Are You Ready To Bid Adieu to 2017?

Resolution this, resolution that. Accomplish this and that. Have I even have a resolution? Do I even have a list of accomplishments? Do my friends have their own list of resolutions achievements? Is there something wrong with me if I have none?

Well, with or without a list of resolutions or accomplishments, Life does goes on, minute by minute, day by day where eventually it will reach the 31st of December every year. If you needed a list of resolutions to get by, did you work on it early of the year or only thought of it before the midnight of 31st December?  Do you get agitated and start to precipitate within the last half hour before the year closes? Will you be able to let go of 2017?

I don't have a list of resolutions for the basic fact that I almost always didn't manage to carry them out over the years and only thought about it within the last 30 minutes of 31 December. So, I've dispensed with the need for it and live Life by the day although I do have plans for the weekends in the year and enjoy the time I have. For the sake of making resolutions, let's keep it simple and mine will be : Enjoy Life! That's simple, right?

Enjoy Life! I did, with a trip to Khao Yai, Thailand early in the year. Located at the edge of the national park, 3 hours away from Bangkok, it was quite an isolated place with little choice of public transport other than renting a car and driving on our own, aided by Google Maps. A colourful place, with unique tourist destinations and a vineyard to boot, which sets it apart from the cosmopolitan city of Bangkok, with offerings of capitalist choices of the money spending variety. The theme of Life in Khao Yai is about nature. With its boutique foodie locations, there's also cows and goats for you to pet at the farm. Quite surroundings and cool temperature, it's an apt spot for relaxation for the family.

Back to the drawing board on the next adventure, and the bike came to mind. A 1,700 km two wheeler ride across the northern part of Malaysia. The journey over 2 days found us riding through Selangor-Perak-Penang-Kelantan-Terengganu, ending back in Selangor. The feeling of freedom on the bike can never be described in full to the uninitiated but you've got to try it at least once. On and on, we sputtered along albeit with a building sore ass due to the long hours of sitting. So, pit stops were the order of the day, with bites at good foodie locations to savour Penang laksa for example. Being in Kota Baru, Kelantan on the first day, we were fortunate to find good nasi kerabu at the local Pasar Siti Khadijah. I must have amused the local Malays with me wearing the baju Melayu, me being a Chinese and created an opportunity of rapport with them, coupled with my fluency in the Malay language.

What's a northern ride without it being complemented with a southern ride? A couple of months later found us on a 900 km ride across Pahang to Rompin-Mersing-Johor Bahru which was continued after bunking over at Skudai, that enabled us to savour good Indonesian satay for breakfast in Muar the next day. The amazing deep blue colour of the South China Sea had us stop over for lunch in Terengganu. A ride on the East West Highway from evening till dusk fall, from sunset till complete darkness was really one experience.

After the bike and food, more good food is on the cards as there were two wedding dinners months apart. Meeting up old friends and keeping up to date with each other, and not forgetting the requisite we-fie shots for posterity. It was like a mini gathering of ex-colleagues. With the luxurious food down the stomach, I will need a bit of exercise to work off the excess energy. Therefore, an 9 hours hike up the state's highest peak, Gunung Nuang, was in the works and reached the peak we did, after 4 hours trudging through muddy paths and up steep 40 degree inclines. And fed the friendly family of squirrels, we did too. After getting enough of the unadulterated fresh mountain air, we reluctantly left after saying goodbye to fellow hikers.

Goodbyes, there were many, as an old Hainanese village in Malacca was flattened to make way for development, 44 years after coming into being. A village where I had many childhood memories, with all the fun of growing up in this quaint seaside village. However, I was prepared for the eventual destruction of the village, with tons of photographs to retain the good memories of the place. And goodbyes too, with the passing 2 friends and a cousin in the final quarter of the year to heart attack. Life is completely unpredictable and all we can do is, enjoy it to the max while there's still Life in us. No matter what you do or how healthy you think you are, once your Life contract is up, you'll have to leave. But then, for some, Life continues with more adventures and my daughter completed her primary school and will be entering secondary school in 2018.

Not everything is negative as yet another adventure turned up. It was our wedding anniversary and off we flew to Sihanoukville for a quiet time to ourselves, savouring the pristine beach of Otres 3 and walked we did, down the 3 km beach line and back, to prepare ourselves for a good dinner with the sea breeze blowing and the sound of crashing waves serenading us. Of course, we're not selfish to have forgotten our kids and off we flew again, the following month, to Bandung for a short break to the volcanic land and taking in the beauty of the craters, in the comfort of the good hospitality of our Indonesian host cum Grabcar driver.

How can the year end without great family gathering, right? And gathered we did, in Penang over a great steamboat lunch where everyone caught up with our cousin who returned from Australia for a short break, to remind himself of his Malaysian roots and catching up on the array of local food that he missed while in Down Under. That all but summarizes my 2017 and hope that you've had a great year and if you didn't or haven't, you still have a few hours left today to carry out whatever you've missed before the countdown begins 10 seconds before midnight tonight. I've nothing left undone for 2017 and that's meaning writing this last blog for the year and hoping that 2018 will provide good fodder of adventures as I continue to Enjoy Life, my one and only resolution for this year and the years to come. Happy New Year, don't miss out on Life!

Wandering Wunderlust

Wandering here, wandering there. Some even have lustful wanderings, thereby wanderlust-

ing? It's good to have lustful wanderings but keep aside those lustings of the amorous type, ok? Just in case you get yourself into trouble. Now, what wanderings have thehapi8wanderer been up to recently? Well, since he's into bikes and the mechanics of things, he had gone to Sepang Kart Circuit last Saturday to try out the machines that Suzuki had to offer. Due to the overwhelming crowd and tight time management, visitors could only try 3 bikes. I chose the V-Strome 1000 and SV-650. The former is a sports tourer while the latter is the naked sports bike which is currently popular among bikers. Yours truly is still awaiting for his Yamaha MT-09 to be offered at a right price but that's for another time, ok?

In all the wanderings, the wanderer should be occupying himself with happy things or activities. Why shouldn't he? Is Life dependent on others? Is is important what others think for you, no matter their good intentions? I believe most would be contented to admit that Your Life Is Your Life, And Nobody Should Dictate Your Life? Happiness is relative yet it's important that you realise that you yourself is responsible for your own happiness. You may be happy in a big way, and you may be happy in small ways. And when you're happy, the feeling is infectious through your outwardly actions and will touch those around you. Ain't a bad deal, right?

Do you fear new surroundings or actions which are unfamiliar to you? For those

surroundings or actions which you've become accustomed to, they were once unfamiliar, right? So, how did you become familiar to the surroundings or actions? I'm pretty sure you need to dive into them, and get the experience that you'll be comfortable with. Now, look at these berries. Will you try to eat them if I told you that they can be eaten? Don't worry, I won't try to poison you. Some will hesitate, wondering how it'll taste like. But if you don't try eating it, how would you know how it'll taste like? Take the first bite, it will taste slightly sourish but deeper inside, the core is soft and full of tiny seeds and is sweet. Enjoying it now? Trying is believing.

Back to the issue of happiness. Did you ever come across anyone who's so negative that you wonder why they're still living? I mean, if everything is in the negative, what's the joy of living? Some may relish the feelings of negativity, you say? So, this guy or gal will just suffer the frustrations of the daily morning traffic jams to go to work, do stuff, eat lunch and jumps up at 5.30 p.m to face yet another round of traffic jam, to go home, eat dinner and sleep before 11.00 p.m? Maybe there's comfort in a routine but is that all there is to Life? Maybe there's a book to read or a night experience in the city that you may want to try out..and broaden the mind just a little wee bit? Ok, maybe the book offers a better solace than facing the dangers of the night in the city, right...or no?

Food...and food. Who doesn't like food, right...or no? Food shouldn't be limited to those few

eateries where you normally go for lunch or dinner or supper. Expand the area a bit and you'd be surprised at the tons of choices out there. From the plain nasi lemak and roti canai at the roadside stalls, to the delicious beef noodles or chicken rice at the hawker centres or food courts, to the sophisticated upside trending names of food you will find at chic cafes, to the restaurants offering fine dining cuisines which you pay only for how they look good (ahem!), there's a multitude of choices out there. So, go...and try them all..only if your budget permits.

And don't let the debate on whether alcohol is good or bad, health or religious wise. Go and try it, if your conscience allows it. Red wine, white wine, Merlot, Sauvignon, Pinot, whisky, single malt, brandy...there's so much to offer. In your wanderings, don't give them a miss. I find red wine revolting while white wines are more acceptable, probably explaining why I like to drink the Moscato variant which is sweet due to the flavours of peach, orange blossom and nectarine...which I found out from uncle Google. I've been fortunate that I've the means to travel and dine in the SEA continent at least, and tried all the great food and wine and beer offerings out there.

And with all that geography has to offer in terms of intimate experiences with nature, I like

waterfalls, the rainforest, mangrove swamps and all things natural. These locations are best experienced before it's gone, as humans have a destructive streak in their nature. They call it development but I call it destruction for profits, but that's for another time. Let's come back to the swamp. There's this place now called as the Sky Mirror located at Sasaran, just before Kuala Selangor where you'll see a sand bank emerge during low tide in the Straits of Malacca. From my deduction, it's about 30 hectares in size, as the tide subsided to reveal more of it after an hour and a half that we stood there. Awesome picture of nature for you to capture with your smartphones as we were all jumping and capturing our reflections in the water.

Here, do you not now feel that you should just go out there and have happy wanderings? Opportunities are just there, waiting for you to experience it. Life will end one day, that's for sure. Would be rather lie on the bed dying and regretting or go all out to experience what Life has to offer so that you'll have tons of experiences and stories to tell your grandchildren or even your buddies? Been there, done that...they always say. Wouldn't you want to be able to say that too? Till the next musing, follow me on Instagram : thehapi8wanderer and you'll be privy to what the next sharing will be, or might be... Take Care, Be Happy and always be kind to the souls around you.