24

That's right, only a few days left for 2019. Christmas is gone, so is Boxing Day. And the next public holiday is coming up. So is New Year's Eve. Umm, where have all these times gone? This year has been R E F R E S H I N G for me personally, on a very spiritual and mentally-conscious level.

As I was reading my previous year's birthday post, I was cringing so much, along with my heartstring twitching uncontrollably as I could still clearly experiencing the sort of emotions I went through when I wrote those lines of madness and obsession. I call it the obsession because it was, I had no idea who I was really loving. Clearly, I was loving the idea of loving a person. I had no fucking clue what love is. And I still have no clue of it right now. Believe or not, we don't need to have it all figured out. What I learnt about love and my feeling is, listen to your most honest feedback from yourself. If you are feeling fake then it probably is a surreal feeling, it probably is too good to be true. Leave it, is better than having something you don't truly in tune with. Less truly is more, less makeup, fewer things and less fake people in your life. Let's be real though, more money is always good. Let's redirect the energy into making more money, and building wealth for yourself. Because you know goddamn well, you deserve so much more, and work for it!

It took me a whole year to learn the real art of self-love, self-care and be ok with your self. And truly enjoying the space of solitude. In fact, I think self-love is a life long lesson that should always be practised. This year I took every conscious moment to recognise my desire, needs and paying uttermost attention to understand myself in every situation when dealing with adversity, love, friends, work and with my fur baby. I took mental notes of how I behaved and reacted in those situations in order to understand myself better. I want to know myself as much as I could. Anyways, I will leave all those reflections in another post about the new year.

For my 24th this year, I decided I would still invite the OG group of my closest high school and Uni friends to have a nice dinner at the Chu The Phat. For the oddest reason, I somehow feel like I am 26 already, maybe because I've moved out and have a dog now, and things just felt more mature and official than before.

Declutter

17th Feb 2019

Photo by Javier Allegue Barros on Unsplash

I stopped looking for things to recall,
about us,
about the past.
I have realised that's a sign of me settling for less
than what I deserve.
I have come to the conclusion
that I wanted more than what I had.
I deserve better, so I let go of this
to make space for things better.

Deutschland-ING: Mainz

MAINZ, Germany

5th September 2018

There is a little slow down in my blogging because I was a little tired of repeating and walking down the same travelling I've done in the past few months during my exchange because I've had too much too soon. It was great but having too much of it, just disgusted and drifted me to the idea of going through the travelling footage again and again.

I actually had the thought of moving this to a different platform as I thought Blogger is a little bit outdated but I've realised, Blogger is the only platform that allows to upload all my photos and store them for me at no cost. So I stayed. Luckily I am back at it again, and ready to walk down the memory lane with refreshed eyes. I swear to god, having a new attitude to the old photos I took, are something to be grateful for, it's like living this experience twice in a virtual way with real past experience if you know what I mean.

Mala, Meryl and I, we decided to visit Mainz which is another city close to Wiesbaden. A little bit wiki is always necessary about this city, it always have a lot to say which is great. I had lived in Germany for 5 months and only until yesterday I have found out that Wiesbaden is the state capital of Hesse. 

"Mainz is a German city on the Rhine River. It’s known for its old town, with half-timbered houses and medieval market squares. In the center, the Marktbrunnen is a Renaissance fountain with red columns. Nearby, a distinctive octagonal tower tops the Romanesque Mainz Cathedral, built of deep red sandstone. The Gutenberg Museum honors the inventor of the printing press with exhibits, including 2 of his original bibles." 

Mainz is truly a charming city with the beautiful cathedral and architecture. I loved my visit there in September. 

Just take my breath away already :)

We stopped by this vintage second-hand shop in Mainz, Mala was Kuji moment something for herself, like the usual. 

I was truly and still am, amazed by the beauty of those paper star lights. You think I got one? Wrong, I didn't. I wish I did now maybe another reason to go back to Germany. :) I bet you think, this is some kind of traditional German deco, wrong, it is now. I asked one of the shop owner, she told me there's nothing traditional about this paper star light at all, just pretty. Great, superficial and straight to the point.

Looks like I've done a lot yoga, wrong, not as much as I would like. Because my body gets super sore after, and I always ended up resting for days before I go at it again but I am not giving up, just taking my time like I always hoped myself to do. 

Mainz Cathedral

Came across this cutie pie in a skincare shop in Mainz, super friendly and cuddly. The owner of the shop was also friendly and allowed us to pretty much do anything to her dog. 

we didn't go in because we didn't have enough time.

Meryl took this photo for Mala and I eating ice cream like a new couple :'). 

Deutschland-ING: one of my favourite German cities 1/2, Heidelberg

 

 Heidelberg, Germany

 9th September 2018

Part two of my favourite German Cities: Hamburg

Apparently, 4 days later after my Mainz Trip, I went to another town around the Hesse state. Let's see what Wiki says about Heidelberg. 

"Heidelberg is a town on the Neckar River in southwestern Germany. It’s known for venerable  Heidelberg University, founded in the 14th century. Gothic Heiliggeistkirche church towers over the cafe-lined Marktplatz, a town square in the Altstadt (Old Town). The red-sandstone ruins of Heidelberg Castle, a noted example of Renaissance architecture, stand on Königstuhl hill."

Germany has got so much to offer, every city I've visited I was always amazed by the beautiful architectures and how things were built back in the days and how much history each of the monuments and landmarks carry. I was so overwhelmed by all of the history because everywhere I go, Mala (as long as she is with me) she would explain the history to me, which is great. I leaned a lot and learned to appreciate the beauty of rich history. 

I was so overwhelmed by the beauty of this town, I couldn't shut up or act like I haven't seen much of the world, partially true. I definitely hadn't and still haven't seen enough of the world. I was amazed and flabbergasted in every good way possible. And of course, it has became one of my favourite Germany city along with Hamburg. 

Here are some photos I've taken while we explored the town after we got off a 3 hour Flixbus, the budget travel essential.

I call this, the colour of Heidelberg. 

Of course, we stopped and took photos like we were supposed to do like a professional tourist. 

A visit to old town museum

Then, we made our way to the magnificent Heidelberg Castle. Mind you, I was exhausted from my own excitement and amazement at this point, in the best way possible. If Heidelberg isn't the most beautifully place I've visited, then I'd be lying. 

The happiness and satisfaction were real. 

We spent like at least an hour here, just being a professional tourist. 

Can I tell you, I was so reluctant to go back to Oestrich Winkel at the end of the day trip, I wish I had stayed longer, but I did go back for Christmas market with my Canadian Asian brother Aaron :).