I'm back to blogging (3 years later)

I'm back to blogging (3 years later)

15 July 2026

Photo by Daria Glakteeva on Unsplash

I miss this blog soooo much! I pretty much left it the way it was since 2023 and I think for now, I like the way it looks aesthetically. But HOW ARE YOU ALL? I don't even know who is even around to see this, but I just have to try. I never actually truly left blogging, it's pretty much in my blood these days. Since I don't journal (I have one, but I have a tough time being religious about it), I have to blog. 

Three years ago, I transferred to Wordpress from Blogger and stayed there for about a good two years, but it never felt the same. I like the community that I was in during the good old blogging days and just the simplicity of writing itself. Oh, and I miss the blogwalking experience and leaving a hello in people's chat boxes too! Who still does that, I don't know, you must tell me. I just feel like I've been isolating myself for so long that I don't know what people do these days.

Let's see, updates, oooh, let me share my updates! I'm married; we know that I think that was the last big announcement I shared back then. I now am a happy mother of FOUR cats; the youngest one was just cat-napped from the streets in April this year and he is settling down very well with his new brothers and sister. I will tell you all about them soon if you're interested. 

I'm back to reading all sorts of books; fantasy, classics, science fiction—you name it. I'm currently in a reading slump with Oathbringer by THE Brandon Sanderson from the Stormlight Archive series. It's... over a thousand page long but it's not the thickness of the book that's bringing me down per say, but the pacing of the book. Lots happen but the pacing doesn't add up, does that make any sense? I'll write a review of this once I'm done tackling the book.

My TBR books are as high as ever, thought you should know. I last shared my modest shelves of book when I was still living with my in-laws. Now it's almost out of control, I literally don't have enough shelves to home them all. My only wish: that I read as fast as I buy books. Okay, more like, I wish I have the same attention span to read as I did as a kid. Nowadays, I read a couple of pages and then I'm back to sticking my face to my phone. MUST HAVE DISCIPLINE. This is obviously still a work in progress.

Oooh, I also curate a TikTok account where I share book content and reviews if you'd like to visit! I'm quite proud of my updates in there

I also occasionally write on Substack which is this blogging platform for writers and authors. I mostly do it so I can polish up on my writing and train myself to write better reflective essays. You can visit and read my website if you like! >>> my substack <<<

On another note, by some miracle, I'm now a morning person. GASP. I know, who knew this day would come? Back in 2025, my sleeping hours were somewhere between 3 a.m. to 12 p.m., and I was only wide awake at 3 p.m. for anything productive. Somehow that all changed (when the fire nation arrived... kidding) when I got medication for my mental health (this update will be shared soon) and it sort of fixed it, among other things. Since then, I'm up at the crack of dawn and can write a number of articles during the late mornings. I have more controlled and productive hours than I did before.

I think that's all the updates I can think of on the top of my head right now. I'll share the rest in my upcoming posts here! 

In the meantime, LET ME STALK YOU! 

Share your blog/website links, I'd love to visit and see how you've been doing!

Things That Happened in February

Things That Happened in February

23 February 2023

Hey peeps! The weekends are just around the corner again (how is time flowing so fast, explain??) and I thought this is the perfect time to do a quick wrap-up of how my February is going, and maybe just a little peek into January too... Since you know, I've been MIA for a bit and a lot has happened.

Thankfully, I actually remembered to take pictures during these events too, so more good stuff to share! 😌

🍳Made more home-cooked foods

The month of February has seen me cook way more frequently than I've ever done since the MCO. I'm not much of a cook because I get pretty lost without a handy recipe to follow. I trust Che Nom with my life when it comes to trying out new recipes, or else things would turn out very differently. 

What I've made so far:

• Black pepper beef fried rice
• Chicken curry
• Apple salads
• Kuah kurma

Do y'all have any easy-to-make recipes you'd like to recommend? I'm dying to try something new to add to my list!

🐱Adopted Nana and had vet visits

It's almost been a month since we adopted Nana into our lives and she is simply a wonderful teeny companion to have around the home. She's adapted pretty fast to her current surroundings and from my POV, I'm getting used to seeing her zooming like a squirrel around the house. I just have to be a bit more mindful of my food whenever she's around indoors, or else the next thing I know, she's dug her little nose into my lunch!

You can read the full story of Nana here, but she's currently on medication, specifically for deworming and a few other things. Other than that, she's a great eater and loves to tire herself out by playing. The only problem I have right now is my phone storage is getting really close to being full and I take pictures and videos of her almost every day. I'm getting too obsessed over this zooming furball! 

📚Bought more books! Any tips on finding preloved copies?

Just this month alone, I've had the wonderful chance of visiting bookstores a bit more regularly. From POPULAR to Eslie Bookstore in Bukit Bintang, and even Gerakbudaya in Penang. However, by some miracle, I managed to refrain myself from hoarding all the books on my wishlist other than a few:

• My Dark Vanessa by Kate Elizabeth Russell
• The Priory of the Orange Tree by Samantha Shannon (Currently reading)

Books are pricey. Period. So I'm hoping that I have enough patience in me to wait for sales promotions or just buy secondhand copies.

🏖️Visited Penang for the first time!

That's right. Other than that one time when my one-year-old self was in Penang many, many years ago, I don't have any other recollection of visiting the island. I was there for a few days with my husband for our honeymoon and we had put on our "Dora the Explorer" hat while in Georgetown. The weather was hot and sunny, and we were dressed up looking very much like the tourists we wanted to be–me with the big sunhat and dress, while my husband was in his favourite floral buttoned-up shirt.

🦷Took a trip to the dentist *helppp*

Well, I don't have much to say about this one, but if you haven't been to the dentist in a while, I strongly suggest that you do. Like, very soon. My teeth were pretty okay but maintaining them would have been less of a hassle or pricey if I had followed the "every 6 months visit" thing.

🛍️Furniture shopping

We upgraded or added a few things to our home, specifically a new skincare trolley, full-length mirror, toothbrush organiser, laundry bag, bathroom shelf, and a whole lot of other things too.

🎈I went to a cosplay event 

This has to be our third anime/cosplay event so far since last year and this one was pretty epic despite its modest size. There were cosplayers and cute booths set up. I don't mean to brag but I managed to escape free from buying anything. I was this close to bringing a cute keychain or Genshin sticker home. 🥹

🧹Cleaned up my Google Drive storage 

Since earlier this year, I had Google sending me notifications saying that my storage was getting full. Not surprisingly, it was mostly taken up by videos and pictures of my own cats. My selfies where??? Anyway, I dismissed it for two good months before it had gotten to the point that it had reached 98% full storage capacity and I became paranoid if the newer pictures/videos I had taken were saved or not. 

I did consider buying more storage but... I was and still am broke. I'm already paying for other monthly commitments too, the latest being my cat. In the end, I rolled up my sleeves and got into the gritty work of filtering my files, pictures and videos. 

I'm now back to 8GB. 😵

We had a great family dinner over CNY!

I had my birthday celebration with both my family and in-laws. It was wonderful. I had so much cake and good food I'm pretty sure (and have confirmed) I've gained weight. We rarely have gatherings now that everybody has gotten busier but we had a great one on the weekends, especially during the CNY holidays. My sister makes amazing fruit cocktails and well, pretty much anything. 

💸Girly outings with "Broke Beruks" squad

My friends and I made a rule some time ago that no matter what, we'd agree to meet up every few months and have a great girl outing sessh. For now, boys aren't allowed in any of our meetups but the rule may change in the future (who knows). Anyway, during our last outing, we had brunch at this restaurant I've never been to called "Fish & Co" and the food (if you just "tutup sebelah mata" the price for a bit) tastes so good??? I'm very, very sceptical of fish and chips dishes from restaurants because based on my experience, they were almost always disappointing with the fish made of low-quality ingredients, and frozen chips and I'd go home feeling hungry like I haven't just had a meal a while ago. 

But their "The Best Fish & Chips"??? Their fish was freshly made and came in a large portion (couldn't finish mine), and so were their chunky savoury fries. They tasted good even without being dipped into the sauce (I forgot what it was).

We Adopted a New Kitty!

We Adopted a New Kitty!

17 February 2023

I didn't think that my first ever post in the past few months and in 2023 would be about a cat (although she's not just any cat, of course) but if you've followed my blog for a while, you'd know that's nothing new. I don't make my obsession with cats, specifically my own a secret. And because this is about my cat, I'm more than happy to blog about her and share with you how I first adopted her and how she's fitting in with us.

But perhaps we should take a step back for a minute, and let me add more context and get you up to date with what's going on. I recently got married (yay!) and have moved out with my husband. If you've read about my other two cats who are both living with my family (Being Mom to Leo & It's Time You Meet Leo) right now, you'd know that I've had cats in my life for a long while. I think roughly almost 10 years and I honestly cannot imagine a life without a zooming blurred furball running around the house and demanding cuddles. 

Even before I got married, I knew, wanted. no needed a furball friend in my life, especially to accompany me at home and just have a special subject for me to fill my phone gallery with. 

About Nana

Unlike Dessi and Leo who were rescued, my cat Nana was adopted from a Facebook group I'm part of. I had joined a couple of pet adoption groups and scoured posts about cats for roughly two very desperate weeks, trying to find a cat or kitten that I could have chemistry with. I didn't have any specific preference over the breed, gender, colour, etc. What was important was that he/she would be alright with living indoors and outdoors, friendly and litter trained. 

I saw a post on Nana (her previous name was Jula) by chance, maybe published within just 20 minutes, and saw a couple of her pictures looking ABSOLUTELY ADORABLE, that the pickup location was literally 5-10 minutes away from where I lived, she's friendly and manja. My heart was sold. I quickly contacted her owner on Messenger and it was decided that very afternoon, I could have her. And throughout this whole process, I had my husband's full support to get whichever cat I wanted. He's not a cat or animal person per se, but seeing me happy over cats made him happy. 

How We Adopted Nana

At the time that I was messaging Nana's previous owner and inquiring about what she was like and her specific needs, she and her other furball family were staying at a cat hotel also close to my home. If I remember correctly, it was on a Saturday or Sunday when I borrowed Leo's carrier and was driven to the hotel to pick her up. When I first saw her, she was in her full manja purring "pat me now!" mode. She wasn't shy with strangers, as long as they looked friendly enough to offer her pats and attention. My husband and I bought claw clippers on our way out of the cat hotel.

At home, we had a reasonably large cat cage at the ready, a food bowl full and a couple of toys to help her settle down. She seemed unfazed by the changes in scenery and the fact that she's been adopted. All that mattered to her was an unlimited supply of attention and pats from her new hoomans.

Brainstorming Her Name

Her original name was Jula because she was born on a Friday (Jumaat) along with her brother, Juli. She takes after her mother a lot, a medium-sized poofy grey cat and who was also at the cat hotel where we picked her up. In a way, the name does suit her because it's such a lovely name for the likeable temperament she has. But I thought a different name would be fine too. Like a fresh start or a new beginning for her. Me and my family brainstormed for the right name that would just click with her.

We came up with Nana, Nala, Nugget (lmao) and a few others that my friends suggested. In the end, Nana just seemed to fit her best and it sounds manja when we call her out. Where did Nana Tuna come from though? It's because she loveeeed the canned tuna treats I gave her during her first week with us. It's to the point that she sometimes smelled of tuna and she purposely picked at her kibbles for just the tuna bits.

Getting Used to a New Home

I'd be honest, although Nana was doing extremely well at adapting to her new home, she did show signs of missing her family. She's a very social kitten who was used to living together with other cats. At home, my two other indoor cats (well, my family's cats to be specific) aren't the friendliest bunch. Leo, in particular, despises cats regardless of how friendly they are or their gender, while Dessi is overall not friendly with anyone other than two-legged humans. 

Luckily for Nana, we did have a friendly ginger cat roughly around her size and age usually hanging outside our home. We call him Rocky (I forgot what's the origin story behind this) and he took a liking to her immediately. He stayed by her cage the entire time, keeping her company and playfully pawing at her through the metal cage. At some point, when he takes a short stroll in another part of the garden and away from her line of sight, she'd meow and call him back.

Now in my own home, I bring Nana indoors to chill and stretch her legs for a couple of hours. She cherishes these moments specifically to 1) get the full pat session, 2) do zoomies around the house and accidentally slam against random sliding windows and doors, and 3) stalk her owners (me) wherever in the house. 

Meds Time (Burrito Mode)

I knew what I was signing up for even before I thought of adopting a cat in my life. But it still caught me by surprise at how much investment pet owners need to be ready with for their furbabies, especially for new ones in the family. Nana needs a lot of my attention because she's such a clingy cat by nature, and when she's doing her zoomies, I have to let her do what she needs to do. It's funny to watch but at the same time, I sometimes worry that she'd get injured (she's doing fine!). 

Recently, she had ear mites problems (now already cleared) and we had to give her meds on the daily. The treatment isn't exactly cheap but it's something very common to happen to cats, whether they live indoors or not. For us, it would happen sooner or later. When it came to medication time, my husband would wrap her up inside a towel while wearing bright red boxing gloves for protection, and all the while Nana looking like a tasty cat-burrito that she is, before I pinched a couple of drops of the meds into her ears. I wish I took more pictures of her looking like a puffed up burrito, but she's usually too hyper for me to get a couple of good shots. She almost always looks like a blurred gargoyle in these pictures.

🐱More on Nana Tuna Soon!

So what do you think of Nana? I'll definitely write more about her soon, the moment I have enough good pictures of her that I can salvage. And since I haven't been on this platform in a while, share what's been going on with you guys! 

My Top 6 Presentation Template Websites

My Top 6 Presentation Template Websites

30 May 2021

I've always been very obsessed with making presentation slides. Finding the right template will always be my top priority (other than the content) and I believe that "wowing" your audience with engaging slides is important. 

Gone are the days when slides strictly consisted of white/black background with dull font colours (the worst when they're in red over a black background). Today, your audience appreciate not just your content and what you have to say, but also if your slides are visually pleasing and engaging. 

I have used several platforms to get my presentation templates from, most you can easily download to edit on Google Slides and Microsoft PowerPoint. 

Here are My Top 6 Presentation Template Websites:

1. slidesgo

A great website for anyone to find free and premium presentation templates and other graphic resources such as infographics. You can filter out the array of beautiful templates by colour and style. For the time being, there are 6 kinds of presentation templates you can find here:

• Education
• Business
• Marketing
• Medical
• Multipurpose
• Infographics

Check out their "Recent" or "Popular" slides for the latest and trendiest templates!

2. powerpointify

Another favourite would be powerpointify. I think they have more variety of slides for different purposes such as creative, pitching, business reports, technology, etc. There is a mix of "outdated" looking slides here but you don't have to look far for some surprisingly pretty ones too.

 

3. PresentationGo

If you're looking for more options to spice up your slides, search for PresentationGo. You're not only spoilt with beautiful presentation templates, there are also charts and diagrams, vectors, texts and tables, as well as other graphics to choose from. All the designs are versatile and you can access the files through Google Slides and Microsoft PowerPoint. 

4. SlidesCarnival

SlidesCarnival is a good alternative if you're looking for quick, simple and colourful templates to create your slides. All the templates here can be downloaded on both Google Slides and PowerPoint. 

5. Canva

This is a MUST-GO-TO platform if you loveeee pretty templates for all occasions and purposes. I'm not just talking about presentation slides but also posters, social media thumbnails, Instagram story templates, etc. There are plenty of elements or graphic resources you can use to add to your selected template to include your own touch to your slides.

Perhaps this isn't something new, you can now add animated stickers and simple transition effects to your slides for free. I had religiously used Canva back when I was doing my masters degree and occasionally received compliments for my presentation slides.

6. SlidesMania

I recently discovered this platform and the presentation templates hereeeee are *insert chef kiss*.

There are dozens of interactive presentation templates to download (accessible on Google Slides and PowerPoint), as well as designs for weekly planners, certificates, adorable icons, games and more. I didn't have the opportunity to use the resources here before but I definitely would give it a go the next time I'm called to present.

Honourable Mention

SlideModel.com

Now if you're an avid presentation slides user and looking for something a little more premium, you can also try SlideModel.com. It's a great option if you prefer to create slides on Powerpoint because through this platform, you can get access to not just PowerPoint templates, but also different kinds of diagrams (I'm obsessed with limiting as many words on my slides as possible), shapes, diagrams and illustrations to spice things up, and even templates for maps, tables and charts.

📢 Other tools you can check out:

• Flaticon for free vector icons

• GraphicMama - a compilation of the trendiest presentation templates

• Pinterest

Nearing the End of My Master's Degree

Nearing the End of My Master's Degree

1 July 2020

🏠 What I've Been Doing During Covid-19 Restriction Order

🏠 What I've Been Doing During Covid-19 Restriction Order

20 March 2020

🎭 Testing How Well I Can Write Fiction

🎭 Testing How Well I Can Write Fiction

12 February 2020

I've gone rusty, that's for sure.

The thing about writing fiction, at least in my opinion, is that it becomes easier if you have tons of reading experience before you begin. When it comes to my journey in reading, it's not that great particularly if we're talking about all the unread physical books that have accumulated on my shelves over the years. Other than writing the occasional poem from time to time (maybe I'll save more stuff about this for another post), I haven't done anything else outside of the usual routine.

AND SO...

A couple of weeks ago, I thought to myself "Why not I create a little challenge... just for fun and write short fiction narratives to see how well I can write?" I found two amazing writing prompt generator websites called "Random First Line Generator" and "Story Shack" (I discovered that the latter was my favourite!) and wrote whatever prompts that came up.

It was FUN. Seriously. Although I wasn't confident enough to whip up a full story with the plots and everything, I managed to write a couple of decent scenes. Check out a few here!

To his horror, he realised he’d been this way before - a helpless boy whose fear consumed so much of his soul that he sat motionless for death to come and get him. The same white cold feeling was creeping up from his legs to the very fine hairs of his neck brought more painful memories he buried so deep in his brain he almost felt his vision blurred by them.

Tom knew that this time around, nobody could spare a hand to help him. He could hear the clashes of swords on rotten flesh not far from where he stood and shots of bullets cutting through the air. If he didn’t act right now, the dark shadows that consumed his own would strike him and leave nothing but his bones behind. [END]

"I'm sorry if it upsets you, but I'm going to marry her."

He stared hard into my eyes, trying not linger to the sight of my fist that was held up ready to aim for his cheek. For a minute, I thought his own were flinching in fear as my eyes bore angrily into his own.

What an idiot, I thought.

I sighed a little before lowering my fist that was hovering above my head. The other hand that was clutching at his collar pushed him away before I turned my back towards him.

“I kind of knew that either you or Lydia was going to break the news to me, sooner or later. But to be honest, even though I knew about the both of you coddling together behind my back, it’s funny how it still feels like a slap to my face right now,” I muttered, putting extra emphasis on each word.

“Anna, if I could turn back time, I wouldn’t go to her, I swear. But you have to understand, she’s having a baby now. My baby. She needs me,” he said softly.

I slowly turned my face to him, gave him one last slow scrutinising look at the view of the man I spent 3 years of my life with and contemplated how the hell did I not see this coming. Things were going downhill in our relationship these last few months and not once did I bother to probe to figure out what the problem was.

Breaking the trance, I threw my gaze towards my backpack that was thrown to the far end of the room and marched towards it. I zipped it up and kept one strap over my shoulder before addressing him again, “Leave me alone. Have a life with her, get more babies if you dare to or can even afford to. I don’t care. Whatever we had, I’m throwing it away so you have one less problem to worry about. I won’t grovel to get you back. I deserve much better.” [END]

"I don't often get the chance to talk to someone like you."

“I know which is why you should treat me more often. It’s not every day a girl like me would spend 2 hours of her precious time to console you on your failing relationships, Aiden,” I scoffed as I casually brushed some imaginary dusts from my boots.

He chuckled a little and we continued to sit cross-legged, watching the city gradually coming to life in the early morning light. The slow rumblings of cars and taxis far below the rooftop we were hiding on filled the comfortable silence.

“I don’t suppose you have any more useful advices to share about what I should do in a situation like this, do you?” he asked.

“I’ve shared plenty, my dear grieving friend, but you and I both know how that turned out. You never bothered to listen. But I’m telling you now, you got to let her go. She’s not coming back, you know that,”I replied nonchalantly but I offered a small smile just to cushion the blow that my best friend had got dumped the night before. And not in the best way either.

He didn’t offer any responses for a minute or two. I must have pushed it too far. Oh God, Lea, you couldn’t be a little nicer to him in moments like this when he needs you to shut your mouth and act civil.

“You’re right, as always.”

“Aiden, I - ”

There was a small sniffle from beside me. “Dammit,” He said hoarsely, rubbing the back of his sleeves to his face, “She really got me this time, hasn’t she? I didn’t think I’d be in so deep with her but I love her. And now… I don’t know what to do. What am I supposed to be doing?”

Before I could hold myself back, I felt my hands gripping his own and stopping his motion. Through all the years that I knew him, I’ve never seen him break apart before my eyes like this. And for an even bizarre reason that I can’t explain, it was hurting me to let him be this way.

“Aiden,” I said in a stern tone, “You loved her, the world knew that and so did I. I was happy for you but I’m sure you figured out that she never felt the same way about you. The Alice you knew wasn’t the same girl you fell for. She changed, Aiden, and she threw the life she had with you for some loser. Don’t cry for her more than you already have.”

“I know, Lea but it really hurts. Why didn’t anybody tell me that it would hurt?” He laughed dryly yet his eyes still held too much emotions that I had to look away. This time, my usual smart mouth didn’t have the answers he was looking for. [END]

Which one do you think is your favourite? And most IMPORTANTLY, what do you do you make of my short stories? 😉Let me know your thoughts and ideas in the comment section!

🧁 I'm a February Baby 🧁

🧁 I'm a February Baby 🧁

11 February 2020

I celebrated my birthday not too long ago and it somehow transformed into a full week of birthday surprises and wonderful gifts. If you've been around my blog long enough, you probably noticed that I just about rarely talk about my birthday because a) I don't really celebrate it, b) because I don't hype it up, nobody knows and finally, c) I haven't planned out how my initial responses will be if I got surprised with a celebration for me. Am I supposed to burst into tears? Smile until my cheeks hurt? I mean, is there a guidebook on ''HOW TO REACT REASONABLY TO A ONCE IN A BLUE MOON BIRTHDAY SURPRISE FOR YOU"??? Turns out that this year was a little different and I'm showered with surprises left and right for at least 2-3 days straight.

I had wonderful birthday gifts this year including a poetry book from my all time favourite poet, Atticus whose book is called "The Truth About Magic", a super pretty velvety blouse from my roomie, a silky beautiful grey baju kurung, chocolates and snacks, and cutie birthday cards. I didn't think of what I wanted this year but the precious people in my life seem to know exactly what to get for me. There were also slices of tasty birthday cakes thrown into my surprises and with that, ladies and gentleman, my cravings for cakes have been fueled to the max to last me for the rest of the year. I'll never again ask more cakes... But I mean, we will just have to see how far that perseverance will last.

We managed to gather some of our close friends in our masters degree batch to a dinner and had a quick catching up session. Most have already completed their masters and are either working or searching for a job. I'm so proud of them and the stories we brought to the table!! Laughing till my stomach exploded is a complete understatement.
Location: Serai @ Jaya Shopping Centre

I received two EXQUISITE boxes of clothes this year with one containing a pretty rusty orange blouse. It feels so soft and velvety to the touch with a cute bow at the waist. I'll wear this for LIFE. It's the most adorable blouse I own now. HAHAHA And the second one like I mentioned earlier is a silky grey baju kurung that I was oggling at for the past year. I wore both outfits during my dinners and events that I had last week. Thank youuuuu to the two precious people in my life for these precious gifts. You know who you are! <3

Accompanying the blouse, my roomie also arranged for a surprise birthday cake with a red squiggly birthday wish for me. The Secret Recipe waiter had lit a candle that was on the cake and sang a birthday song. MY FACE WAS ON FIRE. I didn't know if it was because of all the attention I was getting or the huge weird smile permanently plastered to my face, but I was soooo happy! I ate the rest of my cake and dinner till I felt like I was going to explode for the second day in a row.

I was also gifted with a beautiful book from an even more beautiful soul who understood my deep love for poetry. I had almost forgotten that Atticus's third book is now published and simply WAITING for me to get my hands on it. Thank YOU for this present! I know it'll be sitting faithfully at my bedside for weeks until I've memorised my favourite poems in the book.

Happy Birthday to all February babies out there! I hope your birthday in 2020 is a blast!

Check out these recent posts since you're here and don't forget, drop a hello in the comment section!

🧁️ [Relationship Series] Does Insecurity Kills the Cat?

🧁️ 2019, What a Time to Be Alive

🧁️ November 2019 Wrap Up

👋 2019, What a Time to Be Alive

👋 2019, What a Time to Be Alive

31 December 2019

How would I reflect on my life this year? What do I make of the good and bad that happened? 

To be honest, I'm not so sure. There's just something about 2019 that overall doesn't sit very well with me. I've gone through a lot, mostly fighting through my mental battles and just trying to stay in one piece without breaking at the edges. Things were tough and I feel that way strongly about 2019. Of course, I'm not going to brood about this very long because let's face it, I want to get 2019 done and over with as much as the next person does. At the same time, I won't sugarcoat my words and pretend things were completely fine. I wish I can recall all the things that happened but when you have the memory of a squirrel, it doesn't work well. 

But with that, there were definitely some very good things worth to remember about this year. The things I achieved were achievements I never thought I would have the strength and enough opportunities to do. The friends and family who stood by me and believed that I could do anything I set my mind to even when I lost faith in myself are priceless. And at the end of the day, I realised that things will piece in together and turn out for the better. What I needed was a little bit of faith and magic (of course not the latter) to see it through the end. 

I'm not hoping to make new resolutions for 2020. What I am hoping for is that I would give myself more credit, be a little kinder and strive to better myself within my means. 

AAANDDD..... THANK YOU FOR READING!

I hope you had a great year in 2019 and perhaps an even better year in 2020. 

Lots of love, 

Wani

💃 November 2019 Wrap Up

💃 November 2019 Wrap Up

28 November 2019

It's been a couple of months of mostly involving me coming back here and ended up empty-handed, not quite sure of what to write next. I've been around of course, just blogwalking from one blog to another but I didn't manage to light up any hints of inspirations to write one of my own. It's been like that for almost FOUR WHOLE MONTHS. And now that I have dared to spell that out, the guilt does without a doubt bear a heavy weight on me.

That being said, a lot has happened since then and now I'm ready to pour it all out. The best way to do that? Summarise them all in the most acceptable and coherent way possible - a list. 

Now making a list is a completely new thing for me. I'm fairly sure I haven't ever posted a monthly wrap up or anything of the sort in my blog. Let's be real here, there can be days, weeks or months when nothing out of the ordinary happens and worth to write about. When we're talking about my life in particular, the closest thing that's exciting or unique is playing with my cat, Leo or having those super rare weekends when I literally just not do anything. And take a break, whatever that means. 

Well, that is until just lately.

1. Recited some of my poems for the first time in public.

Open Mic Night was organised by SSAUM or the Sudanese Association in University Malaya. I found their event poster by chance as I was scrolling through Instagram (nothing new here) and I had this weird need to JOIN IN. Not as an audience but an actual performer. I've made tons of poems of my own for the past few years and my only readers comprise of my friends on Instagram. I wanted to see what reactions my poem can gather from a crowd. Would they like it? How would I be like standing on a stage reciting my poems, word by word out loud? The thought itself almost drove me nuts because I was battling with my inner self that joining in was a good idea and that I wasn't going to combust and die of fright at the front. That it was also chance I never thought I needed.

Turns out it was probably the best decision I've ever made. Although I couldn't come up with freshly written poems to fit with the theme that night, I think the audience (who were so supportive by the way) loved it. I even made one new friend who approached me and gushed over my poems and wanted to read them for herself from my notes! If another similar opportunity were to come my way again, I'd definitely sign up without a second thoughts. The experience really does feel magical.

2. Just barely surviving through my master's degree (ongoing).

I'm still furthering my studies in UM and trying to survive my third semester in ONE piece. It's currently Week 11 which means I have approximately 4-5 weeks left to get everything done. Procrastination is no longer a choice available for me or just about anyone to choose  and the only thing we can do is to face the music and march to our deaths. Things will only get uglier from now on. I can feel it in my bones.  

3. Watched Frozen 2. I know, I must have been possessed.

This has been by far the least expected thing I thought I would do. If I had told the younger me back in 2013-2014 that I would pay to sit and watch the second installment of the movie... she would have buried me alive. I was basically (and still is) not a fan of the movie, especially the first one. Even as a teen, I felt that it lacks a solid plot, the characters are a little hard to like and the crazy fan-base just throws me off entirely. However, after seeing the second movie trailer released on the Internet and seeing how hopeful everyone was about it, I was... intrigued. Well, maybe that isn't the most accurate word to use but it did linger in my mind for a while. Elsa was just super badass doing her stuff out there and Olaf??? He was comical! I gave Frozen 2 a solid 8.5 stars because it really did get me hooked. 

4. Welcomed my old favourite hobby - watching anime!

Perhaps this may be of a surprise to some people, but I'm quite a huge fan of anime and mange. Before there were K-Dramas and Netflix, I spent a huge chunk of my childhood pouring through anime (my first watch was Fruit Basket!). I haven't watched much of them since school and only until recently did my interest piqued again through honestly AMAZING anime shows like The Rising of the Shield Hero, Demon Hunter, The Promised Neverland, Fate/Stay Night series, etc. 

 

5. Grew a horrible sleep routine and now trying to fix it back.

Feeling mostly sleep deprived during my waking hours is not what I thought I would consider as part of my monthly wrap up but it is significant enough to make it to the list. I'm very much aware of how much I'm pushing my sleeping schedule limits these days and it has reached to a point that its becoming a typical routine for me. I stay up late into the night and wake up early 4-5 hours later. Over time, it does wear me down fast and so to counter the problem, I'm currently trying to lessen the hours I spend to work at night so that I have more time to take a decent amount of quality sleep. I'm done waking up to feeling grouchy and sluggish every day. And not to mention, EYEBAGS?? No magical concealer in the world can hide them now.

6. Been doing my everyday makeup in the dark for the past 1 month. I'm officially an owl now.

I... don't even know how to begin to explain why this happens but it's exactly what it says. I'm now an expert in doing makeup in the dark with zero to minimal lighting because the lamp in my room has been burnt out for about a month. Fixing it would require not just the technical knowledge needed to connect the necessary wires to a new bulb, but also the agility and courage to climb up a ladder and stay balanced throughout the whole procedure. I should also mention to you that the ceiling is wayyyyyyy up high and out of reach for most people with my height plus ladder. 

I'm not sure if it'll ever be fixed but I have my ways of getting things done even without the lighting.

7. Subscribed to an AMAZING new podcast programme - The Happiness Lab.

  

This may be one of the most pleasant new things I've managed to pick up this month - subscribing to podcast shows! I've discovered that I prefer listening to talks and conversations than to music in the mornings when I'm bustling about to get ready for class. Personally, it sort of warms up (theoretically speaking) my social battery so that I'm more motivated to actually socialise on my own free will. It's a huge help for me to build that right mood to start my day and the best part is, I actually learn a lot from some of these shows.

One of my favourites so far would be listening to The Happiness Lab by Dr. Laurie Santos who shares on the latest scientific discoveries and stories about happiness. Because it's about science, it might scare a few of you off because it's not everybody's cup of tea to having to listen to heavy stuff so early in the day. Well, it did catch me by surprise by just how casual and easy to follow the whole show is. The best part? The topics just get to me and my favourites that I have just recently listened to this week include: 

• You Can Change
• A Silver Lining
• Mistakenly Seeking Solitude

I've also received suggestions to listen to other podcast shows too like Ear Biscuits which I'll give a try soon! If you have some recommendations of your own to share with me, leave them in the comment section! I'm so new to listening to podcasts.

8. I'm suddenly super obsessed with ASMR videos because they work for me!

Okay, remember that I mentioned how I've been struggling to get some sleep lately? I found that some particular ASMR videos work wonders to lull me to sleep for hours. In fact, I've even curated a special playlist with video selections that I think work best for both during my assignment sessions and sleep. You can check them out right here.

It's funny how I used to think that I was on the wrong side of YouTube whenever I watched some of these videos. These days, they're a life saviour for stubborn sleepless people like me. 

9. Learnt that teeth retainers should be worn FOR LIFE. 

YES, THAT'S RIGHT. Teeth retainers are meant to be worn for the rest of your life, especially for those of us who used to have braces. I didn't even know about this until one unexpected day later when I came across Suraya's blog post, How I Spent Over RM10k During My Braces Journey. I was petrified. Suddenly my whole five years of teeth-retainer free days came spiraling down in front of my eyes in one big mess. In that same week I discovered to my horror that my teeth may have possibly been moving around in the five years I allowed it to roam free, I booked for an appointment to make new teeth retainers at the UM Dental Clinic (my old one is long gone) and I'm now waiting for the mould to be ready by next week.

I can't imagine how painful it'll be to wear a teeth retainer again after all these years but at this point, pain is the least of my worries. I just want to be in the best of shape. Haha!

This post has finally come to an end along with my current updates on things I've done this month. I hope you like it as much as I do and I'm looking forward to what next month has to offer (psssst Big Bad Wolf Bookfair!!!). Until then, see you next time!