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“The Mysterious Affairs at Styles” by Agatha Christie

9/27/2026 1:10 PM

When reading “The Mystery of the Blue Train”, I learned that Agatha Christie’s, and Hercule Poirot’s, very first debut novel was “The Mysterious Affairs at Styles”, so naturally, I cracked open the book to see more of the introduction of the great detective.

I must say, Ms. Christie definitely opened it with a bang. Right away, smack dab in the middle: A murder in a closed, locked room. Fans’ favorite. I love how this type of case was the starting point for Agatha Christie, as she then proved to be one of the experts, if not the expert, on closed-room murders. That said, considering this novel was her debut, things were still quite… a lot. So many elements moving and going; Lawrence Cavendish stood over with such horror on his face, the matter(s) with cocoa and coffee, so much strychnine, fight 👏 fight 👏 fight, burned documents, missing keys, espionage, and l’amore.

Not as bad as the Screaming Marmot meme, I did find myself going, “HMMMMMM?! HMMM???!!!” whenever I see Hastings simping (sorry, can’t help it) over Mrs. Cavendish. First, dude, she is your friend’s wife. WIIIIFEEEE. W-I-F-E. What was it? Oh yeah, matrimony bond, witnessed by humans and God. Why are you simping on her it’s beyond me. Was it fashionable during World War I considering so many men were being sent to the frontlines, I don’t even know. Then, just like flipping one’s hand, this man, Hastings, suddenly proposed to Cynthia Murdoch just because she said that Hastings “has always been so kind, and you know such a lot” and he saw her “with the sunlight glinting down on her head”, which was enough for me to yell, “WHAT THE ACTUAL F–” which I couldn’t continue because I was in the middle of a pedicure session.

That said, yes, I know, debut novel. Yes.

My favorite part of this novel, though, is Ms. Christie’s knowledge of the procedures; started from the autopsy, the inquest, and when Scotland Yard got involved. I also loved the fact that Ms., Christie had been so true on writing about her women characters, and how complex the women are. I also mentioned about how often the fatal poison, strychnine, mentioned in the novel, and I got so glad that Poirot admitted that, too.

“I do not know,” said Poirot. “But one thing does strike me. No doubt it has struck you too.”

“What is that?”

“Why, that there is altogether too much strychnine about this case. This is the third time we run up against it.”

— Chapter 10: The Arrest

This novel also taught me an important lesson: Hercule Poirot is an immigrant.

“Yes, my friend, she had kindly extended hospitality to seven of my countrypeople, who, alas, are refugees from their native land. We Belgians will always remember her with gratitude.”

— Chapter 2: The 16^th and 17^th of July

Abolish ICE.

Books and Readings

“The Mysterious Affairs at Styles”, agatha christie, immigrants, murder mystery
“It’s that yoga-kind of day.”

9/25/2026 11:06 AM

As someone with a chronic condition of overthinking and anxiety like me (please note that I have never been formally and medically diagnosed, so I’m not going to say that I have an anxiety disorder. That said, yes, I tend to worry about everything), it has been difficult for me to find a suitable exercise to keep me healthy. People have been mentioning about “runners’ high” or “dopamine hits”, but not me. I have never been able to find the joy in jogging, let alone running. I loathe zumba class (I attended to a couple of sessions until I decided to quit), and I avoid gym sessions. I always ended up tired, pissed, sweaty, stinky, even more pissed because I got sweaty and stinky, and hungry.

Swimming helped me a bit… ish. Yes, it’s quite relaxing as you glide in the water and feel the cool water around you when it’s summer and hot outside, but I always got that small voice in the back of my mind, nagging, with its tiny squeaky voice, “what if…?” or “hey, you forgot this…”

Recently, though, I saw a video on Instagram (I forgot to save it) that mentioning something about exercising for people with “a lot of thoughts in their mind”. I remember the vlogger mentioned something along the line of, “what they need to do is to regulate their nervous system so their brain won’t have the time to ask questions. Doing repetitive simple movements that not making them push themselves physically too hard usually helps.” What the vlogger said then reminded me of Qi Gong type of exercise. I’m quite familiar with this type of exercise, thanks to Xiaohongshu and watching older folks moving during my morning walk in the park.

I then decided to give the exercise a try. It did help, though. I usually do the simple movements when I feel everything is too much for me, be it mentally or physically. Be it reading too much bad news about Indonesia or a really late bedtime. I feel that rather than not doing anything with the excuse of “I feel tired because I slept super late/I feel hopeless after reading another horrible news from Indonesia”, I could do something, such as waving my arms left and right while doing a tiptoe movements on my legs. I usually feel better afterwards, and more energized. Sometimes, I followed it with a quick simple yoga session or a walking pad session.

In case you are curious, you can check out this video:

I also found that the routine taught me to be more patient with myself. Some days, I could only managed to do a 10-minutes simple routine. Some days, I could do a yoga session without forcing and pushing myself. Today is one of those days.

Health, Lifestyle, and Beauty, Personal

blubs, health, self-reminder
“The Wee Free Men: The Beginning” by Terry Pratchett

9/23/2026 10:39 PM

I found it interesting that Terry Pratchett had been so good in writing down poignant thoughts that would make you pause and think, without him being preachy. This book reminds me of Studio Ghibli’s movies exactly for the same reason. The ideas are always oh so subtle, but it made you feel a certain way about how you used to be and, hopefully, a gentle nudge to be better.

My first introduction to Terry Pratchett’s work was the novel “Good Omens”. I love how “naive” the characters always are, regardless of their omnipotent status or power. Who can forget Death’s answer when being asked, “you’re Hell’s Angels, then? What chapter are you from?” with “REVELATIONS. CHAPTER SIX.” It’s always that “good intentions”, and we all know that the road to Hell is paved with Good Intentions. Hence in this novel, I was delighted when I saw Death’s greetings, “GOOD AFTERNOON.”

Tiffany Aching is a really interesting character. I love how imperfect she is. She knew she didn’t love her brother, Wentworth, at least not the kind of siblings affection, but she knew she’s selfish by stating, “my brother!” in front of the Queen of the Faeries. Her imperfections were not her weapons or “that cute side of her”. It was her side that she suppressed because society asked her to “love and care” her siblings, no matter how annoying (and sticky) they are.

I also love how vivid the places and the emotions were. I know Terry Pratchett was good, but never realized he was this good. He wove words and sentences to express something in an abstract yet really clear in our mind. For example, a “cold and thin feelings inside the chest” to describe homesickness. He also respected his characters. No character is too small for him, and it seemed like he always made sure each character, even the background ones, would have something to do or say. My favorite part: When the Nac Mac Feegles fought and bickered with each other when they disguised themselves as a “human” in “A Hat Full of Sky”.

I wish I could write more about this book. Unfortunately, this book is too vast and too rich to be summed in one blog post. At least for now.

Books and Readings

A Hat Full of Sky, terry pratchett, The Wee Free Men: The Beginning

The Blogger

Nindya. Kapkap. she/her. Indonesian in Malaysia. Millennial. Lo-fi. Post-Rock. Gregorian. Animal Crossing: New Horizons. Murder mystery genre. “Love is Love“.