Kahwin dan lawan pedang dengan mak cik bawang.

Disclaimer: Entry ni aku tuju dekat umat yang saja nak menyusahkan aku dgn laki aku, dan bukan sesiapa yang actually ikhlas bertanya khabar.  Also some situation in this is fictional to me because I'm a scary person but it  comes to real situation to others, so aku selitkan sekali la untuk chu'olls.

Also please read entry ni dalam suara seorang pondan bimbo yang sarcastic sebab yaa inner demon aku adalah seorang pondan bimbo YANG SACARSTIC.

***

Aku dah 26, tahun 2020 aku dah 27.

Aku belum kahwin.

Segelintir boleh kategorikan aku sebagai anak dara tua.

Ok now look at me, look at my face.

DO I LOOK LIKE I CARE?

Siyes aku takde masalah kahwin lambat malah aku lebih anxiety dengan agenda2 iluminati makcik pakcik bawang bab PERLU kahwin awal (read: 25 tahun ke bawah).

Meh lawan pedang dengan aku.

Round 1: Kahwin la cepat, tunggu lama2 buat apa.

Makcik! Jodoh dan seru itu ditangan Tuhan.  Makcik ni Firaun ke nak claim jadi Tuhan nak adjust2 pulak suka hati je macam jodoh dengan seru tu dia yang set sendiri dalam Google calendar.

Round 2: Kahwin la awal, nanti dapat anak cepat.

Makcik! Aku dah 26, Tuhan belum takdirkan aku bernikah dan beranak jadi, makcik rasa aku ni SEBENARNYA dah layan jadi mak ke?  Kalau aku kahwin umur 16 tahun pon tapi Tuhan cakap umur 26 aku baru dapat anak kene tunggu jugak 10 tahun, kau rasa apa makcik? SAMA JE KAN?! 

Anak tu rezeki Tuhan nak bagi BUKAN MAKCIK. Hawau!

Round 3: Halah apa susah, kahwin je nanti laki kau tanggung, rezeki kau pon lagi bertambah lepas kahwin apa kau nak risau (suara perli menjengkelkan) 

Ya betul kalau aku kahwin dengan Jho Lo.  

Tapi kau fikir makcik! Bende ni tak datang sendiri tanpa usaha.  Aku yang terang2 layak menerima nafkah ni pun berusaha untuk kehidupan selepas kahwin yang lebih baik dan senang, apetahlah 10 kali ganda berat tanggungjawab ni dekat laki aku si pemberi nafkah yang wajib. 

Makcik! Aku paling pantang bila orang lawan pedang dengan aku pasal kahwin dikaitkan dengan bab rezeki.  Kau nak argue dengan aku pasal benda yang diluar control aku kenapa?  Rezeki aku rezeki aku lah, who are you to justify? 

Kalau kau berani, kau argue dengan Tuhan kenapa budak ni tak kahwin-kahwin lagi.

Rezeki adalah rahsia Tuhan bukan rahsia kau.  Jadi kau nak assume aku ni kene duduk mengangkang tunggu rezeki jatuh dari langit?  Kalau macam tu semua orang tak kerja, tak buat apa2 terus kahwin je sebab confirm RM2.6 billion tu terus masuk dalam akaun bank gitu?

Round 4: Kahwin cepat2, kalau tak nanti awek kena kebas.

Makcik! Aku ada degree ya makcik jadi aku tak bodoh.  Ingat motif aku hidup ni untuk kahwin je ke?  

Juga harus tau ya wanita yang bijak dan bermaruah adalah wanita yang tidak objectify kan diri dia untuk menyenangkan mata dan hati masyarakat.  So what makes you think civilized women nowadays going to sell themselves to another man sedangkan yang susah senang dgn dorg adalah their current partner.  

Mesti kau jenis suka jual anak kan makcik? 

Lepas tu support argument bodoh ni dengan "bercinta lepas kahwin", pantat (dan aku tgah buat middle finger).

Round 5: Tapi kalau orang tu nak pinang jugak sangat2?

Aku cakap je aku PONDAN. SENANG!  Kau yang mengelinjang terkenyut-kenyut tu apehal, kau yang over kan sebenarnya.

Round 6: Kau sorang je yang belum ni, kawan-kawan kau semua dah selesai.

Makcik! Jangan sampai KAU yang aku selesaikan ya.

Round 7: Tengok si polan tu dah kahwin, elok senang hidup dia kereta besar etc.

Makcik! Kereta besar tapi SEWA, almari setengah juta tapi HUTANG, gelang emas sampai ke siku tapi CELUP, cuma satu aku nak cakap lot tanah kubur kau aku boleh sponsor in CASH ya makcik.

Kahwin is not just for that couple to satisfy everyone's expectation.  Kau tau nak komen je tapi bukan nak tolong.  Pasangan tu susah financially, huru hara nak cari tempat tinggal, pandai pulak kau cakap "alah biasa laa awal2 kahwin memang macam tu" eh eh pandai pulak kau menjawab.  

Ended up will you get any help from these toxic people?, HELL FUCKING NO SIS.  Kau mampos tak makan pon takkan ada sesapa manusia dari golongan expecting-people-to-satisfy-their-expectation ni yang akan tolong kau.

Round 8: Alah lambat sangat la pasangan kau tu, kahwin je lah dgn anak makcik (lagi teruk siap hint2 kat mak budak yang dituju tu)

SANTAU is real ya makcik.

Yes, in this case aku sangat objective dan liberal sebab aku taknak susah dan menyusahkan orang lain.  

Kahwin is not just HALAL SEX, it is a contractual agreement which you have to fulfill responsibly, sebab it is a promise bound in the eyes of God and not as simple as a pinky promise that you can break anytime if it doesn't go to your conveniences.  

Stop this bullshit mentality of "kena kahwin dan ada anak at this (insert number) of age",  however THINK the most important thing in marriage is ctually "survival and sustainability" and not "makcik bawang ni cakap kena buat macam ni"

Plus I know better.  SEBAB?  I came from a broken family dan aku sangat fakap.

Orang kahwin cepat, let them be.

Orang kahwin lambat, let them be.

Simple kan?

Jadi kesimpulannya MAKCIK;

Sekian.

*drops mic*

Extreme Introvert Travel | Guide to Kuching Sarawak, Malaysia

So finally I managed to take an actual not-locking-myself-in-my room kind of travel.  I went out.  I flew off.  I took annual leave and not just to balik kampung.  The last time I was on vacation is 2015, it was a class trip to Melbourne, Australia.  Drive to Malacca was not really a vacay because I graduated my diploma in UiTM Malacca so tak kira ok hawau.  

Not saying that my best friends didn't invite me to their vacay but dealing with mother-situation needs a whole new level of mental durability.  In front of my friends she will be all "ahhh go la on a holiday with them" and later she will be all "hell f*cking no" to my face and start a lecture on public safety.  Thus from that time I decided not to join any vacation with my friends because the answer is already there.  Sometimes it's really hard to be the face of 26 year old with curfew but all I can do is accept it and cry myself to sleep, but it get's better as I am now a rebellious 26 year old with curfew.  Progress bitch!

I know by publishing this post some might think they caught me in action but mohon bertenang sekalian alam.  My boyfriend and his team was actually on an event-business trip to Kuching and he invited me and my mom to join their trip timeline since they will be spending a week there so he thought getting our asses there would be nice for us to have a break from life.  Also wait! why the hell am I explaining shit, I lead my own life so f*ck y'all 😂😂😂😂

So that's my intro.

In this post, I will provide as much information hoping it will be helpful for you guys out there to not pack your barang macam mak-mak satu rumah nak bawak.

Travel duration: 4 days 3 nights

How to travel lite | Luggage

1) Clothing (Note: this only involved what is in your luggage,  your airport attire is already considered an extra backup if you messed up your vacay outfit rotation.

• 3-4 fancy/vacay tops
• 1 pair of comfy jeans
• Extra 1-2 pair of undies just in case of girly time of the month
• 1 most comfy bras
• 1 pair of socks
• 1 set of sleeping attire
• 1 pair of flip flops / ballet flats 

All these can lay really flat in your luggage with the help of a vacuum sealed plastic (not together with footwear) .  The best part during my packing adventure was, I have already konmari-ed all of my clothes so I don't have to do much.  It felt like picking a book from the shelf.  Setel satu hal.

2) Toiletries.  I packed mine in a ziplock bag, consisting of only basic facial and dental products.

3) Makeup.  Ziplock bags are actually essential to my style of packing lite.  I had 1 bag for brushes and another for basic makeup products.  

• 1 SPF 30++ color corrector primer (recommended if you're out in the sun all day)
• 1 Concealer
• 1 Finishing powder
• 1 Blush
• 1 Eye shadow pallet 
• 2-3 Lip sticks

Note that, highlighter is not an essential item for me since I'm outside all day, I have my good ol' natural facial sweat and complaints from the heat.

4) Additionals. I managed to fit in my full sized body mist, argan hair treatment oil and my huge hair brush just because have so much space inside the luggage.

ZIP ON!

I've learned my lesson coming back from Melbourne and kept myself minimal this time, because I know I will be carrying a lot of Pua Kumbu batik sarongs as planned.  

How to travel lite | Carry Ons

Includes: wallet, mobile phone and travel documents.

1) Backpack.  I had the worst back aching experience previously because the thought of carrying a thin material travel bag bought from the drugstore was a bright idea.  Kepala hotak dia wei, yes the bag was lite but it didn't do any load support to the person carrying the bag.  Buy yourself a proper structured backpack from the travel shop or in my case I carry my Longchamp knapsack.  

2) Electronics.  Power banks, cables, charger head, earphones, put them all in A POUCH. 

3) Misc items.  I always have my ointment and mint candy wherever I go.

----------------------------------------

My budgetary

Flight + hotel via air asia go
= RM 550.00 ++
Additional luggage weight per trip / 15kg
= RM 30.00 ++
Transportation from Kuching airport to town
= RM 11.00 (Maxim) - RM 12.00 (Grab)
I walk around the town but if you insist for a ride, starting rate
= RM3.00 (Maxim) - RM 4.00 (Grab)
Commute to Sarawak Cultural Village per trip
= RM 65.00
Sarawak Cultural Village package fee + lunch (online ticket purchase)
= RM 76.00
Sampan across Sarawak River per trip
= RM 1.00
Food for 4 days 3 night
= RM 150.00 max

And finally here's the photo collage of our trip.  I managed to annoy my mom by only taking scenery photos instead a 100 selfies of my resting bitch face.  Photos of me taken by yours truly who's avoiding her face from social medias 😂😂😂

Coming here was really berbaloi, we bought the tickets a few hours before as the online rate was discounted then walk-ins.  So we took a package of 3 long houses plus lunch meal.  However along the trip we managed to get into all longhouses, I don't know why the website mentioned differently.  We had a great time watching the welcoming dance live show and extreme calorie burn from walking around the entire village.  

Talking about the included meal package, I was so amazed because they actually cooked like 5 extremely delicious meals for us to enjoy served in traditional leaf bowl.  Like what the actual f*ck?  Kau faham tak betapa terharunya perasaan kitorang bila dorg datang hidang macam tu, sebab aku expect dapat prepacked makanan yang tah hape2 jenis perangai berniaga nak untung pegi haji balik hari.  Aku yang makan sikit pon boleh mentekedarah sampai kenyang sbb aku mmg happy gila masa tu

In Sarawak you will not be getting "siyes la mcm ni je dia bagi?" feelings at the local food stores.  Aku yang Selangorian ni terkesima sebab they are so generous every order kau dapat memang portion dia makan sampai muntah lepas tu sambung makan lagi.  Even my mom cakap, "Mama kalo duduk Sarawak ni sure gemuk".   Theory proven!

The best part of this town is that every place (from our hotel) is in a walking distance and I love walking.  I do enjoy the historical building structures and pavement art along the waterfront area, literally a very nice place for scenic photography. Here's my google map destinations for your reference https://goo.gl/maps/5jFViypfDZRUMsYU9

Balik Sarawak aku demam 2 hari.

Sekian.

I have conquered my battle with bad hair.

What day is bad hair day?

EVERYDAY BRO! (literally my referencing to the Paul brother)

My struggle with hair and this country's humidity had been written for ages.  I could actually write a f*cking book documenting about my failure of being satisfied with my hair because I never had good hair.  

I was born curly and as much as everyone in the earth population said my curls were pretty, it was not for me.  From childhood mocks and extreme heat absorption from each hair coil, my hair is my greatest suffering (excuse the PTSD).

My whole life, I've done hair treatments, expensive shampoos, hair oils, tonics everything you can think off.  I even destroyed them when I bleached my hair years ago, some of you would remember that episode of my life.

And finally I found the solution to my misery, after I used these two products my hair condition have changed drastically.

Please note this is not a sponsored post, but hoping it would be helpful for people with never ending hair mishaps like me.  If you have been suffering for this idiocity, please do try these two products.

1) WATSONS Naturals Aloe Vera Shampoo 490ml

2) COUNTRY FARM Extra Virgin Coconut Oil

How to hair;

Step 1
Massage your whole head with a generous amount of coconut  oil.  Clip or tie them up overnight.  As for me I have zero f*cks at the office, so sometimes I even do this step to work.

Step 2
Shampoo your hair and rinse, then shampoo again.  The first shampoo helps to wash off as much coconut oil from your hair and the second shampoo helps to clean you hair and scalp.

Step 3
Condition you hair with any conditioner you have.

Step 4
Cry because it finally works out for you.


[Please notice me Watsons senpai]

Cut your sentimental crap and start decluttering | Part 2

Returning back from my rants in part 1

Chapter 4: The Wedding Gift

You read it correctly. but it's not mine.  It's mom's wedding present from more than 20 years ago that have never been used yet and she had kept this burden in it's original box due to appreciation and thinking any of us might use it for special occasions.  Here's what I'm gonna tell ya, 20 years of keeping them in this house, not a single day the gifts were being used, not even during Eid.

In my culture, during weddings guests would either bring gifts or money packets for the newly weds.  In my head as a person who ended up as the victim to de clutter my mom's old gifts, I'm sorry to say random wedding presents are no longer relevant. 

Appreciations aside, here's why I mentioned it as a non-relevant approach;

1) More than 1 guests may bring the same concept of present, in my experience my mom received 2 huge punch bowls as I said had never ever being used before EVER.

2) Take it as a positive way.  Why spent 80 dollars for a punch bowl, instead just give the newly weds the same amount in cash (we call it here "angpau salam pengantin").  You have helped them from hoarding unnecessary item and at the same time they would have extra cash to start out their new life. Kita anggap je la sadaqah.

3) If you yourself are not comfortable in presenting them with cash/money packet, well it is never wrong for gifting but ask first what the newly weds actually need in their household. 

4) The only relevant idea of a random gift is decorated box, gift basket or wooden crate filled with dry groceries, ingredients or fruits.  At least it is sharable among family members of the newly weds.

Why don't we change our mindset.  Kita ambil practical approach, instead of nak keeping up to the standard lepas tu ended up jadi suatu pembaziran.

So wanna see what I had to get rid of on behalf?

 Left: Glass fruit bowl | Right: First punch bowl

Left: Frying pan | Right: Punch bowl no. 2

I told mom I'm stealing the modern red pan, at least I'll be using it for my house after I get married. So if you think gifting is a bright idea, think again for the unfortunate kid that have to do all the de cluttering in 20 years time.

Chapter 5: There Are No Monsters Under The Bed, Only Junks

Underside of the bed is actually one of the best storage space that is very helpful to tidy up your room.  However, sketch your organization plan to the things you are keeping under the bed space.  I have measured the height between the flooring and the bed frame, measurement is 30cm maximum.  I was lucky because I found an Ikea bin that have the exact height fitting under my bed.  This is why I love the Ikea Samla bins; #notspons

•  I'm an Ikea fan
• They are see through so you can view the things you kept inside the bins in a glance
• Can fit through almost all bed frame height
• Protect from dust (all bins do that though)

Basically after I clean up almost everything under my bed, I was left with only 5% items that I chose to keep, basically my board games.  So put them all inside a large bin together with my vintage toys & entertainment related items, my ukulele.

Keeping your stuff in bins actually helps for free air flow inside your bedroom because of the modular arrangements you can do for it compared to compressing your stuff like playing tetris .  I can actually feel the air flow differences even though it only involves storage under the bed.  My cats do enjoy more nap times in my room after this de cluttering adventure.

Chapter 6: The Beauty Guru

As the pioneering beauty guru among my friends, I had A LOT of makeup products laying inside my room and I don't have a vanity.  I bought this acrylic drawer from the local MR DIY store to keep all beauty tools and makeup.  As per 2019 this is my 4th or 5th makeup de cluttering because I ended up collecting instead of actually using the products.  The 1st one was the hardest, getting to the 5th is no longer affecting my sentiments. I ain't using 4 year old expired liquid lipstick!  

I have two makeup drawers, one in my room and the other is in my office drawer, which I also did a mini reorganization using Daiso's utensils tray similarly to this pin.  Having less products and seeing only the things I actually use on daily basis finally makes me happier compared to my old lifestyle where I'm collecting makeup but leaving them out to expire.  Still this doesn't mean I'll never buying makeup, I mean hey I'mma gal, makeup is my holy grail so I'll keep on urging to get new releases but a constant reminder to keep it minimal would help my to save me a space or two.

Left: My latest bin stash | Right: My vanity settings where I'm using mirror from Swamp Queen palette where my face direction facing the window for maximum natural lighting.

Apart from makeup, I also have nail polish collection because I was obsessed on doing nail art after finding out Cristine's channel, SimplyNailogical.  Thus, I have a few stamping plates, stampers and of course nail polishes which I have transformed my lipstick holder into nail polish organizer.  Not to forget, I have 2 mini drawers used to keep my jewelries but I took them out and keep all nail art tools inside them instead.  Organizing is basically improvise your storage and make it work to your preference and not what the internet told you to do.  

Left: Now I have a neat drawer for my nail stuff, I'm so proud of the outcome | Right: Previously my nail tools sat on the corner of this table inside a shoe box and polishes on top of it collecting dust and hair. 

Chapter 7: Who Needs A Table If You Do Everything On The Bed Anyways

This brings back to my college days where I even eat on my bed because I'm crazy.  Sadly I have two huge tables in my extremely small bedroom because why not.  Well 2019 me saying, this bullshit gotta end!  So my first approach is to get rid of this large, annoying, bump-bruising furniture, my morbid square table.  I tried using it for purposes other than becoming a mountain building junk pile but it was never it.  Therefore my plan was using drawers functioned as my night stand and storage.  

So I bought another Lennart drawer from the holy sanctuary, Ikea.

I already owned one from 2-3 years back but I never planned on an extreme organization so it didn't help much.  This time around my aim was getting another one, arrange them together and make full use out of it.  Maybe putting a white wooden plank on top will emphasize a finish look for the twins but as far as I've done, I'm quite satisfied especially out of 6 available drawers, I've only used 3 of them that is to keep my:

• Nail stuff
• Female essentials 
• Hair tools

Yes it is crazy to see how much storage space I have now.  On top of the drawers I placed my night lamp, perfume, display books and jewelry box.  

I know this corner is not as fancy compared to spaces you see on pinterest, considering the walls having stains from redoing the parquet flooring 20 years ago and we never get to repaint them again, but I'm super happy to get a spacious zen corner that doesn't hurt my sight.  My stuff are now simplified and more accessible and maybe getting a white plank to sit on top of the drawers is a genius idea for the finish look.

My current progress: 

• Historical junks are gone
• Morbidly huge table is out
• I have more storage space under my bed 

Next goal:

• Taking out another annoying desk
• Marie Kondo-ing my clothes drawer.

Well this is part 2 of my adventure, hopefully to see you guys in part 3 soon.  Not sure how soon as I'm waiting for mom to get rid of her bedroom furniture and take back the PC desk which is currently in my bedroom.  Trust me I have convinced her to let me get rid of the desk but it's too sentimental for her so (awkward) yeaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhh...

Bye!

Cut your sentimental crap and start decluttering | Part 1

..well firstly, from the title and my attitude hopefully there's part 2.

Hey there! I'm back from the 900 B.C into writing again but this time I'm gonna make it a little bit adventurous for you guys.  So....life update: I'm 26 now, still not married, I have 14 cats and counting, contemplating about how to get my shit together, trying not to have series of mental breakdown and redoing my bedroom.

As you can read from the title, I'm starting a Marie Kondo de cluttering revolution in my house.  Yes the revolution has begun like more than a month ago and still ongoing hopefully until both me and my mom are satisfied with as much storage spaces we can achieved.  I haven't watched any Marie Kondo series officially but I knew her and her organizing hues from Safiya's youtube channel. 

Chapter 1: Death cleaning

Basically the first area we have triggered is my grandparent's bedroom.  Since my late grandpa's passing, we never actually got a chance to clear up all his stuff (death cleaning like the Swedish said) and later my grandma started showing symptoms of depression from losing my grandpa and holding on to things from their old house (which they brought to ours).  Month's after we sent her to a medical treatment care home we decided that we should no longer kept things that is no longer necessary and unusable inside the house.  Eliminate as much material baggage as we can to achieve a territorial zen.

Read; ini bukan kes anak dehaka, buang mak bapak etc. We gotta sent her because me and my mom, who is also a single parent are working and grandma's health is at a point where she needs constant medical care & medication for tantrums from the later developed dementia. Considering her safety and security as well. I'm not ready to open up about my grandma's story to lets just move on to the main focus here, de clutter!

Here's the outcome photos I've documented via IG story;

Late gramp's clothes and some of grandma's clothing that she'll never ever wear EVER.

It seems hard because you are de cluttering belongings that are not yours but with focus, it would be easy. It was frustrating at first when we take out all stuff that they kept inside the room but it gets better right after L-sized trash bag number 5. Yep it was a lot of junk, not clothes but junk. I wished I still have the photos of the final outcome but sadly I've de clutter it from my phone as well.

I planned to drop them off at the donation box but it was too impossible because the cavity is too small and I'm definitely not leaving the bags outside the box because of stray manure, so we kept the pile downstairs until we are finally done with both of our de cluttering adventure.

Chapter 2: De cluttering Failure

To be honest, I have a hard time of letting go of my clothes.  The only sole reason is that during my baby bat year's, finding Goth clothes was so hard in my country, so any of my Goth-inspired findings are highly valued and I kept them for so long because of sentiment and hard work of finding them.  

But, right after graduating and legal to activate my card's international transfer settings, I became least attached to them because psychologically I know if I let go of the outdated fash, I can always check out for new ones from international sites.  

Thus, the origin story of my first de cluttering journey years ago began.  My plan was de clutter and sell it off on Carousell (our version of Ebay) but it didn't turned out well as the site is already extremely saturated with thrift items and preloved is no longer a popular demand from the community.  So I kept them back in the box. Problem never solved but compressed into a dark corner of a room.

Chapter 3: The Revolution

A month ago, I saw a lot of organization inspo from the internet and thought it was cool.  BUT with my baggage I won't be able to commit to any of the inspo because my room is lacking of space.  They are not redundant surface because I have a lot of junk I placed on them as well but I know those junks better be in the trash rather than me trashing about my hoard. 

Here's my bedroom structure graphically emphasized via The Sims 3;

So here's a list of bedroom baggage I've been holding on for years due to sentiments or just in case bullshit;

1. PC desk at the window
2. Huge square table next to the bed
3. Sentiment treasures under my bed
4. Random stuff under both tables

2019 is the year of myself convinced that keeping all these crap thing are no longer funny because not a single person in the house had used any of the so called "just in case" items for the past 5 years.  So, THEY GOTTA GO!

I start off with sorting clothes from the drawer,  some people might need a "maybe" pile, but I have been living with maybes my whole life so I just went for it.  TO THE DUMP!  Also a great and organized idea,  dump all clothes into a clean bin layered with plastic and compressed as much as you can until it cannot fit anymore, later seal with tape as photo above.

Why considering this emotional roller coaster?

Because;

1) Initially you would think you haven't de clutter enough because of only completing 1 trash bag, so you would go for 2nd & 3rd bag just to make yourself feel better.

2) The idea of compressing the items actually will make you literally realized the burden you have been holding on right after you have sealed the trash bag and take it out.  The more it weighs per trash bag, the more you would feel better of how much you have get rid off.

3) Optionally a rectangular bin acted as a rectangular mold for easy arrangement of your compressed junk because they look like rectangular blocks.

 

Next adventure is to get rid of paper junks.  I've already graduated college years ago and still kept my study papers because of this just in case bull shit.  The worst part was I found some exam papers from my primary education (10 y.o) and I'm now 26.  Dude why the f*ck does these papers still exists?  

And here's the poison in vein;

I'm the only child with divorced parents so definitely I ain't having siblings, so I became the one shot experiment kid.  To be taken into account, living together with my grandma had accord where everything from my preschool until my college education were kept just in case I'm gonna need it somehow or it's a sentiment of me getting my education and my future kids would see how it was schooling during my years.  

Also our generation had been thought with minimalism approach however the older generations valued more on memories, emotionalism and softheartedness where they prefer to keep everything due to appreciation and hey honestly not to blame them, during their years getting something is not easy as a single click on Amazon.  Thus I theorized this generation differences had contributed a number of influence of my hoarding problem.

Note: This is just my theory which I might be wrong.

 

Here's a tip for you guys or maybe parents who are reading this (also refer to my rant on the right image)

1. You left preschool, discard 
2. You left primary school / UPSR/ PSRA, discard
3. You left middle school / PT3, discard 
4. You left high school / SPM / STPM, discard
5. You graduated diploma, discard
6. You graduated degree, discard

What to discard (optional)

• Exam papers
• Arts & craft stuff you did in art class
• Folios & scrapbooks
• Lecture slides
• Project paper drafts
• Notes
• Exercises, books or sheets

TRUST ME YOU ARE NEVER GONNA USE THEM.

What to sell / donate / pass it on to younger siblings

• Textbooks
• Empty folders/binders

What to keep

• Report cards
• Certificates
• Published research thesis

Proven in the right image where I manage to clear everything out from under the desk, the only documents that's worth keeping had been safely kept in my Ikea Samla bins (victoriously they only accommodate in a single bin) that I bought prior to my de clutter adventure. Prior meaning is placing them in the living room for a week as a feline battleground.

Hopefully you guys find this article helpful to lift of your burden. Since this adventure is too long, I'll be posting another entry in part 2.

Exclusive Interview with Remy, vocalist of Dante's Theory

For those who are late to read on their review last month, on this lovely new year I'm back again with my special guest, Remy the talented vocalist from Dante's Theory for some nice virtually sipping hot tea online interview. Before that, don't forget to get yourself uncover with the article hatched about the band by clicking on this link 

1. How are you guys, please introduce yourself.

Hi, we are doing great, Remy here (vocals). The past 2 years (2017 & 2018) has been good thus far, we are looking forward to 2019.

2.You guys are well known in your country, Singapore. For the people from other countries, can you introduce and describe your band?

The band consist of 4 members, we play extreme metal / death metal, the band has played live shows with very known both local and overseas bands, within Singapore and overseas. Our music and lyric focuses more on specific topic for each albums and ep. Our music influences are vast too, we listen to all genres as we firmly believe music is universal and it transcend all barriers.

3. What gets you guys excited about music?

Well to me honestly music is just one of the channels in which the band and I share our views on certain topic. It is also an outlet for us to focus our collective energy and collaborated ideas. Besides music we are also involve in other aspect of creativity, for example arts. Be it fine arts or contemporary art forms.

4. Can you all explain what the band’s name means to you all and why it was chosen to represent your style of music?

The band name comes from the book called Divine Comedy, by a 14th century poet named Dante Alighieri. It’s a book to describe Dante’s journey to hell. The music is composed with in-depth lyrics are pretty dark at times, we believe it’s suitable to describe us and our music.

5. Previously the band was known as Pyro, why changed the name to Dante’s Theory?

The band existed back late mid 90’s Pyro, which consisted of past members which are not active in the music scene anymore, I decided to change the band’s name as our focus in terms of writing music and lyrics defers from the previous band’s identity.

6. In what ways would you consider your latest single “Amut” to be niche / different from the prior ones?

Amut has a raw old school death metal to it, with some elements of slam / groove. The main objective was to have songs both sang in English and our native tongue, Bahasa Malay. That was what sets it apart from our other ep / album.

7. What’s the band’s song writing process like? 

Usually how our music process works is, we have some band / music references which we listen to, also the specific topic in which we would like to focus on. Our main guitarist will work our riffs in which our vocalist and drummer will have a say on how to structure the whole song. Ultimately it’s a collaborative effort, which also includes our recording sound producer which helps us to get that unique sound we are aiming for.

8. You guys have been active since the 90’s, what is the legacy of Dante’s Theory to you?

That's a tough one, well I guess, our legacy is the impact our our music which we share with our friends and fans which we met and make during our lives shows and promos. To me personally, when we are gone one day, I would just like our friends and fans remembered that we contributed to the music scene as best as we can in our own way.

9. Since your debut, can you describe the MOST EPIC performance that you have experienced? 

The lasted show which we played in Singapore with Thy Art Is Murder Asia Tour 2018 was pretty epic. To me every show is different, every show is epic, even with 30 people or 3 thousand audiences. It’s how the band connects with the audiences that makes it epic.

10. How did the members initially find each other?

The island is pretty small, everyone knows everyone here, and well I guess we just had the same focus and drive that made us combined forces to be a single unit. 

11. What draws you all as individuals to want to make Progressive Death metal music as your genre?

We do not actually categorize ourselves, its just we sound more to progressive now than back 5 years ago.

12. Would you care to list some of your favorite 2018/2019 music releases?

Wow, to many, I would just list a few, Decapitated- Blood Mantra, Dying Fetus - Wrong One To Fuck With, Implore - Subjugate and also Integrity - Howling For The Nightmare Shall Consume.

13. What keeps you all passionate about making new music?

Basically it’s our main outlet to channel all these energy we have, it’s also a great way for us to share our passion to everyone who loves music / metal in general.

14. I enjoyed listening to your both of your latest singles and they sound epic. Can you discuss the writing and recording process for this song?

Thank you. It took us about 2 weeks to finalize the main riffs and also the structure of the songs, there wasn’t much debating or changing it much as we are know exactly what sound we are trying to project out and we focused more on that that making it too prefect.

15. How would you compare the current/upcoming to past materials?

I would say it more fast paced than our previous albums, other than the dual language in some of the songs, it’s more energy driven I would say, plus grooves.

16. What goals do you all have for Dante’s Theory for the rest of 2018/2019? Any 2019 plans in the works being considered? 

We are planning to release a new album in 2019, sometime mid 2019. We also plan to have more shows around Asia region.

17. Whereas a lot of bands that play music like yours go raw and murky, explain your feelings and rationale behind the “clean” and tight sounding production you guys has always had?

We moving forward, we grew up in the 90’s, we would just like to have something which we composed to be more audible in another say 10 years, which still sounds fresh I hope.

18. Who do you all consider to be major influences on you all as musicians?

I guess it would be our love one, our parents and our peers. We do not have a specific band which we idolize, we are have a vast liking to a lot of pioneer bands both locally and overseas.

19. How did the members of Dante’s Theory come to be involved with making music? Is anyone in the band formally trained as a musician or taken years of lessons?

Yes two of us are from Yamaha music school, the rest of us are self taught. We are all music lovers to begin with, especially metal, so instead of just listening to metal, we also form a group to do our own style. Or at least we try to.

20. What are some of your all favorite non-metal genres/styles/bands/group?

Dubstep, Classical music, reggae, etc, nothing specific, we listen to everything, which keeps our mind working when we are writing new songs, we do not constraint ourselves to just 1 specific genre.

21. What jobs or things are you all involved with outside of Dante’s Theory?

Non, we are only in Dante’s Theory as we have better focus and concentration to complete 1 thing at a time.

22. Name the countries that you guys wished for performing/touring?

I would say Japan and perhaps Europe.

23. Any other upcoming events or things worth mentioning to all your fans out there?

We may have a mini tour in Indonesia and Malaysia, but it’s still in the discussion phase for now.

24. If you have any final thoughts or things you’d like to say, go for it?

We really enjoy ourselves writing music and also being able to share it with everyone who digs metal, we hope to meet all of you soon when we come next to your location! Also watch out for our next album in 2019! 

I hope you guys enjoy this, take care, be safe and thanks for reading!

Again, don't forget to have a read on the review I've written for the band here