Enjoy Life Part 2: Sing It!

I wanted to be a recording artist back when I was in high school. It was a phase. I went through the "I want to be a doctor" and the "I want to be an accountant" ones, so don't judge me. But, like the "I want to be a writer" stage, I never really grew out of it.

A good thing, though. I now write songs to express myself. When, you know, words stop being enough. Sometimes, you need a little melody,  a little harmony, a little guitar or ukulele to back all the emotions up.

I sing in church. But you won't really sing cheesy songs about boys and love (well, this kind of love) during a worship service. Well, thank God for soundcloud! And thank God for Moonshine's Feedback Open Mic, too!

Feedback Open Mic's tagline is this: "Giving everyone the chance to sing outside their bathrooms." It runs during the second and fourth Tuesdays of the month, at The Bee in Jaya One and Publika, respectively. Sign up begins at 7:00PM and performances start at 8:00PM. Only the first fifteen names get to perform. I've experienced being one of the first and also being one of the last. Performing early and performing late both have their advantages and disadvantages. Well, either way, you get to perform alongside other talented artists in the KL indie music scene!

I first found out about the open mic from a former colleague. Shout outs to her! (You should come back to the open mic again.) After an initial scouting night, I've mustered enough courage to perform covers as well as some original songs the months afterward.

The performances were not perfect. I forgot lyrics every now and again (the lights have that crazy effect, I tell you). I've even hit super wrong chords with the guitar. But every open mic is a chance to get better and every open mic is a chance to share my music with the world. Or KL, or Malaysia, at least.

Drop by The Bee or follow Moonshine Productions if you'd like to do some singing, too. ;)

Enjoy Life Part 1: Eat, Pray, Love, and Love Some More

Eat, pray, love, and love some more. This seems to be the theme of my year so far. But then again, I've been doing these things ever since I got to Malaysia. I'm thankful getting around Malaysia is pretty straightforward (there are FAR LESS islands compared to the Philippines, FAR LESS airfares to save up for) and I'm thankful AirAsia has made a home here, sans airport travel tax. Hello low, low, fares; hello ASEAN neighboring towns.

Someone once told a teary me to not forget to love myself and to remember to enjoy life. I took those words to heart. I got my hair colored, booked flights for myself, went cafe hopping, did some open mic-ing - lived life a little more crazily than I had several years before.

So let me tell you about them crazy travels. I am no travel blogger. But I do have travel stories to share. Writing conferences, weddings, batch reunions and a whole lot of other things have brought me around the Philippines. Family trips have brought me to Australia, Hong Kong, and USA. Church events have brought be to Cambodia, Vietnam, Thailand, and Singapore. Work has brought me to Bali. A mending heart has even brought me to Yogyakarta, though not in the "That Thing Called Tadhana" style. And good old wanderlust has been bringing me all around Malaysia.

If I could choose my top five favorite travels so far, it would be (in no particular order) those two trips to Penang (that gives us "one" and "two"), my heart-mending trip to Yogyakarta ("three"), my recent trip to Cambodia ("four"), and a prance around La Trinidad and Baguio City ("five").

I will write about those in future entries (I've only written about one Penang trip) but for now I'll just give short glimpses of why those travels mean so much to me.

Penang Part 1 was super memorable because it was my first super long drive with my family wherein I was the one behind the wheel. Before, it always used to be my dad.  Back then, I would insist on winding the windows all the way down because I would get carsick even in a 20-minute ride. That time, I got to show them how much I had grown. My parents were so proud. I drove all six hours (one way) on my own, and a little bit more when we headed back and sent my brother off to the airport.

Penang Part 2 confirmed that I was indeed bitten by the wanderlust bug. I dragged a very game friend to go food and mural hunting to a town six hours away on a Chinese New Year long weekend with only two days notice. If that doesn't spell wanderlust, I don't know what does.

Yogyakarta was... healing. I realized I hopped on planes a lot for a number of different reasons, yet rarely did I do solo flights for myself. I was dealing with heart issues but seeing all those temples and palaces, being reminded by the enormity of God, eating yummy Indonesian food, conversing with locals in broken Bahasa Melayu (close enough to Bahasa Indonesia), riding in becaks and motorbikes, realizing how capable I was as an individual - these things gave my heart the break it needed.

Cambodia showed me the beauty of friendship. It was "Eat, Pray, Love Part 2" for this year, and boy did we eat a lot, pray a lot, and love a lot. I attended the dedication of my newest inaanak and spent quality time with Filipino friends who were working there. I also asked a covenant friend to accompany me to Siem Reap where we took pictures in Ta Prohm and Angkor Wat wearing dresses, walked round and round the city, ate, ate, ate and possibly gained a gazillion pounds. Five days weren't enough but it was truly time well spent.

Speaking of time not being enough, the prance around La Trinidad and Baguio was definitely not enough. While reading up on long distance relationships, I came across a point that said one of its advantages was that you got to do touristy things in your respective towns whenever one chose to come over. I believe that would also be a perk if both of you grew up in different provinces and each one would have the chance to say - "So this is where I spent my childhood". My boyfriend spent a weekend with me and my family (the whole extended family, mind you - cousins, aunts, uncles, grandma - the works) when I went home this February. I got to visit Tam-awan Village for the first time and climbed up Mt. Kalugong for the second. I was a tourist in my own town. But I loved it because I was doing touristy things with the love of my life. Like, we even walked up Session Road "Tadhana" style, though we so did not do it on purpose. I'd love to explore his hometown, too. And I'd love it even more if we would also get to explore more of the world in the perhaps not so distant future.

Traveling is only part of this mission to enjoy life. I like it how Jesus said that He has come that we may have life and have a full one (John 10:10b). Sometimes it's difficult to think about enjoying life when there are so much suffering all around us. But life is a gift. Embrace it. When you learn to love it, when you learn to love yourself, you'll learn to have a bigger heart and you'll learn to love other people all the more.

So let's eat, pray, and love some more.

Follow me/Follow you

Long Distance Lullabies

Tonight I will write

Another silly love song

Sing it once again

Out into the air

Wishing it would somehow reach you there

Cause all I have as an audience

Are the stars and the midnight sky

So tonight I will pretend you're here

Hearing this silly lullaby

That is actually the verse of a song I penned way back in 2011. I was in love with a boy who lived oceans away (okay, maybe just a South-China-Sea away). I didn't know if he felt the same way, though. It was only much later that he expressed his intentions of courting me (very Filipino, I know). And so began our long distance courtship. Which eventually blossomed (18 months later) into a full-fledged long distance relationship.

If you counted the years we were friends from far away, we're well into six years plus of long distance somethings.

I'll tell you one thing. LDRs are not, I repeat, NOT for the fainthearted. If God wasn't part of the equation, my boyfriend and I would have probably broken up by now.

I keep a password-protected blog where I pour out all my LDR-and-all-other-relationship-related rants. When I was single, I spent days dreaming of what it would be like to be in a relationship. Now that I'm in one - well, it's not all flowers and rainbows like I anticipated. 

From the secret blog:

"I don’t get the luxury of enjoying Love’s physical presence on a daily basis. I only see him twice or thrice a year. I only get to hear his voice, see his features online if I’m lucky, once a week - that is when the Internet connection and our schedules cooperate. 

I seem to have only a handful of memories that I can look back to - those times that we are physically together… 

…But I guess the good thing about LDRs is that since those memories are only a handful, you have to treat each one as gold - special, precious the way they should be. 

You can’t let the moment pass by. You have to seize it and make the most of it. You have to live in it and understand that you’ll only get a moment like that after five, six, or seven months again. (Addendum: Thank God it's just seven months maximum for us!)

And you have to use the time that you are apart wisely. Are you going to spend seven months in a sad depressive, pining state? Or are you going to make the most of it, use it so that you are the best, most complete person you can be?”

That's me, writing to a not so sane and level-headed version of myself. It's not always, but I have moments when I can be a wise old sage, giving golden words of wisdom to an emotionally turbulent me.

There are perks of being in an LDR. You're independent. You learn to communicate, you learn to be creative and resourceful (movie date over Skype, anyone?), you learn to value trust and commitment. And of course, you feel that whirlwind of tension and excitement every time you find yourself getting on a flight that will bring you closer to your love again. When you finally get to close the distance in, you'll realize being in an LDR was - is - worth it.

So. I'll be hopping on such a plane tonight. Mental note to self: do not take the next few moments - may they be simply hours or a couple of days - for granted.

Carpe Diem, Mari.

Bed and Breakfast + Travel and Tours

I suppose when you live in a foreign, fairly accessible country, you will automatically take on the role of a host and tour guide whenever good friends decide to come and visit. I don't mind. I've seen my pad transform into a Bed and Breakfast + Travel and Tours (thank you, Caleb!) a fair number of times.

"Mamser, our first stop will be at the pink mosque. Yes, the mosque is pink."

I have pictures in the Putra Mosque where you can see me age. Or rather gain weight, then lose weight, then God-help-me-not-to-gain-weight again. But it's my joy to tour people around and show them the fun and beauty Malaysia Truly Asia has to offer. 

"Let's go see the Twin Towers! Let's go to Putrajaya! Let's drive down to Malacca! Do you guys want to go to Bukit Tinggi? Or what about Penang or Laman Seni? Let's go, go, go!"

Much as I love the Malaysian scenery, it is my greater joy, however, to let people try out the local cuisine. Bring in the nasi lemak, the roti canai, the char kuey teow, and the chilli pan mee! You won't want to leave Malaysia after trying those plus the teh tarik from the closest mamak stall!

So, bed and breakfast. Thank God for the abundant sheets and pillows my friends from The Adventure Part 1 left behind.

It looks like we will be back in "business" again pretty soon. We don't charge, though. But you can leave us your smiles and hearts full of gratitude. A free lunch wouldn't hurt either. 

Or you can just leave a tip at the door. ;)

The Lifesquad

We were looking for Indonesian food the other week. An officemate had mentioned there were a lot of those sold in Chow Kit. So, one spontaneous Saturday afternoon (aka Yana's birthday), the girls and I decided to venture into KL's, uhm, red light district to hunt for Indo food. When we got there, we did find our bakso and rawon. But not only that, I happened to stumble upon some heartwarming memories as well.

"Oh, look! There's Krash Pad! That's where we went for our Lifesquad last time. They have a branch for teens in this area, too."

The Lifesquad. Way back in 2011, I came up with the idea of forming a group who could do volunteer services in KL and beyond. The Japan earthquake happened around that time. My heart was just filled with the burden to make a difference in society. Because of what was happening all over the world, the least I - we - could do was make a difference where I - we - was or were at now.

Thus the group. Things happened and we eventually disbanded. But hey, we were able to have four conquests (as we called them then). We went to Fallen Leaves (now Reboot the Roots) to validate and learn from people recovering from substance abuse. We went to both Krash Pad's kids and teens centers to have artistic activities and feeding programs, too.

Anyone could volunteer in our group. There was no such thing as race or religion - just people with a heart for the community, people wanting to learn and share what they have.

I wonder if we could do something like that again. Not really for Lifesquad Season 2, but, you know, just gather and do something bigger than ourselves again. My friends have been going to homeless feeding programs and have been doing some volunteer street arts - I wonder what else we could do?

How about you? Do you have ideas on what you - or we, if you are in KL - could do?