These Days Count

I'm counting down for something big, aside from Christmas, this December. Let's just say there are a whole lot of drastic changes up ahead. Like, it's going to be a brand new adventure.

I can't begin to wrap my head around whatever is coming. I'm terrified, I'm excited, I'm somewhat anxious, I go through several emotional roller coaster rides all day, all week. My mantra is to take it one day at a time. One step at a time.

Writing keeps me sane. I'm keeping a journal again. It has been a long time since I had done that. My diary-keeping habit is of the on-again-off-again-on-again sort. But I think I'm starting to become faithful with it. I'm also reviving this blog. Two months of silence, huh?

This blog, this blog. These stories from distant shores. Will I have to change its page name or let go of it soon? Ooops. Spoiler much.

Allow me to take a deep breath. *BREATHES* There.

There is a huge temptation to just skip through this whole thing and land on the date I'm counting down to. Oh wait, have I written something like this before? Anyway. Yeah, part of me wishes to just breeze through everything - all these preparations, all these emotions - and you know, just get it over with. But today matters. This entire process is important and shouldn't be taken lightly.

I've written a whole list of things I am looking forward to. To calm my nerves a bit. To give me more things to be excited about. I think it's good to do that. To keep in mind that everything I am going through right now will be worth it in the end. Counting down helps, too.

But then, while I am counting the days, I will also make these days count. I kinda wrote a song about that, one time. Listen to These Days Count in Soundcloud?

I know this post sounds a bit like a frenzied, caffeine-filled rant. It sort of is. Perhaps I will be able to write more sane, levelheaded articles next time. But today is not that time.

I will leave you with that one-liner though, as a sticky statement. These days count, my friend.

These days count.

Artwork by Stephanie Baxter. From a little book called "Think happy, be happy."

The Physics of Ice Skating

Another item from TMBL was to go ice skating. I had wanted to go ice skating ever since a good friend suggested we do that for Christmas 2012. We didn't because it was a holiday and we had no funds and we wanted to sleep in and we wanted to just eat and eat and we had a whole lot of other reasons, too. But upon writing down TMBL, I thought to myself, "Why not tsoknut?" I've only ice skated once - way back in 2007. It would be fun pretending to be an Olympic figure skater again.

We went there on my birthday. And we went a second time on 12 June, my country's independence day.

There is one thing I've learned and have proven to be true during those two ice skating sessions. One: I'm no Olympic figure skater. Okay, just joking. But really, I'm not. But seriously, here's what I've learned:

Whenever you think you're in for an icy wipe out, lean forward, not back. When you lean forward, you'll just keep moving forward, but when you lean backward, you'll land on your bum. The physics is true. I stuck with this trick and not once did I fall - face down or otherwise.

I think the same is true with life. If you think you're going to fall, just lean forward. I mean, keep moving on. If you land splat on your face, it will hurt, but chances are you'll just slide, slide, slide a couple of inches further from where you were previously. That's a whole lot better than remaining stuck in the same spot forever, right?

Let's follow the physics of ice skating and lean forward instead of flailing back.

Boom.

And oh. As a post script, today marks my sixth year in Malaysia. Entering year seven. Hurray!

MUD: Musical Review

One item from The Malaysian Bucket List (let me call it, TMBL from this point on) was to watch a musical. A live one, in a theater. We watched an Easter play once in one of the big churches near my house. But the last time I watched a musical-as-in-musical (i.e. one where the actors and actresses do the song and dance numbers for a living) was... never. And so I scoured cyberspace for shows around KL and found MUD in Timeout KL's list of things to do for the week.

At RM60 for a 50-minute show, it's quite pricey, but I bought the ticket anyway. Stingy introvert mode was on - I couldn't belanja anyone at that point and I wasn't too sure if I wanted to invite anyone to watch with me because I didn't know if the show was actually that good. The bottomline is I watched the musical alone. Well, I watched it with three other people in the theater, actually.

An audience of four. A Filipina, a German backpacker, and a Korean couple. Perhaps it was because it was a Saturday afternoon (maybe more people watch the evening shows?) but the truth was the Panggung Bandaraya looked desolate with only a handful of us congregated inside.

The show, however, was anything but desolate. It was still as lively as any performance done in front of a full house. Not only that, there was a personal touch (I won't give any spoilers here) which made me thankful that there were only a few of us there. After their performance, I had an epiphany: It's easy to put on a good show in front of a full house, but it takes another kind of showmanship to pull off the same thing in front of an audience of four. If I were in their shoes, would I have been able to do the same thing?

Back to the show. MUD was actually about the history of Kuala Lumpur (literally from the words muddy river - "kuala" is river and "lumpur" is muddy) told in a lively, dramatic way. It follows the journey of a 1Malaysia band of friends - how they overcame obstacles and how they rose up from all of the mud. It gave me a deeper appreciation of Kuala Lumpur, making the KL experience richer because now I know it isn't simply about snapping photos at the Petronas Twin Towers. For tourists who have an hour and RM60 to spare, it's a show I would recommend if they want to appreciate the city they are touring even more.

I probably sound like I'm being paid to do this (trust me, I'm not), but show times are 3pm and 8:30pm daily at the Panggung Bandaraya (next to Merdeka Square). It's quite short ("bitin" in my language), but time flies when you're having fun.

Hmmm. I wonder. Which musical should I watch next?

The cast.

I'm there!

My First Chinese Wedding

I promised I would blog about this. And so blog about this, I will.

Forgive me for the elementary level title. Alternatives? Yum Seng, Maybe? No? Okay, "My First Chinese Wedding" it is then.

Last March, I went to my first Chinese wedding. My supervisor at the time was finally getting hitched! I'm so happy we were invited to celebrate with him and his wife on their big day.

I had no idea what to expect. Well, we were invited for the reception, so I assumed there would be lots of food. And so there was lots of food. Several courses. The party ended when you finished them all. Or did you finish them all when the party ended? At any case, our bellies were full by the end of the night.

Some differences from the Filipino weddings I have attended:

1. The Same-Day Video Edit. It started off sentimentally enough - the groom putting on his tux. The bride and her breathtaking gown. But fast forward to what I later found out was called "The Wedding Gate Crash" - I think my mouth was hanging open throughout the "fun and games" portion. For the Chinese, the groom has to go to the bride's house and perform tasks (Amazing Race/Fear Factor-type things) before he could finally see the bride. For Filipinos, old fashioned folks have what we call as panliligaw (courtship - fetching buckets of water from the well during the olden days, etc) but this happens ages before the wedding day. Well, no wonder I saw the groom tagged in a post with the words "let the games begin..." - Games preluded his and the bride's exchange of vows!

2. Exchange of Vows. Guess what? The exchange of vows happens when the guy passes all the tests and manages to get inside the girl's bedchambers. So different from our usual church or civil weddings!

3. Tea Ceremony with Parents. This is the part that made us go teary-eyed. The SDVE showed a portion where the newlyweds poured tea into their parents' cups and drank with them. The honor shown and represented there made even the guy at our table tear up. We don't have that in Filipino weddings. We do have speeches during the reception. And mano pos during the ceremony. And, of course, traditionally, the father (or sometimes both parents) gives the bride away.

4. Yum Seng and Alcohol Galore. Back to the reception. Aside from overflowing food, they also had alcohol galore. You just raise your hand and someone will bring you beer, wine, or gin. I had water. And coke. But I couldn't escape the spirits during Yum Seng - the toast with the bride and groom. So apparently, instead of going around each table to take photos with the guests, for the Chinese, they go around each table to share a toast coupled by loud exclamations of "Yum Seng" - which Google tells me means "drink to success" or "cheers". So fun, right? Good luck to the designated drivers.

Those were a couple of things I noticed. No bouquet and garter toss. No releasing of doves. No throwing of rice. But lots of fun, fun, fun.

I wouldn't mind going to a Chinese wedding again, next time.

Xie Xie, Pete, for the invite. Yum seng!!!!

Our table.

We took a picture so that I could post it in my blog. Lol.

An Epilogue of Sorts

And so ends our storytelling for The Adventure - Part 1 and The Adventure - Part 2. If I have the time, I might - just might - compile the stories into a mini memoir (a memoirette?).

I had fun chronicling those adventures. It's nice to look back and know that my time in Malaysia was well spent. I lived. I loved. I learned so many things. If I had to go back to my country in one week's time, I will have no regrets because I know I already gave my 100% and perhaps even more. Though I do have several things left to tick off my Malaysian Bucket List. Aiks.

So what happens next? For me and for this blog? Well, for this blog, I've got several posts for Oh Best Beloved lined up. I want to write about our treasure hunt in Penang, my solo Jogjakarta trip, going to Phnom Penh and Siem Reap, walking into fairy tale and movie land in Singapore... I think I'll even write about my being a tourist in my hometown. And I promised to write about Peter's wedding. I think that's going to be my next entry.

As for me, life has taken a different turn this season. You may have noticed I've been writing less and less. And no, Once Upon a Time doesn't have anything to do with it this time. In four words, the whole "It's-getting-harder-to-find-time-to-write" has got something to do with Transition and New Responsibilities. But writing is my first love. I will find time to do this, no matter what.

So thanks for tuning into "The Adventure, So Far". Drop by again next time for a cup of teh tarik while I tell you more stories from these distant shores. :)

Until the next post!