will encounter along the journey. 

Life, at the end of the day, is a mystery.

Just to give an example, for the past two years we didn't have a really successful grand harvest because of the weather. In 2014 the weather was so hot that the flowers bloom much faster. Same with 2015 where we were given 2 months of dry and hot weather, making them bloom faster. This year I was worried because it didn't stop raining since... February? The weather only made a turn like last week. It was so hot and sunny for the whole week last week. It started raining again in this week.

In 2014 we made a mistake because we counted the planting in months and weeks. AKA "16 weeks" before the harvest. In 2015 we realised this mistake and we counted the harvest in days and we've been doing it for CNY harvest too. Last year we even planted the standard flowers first (it's a type here called standard) because they take a longer time to bloom. But guess what, they bloom two weeks before the intended date of harvest! This is a really tricky business eh.

Nevertheless, there's a lot of things we can try to sustain and maintain to make the harvest a success. The rest is really about timing, weather and the plants themselves. This year's harvest is huge definitely. But there are still things we can all improve on and well that's what life is all about isn't it. Getting better every day, week, month, year and if you're a Buddhist, every lifetime. 

Well I suppose I can breathe easier now. The whole month of June has been quite intense. Now that the harvest is almost done (we have 2 more days of harvest for the locals!), I can take things easier I guess. Whew, this Ramadhan is indeed a month of trials for me. My faith is tested and I'm glad I pulled through. Hari Raya is here soon and we're going to have a long holiday. Time to wind down for a while and enjoy some things I've been planning to do. I'm kind of excited to spend it at home!

Alright that's all for now. I suppose I'll blog more often since I'll be having so many off days heh. I wish all of you a jubilant month of July ahead! Can you believe half of 2016 is now gone :O