Getting Rid Of Things

Can't really think of a title for this post but yeah, it goes along something like that haha.

Recently I came across a thought. In this world where we are plagued by a lot of negative emotions, life may seem like a hell to live in. We're constantly bombarded with worries. Sometimes we're burned by anger, and other days we're fed by annoyance. How can we become a calmer and more mindful person? And what really gives a rise to these emotions that we feel?

I started to ponder this. You see I can make you eat healthier food, I can make you avoid a certain type of food that is harmful to your body, and we can see changes and results in our health. I can give you medicines and I can give you treatments, and we can see your health improve gradually.

However, there is not way I can make you think a certain way. There is no way I can make you to stop worrying, to stop being angry, to forget about the small stuff and so on. There is no way I can take out that unpleasant thing that is circling through your mind. There is no way I can take something out of your mind, and put inside it. Because we are the ones who hold the key to our mind.

Remember there was a time I posted that we live in a terrifying world where we can put things on people's mind? Like extremist thoughts, and we can even tell lies to people so that they will believe them. Ultimately the mind is a very powerful thing. It's like a garden, whatever we put inside will grow with us. But we too have the power to cut and let them die. If we want to.

There are a lot of times in my life where I try to get rid of such feelings. I realised how hard it is to do so. I just find it funny how we have steps and directions to improve our health and to keep out body fit. But we don't seem to have a lot of ideas and how to improve our mental health hah. Well there are drugs we can take to cope with mental illnesses. How about before we need to take them?

So far for me... Meditation helps a lot. And I am in a conquest to be mindful and to train my mind. Meditation seems to be a good method to do so. And it's been going well I suppose.

So yeah, it is important to take care of our own body, and our health, because this is the only place we have to live in! But I think we have overlooked our mind. We can destroy our body by the unhealthy habits we keep on doing. But our mind can destroy us without us realising it. No?

Sensitive

This is a really random post and also a weird one you can say. I've been having insomnia again this past month. Since September to be exact. I would sleep at about 6 AM but nowadays I would fall asleep at 7. Even though I go to bed at 5-ish. During my grandma's cremation, I thought I would be able to "reset" the sleeping time by not sleeping the whole morning and only sleeping a few hours here and there on the way home. But nope, didn't happen. I slept at 6 AM again.

I have no idea why, and all the measures have been carried out. Like chamomile tea, switching off lights in my room, not using phones before bedtime etc. Not sure if there are things inside my subconscious mind that don't allow me to fall asleep easily. There is however one thing...

I realised one strange thing that has been happening since my time in Singapore - I always have insomnia on two periods of the year; the solstices! The summer solstice on 22 June ish, and winter solstice on 22 December-ish. I will always get insomnia during this period and I have no idea why.

So I am wondering if there's some weird universe even going on in this period and I realise one thing - it's the fall equinox 2 weeks ago! And also I realised I did get my fair share of insomnia during qing ming back in April, which is the spring equinox. Holy moly haha. I am sensitive to the movement of the earth! Isn't that cool haha. Okay for the equinox part I'm not sure because I'm just experiencing this kinda this year. But yeah, I always get weird ass insomnia once every few months.

For the solstice part it has been proven. I remember back when I was in poly, I always have difficulty sleeping in June, no idea why. There was a time back in 2011 I think where I didn't fall asleep at all for the whole night and go to Poly still. Hoping to reset my time at night, only to fall asleep in the evening and then waking up again late at night and the cycle continued. But thankfully it was a Friday so I had a good sleep-in on the next day (a Saturday).

Not sure what is happening in my body but yeah, maybe I'm just sensitive to the movement of the earth. Equinoxes and solstices are quite a major event of this planet. They signify the movement and tilting of this planet, that result in changes in the duration of a day. Perhaps this has an invisible effect on my body, my soul and my spirit. Who knows man. But it's just an interesting observation.

Oh well I hope this insomnia will go away. It's quite stressful to not be able to sleep really. Especially when the sun begins to rise and my room is filled with golden sun rays. I can blame it on my weird sleeping habit. But I think I will have to stick around with this habit for quite some time.

Alright that's all for this random post. I will see you soon!

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.