Cheers to 20 years, Overcome Life!!! :)

Cheers!!! :)

Just realised now that this blog has been with me for 20 years now. Wow!!! Look how far I have grown and how much memories and moments I have made! It is incredible!!! It is really like a diary, that I can open anytime, to see what kind of event I went through, what mood I experienced, what songs I listened to, what lesson I learned, and so on. 

Life has been good for the past 20 years and of course it is without hiccups in between. Many things I want to forget, many things I still want to do too. I am still grateful for everything, especially for the good health (15 years of SLE and still going strong), only that I prefer a slow life these days with handful of people who are close to my heart. 

Could not believe how many countries I have been to for the past 20 years and that was the drive of living my life to the fullest while my legs still can walk.

I know one day I will be gone from this world. But as long as I live, I will still write what I want to write, express all what I feel. Just as when as I want, have feeling and have time. 

Time to sleep now. Once again, cheers to 20 years reeverking.blogspot. Thank you for being there for me always and all the readers (if you are still there to read my non sense post or just to see beautiful photos that I share).

Wish everyone be blessed with good health and happiness. Take care and smile always :) Hope there will be more decades to go in this blog journey. Cheers.... :)))

Traveling alone?

Yourself can be a great accompany too!!! (IG: Rimareyka.writes)

People always asked me how could I manage to travel alone? Alone here, did not always mean alone physically, but it was more in a sense of traveling alone without spouse, parents, friend, and so on. 

Looking back, I had done so many times in my life. Sometimes, I could not even believe myself, how did I do it, traveling alone, as far as to US, Europe, Japan, and so on. 

It was a bless that my spouse gave me the trust and permission for all my traveling trips. Not many spouse would understand that dream of yours to visit the world, to experience life outside your comfort zone, to realise your dreams, and to enjoy your own time. I was indeed blessed in that matter and I always felt grateful for him. 

Many of us, especially women, would love to travel and see the world. But due to circumstances (could not take time off together with your loved ones, did not have enough budget for two or more, partner might not be interested in traveling or the destination, just could not find anyone to travel with, and so on), we ended going alone, that too, if you had courage to do so. 

Yes, many of us had been travelling. They could sign travel package from travel agent as it was the easiest thing to go with no worry and you would find many others who were at the same boat traveling with you that way. They had their spouse, family, and friends to travel with them. 

But what if you were really alone and just wanted to be alone? I just realised, traveling alone was not just for everyone.

When my hubby had to travel alone to meet me in Penang few months ago, he was filled with anxiety. It had been long time (due to Covid-19) since the last time he went abroad. That too, mostly with my accompany.  He was worried so much about the trip, especially the procedures that he had to go through during the check-in. He could not sleep the night before, and kept messaging me how to do it. And he told me too, when he was successing with the check-in procedures and everything, when he reached Penang airport feeling proud of himself, and when he came out to the arrival area, he then realised that he forgot to collect his luggage at the conveyer belt. Lol..... :P He had to ask the security officer's permission to enter the collection luggage area to take his luggage. Hahahaha..... this might give him a good lesson for his next travelling trip and memories to laugh with in the future time. 

Anyway, I just thought about it and come out with few things to suggest when you felt like traveling and happened you gotta be alone. 

One life with many choices ahead (IG: Rimareyka.writes)

First, ask yourself, what you want to reach from this trip. The goal, the dream, the purpose. Let me get example from one of my trips - 10-day silent meditation trip in Thailand. You could read the post here. 

"Been wanting to experience living in Ashram or undergo the silence meditation retreat, being away from outer world (no phone, email, Facebook, selfie, etc.) over certain period of time, at least once in my lifetime." - that was my goal and purpose. 

Second, find someone who were interested to join you for the trip. 

In my case, not everyone wanted to go through the 10-day silent meditation trip, as I mentioned in that post, and I ended up having to go through the meditation trip alone, by myself, to somewhere I had never been to. 

However, my ex-classmate was interested with meeting me in Bangkok and later on Chiang Mai. With that, I aligned with her intention and set how many days should I arrange the whole trip. 

Third, find any friends who happened staying at the city or country. If you read the post, I arranged meeting up with my Bhutanese friend who was studying there. And he brought 2 of his friends together, which I ended up knowing more friends from this trip. I was really nervous since it had been 10 years since the last time I visited Bangkok and since I was on budget, it was my first time travelling using Bangkok's train from the airport, and to Chaiya (southern of Thailand - the nearest train station from the meditation's place). 

When meeting him, I felt it boosted my confident to be in the area, felt safer (because they too lived there comfortably - I no more had to scared of getting kidnapped and got my organ stolen - effect of watching movie the day before lol!), and adjusted with the place much faster. So, it was kind of getting moral support, even the meeting was only a brief. 

Fourth, when feeling unsure about anything, or feeling lost, do not hesitate to ask anyone surrounding you. 

In this post, you could read about my day 2 trip. I had no idea how to get to the meditation place and ended up asking a Thai woman who knew only limited English. I did not know any Thai language as well so I tried using simple English mentioning the place I wanted to reach, plus body language. I ended up getting free ride to the destination and until now, it was still feeling like a dream. I still felt that Buddha was blessing me all the way, sending me all those kind people I met all along my way to help and guide me.

Fifth, make friends along the way. Well, since it was 10-day silent meditation trip, we had to be silent, meaning no talk was allowed during the 10 day we were there. But we (girls) stayed at the same compound, we met every time especially those who slept at the room near your room. So eye contact was there and after the meditation over, we made friends to each other. Some of them were still in my Instagram or Facebook contacts. I even met one of them once when I travelled to her hometown in Russia!

Sixth, when travel alone, find a safe location to stay. If you are on budget, stay at homestay would be good as you have a chance to meet many other travellers like you, and can travel and do many things together, but most importantly, paying less on accommodation. Keep your belonging safe is a must do by putting it at safe place (safe deposit box if available, if not, inside belt or pouch and put them beneath your clothes), plus, try to be sober as much as you can (you will never know what others do when you are in drunk mode and having blackout).

When I had more budget, I would usually look for a place not far from train station. I felt that the place was generally crowded (especially at night time). It would safer when more people were still walking around than the quiet place. 

I would read the review before deciding where to stay too, because I believe good or bad experience was the best teacher in life.

Seventh, find activity even when you are alone. In Chiang Mai, when my friend had to attend her massage class, I had to roam the city alone. 

I could find so many activities available from the hotel, website, and so on. I attended cooking class (made friends there as well), signed up daily tour to nearby place, tried many different massages available - from aroma therapy oil body massage, traditional Thai massage with lots of stretching, foot reflexology to Tok Sen hammering massage, browsed the old and new city, tried many different local Thai dishes, and so on. 

When doing all that, you would forget about your loneliness, and focused more on each moments. In other words, find activities that keeps you busy. 

Eight, always inform your whereabout to your loved one. Internet is available at many places, so make good use of it. I had to inform my spouse when I had the 10- day silent meditation trip and gave the staff my emergency contact in case something happened to me during the ten days because I had to keep my mobile phone with the staff (we were not allowed to use it). Not wanted to make others worry, was my priority. So as and when, I would update my whereabout to message them feeling safe as well. 

Traits for solo traveller (IG: Rimareyka.writes)

So, who said you would be lonely when travelling alone??? As long you had good intentions, the path would be there and shown to you. And always believed, that everything happened only for good reasons. 

After reading this, hope you would kill your doubt of traveling alone, and you would benefit even more as you would find out more about yourself (in various situations), like how you would handle problems and uncertainty, and many many more!!! It would shape yourself to be even more brave and more courage to travel many new places in the world.  Hope this post will motivate you and give you strength too to follow your dreams, hopes and destiny in life!!! :)

CCB Day 29

Hello May!!! :)

It is 5th May today. One of the beautiful pair of number in this year (05-05-2020). Some couple decided to give birth today (caesarean birth) so that the baby's birthday will be easily remembered and special. Most people, like me, today passes just like another day. Haha....

It is going to be a month tomorrow since the CCB (Coronavirus Circuit Breaker) started and so far it goes well in terms of our health and well being be it physically, mentally, and emotionally.

Every one is busy with their work (those who wfh or work from home) and study (those who are doing hbl or home based learning). And those who are not engaged in both activities, are busying themselves with many other activities (I fall under this category).

Compilation of my other activities includes:

1. Watching Korean dramas.

The latest popular Korean drama - The World of the Married (Pic source: dramacool)

Since mid March I have managed to watch 6 drama series, which are: Crash Landing On You, Memories of Alhambra, Tell Me What You Saw, When the Weather Is Fine, Itaewon Class, and the latest one, which also my favourite one among the rest, is The World of the Married.

Each series consist of 16 episodes. There are still 4 more episodes left for the World of the Married, as it is an ongoing one. You do not have to get married in order to watch or like the show. The story plot is just so cleverly made that I enjoyed it so much. How the main lady character tried solving each problem that she faced tactfully and the intention was not to hurt. After all, she just wanted to have some justice. I cannot wait for the rest of episodes to come!!!

2. Watching movies online.

Movies online (Pic source: Google.com)

Since mid February till now I have watched more than 30 movies. Be it Chinese, Hong Kong, American, French, Thailand, Korean, many are latest ones and picked randomly.

3. Trying new recipes.

Many of you may have already known that Mala Hotpot is one of my favourite dishes. Before CCB time, I could go down to Chinatown at least once in every 2 weeks with my Mala partners (even named the group of those friends whom I have it with, Mala Partners, in our what's app group chat).

There is a famous stall that serves the best and affordable Mala Hotpot in Chinatown. And it is perfectly eaten together with fresh chilled Tsing Dao beers (a very famous beer from China). It is perfect to have it with great companions, where we could chill, relax, chit chat, and enjoy. It is a bliss!!!

Home cooked Mala Hotpot

With so many ingredients available from the fridge, I decided to cook the above this using the Haidilao spicy sauce and it turned out to taste good and with love put in cooking it, the textures of each ingredients were cooked in perfection.

Initially I thought 5 of us would not be able to finish the whole big pot. But I was wrong. Within an hour, the pot turned empty. Hahaha...

Indonesian Soto Ayam

Some other day I whipped the Indonesian dish called Soto Ayam. It was spiced chicken soup served with vermicelli noodle, shredded cabbage, shredded chicken, boiled egg, spring onion, celery, fried onion, and completed with fried emping (belinjo crackers) and kecap manis or Indonesian sweet soya sauce.

In the past I used to cook this when studying overseas using the instant spices that sold in supermarket. But with so many ingredients to prepare, I had not cooked it for long time. The chicken bone made the soup tasted marvellous. I myself did not expect that the soup would end up tasting that wonderful.

Indonesian potato ball or perkedel

And only yesterday I tried cooking the above dish after watching the video from YouTube. This has been my favourite dish since I was very young. I remember that I always ordered this onto my rice pack whenever Mom buying from the stall. It was made from potato and other ingredients (cornet beef was one of the delicious ingredients).

But since my mother-in-law does not eat beef at home, I wanted to find out what other ingredients could be used without using any beef. I finally found the video and since I had potato at home, I decided to make it. The process and ingredients looked simple, however, it took me 1.5 hours to prepare and wash. Hahaha...

I think next time if I want to eat, I will just go to Malay rice stall and buy it there. The effort taken is not worth. The final products could be consumed in less than 15 minutes. Hahaha....

4. Reading books

Fate with books quote (IG: rimareyka.writes)

I spent my time reading books at home too. So far, I have read quite number of books since CCB started. Just as when my mood was ready to.

5. Updating blogs

Well, I cannot post as often as last time but I am still writing. Looking back at previous posts made me wanting to write more. And if you look at the blog list on the right side of this blog page, you can see that more people updating their blogs more frequent these days.

My blog list - www.reeverking.blogspot.com

I am very happy as I am not alone and blog trends are not dying yet. People still make efforts to write and tell stories (be it from their personal life or others). There was time when blogging seemed dying. People was no more updating and some even deleted their blog). So my blogging friends, hope you keep writing and updating your blog page. Do not let your passion in writing die with laziness and despair :)

Well, I am sure that there are many more activities going on during this CCB time in Singapore. For now, I will end this post. Government said the CCB may end early if the number of cases in community has become zero or in single digit number. Although I prefer this quietness to end longer, I also miss Mala time with my mala partners in Chinatown. Whatever may come, let it come then. Wish you all good days!!! Cya again! :)

One day trip to JB (Johor Bahru) by train - Part 2

Return ticket timing and ticket counter at JB Sentral Train Station, Malaysia

The train may not depart at an exact timing as by the time all the passengers boarded into the train, it may be slightly later than the schedule time. However, you will still reach five minutes later to your destination. The great thing about taking train is that both immigration checks are done before boarding. Therefore, once you step into JB Sentral train station, you are free to go!

If you have not purchased any return ticket yet, worry not! You still can purchase it at the counter, not far from the place where you come out. Just walk straight about 20 meter, you will see a counter with people queuing. There are 2 separate queue if you notice. One is for ticket sold within the same day. Many timings are available. Choose according to your need. Another queue is for ticket sold at another day (advanced ticket purchase).

If you ask me what time will be suitable for both go and back for the day trip? Well, for me personally, I feel that from Singapore to Johor Bahru (JB), 9.45 am is the best timing as many shops are opened after 10 am. You can choose earlier timing as well, like 8.30 am ride if you stay not too far from Woodlands area and want to have a relaxing breakfast at JB. As for return time, I usually choose 9.30 pm as I hardly visit JB this way so I want to maximize my stay without having to stay too late (again, many shops are closed at 10 pm, unless you want to catch the night movie and have some supper before going back to Singapore). Or you may want to choose earlier timing if you do not want to feel too tired or if you need to go back to work the day after. In any case, buy the return ticket right after you reach JB to avoid the tickets being sold out.

And if you want to purchase a SIM card (in case you need), you can get it at the store near where you buy the return ticket. You need to show your passport to register. For a week SIM card, it costs RM 20 - 2 GB data - and enough for a day (you can even share your connection through hotspot with your friends as well). I bought and used it mainly to order the Grab as it will be much cheaper and safer). Again, it is personal choice.

Next, what to do?

Aha! It is still early and it it too early to shop. Haha... So, breakfast (cum lunch) will be the best option. Where? Well, you have plenty of choices where to go and what to eat. You can choose to eat inside the shopping mall (Komtar JBCC, Johor Bahru City Square) or you can also experience to eat local food at local eating house nearby the area.

Queue at Kam Long Curry Fish Head (had avocado juice from nearby stall while waiting) - Johor Bahru, Malaysia

Breakfast Hainanese Chicken Chop at Hua Mui - Johor Bahru, Malaysia

There are many choices available. Choose according to what you feel like eating. Check your Google map for these places: Kam Long Curry Fish Head (open 8 am to 4 pm - closed on Friday), Restaurant Ya Wang (open 8 am to 6 pm - closed on Wednesday), Restoran Hua Mui (open everyday from 8.30 am to 6 pm), Toast and Coffee - previously Tasty Bay Food Court (open every day from 7 am to 5 pm), etc.

Banana cake and assorted bread from Hiap Joo Bakery - Johor Bahru, Malaysia

Or if you just want to have a snack or very light food for breakfast, you can just grab assorted bread (coconut, peanut, ikan bilis, otak, etc.) from Hiap Joo Bakery while takeaway their banana cake back to Singapore (it is fresh made using traditional oven using woods to fire, fragrant and cheap - small box of 5 slices at RM 4.80 and big box of 10 slices at RM 9.60 - perfect oleh oleh (gifts) for your families and friends/colleagues back home. Check their opening time before going (mostly start from 7.30 am to 5 pm except for Sunday - start from 8.30 am and Monday - start from 12 pm). They bake their cake then sell. Once finish, you have to wait for another batch. You may need to queue for a while, but I tell you, it's worth it!

Assorted puffs and bread from Salahuddin Bakery - Johor Bahru, Malaysia

There is another old school bakery nearby the area as well, called Salahuddin Bakery. It opens daily from 9.30 am to 6 pm except on Friday (closed at 5 pm). They sell various puffs (potato, mutton, chicken, and sardine), bread loaf, bread rolls, cream puff, etc. And if you are thirsty, you can go down to Chaiwalla and Co. Container Cafe to have Thai Milk Tea, Iced Coffee, and so on (open daily from 12 pm to 12 am except Sat and Sun open until 1 am).

Long queue at Hiap Joo Bakery - Johor Bahru, Malaysia

All the places I mentioned above is within walking distance from the JB City Square Mall (about ten minutes walk). I was not aware of this place until my friend brought me there. And it surprised me that we had to queue to eat at some of these restaurants and bakery. I mean, weekday morning, queue??? I thought it only happened in Singapore :P Anyway, it can be a good experience to taste local food from these eateries. Oh, bring umbrella as the heat can be unbearable and it may rain as well!

Miniso at KSL City Mall - Johor Bahru, Malaysia

From there you can take Taxi or Grab to other shopping malls or walk back to JB City Square or Komtar JBCC. KSL City Mall can be a good choice to shop as it contains varieties of shops (Mr D.I.Y., Daiso, Popular, Miniso, Tesco supermarket, enormous shops for mobile phone accessories, lingerie (Sorella, Triumph, Young Hearts, etc.), clothing stores, many good food to eat and drink inside and nearby (for lunch), many salon, massage/manicure/pedicure places, and one of Singaporean favorite places to make glasses too!

Mala xiangguo at Tasty Hotpot opposite KSL City- Johor Bahru, Malaysia

You can find plenty of blogs regarding where to eat in Johor Bahru to have details of each restaurant. I asked my friend who stays in JB on what were nice to eat nearby the KSL and he recommended me Tasty Hotpot (mala xiangguo dish where the family recipe came directly from Chengdu, China). I tried it with my friends and not bad lah! They also sell few appetizers and dessert to complete our meal. Oh, not forgetting Tsing Tao Beer to accompany the dishes, especially in hot afternoon!!! :D

A Ming Di Hwang Ya at KSL City

There are nice noodle shops and roasted meat/duck nearby the area as well but I am not sure which stalls. Heard some people like to eat the bakuteh (Malaysian style pork rib soup) there too. But so far, I haven't tried them. I ate the roasted meat from inside the KSL called A Ming Di Hwang Ya (you can see a display of giant roasted duck from the front part of the restaurant).

With Jeffrey Ang - Co-owner of Burger Bandit - at KSL City - Johor Bahru, Malaysia

I also tasted two burgers (Prawn Katsu Burger and Mac and Cheese Burger) from the Burger Bandit as it is owned by my ex-colleague. According to him, these two burgers are their best seller items. Make it a Combo (additional fries and lemonade) only at RM 4.50 more. It tasted really good!!! Try it next time if you feel like having burger as they fixed the most of their patty home made!

After filling your stomach with heavy lunch, you may want to continue shopping and walk around. You can go back to City Square to shop or go another mall before going back there. If you love to shop clothes, my local friend recommended me to go to Paradigm Mall. There is Parkson and cinema inside.

Visited the newly opened mall - Mid Valley Southkey in Johor Bahru, Malaysia

But if you want to check a new shopping mall in the area, you can go down to The Mall, Mid Valley Southkey. It was opened somewhere in April 2019. Not all shops were opened yet when I went down last week but most have been operating well. Many branded shops can be found. Restaurants are available too. Good time to spend in evening.

After a very long day, I chose to have an hour full body traditional Thai massage at Thai Odyssey - Johor Bahru, Malaysia

You can go back to City Square mall again before or after dinner and finish your shopping list. You may want to peek items at Watsons or Guardian (some things are much cheaper to get than in Singapore), fancy breads at bakery like Seasons and Lavender for next day breakfast are nice and cheap (you can get an average of S$1 per bread), stationery stock up from Popular and/ or Times bookstore (do not forget to bring your Popular membership card because you can use it in Malaysia and Hong Kong too), browse clothes from Uniqlo, H and M, etc. buy sport shoes from Nike, New Balance, Sketches, etc., shop some local snacks from Yong Sheng, share various flavors of popcorn from Eureka (RM 11.90-12.90 for vacuumed pack, up to RM 27.90 for glass bottle type), and perhaps last minute foot massage or whole body massage (after whole day of eating and walking) at Thai Odyssey. It is not very cheap but still cheap compared with Singapore standard.

Char Kway Teow from PappaRich Malaysia

You can have dinner first too before going back. Many restaurants are available. I recommend the Char Kway Teow from PappaRich if you like Chinese Indonesian style of Char Kway Teow. 1 portion is RM 17.50 (incl. Tax and svc charge) or around S$5.80 only (In Singapore it cost S$9.90 excl 10% svc charge and 7% GST). Hehehe.. it's personal choice anyway! :D

Things I bought from Johor Bahru, Malaysia (Eureka Popcorns and Gardenia Sambal Ikan Bilis)

Check your train ticket timing once again! Be there half an hour before departing time as you need to clear the immigration before boarding into the train. If you still have spare time, you can shop around the place. There is one mama shop selling the Gardenia bread roll - sambal ikan bilis (spicy anchovies bread). In Malaysia, one packet it costs RM 1.05. In Singapore, the same flavor bread is sold at S$1.30, which means, with the price of 1 bread in Singapore, you can get 4 packs of it in Malaysia). It tastes very nice too and have quite long expiry date. You can stock it up back home and have it anytime when you are hungry. It is really a very good buy!!! I know a friend who can buy 20 packs of it at one time! :D Can be a good gift to friends and colleagues as well! :)

So, board your train well and on time. When you reach back to Woodlands, you will have to go through the Singapore checkpoint. This time you can choose any place to queue (not necessary choose the automated machines) to fasten up the queue process.

Wish you a wonderful journey!!! :)

I hope you will have a wonderful one-day Johor Bahru trip after reading this blog. You can share your experience by leaving your comments below and add in some good tips or good makan (eating) place so others can benefit from it. So, explore well and enjoy the journey!!

The Mummy Bloggers by Holly Wainwright

"Meet three women who are living their lives online, each one of them followed, idolized, imitated, taunted and trolled.

Elle Campbell is a glossy, lycra-clad mum with washboard abs, a ten-year plan and a complicated past. Abi Black has quit sugar, moved to the country and is homeschooling her moody teens. Leisel Adams slogs away at her office job each day before rushing home, steeped in guilt, to spend precious moments with her three babies before bedtime. They all share a label that they simultaneously relish and loathe - mummy blogger. And the connections don't stop there...

When all three women are nominated for a prestigious blogging award with a hefty cash prize, the scene is set for a brutal and often hilarious battle for hearts, minds - and clicks. As the awards night gets closer, their lies get bigger, their stunts get crazier - and some mistakes from the past become harder and harder to hide."

The Mummy Bloggers by Holly Wainwright

The above is the synopsis of the book. As a blogger myself, I know it well that blogging, apart from the way to express the heart out, the passion that flames within self, a media where writing skill, story telling, or poem writing can be flaunted, a site to share the life's journey and experiences, it is also the place where people can use it to generate money, influence, connections, fame, and so on.

Some use it as their main or side income to generate commission from the ads they posted within their blog, engage in sponsor of various products, hotel or Food and Beverage experience at different restaurants, and so on. And usually they create a life that is not necessarily the real life they live in. It is more into what appear on the outside rather than what really happens, which you can find out more from the book above.

There is nothing wrong with it really, until it has become a competition rather than passion, until the person has to hide the truth and lie exaggeratedly to show the best of their lives, to satisfy their ego to become the cream of the cream, which more often or not, not exist in real life. After all, we are all just a normal human being with our own strength and weakness, perfection and imperfection, happiness and sadness, peace and troubles, etc.

From the Mummy Bloggers :)

And lucky to those, that despite of their weaknesses and imperfection, there is always someone who will stay by their side, who loves, cares, supports incessantly to whatever things they do in their lives, who appreciates all the efforts and love given to the best they can.

We often heard this quote: "Behind every successful man, there is a supportive and encouraging woman," but it is also true that: "Behind every happy woman, there is a loving, supportive, and appreciative man that keep her safe and secure." 

So, this is my first read for the year 2018. Hope you have started yours and share your reading in your blog soon ;)

Year End Gifts-away :)

Happiness is.... (Pic source: Google.com)

Dear blog readers,

Christmas and New Year is just around the corner!!! I noticed this afternoon that my drawer was packed with gifts that I bought while traveling this year. Among them I bought few new journals that I found cute and in good quality. But it seemed that I used it pretty slow due to more travels happening almost every month this year.

Therefore, I want to give them away to you as my ardent blog readers, Instagram, and Twitter followers, as a heartfelt appreciation as we've built friendship through those, and also as a Christmas present as to wrap the year 2017 beautifully and to welcome the new 2018 year wonderfully!!! It's nothing luxury but only a small gift from my heart :)

Beautiful quote by Mother Teresa (Pic source: Google.com)

Due to its limitation, I will only give it on first-come-first-serve basis. What you have to do is to email me at rimamanis@gmail.com - your name and complete address (to make sure I can send it to the right postal address), as for Bhutanese readers who do not have postal address can still send me the email and I will find a way to deliver the gift to you; your choice of gift (from A to F - see the photos below); or other souvenirs - for those who do not have passion in writing journal, I will send the gift of my choice to you based on your gender (so please, if possible, tell me your gender as well). Don't worry, I won't misuse or spread your information to others. It will only be kept confidential :)

P.S. For Bhutanese readers, if you have any friend travelling to Singapore and return back to Bhutan, please let me know so that I can send the parcel through your friend (to avoid the missing gift).

A

B

C and D

E

F

So, hurry up!!! Send your email to me right away :)

Note: 1 person can only get 1 gift ^^

Wish you luck!!!

Lots of Love,


Reeverking.blogspot

Gyalo by Au Lingi Jamtsho

"Gyalo" - means victory!!

"Gyalo" - a victory cry in Bhutanese language, or if translated, would read as "Victorious!!!" This title was chosen by the author, as army was all about the victory, and it related very much with the victor, a person who defeats an enemy or opponent in a battle, game, or other competition, as translated by the dictionary.

To be frank, it was a very much awaiting book for me. Not because my name was mentioned in the "Acknowledgment" page as "Singaporean Bhutanese," but because it was actually Au Lingi's first attempt in writing, even before his published book - "The Night Hunter." 

Nice handwriting, Dawa! ;)

Thank you for Dawa Knight who sent me this book upon knowing his lady friend would make a trip to Singapore more than a month ago. Since he did not have time to get Au Lingi's signature, he signed it on his behalf on the cover page hahaha... and very proud with his beautiful handwriting :D

Only after returning from my long holiday trip I finally managed to have "me-time" to concentrate reading it and now finally writing a review about it :)

The content of the book was about Dorji, who initially intended to become an engineer when he was young, but fate led him to join the NDA (National Defence Academy).

As I turned the page, it reflected how Dorji began his journey - the NDA training at Pune, India, at a place called Khadakwasla. He was only in late teens that time. The book told us how tough the training as an army was. "If someone says 'life is hell,' he is a cadet, and if he says 'that was the best part of my life,' he probably is an ex-NDA," would perfectly describe the life at the NDA.

Drills were part of the training and he had to go through so many 'birthing' procedures before he finally attained a senior officer status in the army.

For the details of the story, you have to flip the book and read it by yourself. All I could say was that it was a very realistic story that one should face if he chose to join the army.

Au Lingi Jamtsho - looks dashing and smart in his uniform :)

When I asked Au Lingi if the story was written based on the true story, he replied me like this, "This was fiction. However, Gayle Foreman says that every fiction has its base in fact." And he admitted to me too that he was once wanted to become an engineer, but landed up becoming soldier. Hehe... 

I was asking him too if it was really his "Uncle" who led him to join the army, and he confessed that it was his cousin cum childhood friend who joined the NDA one year before him, and not his Uncle, as what the story was written. And his reason was a way too simple, "I saw him all dressed up and got attracted to it." Hahaha.... You were indeed cute lah Au! ^^

So, I'd let you conclude yourself how far it was resemblance to the author's own life experience :)

Here in Singapore, all 18-year-old male Singaporeans and second generation permanent residents are required  statutorily to undergo a certain period of compulsory service in the uniformed services, which we usually call National Service or NS. Depending on the physical and medical fitness, they usually have to serve two-year period as Full-time National Servicemen (NSFs). It can be at the Singapore Armed Forces (SAF), Singapore Police Forces (SPF), or the Singapore Civil Defense Forces (SCDF).

And after completion, they would be considered as operationally ready, and still have to go through reservist once every year so that they won't forget what they have learned and to use their ability in realistic situation until the obligation period over (with a cap up to 40 years old).

Ah Boys to Men 1 to 3

To describe the life of the NSFs, which was very much alike with what Au Lingi described in his book, there were movie made by local director called Ah Boys to Men series 1 to 3, which was made in mixture of realistic and humorous Singaporean way (in Chinese language with English translation).

Therefore, while reading upon the Gyalo, it reminded me of the army scenes as directed on the movies (including ways to fake the sickness, stealing sleep from many sleepless nights, teamwork and survival skills inside the jungles, cadet's spirit of unity and brotherhood when facing punishment, etc.)

However, I found that it was great that Au Lingi put much of his real life experience with army training places in India and Bhutan as the locations into this book so that fellow Bhutanese would feel the glimpse of army life which exist surrounding them. He too put it in more literally way with some story plot which connected one thing to another and beyond the drills capacity.

I saluted him for his rich vocabularies and his excellent ways in describing a person and situation, especially when English wasn't the major that he took during his school days (in fact, he was studying science!!!)

And I saluted him too for being gentleman, a man of his character (in which you could see from the way he treated others), calm, and polite from the outer side but deep inside he was very much observant, highly committed and responsible person.

Perfect with tea and biscuits in cool evening :)

Overall I enjoyed reading "Gyalo" very much. Before ending our conversation, he reminded me about the life of the army -
"Remember, there is no runners up in war. You are either good or dead," and as the two golden rules mentioned in the book, "Ours is not to question why. Ours is but to do our die." 

Sydney Itinerary Day 4 - Nan Tien Temple, Wollongong Botanic Garden, and Wollongong Beach

Day 4 - Nan Tien Temple, Wollongong Botanic Garden, and Wollongong Beach

Train journey towards Wollongong :)

Weeks before flying to Australia, I contacted Yeshi or known more as Yessi Norfe (a young Bhutanese lady who currently resided in Wollongong with her two and half years old beautiful daughter called Daisy Choetsho Droma - whom she called 'Bumchu', who was also a blogger who blogged since year 2011. Find her blog here - Hear My Voice/ Mommy Blog. Obviously I knew her through the blogsphere, most probably since year 2013, when I started knowing few active Bhutanese bloggers around.

Feel like a student again :P

When I visited Australia two years ago, I did no have chance to visit Sydney. So this time, when I had more time to spend in Sydney, I planned a whole day to be spent with her and Bumchu :) So, through Instagram message and We Chat, we chatted and planned our trip together. I took train early in the morning from where I stayed to North Wollongong for about 1.5 hours. From there, I had to go to the opposite platform (platform 1), walked few steps and got into the UOW (University of Wollongong) bus provided for students freely. Well, both hubby and I felt like a student taking that bus hahaha.... :P

Having breakfast while waiting for the bus :)

Once reached the University's bus stop, we waited for both of them for a while. Since we had just missed our next bus, we paid a visit to the nearest loo. We had to change twice before reaching the Nan Tien temple. While waiting for the other bus, we went to 7-eleven to get our caffeine dose, orange cupcakes for Bumchu, and banana cake for myself. Did not expect the banana cake tasted really good! The $1 regular coffee/cappuccino was our favorite too!!! :)

Fo Guang Shan Nan Tien Temple - Wollongong 

Reaching temple, we went inside and prayed. We prayed to Goddess of Mercy or Kwan Im Pu Sha, also known as Avalokitesvara. Upon entering the main shrine, there were students doing some breathing exercise as part of their tour around the temple. We again offered our prayers to the Buddha (there were 5 Buddha statues inside). In a while, we heard what the temple staff explained to those students about the temple and the Buddha statues in front of us, also about Buddhist teachings in general.

Gratitude Bell - Nan Tien Temple 

We went to see the Pagoda and walked up towards the Gratitude Bell. You could 'gong' the bell as feeling gratitude towards your parents. There, we sat down and had a small picnic :)

Playing with Bumchu :)

We saw the other parts of the temple before heading to the bus stop. We just missed our bus so the next one would take quite some time. While waiting, Bumchu was playing with us, acting as shopkeeper and we were all as the buyers. So cute....

Wollongong Botanical Garden - Australia

Yeshi invited us to her rented home for lunch. To reach there, we had to walk across the Wollongong Botanical Garden. Wow!!! Again, we were blessed with beautiful flowers and natures there :)

Delicious Bhutanese meal at Yeshi place :)

She prepared quite a lot of food for us, among them, many were cooked in Bhutanese style, such as; ema datshi, ezzay, dhall, kewa and nutella datshi. Only fried salmon was not. She prepared it all by herself since morning time. Wow!! She also prepared curd water for us to drink. Hmmm.. the food was all delicious la!! Hubby and I loved it very much la!!! Name same kadinche-la Yeshi!!! :)

When Mom gets busy :D

While both of us were busy washing dishes and cleaning up, Bumchu suddenly disappeared. The room became very quiet. And I searched for her. Guess what? She was sitting on the floor inside the shower room helping the Mermaid and three yellow duckie taking a bath. Hahaha... I could not stop laughing looked at the scene. How enjoyed she was with the thing she was doing!!! :D

Wollongong Beach - Australia

At 4 pm, all of us got ready for our trip to the beach. Wollongong was known for its beach with two lighthouses. I went here too seventeen years ago, but could only recall very little about the places. We took a bus there and reached towards evening.

Gift from Yeshi. Kadinche-la :)

We had a stroll along the beach from one side to another. But the wind had become stronger. Hubby and I walked towards the other light house while Yeshi and Bumchu got their way back and waited for us near to the bus stop. We met there after a while before heading back to the train station,

Time to go... will see you again one day...

We had to wait at the train station for about half an hour. While waiting, Bumchu and us were playing and laughing. Oh my!!! Bumchu's laughters!!! It was so contagious and so happy!!! We kept doing that until our train came and we had to leave. She was crying and sad as the train left. Poor Bumchu! I wished I could stay and play longer with you... Thank you very much Yeshi for all your time, effort, lunch, gift (book and post card), and everything you had done for us. It was not goodbye though but would see you again. We'd never know.. Just like how we both could meet up this time!!! :)

Shanghai noodle before going back :)

We reached our station back in another 1.5 hours. Had Shanghai pork soup noodles with pan fried bun before going back to our place and having a good rest. It'd been a long day but it was all memorable la!!! Had recorded Bumchu's laughter on my phone. Could play it anytime I want :D