End of Blogtober!

Woohoo we have made it here! 31 days of blogging mwahaha. Thus conclude the end of Blogtober 2020. That's all for the post, see you soon. HAHAHA just kidding. Well yes it's the end of Blogtober this year now and hmm, I find it really tough this year somehow! Once again I'm not sure why but I find it harder and harder these days to find things to talk about, and to engage my post with. Which is weird.

But once again, I'm just doing Blogtober for fun haha. I think year by year I'm just learning that blogging everyday is never a good idea haha. I'm not sure if I'll do it next year!

Anyway yes today is also the last day of October. Can't believe we're left with 2 more months to this year that seems so long and just never ends haha. Well I believe it has been a tough and weird year for all of us. I'm glad we have all made it here today. Just left with 2 more months to the year. I wish everyone a wonderful epilogue to 2020! Things are still looking bleak somehow. 

But nothing wrong with having hope I guess.

Alright that's all from me now. I'm going to take a good break from blogging after blogging almost everyday in the past 31 days mwahaha. Kidding. But yes see you in the next post. Here's to a Nourishing November for everyone, and the world. And an Epic Epilogue to 2020. Take care!

Years Don't Lie

Today is a special day, cause PREP released their self-titled debut album today! I gave it a listen last night and boy I am in love. It is such a fantastic and smoooooth debut album indeed. The three months of waiting has finally come to an end and it's definitely worth the wait. Now I'm just waiting for the vinyl!

Well I might be biased because I'm a huge fan of PREP and I love their music but this is definitely my album of the year. Okay maybe a tie with Kinnship Commensality haha. To me this album has really shown another side of PREP that the band seem to be hiding in secret all these years haha. The album has a mix of upbeat, slow, chill songs and to me this versatility is really what make PREP stand out. Yet every song has that "PREP signature" that make us connect with the band.

I would describe the music in the album as full of melancholy. It makes you feel nostalgic and warm and fuzzy inside. It's kind of like a time machine, bringing you back to a certain sweet moment in your life. And the song above, so far, is my favourite from the album. Even though it's so hard to pick one! I think this song speaks a lot to me. It makes me feel a connection to a lost feeling that I've been searching. It just makes me feel good. And the video is awesome too!

Anyway I've been a fan of PREP for 5 years now. I'm usually someone who discovers an artist/band late into their releases (like 2-3 years after their debut) but not for PREP! I discovered them on YouTube from their song Cheapest Flight and I just love all of their songs so far all these years. I was thinking that they might be releasing another EP this year but it turns out to be an album whooop!

Alright I'm going to enjoy the weekend listening to this album now. I hope you give it a listen too! Have a fantastic and PREP weekend mwahaha. Congratulations to PREP on the release of your fantastic debut. Thank you for the great music in these crazy times really.

Rain

It's been a rather rainy October so far and well, I guess we have officially entered the rainy season. Which is kinda good and bad. Good that farmers can start planting again and bad cause... Well not exactly bad. I just miss the good old sunshine and blue skies haha. Which they visit occasionally.

Today is a holiday here, and we're actually having a long holiday, well that's for the public servants and the bank and governmental offices. The holiday actually started yesterday all the way till Sunday. Many people are going out of town for a holiday, yup, in the middle of a pandemic. I just find it ironic that the government is telling people to stay safe and healthy in this pandemic yet decided to create a 5 day holiday. And then tell people that they should be staying at home but... 

Do you really think people will listen heh. 

Sometimes it's quite terrifying and also hopeless and helpless to think how many people have really downplayed this pandemic here. Somehow, taking it as if the pandemic has already been over. Although yes I understand the huge dilemma between the health and lives of people and the economy. At the end of the day it all comes back to one and one thing: we are not ready for a pandemic.

2020 has been a really weird year for us all. I'm still patiently waiting that all of this will come to an end soon. I'm not sure if "going back to how things used to be/normal" is an accurate term in general. We cannot go back to our old days. It's unhealthy, and we have to change. For the planet, for us.

I believe that 2020 is kind of a lesson for us all. The world and us will definitely be changed at the end of all this. And well, it's rather a mysterious and interesting year for us all. Right?

Affirmation

This song randomly appeared on my YouTube homepage last night and whew, I just went for a 90s music "roadtrip" on YouTube haha. Well this is more of late 90s, but Savage Garden is definitely one of my favourite bands of the 90s. And this is probably my favourite song from them. Followed by Animal Song. Kinda funny how back then, I love this song because of its beat and melody, but now I love this song for its lyrics! Which is really really lovely and powerful I must say.

I wish we can go back to 2000. Me playing Transport/Roller Coaster Tycoon on my computer with this song blasting through the speaker. Not much to think about the future. Apart from getting scolded by my parents for playing too much computer games. Well, time moves on as always!

Diamond Cutter

Right, lets do another book discussion, probably the last one for Blogtober 2020. Today's book is Thich Nhat Hanh's The Diamond That Cuts Through Illusion. This book is Thay's explanation and commentary on the famous Buddhist Sutra, Vajracchedika Prajnaparamita Sutra, or also known as the Diamond Sutra. And it is also one of the most difficult sutras to understand! Even up till now, I still haven't fully grasped it haha. I think I will give this book another read one day.

I once read this sutra in the temple once. And of course it's made more complicated with the fact that I read it in Chinese hahaha. This book cleared up a lot and wow, this is truly a wonderful sutra. I used to wonder why it's called the Diamond Sutra. Turned out the real name is actually the "Diamond Cutter" sutra. And the reason why it's called a cutter, is because it cuts through our illusion!

What illusion you might ask? It's the illusion of self. I'm happy that I read this book after I read Mingyur Rinpoche's book, cause it helped me clear a lot of things about non-self haha.

Once again, it's rather a difficult book to explain fully in a blog post. But Thay, as usual, has made the commentary on the Sutra into something very pleasant and easy to comprehend text. I read his commentary on the Prajnaparamita Sutra too and it's very enlightening as well.

Personally, I think the sutra has been wonderfully summarised into this passage in the book:

"Whatever a bodhisattva thinks, says and does can give rise to limitless virtue and happiness, but he or she is not caught in this. When we volunteer to wash the dishes, if we think that our work will bring us some happiness or merit in the future, we are not true bodhisattvas. We only need to live joyfully in each moment while we wash them. After they are washed, we don’t need to tell everyone that we have just finished washing their dishes. If we do that, our work will have been a waste of time. Washing the dishes just to wash the dishes, on the other hand, brings us inestimable virtue and happiness."

I think this passage talks beautifully about doing things without a "self". Via washing dishes. How often do we actually do this? To do things for the sake of doing it. Not because we dread it, not because we "love" to do it, not because someone wants us to do it. If we can practise doing this, I think we will be able to "freely" do many things without being chained into the torments of egoism. 

We shouldn't just limit this to doing good deeds, but hmm, possibly, everything!

In Love With The World

Hello again! Writing today with another Book Discussion, this time round with this wonderful book by Yongey Mingyur Rinpoche titled "In Love With The World". This is a book telling the story of Rinpoche's experience of wandering retreat, and how he almost died during this retreat. This books tells about that part and it's really quite an enlightening book. From a Buddhist monk, where impermanence is the core teaching in Buddhism, to experience life and death first-hand, is something quite endearing.

I think for non-Buddhists this book might be a bit tough with the Buddhist terms, but don't worry, they are explained in the book. In fact even me as a Buddhist learn a lot from this book too!

Personally I enjoy this book a lot because it taught me a lot about emptiness. And the 2nd principle of existence in Buddhism - Anatta, or non-self. To me this principle is the hardest to understand, and most difficult to practise, simply because it involves the dissolution of our own ego. The name says itself, non-self. But this book taught me deeper into it, and I kinda understand it better now.

It's kinda hard to explain this book, you have to read it for yourself I think. Cause it really talks about our "self" and its empty nature. I think you gotta experience it yourself! With almost every page turn in the book, you will learn something rather mind-blowing and enlightening. So please do read!

I will end this post with my favourite quote from the book. And most enlightening too:

"That’s the way suffering always works – our misperceptions turn us into targets. In Tai chi, for a martial arts master, the opponent’s blow has no place to land. The same is true with a master of the mind. The more rigid our sense of self, the more surface we provide for the arrows to hit. Who is receiving these arrows? Who is offended by these loud noises? You asked for this!" 

"The more rigid our sense of self, the more surface we provide for the arrows to hit" This line hits my heart like an arrow hahaha. My ego has been attacked! Hjalp!

Earthquake

My sleep was pretty screwed up last night thanks to an earthquake! Haha. Can't really blame the earth for shaking things up a bit. But anyway so yeah, I have fallen asleep last night (or this morning) when I got woken up randomly, and went to drink some water. As I was about to drink my water, I realised that the water was swaying slightly. I thought it was me but I realised I haven't touched the cup, or my table.

Then the windows of my room were rattling and I knew it was an earthquake. And surely it did keep me afresh and awaken hahaha. And I couldn't sleep till 10 AM. And I woke up at 1 PM. With only four hours of sleep I was feeling really weird the whole day. I did catch some afternoon nap, though it was only for 40 minutes, and earlier at night for about 30 minutes. Now as I'm blogging, I'm not that sleepy. Weird.

Feeling kinda annoyed cause somehow my insomnia is back. Even though back in September I was sleeping rather fine.... It's such a weird pattern and I couldn't really find it! I was just having insomnia again back in the past 2 weeks or so. Hopefully I can get back to normal sleeping pattern.

Alright that's all from me today. This week is going to be a short week cause there's gonna be a holiday on Thursday. Apparently the governmental bodies and financial sector is going to have a really long weekend starting from Wednesday till Sunday. That's crazy! Well we're not affected by it tho so yeah haha. Okay have a great epilogue to October everyone. Damn, we're left with 2 more months to 2021!

Keepin Me Under

Finally got my hands on this 10" Debut EP from one of my favourite discoveries of 2020: Rayowa! This is their debut EP Keepin' Me Under and I love this EP! Discovered Rayowa from Spotify back in the beginning of the year from their song "Chance". And wow I'm hooked. I love every song that they have released so far, and I'm definitely looking forward to more music from them soon!

Songbirds

Just finished reading this fantastic prequel to The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins last night and it's such an amazing book! I think it's such a wonderful prequel. If the trilogy lets us see The Hunger Games from a district member, this books lets us see it through the eyes of the Capitol, AKA the creator of the games. I still disagree with the games but.... I kinda understand why the Capitol wants it.

I won't talk about the story and please read it for yourself mwahaha. But essentially this is a story of how Snow became President Snow. I thought the capitol is really really evil but after reading this book they're VERY evil haha. But like I said, I see it through their eyes now. But I still disagree okay!

I feel that Snow and Sejanus (a character in this book) are both a manifestation of the constant battle between good and evil that we have in this world. How sometimes the good deeds we do may actually do more harm to others. And also how the bad deeds, even though in the most subtly evil way, may actually do good. But at the end of the day, we will never see what is good and bad because each and everyone of us see through a different lens. We're all in a different head, somehow.

The book is super exhilarating, with lots of twists and surprises. I hope that the book will be adapted into a two-part movie. I can totally imagine this as a movie and it'll be good mwahaha. I actually love The Hunger Games series. I managed to read the book (although just 1st and 3rd heh) and that's why I was so excited when I found out that Suzanne is releasing this prequel. And yup like mentioned in my previous post, this is probably my first fiction book in a long time!

And I think I should read more Fiction books now. Thinking of the Maze Runner series :P

Also reading this book inspires me to actually write a fictional story haha. Maybe I will do it as part of my blogtober series? I have a few ideas and storyline actually mwahaha.

Alright wishing you a happy weekend! :)

Maze Runner

Alright back here again with a movie review! Not exactly a review but yes, another discussion. This time round it's not a documentary but a trilogy, The Maze Runner (TMR) series! Ever since I got Netflix, The Maze Runner was somehow the first movie that shows up in the house page heh. And since I haven't watched the movie, I decided to watch it. And I finished the series in three days haha. The first movie was released in 2014 so that's when I was already back home, and thus no cinema, yep.

A few of my friends recommended me to watch the movie when I was talking about The Hunger Games series. And well I'm 6 years late to the part but here I am anyway haha. They also recommended me to read the books and I might do that. Or I might just read the prequels.

Anyway I think TMR is a great and exciting trilogy. Lots of heart-pumping actions, lots of sad scenes, lots of gruesome scenes. But perhaps watching Game of Thrones the past few years have prepared me for them. Losing my favourite characters and all the gruesome scenes haha. I won't talk much about the plot but there's a theme that I really love about the whole series, especially the first movie.

I might be looking well too deep into the story but I think the theme of "we're here for a reason" resonates loudly inside the movie. Somehow every action we do will lead us to a place, an action, a reason and so on. We might not know what but one day we'll understand. One of the exciting things about TMR is the idea that the series is divided into three parts and we're just left hanging with every series. Not much of a cliffhanger because somehow, I'm just drawn into the next, and the next.

The movie started with Thomas, a boy whose memory has been wiped, landing in a mysterious place he doesn't know of. And then it develops slowly with him slowly regaining his memories, then the arrival of Teresa and him solving the maze and so on. Somehow I feel like this is a depiction of our lives? We may not know where we are now, and why we are here. But slowly day after day we will learn why. 

Then in The Scorch Trials, how he met Aris and how Aris somehow puts trust in Thomas, which leads them leaving the WCKD compound and then meeting the Right Arm. Initially when I first watched the movie I kept on asking myself how will the story turn out, what will happen, and so on. But as I go along the way, everything patches up nicely! Somehow a serendipitous reminder that every character is put for a reason, and every character went through something, for a reason.

And suddenly I'm reminded by life itself. How the things that we go through may sometimes don't make sense to us. But eventually, I think we will understand. And we will also understand why we meet with a certain group of people, and their purpose of crossing paths with us. 

Okay I might be reading too deep into the line but yeah. I hope you get what I mean. I feel like TMR has done a great job in this aspect. The story unfolds so crazily wonderful, that I didn't even think of it. But what I find most beautiful in the story is this feeling of how everything patches up nicely!

Alright that's all from me in this 3rd Movie discussion. Mocussion? Haha. I will come back with more discussions. Just finished another book and I think I'll talk about it soon. See ya!

Connection

Still continuing on my vegan post streak - Earthling Ed just uploaded this video yesterday and wow I think it is so beautifully written! I think this is truly a video where people can hopefully make the connection and give veganism a try. Most of the time, I feel that people don't have this connection and they fall out of their new lifestyle. That's okay, just hope they can get back on track mwahaha.

Personally I am an ethical vegan. I'm vegan for the animals. And I think this is the highest reason one will go vegan. Not trying to brag of course but yeah, as an ethical vegan we will learn to value life over taste. I realised that it is the ethical vegans who are always on track of their mission. Some people go vegan for health and environmental reasons and that's okay too. But there's a high chance they might drop out. Cause once they hit their "goal", they'll stop reasoning with why they go vegan.

Or worst, some people go vegan cause they think it's cool. Then they do it wrongly and they have health problems and then they quit and they blame it on the diet. Sounds familiar.

When I went vegetarian 5 years ago, many people ask me how long will I be doing this. When I told them forever they think I'm crazy! And sometimes when I met other people whom I haven't met in a long time, they will ask me "are you still a vegetarian?" and I'm like yes? And the same question followed, how long more will I stay like this. And I tell them forever haha.

I am a believer in the "baby step" approach to veganism. You can start with 2 meatless meals a month, then a week, then 3 days a week. Or perhaps you just want to cut out red meat, then chicken, then fish, then eggs and dairy and so on. As long as your end goal is veganism. I think with one less animal products being eaten be it for one meal a day, or a week, I think it's a win already no?

I think most people fall our from veganism because they don't have a connection to why the go vegan in the first place. There's no sense of purpose to why they should keep going vegan. But I think if you do it for the animals, you will end up to keep going. Cause a life of a sentient being, in my opinion, is not trade-able for their taste that only lingers in my mouth for.... 10-15 seconds?

And you will educate yourself on how you can take care of your body too. Going vegan while recklessly ruining your body isn't good too. A lot of people simply blame veganism for the health problems many ex-vegans face. But they don't dig deeper into the reason why. Their eating habits and so on. There are many articles proving we can thrive on a vegan diet. Just gotta read them up.

In the comment sections of social media platforms, I will always find a comment that goes like "I went vegan and it wasn't working for me". But when asked why, or how their diet goes, no reply would be returned sometimes. There are one or two comments that say like they've been following strictly but still ended up on them having health issues. But then again I'm not sure if they seek professional help from doctors or nutritionists, or they're just self-diagnosing themselves.

I've only been vegan for a year so I can't say much. But I've been feeling normal, there's nothing wrong with me. Blood levels are normal too (I have low HDL levels but that's normal for vegans. It's the vegan paradox they call it). I always believe nature has provided us with everything. And humans have the ability to process and turn them into things that can sustain us, and mare us thrive.

Yes in the past the human species hunted and consume animals. But the way we treat our animals, and the way we produce them for food isn't natural at all. And if we have the option to kill or not to kill these sentient beings, then why choose kill? We no longer live in the stone age where we have to hunt to survive. Now we're surrounded by choices that we can make conveniently. Supermarkets, farmer's markets and so on. And now they're even available online! Haha.

So yeah, all in all, I think that people need to have this "connection" that they have to make between their morals and the food they eat. This, I believe, is strongest bridge between a person and their decision to go vegan. You can argue with health reasons, by saying that there are people who thrive on a non-vegan diet. You can argue with environmental reasons by saying there are other sources of causes of climate change, even though animal agriculture is a great contributor.

But I think you can't argue with morality. The life of a sentient being. And if you can still argue, then.... Perhaps you have not made this connection. But don't worry, you can, and one day you hopefully will.

Veggie Burger Ban

So I recently read the news about this whole veggie burger ban fiasco and I seriously thought it was a joke. But nope. It's real. Turns out that this week, the EU parliament will go into a vote on whether food labels such as "veggie burger", "vegan sausage", "vegan yoghourt" and etc should be banned. And I seriously think it's such a ridiculous idea to even go for a vote. Like what?!

Quoting from a Politico article; the meat and dairy industry argue that "using such terms is misleading to customers". MISLEADING?! HAHAHA. I thought this is hilarious.

Okay look, if we vegans and vegetarians can spend extra seconds-minutes reading through the ingredients' list to look for animal products, I think non-vegans can just easily avoid the vegan section if they don't wanna consume the plant-based products?! Like okay you don't want to eat the vegan sausage, then go to the meat section or the butcher. You don't want to drink plant mylks, then go to the dairy section. You want "real yoghourt" then just go to the chiller section.

I mean come on, we are not living in a vegan world (yet) so why are you so scared of these plant based products? That you want it banned on food labels. Are they that pathetically desperate -.-

What The Health

Right, I have finished worked earlier today so it's time to do another Docussion! This time round, lets talk about the famous vegan documentary - What The Health. Lets shorten it to WTH okay.

So WTH is a documentary about the role of food in the cause of chronic diseases - and also how plant-based food may play a role in treating them, or even reversing them! It's a follow up documentary from the same film maker as the documentary Cowspiracy. Which is one of the documentaries that made me go vegetarian 5 years ago. Ironically I actually followed WTH social media pages a few years ago even though I have not watched it, cause Netflix wasn't here yet back then heh.

I would say it's a great, shocking and jaw-dropping documentary. And after watching it I just told myself thank goodness you're vegan Adhi haha. I find it kind of disturbing that the major "disease societies" in the documentary refused to talk about the role of diet in causing diseases. And of course the major shock that we discovered behind why. I will not spoil the story for you, please go and watch it alright!

Although well I was a bit unsure of the claims made by the doctors and experts in the documentary. And after doing some research about the flaws and myths in the movies, I kinda agreed to them to a certain extent too. Claims like eating eggs is almost as bad as smoking, or eating processed meats. Even though yes the WHO has classified processed meats as group 1 carcinogens. But I think that statement about smoking and processed meats maaaaaybe a bit too exaggerated.

That being said, they are still unhealthy. 

Some people have criticised the documentary as being too biased towards veganism. Even though in my opinion, there are many studies that have proven the health benefits of a plant-based diet. And you can just read through them. But yes I think we still need to do more studies. The more studies done, the more people will be convinced that we can and we should thrive on a plant-based diet.

Personally, I'm vegan for the animals. AKA I'm an ethical vegan. But I do share with people the benefits of a vegan diet too, in terms of health and environmental impact. One of the most common rebuttal I get from non-vegans is the idea that many people live to old age even though they're not following a vegan diet. Or like some vegans still get cancer and so on and forth.

Yes, there are people who don't follow a vegan diet and live a long life. Just like how there are people who smoke all their lives but don't ended up getting lung cancer. I think the biggest misconception about the vegan diet is that people think we all become some immortal and superhuman when we follow the vegan diet. And we will all be immune to chronic diseases. That's now exactly how it works.

And personally I don't tell other people things like "With a vegan diet you'll live forever" or "you won't get chronic diseases" or "you will live a long healthy life" etc. I just tell them it's good for your guts, there are studies that it may reverse diabetes, it helps regulate blood sugar, it brings down cholesterol (thus reducing your risk of cardiovascular diseases) and so on and forth. 

Also to be honest the studies done on plant-based food never really conclude with such bombastic claims. But there are hundreds if not thousands of studies that show the benefits of a plant-based diet (reduced HbA1c level for diabetic patients, controlling blood pressure, improved gut health, potential of reversal of heart diseases and so on). Which, in turn, may provide you with a long healthy life heh.

All in all, the WTH documentary didn't give me a shock as I've been reading a lot on this topic the past few years. But I also believe we should continue to do more studies on the benefits of a plant-based diet. And thus more people will be convinced to make the switch!

Alright that's all from me today. I will talk with you again tomorrow, still something about veganism too. So yes see you tomorrow. Eat more plant based food guys!

Pace

Well looks like I gotta pick up that pace with the Blogtober haha. Well I've been keeping up. But not literally oops. Been quite busy with work and stuff that I haven't been blogging quite on schedule. And last night I fell asleep! Didn't even manage to do things that I was planning of doing. Oh well. Perhaps doing this was a bad idea but... I won't back down. I will finish with what I started!

Anyway it's been raining quite a lot these days. Not really loving the humid nights, but enjoying the cooling evening when it rains in the afternoon. I swear the weather is getting weirder this year. But again, I'm happy that the farmers are able to plant normally now. No droughts whatsoever.

Blogtober is quite a bad idea because I don't have many things to talk about really. That's why I ended up posting lots of photos. Perhaps I should do more blog prompts. And yes I will keep up with the Docussion and Book discussion too. I'm currently jotting down stuff for them haha.

Alright you have a great week ahead okay. We're 2/3rd into October already. Whut. 

New Moon

Today is the first of the 9th Lunar Month. As usual I went to the temple on this day! And also the 15th  of the lunar month. Ever since the pandemic started, going to the temple is rather an interesting experience. As compared to the past of course. You got your temperature checked, and also the caretaker will give you hand sanitiser before you enter heh. Also no entry without masks! Well now they've relaxed the entrance a little bit, but you still need a mask to go in.

In times of crisis and uneasiness, I guess religion is a place where we seek refuge in.

Mountain View

I never knew this view was feasible from this spot. But after the greenhouses are taken off, they make way for this view. You lose some, but you gain something else I guess. 

Salted Vegetable

Presenting to you my dinner last night. Stir fried salted vegetable and tofu over rice. Served with a dollop of homemade chili paste made by my sister--in-law. 

Fiction

As mentioned in my previous post, I've been reading lots of books in the past 3 months. I am currently reading the new book from the Hunger Games series "The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes" and it's been an enjoyable read thus far. I have also just come to a realisation that... I rarely read fiction books! I've been reading lots of Buddhist/Philosophy books all these years. Okay I did read Mitch Albom's The Timekeeper last time too. But mostly, they're all non-fiction books. I'm not sure why either actually.

But reading TBSS has really sparked my joy of reading fiction again. I think I should add more varieties to the books I read and not just read a specific genre haha. Anyway, not only did TBSS spark my joy of reading fiction, but also writing! I just realised that my O Level English Paper one was probably the last fictional story that I wrote. Since in poly we're writing more of reports and discussive essays.

I used to enjoy writing essays in English back then (no kidding). Especially in my upper secondary school days where I enjoy writing those one-word titled compositions. All thanks to Mrs Lee for sparking my interest in writing of course. And yeah, I have probably never written anymore fictional stories since then. And reading TBSS made me miss those days! Maybe I should start writing here.

So the last fictional essay I wrote was probably my EL paper one composition. I can still remember the title, it was "Power". And I wrote about this hmm bully? Basically a guy of power in a kingdom who was very corrupt, abusive and evil. He then got overthrown by his own people. As he got carried into his prison cell he shouted "You can't do this to me! I'm powerful!". Well he got consumed by his evil deeds that he didn't know what he was saying anymore. The end. Cool huh!

But now thinking about it's it's pretty lame ahaha.

Well yeah I just really miss those days where I write all these stories for my EL paper compositions. I wrote a lot of stories back then, with wonderful writings that I learned from reading many many storybooks back then. I think I should write them here on my blog too.

Alright that's all for this short random memory thought post. Will do more book discussions soon!

Sapiens

 

Lets start the first book discussion series with a book I just recently finished reading - Yuval Noah Harari's Sapiens! I actually just recently discovered Yuval from his interview with James Corden on the late late show a few months ago. I did a Google search on him and Sapiens was the first result that appeared. I read some of the reviews and synopsis and wow I told myself I have to read this book.

I bought it a month ago when there's a nice offer from Books and Beyond here via Tokopedia haha. It's his 3 bundles at a discount so that's a good deal I guess. Books are not cheap here, sadly.

And wow this books is really something. It's hard to put it down haha. As I was reading the book I really look forward to the time I will read it at night. I find this book particularly wonderful because I'm someone who's always intrigued by time. I'm always fascinated with life before civilisation. Like how was earth before there were countries? How was earth before there were religions? And so on. And this book has all the answers haha. It also explains more than that - how we get here!

I'm not going into detail about the book cause it's really a lot to discuss. But it's fascinating to learn how we, Homo Sapiens, got united over the past thousands of years, to where we are now. The three things that unite us (or shape the world, as today) are money, empires and religion. And how all these three are linked. There are a lot of a-ha moments as I was reading the book and it's so good.

I particularly like how Yuval explains the fallacies of whatever we think to be "true" and "normal" in today's world. Why and how humans create rules and laws that... When you look back and think deeply, don't make sense. From sexuality, gender roles, economics and down to the topic of happiness. Reading this book makes me kind of worried of the world today, but it gives me some comfort too.

Anyway I really recommend everyone to read it. It will blow your mind! Alrighty I'm going to end this discussion with the last 2 paragraphs of the book. Which really left an impact on me.

Moreover, despite the astonishing things that humans are capable of doing, we remain unsure of our goals and we seem to be as discontented as ever. We have advanced from canoes to galleys, to steamships to space shuttles – but nobody knows where we’re going. We are more powerful than ever before, but have very little idea what to do with all that power. Worse still, humans seem to be more irresponsible than ever. Self-made gods with only the laws of physics to keep us company, we are accountable to no one. We are consequently wreaking havoc on our fellow animals and on the surrounding ecosystem, seeking little more than our own comfort and amusement, yet never finding satisfaction. Is there anything more dangerous than dissatisfied and irresponsible gods who don’t know what they want? [] Sapiens - A Brief History of Humankind

Torch Ginger

Really random cooking post today. My grandaunt sent me some of her awesome sambal kecombrang that I really love, so I made some spicy torch ginger fried rice for dinner! Super lazy dish to make, just fry some shallots and garlic and oil, mix the sambal and add rice. Tastes heavenly tho!

Books books

Books books books

So one of my 2020 resolutions is to actually read more books. My plan was to read one book a month, and that's a total of 12 books. I know, this isn't a lot but for someone who rarely reads nowadays (which is sad, I know), that's an achievement hahaha. One of the reasons for having this resolution is because I bought a lot of books back when I was in Singapore in September last year, and in January. I also ordered a few books that I wanted to read. So yes I thought to myself I better clear my list!

However I didn't manage to do this resolution hahaha. But, I managed to read this many books in the past 3 months! I started reading back near in the Lebaran holidays I think, cause I had some free time so I decided to start. I read a lot of Buddhist books, which was really enjoyable and enlightening. And yup I read these books in the past three months ish. I recently finished another book (Yuval Harari's Sapiens) and I still have 3 more books to read. And no books left in my list haha.

Wait oh dear I still have some books with my sister!

Anyway the reason why I started reading is the same reason as journaling/blogging. I want to spend less screen time, be it watching videos or scrolling through my social media. I set aside one hour everyday for reading books. It's not a lot, compared to those days in Singapore where I would finish a book in 3-7 days, now I finish one book (depending on pages) in about 7-10 days heh. 

But it's been an enjoyable new activity. Especially when the books I read are very enlightening and mind-blowing. I kept a word document with all the wonderful quotes and passages from the books - which brings me to my next point, about my book discussion series!

Okay I'm not going to talk about every book I read, just a few of them which really left me awed and mind-blown. Just my thoughts and ideas about the book, together with my favourite quotes and passages. I will begin soon I guess, hopefully when I don't have a lot of work haha.

Alright that's all for now, wishing you a great week ahead! 

Happy World Mental Health Day!

Today is the 10th of October which means it's World Mental Health Day! So happy WMHD everyone, if you are struggling I do hope that you stay strong, and that you seek help. Talk to someone about it, I know it's hard but trust me it will help you a lot. I'm glad however that as time goes by, the issue about mental health is getting more light. In social media and mainstream media too. 

But sadly the stigma is still there. And that's why people are still finding it difficult to open up and talk about their mental health issues. Sadly it's kind of worst here in Indonesia and perhaps Asia in general. Having a mental health issue is deemed as being weak. And no you cannot be weak. Apparently.

2020 is by far probably the most challenging year I've ever went through. I struggled a lot mentally but somehow in the midst of this struggle, I learned the beautiful art of letting go. Somehow, I found peace in knowing that there isn't much I can do. Perhaps this is what mindfulness is like? Being aware of your actions and your thoughts. And just giving your best to the things that you can do.

I've always been very fascinated with the human mind. The way it works is just pretty mysterious yet amazing. The emotions we feel, the struggles we go through, how do we get here? Why do we get here? So many questions that even the most talented neuroscientist may not be able to answer. Some people believe mental health issue is an issue of chemical imbalance. Sure, we can get treatment for this imbalance but I think we should also ask what causes this imbalance?

I think the human mind goes much more complex than just chemistry. It revolves around everything we do, we think, we feel, and the way we treat and "interact" with our minds. 

Well I am still on track to search for the answer. To explore the human mind, and ultimately to train my own mind too. My goal is to reach that level of mindfulness where nothing can hurt me anymore. And where I'm not easily tempted by pleasures, and be hungry for it. The daily meditation is helping a lot. And I will continue to practise it till I die. Or like the Buddha, till I reach enlightenment.

Not in this life, probably, most obviously.

Alright that's all from me today. Wishing everyone a happy WMHD once again. Seek help if you can and talk it out with someone else alright. May you be granted with strength and serendipity.

And remember, nothing is permanent in this life. It's always darkest before the dawn.

Carrie

PREP has just released this song today. It's their last single before their debut album which will be out in three weeks time! PREP's debut is definitely my most anticipated album of the year. Just, three, more, weeks. Alright short post today cause I got stuff to do, see ya soon and enjoy the song.

The Social Dilemma

Credit: Screengrab from Netflix

Time for the first documentary discussion series in this Blogtober - beginning with The Social Dilemma.

The Social Dilemma is a documentary in Netflix talking about the dark side of social media. From the addiction, mental health, conspiracy theorist aspects of social media. It's quite a terrifying thought to have, after watching the documentary. But somehow I'm not surprised, I've been seeing such trends in social media. And sad to say this but I agree with the documentary. But, we're still in control I believe!

One of the most striking quotes that I get from the documentary is:

"If you're not paying for the product, you are the product".

I've heard of this quote before once, a few years ago. I think back in 2017 there was a video circulating on Facebook about this issue. How we're actually "in the matrix". How the founders and owners of these social media platforms are "using us" and thus, we are the product. And also how they are selling our data for their profits, and thus we are the product in a sense. This is frightening but hey, it is also reality. There is a good but sinister reason why we are all using social media for free.

"But they have ads! And we're seeing them! So it's not so free isn't it?". Well this is exactly why we are the products. The ads are targeting and luring us to dig deeper and further into the social media platform. Like they say, down the YouTube hole. We are constantly bombarded with recommendations, and ads and so on that it seems these platforms are making it harder for us to leave the platform.

Also not forgetting the negative aspect of being "social" - the mental health side. How we're always comparing our lives and others. How we're always obsessed with likes and fame. And so on. I used to think that this applies to everyone. But as time goes by, I feel like this boils down to the different individuals. Cause not everyone is obsessed with this. Yes, social media has made it somehow easier to fall into this hole but at the end of the day, we can also choose not to go in.

I have this belief that we should use social media, and not let social media use you. It sounds very cliche I know but it is possible. 7 years ago, I always thought that social media is a useful tool for me to keep in touch with my friends, since we're located 1000km away from each other. But now... Not really. I still keep in touch with a handful of friends, and I do this via WhatsApp or DMs on Instagram. I think we we grow older, I see a trend that we don't share our lives occasionally on social media.

So what do I use social media for then? I still use Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Not gonna lie, I generally use my social media to keep myself updated with my favourite bands/musicians. New songs, new albums, tour dates and so on. This is spread across my social media but focused mainly on Facebook. I use Twitter for news, I follow lots of news account there haha. As for Instagram, I would say it's the "last" platform that I use properly - because I still like to post photos haha.

If I were to quit social media, I will definitely quit Instagram last. In fact I am now rarely active on Facebook. I'm most active on IG actually. And I'm not like always active there either. I do post on stories but not everyday, only when there are things worth sharing heh. I'm still kind of active on Twitter but it's mostly reading up news and also the occasional rants here and there oops.

Back to the documentary - am I experiencing what I watched on the documentary? Yes. But because of how I use my social media, their "targets" for me are actually pretty harmless HAHA. For example, the ads I receive on FB and IG are mostly about - music, vegan pages/food and the occasional "wellness" products like candles and so on. Also cause of the algorithm and so on, my Tokopedia searches always appear on FB. I've never really experienced receiving "polarising" ads and so on.

Also I always have the habit of researching news to see whether it's fake or not.

And also with the recent decision of mine to make all of my social media private, somehow life becomes more... Peaceful? For me. Not sure if that's the right word to use. But yeah, I'm just sharing my posts on people that I know. Friends and family, and sometimes some people I met online, or people who share the same ideas and fanbase as me (like fellow band fans and so on).

So yeah the bottom line is that... Whatever the Social Dilemma is showing isn't false. We are in that "matrix". And we are experiencing it. But then again I believe it all boils down to how we use social media. And how we control ourselves. How we not let ourselves be lured by the illusion of the digital life that other people share online, or that these platforms "lure" us into.

Of course sadly not everyone has a mind as flexible as this. Most people are zoomed into the matrix that they find it hard to get themselves out. Lots of people are blaming it on the platforms for letting this happen. But then again like the documentary says, these platforms are a business afterall. They don't wanna lost customers do they. I think parents play a huge role on this, and also each and everyone on us. Perhaps we can educate and help one another not to get stuck in the matrix!

Alright that's all from me in this first Docu Discussion. I think we should call this segment that. Docussion? Sounds good? Haha. I hope you give the documentary a watch and let yourself ponder about it! Do you agree with the documentary? Are you part of it? See you in the next Docussion!

Gathering Stories

Currently listening to Jonsi's song "Gathering Stories" and wondering what to blog for today's entry. This is going bad! I'm on the 7th day of Blogtober and already running out of ideas to write haha. Well not exactly running out. Just that I was doing work just now so I don't have the time to sit down proper and blog. Which I hope I will do soon. I can't just keep on posting photos for this Blogtober right! :P

Anyway hmm I've always loved how music makes me feel sentimental. To me music is my time machine. You can tell me any song from my Spotify library and I can probably tell you a memory I have with that music. Especially old ones, since I don't have much memories to share with music in the recent years. AKA the work life, the adult life. I mean last time I listened to a lot of music on the way to school, or during some random activities in Poly and so on. So yes, more memories.

Gathering Stories was one of them. It was released in 2011 for the movie We Bought A Zoo and I listened to it a lot of times back then! Come to think of it, 2011 was one of the best years of my life. So any songs from that year would probably remind me of a good memory, good times.

Alright that's all for this random short post. I'm thinking of doing entries from the Isolation Journal series. There's like 100 of them and I might just do them one by one. Roll a dice/number generator or something mwahaha. Alright I will see you again tomorrow. Have a lovely Thursday. 

Monochromatic Days

 

The monochromatic days are here again

It's been raining since probably September, with the occasional drizzle and rain in August. I know we're experiencing La Nina this year but... Wow, if we're already entering the wet season this year, that would be the shortest dry season we have in years. Well it's good news for the farmers I guess, we don't have to worry about not having water anymore to water the crops and plants. Successful harvest I suppose.

But the weather has been pretty bizarre in the past few years. Last year we had a really horrible dry season that lasted from about July till November. I remember many farmers were having water shortages in October - November. When we're supposed to enter the wet season then. And I also remember not having water in my house. I was filling up water at 5 AM in the morning!

And people still think that climate change isn't real.

Fleeting

 

Fleeting // Random Sunday sky

(Photo entry today, busy with work!)

Swill

It's Sunday night and let's talk about Jonsi's new album after 10 years - Shiver!

This is one of the most anticipated albums of 2020 for me. When I first learned about it last year in a Jonsi interview that he was going to release an album, I was so excited for it! And when he first released the first single "Exhale" earlier this year, I was pretty stoked for it, the news is true mwahaha. Although I thought to myself that this new album will have a completely different sound from his debut.

And yup it is a completely different sound. Although I have to say I am able to listen to all of his elements in this album. And along with Sigur Ros' and Jonsi & Alex too.

Jonsi's debut "Go" is definitely one my favourite albums in life. I love its bright, hopeful and colourful sounds, and I still love listening to it. It gives me joy, and it makes me feel alive. The new album sounds different. It's more... Dark yet intimate. Choppy yet cohesive. Perhaps I don't quite enjoy it as much as "Go" because I couldn't really connect myself with Shiver. But nevertheless, it's a fantastic album.

I feel like Jonsi wrote "Go" for all of us, but he writes "Shiver" for himself? I think this sense of intimacy and how deeply personal the album covers the difference is sounds? I hope I make sense.

My favourite from the album so far is Swill, Exhale, Salty Licorice and Korall. 

I don't know if Jonsi/Sigur Ros will release new materials in the future. With the state of the band, I was kinda apprehensive about getting new music from them. So when Jonsi announced the new album I was happy and relieved. I surely hope that we'll still hear more music from them though.

Alright that's all for the post this Sunday. Please go and listen to Shiver!

Mooncakes mooncakes

Okay today's post will be a short and sweet one, and it's a mooncakes review! Mwahaha. Well I am blessed with a lot of vegan mooncakes this year from my aunt, sisters, and cousin. So I reckon I should make a mooncakes review of some sort haha. Just a quick and short one!

So my sister gave me a vegan mooncake (bottom left) and my eldest gave me the one on top. It's quite difficult to find vegan ones, well not difficult, you just have to look for it haha. So thankful for them to give me this! I tried the lotus paste one and it's so fragrant. I think they added banana essence. 

The white one is a special kind of mooncake. I don't know how to say it in English but in Indonesia it's similar to another pastry called kue sangko. It's so pretty I don't wanna break it haha. Well spoiler alert I did break off a small piece from the top haha. And yes it's definitely not your ordinary mooncake.

My aunty surprised me with a nice and delightful snowskin mooncake from Bekasi! Usually I get them from Jakarta but due to Corona I couldn't get them this year so yes, I'm happy I still get to eat them this year haha. It's vegan and gluten free too. Very generous filling inside (see below).

The filling consists of nuts like walnuts, pumpkin seeds and sesame seeds. The taste isn't extremely sweet (thank goodness, cause I don't like overly sweet ones). Pretty yum!

My cousin and his wife sent me a box of mooncakes too. There's a milk tea flavour and I realised there's milk powder inside it oops. But I still have it nevertheless hahaha. It has a very strong mocha flavour that I like. Couldn't taste much of the milk so I hope it's trace amount or something :P

Last but not least this is the mooncake I ordered for myself online haha. It's supposed to be the wu-ren style (five-nuts) but I feel there isn't much nuts inside? Also it leans towards a more pasty side heh. But they use pomelo inside the paste which makes the flavour really interesting! I kinda prefer a more savoury flavour of the wu-ren mooncake though. But this one leans towards more of the sweet side.

Alright that's all from me in this mini food review haha. I think I will do more of this along the way for Blogtober 2020. Just to add colour and life to this blog! Besides talking about food is always a good idea mwahaha. Alright I will see you again tomorrow. Hope you had some mooncakes!

Mid Autumn

Right so yesterday was the 15th of the 8th Lunar month of the Rat year, which means it's Mid-Autumn festival! It was a great day even though I was having severe headaches towards the night (thus I wasn't blogging last night). Feeling much better now after mum gave me kerokan last night haha. As usual, Mid-Autumn is always a day where I feel old. Now even older, cause I'm now watching my nephews and nieces play around. It feels like yesterday when it was me and my cousins! Hah.

It was sadly a rather cloudy evening yesterday so the moon wasn't very bright. But it did show up beautifully towards the midnight. Also if it wasn't for my stupid headache I would have enjoyed the night more. I probably was having a severe masuk angin yesterday. Cause I spent the whole Wednesday night staying up waiting for the water to be filled, with all of my windows opened. So yeeah.

Well this year's Mid-Autumn, just like every other celebrations we have this year, felt rather off. Perhaps it's the pandemic, or my condition. But yeah it just feels weird. But I'm thankful we still manage to celebrate it nevertheless. It isn't much of a celebration actually, we just do some prayers.

By the light of the harvest moon, beneath the heavens, I pray that the pandemic will come to an end soon. And that everyone infected will have a speedy recovery. And may we all go through this whole pandemic in health and in safety. It's been a tormentous year for all of us indeed. 

I hope everyone is staying safe and healthy. 

Blogtober 2020

Okay I think I have lost my mind but... I'm going to attempt Blogtober this year! Okay hear me out, I may not be blogging everyday. But, I am going to post 31 entries this month. In fact I have already cheated because I'm writing this on the 2nd, but that's simply because I was knocked out last night with a horrible headache. So I will make it up now. But I hope to blog everyday of course, if time permits.

I'm going to start with writing a list of ideas and thoughts of what to blog in this month. 

In no particular order:

- Book reviews (I have 5 books to talk about whoop!)
- Movie/documentary reviews (cause I have Netflix now)
    - What The Health
    - Game Changer
    - Maze Runner series
- Random thoughts
- Poems 
- Food?
- and many more

Okay yup that's the gist of it. 31 entries, lets go!