Photo by Joe Hu on Unsplash

This is an extension to my previous teaser post on my 10-day journey during my recent spring break. You might have come across many meetup posts of mine by other Steemit bloggers, and I thought to myself, mmm, I just wanna take time to reflect and share what I value the most throughout my 10-day journey, rather than inserting the same pictures and perhaps, almost-similar content like what they have shared. But first, here are some special mentions of the meetup posts, for that MASSIVE #FOODIE meetups I had back in Malaysia.

• @happycrazycon - My Chocolate Date with @heartscally
• @williamsyee - Team Malaysia Meetup | Durian | BKT | Hanbing | Mamak on 21/4/2018
• @orangila - Orangila's Photos of Everyone Hearts Cally Meet Up - 21st Apr 2018
• @aaronleang - Meetup #26 - Heart To @HeartsCally | First Time Vlog 🙈
• @zord189 - Team Malaysia | Hearts to @heartscally Homecoming Meetup

What I Value The Most From My Spring Break?

1. Time to Unwind and Catch Up

If you have been following my blog from the very beginning, you would know that I am working abroad, away from my family, friends and my comfort zone. Why? There are many reasons to why I decided to take up a two-year job opportunity here in Thailand as a primary school teacher in a small, Reggio-inspired international school. You can DM me personally on Discord to find out more. :) Being a teacher really takes up a lot of our physical, mental, and emotional capacity; thus why most (if not, all) teachers are always looking forward to long weekends and breaks.

For me, the recent spring break was a time to unwind and catch up with my loved ones. My parents were uber excited for me to come home and you know, just be home. On top of that, I went for so many meetups and only had one full day to swim in my pyjamas at home. My ex-boyfriend, oh yeah, you read that right, we broke up. You would have probably read about our relationship from @happycrazycon post above. We broke up as boyfriend-girlfriend, and now we are engaged! :D My now fiancé planned the proposal for about a month, and he surprised me at church. Then, I heard so many "lies" and "tricks" that they have been planning all along, but no matter what, it sure was a sweet, lovely proposal. Just surreal.

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2. Friendships, and New Friendships

This is definitely related to my first point above, but I really would like to emphasize more on friendships too, especially new ones. I had a super duper close friend that came all the way from Penang (north Malaysia) down to Kuala Lumpur (central Malaysia) the moment she knew that I was coming back home for my spring break. We have known each other for about 8 years or so, and the last four years, we have not been talking much as we used to, but it sure did not break or tarnish our friendship. We were equally amazed at how much we have both changed just by looking at our conversation topics. Just imagine, now we are talking about engagement, wedding, houses, family, and investments! We never had to worry about all those 5 years, 7 years, 8 years ago! Not forgetting other heartwarming meetups with my other friends too, you know who you are.

New friendships. AHA! It all started from here, on Steemit. One of the first few Steemit bloggers that I was in touch with was none other than the ALWAYS THERE BEAR (as illustrated and nicknamed by @iamjadeline). Of course, we are talking about @zord189. After some days and months talking to him on Discord on the most randomest things ever and with some Steemit support & guidelines, it turns out that a new friendship was formed. From there on, I started talking to other Steemit bloggers, particularly from #teammalaysia. It is fascinating how new friendships lead to new opportunities too. Few months later, I met @maverickfoo and @deborism here in Bangkok, Thailand. Well, together, we are creating new memories, and building new friendships. :)

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3. Feasting

Honey, we are talking about Malaysia here. Food is a big thing for us, and we all love feasting. I literally gained 2.5 kgs after my spring break, but hey, no regrets! I am sure you have seen a glimpse of what I have consumed throughout the ten days in my teaser post. From those platters of sushi rolls to rounds of sweet desserts, seriously no regrets. I even managed to get some local bite-sized snacks or delicacies at the airport, can you believe it?! Now I gotta wait for about 6 weeks till another round of feasting. It will soon be my summer break!

Well, in my dictionary, feasting is not only limited to food. It was a feasting of joy, love, and kindness. I don't know about you, but as I grow older, I find myself changing rapidly and begin to develop new core values in my life and relationships. I guess, it was also because of the tough experiences that taught me to be wiser and stronger. It is true that I took bold steps to eliminate and set boundaries from negativity and overwhelming b^llsh^t. It was not easy but I know I needed to, because I simply cannot please everyone. I love how @iamjadeline in her recent post wrote about wholesomeness and letting our true selves stand up. I know, at this point of life, I stand with the most precious gems in my life, even if it means only five of them, ten of them or fifty of them.

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I shall end my post with this quote, and allow you have your own time to digest and reflect. Hugs!

Make healthy connections. The people and things you surround yourself with are as important as the quality of the air you breathe.
(quoted by Moral Revolution on Facebook)

Thank you for reading my post today! Hope you enjoyed it. :)

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Animation By @zord189