Marsha Maung: Write. Cook. Read. Watch. Try. Innovate.

The importance of finding what you want to do with your limited time on this planet...and finding what you DON'T want to do at the same time.  I think this is a part of the journey.  Most of us focus on finding what we want to add to our lives but not seek or experiment with what we might not want to have anything to do with in the future.  Ever since the demise of my cousin, my perspective and priorities has changed. Tremendously.  I am not known to hold back when I see an opportunity to fail or succeed at something and that has been the driving force behind my growth and development.  Far from perfect, I screw things up all the time and if I keep hitting the rewind button without picking up the lessons, I am never going to learn where my destination is.   With the recent development, I've discovered and maybe confirmed the fact that there are things that are simply not worth my time and effort.  My time ...

It's easy to lose ourselves in the the crammed list of daily priorities and activities. As age catches up with us...well, me, actually...I find myself easily tired at the end of the day. Like yesterday, I spent a total of 4-plus hours driving in stop-go traffic and when I came home, there really wasn't anything else on my mind except for sleep. #lol And yet, there was work to catch up on, a little bit of book-reading, internet-surfing, repeat-show-watching, vacuuming, mopping, kitchen-cleaning, taking out the rubbish, hanging up of the laundry, etc.... I always envy those who have 'back-up' in the form of family or home support who help them deal with the everydays  when they come home from work. I try to fit yoga (not the handstands and back benders you're thinking of. Just simple stretches!), a short ride on the stationary bike, or a 20-minute silent stint of doing absolutely nothing but with soft, meditative music on my headphones, into my everyday list of ...

The year of the rat is supposed to be a good year for me and I am slightly superstitious that way. #lol. When the predictions for last year came out, I believed it too. Last year was an effed-up year for me and it was true. In all honesty, last year changed the dynamics of my family life and my circle of friends. It has also altered my work arrangements and financial standing by a few Universe-folds. I just have to, after all, do what I do best which is to scream into the sky: Is that all you've got?! COME AT ME, you bastard . 😖😖😖😝😝😝😅😅😅😁😁😁 Apparently, this year's going to be a little different and I would like to believe so. I will remain grateful for everything that has kept me alive thus far and still enjoying whatever I am permitted to enjoy. It's not a lot but I am grateful nonetheless. I am a simple person that way. This year, the family celebrated it at my sisters and, for the benefit of the younger kids, there were some fireworks. But th...

girl holding coins in front of her eyes, money - Thought Catalog / Unsplash It's strange but before I became a mom, I never thought much about coupons. Even the 'free personal pizza' coupons from Dominos for late deliveries did not impress me. Every single little loyalty redemption card I received was relegated to my jeans back pocket which would either spend a couple of hours being washed into mush in the washing machine (eek!) or forgotten about. The strange thing about marketing and commercialism these days is that everyone's offering you something in return for your repeat business. If you use apps, there will be free shipping, discount days, and DISCOUNTCODES. Sometimes, you'll get a further incentive for hashtagging them on social media. Oh,  the wonderful ways to save a couple of cents ...or bucks, depending on the company. I was doing some math a while ago (which should be done more regularly) and I was surprised by the amount of money, as smal...

I’ve long given up on drawing up a list of resolutions because I know for a fact that it doesn’t work...for me, anyway. Instead, I come up with a list of things that I’ve learned the year before that has helped me grow. The list is kind of personal and long but I’ll share the gist of it here; who knows, it might help or resonate with someone else. I don’t like to lie and write about rainbows and fluffy puffs all the time. That’s not the way my life works and if I put up a front here, not only am I not being true to myself, I am also not being true to the people who actually read the shite I write. There are, of course,  filtered  things that I think might get me into trouble or cause a rift between people (because this is the  INTERNET , after all) but the things I post here are genuinely what I feel, be it  good  or  bad .  So, what have I learned in 2019? Here goes! Be the type of person who cheers on others, compliments strangers and enc...

My parents and their siblings are sticking the landing as far as Cuti-Cuti Malaysia is concerned. In their twilight years and after going through some pretty tough life stuff, they’ve decided to embark on small little journeys and road trips to wherever their hearts desire once every fortnight. The one ‘uns are usually invited but with our little families in tow and own personal commitments, it’s pretty hard to nail us down for their little sojourns. But we try. It’s particularly hard when we either have little kids with us, work weekends, travel regularly for work as it is (a break from all that traveling is just the kind of break we need, huh?), or when we have no clear working hours. But like I said, we try. Their little outings depend on my Google-expert uncle who is the head of the family and mastermind behind these little road trips. So, we could be heading south one weekend, and then north east the next. We never know until a couple of days before the trip when my da...

Image credit: Nong Vang on Unsplash It's a Saturday again and the weekend is always my favorite days of the week. Any guesses why? 👵😜 So, what I am doing here today is I am going to share some of the stuff that I've discovered and saved over the week that I either found to be profound, enlightening, personal, or funny. So, here it goes! Don't you like it that I always make an effort to keep things short and simple? #pleasesayyoudo 1. Post-trauma: It's not a disorder, it's a response All of us respond to the things around us differently. Some see a spider and become afraid of them for the rest of our lives. Others get intrigued and figure out a way to capture them and keep them in jars as pets. It's all different from us. Video: @lewishowes View this post on Instagram A post shared by Mastin Kipp, CFTC | He/Him (@mastinkipp) on Nov 24, 2019 at 4:30am PST "People walk around...