‘There’s always a wild side to an innocent face’

I miss those old days where I have the luxury of time to indulge myself with books. Love … and always will love books. For the geek in me,  surrounding myself with books make me less lonely and fearless to face this world we called life. There are lots of things going on in my head at all time … restless mind I called it and almost always this chaotic mind of mine will settled only after I fed it with knowledge and answers. When I am in doubt almost all the time I turned to books for answers … yup! I read.

The last autumn color in Tokyo, Japan

Lately I noticed that I don’t read that much anymore. Being busy between parenthood, traveling, photography and working … or is it that I got myself tangled deeper than I expected into the social network (facebook, twitter, IG, blogs etc) super highway? The last book that I bought and read halfway was in July 2014 … gosh! seriously. And, I used to travel with one book in hand and disciplined myself to finish up at least 1 book during each trip.

The last autumn color for 2015 on a Gingko Biloba tree in Tokyo, Japan

My darlings enjoying the last autumn color in Tokyo, Japan

For the past four (4) months I have travelled to 4 different country with 4 different group of people and I was not accompanied by any physical book at all. I was fiddling and experimenting with the idea of replacing physical book with e-book actually. I downloaded selective e-books to my ipad and made a promise to myself that I will continue reading digitally. Well … I noticed that reading from ibook is way too distracting for me and I ended up being busy either scrolling the internet or updating my facebook or Instagram status (for hours). I wasted too much time with social networks during my travel time and I ended up restless for no reason.

I figured that I need a new strategy to optimize my travel experiences and these are my 2015 New Year travel resolution:

One: I will discipline myself to stay disconnected from the distracting gadgets and focus only on my whereabout. No more hours getting connected to the net or even chatting through my whatsapp 😉 … gosh! I am a champion if I can do this … Sally is a SURE champion lol.

Two: I will update my blog while on the road too. I want to capture my own emotion while traveling and logged it into may digital journal here. I think years from now, I would be curious on how I felt during each trip. The old mature me would reminisce the younger crazy me … 😉 ‘when you get older, your wild heart will live for younger days’ ~ Avicii – The Nights

Three: I will read at least one (1) book during each trip. The only way to nourish this noisy mind of mine is through reading. Sharing few tricks on how to read more … you can read it here.

And, I want to add one more resolution for this year …

Four: I will have more of a ‘mellow down’ type of traveling this year. I want to slow down and smell the roses at each stop during my trips. Being alone in Seoul for 5 days, spending 11 days in ‘just’ Tokyo and hanging around in ‘just’ Dubai for 7 days were more fulfilling for my mind and soul than struggling through the ‘touch and go’ trip covering 10 places in 8 days kinda trip. I can watch and learn more if I slow down a bit … I presume 🙂

A small wedding ceremony at a Shrine in Tokyo, Japan

Sharing a few photos during my ‘mellow down’ trip recently. While hanging around loosely around the park, shrine, subways, public buses or the groceries stores, the introvert me gets to chill out with the local people and communicate mostly in sign language lol … very interesting indeed.

Autumn color in Nami Island, South Korea

Red maple leave under the sun in Nami Island, South Korea

Fierce red maple leaves in Nami Island, South Korea

Tree trunks in black and white in Nami Island, South Korea

I realized that moments are best enjoyed at a slow-mo pace. It is like eating your ice-cream (eating ice-cream during winter is the best) … you need to sit down, be comfortable with your surrounding and start licking your ice-cream slowly while enjoying the tingling sweet cold taste in your mouth. I think love should be shared and enjoyed in a slow-mo moment too … kan? You won’t get poorer if you stopped and slow-mo for a second (from your ‘rush’ quest for materials) and have a look at my face … lol. Not complaining just being sarcastic …. 🙂

I was in Dubai a few days ago and a slow-mo routine ride from Deira side to Bur Dubai side via the abra or water-taxi turned  into a great moment when someone started to feed the hungry sea gulls while we were taxing across the river. Gorgeous moment shared together with my bff … we wore the biggest satisfied smile on our face that day … alhamdullilah simple life pleasure kan?

Abra water-taxi queuing for passangers at Dubai, UAE

Diera side from the river front in Dubai, UAE

Lovely golden morning sun at Dubai, UAE

Serene moment in BnW at Dubai, UAE

Yeah … I spelt out and shared my travel resolution for this year here in my digital journal and in December 2015, I will comeback to this post again to check on my yearly achievement 😉 . A quote by Albert Einstein to remind myself that it is ok to choose to be a loner … 😉

“Be a loner. That gives you time to wonder, to search for the truth. Have holy curiosity. Make your life worth living.” ~ Albert Einstein

Cheers

MM

p/s slow-mo aka slow motion