AT THE SPEED OF NOOR

Satoko to Nada was recommended to me by my friend Nana who is also an avid manga reader, so I was not only intrigued by this series, I was genuinely excited to read it. This was the first manga I've ever read with a hijabi as one of its main characters. I coudn't wait to read it as soon as I found it online. It basically revolves around two housemates in America: a Japanese girl and a Muslim Arab girl who became fast friends despite having very little in common.

5 things I learnt from going to Good Vibes this year: VIP tix was worth the price, because front row watching Lorde 😌 I'm much older than most of the crowd So many cute/hot/pretty/interesting-looking people but #2 😂 Genting hotel etc establishment is pretty impressive I underestimated how many people gamble I may elaborate and add more input... we'll see.

6am at a McD. A fairly old staff member sweeps the floor of the restaurant near me, but he pauses every few minutes. I thought he was trying to figure out how to remove stubborn stains in those areas, but after a few times of him doing this, I notice him standing quietly (almost swaying) behind me longer than before, this time right next to a table.  When I turned to look at him properly, I realised that he'd actually drifted off to sleep while standing - had he lost his footing, he would've fallen down or worse, knock his head on the corner of the table. As someone who can fall asleep quite easily and in the randomest positions, it was deeply concerning (and I can also empathise) how dangerous it would be if this happened. I was quickly considering ways to wake him up when he suddenly came to and continued sweeping, probably thinking/hoping that nobody saw him. He is mopping the floor now, which has woken him up some, thankfully. I sincerely hope he is okay.

It saddens me whenever people resort to using religious scripture to justify why we should be kind to other beings. Is receiving afterlife benefits (or avoiding divine punishment) the only reason to be a good person? Is our society so emotionally bankrupt that the only way for people to be decent to others is through religious guilt/personal gain?

What does a gender blind world look like? DUALITY is an immersive theatre production I've never experienced before. According to its producers - two Malaysian individuals who are "tired of the moulds society tries to put [them] in", this project was created to challenge the status quo through "unconventional storytelling", in particular, to showcase local performers who struggle to adhere to traditional gender roles and stereotypes. Due to a busy schedule, I was only able to catch DUALITY's finale show. I'm so glad I didn't miss it!

My car broke down on my way back home from work yesterday. It was close to 10pm, and it started to drizzle when the engine kept dying after a few seconds of driving. It was a pretty horrible day, haha. When my parents arrived to help me out, we were told by a few people who were eating at some stalls nearby that there is a small car workshop close to where I was parked. And it happened to be open at night. So yeah, miracles do happen. After talking to the main mechanic (who said the problem was with a spark in the engine), we left the car with him so that he didn't have to rush to fix it. He called me around 7pm today to say the car was ready, so at around 8pm, we went to the workshop again. He charged me RM90, which I thought was pretty reasonable as it is... until I realise that he fixed not only the engine, but also a part of the engine frame which had a small hole, the lever to open the trunk, and one of the red rear lights (which I didn't realise wasn't working until h...

In less than an hour: Situation 1: I was buying some things and the cashier accidentally punched in the wrong key in the computer and couldn't figure out how to undo it.  In less than a minute, she asked her workmate, and after they tinkered with the PC a bit, they messaged their friend (and apologised to me the whole time). They then restarted the PC and scanned my items again, but the system still went bonkers. Their friend finally replied to their txt with how to fix the situation, but it seems a bit technical (it involves clicking some buttons in the software plus pressing some keys, but their keyboard is quite worn out so they couldn't see all the keys properly).  Finally, they turned to me and asked me if I could help ("Akak, tolong kami boleh? Kami tak reti" while showing me the txt messages). Thankfully, I knew where the keys are on the keyboard so we managed to solve the problem together. Situation 2: Two grown-up men (early 30s maybe?) standing next to me ke...