Little Things 242 : Turning 31

I turned 31 last week! 

31 on 3.1  💛

Let me share some of the stuffs that I did on my birthday : 

1. Af sent me to Mid Valley for a 'Me' time because I know if I stay at home, I'll be doing works as usual. There are hardly any days in my week that I stay home relaxing doing nothing - I don't even understand what that is anymore. Fun is work, work is also work. Basically my life nowadays is consisted of 80% of working on something and 20% of other small stuffs.  

2. Bought the first early bird ticket for RM 11 - The Greatest Showman. 

I love musical and I really like the simple messages it brings. 

There are messages in every songs, here's what I extracted from watching it the first time :

• Dream on something and believe in it. Even though when no one believes in you and you have absolutely nothing. The most important thing is you believe in it | Song : A Million Dream
• Rather than being trapped in a work that you dislike for fame and privileges, might as well do something that you are really passionate in. There is no money or fame that can replace the feel of fulfilment in doing something that you are really passionate about  | Song : The Other Side
• You don't need everyone to love/like you, just the important ones, partner & family especially. Keep them close in your circle, always | Song : Tightrope
• 'A celebration of humanity' - every single people who works in the circus is unique in their own way. Some people might not like it, some people accept them as who they are. The world is consists of those differences and we as human need to be able to see pass all the physical appearance and focus on the inside. Our body is just a vehicle to your mind, your soul | Song : Come Alive
• Accepting yourself, the flaws, the uniqueness. Don't be ashamed, don't hide behind windows. You are you, celebrate your life | Song : This is Me
• It won't ever be enough. You can build an empire from nothing, be recognized for your work, make so much money for a lifetime  and it might still not be enough for you. The fulfilment is not supposed to those physical and material things. It should be from the inside, do it for you, for your family, for God. Goals and achievements are just there for you to put a ✔✔✔ on your list | Song : Never Enough
• Remember your ground, remember why you started in the first place | Song : From Now On

3. Went out for a lunch with my mom.
Right after the movie, I didn't know what to do. So I texted my mom and asked whether she wants to have lunch together (because that morning she called and asked what I was doing that day). So she brought me to Sushi Zanmai for a lunch treat ! ❤

And I guess that's it !
Next thing planned was our birthday party on that Saturday (my little sister turned 26 on the 4th), so we usually celebrate our birthday together.

On Saturday :

• We went out for a 11 km cycling session (all the siblings + Af) 

• During lunch time, they reserved a table at Miyagi Restaurant in Bangi (as requested by us two because I only went there once last year - it was a bit pricy and we had to wait for special occasion ) I think our lunch for the whole family reached around RM 280 :F but it was WORTH IT. I had a special "Mini Udon to Soft Shell Crab Set" - I don't usually order for a set, but this time I did and it was goooood. I'm glad we tried it :

• Afterwards, we went to It's a Grind cafe in Cyberjaya for cake + present opening session :D My brother baked a nice special Strawberry Cheese Cake for us (and even for that I ate a bunch because it was really nice). 

• We actually received wayyy more than we expected this year. Birthday is an event where we actually pass a list of items we wanted among siblings and then each one of us will try to cross the whole list (so there will be discussion on what we are going to buy without the birthday person). So it wouldn't be hard on us to 'try' to find something we won't use/like. 

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Things I received (from my mom + siblings + Af) : 

• Novel graphic (You & A Bike & A Road by Elianor Davis) and Murakami's (Men without Woman) that I listed from Bookdepository 
• Skin Vacuum (or whatever it is called, to suck the living of your oils on your face), Biore Pore Pack & Oil Blotter - because man, my skin is oily 24/7 and I needed those to avoid constant break outs. My sister didn't want to buy these because she said I can buy it myself - but she asked for a list and that's what I wrote down :D
• Pure honey and Vitamin C - because I want to stay healthy !
• New working chair ! - you have no idea how long I waited to have my own proper working chair T^T I love it ❤
• New mini tripod for video taking because the one I bought from Mr Diy is now broken :D 
• Flight ticket to Langkawi in April and also a really nice passport holder ❤

Huge presents for Me, Aja + Af :

• A Silhoutte's Cameo 3 !  It is a huge cutting machine for DIY and my stickers ! :D Now I don't have to cut my own stickers and I can make more sticker sheets T^T 
• Free things inside : 2 x glossy vinyl rolls, Autoblade and Washi Sheets.

Things I gave my little sister :

• Amazin'Graze Super food packs - because she requested for this, she started her clean detox since last year and so she wanted this for her food supply. I think the ones that she eats with yogurt and oats? So I bought the Berry Burst Bundle with 3 packs of healthy foods (Blueberry Goji Coconut Granola, Pink Rasberry Granola, Berry-LiciousTrail Nut Mix and another free pack that I forgot). 

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That's it for our birthday celebration. 

Next one is probably in Feb - March , combining both my brother and Aja's birthday :D 

Little Things 241 : 2017 Compilation

As requested, I'm going to share this 2017 compilation that I drafted since the end of last year. Hahaha, lame joke.

1. Read 30 books in a year goal. (Failed)

I only read 15 books in 2017, guyyyyyys. 

I think the most memorable audio book I listened to was Carried Fisher's - Wishful Thinking, probably because she recently passed away. In loving memory of Princess Leia, one of the most iconic fictitious character. It was a great autobiography and I love that she read it herself T^T I think in 2017 I re-read a lot of books that I know I like : Siddhartha (Hermann Hesse) and a lot of Murakami's.

So there is no favorite book of the year, but as for novel graphics I'm recommending : This One Summer (Mariko + Jillian Tamaki), Nothing is Forgotten (Ryan Andrews) & How to be Happy (Eleanor Davis). 

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2. Run 450 km in a year (Failed)

Are you kidding me? I only ran the total of 135 km in 2017. I stopped running, I started cycling for fun. I did my second half-marathon last September though.

I think I'll run my third half-marathon next year :D 

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3. Travel + Events (Succeed)

We did our 2 weeks family trip to Osaka + Kyoto as planned and we went to Sabah too.

I joined so many memorable events this year : my second Etsy Made Local , Jesselton Artisan Market in Sabah, and my very first CAFKL + Comic Fiesta. Fun times :)

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4. Career (Major changes here)*

I became a full-time designer + illustrator. 

I survived 9 months, the longest time so far ! This is my life-long dream - to be able to work remotely as an independent artist making things and also freelancing as a designer/illustrator at the same time as well. Anything that helps me make money lah. 

My biggest project in 2017 was with Uber Singapore and several books :

I self-published 2 zines : Eskapi + My Doodle Book. I also did a visual travelogue with a local publisher, but they haven't printed it out yet due to their financial difficulties and I finished my Osaka doodle journal (currently being proof-read by my English teacher). 

New stuffs that I make in 2017 : Eid money packets, enamel pins, iron-on patch, self-published zine.

I also have my own Patreon with several loyal people that has been supporting me, thanks guys ❤  I'm trying to have my own Youtube videos and podcast in Patreon page (but with hugeeee difficulties because I'm so uncomfortable with putting myself in the center of attention). I'll try again in 2018.

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5. Ptptn (Succeed)

In 2016, my Ptptn loan balance was around RM 20,000 ! But in 2017 I decided to pay using EPF account 2 and currently the remaining balance is :  RM 6,638. Huge leap, I'm so proud of myself T^T Not so far from RM 0 education loan. Read on how I paid my Ptptn using EPF here.

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Artists + illustrators worth mention :

• Local : Cendawankulat | Weiliwonka |
• International : Eleanor Davis | Azisa Noor | Kathrin Honesta |

Favorite movies I watched in 2017 :

• 2017 : Coco | Split | Thor | Logan | Okja
• 2016 : Lion | Hunt for the Wilderpeople | Captian Fantastic

Favorite song of the year : I Get Overwhelmed by Dark Rooms (I can't even explain these feelings when I listen to this song - Have you watched the movie? - Ghost Story)

Little Things 240 : Things I did before 2018

2018, it marked the 10 year anniversary of me blogging publicly on Blogspot ! I don't think I'll stop writing in near future. I know blogging is not so 'in' nowadays, and people prefer micro-blogging or vlogging instead. But I still love the time I spend drafting random pieces and updates of my life to be added into a permanent realm of the internet - this is how narcissistic I can be. 

We build our legacy piece by piece and maybe the whole world will remember you or maybe just a couple of people, but you do what you can to make sure you're still around after you're gone. - A Ghost Story, 2017

To future and the freedom to express our unspoken feelings to total strangers ! 

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Things that I did to burn my creative coal this end of 2017 :

• Watched Coco. I've been wanting to watch after I watched the trailer several months back. I'm glad I followed my instinct and bought the tickets. It is the most colourful, heart-breaking and beautiful movie I watched this year. I cried a bucket, even among all chatty kids around me. We haven't even watched Star Wars during that time. Last December I watched Moana, and this time around I'm really glad I watched Coco. Recuérdame :  

• I went to Stickerrific to restock my stuffs. I also met the Szetoo siblings and had a long talk and discussion. We had a great talk about the industry and being an independent artist/illustrator/maker. About how she sometimes struggles to find the meaning of the things that is doing, about taking the unpaved path, about not giving up T^T I felt so inspired. We have a lot of things planned for next year ! I can't wait to make new stuffs ❤
• We went to Putrajaya for a walk and found abandoned place called 'Anjung Floria'. Beautiful and eerie at the same time. Af made a video out of our walk that day (a lot of me, none of the place though) :

ESCAPISM ep. 16 from Farik Karim on Vimeo.

• Another awaited event to end the 2017. We went to Festival Light & Motion Putrajaya on their first night of the event ! You can read the post here !
• More movies! : We watched Lion for a movie night (I cried again, it was really good and beautiful), and Star Wars at the cinema. I feel like the duality between going to the dark side or the good side is a bit overrated lah, maybe because I can't really relate to the self-crisis myself. I've always been the 'pembaris' and I can't see the struggle of wanting to do bad/evil things in life. Or maybe because I don't really like science fiction and I rather watch something related to our simpler life around us - without the superheroes, alien, evil super villain.  
• On new year's eve, I spent my time watching "Our Souls at Night" on Netflix and worked on my next packaging illustration for my latest new enamel pin.  

❤