Greatest Celebration

2020 might be remembered as the year where festivities and celebrations are cancelled. But perhaps it will also be remembered as the year we learn to participate in the greatest celebration on earth; one thing that is worth celebrating every single day. It's none other than gratitude. 

Selamat Hari Raya!

First of all wishing all Muslims around the world Selamat Hari Raya Idul Fitri 1441H! Eid Mubarak to those celebrating! :D Well I think without a doubt this has been the weirdest Ramadhan that all of us went through. And definitely something's off for this year Hari Raya too, with the whole COVID-19 situation. But I'm glad to see many of my friends still uplifting the Raya spirit, be it through online communication, wearing Raya clothes at home or even delivering goodies to others!

Anyway so yes I'm also having the Hari Raya long holiday here. It's always something that I look forward to every year. A chance to not do anything (without feeling guilty, cause there's nothing you can do, work wise) and to simply rest. The factory's closed, my shop's closed (just for 1-2 days aha) and yeah, a great chance to rest up I suppose. This, you can say, is my only proper break of the year.

This sounds weird but whenever I'm having the holiday, I usually come up with a list of things I want to do. Like... Blog everyday *cough cough* and journal everyday *sneeze* and some other random stuff. But it's been 2 years since I don't come up with any plans heh. I just live and let live the holiday. Okay I do try to blog and journal as often but I don't make it a compulsory thing to do. At the end of the day, the thing I enjoy the most about the holiday is actually doing nothing heh. Resting.

Today's the first day of the Muslim month of Syawal or Hari Raya itself. And it is actually, in my opinion, the quietest day of the year. I swear it's super quiet on this day. Perhaps it's because yesterday the Takbiran was echoing through my hometown through the night and now there's none. There's also no call for sahur, for breaking fast and the nightly teraweh or tadarus sessions.

The silence is rather eerie but something I enjoy too.

Alright that's all for this first post of the holiday. I'll see you again soon. Stay safe and take care!

Vegan Scallops

Okay this is a really really random post but I took a nap just now and had a very very vivid weird dream! It's been so long since I did a dream diary entry so here goes I suppose!

So my dream started with me walking in the middle of my hometown. There was a huge event/celebration going on in town (weirdly, in the middle of a pandemic heh) and I was checking it out. I couldn't figure out what the event was, it wasn't clear. All I know is that it happens at night and the roads are closed for it. It was getting late so I decided to walk back home. It was 9 PM ish in my dream.

On my way home I passed by this newly opened vegan restaurant near my house. It has a very nice and standing-out decoration and design. Definitely not something that is usually designed in my hometown. I went inside and the interior design was even quirkier! The floor tile is checkered like a chess board. There were lots of mirrors and even chandeliers. The dining ware is super classy too.

As I made my way to the counter to order I was told that it was opened by a Norwegian couple who moved here. They are vegans and their mission is to bring their vegan scallops here. Even though it's expensive. And also I don't know why the customers are all Caucasian even though we're in the middle of my hometown haha. Before me was this boy who took so long to order. 

They ended up shooing him away. And when asked what I wanted to order, I asked for their recommendation and they recommended me their vegan scallop. Which takes the shape and form of a scallop but vegan. Only in my dreams I suppose haha. I tasted it and it was okay but still puzzled about why there's a Norwegian restaurant in the middle of my hometown hahaha.

Then I woke up from this bizarre nap.

Okay possible reasons for the dream outline. The night before this I watched a BBC video about a debate whether oysters are vegan or not haha. As for the event in the hometown it was probably because the streets of my hometown were packed today and I was caught in a jam.

Okay that's all for this dream diary entry. See you soon!

Hello again

May has been another month that never seemed to exist hahaha. This whole COVID situation with the Lebaran/Puasa happening is really making me lose track of time. Some people are losing track of what day it is and so on and... Yes it's happening to me too! But anyway, I'm done with the yearly bonus, the parcels and stuff. I can breathe easier now. Although things are still doing pretty tight!

As always I'm looking forward to the good long yearly break coming soon. I think we all need a good break. 2020 has been a weird year for all of us, but hey lets take the break at our own homes okay haha. I'm seriously itching to go and travel but we all know that is impossible for quite some time now.

Which is kind of a worrying fact if you ask me! But as I always believe, travel not because you have to, but because you can. Better to make peace with where you are now I suppose.

Whew alright I don't have much to talk about either but here's me just giving you a short update of my life. I will definitely try to blog more during the holiday. But as always, we'll see how it goes :P

Happy Vesak Day!

First of all just wanna wish you a happy Vesak day! May all beings be happy and well. Especially in times like these huh. The whole world is suffering and we all need the love and care for this world.

As times go by, I don't really celebrate Vesak Day. Or personally I don't see what's there to "celebrate" about ahaha. To me I think it's more of a day of commemoration of the birth, enlightenment and para-nirvana of the Buddha. And we do this by doing meditation, chantings and so on. Although I think the past two years I feel like Vesak day is a day where I'm reminded that 2500 years ago, somewhere in India/Nepal, a man became enlightened on what it truly means to be a human being.

It's not an easy thing for sure, I personally believe we cannot become a Buddha in this lifetime heh. Not even the next! But the simple fact that Prince Siddharta is a human, and is capable of doing so, gives me hope and encouragement to practise Buddhism. It gives me a sense of purpose and drive in this life. That there is something I can work on, in this (albeit short) lifetime of mine.

The older I grow, the more resonant the Buddha's teachings in my life become. And the more I believe that Buddhism isn't really a religion but more of a philosophy. A way of life we can put into practice in our lives. It may seem a bit "deep" and complicated but once you practise and observe the lives around you, you'll kinda realise that hey, the Buddha is right! Or at least it'll make you go hmm.

Okay I think I'll dedicate another post for this. Just a short update from me for now.

And wow it's already May. I swear time has become non-existent since the pandemic started heh.

Take care and stay safe everyone. Happy Vesak once again :)