“We are inundated with advice on where to travel to, but we hear little of why and how we should go, even though the art of travel seems naturally to sustain a number of questions neither so simple nor so trivial, and whose study might in modest ways contribute to an understanding of what the Greek philosophers beautifully termed eudaimonia, or ‘human flourishing’.” ― Alain de Botton
We’ve been there before. The kind of love that is picturesque and possibly all too easy. Two troubled hearts find solace in one another, as the plot goes. The relationship will escalate, intensify, and eventually combust from the strain of disillusioned feelings. Continue reading
Have you ever felt hangry? The human condition is as such that we experience a plethora of emotions, and most of the time, we don’t know how to use the right terms to address them because we don’t know the right words to address how we feel. Today, we are compiling a list of food related words which has an emotional tinge to them, which maybe, just maybe, will be able to help you describe how you feel better. From Arty-choke to Vegeterrible, you will be able to better understand your mood for food after this. Continue reading
This is a story about cake. You know that feeling that you get, the one where you walk into a café, somewhat knowing that you are wanting to have a bite of something sweet. Then you look at the cake display. A triple layered ganache cake with bitter chocolate shavings that look just too pretty to be eaten. Then that feeling settles in. That feeling of wanting to plunge your fork into its outer most corner of that triangle, the one pointing towards you saying eat me. That feeling where you know you will destroy the delicate beauty that is that chocolate slice. That conundrum. That inner conflict. That feeling of wanting to keep your cake in tact. That feeling of wanting to eat it too. Continue reading
Chinese New Year has always been a very important time for family, and more than that, a time for giving. Words like abundance and prosperity is heard throughout homes as the lunar new year is celebrated by Asian families all over the world. As much as it is a time for sharing and caring, it is also a time where people look back at the previous year and measure their success and wealth, both financial and emotional. In Malaysia, we are reminded year after year by heart-warming PETRONAS television advertisements about the importance of family, unity and that life is bigger than us. Continue reading
With every passing year, we ring in the new one making promises in the hopes of having a better year than the year before. We are bound to those around us whether we like it or not, and this is most prevalent through our Facebook interactions (or non-interactions). In the traditional Scottish anthemic Auld Lang Syne, we are asked this question, should we really forget our friends and acquaintances?
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Our bearing on morality has been instilled in us ever since we were children, and due to our upbringing and nurturing, we are told we should behave in a certain way. In fact, we do behave in a certain way because it’s deemed proper, however, personal morality varies from person to person, some stricter than others. If you want to believe you are a good person, you only have yourself to prove to, no one else. Continue reading
We live in a world where people make or break their words easily. It is still debated whether it is in our nature, as natural born liars, an evolutionary trait, or that it is our nurture, that our upbringing and surrounding has caused. Either way, I think that it is importance for people to have integrity, to keep to their word. Without integrity you would never be able to lead a good life, and fear the risk of others not holding onto their integrity in return. Continue reading
Our idea of love has been greatly marred by what society tells us what it should be. That we have to get married, have two and a half kids, a house in the suburbs with white picket fences and all. But love is so much more. Love requires the one thing that most people find hard to understand or willing to give up, that love requires sacrifice. Love is not just about being together; it’s about the sacrifices we make to be with the ones we love. Continue reading
It’s Saturday morning and the first light beams through a crack in the curtain. Rising is slow and a hot drink is prepared. Pressures are few and no plans have been made. The first sip of tea soothes a parched throat and the eyes wander to watch the outside world turn. Continue reading
That throbbing headache, that sleepless night, that please I beg you god be alright already. Alone. From the long list of insecurities playing through ones head to the intense fearfulness that creeps under that so assumed formidable, thick skin. Alone. Very often voiced out but very rarely on the occasion believed or addressed. I think it is not believed because the word ‘alone’, unlike what most dictionaries will tell you, is not a term for a specific occurrence. Instead it is more of a blanket statement for something felt, not thought. And its venom is different for every single one of us, hence the state. Continue reading