August will always be mine :)

August has always come by with some sort of drama or eventful turn of events. And well, being born in the month, I've kinda sorta claimed it as mine. I'm thankful that this year, it's been good to me :)

After what was a rather dark and messy July, August has been all sunshine, family, friends, great food (lotsa cheese!), coffee, wine and love. The Australian adventure and the birthday had a lot to do with that, but also the other little things interspersed between- reconnections (with people, yoga, running and myself), music, hugs, dance and chocolate.

Some of the anger, sadness and frustration is still there, but with some concentrated effort I've made a little more room for the happiness and peace too. And well, burned a few bridges and cut down on the drama and negativity inflow. Necessary evils I suppose.

Tomorrow, as a fitting crazy finish to the month, I head to church for a wedding in the morning, take my oath and sing the national anthem as a Singaporean in the afternoon, practice some Spanish dialogue in the evening, and celebrate our births with champagne and the Mauritian in the night. One heck of a Saturday, I hope :)

I'm in a much better place, and I'm so grateful for that.

7 days later..

It's been such a wonderful birthday week :)

Birthday lunches, dinners, earrings, wishes and love. Some of it delayed, some of it unexpected, some of it missed. And in terms of fitness alone, I think I just might've outdone myself: Tuesday- Zumba, Thursday- run, Sunday- run, Tuesday- Zumba, Wednesday- Yoga, Friday- Cardio, Sunday- run. And it feels amazing! (except in the mornings, when I have to crawl/limp out of bed)
The night festival turned out to be quite a spectacle, with the acrobats on the walls of the National Museum and then suspended on a pentagon under a crane? Caught up over Thai and tea with Ms Shutterbug and her whirlwind of wedding madness, which also got me thinking about life and it's little surprises, sometimes just round the corner.
Metallica with the boys on Saturday night. The crowds of black-teed fans, the gaping field that held all 40,000 of us, and well, the pure awesome energy that the band (and sound system!) brought on stage. Nothing short of epic. But the moments I treasured most were holding onto Prav and headbanging to Enter Sandman and Creeping Death and Fade to Black, and the foursome swaying in tandem to Nothing Else Matters. Best birthday present ever dude, gonna be hard to top that one up :) And then came the two hour crazymidnightwalkinthemiddleofnowhere to get to civilization and a cab home. Kinda killed the high a bit but hey, despite the neck aches the next day, it was all worth it.
Lotsa quiet time, naps, Spanish, reading, parental madness, sushi and the discovery of the Mindy project.
And today I get the news that the conference in Seoul is confirmed, apparently with a complimentary 2 day weekend thrown in? Woohoooo!

Wanderlust calling..

“Travel is little beds and cramped bathrooms. It’s old television sets and slow Internet connections. Travel is extraordinary conversations with ordinary people. It’s waiters, gas station attendants, and housekeepers becoming the most interesting people in the world. It’s churches that are compelling enough to enter. It’s McDonald’s being a luxury. It’s the realization that you may have been born in the wrong country. 

Travel is a smile that leads to a conversation in broken English. It’s the epiphany that pretty girls smile the same way all over the world. Travel is tipping 10% and being embraced for it. Travel is the same white T-shirt again tomorrow. Travel is accented sex after good wine and too many unfiltered cigarettes. 

Travel is flowing in the back of a bus with giggly strangers. It’s a street full of bearded backpackers looking down at maps. Travel is wishing for one more bite of whatever that just was. It’s the rediscovery of walking somewhere. It’s sharing a bottle of liquor on an overnight train with a new friend. 

Travel is ‘Maybe I don’t have to do it that way when I get back home.” 

- Nick Miller

The space between the moments

While it's kinda true that my adult life has most often been a case of 'Amri and the boys', I do have a few very close girlfriends who I cannot imagine life without. These are the girls who've held me when I've cried (either happy or sad tears), who've listened to me sans judgement over a bottle of wine at my most vulnerable, who have loved me in spite of all my hangups, and who've just always been there, with advice and make up tips and love across distance and time zones and regardless of the battles they're fighting too. Just thinking about them while writing this is making me tear up :)

[Incidently, at the same moment that I'm writing this, the Universe sends me a note. Talk about divine intervention: 

In times of great stress and great joy, Amri, you are completely surrounded by loved ones in the unseen who adore and support you, wanting to share whatever you're experiencing.

So at those times, if you can remember to be calm and quiet and go within, you'll feel them, you'll remember them, and you'll benefit most from their presence.

Actually, Amri, they're there 24/7, lovingly carrying on, hooting and hollering, having their pictures taken with you, each claiming credit for your piercing life insights, your calm in the face of chaos, and your famed 1, 2 thingy when you bop to music and think no one can see you... ]

Anyways Ems and Sid took me out for my birthday last night. And over a cheese platter, burgers, garlic prawns, feta-stuffed grilled eggplant and too much bubbly, we caught up and swapped tales about the going ons in our lives. An amazing chocolate brownie and a birthday song in a random bar later, we hugged each other in a high, way past our curfew. And in the space between those moments of breathless laughter and pure happiness, a feeling of utter gratitude and love crept in at having them in my life. They've seen and been with me through some of the toughest and happiest moments of my life here, and are really part of the family I've had the honour of choosing :)

Dance, an amazing massage, chocolate, cheese, champagne, music, and so much love from so many people.. It's been a good couple of days :)

That maiden post.. again.

It's a funny feeling to create a whole new blog for what must be the 14th time now, and realize you've come a full circle in the world of blogging platforms, back to where you started your first blog years ago :) And well, also stumble across blogs you created along the way and then promptly forgot about.. untouched little corners of cyberspace :)

Birthdays have a way of making you rethink and reevaluate and reconsider your life, and then well, start another blog or something to feel like you're on the right track to achievement. No qualms about it, this blog is exactly that- an attempt at documenting what my life will be like during this next 365 day roadtrip around the solar system... Ooooh, wordplay.

Also, not having your birth date posted on Facebook brings with it the phenomenon of having a clean wall and being pleasantly surprised by those precious few friends who remember your birthday anyway, mostly due to attempts at branding this in their brain over the years.. so this is my public declaration of gratitude for those phone calls and messages and texts across the time zones!

Technically, backtracking 2.5 (and a bit) decades ago, I haven't been born yet, with the whole Swedish time zone and night birth thing, but oh well, it's still my birthday somewhere in the world now so I might as well get down to it. But I'm starting to cringe at how self-involved and narcissistic this post sounds, so I think I might just stop here for now...

.. but not before reliving my Fade to Black birthday cake moment :D