Tag Archives: memories

Baby Bump & Good News (Not)

Life, That Time When, Thoughts, ,

Nobody prepared me for this. This, being the period from when you’re married and yet to deliver good news.

No, good news isn’t when you accomplish things at work and get recognitions. Good news has nothing to do with enjoying yourself on long-planned dream trip with your best-friend cum halal-husband. It’s also not good-enough-news when Red Devils won a Derby match, which you paid for heftily to watch in Old Trafford. GGMU – yay, nevertheless.

So, I’m writing this as a wedding gift to all new and not-so-new brides; inspired by very true stories. Oh yes, this is a click-bait. 😛

Baby Bump

On a very rare occasion that I did wear a dress to work – I chose to style it up a little, with a belt around my not-so-flat tummy. I was at a celebration with my friends & colleagues from my former plant. For context, I’ve not met anyone since my wedding since I relocated to across the Causeway.

Mr Hong Kong Man (in a very sweet tone) : Awwww, Thara – is that a baby bump, I see?

Me : Ermmm, hi Mr Hong Kong Man! Very nice to see you! Noooooooooo. I just found lots of places to eat in Singapore. (wide grin, high pitch laugh)

Mr Hong Kong Man : ………… Oh no! I’m so sorry! …. *more awkward silence – until I ran away to someplace I was not needed*

Poor Mr Hong Kong Man, I’m pretty sure he’s now traumatized for life. This was so hilarious because it really did seem to scar him more than me. This is someone that I really like & look up to. I’m thinking that I should meet him when I do get pregnant, just when I’m about to pop so that we can try the aforementioned conversation again – you know, for redemption.

Lesson #1 : Gain weight at your own risk post wedding – as it’s trickier to navigate. I’m also obliged to say, as a responsible writer-wannabe, take care of your health. I’m a hypocrite – work in progress.

Notes to self, 1) Either stick to my workout plan or get pregnant this year, whichever attainable. 2) Look in the mirror & ask myself, ‘Do I look pregnant in this?’.

Good News

On a not-so-fine day at work, I was getting bad refluxes which then exponentially got worse throughout the day making me puke multiple times. My engineer-turned-doctor work friends were troubleshooting me like any good professional would. They deduced as a matter of fact, that it can’t be food poisoning as I had same meals as The Mister, and he seemed fine.

Colleague L : You sure it’s not any good news?

Colleague A : I was about to say the same! Which is why I was asking the questions to be sure first.

To be honest, at this point, even I was like – is this it? It was as if Tsunami hit my brain. TMI – I know, but I checked, not once but twice.

Days later, my in-house Sherlock solved the case. I had greedily eaten a day’s old Roti Boy that I got from Ipoh without sharing with The Mister. Apparently, I ate the bun in two big bites as The Mister watched me from the other room, while I evil laughed at him. While I believe there may be some exaggeration to how I consumed the Roti Boy – it was crystal clear, what it was just that, a food poisoning.

Lesson #2 : If you’re about to eat old food, share it with someone (preferably your husband if you have one) for scientific reasons. Make sure you are able to recount all your meals for better data in case you need to be diagnosed for food poisoning – to avoid false alerts.

Good News (MVP)

While many people have asked me about good news in different tones, I have a notable winner who’s worth the honorable mention, from my temple visit last week.

Mr Kooky : Eppo pethu poda pore, un Appaku vilayada? (Translation : When are you giving birth, for your father to play with (the grandchild)?)

Me : Uhmmmmmm. Coming soon, Uncle.

Mr Kooky : It’s the circle of life. Finish it this year. Then continue, go for Number 2,3,4,5.

Me : *very very very awkward laugh, while the brain is hit with another Tsunami* Ok Uncle. Take care.

Lesson #3 : If you know the question is coming, like a responsible adult – run away!

Disclaimer :

This was written in humour & not to hurt anyone. Good news has been somehow theme of many of the conversations that I’ve been having in recent times. Please, do ask me about the good news – I’ll even send my Excel for better reference (seriously).

Signed & Sealed

The Mister, , , ,

Public Service Announcement : If you are not so into long winded ranting and are looking to read something related to the title, please proceed to Paragraph 8 onwards.

I think I’m a genius for getting us this gift feat. ROM flowers.

Almost exactly a year ago, we had the date set for our wedding. It felt as if this auspicious date, given by a prominent priest from India, was tattooed in my mind and heart. 5th December 2020 – a just-nice date to still meet Vision 2020 which used to be an inside joke on our wedding deadline.

Like a true millennial bride-to-be, I was on the most reliable wedding research platform (God bless Instagram!). Our family and friends were eagerly on board the wedding planning. I must say we were extra efficient.

Circa mid-February, we had all the booking done – the hall, make up artists, caterers, decoration, flight tickets for shopping in India and 10-day itinerary for the honeymoon of my dreams in Land of Pasta with a detour to feed the Red Devils in us. I had my first choice of all vendors, and I was a happy girl.

It all came crashing down with the big C, least did we expect it. Then, around end of September, when MCO ended, there were glimmers of hope. In that time of sunshine and all season of glass-half-full, we shopped for wedding attires, with The Mister on video call. And then, it was again a downhill ride with CMCO announcement, which was to last until a day after THE day.

My emotions were haywire, one moment I was indifferent, and in another I was crushed. It was nothing short of roller coaster in a haunted house, with work partially burying me alive one side. The Mister was supposed to be back in the country from the land of bland food, and a whole lot of background work that had to go with that with quarantine and what not.

One day, we had a family meeting on WhatsApp, and both set of parents echoed the same thought – that we should have something on the supposed wedding date. We decided to go ahead with Registration of Marriage.

My super efficient father managed to find a registrar of marriage and venue. I picked out one of my sarees gifted by MIL for a pre-wedding ritual. The Mister arrived a week before, with pink bracelet on his hand. We shopped for his clothes after he was a free elf. My sister got the cake, my SIL helped with my accessories. Our go-to Jobest Studio spared us a cameraman in the eleventh & half hour. Everything was last minute, and I barely had time to stop and reflect.

Our ROM happened in a small hall, in presence of our closest family members (unfortunately, many missing with the Big C curse). It was not AT ALL like what we had in mind. The registrar made The Mister propose to me (I’m pretty sure his voice choked) and pose for awkward pictures, with the crowd watching. As it is, The Mister and I are always in the running for The Most Socially Awkward Duo award, and you can only underestimate how we grinned the whole time.

We cringed watching videos from the day. Despite it all, I would not have it otherwise. Our parents, siblings and loved ones were all smiles. I can’t pinpoint a favourite moment from the day. Whether it was receiving the hand bouquet which The Mister picked for me (my favourite thus far!), our ride in the car after the ROM to lunch reception at Taj Garden (yummmm food!) or when the registrar told us to be best friends and crowd murmured ‘They are!’ – it all still makes me giddy (like girly, giggly giddy).

It does not matter that it wasn’t a 1000 pax affair, with grandeur. I got married to my best friend. After 2221 days of being my boyfriend, The Mister is legally my former boyfriend, now husband.

Signed and sealed, for a lifetime of quirky games, inside jokes, petty fights, gossiping, TLC and being us.

Signed & Sealed #SarVishForThara

For memory record sake : This was blogged from The Mister’s gift to me on our ROM, after a grilled salmon with asparagus dinner, while The Mister is losing a FIFA21 game on his PS4.

Curtains Down : 2018

Life, Thara 25 Before 25, , ,

If I described 2018 as a roller coaster ride, it’ll be shamefully an understatement. So, let me do it justice.

It was like going to Disneyland all smiles and glee, and then someone offered me a sack of gold coins for me to get on a ride. The ride made me nauseous, and I couldn’t get off halfway. I had this nagging passenger right next to me – who kept nagging and made me lose my mind. But what kept me going is the thought of that sack of gold coins and my cute little plushy which I had carried along in my pocket (which I beat up whenever I struggled on the ride). At the end of the first ride, I was so thrilled that it was over, and extremely grateful to sign up for another ride.

Okay laaa, that’s a bit drama. But now I feel I justified my 2018 chapter the right way.

So, like every year, I am going to summarize the highlights of my year. So, here we go, a reminiscent walk through my 2018 memories.

  1. Crossing items on my 25 Before 25

I’m a big fan of New Year’s resolutions, always been one despite being not-so great at accomplishing them all the time. In 2018, however, I did not write any yearly resolutions. I resorted to completing my 25 Before 25 (which I will blog about soon!), a list I wrote when I was still doing my undergrad studies in UTP. It wasn’t a typical bucket-list of sorts with skydiving and all. It was a simple list of random things I wanted to do.  Some of the things include   :

  • Learning hand lettering
  • Volunteering for Build for Tomorrow
  • Watching Disney on Ice
  • Piercing for a second earring (my Amma isn’t a big fan of this!)

 

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The list is about 80% complete. Obviously I’m cheating a little there, because I turned 25 last September. But I decided to give yours truly an extension until February 2019.

  1. Completing my postgraduate studies

When I enrolled for my Masters program, I had one motto. Finish on time, on a high. I repeated that to myself; and in one way or another my close knits also kept me on my toes. I am more than exhilarated as I look back on my postgraduate journey. I think I did good. 🙂

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I wrote a longgg story about My Postgraduate Journey (if you’re interested). 😛

3.   Switching Jobs 

Going into 2018, I told myself that I will look for another as soon as I completed my Masters. Two weeks into 2018, I was already looking at job ads like an addict. I applied for my current job circa January 2018.

5 months and 8 stages of selection later, I got the job along with 9 others from all over ASEAN coutries. It was a ASEAN Graduate Programme which requires us to switch roles at different locations for 2 years. Now I’m almost at the end of my first block. If I have to be frank, some days are tough. I climb 2-3 stories high monkey ladders. I get asked if I am an intern at least once a week. But I am grateful for this opportunity – to spend 2 years to look for what exactly I want, and learning from the best people along the way.

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4.    Living Alone

My life has changed 274.5 degrees with my new job. I have to relocate every 8 months for different roles. For my first block, I was deployed (chewaahh) to Johor. After graduating from UTP, I had lived at home for a year and half. Transitioning to living alone was a little nerve wrecking in the beginning. This was different from campus life (I had the bestest roommate ever!).

The first time I cooked nasi lemak for a Saturday lunch and sent my Amma a photo, she replied, ‘Where you buy from?’.

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My first nasi lemak! I even made the effort to plate it nicely.

I bought scented candles, bought so much groceries (and throwing half of them, because I have no sense for expiry dates and portions). But living alone is not as miserable or pathetic as I imagined it to be! Sure, I do miss proper home-cooked meals. But living alone also teaches you a lot – like use a peg to dry your clothes so that your jeans don’t fly away from the 21st floor.

5.  The Mister’s Grand Introduction

I made up my mind about this circa 2016. I will introduce The Mister to my parents in the best possible manner, even if that meant that I’ll have to wait a little longer. I wanted a proper introduction, and I wanted it all to be certain. So, just a couple of weeks before my graduation, I called Amma and told her that The Mister is coming for convocation and that she should tell my father.

I came out of the hall in jitters, saw The Mister standing with the family. Everyone just grinning sheepishly.

Little Twin : Achu, pass ah this Etta?

Acca : Does he watch football?

The Mister : *sheepishly nodding*

Acca : What team?

Me : MU.

Acca : Then okay, pass. 

You see, mine’s a conventional Indian family. You can be 25 and still be anxious about having found a boy you like. I was just relieved that the cat was out of the bag after being in there, gasping for air for FOUR years (although later Acca sarcastically told Amma, ‘You think I don’t know anything ah? I know.’)

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Round table interrogation by the senior council members. 😛

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As I complete this write-up, it dawns upon me that every part of the highlights deserves a blog post each. I keep saying this at the end of almost every year, (and it’s always true!), but 2018 has been the most eventful year of my life *clears throat*, thus far.

Happy New Year to all who’s reading!

May we all have a better 2019, and all the strength in the world. 

P/s: I have not been to any Disney parks, so that was purely fictional. But, no, that entire first paragraph felt so real as I typed it. 😛

[6/10] Memorable Moment : Bottom of the Bottle

Microblog, , , ,

I was clad in my baju kurung school uniform that day, with ever messy short hair. We had just won a round of debate, and I was named the ‘Best Speaker’ despite perpetually saying ‘people under them’ instead of subordinates or employees throughout my speech in that round. Our debate-guru (in bold), Puan Kalai, shook her head after session and said, ‘Jo, what is ‘people under them?’. It was the 8th National English Debate Competition, we were supposed to compete in 4 four preliminary rounds.

In the next round, we were competing against a Chinese private school from Sabah. Being the young and dumb bunch that we were, we thought that the round should be easy, siding us. The motion for the round was something to do with ‘Imposing Environmental Labels on Consumer Products’. We were to oppose the motion. As the debate heated, we realized that ‘Government’ team had pretty good speakers. They pretty much were kicking our dumb bottoms.

One of them were saying how environmental labelling is important to educate people to recycle. I raised my hand confidently to rebut. ‘You see, this bottle here *whilst lifting the plastic bottle up for more effect* has no environmental labelling. But we still know that it needs to go in the Plastic recycling bin. What’s the use for labels?’. The other speaker also lifted up the bottle, and said, ‘Madam, would you turn the bottle upside down? Do you see the recycling symbol stamped at the bottom? That’s environmental labelling’. I said, ‘Oh, okay!’ and sat down.

Others in the room laughed. I wanted to hide under the table. Team from the girls’-school with a street name lost that round. Much to my embarrassment, this incident has since replayed like a thousand times in staff room, classrooms and our Literary & Debating Society meetings.

This probably wasn’t a significant, life-changing event in my life, but somehow, the memory of the day carried on with me over the years. Just days ago, our super-awesome debate guru proved how memorable my ultimate rebuttal failure was.

Note : This blog post is part of my 30 Days Microblog Challenge which I began in September 2018. To read more from this series, you can select ‘Microblog’ under Category. Or, search for #therainbowhatmicroblogs on Instagram. 🙂 Topics for this series are a mix of my own brainchild and prompts from my Insta-friends.

That Time When Facebook Made Me Cry

Life, People, ,

I have a love-hate relationship with the ‘On This Day’ function on Facebook. Sometimes I screenshot and have a good laugh with The Mister. Other times, I cringe a little (okay, maybe a lot), when I read comments and posts of younger me. Today, however, I had all sorts of emotions flooding me. As I type this post, I am not even sure if I should be writing this post.

Back when I was in Primary One, we used to sit with our tables combined, six in a group. On my right, sat a boy whose name was S. He was one of my first friends in primary school.  He had a sister, 3 years older, who was in my sister’s class, and maybe that’s how we actually became friends by default. To be honest, I do not remember any of the conversations we had, but we hung out a lot. It’s all blurry to me now.

Sometimes, his nose would bleed profusely. He’d have blood stains all over his uniform. It has happened more than once. Teachers would help him get cleaned, and I was always the one who was instructed to buy him some food from the canteen. In Standard 2, we no longer sat beside each other. But, we’d still play with erasers, go for our prefects’ duties, leave class early for recess, together.

He shifted school in Primary 4, and I did not see him again till Primary 6. We met at the Leadership Camp for all primary head prefects from schools in Kuala Lumpur. He always jokingly said then, ‘Kalau aku kat SKSD, mesti aku tak jadi Ketua Pengawas’. After that, I sometimes met him in one competition or the other. The last time I met him in person was during a career competition in Form 4.

We became Facebook friends, and we’d randomly comment on each other’s post. We religiously wished each other on birthdays. We’d chat on Facebook messages, very rarely, but when we did, it’d be long conversation over nothings. He was one of those old friends, whom I was really glad to catch up with, but one who doesn’t cross my mind on ordinary days.

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And in 2012, on June 13th, I signed in on Facebook, and posted him birthday wishes, like I had been in the past few years. Then, this happened..

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I called my Mum, and cried that night. Today, another one of his random comments on Facebook popped up. Every time it happens, I somehow involuntarily relive that night, the night when I read that devastating comment on Facebook.

4 Things I Miss About Campus Life

Thoughts, ,

Having an entire week off from work (thank God for maintenance shutdown) actually makes me feel as if I’m on a semester break. Those were the days when I sat at home, with lots of To-Do items and lil projects in mind, almost never executing any. Those were the days I zapped mindlessly from channel to channel, and had nothing to look forward to (except results and traumatic course registration, of course). I’m not sure if it’s a blessing or curse that The Mister is easily annoyed if I lived a sloth life. Hence, *drum rolls*, here it goes, four things I miss about campus life inspired by The Mister’s #throwbackThursday and reminiscence.

1.Being My Own Boss

In campus, we planned for dinners and suppers past midnight with no second thoughts. There were no strict curfew. There were no guilt if you went out for movies every week. Now that I’m back in the Nair household, I’d get 5 calls after clock ticked 9 pm. I reached home at 11.40 pm last week only to find my father fast asleep on the sofa whilst waiting for Baby to back *oopsssss*. Father just looked at me, then his phone, and said, ‘I don’t like this.’ I quickly ran upstairs (silence is the best strategy, ladies and gentlemen). You see, my parents don’t forbid me from hanging out, but it’s all way too exhausting when you have to rush back, and wish to be honest (but you can’t). This is already starting to sound like I’m a bad child, I’ll stop it here. I love being home and all, but, I miss late nights and early mornings. 😦

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2. Food, Food and Food

I used to complain A LOT about food while on campus, but I take my words back now. It wasn’t too bad actually. Since graduating, I’ve not consciously enjoyed National Chinese Breakfast Day (which is celebrated every time I crave for Tronoh aunty’s noodles, if you’re wondering). Cafeteria at my workplace could never possibly match Choy Pin lunches. That late night roti banjir with kari campur, that I always asked for tapao. Mi Sedaap from Rahman for teatime, or that shawarma I used to walk all the way to V4 for. On my lucky days, I get egg tarts and tau foo faa from Ipoh. Oh, and how can I forget the nasi lemak from V4 with squared papadoms (Yes, I have a thing for papadoms!). I miss how after tests or major presentations, we go in convoys to makan sessions. If I were to ever visit campus again, I’d write down a list of these, and make sure I don’t miss any!

3. Lazy Days and Randomness

If I were to plot a  pie chart of the distribution of all the things I miss about campus life, this would probably have the biggest percentage (no shame, sloth life is the best life!). Waking up late in the afternoon, binge watching on television series while munching on cereals with my legs up on the table,  late night conversations with the roommate and listening to her singing same lines of a song for an entire week. All these  definitely made life more bearable than my ordinary work weeks. We shouted by the lake (something I’ve been wanting to do since Foundation) after prayers in Tronoh temple. We drove aimlessly and ended up in Teluk Batik. We drove aimlessly and ended up in Ipoh, the other time. Actually, what I miss the most is, piled up clothes on my bed and feeding myself fat with junk food. Nobody really cared back then.

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4. Humans of Tronoh

Okay, so this is a little hypocritical of me to say. I’m such a douche when it comes to keeping in touch (and all of my close crackos are too, coming to think of it). Some days, I miss friends who used to be around me. I’m putting the blame on adulthood exhaustion that I don’t usually text or call up someone when I miss them. Back in campus, when you miss someone, you could just walk and knock their room doors. In most cases, you met them too often that you want to shut the door and pretend to be asleep (no, I’m kdding). Colleagues are fun people, but a good catch up with college friends is something that I want these days. The reminiscence gets really critical sometimes that I’d hope someone would actually tell me to wait at the V5 palang to go for dinner.

I have come to a conclusion that campus wasn’t the worst of place to  live in after all. All that ‘Can’t wait to be out of jungle‘ talks was pointless. This is a oh-so-cliched graduate who is shamelessly confessing that she’d travel back to campus had she a time machine. To those of you counting your days to leave campus, DON’T! Cherish your time there.

Experiencing Disney Magic #disneyonice

Event, , , ,

Back when life was all about reading Peter and Jane books, and bugging my Acca for a mug of milk in the middle of the night, I also had another obsession. Cartoons! Disney cartoons to be precise. I have always been one of those kids who got excited over anything Disney. Amma even bought a  set of original Disney Princesses books with four story books (which got passed down little cousins who ruined the set years later..  I was heartbroken!). I wasn’t that excited for the Princesses, but I was just amazed by the stories. Which explains how I sometimes still am delusional/day-dreaming semi-adult.

So, when I used to see the Disney on Ice ads on newspapers, I used to go puppy-eyed asking my parents if we could go. Spending RM100+ for a 2-hour show never appealed to them . Once, when I was in primary school, I participated in a writing contest in Kuntum magazine (do you guys remember Si Pintar, what was he, a bee?). I won! And the prize was 2 tickets to watch Disney on Ice. Unfortunately, Acca has to attend a meeting somewhere, and I did not go. I cried myself to bed.

A couple of months ago, I received an email with a subject ‘Staff Discount : Disney on Ice‘. Oh yes baba (ooppss)! The Mister did not need too much convincing, almost no convincing, I must say. Within the next day, I had the tickets. For the next two months, I was excitedly looking forward for the show. The day finally came last Friday!

The show started with Mickey, Minnie, Donald and Goofy in the quest of The Greatest Treasure in The World. They found a book of clues with all the different Disney stories like Lion King, Snow White, Toy Story, Finding Dory, Aladdin and Frozen.

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My top 3 favourites were Lion King, Aladdin and Frozen. The guy who played Genie had so much hip-hop swag, and he did great! Scar scenes from Lion King was oh-so-intense, with all the red lighting to match. Frozen was unbelievably magical with the effects on the ice rink. Elsa and Anna floated so gracefully on ice.

My verdict is… THE SHOW WAS AMAZING! It was grand, magical, nostalgic and everything Disney was, is and will be! If you follow me on Snapchat, you would’ve watched my Snap stories filled with snippets of the show. These pictures does no justice to how fluidly the actors skated so beautifully.Too bad, I can’t upload any videos due to plan limitation of my WordPress account (hmmpphhh). The only downside was the price of merchandises and food during the event at Stadium Malawati. Parents with little children probably had multiple holes in their pockets for that Olaf mug filled with shaved ice. RM50 yo! Even the popcorn was RM3o. The Mister and I had sausage in bun (wieners? what’s the name?) for RM16 each.

Otherwise, it was a great show! I enjoyed it thoroughly. I am really really glad that I fulfilled Little Thara’s dreams. She’d say, Heeeeeeeee!

P/s: Mickey and friends later found out that The Greatest Treasure in The World is LOVE! Awwwwwww… Faster, say Awwwww!

Why 2016 Became My Favourite Year?

Life, ,

It’s that time of the year when there’s plenty of reminiscing and memories-videos popping up on your social media feeds. As a self proclaimed word bum, it’s my utmost pleasure to help you spend your last day of the year reading this post, although you’re actually not bothered at all how my year went (heeee. Thank you for reading this though. Yes, you!).

So, 2016 tops my list of favourite years ever since I came into the world, kicking and crying (1994 is a close runner-up because I probably was a happier person when I slept 15-16 hours a day). Here a list (duhhh..) of why this year is my all-time favourite, some of the lil things, some of the major ones :

1. It’s been a good year for me academically. I scored my highest GPAs during my final year.

2. I graduated with my favourite set of people.

3. I read complete set of John Green’s (and while I could’ve bought the books in local bookstores, I had the books imported for me all the way from Goa and Sydney).

4. I also crossed another item from my bucket list (big shoutout to Keshy a.k.a Thenmoli, Seko and Lotus) – this should be left unelaborated.

5. I drove a car with no supervison beyond the boundaries of my taman. I then became the proud owner of red Cliff (everyone should name their car, no?)

6. Crossed another item on the bucket list, which is to purchase a blog domain.

7. I started with my first ever real job.

8. I had the best last days in campus, unexpectedly (thank you for relentlessly dragging me out of my room and driving me around, Keshy, Vimmy, Shaavesh, Vinod and everyone!)

9. It’s been two awesome years of Woofness.

10.  It’s been a year of plush toys gifts. I don’t remember having many plush toys as a kid. Now at the ripe age of 23, I find myself sleeping with a team of plushies. 

I am thankful for the beautiful memories this year gave me. Thank you to all souls who have been part of my happy journey in 2016. To all my kawans, who always have the kindest, most motivating words to tell me (you know who you are), lots of love to you.

Let us all look forward to a better 2017. Wishing all my readers the best of everything and strength to face every challenge that life has in store for you. 😀

HAPPY NEW YEAR, y’all!