~Audi alteram partem~

You know your part of the story. Now hear the other side.
Cos everyone just want to be heard
.

A message from Unicorn Rockstar

Got a magical message from a Unicorn Rockstar the other day. Would be a shame if I don't share it.
(verse 1)
pain is forever, I feel it everyday
don't you get it boo?
i try to talk to but the words won't say
help me to help you boo

(bridge)
netflix is forever
illegally watching it to get over
youuu

(chorus)
i eat the food you left in the fridge
i turned the TV on but can't find the switch
you don't love me so i'm going to the bridge
to find the map to you heart i need a hitch

(verse 2)
i stalk you hard on your websites
trying to be romantic but i don't feel right
do you know how it feels like boo?
to love a love that don't love me, boo

(bridge)
netflix is forever
illegally watching it to get over
chuuuuu

(chorus)
i eat the food you left in the fridge
i turned the TV on but can't find the switch
you don't love me so i'm going to the bridge
to find the map to you heart i need a hitch

Birthday wish

To somebody who owns her own world. 
To somebody who’s intelligent yet insane. 
And quoting Vincent van Gogh, "however meaningless and vain, however dead life appears, the man of faith, of energy, of warmth.. steps in and does something and hangs on to that." 

2017 must have a hard year for you but never forget the sweet memories too. 
You are your own wonder woman. 
The millennial Viking that survives the apocalypse of heartbreak. 
Life is full of uncertainty. 
Uncertainty is like opening your eyes wide in the dark then closing them hard and then opening them again just to be blinded by the sparkling silver dots created from pressure on the corneas. 
Squint, roll, focus, then you’re blind again. 
But, at least you saw the light somehow. 

I'm going a bit off track right now but here I am wishing you a calming day. 
You're the friend I never asked for but a God's send. 
Thank you for being my thunder in the storm.

xoxo, 
Your Rockstar
I have a tweenage sister (TS) who told me before that she liked Justin Bieber. I almost cut off ties with her, except I still need her to get me water once in a while.
THEN my brother introduced her Taylor Swift. NOT the first few albums, but the "Look What Made Me Do" Taylor Swift. I almost cut ties with him, except we never meet anyway since he lives in Bangkok.

But this week, when I was home my TS asked me:

TS: Do you know Imagine Dragons?
Me: Yeah, I'm a big fan. Why?
TS: I like their new song *played "Believer" on her mobile phone*
Me: Oooh... my baby sister...
FAITH RESTORED

Forlorn

Alexander the Great

-Alexander the Great
Glittery coffin

When I die, I will donate my body for a university or a hospital. You know, for research purposes.

But I still want a funeral.

But instead of my body, the coffin should be filled with glitter. And that's how I will live forever.


"What if"

Some people say, the saddest phrase in this life is "what if".
What if we didn't take that chance?
What if we did take that chance but it turns out bad?
What if we loved, but lost?
What if we never loved?

Ragnar & Lagertha true love
From: We_Are_Ragnar
We'll never know. Nobody can know.

Hephaistion said: Greatness comes to those who take and never regret.
To be great, or simply to have what we want, we must be willing to lose something.
But Alexander replied: All greatness comes from loss.
In this life, it's all a mere balance of getting and letting go.

So take that chance. 
Lose that love.      Love that lost.
It's ok to lose something.
It's ok to regret something.
But don't hold on to it.
"Don't waste your time looking back.
You're not going that way."
"Life is just death in slow motion."
- Lewis Black, Comedy Central UK

Singapore oh Singapore

Singapore is known for many things, but friendly is not one of them.

Me: Can I have 2 siew mai^ and teh si gao siew dai*?
Lady: Having here or take away?
Me: Having here
Me: *thinking I can't finish the tea* Actually, can you make the tea take away
Lady: SO YOU WANT TEA OR TEH SI**?!
Me: Teh si, but I mean make it take away
Lady: BUT YOU ORDER (sic) TEH SI GAO SIEW DAI
Me: *also raised my voice* YES TEH SI GAO SIEW DAI BUT MAKE IT TAKE AWAY
Lady: Ya lah, take away
Me: ???


^ A type of traditional Chinese dumpling
* Thick coffee with evaporated milk, less sugar
** Coffee with condensed milk

Kinds of coffee in Singapore
How to order coffee in Singapore.
To order tea, change the word "kopi" to "teh".

"The world is yours. Take it."
-Olympias

Just won this in a lucky draw. Destiny is calling me. The Universe is sending me a sign.

Danish Hygge book - Meik Wiking

- : -

In the same event, I talked to a lady who studied in Sweden for 6 months. I asked her how is it there and she said it's too quiet especially compared to Singapore, "You will only meet another human being if you walked for miles." I don't see the problem?

Well, one person's hell is another person's heaven. It's perfect for me. Where do I sign?

There are no contradictions

This is a story of contradictions of a certain wise person.
Disclaimer: All quotes are indeed real and not exaggeration, in all their ridiculousness. Only the timeline is jumbled up. If it's not clear, calling the person "wise" is a sarcasm.

Me: You should watch Game of Thrones.
Wise person (WP): I don't have time. I'm working to build the perfect software to earn money so I don't have to work for the rest of my life.
Me: K
WP: Talk to you later. I gotta catch a Pokemon.

- - : - -

Me: I'm thinking to move to Europe, for a chance to settle down there.
WP: You're so childish. You're a bad planner. You're not thinking of all the aspects. You only see the beautiful things, but not considering the negative things. Like racism. Listen to me, I've read the geopolitical information, psychology of the people, and inflation and exchange rate. I know that Europe economy is going down in a few years. Do you really want to live in such a place? Believe me, you don't.
Me: K
WP: Omg, I'm late for a meeting. Which direction to this place?

- - : - -

Me: I'm changing my lifestyle, so I'm cutting back on sugar.
WP: You only want to lose weight, right? You only care about looking skinny. Losing weight is not just about cutting back sugar. Like me, now I'm jogging every night. Do you wanna know how much I lost? I've lost 8 kg. My wife has lost 13 kg.
Me: K
WP: BTW, have you tried Nutella?

Knowing all the facts doesn't make you a smart person, much less a wise person.
You can know a lot, but still be an idiot.

Don't make it too easy for me

During latest family gathering... My COUSIN (yes, my cousin), showing off her second granddaughter (yes, you read that right), hinting at me still unmarried: "See, even my daughter already has two daughters."

I was torn between being nice, "Congratulations."
Or being my sarcastic self, "My condolences."

I just smiled mysteriously, cos my mama said to always be nice, but she also said to always be myself.

Special snowflakes

English proficiency

Another interesting, thought-provoking conversation with my (other) colleague:

Her: *saying this cannot be done, that cannot be done* It's impossible
Me: Nothing is impossible
Her: Are you endorsing Nike?
Me: What?
Her: I mean Adidas
Me: Oh, you mean "Impossible is Nothing"? That one is "Impossible is Nothing".
Her: ....
Me: Yeah, that's Adidas
Her: Tit for tat, tat for tit, it's the same.
Me: ....

Limpeh clap for you

Gloom

First morning without him, and even Singapore is gloomy.


Passion

How do you know what your dream is, you ask? It's when you can't stop thinking about it, until you do something. And once you're doing something to reach that dream, you can't stop moving.

What is passion, you ask? It's when you can't stop yourself from working for it. Even when everyone doubts you, mock you. Even when you question yourself. But you can't help to keep working for it.

Conor McGregor's obsession

Six cities in six days

1. Hanoi - 19 Aug

Had to meet a kabajillion people for this trip. But that means a kabajillion food.
Vietnamese beef noodle, pho
The mandatory pho. Costs just around SGD2 (VND35.000)
Vietnamese pigeon sticky rice
Pigeon sticky rice. WHAT?! That's right, pigeon sticky rice.
If you're wondering, pigeon meat tastes like pork but with much softer texture, and minus the smell. 
Got hit by a motorcycle when I was walking in Old Quarter. That's the first. But the driver is so pro that she (yes, it's a SHE) stopped at the right time and "only" nudged on my ankle with her motorcycle front wheel.

2. Vinh - 20 Aug

Vinh, Vietnam Airlines
Yes, that's the airplane we had to take to reach Vinh.
It's by Singapore Airlines.
Homemade Vietnamese food
More food! This time all is homemade.
Can you believe they cooked all of this within a couple of hours!

3. Cửa Lò - 21 Aug

Cua Lo beach, Vietnam
Just about half an hour drive from Vinh, Cua Lo has different atmosphere being right on the side of a beach. And what a beautiful beach it is! We're here, of course, to have dinner of fresh seafood.
Not so impressed by the cookings though, not sure if it's the restaurant's fault or I'm not a fan of the cooking style. Except for the oysters. Well it's oysters. You can't go wrong with them.

4. Da Nang - 22 Aug

Danang is surprisingly clean and safe. I have the vibe of Penang, where we can walk by the roadside because there is a roadside, and because people or cars won't bother you.
Also surprisingly, there's so many Koreans! The annoying thing is, they're all eating Korean food or french fries. That's sad, when you can get these kind of food:
Central Vietnamese food
This is hands down the best meal I had in our Vietnam trip this time.
Sun-dried squid, garlic oysters, morning glory (kangkong), mi quang, and beeeeerrrrsss.

The highlight of our dinner time in Da Nang: Cha ca or Vietnamese fishcake, and mi quang or literally the noodles from Quang Nam area: 
Chả Cá Thăng LongMì Quảng
The first time I had cha ca in Hanoi, it wasn't to impressive. But this time, it's so mind-blowing, I even finished all the vegetables! Funnily, it's the first time my Vietnamese boyfriend had mi quang, and I proudly claim that I'm the one who told him about it. We liked it so much during our lunch, we just have to find it again for our dinner.

5. Hội An - 23 Aug

Hoi An at sunset

Just a half-hour drive from Danang, Hoi An is great for day trip. The UNESCO site is tiny, you can walk around it in one hour. It's very photogenic. Just in a few hours we're there, we saw at least 6 couples doing pre-wedding pictures.

Hoi An ancient city
But another highlight is of course the food scene. There's a stretch along the river that's dedicated for food stalls. Some of the things we had are dry pork noodles, mini egg pancake, and Vietnamese pancake (respectively cao lầu, bánh căn, bánh xèo), the last being my absolute favourite.

6. Hue - 24 Aug

We weren't planning to drop by here. It's our last day but our flight is at night. There's nothing much to do in Danang except eating. So we decided to visit Vietnam's ancient capital city instead.
With 2 hours drive away from Danang, it's a bit further that I expected. It feels a bit rushed since we only spent a few hours here.
Vietnamese dessert Bánh Ít Lá GaiCentral Vietnam Pork NoodlesHue Lemongrass skewer (Nem lụi)
Vietnamese steamed riceVietnamese fried chicken
Who am I kidding, we're just there to eat. Went to the old palace to take a glimpse but we spent more time to eat. Omg, ya'll. If you think Vietnamese food is nice, you should try Central Vietnamese food. I'm so upset with myself that I didn't go there earlier.

Random thoughts from this trip:

  • You have to spend at least 2 days in each city of Central Vietnam (Danang, Hoi An, Hue). Because you need at least the space of 3 meals a day to enjoy the food they have to offer.
  • That's all, that's all the thoughts I have from this trip, just food-related.
Children are blessings? Nah..

My antinatalist-self: AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA
  1. We all know it's not "a few" sleepless nights.
  2. There's no guarantee he will grow up to love and respect you. It is not a given thing, you have to be a respectable person for your children to respect you.
  3. Children, like pets, are not blessings, they're responsibilities. I hope more people realise this so we have fewer entitled parents in the world.

20 October 2013

20 October 2013
It's true that we can't help the people who won't help themselves. Apparently, it's not true that when you teach someone how to fish, he'll be able to eat fish for the rest of his life.
When he complained that he doesn't have enough fish to eat, you tell him about fishing. Then he'll complain that he doesn't know how to fish.
When you show him how to fish and even give him a manual on it, he'll complain that he doesn't have the bait.
When you show him where and how to get the bait, he'll complain that he doesn't know where to fish.
When you show him the good places to fish, he'll say he's too tired or not good enough at fishing to catch some fish.
So what's left to do is just to push him into the sea.

Cannot be helpedFound this old note of mine, and it still holds true even today.

A friend of mine, doesn't want to live in Indonesia anymore. So I told her to find work in another country. She said she can't really speak English. I told her to learn English then. She said it's too difficult.

Another friend of mine, wants to study in another country. So I said go then. What are you waiting for? She said she doesn't have money.
I said, there's a lot of scholarship. She said she doesn't have any info. I told her to ask around; we have friends who got scholarship in other countries before. She said she's too shy to ask.
I said Google it then. She said too many requirements, too difficult.

Then what's left to do for me is just to push them into the sea.

Just kidding.. I've learnt not to give anymore fucks.

The Irish dreams

My boyfriend is being accepted to an Irish university.
It's something that he's planned for a long time, but at the same time, came unexpectedly because he didn't expect to be accepted.

The path to heaven runs through miles of clouded hell.
Right to the top.
Don't look back.

So this is how it feels, getting half of everything.
Going back to writing my own journal.
Queen of My Heart playing in my head.

But it's all for the better.
Soon I'll be going.
Going to the hometown I've never been.

It's time to begin, isn't it?

My Antinatalism Anthem

by Imagine Dragons

When the days are cold, and the cards all fold
And the saints we see are all made of gold

When your dreams all fail
And the ones we hail
Are the worst of all
And the blood's run stale

I wanna hide the truth, I wanna shelter you
But with the beast inside, there's nowhere we can hide

No matter what we breed
We still are made of greed
This is my kingdom come
This is my kingdom come


At the curtain's call
It's the last of all
When the lights fade out
All the sinners crawl

So they dug your grave 
And the masquerade will come calling out
At the mess you made

Don't wanna let you down
But I am hell bound
Though this is all for you
Don't wanna hide the truth

No matter what we breed
We still are made of greed
This is my kingdom come
This is my kingdom come


They say it's what you make
I say it's up to fate
It's woven in my soul
I need to let you go

Your eyes, they shine so bright
I wanna save that light
I can't escape this now
Unless you show me how

When you feel my heat
Look into my eyes
It's where my demons hide
It's where my demons hide
Don't get too close
It's dark inside
It's where my demons hide
It's where my demons hide

佩佩

The world might be going to shit
but I know everything is alright because I have footages of Lee Pace feeding baby pandas:

I cannot have a normal colleague

I'm glad to report that my colleague with the incredible thoughts have moved back to her home country, ready for spawning. She's at her 2nd spawn right now. I hope she stops at two. I don't think the world can bear any more little incredible thoughts such as hers in this world.

But I can't catch a break. Even before the first is gone, the second came. Not only this second one has some similar incredible thoughts, she's outspoken too.

One outspokenness that bother me is, she really likes to report to me whenever she's going to the toilet for a big business. Or anything that's related to her big business, really. Usually it's verbal, but here's a written evidence of her favourite past time in office:


That's not the first time too. I just didn't get to screenshot her other reports.

I'm flattered that she feels the need to report to her senior in life, but I really do not need to know that particular aspect of her life.

“Planet Earth is the insane asylum of the galaxy.”
- Werner Von Braun 
"Simplicity is underrated."
- Evan T.

Aristotle quote
I found out how Donald Trump won the presidency.

Nothing changes until you do

“Let him that would move the world first move himself.” 
- Socrates

Love's red flag

More wise words from Matthew Hussey.
Do not fall in love with a fantasy. 
People can change, but only if they want to.

Matthew Hussey

Spotted in Quora

Being rich is surely nice but being filthy rich is overrated.
After you hit US$20 million or something, it is the same nasi goreng afterwards.
-Anonymous in Quora

Heart vs Head

"Love with your heart. Use your head for everything else."
- Alan Melikdjanian

Values

Remember some time ago I had a question: When two persons you respect are disrespecting each other, do you stop respecting either one?

I finally found a concrete answer, which is a resounding YES.

It might not be too clearly black and white. It might not happen immediately. But you will lose your respect for one of them eventually. I found this answer, unfortunately, through personal experiences. I realised, this tendency to lean towards one side is because of our values. Or more precisely, the conflicting of those values.

What are values? No, not the monetary worth of something. I'm talking about the other kind of values:
The principles or standards of behaviour; one's judgement of what is important in life.

Everyone has values. Positive or negative, everyone has their own view of what they hold as important, that they use as the cornerstone of their lives.

For the positive examples, some people value honesty, or honour. So in everything they do, they will try to be honest, or honourable, even though they might get into trouble (Ned Stark, anyone?).
For the negative examples, it could be materialism, the value that put things as more than human beings.

When you respect someone, I find, it's because you have similar values. If you're an honest person, you'll only respect honest people, whether you realise this or not.

So if the 2 people you respect, are disrespecting each other, most probably there's a contradiction of values there. But as we know from a wise man, contradiction cannot exist in one place, so you'll drop one of them in the end.

“Contradictions do not exist. Whenever you think that you are facing a contradiction, check your premises. You will find that one of them is wrong.”
- Francisco d’Anconia

I find this true in love as well.

We might fall in love because of various reasons. But we stay in love when we share the same values. When a couple in a relationship don't share the same values, you'll see that the relationship will fall apart faster than you can say "Francisco d'Anconia".

Anger

It's ok to be sad. It's also okay to be angry.

“...anger could be thought of as an intermediate emotion. An event happens, the brain doesn't have time (or doesn't want to) to fully process the situation and it needs a reaction, so anger is what's used until there's more time to examine everything in more detail.”^

“It’s the one that tells us we need to take action to put something right,” she says. “Anger is a problem-solving emotion. It gives us strength and energy, and motivates us to act.”^

“Nobody ever gets into trouble for feeling angry. But people sometimes get into trouble for what they do when they feel angry.”^

The Piemaker

"Nobody remembers your father, Ned.
But they do talk about how you turn out to be such a nice, wonderful boy.

Man, even."
- Vivian Charles, Pushing Daisies

Ned Pushing Daisies

If you look back and it makes you smile, 
hold on to it.
If you look back and it makes you angry, 
let go of it.