Kids In The Dark

Hello, oh gosh I haven't been writing here again! I actually just returned from Singapore like last night. Spent the weekend for Jeslyn's wedding on Saturday! It was a great weekend reuniting and meeting different people as usual. So happy for Jeslyn really, congratulations to Mr and Mrs Foo!

Alright will blog about my trip on a separate post. Now lets talk about the great music of September! There are loads of new albums that I've been expecting in this month and they're amazing. The year is coming to an end soon and I think there isn't much albums I'm expecting. September is a banger really haha. Alright here goes the fantastic music and albums of September!

Great Music of September:

- Saves The World by MUNA (album)

- Lost Girls by Bat For Lashes (album)

- Oncle Jazz by Men I Trust (album)

- I'm Just Like You by Tegan and Sara

- What Does It Take by Miljon

- Hallelujah by Oh Wonder

- All I Want by Abroad

- Time by Abroad

Song of The Month: Hallelujah by Oh Wonder and What Does It Take by Miljon

Four great album in September! Oncle Jazz by Men I Trust is one of the most anticipated albums of 2019 for me and it is amazing. I can't wait for the vinyl to arrive and I'm gonna give it a spin while chilling on a Saturday mwahaha. Also loving the whole 80s synths of BFL Lost Girls. And Muna's Sophomore is also so so good. Tegan and Sara just released their new album on Friday and I'm currently digesting it. But I've been enjoying it so far! :)

Special mention to Miljon's song What Does It Take, which I discovered from Spotify. It is such a great song that somehow reminds me of the past.... Weird but yeah, it's a melancholic song. Perfect to listen to at night and also while driving. Abroad is another band I discovered from Spotify and I love their music. I think they're like the "cousin" of Rufus Du Sol. Also they're from Aussie haha.

Alright that's all for the great music of September! I'm looking forward to some new albums at the end of the year. Like Vancouver Sleep Clinic and Rex Orange County! Looking forward to more new music from Oh Wonder too, and their 3rd album (not sure when it's gonna be released tho). And PREP is writing new music as well (seen from their IG story haha). So yep.

Hope September treated you well. Here's to an Outstanding October for us.

Oh yes, wish me luck cause I'm doing Blogtober!

Missing GT Days

So I recently re-discovered a photo from our Green Desert Project trip in Inner Mongolia 8 years ago. It was a photo of me with the last hole that I dug. And suddenly I miss everything about the trip. The trip is definitely one of the best trips I've went on in my life. The people, the scenery, and everything else. To me it is a trip where life seems to forget about itself - for that 11 days or so.

I really miss those tree-planter days, where we spend the morning working hard and then going back in the evening for dinner, and being knocked out at night. I think I had a glimpse of what a farmer life would be like. And hmm I really don't mind living such a life to be honest :P

I wish I can go back to those days... It was really fun and I got to spend my days surrounded with beautiful views. Well we once talked about doing a 10th year anniversary trip. I hope it'll happen! :)

Hallelujah

Oh Wonder released this new song and video last week and wow it's such a great song for their comeback! I am pretty excited for their new album which is coming soon. Oh Wonder is a band that I really fell in love with since I discovered them 4 years ago. More of their discovery later!

Anyway I just want to quote a line that really hits me beautifully from the song

"Don't go slow cause you're gonna be someone"

Wow, just wow!

Uninspired

You're probably bored of me talking about this but yes, I've been finding it more and more difficult to blog these days! Ironic how this month marked the 11th year that I'm blogging but this wave of un-inspiration hit me like a tsunami haha. Well like what I mentioned in my previous post, there isn't much things to talk about these days. And also I've been quite busy too. It feels like every other night, all I wanna do is just rest and do nothing. I still do journal weekly tho. Maybe I should blog weekly too.

Like I usually blog on Saturday nights but nowadays I actually spend my Saturday nights just listening to vinyl or music in my room and do nothing. And it's such a blissful act to be honest. Also it is something I imagine myself doing on Saturday nights when I was younger. It's happening! Hah.

I usually blog/journal while listening to music on Saturday nights but these days I don't even do either. I would just lay on my bed with music blasting in my room. And it's pretty chill and enjoyable.

Alright anyway, I am going to try to accomplish what I began in mind earlier this year - of hitting 100 posts for this year. I might change my goal for next year haha. We'll see. At the rate I'm going, I don't think I'll ever hit 100 posts! But yes I might be doing Blog-tober next month.

Okay that's all for this really sad update haha. Thank you to my blog Clouds of Sunday for always being there for me! Lets write more stories together, no matter how small and how often.

Okay maybe I need to write a more proper celebratory post heh. Have a great September people.

forevher

Oh wow this is ridiculous, I haven't been blogging for 3 weeks!! HAHAHA. What a way to welcome my 11th year of blogging by blogging less heh. Okay, I have my own reasons! First of all I don't have much things to blog about (as usual). And secondly yeah I've been pretty busy this month. There's always something to do at night heh. And thirdly, I just retrieved my laptop back today after sending it for servicing. Pretty stressed out when I found out I might lose all my data.

But thankfully not! I lost the apps and programs in the laptop but the servicing guy managed to shit all my data from the C drive to the D drive. I just finished moving and deleting stuff, and of course, not forgetting backing up all my essential data. That was frightening heh. I never learn my lesson for not backing up, even though I told myself to when I got my laptop last year haha.

Okay it's the last day of August and thus I will just share with you the LOADS of great music I discovered this month! Here goes, as usual, won't be talking about every song haha.

Great Music of August

- forevher by Shura (album)

- Samurai by Flecks

- Leaves by Fanclub

- Things by Louis Cole

- Playing Games by Anna of The North

- Supreme by Postiljonen

- Skying High by Postiljonen

- Southside by Wild Front

- ARAWA by Electric Youth

- Runaway by Electric Youth

Song of the month: forever and skyline, be mine by Shura

There's only one album that I was looking forward to in August and that is Shura's 2nd album, forevher! It's such an incredible album. Raw, beautiful, intimate and just pure love haha. Although I kinda prefer Nothing's Real with its upbeat songs, forevher is a whole new dimension. I've never been in a relationship but damn, this album really made me feel in love! If I can sum the album in four words, it'll be "I Am In Love" haha. Which is also a lyric from forevher!

I discovered a few new artists/bands in this month from Spotify, they are Postiljonen, Wild Front and Electric Youth. I am currently obsessed with Postiljonen's Skying High. I love how "colourful" and lively their electronic sounds are. Wild Front songs are very nice and chill, I love their combination of electronic and uhh folk? I'm not sure how to call it haha. As for Electric Youth, I just love their synths and beats. Seriously man I'm so glad I discovered them! Even though I wish I could discover them earlier haha. But well better late than never, as always right!

Alrighty that's all for this month. It's been quite a busy month, not sure why but I just feel like I'm preoccupied. I am pretty excited for September cause there are 3 album releases I'm excited for: Muna, Tegan and Sara, Bat for Lashes and Men I Trust debut album! Whoop whoop.

I hope you had an Awesome August. Here's to a Superb September everyone! Also as for my declining blog posts... I'm really considering to do blogtober haha. I'll see about it! Take care :)

Whole Food Plant Based

Black bean salad, purple yam, mushroom, dragon fruit, jack fruit

Eat them colours ya'll!

Hello! Here I am again and today I wanna share with you an interesting experience or should I say.. Experiment? That I did last month. I went Whole Food Plant-Based (WFPB) in July! I've been wanting to try this since I went vegetarian. Cause to in the vegan community, from the vegan nutritionists and doctors, they recommend WFPB as the healthiest diet. Yes, we can still eat unhealthily on a vegan diet. Going vegan doesn't guarantee you top notch health.

Anyway the reason why I decided to go WFPB in July is because I was eating like crap back in June haha. It was the Hari Raya holiday and yeah I eat whatever I wanna eat. I snack a lot, I drink lots of sweet drinks, eat pasta and this and that. And also I've been curious about it! But well I didn't go fully WFPB in July. There were 5 days which I stopped going WFPB (Still vegan tho) as I was out of town and it was also my birthday. So I decided to treat myself heh :P

Purple yam, black bean and lentil salad and kailan

Okay first of all what is WFPB. To put it simply it is a diet in which we eat plant based food, while keeping the food as "naturally intact" as possible (thus the word whole food). So no processed food like flour, noodles, sugary drinks etc. And also we're supposed to avoid additional sugar, oil and excessive salt. Instead of white rice we eat brown rice. For carbs we can have root vegetables and fruits and everything else. As long as it's "whole" and not processed.

So my food revolves around lots of vegetables! I rotate my carbs with cassava, sweet potato and yam. Also the past few weeks I've been eating jicamas as we were planting them and they were on harvest. For proteins I have tofu, tempe and lots of beans. Also lentils. As for fats... I don't have much of them. I know we're supposed to avoid oil but I did have deep fried tempe/tofu. Cause that's how most people have them here in restaurants. That's one of the cheat I did heh.

I am very proud of myself that I actually didn't eat white rice for the whole of July! I did eat brown rice though... Seriously I can't live without rice. Perhaps I'm too Indonesian. I also didn't drink soft drinks (AKA my beloved teh botol and Pokka green tea), but I did have... 3 soft drinks. 2 in my birthday and one while I was in Jakarta. The rest was either fruit juice and... Beer oops.

Made some lentil soup with chopped tomato

I cheated by using Marks and Spencer canned chopped tomato heh

I didn't "count" my calories. I did read like the amount of servings I should eat for beans etc. But I only stopped when I'm feeling full. And trust me on a WFPB diet, you will feel easily full! Like I would just have 2 medium sized cassava/sweet potato/yam and I'll be damn full. Most of the time I saved the rest of the food for the next day. This rarely happens when I eat rice. Usually I crave for more.

And trust me... This WFPB diet really made a difference in my body. Here's a few changes I noticed while going through this diet. It's pretty interesting! Although generally I feel normal.

1. I easily feel full, but I don't easily go hungry

This is most significant thing I noticed. I really feel easily full even though I don't seem to eat "a lot". But I don't feel hungry at all, even after hours since I last ate. And also I don't have the tendency to snack. Like usually I would go munch on things in between meals but not now baby!

2. I feel lighter

Pretty obvious I would say. I never feel bloated/full after meals. There was no lingering feeling of bloatedness/fullness in my stomach. Also hey hey I lost 3kgs from 92 to 89 whoop.

3. My mood improves

I've been reading a few articles how our gut actually plays an important role on our mental health, as there are hormones which are produced in the gut. And there are a lot of cases where people show a tremendous improvement in their mental health after going WFPB. I don't know how to explain this personally but yeah. I feel better, and my mind feels "clearer" too somehow.

4. Sadly, I might be sensitive to gluten

I might do a separate post on this but yes, I might be sensitive to gluten.

5. I enjoy my time in the toilet more mmhmm

My usual breakfast is overnight oats!

Oats, goji berries and raisins (pre-mixed) with dates, and unsweetend almond/soy milk

Now the question is will I continue WFPB...? The answer is yes and no haha. Hmm I don't think I'll continue WFPB 100% but I'm thinking of doing it like 70% of the time? My plan is to eat WFPB for breakfast and dinner. As for lunch I might or might not do it. The reason is simply because I have more ease to cook/plan my dinner than to cook for lunch heh. Since my mum and dad eat together with me. But I am definitely going to switch to be a vegan now. Whoop!

Alright that's all for this random food post. I recommend you to give WFPB a try. Even for a week, or one day a week etc. And feel the power of the plants. And the difference! Have fun :)

Blue Sky In Your Head

Thank you Lighthouse Family for giving me blue skies on my cloudy days :')

Okay so I was supposed to blog about this last month, since Lighthouse Family's new album was release in July but... Yes you know what happened haha. Anyway here goes!

So yes, Lighthouse Family (LF) released their new album after 18 years last month! This is one of the albums I am so excited about in 2019. It also took me by surprise that they're releasing new music. It all started when they changed the profile photo of their Facebook Page in March with the caption of some exciting news coming or something like that haha. I was so so excited! Cause co-incidentally I was listening to their music a lot in the last few months of 2018 (not sure why) and I was just casually wondering if they will ever release new music in the future. And 3 months later, uh huh, they are.

There was a delay for the album release but it's seriously the wait. We waited for 18 years for new music anyway! Haha. I would say it's a fantastic album. It still has that LF vibes from their previous albums, which made it seem like they never "left" at all, all these 18 years. The same feel good vibes, the same songs that will make you move and most importantly: great music to drive to! I think LF signature is that their music makes your drive more enjoyable, somehow somewhat haha.

Anyway Lighthouse Family has a special place in my heart. Here's why.

Of all the 90s bands, I got "closer" to LF in the early 2000s, when I was actually learning English to prepare for my studies to Singapore. They released their 3rd album "Whatever Gets You Through The Day" in 2001 and this album is special to me! Cause I was learning English, and thus I was learning the lyrics while I was learning the language. I remember listening to the album on the car's cassette player, while reading the album insert. It was the good old times.

Also of all the 90s bands, I enjoy LF songs more because they write songs that just make you feel good. Unlike the love anthems were chiming through the 90s, that I can never relate to (haha), LF songs hit more chords inside my heart. And they are one of the bands that I still consistently listen to throughout these 20 years or so. Because their songs can literally get you through tough times! I remember having High, Ocean Drive and Lifted in my monthly playlists in 2012, which was a tough year for me heh. And not forgetting the random days where I listen to them throughout too.

So yes, like their new album, thank you Lighthouse Family for giving me blue skies on my cloudy days!

Look ma, pa, LF reposted my photo on their Facebook page! HAHAHA

And and and... I am all over the sky (pun intended) because they actually reposted my photo on their social media pages! I was so shocked cause I was scrolling through Instagram one night when I saw my photo (the one above) on my timeline. I was like... Didn't I post this photo 2 weeks back? And when I saw that it was LF's page who posted the photo with my handle credited on it, I was so happy!

The ten year old me is happy to receive a signed copy of the album, and to have one of his favourite 90s bands use his photo on their page haha. Thank you Lighthouse Family for making me happy haha.

Alright that's all for this post. I hope you give this brilliant album a listen. And may Lighthouse Family songs give you blue skies on your cloudy days! See ya soon :)