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  • Haze situation

    I just realized I haven’t blogged for quite some time and I have been wallowing in some kind of unhealthy-type of doomscrolling (isn’t doomscrolling always been unhealthy?) and putting myself in inexplicable rage on… everything. Mostly because of the haze caused by Indonesia’s forest fires (which, I believe, is not accidental. In Indonesian, we say it “dibakar, bukan terbakar”.)

    AirVisual screenshot

    Ugh.

    Because of the haze, we have been having a really limited time to do outdoor activities. Even going outside for work, school, or simply sightseeing the city became a health hazard. The demand for mask is increasing again, and I never imagined that I would pull out my LG Puricare mask, that obnoxious electrical gadget mask with literal air purifier on your face, for Ari to use on his way to the office. Bonus, that mask makes you sound like Darth Vader.

    Also, it’s scored 168 on AQI at my place, and it’s bad already. Imagine how it feels like at places where it’s nearby, or even at, the hotspots located. Some even hits >1000 AQI points. Screw this current Indonesia administration.

    In some ways, the despair feels like the pandemic all over again. That kind of “I’m so powerless”-feeling. You see the forest fires blazing for days, even weeks, then at the next scroll, you see that disgustingly stupid “1980s trend using genAI” trash. Right now, my consolation is reading this book:

    I got this book years ago, at a BookXcess store, and I just got my hands on it recently. I’m familiar with Terry Pratchett by name and some of his quotes, but I was in a… bad time when I first learned about him, as in, he was introduced to me by someone that I would rather not remember fondly. It took years until I finally made peace with it and opened this book, which I’m so glad I did that.

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  • Hari Merdeka Malaysia and Bilabila: Kedai Anak Malaysia

    A bit of disclaimer: This package arrived last week, but I wanted to open it today, right on the date of Malaysia’s independence day.

    Also, another disclaimer: Just like the previous merch boxes from Bilabila, this is something they did out of their goodwill and I’m not being paid for this. They don’t even asked me to post or publish anything at all and our DMs always started with “I’m not an influencer or Key Opinion Leader (KOL), why would you even sending goodie box to meeeeeeeee” and a back-and-forth replies of “this is our thanks for your support!” and “what do you mean “thank you for your support”, HOW ELSE AM I GOING TO GET MY HERBAL TEA AND RICE CRACKERS FIX?”

    Today is Malaysia’s independence day (August 31), and Bilabila is celebrating it with their own usual creative and awesome way. I’m so happy seeing a business like Bilabila supporting their local artists. The co-founder of Bilabila, Jing Lee, is a staunch supporter of the local artists and local businesses, especially the non-mainstream ones. She also has been publicly shown her distaste on genAI and its “results”, which, yessssss ✨

    First off, I love the packaging idea! It also reminds me that I need to do my weekly grocery run, hahah!

    The team had been having a pop-up mart at GMBB, which ended today. I’m actually curious about GMBB; yes, it’s “just another mall”, but GMBB has been a creative hub for a lot of local artists, including holding workshops, events, and board games sessions. I’m going to squeeze some time during the weekdays to see what’s up there.

    I love how they also gave a shout out to their previous artists for Chinese New Year and Hari Raya. I feel it’s really sweet, and it gives a nice boost of visibility for these artists.

    Inside the mini pouch is a reusable shopping bag

    It’s so cool to see THREE artworks in one package! I feel like a little kid in a candy store, hahah. Oooooh, this is so cool! Oh, I love the color palette on this!

    Thank you again, Bilabila, for the cute merch! I have been eyeing the bottle cap pins, and I feel so lucky I got it! Selamat Hari Merdeka, Malaysia!

    The artists’ Instagram account:

    • @itsmonkiddo
    • @lukistulis
    • @rojakdoodle

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  • Long weekend and chill

    After a MONTH of the school’s term break with a constant of “ibu, ibu, ibu, ibu”, “ibu, I’m hungry”, “ibu, can we have Indomie”, “what do you mean, I have to add “more veggies” on my Indomie?!”, “UGH. FIIIINEEEE. Can I have Shin Ramyun instead?”, “how about Buldak Ramyeon?”, and somehow Wira has been cosplaying as Indonesian gecko with “eh eh eh eh eh eh eh” for the entire month, and hearing these two kids bickering in a (very broken) Indonesian language, them kids finally are back to school on Wednesday.

    I immediately seized the day by booking a session at my regular go-to spa place. I went out quite early in the morning since I also wanted to have breakfast at another favorite place of mine.

    I was met by the therapist, a petite lady, whom I initially thought was the receptionist considering how petite she is compared to me!

    The next thing I knew, I spent 90 minutes being ran over by a tractor.

    You are familiar, yeah, with professional women athletes, being a baddie on their field, for example, shooting arrows from a running horse with 80 km/hour speed to a moving target, or doing three-points shot fifty times with eyes closed, or punched literal giants on their face, then went “✨ hihi ✨🫶❤️”? Yeah, exactly that.

    This therapist found a knot on my muscle and chased it down with a determination for a billion burning stars. I found myself lucky I was still able to move my arms after the session. The best 90 minutes and RM 235 I ever spent.

    I also went to Tsutaya Bookstore at The Intermark nearby. I particularly love the local artists’ section on bookstores, and I love Tsutaya Bookstore’s showcasing the merchandises.

    I got myself a couple of bookmarks, mwahahaha.

    AND THIIIIISSS! FINALLY!

    It’s a long weekend here in Malaysia as the country is celebrating their independence day at August 31, so I’m going to take things slow and chill.

    ,

💬 status.cafe:

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“.

Read more about me here.

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