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To Caitlin and Leandre…

May 29, 2018

I’m currently reading Caitlin Moran’s “How to be a Woman” – a title I picked out of Emma Watson’s global book club “Our Shared Shelf” and Leandre Medine’s (who is one of my favourite OG fashion bloggers since the early 2000s) “Man Repeller”; something I’ve been meaning to read but managed to put off for years on end.

Its been some time since I’ve read anything that isn’t fictional and/or related to and benefitting my course. And I can’t actually remember the last time I read something that falls under the “Biography” genre, and its because I’ve written them off since the only ones I ever bought and read/tried reading in the past are that of politicians, and important people in history and such. I couldn’t relate to those people, and I don’t know much about them to begin with to care enough – so its always been a case of abandonment midway through, or just absolutely slouching and trodding to the very last page.

I wish I could WOW you with facts about Joseph Stalin after having read his biography but I’m embarrassed to admit that I remember zilch.

But its an entirely different experience with Caitlin and Leandre; while I’ve never heard of Caitlin Moran before her book – both of them write in a manner in which I imagine they would speak to a group of close friends. I’m not yet done with either book, but it only took the first few pages of both for me to be hooked.

I have both to thank in this post. I haven’t been writing on here much, and when I do they end up in my drafts until I inevitably delete them for good. Frankly, the number one reason why I’ve not been writing is because I felt that neither my stories nor my writing is not good enough (note: “worthy”) for me to put on here.

Also I would like to casually throw society’s over-obsession with “curated” content under the bus, because while its not all bad, it has generated a culture that is obsessed with “aesthetics” (hyphenated because I mean this in the larger sense of the word, in that everything needs to be perfect) and any less than that, you’re not worthy. Of an audience, of a following, etc. Its made those who are more unconventional, and those who don’t subscribe to the genre of “aesthetics” that have been made for us to choose from less likely to come out of their often more colourful shell. I consider myself one such hermit crab. Not unique (I can’t like this word), but definitely a little out of place.

Reading through both Caitlin and Leandre’s books made me realise that not all stories will be deemed worthy enough to be penned down… until you do. Caitlin’s struggle to find a name for her vagina and Leandre’s overt description of the outfit she wore to lose her virginity may seem unnecessary, but only if they didn’t contribute to the whole story of how and why they came to be who they are. But they do.

If you follow me on Instagram, which unfortunately you can’t if you’re not a friend (aha) then you would be no stranger to my little essays masked as “captions” and Instagram stories on random bits and bobs of my life. I do, in fact, love to share instances of my life with others… but I’ve grown comfortable to only share in 150 characters or less or have it disappear from the surface of the Earth within 24 hours.

I’m putting an end to that now.

From here on out, I’m writing about whatever it is that I feel like writing about. I’m throwing caution… to the WIND! And if I ever become a person someone cares about enough to look up (outside the format of my professional Curriculum Vitae) then I want this blog to bear the contents of what they are looking for; pure, unadulterated me; boring – potentially, inconsequential in the larger sense of any picture – most definitely, but at least its a picture I’ll have painted of myself, without the reins of self-consciousness holding me back.

Daily

A Saturday Afternoon.

June 3, 2017

Its a balmy Saturday afternoon, and I’m currently at home (in Bukit Antarabangsa) playing catch-up with some work. Normally I would avoid doing work over the weekend, but I have a meeting this coming Tuesday to prepare for and 8 months into this job now… I know that its better that I get things done a couple days before any meeting – because my boss(es) would almost always have something they want to change a day before.

But I don’t mind it as much, since being that its the month of Ramadhan, everything sort of slows down a bit; including my ever restless husband, who would usually insist that spend our time outside of the house over the weekend.

My husband is asleep now, less than five feet away from me, on the couch of our humble living room. He’s wearing briefs covered with graphic of fried eggs as pattern. And glancing over at him now; I’m overcome with a feeling of guilt, contentedness and also frankly, a bit of sadness.

Guilt, because I’ve just broken his blinkers the night before (and it isn’t the first thing of his I’ve manage to break). Contentedness because I still find it difficult to believe that I’ve got a husband, and an amazing one at that. Lastly, sad, because… well, thats a story for another day.

I’m writing now because frankly, I miss it. Writing. Back in school, I’ve never minded writing essays – be it for homework or for examinations. Because I loved writing, and as long as I kept putting pen to paper – I was happy. But years went on, and I wrote a lot less. Nowadays, I almost never do. So this post is for me.

What I’ve written here so far bears no importance whatsoever, but seeing words forming sentences forming paragraphs on this little white text box makes me feel…light. You don’t need to understand, because none of this is for you.

In less than 30 minutes I’ll need to wake my husband up because Ramadhan or not… I’ve insisted that we go somewhere because I know my husband too well to know that he’ll regret having stayed at home doing basically nothing all day.

So now, its time for me to get back to work.

#wowocycles, Daily, Health & Fitness

Falling in Love with Road Cycling (Part I)

March 18, 2017

This is a little series about how I came to love road cycling. I thought I’d separate it into parts, just so I wouldn’t have to cram two years worth of cycling experiences and pictures in a single post.

I somehow feel the need to clarify that this isn’t about me learning to cycle, and falling in love with it. Hahahno. I learned how to ride a bike yonks ago (when I was a mere toddler) and associate cycling with one of my fondest childhood memories of cycling furiously towards the direction of a rainbow, in hopes that I could find the end of it – and perhaps even that pot of gold everyone keeps talking about.

This series is about road cycling and as I eventually found out, is a completely different form and way of cycling than what I’m used to. I would love to get technical, but lets be honest… I actually can’t aha because Hadzray has been guiding me through everything and despite him having explained everything to me I haven’t actually been listening, much less taking notes.

Sorry bubs, I love you though!

I bought my (road) bicycle nearly two years ago, and since then, I’ve only ever went for a ride in Putrajaya, Shah Alam and the Sepang International Circuit – not taking into account the hours I’ve clocked in on riding it indoors on a bicycle trainer.

The first time I rode it was in Putrajaya, on the 27th of June 2015. Hadzray had suggested that I started off there since I needed to first get accustomed to the feel of a road bicycle. I also needed to be taught how to properly use clipless pedals (essentially, with road cycling, you need to be wearing a specific set of shoes that could clip in directly to your pedals – ensuring no flip flopping nonsense as you ride).


Naturally… that night was also the first time I would ever fall off my bike – much to Hadzray’s annoyance. It isn’t my first time cycling, mind you, but having your feet stuck to your pedals require some getting used to. I fell because I had completely forgotten that my lower limbs were attached to my bicycle when I braked to a halt.

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