What I love most about festive seasons

There's always the time of the year where many people from different cultures and religion come together to celebrate their festive season.

The Thai / Siamese welcomes their new year Songkran with water to wash away all sins and purify themselves. 

Indians signify the good over the bad and the arrival of spring by holding a Holi Festival. 

 

  

In Taiwan, people write or draw their wishes on floating lanterns and release them into the sky, hoping their dreams will come true

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The Carnival of Rio de Janeiro marks the beginning of lent festival 

By remembering our origins, musicians and indigenous musician come together to celebrate a unique festival called " Rainforest World Music Festival " in the mythical authentic island of Borneo, Malaysia. 

                                      

As a Malaysian Chinese, I celebrate Chinese New year. 

One thing I love so much about celebrating Chinese New Year  is not only because of the 红包 (Red packet), Kuih muih🍘 (traditional sweet desserts), the fireworks 💥nor the lion dance🐉;

It's the spirit of the festival that brings us both 

family and friends together to come to celebrate one of the biggest festivals in Malaysia.

Decorating the house with red lanterns🏮, flowers and my grandpa's handwritten calligraphy about Chinese New year's blessing and wishes㊗️;

The tradition of wearing our different kind of Chinese costumes👘;
To endeavour my grandma's home cooked traditional food on the Eve ( now made vegan🌱 );
It's the time of the year to get to know more about our other family members👱🏽👦🏾👱🏻‍♀️👩🏻 that we do not know of;

To catch up & spend time with each other about our latest journey in life over some traditional Chinese cookies 🍪and chrysanthemums tea🍵;

To give us an opportunity to show respect to our elders 👴🏼 by holding a tea ceremony 🍶;

Hopping from one house to another to visit our grandparents to grand aunts & uncles to cousins to friends; 👣
Figuring out how to address other family members by their status and the connection they have with us; 👲🏼👧🏻👶🏽👱🏽
Laughing and talking about our childhood with one another; 😂
Going back to my parents' hometown to visit the other part of my family; ⛩

The sound of mahjong 🀄️ & shuffling
of cards ♣️ being played by the young & old;
Seeing vintage family portraits of their life journey hanging on the wall of our relatives house we 拜年; 👨‍👩‍👦‍👦
Looking at how the young ones in the family now becomes a grown up & bringing their lovers back home to introduce to their family members; 👫💕

The house once again is filled with the boisterous yet with joyfulness sound of family and friends; 🗣✨
Th

As today marks the last day of Lunar New Year for 2017, may every festivals and welcoming of the new year/ season brings us peace, love, positivity, abundance and happiness

Namaste 

Love at first sight

How common is the phrase "love at first sight"?

As cliche as it is, but not everyone will experience meeting their spouse or partner with that instance spark or the strong force that brings them together.

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To those who really found their loved one at the very first moment they lay eyes on each other, you're very blessed and it must be one of the best things that ever happened in your life.

If you're still reading my post, you must be curious about why am I writing about this?

When a partner gets in a relationship, it's because both feel the attraction with one another.
You glanced through the crowd and stare from far, that one person in the crowd catches your eyes. You think to yourself, " He's charming, He's got that cute smile, Everything tick off from your dream guy list " ( Whatever you can think of ) and subconsciously your mind tells you "He has the potential." The guy probably has similar thoughts as you and either one of you walks up to another, assuming that's how a person gets into a relationship.

As time passes by, you see your partner's characteristics, true colours, their vulnerability and habits. Once you've seen their flaws, some of you will accept and still love who they are despite your high expectations of them.

Unfortunately in today's society, many have lost the sparks they once felt towards their partner and this is where the saying comes in..

What I feel about why marriages may fail or friendships/relationships end quickly, the bonds between children or friends are no longer strong brings it down to the core issue of FEELING.

Why does it have to do with feelings?
When you meet a person you're attracted to, you've butterflies in your tummy and your heartbeat races. That's a feeling
You see someone who has the potential to be your friend whether a friend that you could count on and will always be there to listen to your problems 24/7. That too is a feeling.

But we know feelings doesn't last long just like how nothing last forever. This is why many of us tend to lose the good feeling of a person once we've known them for a long time and it may spoil the relationship we feel towards another.

Before you make any big decisions to cut connections with the people you once felt the spark with,  take the time to truly listen to your heart and picture the memories both of you made.

If you ever feel like you're losing your feelings towards your loved ones, question and ask yourself;
What made you love the person at the very first moment?
How did the person capture your attention in the very first place?

Rekindle the spark and feel it once more again <3 Appreciate and be thankful that they're a part of your life.

Sometimes people need to be reminded of their presence and how they bring joy in our world. By just saying " Thank you for bringing happiness and laughter into my life" or giving them a hug could brighten up their day or make them feel very special.

The world needs our love, kindness and positivity. 

Little things in life

As I live day by day, I realised life is beyond physical and materialistic things.






It is the bonding you share with your loved ones;
The sun that welcomes you early in the morning;
The birds that sing cheerfully;

These are the little things to take notice and appreciate of because not only it heals your mind but your soul too <3

Never look back?

" LET THE PAST BE GONE "
" Don't ever look back "

There're many quotes encouraging us to look forward and never look back.
While the past should stop where it should be but doesn't mean we must entirely forget about it.

Although the past may not be a part of us now, it made us who we are today.
Sometimes it is okay to recall your past or look back at your memories because that experienced of yours made you who you are today.

IT MADE YOU STRONGER THAN BEFORE.

When you look back again, you'll say to yourself..
"Wow, I made it this far yet here I am standing taller & even greater than before. "
Every journey you've experienced is a blessing. It may not always be a perfect one but whatever dark path you walk down, the light is always at the end waiting to guide you out.

Remember, the universe will only give you abundance & the best if you believe in it.

That's my thoughts for the day
Hope you have a great day ahead !
Namaste to love, happiness, peace & abundance

Tryin' hard to be zen ;P 

The outside world

Good or bad?

We categorized so many things in our world.
From black to white,
beautiful to ugly,
rich to poor and whatever you can think of.

Have you realized that all these brandings or categorizing come back to two sides which are either good or bad?

I met a homeless man yesterday on the bus. The seat next to me was empty. He came up to me talking about angels, dragons, Jesus, Gandhi & Buddha. Honestly, I was terrified. I mean, I've never encountered a situation like this and I didn't know how to handle it.

As he kept on saying about his spiritual mythical stories on how he met them, I just kept on smiling and nodding my head. The homeless man then asked for my name. I kind of made up my name and told him my name is Ashley. I've to admit I felt bad for lying to him but I wasn't sure what to do. Luckily, I wasn't the only one the man talked to and I was surrounded by many people.

He said " Ahh, Ashley! You're so beautiful and you smile like an angel". He kept on saying it and I kept on smiling and said thank you. Then, he continued saying " Do you know there're many angels out there in the world, some may look like an angel but deep down they're not very nice. Ashley, You're a real angel and you're so beautiful." He even said " Your smile is like as if you're advertising for  Colgate ( Toothpaste brand ) and I love you, Ashley"

Okay, honestly, I wish at that point someone would at least help me by distracting him away from talking to me.

After all those " sweet talk " he asked me for money but I sadly didn't give any to him. ( Now, I wish I did ). When he was about to leave, he shook my hand and sent me his blessings saying " You're an angel and you'll meet a handsome angel. "

I assume the people around me must be thinking "What is WRONG with that girl?", " Why is she even entertaining and making a conversation ?", " Is she that naive?"... Maybe they might not have said it out loud but from the look on their faces, I could tell.

I have to admit I was afraid at first, but I told myself he is a human too. The least I could do is show some respect and be kind by smiling & saying thank you to the wonderful words he said to me. I know, at this point some of you might be saying I'm stupid for even shaking his hands and talking to him but to me, there's nothing wrong. What I mean is that we should treat others with kindness regardless of how they are, how they look or how they wear.



I remember how my primary school teachers and my parents used to warn us about bad guys and dangerous people we might meet in the outside world but as I've come to a realisation, it actually goes back down to how we perceive things.

Yes, we must take precaution and stay aware but as we change our perspective on how we view things, there's nothing good or bad in this world.

One of William Shakespeare's script said,
" There's nothing good or bad, but thinking makes it so " - Hamlet Act II, Scene II


It is all in our head that brand things that are positive and negative due to how society categorized it. Instead,
We could choose to see it as a positive manner rather than the negative.
Perhaps to some of you, I may not be making sense but if you're aware of the law of attraction and how it works, you would roughly understand what I'm trying to say.

If we choose to see the positive and good side to everything, we will attract positive, peace, kindness and love wherever we go and from whoever we meet regardless what society has branded them as " Danger" or " Weird".

What I've realized that even many positive quotes states:
 " Surround yourself with good and positive people ".


It is true to surround yourself with positive people but first, we need to be positive within us.
Once we're positive within ourselves, let us spread and share kindness with others by bringing out the goodness in them.


From this day on, I'm going to change my mantra to

" Bringing out the good, positivity and beauty in others"

As we change our perception into all beautiful things. No fear or harm will affect our inner peace. We will be surrounded with love and kindness <3


Namaste

"My religion is simple, It is kindness " - Dalai Lama

It's been a month since I've left my beautiful home to a whole different country. The first 2 weeks of my stay here was good since my mom was here with me .

 After my mom left, I instantly felt homesick. I miss my family, friends, my home, swimming pool, my tropical fruits even the hot scorching humid weather.Honestly, I kind of felt lost for a moment. I didn't know why did I chose to further my studies abroad or why did I ended up studying the course I'm currently taking.

 Worst, I couldn't feel connected to nature and to myself. I couldn't stay grounded. I'm not sure if it's due to the sudden change of weather since it's winter here ( Australia ) or it could be stepping out of my comfort zone. I felt like I was kind of losing my awareness & consciousness. I know this isn't who I am. I needed to find myself again. I've been lost countless of times and do not wish to walk down the blurry road. I was feeling very unaware and my mind was like clouded until something unexpected happened yesterday.

 I was waiting for the bus at a bus stop with 2 Chinese girls. When the bus arrive, the 2 Chinese girls boarded the bus first. It's a rule here in Australia whereby the passenger must own a Myki Card to touch on & off on buses , trains & trams. (It's like a touch & go card where you're able to top up the money into the card instead of using the old-fashion way - cash).

One of the Chinese girl didn't touch on because she said her Myki does not have money in it . She then went to the back of the bus and took a seat with her friend. The bus driver told her that topping up / reloading Myki is available on the bus. He waited for her to come forward to top up her card & touch on so that the driver could start driving. The lady seems like she understands because she was nodding her heard, saying okay but she took no actions. The bus driver couldn't wait for her and started driving. He told the lady that it's not nice of her to think that the bus is a free ride when clearly it's not. The bus driver had no choice but told her that he has to let her off at the next stop.

Surprisingly, she was still laughing and giggling with her friend in mandarin. For an instance, I knew that she didn't understand the bus driver at all. I then translated whatever the bus driver had to say in mandarin so that she knows what's happening. The lady was shocked and I told her to quickly let the bus driver know that she wants to top up her Myki but the bus has not come to a stop for her to do so. Luckily, the bus driver was so kind enough to forgive her behavior and let her topped up the card . Perhaps after I've translated in Mandarin, he knows that the girl didn't understand him after all.

After when they got off the bus, an old lady came aboard and sat indirectly next to me . I felt a little uneasy when she kept on looking at my direction. After a few minutes of the journey , she wanted to press the bell above her so the driver would know when to stop but she couldn't reach it and it was too dangerous for her to stand up to do so. I saw that she's struggling and tempted to reach for the bell right in front of me . I immediately pressed the bell for her . To my mistake, I pressed the bell too early. She told me it was the next stop . I apologized to the bus driver and told him it's the next stop. When the lady got off the bus , she smiled & thanked me. ( Gosh, I felt bad. I can't believe I was paranoid at the first place when she was looking at my direction when she came aboard . I found out that she's actually looking at the bell and thinking if she could reach it. )

I changed my sit to the front near the driver when the bus came to a stop at the traffic light. The bus driver said something unexpected to me. He said that I was so sweet ; I offered my help to those who are in need even though they didn't ask for any. I laughed and thanked him . I was indeed quite surprise. I thought it was a common practice to help those who are in need regardless of anything.
When it was my turn to get off the bus, the sir asked me to take good care of myself. I thanked him for the ride and his lovely comments and hoped that he'll have a good day. I actually felt so melted that they're so many beautiful people out there in our world.

I came to a realization that even though is just a small help or little kindness, others do actually appreciate and feel grateful for your help. This little thing makes me so happy. People notice the good deed you've done.

 It's one of my most heart-melting experience I've came across so far in my past few weeks in Australia. I will continue to help those around me and I hope you'll do the same.

Please do spread more kindness, love, positivity, compassion and many more beautiful things. Our world is in need of love. Always remember to be aware of your surroundings. That's how you'll know when someone will need a hand <3

 It's getting pretty late here and I better sign off soon.
I hope you have a lovely " Every day " and remember to keep the positive vibes around you.

Love,
Nikita