Happy New Year, you guys! I made myself experience more things and somewhat record it to ensure this year doesn’t fly like the years before. The result is summarized in this random, lengthy, hopefully readable life recap. I contemplated breaking it into two parts but decided to stick with the ongoing theme. Buckle up and enjoy!
Highlights and Happenings
I am writing this accompanied by the rare super blue blood moon. It’s magically gorgeous, you guys! As a Lunar Kutti, I feel so grateful to see and interact with it from our balcony. I also made a full-moon wish. Here’s hoping that it will come true super soon 🙂
Spending the new year in Japan was another month’s highlight, but as much as I love being away, the best part of travelling is returning to a blissful home.
We went to Ballarat as the first of the 12 road trips we wish to clock in this year. It was nice, though not our favourite road trip. I discovered the trifecta of Australia road trips during this trip, which I will share on this blog next week. So stay tuned!
The triple date with Manda, Sumit, and our partners went smoothly. We ate a new variety of delicious food at the Black Toro and got to know each other better. I must do this kind of thing more often!
Last week, with a stopover in Singapore, I went to Jakarta to attend my cousin’s engagement party. I had a lovely time, packed with gatherings, eating, and shopping. I also got to eat one of my favourite tropical fruits, rambutan. Gratitude-o-meter filled to the brim.
I took sick leave from work to recover from the year and weather change on the 8th, which happened to be the birthday of my split personality, Yoges. I know; I owe you a massive explanation about this and him. Someday I will. Other than that, the work pace is picking up fast. I am finally busy, but not as busy as before when I couldn’t breathe. It’s more like creating valuable outputs during the day and reaching home to cook dinner somewhat busy. I hope it stays this way.
My Brazilian work cousin, Pedro, will be on annual leave, so there will be no long lunches and morbid conversations in February. On the upside, this means I can save money on morning coffee. Also, Amma packed a month’s worth of meals in my luggage. I plan to use the money saved to get the numinous tarot deck, which I have been eyeing since last year.
Kitchen update: I failed to cook my first South Indian dish, a super easy spiced soup called Rassam. I forgot to put onion, one of the main ingredients of South Indian dishes! Instead, I put too much water and black seeds and cooked them too long. Ugh! Let me try again on one of the cold Summer nights (yeah, Melbourne has cold days during its’ummer).
This month I learned that preparation is the key; pushing myself to step outside my lazy comfort zone gives me a healthy inner glow and that the more I do things I enjoy, the more fulfilled my life feels.
New and Loving
I have been a fan of Connie Wang since I first read her post online. Unfortunately, she didn’t have a personal website; hence I couldn’t follow her as my heart wished. However, recently I stumbled upon another great post of hers on Cup of Joe titled My Beauty Uniform; ever since I started to follow/obsessively stalk her on Instagram. Still, on Instagram, the most liked Kulture Kween’s IG of the month is a shot of ice overlooking Chuzenji lake, Nikko, Japan.
Eric Kim’s post about photography new year’s resolutions inspired me to pick up the camera again. I took a photo walk on a Sunday, made new friends, snapped different angled pictures, and immensely enjoyed myself. So remind me again, why did I stop doing it last year? I plan to do all the assignments stated in the post throughout this year. Maybe I will blog about it too.
A colleague introduced me to a new world called Magic The Gathering, and I am super intrigued. Do you play? Please teach me the basics!
I cleaned and tidied up our apartment’s South-East/money corner. I believe Fengshui-wise had affected our finances badly, as I couldn’t phantom receiving another credit card bill twice as much as my paycheck! Gah! As the first step of abundant living and after being pushed many times by Amanda, I started tracking my expenses this month. Initially, the revelation was pretty gruesome, but it made me treat my finances better. This month, my big purchases were Indonesian-origin pearls other than flight tickets, which I have wanted for years, a Gorman dress I wore for the engagement party, and a bunch of Rihanna’s Fenty Beauty products that stayed on the whole day.
Read
Currently, I am reading The Day I Stopped Drinking Milk (inspired by Amirtha’s post), The Immortalists (It was a creation of my thoughts), and Moshi Moshi (I am a fan of Banana Yoshimoto).
I read but didn’t love Yoko Ogawa’s The Housekeeper and The Professor, though I appreciate the story’s tenderness, maybe because I couldn’t relate. Back in Jakarta, I finished How to Be Parisian Wherever You Are: Love, Style, and Bad Habits, which I bought during the peak of my Francophile era years back. I paused reading The Girl Who Lived as that girl became too whiny, but I finished it because I needed to know who killed her sister.
Another fave from Instagram this month: Bianca Sparacino and her poems. Oh, sweet lord, what a self-love powerhouse! I downloaded her book, Seeds Planted In Concrete, yesterday and am waiting for the weekend to savour it. Another book I am keen to read is The Perfect Nanny, but it shall remain.
Pedro will be on annual leave, so there will be no long lunches and morbid conversations on Skype for February. On the upside, this means I can save money on morning coffees. Also, Amma packed a month’s worth of meals in my luggage. Which means more $ saved.
I plan to use the saved money to get the Numinous Tarot deck, something I have been eyeing since last year.
Media
I watched Top Of The Lake China Girl instead of sleeping on a plane from Tokyo. It’s a murder mystery highlighting a usually overlooked social problem, peppered with blossoming friendships and flawed but layered solid characters, especially the female lead, Elisabeth Moss. Also, as a middle-aged mother, Nicole Kidman looked utterly gorgeous in the show. I highly recommend it, you guys! I also tried to watch Wolf Creek, recommended by Fafa’s hairdresser, but there weren’t enough murders or cowboy stuff, so I left it halfway.
Fafa and I started watching Somebody Feed Phil recently. Phil is so adorable! I appreciate how he enjoys food from different parts of the world, so much so that I want to adopt him as my stepfather. Also, the show makes me want to visit Portugal. Another TV show we watch as part of our couple’s activities is The Good Doctor. I like it, but not as much as Fafa does.
I am trying to leave comments on the blogs I love and read regularly. I figured it’s wa time to establish bloggers’ connections and show them they have a fan girl. I also worked on publishing several old blog posts. I must say, compared to 2008, grammar and writing have improved.
I have several podcast recommendations this month, mainly true-crime ones, but instead of writing them here, I will share them as a part of 2 true-crime podcast posts.
Virtual super enthusiastic waves to a fellow Boss drinker, Ken. A self-proclaimed womanizer gaijin, Ken is the blogger behind Japanese Rule Of 7. I have been following him for a while, thanks to Bloglovin’, but his latest post, Sunday in Japan, made me read through every article on the 27 pages blog. Another blog that I am currently binge-reading is Austin Kleon’s. Once done, the next blog binge-read will be Seth Godin’s. Do you follow them?
This month, I wrote about my Japan fever, wish-granting Daruma doll and the magical memories of January 26, including the one which happened this year; the most expensive meal I have paid for and bubble tea and my friendship with Amanda; I spent my Sunday thinking whether I am wasting it? I also wrote about my road trip to Wangaratta and Kiwirail. Unfortunately, I didn’t write many new posts this month. Even though I want to say ‘sit because I have been busy living life, I must manage my time better.
A few favourite articles: It may be 31 days late to welcome, celebrate, and honour the new year, but I love all the ideas and believe it’s still applicable at any time. Even more so now in honour of the blood moon. Some creative ideas to support an author other than buying their book. We all can relate to the endless mental torture of a lost job. As a gym newbie, I genuinely appreciate the value of short Audiobooks.
Thank You, Next!
As mentioned earlier, I realized that the more I do things, the happier I become instead of lazing around. So I packed my February with more activities.
I took up the #100HappyDays challenge and promised to reward myself with something relevant after successfully posting happy pictures on Instagram every day for 100 days. So you can follow my IG to hold me accountable, or better yet, why not join me? I will update the Day One Journal app daily, even if it’s just a picture and a sentence. I also joined a book club near the office with a monthly meeting schedule.
I plan to incorporate yoga at home into my weekend schedule. I have bought the mat, the spray, and the pants and downloaded the app #basicbitch. I must stick with it and occasionally boast my effort to Vi, who inspired me to take up yoga this year.
Lastly, in honour of Valentine, I vow to wear lipstick daily this month.
Speaking of Vi, I will meet her and her mom here in Melbourne next week. I am throwing a Galentine party in our apartment on the same weekend. This time I invited the Tree of Trust sisters.
The week after that, we are celebrating Valentine, you guys! I plan to treat Fafa to a nice dinner at a restaurant of my choice, which I believe he will enjoy, on a day close to Valentine’s. That way, he doesn’t need to think, plan, or do anything on Valentine’s for a change. Let’s see how he feels about it when he reads this.
Over Valentine’s weekend, I will be on the plane from Melbourne to Singapore to Chennai to Goa to attend my gorgeous cousin’s wedding. Then, two days later, I will take the same route to return to Melbourne. I don’t know why I keep doing this to myself?!! I can already imagine operating in a low bandwidth, mind-groundless, soul-dead tired body when I go straight from work after the damn long flight. That is precisely how I felt last Tuesday when I came straight to the office, with big luggage in tow, after a stopover in Sydney accompanied by a cancelled flight.
I shall focus on the happy wedding and spending quality time (cue cousins’ sleepover party) in Goa.
Two days later, I will take the same route to return to Melbourne. I don’t know why I keep doing this to myself?!! I can already imagine operating in a low bandwidth, mind-groundless, soul-dead tired body when I go straight from work after the damn long flight. That is precisely how I felt last Tuesday when I came straight to the office, with big luggage in tow, after a stopover in Sydney accompanied by a cancelled flight.
But, for now, I shall focus on the happy wedding and spending quality time (cue cousins’ sleepover party) in Goa. Speaking of which, have you been to Goa? I would love to get some recommendations on what to eat/see/experience there within a 48-hour window.
Time Machine
Read more about last year’s happenings.
Follow me on Instagram @KultureKween for more recent updates.
