Make sure you stay hydrated!

What y'all looking forward to this month? I'm just glad to clear off a bunch of work stuff and I got various craft and preloved markets to look forward to.

Yes. I am right now, one of the best versions of myself emotionally and psychologically. I would love to spend some time with someone who geeks about the same things, committed to learning and growth, and wouldn't have a problem with taking time away from each other to still be our own person.

I sokong this idea.

Doesn't have to be lunch. Could be a post-work outing with another one or two colleagues who are good at breaking the ice and knows the agenda.

And then ditch F31 and M28 halfway.

Wow, this is harder to answer than I thought.

Yes to relatively normal, well-taken photos showing the person in a range of activities/places/moods. They are only showing their personality and interests, after all.

No to:

• only group photos
• no photos of the person at all, just items or abstract pics
• 3-5 of the same front camera, looking-down-at-phone photo
• photos that seem outdated, especially if it's of an older man with one child (classic scammer)
• holding a fish

There could be minimal screening for age range and other basic criteria, but speed dating is just giving people a limited amount of time to swap vibes with another person before they decide if they would like to see the other person again. For matchmaking, I expect a more thorough screening.

But your experience sounds rather dodgy, like she was screening for people who have the money.

OMG yes, Sima Aunty is so entertaining. I can't wait for the next season.

Jewish Matchmaking was a bit hard to get into for some reason, but I gave it another go recently and finished it.

3 days from Lawas to Kuching is possible but knowing the road condition it won’t be fun.

The route we took was fine. Probably the most unusual part for me was having the VIP escort the entire way. That said, there were long stretches of roads where we won't see any civilisation for hours. I've gone to Ulu Pelagus via timber roads and THAT was a ride.

That aside, how are Sarawakians feeling about 60 years of independence?

Macam biasa jer. Just stay away from the city centre unless you want to be part of the jam festivities. 😏

This is based on The Button.

This is an exceptionally long road trip. I was on a similar one some years ago but it was about 10 days. It took about 3 days to drive from one end of Sarawak to the other at a minimum speed of 100km/hr, stopping for no red lights (got police outriders). And double the time if you make courtesy call stops.

Once in a lifetime adventure because I 11/10 will not do again. 😂

I love this idea.

I cant find the photos anymore, but I once went to a masquerade dinner wearing a Cyclops mask - similar to this but it ends under the nose. I bought it in KL during Halloween season from one of those popular shops selling these kinds of things. It was surprisingly good quality. I even stuck false eyelashes over the one eye. All night long, people were asking me if I could see through that mask and the answer is yes. My glasses even fit under it. I still miss it.

Sounds like fun. If they don't specify what kind of mask to wear, get the weirdest one you can find.

I don't believe in expecting the man to initiate, but based on my experience on Bumble, it's the same outcome after you allow them to speak. 😆 So in a way, I like that Bumble disconnects the match if there's no convo.

A conversation is a two-way street. If you find that you are initiating more or if he's not holding up his end of the convo (ie not asking open-ended questions), he maybe layan only. There's a limit to how long I'd play this game before I stop initiating.

I just finished Bangkit by Appy Mohd Hapizan, a Fixi Novel Sarawak 2016 contest winner. It honestly took a long time, and this was my second try.

The cool thing about it is that the dialogue is in Bahasa Sarawak. I'm torn about the use of real world places (actual business were used as a setting and not shown in a negative light); it helps a Kuching resident picture exactly where the story takes place. Even mentions the multiple roundabouts and the notorious traffic jam heading to Samarahan (most of the roundabouts no longer exist as of this year).

Interesting use of popular local folklore in the plot, although I felt that the book could have started at the 2/3 point of the novel and expanded on the alternate universe a little.

Not sure what my next read is going to be yet. I just scored a luxury edition of 'X: The Erotic Treasury" edited by Susie Bright and it's lying around within arms reach because I can't get over how beautiful the edition is.

I'm older (F40+) and going through dating apps is a whole waste of time. It's mostly scammers looking for lonely older women to scam, and dudes who don't bother filling out their bios. Very hard to find anyone who would last more than a couple of days of "hi" and "how ru" back and forth.

The best match I ever had was in Singapore, while I was in the departure lounge at Changi. He started out strong, and the banter was great and we did exchange Telegram handles. But he stopped making effort to develop any conversations, and when I tried, he gave short answers that told me nothing about him. Now you'd think he wasn't interested but he was the one who initiates. Eventually I stopped replying to the uninspiring "hi".

My toxic trait is that if I'm busy, I ignore non-urgent or low-effort attempts to engage.