Happy Birthday Indonesia!

 Selamat Ulang Tahun Tanah Air ku.

It's the 17th of August which means my country turned 72 today! Happy Birthday my beloved tanah air. May you always grow and prosper always as we move forward! :) It's always a special day to me. Although I've spent most of my life away during this day, it's always a good day to reflect about being Indonesian. A good day to wish for greater progress in the future. Well we still have a long way to go. But we'll get there. I always believe so! In our own unique ways and roads.

Indonesia may not be the best country on earth. I believe there's no such thing as a "best" country on this planet. I think we all are all beautiful and flawed in our own ways. I love my country. I love my homeland. And I'm still trying to be that one person who could bring a positive change here. Indonesia is huge, I don't even know where to start! Haha. But one act of change is better than none.

Well my message to my country is that I hope we can all remain united together in the spirit of Bhinneka Tunggal Ika, or to be united in diversity. We are all people from different walks of life. Though we may have differences, I hope we'll remember that at the end of the day, 

our blood is red, 

and bones are white.

Just like our flag.

We The Fest 2017!

 Summer memories. Thank you WTF 2017!

Hello hello! I just got back to We The Fest 2017 yesterday! Well it is a 3-day music festival, would really love to go for the whole three days but life happens, and I could only go for day one. Which is alright cause it was an awesome day nevertheless! I got to see Shura again, and caught some acts I've been wanting to see live! On the other hand I'm gonna miss Mondo Gascaro, Lightcraft, Phoenix and Dua Lipa which was today and tomorrow. Well I'm sad but it's alright, one day hopefully!

Anyway left my hometown at 11:30 AM for Jakarta. I was quite worried cause I woke up late! Supposed to leave home at 11 but I woke up at 11 hah. Just went to shower and pack my bags and left home at 11:30 so whew. Thankfully I made it in time! Reached PRJ Kemayoran at 3 PM and went to join in the queue. There was quite a long line at the security check so yep thankfully I was early.

 Stars and Rabbit. So so incredible

The first act that I watched was Stars and Rabbit! They are one of my favourite Indonesian bands, and their debut album "Constellation" is one of my favourite albums ever! I missed them at 2015 RRREC festival right here in my hometown cause it clashes with Mid Autumn hah. So I redeemed myself this time! Anyway seenig them live is a whole new story to be honest. I really love their energy on stage. You can feel the raw emotions run through the words and music of their performance. So incredible!

One of the highlights is definitely singing to "Worth It" with them, and dancing along with Elda on "Man Upon The Hill" for the closing song. Oh my goodness. I can't describe the feeling but it's just amazing. Pure euphoria and adrenaline rushing inside you and you see them perform.

 Indonesia's very own electronic duo, Bottle Smoker

Next up was Bottle Smoker! I've heard of them recently but haven't really give them a proper listen. Yesterday was also my first time catching them live and it's also an amazing set. I really love how their songs are inspired by rituals from around Indonesia. And well you can really hear them on their music. And same as Stars and Rabbit, their energy on stage is so amazing. We were all dancing through their music! These two talented duo have a great road ahead of them definitely.

Went to have dinner before continuing the night. Love the food selection... For the non-vegetarians HAHAHA. As much as I can recall there's only a mushroom pizza from Pizza e Birra, cireng and fries as vegetarian option (dessert not included). I hope there's more veg food option next year! :P But nevertheless the pizza is delicious. They have truffle oil holy mama! Also had some beer.

 Good to see Yuna again!

Next up was Yuna! Okay I didn't manage to catch her full set cause I really want to secure a good spot for Shura which was after her haha. But nevertheless it's good to see her again!

Welcome back Shura!

And then it was Shura! I managed to get a good spot about 3-people away from the front. Well Shura was incredible again. I'm so thankful that I managed to see her live again! Also it was awesome that we get to listen to her full set, as it was cut short during Neon Lights last year. She came close to us as usual for Touch and I managed to give her a card that I wrote for her. Yay thanks Shu!

 This was during Touch as usual :')

And also another awesome thing happened: Indonesia's president Mr Jokowi was watching her too! So during her set she said something like "The president is watching me behind". We couldn't really catch what she said but well yup, after the night, the president really did watch her hahaha.

 Gryffin shaking things up!

Last but not least to close the night was Gryffin! I discovered Gryffin through his remix of Bipolar Sunshine "Daydreamer". And then I found out that he did lots of great remixes! From Years and Years Kings, Desire and Troye Sivan's Youth. Also his new releases were awesome as well. It was such a great way to close the night to just dance to his music together along with the crowd.

Okay Gryffin set was probably my first ever DJ set. I'm not really that into Electronic Dance music. I do like a few (like Gryffin, Avicii, Jai Wolf and others) but I don't think I've ever been to a DJ set before. To me it felt so incredible to see everyone break into a dance during parts of the song (the drop? Is that what you call it?) and everyone just dance without caring about everyone else. I was dancing along too, without giving a shit whether I dance well or not haha. It's so amazing! 

So yeah I kinda understand why people really love the whole EDM scene. But to me I think the term EDM is too wide to be put into one genre. But yeah you get what I mean.

Yup that's all for WTF this year! I think it's a well-run festival in my opinion. The wait time between sets was short. Like I think there was only a few minutes of delays and not like 20 minutes of delay hah. Also the overall rundown of the festival is great! I really hope to return next year. I think it should go back to its 2-day lineup heh. I mean 3-days is awesome. But if it were 2 days, I think I might stay for everything. I kinda feel three is wee bit too long? I don't know, just my opinion.

Also please include more Indonesian lineup and even Southeast Asian ones! That'll be so cool. Alright thank you WTF 2017 for the incredible time even though I only went for a day. Really hoping to see you again next year. And also thank you Stars and Rabbit, Bottle Smoker, Yuna, Shura and Gryffin for the incredible time yesterday. Hope to see you all again one day too! Hope you had a great weekend :)

What Do You See?

 Happy Birthday Singapore!

It's the ninth of August once again so... Happy Birthday Singapore! I think this day will remain as a special day in the year for me. I've spent this day singing national day songs in schools for 7 years when I was still in Singapore. Spent this day watching the NDP show on TV while eating dinner. It's pretty much a melancholic day when I was still in Singapore. I used to contemplate a lot about the days spent on the sunny island. And now I've been back home for 4 years. Still a special day!

Although not gonna lie, today feels like a pretty normal day for me. Maybe life has caught up with me. Well today was indeed a busy day for me. So many things to do and to handle so I was pretty preoccupied that I didn't realise it was 9th of August! In fact I just finished doing some stuff just now before blogging. And it's 4:45 AM now haha. Well, such is life I suppose!

I was transferring a few files to my hard drive last Saturday when I came across my photo folders. Photos that I've been taking since 2010, when I first got my camera. Floods of memories came rushing in! So many good memories of my days in Singapore especially in my poly days. 

The above photo was taken at Marina Barrage back seven years ago, while I was with Ade, Jes and Neal when we were celebrating my birthday. It was such a good day, the sky was clear and the weather was very lovely. The barrage was crowded with people having picnics and flying kites. There was also NDP rehearsal so we got to watch the flag fly-past and fireworks at the end. Good days!

I would say my poly days were some of the most loveliest days in Singapore. I suppose it's a time where I have learned to value time and memories. So I decided to enjoy them and to also document them. Can't help but to smile whenever I flip through these photos. So much have changed and time has flown so quickly. Here we are now, on this day and this moment.

But those days will always remain here. In my heart.

Well I do miss Singapore sometimes. I miss my friends, the people and the food. But most importantly I miss my days in Singapore. They are really something I will never trade with anything. Every simple moment that I went through are very valuable to me, and I'd love to experience them again.

You know simple things like going to school, my Sunday evening runs, grocery shopping, talking with friends, eating out with them and so on. They are the moments I'll hold on to forever.

I was hoping to return to Singapore every year and well so far I've been doing that. Although I feel my trips were too short! This year I only returned for Coldplay and only managed to meet with a few people only. I'd really to make this a reality but well sometimes I feel that I have another responsibility to hold. And pretty sure my friends need to make some arrangements too now that we're all working adults.

I hope to return soon!

Alright stopping here for now. Happy Birthday again, Singapore!

Handicapped

So I had a pretty interesting Wednesday, with my thumb being unable to move.

What happened was this. So on Monday, I started to feel this soreness on my right thumb. But I brushed it off thinking it was nothing. On Tuesday things got a bit stranger because it hurt when I tried to bend my right thumb. But I can still move it fine. Just a bit painful here and there. And on Wednesday things got horribly wrong, when I discovered that my right thumb hurt a lot if I move it!

After I woke up, I usually drink my cup of water. This time round, I couldn't even hold my cup as my thumb would hurt a lot when I bend it (imagine you holding the ear of a cup). Next I went to shower and it even hurt more when I tried to hold the shower head, and to lather myself with soap and shampoo. And I couldn't even dry myself with the towel and put on my clothes. I knew something was wrong.

Throughout the day, simple things that I usually do everyday became a challenge. Holding utensils when eating (I can't even use my hand for eating), typing on my phone (had to use my middle finger, cause even using my index finger hurt my thumb), opening doors etc. Thankfully for some actions, I can still use my left hand. But for some other actions, I was really struggling!

I think the most annoying part for this day was the fact that I couldn't write. Well I had to force myself to write. I did improvise a little bit by rolling tissue paper on my pen, to make the grip "fatter". I couldn't write quickly and my handwriting looked so horrible haha. I also couldn't drive, and had to ask my driver to send me to the farm. I felt very handicapped on this fateful day.

I felt that my liberty had been taken away for this day. But this has also given me a whole new insight about the lives of people with disabilities. I think there are lots of times when we take our bodies for granted. Our health, and so on. So yeah be thankful people, perhaps one day all of this will be taken away. I really experienced what it felt like to have your usual liberties taken away. 

And it wasn't lovely.

Thankfully I felt better on Thursday. I was able to at least wiggle the top part of my thumb. And on Thursday night I was feeling so much better, and was able to write (whew!). And today I woke up with my thumb functioning normally. There's still a slight sore on the joint part but all's good.

So yup. Love your body people! Including all of your fingers and your toes.

TIL - 24 Hours

One of the things that made me feel annoyed the most is... When I have to involuntarily waste my time hahaha. Or when things don't go to my way. Well actually come to think of it, nothing will ever go your way. Most of the time, we are the ones that create our own paths. Always remember, nothing is in control! As Timber Hawkeye says in his book Buddhist Bootcamp heh.

Okay so what happened is this. Wednesdays have always been a busy day of the week for me. I have delivery to settle and so on. Last Wednesday was especially busy, because I had to meet a few people. We made a schedule for the meetup at 4 PM. And so I was planning in my head about how my Wednesday will go. And I was hoping (of course) that everything will go smoothly. Because I was meeting someone else at 5. And I hate making people wait, especially when they don't have to.

However, this person came really late. To be exact, 1.5 hours late. He came at 5.30 and I have no idea why. Because of this non-punctuality, everything got ruined because before his schedule, there are a few other people who were meeting us. And hence, all the schedule are being pushed away. I ended up leaving for the farm at 6 plus, reaching there at 7-ish. So yeah, when I was supposed to meet someone at 5, I ended up meeting him at 7. I was so angry urgh. Cause all of these wouldn't have to happen if someone learns to be punctual. I was trying hard to keep cool as I was driving ommmmm.

Okay I'm not an interrogator who went ahead to interview him why he's late and so on. I brushed it off and just went ahead with my day, feeling rather annoyed though. Maybe he has something cropped up at the last minute. No one knows right. But yes this is where I don't like it - because I ended up wasting my time, when I didn't have to actually do so! But I will always remind myself, nothing is in control.

Last year I have learned to redefine my definition of living life to the fullest. I have decided to do so by living my day to the fullest. Each day. I want to live the 24 hours of my day to the fullest. I want to do work when I have to. I want to rest when I am resting. I want to savour every food that I am eating. I want to mindfully waste my time when I decided to. Get what I mean?

So yes when I have to "sacrifice" my time when I don't have to, caused by an external factor, I feel rather annoyed. Maybe I need to learn how to also live my "involuntarily wasted time" to the fullest. 

That's all for this month's TIL. Live your life to the fullest people. You only have 24 hours in a day, and you only have one life to live. Don't waste them away!

Heartstrings

Right we're nearing the end of July so it's time to share with you some of the great music of this month! So many awesome albums were released in this month so I'm super happy. Some of which I've been expecting a long time mwahaha. Alright lets get right into it.

Great Music of July

- Genesis by Dua Lipa

- Lost in Your Light by Dua Lipa ft Miguel

- Be The One by Dua Lipa

- J-Boy by Phoenix

- Fleur de Lys by Phoenix

- Want You Back by Haim

- You Never Knew by Haim

- Little of Your Love by Haim 

- Long Gone by Phum Viphurit

- Ultralife by Oh Wonder (album)

- Kaleidoscope EP by Coldplay

- English Letters EP by Favela

Song of the month: Urgh so hard to make me choose. But Miracles by Coldplay ft Big Sean!

Alright whew what a long list! But anyway this is because the albums I ordered in June just arrived after the Hari Raya holidays, which is like on the 10th of July-ish. I was quite worried because they took so long, they should be arriving before the holidays. But I suppose the delivery got halted by the holidays.

So many awesome albums! Lets begin with Dua Lipa's debut, which I think is a fantastic album! I love most of the songs from the album. I think she's an awesome singer and I love her music really. I knew she's gonna make it big when I discovered her early last year I think. I hope I can catch her life at WTF17 next month. I am seeing my plans first, I hope everything goes well for the festival.

Phoenix's new album is also a great one! Loving the sounds of the album. Those synths pattern and catchy beats. I think it sounds a bit different than their previous album though. But it's an awesome album nevertheless. And then we have HAIM who released their 2nd album this month! Loving their new album as well. I think they've grown a lot from their first. But The Days We Had, to me, is a great album. Glad to see them growing and jetting off to greater heights. I hope I can see them live :l

And then I discovered Phum Viphurit's Long Gone on YouTube! His video just appeared on my recommended tab as usual and whew I fell in love with both the song and the video haha. I think the music and video aesthetic is so on point. What a talent from Thailand! Hope to see more from him.

Two EPs are released this month from Coldplay and Favela. After a few delays, Coldplay finally released their EP digitally haha. I think it's an awesome EP, feels like a continuation from AHFOD! I really love the direction that Coldplay is going hmm. The Kaleidoscope EP feels like their old materials. It sounds like their whole albums mashed up beautifully. Favourite song would be Miracles for me :)

Favela also released his English Letters EP last week! It was a surprise when I saw it on Facebook haha. It has two new songs Worship and Your Hand On Mine which are so lovely as well. Up till now, I'm still hooked on Nevermore My Temples Leave. It is definitely one of the best songs of the year for me. I am so so excited to hear more new music from him. He's an incredible singer song-writer!

Alright gonna save the best for last. I think my favourite album of 2017 so far is Ultralife by Oh Wonder! It is such wonderful album (pun intended) and I love each song from the album. Don't talk about Ultralife, which has been in my playlist since it's released haha. I fell in love with Oh Wonder 3 years ago when I discovered them on Soundcloud. I discovered them from their song Shark. I could still remember how they would release one song every month, and finally leading up to their debut.

I love their first album but I feel that their second album is much more grander and bigger? I love how they explain the meaning behind each song which really makes me appreciate them more. I feel like their music is always uplifting in one way or another? And I love how they write about daily occurrences. Like their song Solo is about being in a party but everyone is so self-absorbed and the need to come out, be solo and take a breather. And many more. I really love this album. 

Definitely best album of 2017 so far!

I feel that 2017 has been an incredible year for music. So many great releases, so many great albums. Lots of new emerging artists who are so talented as well. Well as of today, all of my anticipated albums have been released haha. And I love all of them! There are still a few upcoming ones like Alvvays new album in September, a new EP from PREP and more music from everyone else. Haha. 

Alright that's all for this incredible month for music. Eager to discover more music in the next 5 months! Come on 2017 you can blow me away again <3

Mountains

Mountains // Fuji Industrial 100

So a few nights ago I came up with this random thought.

"You can climb a thousand mountains in a day
or climb a mountain in a thousand days,
as long as you enjoy the process.
But I see no point in reaching the summit
if you don't even enjoy the climb"

Well obviously I think it's impossible to climb a thousand mountains in one day haha. And it's a tad too long to climb a mountain in a thousand days. Maybe we can consider climbing Everest, and the preparations that it takes to reach the summit. But yeah you get what I mean.

The mountains that I'm referring to are actually our goals and dreams. Or even, they are the things that we plan to do in life. Sure, it's possible for us to do as many things as possible in a certain amount of time. But in the process, do we enjoy it? Is it worth it? Do we suffer in the journey, do we lose ourselves? Cause I see no point in us reaching our goals, if we ended up not enjoying this process. 

But how about we take things as they come. We do as many things as possible according to our capabilities. I'm pretty sure we'll enjoy the process, without compromising things.

I always believe that life is like a mountain. You can take your own sweet time to climb the mountain, or your can sprint your way to the top. As long as you enjoy it! Simple as that. But do always remember that we cannot expect people to follow us, and neither should we enforce our pace to other people. We are all unique, and we each have our own capabilities. Take it one step at a time.

I climbed Mt Kinabalu 6 years ago. It's pretty funny how I don't actually miss the summit. I don't miss being on the summit. But I do miss the forest, I miss the climb to Laban Rata, I miss seeing the scenery near the summit, I miss my team mates and so on. I think it's funny how we won't really miss the feeling of satisfaction of reaching our goals, but we will miss the things we do to get there.

And I often wonder. Even if we have reached the summit, what will we do? How will we feel? A temporary feeling of satisfaction. A temporary feeling of glory that dissipates into our distant memory sooner or later. So yep. But the struggle and pain we went through to reach the summit, they will stick with us forever, to remind us that great things don't come so easily. 

This is just a random thought. Life gets very interesting because we all have our own mountain to climb. And everyone else can't see it. And they can't also see our progress and our speed. So most of the time, they'll ask us why are we taking so long. While we wonder why they are moving so fast. Or vice versa. These invisible mountains we climb are so difficult to explain to others. Hmm.