Clueless

It's the last day of September can you believe it! Well, we're entering October soon and for me, once we left September behind, time is going to fly really quickly towards the end of the year. Not sure why but well. Yeah that's how it goes. Then a new year awaits and it feels like time slows down again.

Anyway it's time to share with you some of the great music of September! Lots of them.

Great Music of September:

- Chris by Chrirstine and The Queens (or Chris?)

- Superclean Vol II by The Marias

- EP III by Yumi Zouma

- Young Romance by Roosevelt

- Infections of A Different Kind by Aurora (Surprise!)

- Rehat by Kunto Aji

- Dew by Pynkie

- Give Me Your Fire, Give Me Your Rain by The Paper Kites

- Time In A Tree by Raleigh Ritchie

Song of the month: I'm so spoilt for choices arrghhh! But... Clueless by The Marias, La Marcheuse by Chris, In Camera by Yumi Zouma, Soft Universe by Aurora eeep hahaha

Okay yes so as you can see there are a lot of albums being released this month! And they are all that I've been waiting for, and 2 of them took me by surprise really. Lets begin!

Lets talk about the 2 wonderful EPs released this month, which were both released last Friday. Been waiting for The Marias Superclean vol II since they released the 2 singles Clueless and Carino. This EP is so so good oh my goodness haha. I always imagine myself listening to Vol I in a nice warm comfy bar, and for Vol II I am totally imagining myself listening to it at a rooftop bar, overlooking a city with the setting sun on a Friday evening. Such great vibes, it's magical.

Yumi Zouma caught me by surprise when they announced that they are releasing EP III back in August I think. I really love Yumi Zouma since I discovered them back in 2015 through their first 2 EPs. We've been blessed with their awesome music for 4 consecutive years! EP III is another wonderful release from them that encapsulates their charm as a band. I feel like they've been releasing a consistent work and there's always their signature in every album, even though each album is different. 

Can't really explain it, I just love their music.

Next we have Chris by... Chris. Chris announced the new album back in July I think? After releasing the first single "Girlfriend" back in May. I really enjoyed her first album and after listening to the singles from Chris, I became more excited! It's such a groovy album and the songs in Chris are very err universal? There's a song to dance to, song to drive to, and song to just accompany you. Definitely in my opinion best pop album of 2018! And another album inside my top albums of the decade.

Roosevelt also released his new single back in July I think, and also announced the arrival of his 2nd album. Love his first album back in 2016 and his second album is also a fantastic one. I thought it'll be a suitable album to send off the summer. Even though I have no summer here haha. 

The biggest surprise for this month is Aurora's second album (part one)! I know that her 2nd album will be released in Autumn from an interview. She didn't say and do anything, I just received a Facebook message from her page about Infections of a Different Kind (the name of her 2nd album). I thought it was an announcement for the release date but no!!! It's the album itself haha.

Well this is Step one of the 2nd album. Step 2 will be released in 2019 or 2020? I read it on NME. Not sure if I can wait this long to be honest hah. Aurora's first album us such a masterpiece really. I love her voice, I love her personality, and how deep her music is. So yes this is one of the biggest anticipated albums of 2018 for me. Although to be honest I'm quite confused with the whole step one thing. I was expecting a whole album to be released. But no worries! Means we'll have more music.

Step One is already awesome by the way. I've been giving it a few listens and the more I listen and the more I listen to the lyrics, the deeper the connection I made with it.

Next we have The Paper Kites new album called On The Corner Where You Live. I really love the whole theme and concept that they are going with the album? And also the whole feel of the songs inside it. Reminds me of the 80s. It's very spacious and just grand. Give Me Your Fire, Give Me Your Rain is my favourite from the album, together with Deep Burn Blue and the title track!

Kunto Aji also released his (long awaited) 2nd album called Mantra Mantra. Been following him on Instagram and he's been sharing with us through his stories about the 2nd album. It's a great album I would say. Definitely an album that this world needs, where worrying becomes a part of our lives.

Also discovered a few new songs form Majestic as usual.The first one is Dew by Pynkie. I love both the original version and the lo-fi version! It's such a chill song, been enjoying listening to it while driving. Raleigh Ritchie also released a new song called Time In A Tree and it's such an emotional song. Especially the video! I can't wait for more new music from him and a new album too.

I discovered more new music from Spotify too. Hotel Delmano by Munya, By Night by Hushed and Infinite Games by Zola Blood. All of them discovered from the radio feature. Such an awesome way to discover new music that (somehow) Spotify knows you will love haha. Also... September will mark the last month of my 5k/month subscription plan. But seriously Spotify has changed my life haha. I am definitely going to stick with it. But as always, long live physical formats!

Okay that's all for the great music of this month. So many great music. I am looking forward to two released in October, that's Charlie Lim's album and also Robyn's new album! I think there isn't much releases I'm expecting afterwards but we'll see. So many surprises this year haha. Alright I hope you had a Superb September. Lets have an Outrageously-good October mwahaha. See ya!

1000 Meatless Days part 2

Right I have just finished with work so time to talk more about what I was writing about yesterday! 

Maybe I should talk about my journey to this day. Even though I talked about it a year ago I think. But yeah in the jist of it, I am vegetarian for the animals. Because I see no difference between humanely and inhumanly obtained meat, as a life is lost at the end of each process right?

I think these 1000 days have taught me two things. Or they reaffirmed my view on meat consumption.

The first one is that why should we kill animals for our food when we can get whatever we need, nutrients and minerals, to function normally, from plants! Okay maybe there are some topics that are debatable like vitamin B12. I read that it is obtained through the digestion of meat, as it is made from the bacteria in our guts. But I also read that food like tempe contains B12 too and we don't have to worry about being deficient as long as we consume them. Also there's supplements! :)

Secondly, now that I have not consumed meat in 1000 days, I begin asking myself the real reason that we eat meat. If we can get what we need from plants... So why do we eat meat? I think I have come to the conclusion that the only reason why we eat meat is simply because for its taste. Like we can actually live without meat. We just love the taste of it, thus we consume it. But would you trade an animal's life for your tastebud? Is it actually worth the killing of a living being?

These are some of the questions I asked myself before I go meatless. There are times where I "convinced" myself to eat meat (while I was still considering my decision!). Like I tell myself just eat less meat, don't worry, animals are meant to be eaten anyway bla bla bla. But yeah I think eventually I told myself that it's not really worth the life of an animal. While I enjoyed the taste of meat, a life has to be unwillingly taken. So yeah I felt it wasn't worth it. Hence I stopped eating meat.

Although yes I am aware that I haven't fully stopped contributing to animals' suffering as I still consume dairy and eat eggs. I am transitioning though. Although err I broke my no-dairy promise today haha. I was really craving for pizza so I got myself Dominos veggie delight pizza. There's cheese in it so eeep. So sorry. I have stopped consuming milk and cream tho.

Alright that's all from me now. I have no plans to go back to eating meat. And I have never felt the temptation to as well. I think I've seen through the taste and aroma. I've heard the cries of these helpless animals who have no voice. I hope you can give Meatless Mondays a try! Or whatever day that suits you. It's good for the animals, good for your health and also good for the earth.

1000 Meatless Days

I just realised that yesterday was my 1000th day of going vegetarian! Sounds crazy, it's been almost 3 years. But I think going vegetarian is one of the best decisions I have made in life. Although still to be honest, I don't feel any difference actually haha. Physically that is. Maybe everything will be proven in my blood. But that's the point I want to make - that we can all lead a normal healthy life without meat!

Yes I do understand that I'm not a vegan yet. And I am still causing suffering to innocent animals. But I am currently transitioning weee. I have skipped dairy for almost a month now? Okay err I actually did have some relapse especially during my grandma's funeral. Ate some bread which I'm sure have milk in it heh. I'm trying my best! I am actually planning to go vegan next year weee.

I am actually quite proud of myself of going this far. As someone who could devour one whole chicken by myself (the rotisserie chicken at Cold Storage), who loved eating steak and charsiew, who loved innards and loved foie gras so so much, here I am now. Revolted thinking of eating them! Heh. Also I have a confession: I used to make fun of vegetarians and vegans. I thought they are living a life that is too extreme for a human being. Especially since our time is limited here.

Like I used to have the thought of "enjoying life" before I leave this earth. And as long as I can eat animals where they are as humanely slaughtered as possible, I'm okay with it. Until I come across the thought of what's the difference between humanely slaughtering a living being, and inhumanely slaughtering them? Their life is taken away in the end anyway. So yup, that's the spark.

I am vegetarian for the animals. Like I once said, whatever I get and contribute to in the end, like good health and doing my part in saving earth, is like the good "karma" that I obtain from my choice. 

Okay it's getting pretty late now. I think I'm going to spend another night writing this! See ya :)

Eat less meat. 

Happy Mid Autumn!

Happy Mid-Autumn! 中秋节快乐

It's the 15th of the 8th Lunar Month today so we're celebrating the mid-autumn festival! This is one of my favourite days of the year, because my family get to reunite again together to celebrate this special day. I always love it when this happens. Thankfully today my dad and I have finished work earlier in the afternoon heh. So we get to gather together with the others. Unlike the previous years when we would cut the celebration short because we still have calculations hah.

Anyway this year's celebration made me feel a bit more older... Cause I realise that... Now it's my cousins and I who were watching our nephew and niece running around heh. Felt like yesterday when it was my parents, aunts and uncle who were watching us run around the house haha. 

Also now my cousins and I drank beer during this celebration, while talking about cholesterol and business haha! We used to drink soft drinks when we were younger. Actually I am reminded of one mid-autumn festival when my aunt brought those caprisone drinks from Jakarta. And because they were not available in my hometown, we felt like we were the coolest kids ever drinking that.

I hope we can keep this tradition alive. It brings family closer together and it's always nice. I think this tradition is kinda dying slowly. Not many people would set up altar beneath the moon and light up joss sticks. We're not really praying to the moon I guess. More of God (tian)? But it's the fact that it brings family together that makes me feel want to keep this tradition alive!

Alright that's all for now. I hope you had a good evening with your family tonight and ate some mooncakes. Wishing everyone a happy mid-autumn. Winter is coming. What. 

Concert Etiquette

Hello, been wanting to do this post... Or more of a rant actually haha. It's about concert etiquette that I've been bugged about, whenever I'm in a concert/music festival! Okay maybe I'm just someone who takes "enjoying music" too seriously but most of the time, these cases are too ridiculous.

So as you know I went to Hodgepodge superfest 3 weeks ago to catch Vancouver Sleep Clinic live. I've been wanting to see them live and I finally got to do so. But there are some pricks out there who were just really ruining the experience hmph. Some pricks who were chatting during the performance!

VSC music is a mix of electronic upbeat and also ethereal sounds. To me I always listen to their music at night when it is quiet and their music are just a good companion to contemplation. It annoyed me a lot when 2 groups of people were actually chatting during one of their quieter songs.

One group was this two people in front of me. They were just chatting about random stuff, about their friend who was supposed to come or something, and they were showing each other's phones to show some WhatsApp chat. All of this happened during VSC performance. As I mentioned the venue was too huge and so it felt a bit empty. Any sound you make can be heard. So I felt really annoyed at them talking (not even whispering) during VSC performance. Like can't you just wait after the song ends?

And I thought they were just checking VSC out (AKA not a fan) while waiting for time to go by. But nope, the guy waited to meet Tim and Aaron after the performance and they were like "Ohh I'm such a huge fan of you". Sure. A fan who talks during their favourite band's performance.

Another group was located a few metres beside me. Their situation was a bit embarrassing. So they were obviously having a good time chatting, also during VSC performance! -.- And I remembered I think it was during "In The End", when the music gets a bit softer, they actually broke into laughter! They received a few stares from the other audiences and were left in embarrassment. It was really annoying. I felt really bad for VSC to go through this to be honest. 

I think it's just basic courtesy to just not talk during a performance? Like what's so hard to just enjoy the music. If you need to say something then maybe whisper? Or wait until the artist finishes their song. It's just so disrespectful for you to talk in the middle of a song, in a quiet intimate setting!

Also I want to rant about the use of electronic devices. Like urgghh why can't people stop recording everything on their phones throughout the performances! Okay if you take bits and pieces here and there I am totally fine because I do that too. For me I'll just record part of my favourite songs and snap a few photos (from the entire set, not from each song heh) and that's it. I won't put my phone up in the air to record an entire song or worst, an entire set hahaha. 

I mean... Your beloved artist is right in front of you performing. Enjoy it man, what's the use of being there but not being there. Why would you want to see the artist through the screen of your phone.

And the worst is when people actually like constantly upload stories into Instagram. Dude like do you come for a concert to enjoy the music, or to let people know real time that you're in a concert heh.

Okay that's all for my rant I guess. I'm just quite sad about how concerts have become nowadays. It has become some sort of bragging rights for other people. I'm glad that there are people who really go to concert for the music and for the band. Not to show people how "cool" their life is through the screens of their phones and through their social media. Or maybe I just take things too seriously.

Alright that's all for this random Saturday post. I'm totally failing and keeping the posts number up. Though I feel happy I have marked 10 years of my blogging milestone haha. No worries I will keep blogging. Just that lots of things happened in this month, didn't really have much time to blog!

I will see you soon.

Hodgepodge Superfest 2018

Thanks Hodgepodge Superfest!

Alright I am 2 weeks late, pardon me. Been busy and so many things happened. But here it is anyway, a short post about my experience at Hodgepodge Superfest back 2 Saturdays ago! Where I caught Vancouver Sleep Clinic and Daywave live for the first time finally haha.

Anyway the festival took place on the 1st of September. I was also planning to go to Jakarta to meet one of my customers for some meeting and discussion. Also they've been asking me to go to visit them when I'm in town heh. So took the chance to meet them in the afternoon :) After that I went to eat a very late lunch first with my sales rep and off to the festival! Which took place at Ancol Ecopark.

Good to see Elephant Kind again!

I actually love the venue because it is spread out and huge. Not sure if I actually like the fact that we have 4 stages though. Thankfully VSC and Daywave were playing on the same stage. Also love the fact that there are ample time to move around and see other acts. I went to see Elephant Kind first while waiting for VSC. I love the energy of Elephant Kind! Always good to see em live.

Waited for 4 years to see em live

Next I went to see VSC at another stage. Not sure why but it was pretty empty.... Well I guess it was a good experience so that the fans of VSC can gather together in an intimate sitting (albeit the huge hall). I've been wanting to see VSC live for years heh. I tweeted to them last year asking them to go to Indonesia. And I'm so happy that they did! Tim's voice is so so good live really. Love how they play songs from their EP all the way to the new songs this year. I was singing my heart out during Someone to Stay and was just mesmerised during Collapse.

And Ayahuasca! Oh my goodness, it's definitely one of my favourite songs of 2018 so blown away.

Met Tim and Aaron after their set! Such friendly guys

And guess what, I actually had the chance to meet Tim and Aaron after their set! Tim is such a cool and friendly guy. Had a great short chat with him and also love how they interact with the other fans. I really hope that they will come back to Indonesia again one day! Thanks for coming to HPF!

Daywave on stage <3

Next I went to see Daywave after getting a can of beer heh. There were not a lot of people either. It's either the venue is too huge or maybe not many people were at the festival hah. But well I had a good time with them! Discovered Daywave all the way in 2015 when Drag was released. And been a fan of their music. Also wish I could see them live and... I did. Such a good time singing and dancing to their songs. Total Zombie, Drag, Something Here and more. Thanks for coming to Jakarta, Jackson!

I only went for day one cause I have delivery to settle on Sunday. Would love to see Gallant on Sunday but yeah. Anyway I love the festival actually. I found out that it was organised by the same organiser as Java Soundsfair 4 years ago. The only thing I don't like is... There's only one toilet for the entire festival ground. And similarly, not sure why but the festival felt empty? Not sure how to describe it. Perhaps they can get a smaller venue so that it'll feel more intimate.

And as always, as a vegetarian, there wasn't much food option but I'm fine. Beer is vegan.

Alright that's all for now! Just posting an overdue post from the beginning of the month. Quite excited for the end of the year cause I'm going for a few more concerts heh heh. See you soon :)

Selamat Jalan, Mimih

Selamat Jalan Mimih

Hello, it's been a long time since I blog. Been an emotional wreck the past week because my grandmother passed away last Sunday night. She's been ill and we know her time was coming, it was just quite devastating to know. But then again, at least she's free now. No more pain.

Last Tuesday her blood pressure did drop to 80/50 and we were quite worried. We called the doctor and was instructed to give her some electrolyte water. And her blood pressure did increase to a 90/70, and even to a 120/90 on Thursday. Friday she was feeling okay. On Saturday however her BP dropped again but after giving her the electrolytes, it didn't go up. So the doctor suggested for her to be put on drips. There were also a few medicines that were administered via IV.

Her BP was 80/50 then but after the drips and the medicine, it didn't go up. It stayed the same from 8 PM to 10 PM. There was nothing much we could do because she did say that she didn't want to go to the hospital. The doctor gave another IV drip with more electrolytes this time but her BP didn't increase either. At 12 AM Sunday she fell into a comma. And passed away peacefully at 1245 AM.

Doctor said she was suffering from ketoacidosis. Well yes my grandma had diabetes and during her last moments her parameters went haywire. Glucose level at 456 mg/dL even though she had very little consumption. And her breathing rate slowed down while her heartbeat increased. It was really painful to see her in that condition. I was just hoping for the best, but seeing how my late aunt went through the same thing in March made me prepare for the worst.

Her funeral lasted for 4 days and she was cremated on Wednesday. As per her request, she wanted to be cremated and her ash be scattered at the crematorium, just like my grandfather 14 years ago. I felt really sad this week. I'm still sad now actually. I hate this lingering emptiness I'm feeling.

My grandma was a kind, strong and selfless lady. She would always make sure my stomach isn't empty whenever I visit her. She would always call me on my birthday even when I was still in Singapore. She would give me vegetarian food on the 1st and 15th of the lunar month; although when she was sick and couldn't be in the kitchen anymore, she would ask my aunt to send it over. She never cared about herself, she only care about others. I remember once when she was hospitalised and I visited her, the first thing she asked me was have you eaten haha. Not even a word about how she's feeling.

I am honoured to have her as my grandmother. And I'm very glad that she managed to meet her 3 great grandchildren before she left. I hope I have done enough as a grandson. I am sorry for any wrong doings I've done, and I am sorry that I didn't visit you as often sometimes, when I was busy with work. I cried so much before they closed her coffin. All of these thoughts were running inside me.

Well to my dearest grandma, or as I would call her, Mimih, rest in peace. Thank you for everything that you have done. I am honoured to have you as my grandmother. I will miss you a lot, but you can see Pipih now. Send my regards to him! I love you and I will miss you a lot. See you on the other side.

Selamat Jalan Mimih :')

Tenth

Alright I know I'm one day late, but I was in Jakarta yesterday to meet one of my customers and to also go for Hodgepodge Superfest (a music festival) haha. I reached home really late and couldn't blog about this special day of ours. But here I am anyway, happy 10th anniversary to my blog!

I can't believe that I've been writing here for 10 years. That's 3652 days. To be honest back ten years ago, I never really have any plans for blogging this long. I was blogging because I wanted to improve my English (seriously, my plan was to write stories for my essay writing. But it didn't happen) and to also join in the blog-wagon. Because back then we didn't have Facebook and Twitter, and blog was the in-thing for secondary school kids. A place where we let our raging hormones flow out. HAHAHA.

Anyway, I didn't really have plans to blog for this long back then. In fact when I was entering Poly, I told myself that I don't think I'll be able to blog as often. Cause I know poly life would be more hectic than secondary school days. But mehh, not really. Okay sure I did not blog as often as compared to 2009, but I kept going and I was quite surprised by this too haha. It's an interesting journey.

And as you can see in 2013, I almost quite blogging. I thought my life after academics would be pretty boring and there's nothing to blog about. But all of this changed when I re-read my whole blog at the end of 2013. How much memories I have written. How many stories that I once forgotten, only to be remembered again. How I am reminded of insignificant moments, that turned to moments I miss, and how I wish I can relive them again. Simple things, that grow as time moves on.

It's quite melancholic to see how much I've changed all these ten years, as I read the posts I wrote on this blog. How my view on life changed, how I see this world, and how I live. These posts, these words are a testament of moments that I've been through. Which in one way or another, has shaped who I am as a person today. Some posts brought a smile to my face, while others made me wish that I never went through those days again. But well, I'm always reminded that everything happens for a reason.

These ten years also marked how much I've enjoyed writing. Back in 2014, I told myself to continue doing the things that I love even though I don't do it for a living. So far photography and writing are two things that I've been constantly doing. I have a passion for music but I can't play them haha. So let me just enjoy music all these years. Hopefully I can go back with it soon.

In this world where we express ourselves in 280 characters, a photo we take with our phones, or a short post for our friends to see, I hope you can give blogging/journaling a try. You will be surprised (or creeped out) by the words that come out of you when you're alone with your mind!

Frankly I don't really care if people read my blog or not. And I don't really err like to share my posts to people (actually I'm just very lazy heh). Also I think this blog has been a special place for me in so many different ways. It is not just simply a blog. So to my dearest Clouds of Sunday:

Thank you for (always) being a place where I can talk to myself without anyone judging that I'm insane. 

Thank you for the late night conversations. 

Thank you for being a place where my memories reside, as my body continues to deteriorate. 

Thank you for everything all these ten years.

Here's to (hopefully) many more years to go.