Sometimes i still can’t believe i’m an adult. Like in my head, I’m 25, maybe 28 yo.
Then i recall all my extremely adult responsibilities and bills, and feel like my age again.
The best thing about being an adult is the ability to choose what to spend your money on,
how to spend your time, and with whom to spend it with.
We owe nobody explanations!
We are independent confident beings who make our own decisions for OURSELVES!
I can live in three different cities throughout a year, if i choose to.
I can also live in a cardboard box painted in pink if i wanted to.
The point is – that wonderful FREEDOM OF CHOICE that some of us are privileged to have
(i recognise and acknowledge my privilege).
I relished in my freedom as a young adult, when i traveled extensively in 2015.
I was single, self-assured, financially independent, adventurous and beautiful (still beautiful, but less collagen intact).
That year, i discovered that shopping for adult toys on a weekday afternoon in Berlin with a dashing Italian tinder date was possible.
I also discovered that missing a flight from Las Vegas due to a domino effect of incidents – including shopping for items in the biggest adult store i’d ever encountered in my life – was possible.
I’m itching so badly from my flare-up as i start this post.
If you wanna get to the point, just scroll and skip my initial ramblings that imma begin with!
First off, this is all MY FAULT.
Damn my memory and forgetting how much pain i went through and how much money i spent before on my allergies. I got lazy and lackadaisical with my colon hydrotherapy treatments, and conveniently thought to myself MAYBE IT’S GONE FOREVER since my last flare-up in 2018 – which happened at Burning Man cos of all the dust EVERYWHERE. I thought the universe just didn’t want me to visit the orgy dome the day i broke out in hives ๐
Then from 2018 till now 2024 – nothing.
Luckily i didn’t get eczema during the pandemic lockdown cos that would have been even worse… to manage the symptoms without professional services and help! (Now i can’t stop thinking about the Palestinians and how much worse they have to fare without medication for ANYTHING. Worse humanitarian crisis I’ve seen since the war on Bosnia.)
OK back to allergies, we decided to do some light reno work before Chinese New Year, new paint job, fix broken things here and there, y’know.
Anyway, the cement dust / paint (despite it being water-based) must’ve really got to me cos it triggered the worst flare-up since circa 2013.
I have angry itchy hives on my face, arms and one hand.
I’m writing this cos i don’t want to retype + copy-paste to friends about Clubhouse anymore!
Also, i have spent way too many hours on Clubhouse… and been eating at weird times or losing sleep because of it! It’s so freaking addictive cos there’s so much to learn from so many people in the world!! Last Saturday i was waiting for Val to call late at night, and i passed out listening to Clubhouse on the sofa around 2am maybe… woke up at 8am, and continued listening to Clubhouse ALL OF SUNDAY OMGGGGG ??โโ๏ธ
So I’m gonna quickly note down here my personal experience with Clubhouse, and you can decide what you would like to take away from it ?
Sooo I’m sure you can easily google what the latest Clubhouse app is and how it’s exploding in various communities around the world.
It’s an audio-only platform, where thousands (or millions soon?) of virtual conference rooms are available covering any topic imaginable, live, and supposedly, unrecorded. Each ‘room’ has a moderator who can allow speakers up on stage, people can have discussions with an audience who in turn can raise their hands to take a turn at speaking too.
My first description to Val was that i found it like ‘Burning Man online’
Cos when you have a collective of all kinds of people in the world exist in one place, anything goes.
It’s an amazing app especially for people going through lockdown alone (like me rn) cos it enables me to find my tribe, connect with like-minded peeps and feel a lot less lonely!
Search keywords of specific interests that you have
From there you can locate other clubs which include those keywords under their profile description. Just follow them so their Rooms pop-up whenever you happen to be on the app.
For instance i simply typed words like cryptocurrency, quantum physics, breathwork, business, marketing, etc, and started following random clubs.
Then the more Rooms i explored, the more Profiles of people i discovered, liked and followed.
Following people and switching on the bell on their profile alerts you when they appear to speak.
You can also search persons in leadership, mentorship or whathaveyou whom you look up to and check if they’re on the app, then you get to listen to your favourite people speak live!
Stay in rooms for a long time
Some Malaysians commented that people speak for really long in Clubhouse, and i feel it’s because culturally – we aren’t accustomed to long monologues.
I realised from my time spent in the States especially, that groups of friends there could gather and have drawn-out discussions for hours, with one person speaking for up to 30 minutes and everyone else respectfully giving their attention and time. With more discussions following thereafter.
In South East Asia, i feel we have a very swift interchange of dialogue,
but a long exchange is wonderful for topics to go really deep.
Clubhouse Moderator and Speaker habits
Moderators start a room and can invite others to be Moderators or Speakers.
If you’re a speaker on stage, you need to mute your audio when someone else is speaking, so that all the external noise doesn’t interfere with the room. Tapping on your mute button rapidly signals applause or reaction to whatever the speaker is saying at the time.
Most Clubhouse early adopters prefer people to put extremely specific topics as the title of each room, so you know what you’re kinda getting into. And if the topic goes off point, the moderators try to reset the room’s subject and continue.
But now that there’re allll kinds of people, there’s bound to be all types of titles or no titles even.
Intelligence Sharing & Support
I find the beauty in Clubhouse to be the vast number of high-profile industry experts on it, who are sharing their views and experience for others to soak up. I heard Elon Musk on it last week Wednesday, and apparently, Oprah was on it a few weeks prior. Once you check diff profiles out (which are in long-form) linked to their IG and Twitter, you can validate their authenticity for yourself.
It’s also an amazing platform which gives one the opportunity to raise their hand to hopefully get unto the stage to ask questions.
One thing i noticed is how the major Clubhouse moderators make it a point to play nice, very nice. They want to cultivate a safe space to share thoughts, learn from each other, allow people who have relatable experiences to share, and for everyone to feel supported.
On the other hand, I’ve heard from a friend that some rooms were abusive and included racial slurs and threats. Well, i just don’t happen upon them and if i did, i’d just leave the room!
We are all free beings… nobody is forcing you to stay and listen to something that makes you feel bad! Just ciao by tappingย the ‘Leave Quietly’ button and exit.
Go join another room! Or start your own room talking about whatever you like!
I’ve mostly been listening to tech entrepreneurs, shamans and physicists… super random i know, but my interests are so varied! I’ll share what interesting experiences i’ve had on Clubhouse so far at the bottom of this post ?
“Our north star was to create something where you could close the app at the end of the session feeling better than you did when you opened it, because you had deepened friendships, met new people and learned.”
– Notes from the Clubhouse Founders
What drew me the most to go was its stellar female-only lineup: A/K/A SOUNDS, ALMA, Anna of the North, Cate Le Bon, Charly Bliss, Dream Wife, Ginette Chittick, Goat Girl, Kero Kero Bonito, Ladies of LCD Soundsystem, LEฬON, SOAK, Stella Donnelly, Vandetta.
Just the thought of hanging out all day to indie girlie pop folk rock was enough to make me wanna go.
Its vibe was everything i hoped for, i wish so hard i could have teleported all my favourite party girls to be with me on that day!!
I flew in to SG on Friday arvo, smashed some work, and was planning to head out on Friday night to have some Christmas drinks with Melissa and her gang. But i started feeling a little clammy at 6pm and made the adult decision to save my energy for the next day. I mean, i did come this way for THIS and would be silly if i got sick for it!
Stayed in this contemporary spot called Cooliv –ย Singapore’s first dedicated co-living and co-working space, situated on Pasir Panjang Road just 10 mins away from the event venue.
Let’s just say i spent a LOT of time in this room on Friday, ending my night with a dope Vietnamese roll via grabfood (cos i was too poorly to head out!) and netflix. It was heaven, really. Couldn’t help thinking how travelling alone makes me so happy cos i get absolute quiet time!
Next day, i was readehhhhh!!!!!!!
I slept so early, i was up at 6am -_- (but thoroughly productive by completing my Sungei Road laksa mission with two bowls to myself, and 2x exhibitions at ArtScience)
Headed back to Cooliv where i changed and made up before going to the all-day festival which started at 10AM and went on till almost midnight.
My first time wearing this top. I swear i have a wardrobe that’s MADE for festivals… it’s filled with colour and sparkly and oh i just wish i could live in festival resort wear ALL THE TIME.
Angie, Rengee, Shermaine & i
So great to have a chill afternoon ketchup with them cos we don’t get the time to hang out in KL ??
The huge space was filled with different vendors from food, hair, make up, fragrance (how did i miss this spot!? i saw it on Bihzhu’s IG and was like whaaaa I LOVE FRAGRANCE!), cocktails like Hendricks, accessories, leather-making, and even… the world’s first luxury intimate care – TWO L(I)PS.
I was so happy to see them there cos they’re a sister company of a client, so i know a LOT about their award-winning products. In Malaysia, you can get them at all Strip outlets. ?
Lots of instagrammable spots EVERYWHERE.
Right pic was actually a selfie for Val while i was walking to a stage.
One hectic period during an insane rush of campaigns, i was invited by Shareen via Whatsapp to go for a quick trip to Cameron Highlands for a whisky event that would take place in a month’s time. At the time, i thought, “A GREAT REASON to get out of KL for a tad and enjoy whisky!!!” and immediately replied YES.
Organized by Single & Available with Highland Park single malt Scotch Whisky (since 1798) to launch a special edition whisky, a group of media (and i, the lone random blogger) were transported to Cameron Highlands were we were hosted at The Smokehouse Hotel — a lush piece of property that was built in the 1930s for the enjoyment of British colonists of the past who missed chilly weather and English traditions. Now, it’s run by the first Malaysian family to take over its ownership.
The gardens are so pretty! I haven’t been to Cameron Highlands since 2012 when Cammy was pregnant with… Cameron. Haha.
And i’ve never been to The Smokehouse Hotel, and love how i got to experience the gem that it is!
The rich flora well-suited the Highland Park Whisky exhibited in the award-winning gardens, more specifically, the Viking Legend series we were invited to experience.
The whisky is made on Orkney islands, a wild and stormy area once ruled by the Viking Kings of Norway and Denmark. You can visit their distillery (which lies almost in the Arctic Circle) to meet the modern-day Viking descendants who make Highland Park Whisky ๐
The brand partnered with Danish designer, Jim Lyngvild, to create the packaging for the trilogy. Jim’s Viking lineage is traced all the way back to the 8th century, including his 36th great-grandfather Ragnvald Eysteinsson who was the 1st Earl of the Orkney islands.
Highland Park Whisky’s Viking Legend series uses some of the distillery’s very limited 100% peated malt to create the collection, with the story behind the trilogy highlighting the legendary journey to Ragnarok, the battle at the end of the world.ย
Valkyrie Flavours: Green apples | Sun-ripened lemons | Oriental spices | Vanilla | Preserved ginger | Dark chocolate | Salty liquorice | Warm aromatic smoke
Plunging down from the dark heavens, the Valkyries would descend like avenging angels on horseback to comb the battlefields for the bravest of the fallen warriors, heroes fit to enter the great Norse god Odinโs hall, Valhalla. Valkyrie celebrates the brand’s rich Nordic ancestry, where they were once part of a vast Viking kingdom.
The first of the Viking Legend series, Valkyrie was awarded the Chairman’s Trophy in the 2017 Ultimate Spirits Challenge, scoring 99 out of 100.
Valknut Flavours: Toasted vanilla pods | Cracked black pepper | Oak shavings | Cloves | Aniseed | Aromatic peat smoke
The second of the trilogy carries a perfect blend of smoky and sweet flavours. Valknut, which means ‘knot of those slain in battle’, is associated with the Norse God, Odin. According to legend, Vikings who met a fine and honourable death were marked out by the symbol of the Valknut.
The final release in this special edition Viking Legend trilogy, Valfather draws its inspiration from Odin. The Norse sagas tell us that Odin, the mightiest of the ancient gods, takes on many guises and is known by many names. As VALFATHER โ Father of the Slain โ he presides over the golden hall of Valhalla.
Back in the hotel, the dining area was romantically lit with candles everywhere and i thought, “Wow, the team went all out for our arrival.” But in actuality, the power went off for an hour so it was legit panic candle mode on.
