#lowkeymiaki

[lowkeymiaki]

DIYANA

This is Diyana. My first encounter with her was sitting outside of Starbucks, probably killing time until the next lesson. We sat together and talked a bit about Inarah, Kasih and Yan, since they all went to the same high school. Diyana entered college a little late, so she didn’t end up in the same class as the four of us. Eventually as the second semester came ‘round, we got closer as we were in the same class for Critical Thinking Skills.

Diyana is a tough ass bitch. And I really admire that! She can be the sweetest person who looks out for you when you need it but can also give you the back of her hand (metaphorically) to make you realise flaws. I’m not as tough as her, but sitting back to watch her do her thing teaches me a lot HAHAHA. She can balance ‘yin and yang’ or the ‘devile to the angle’ hahaha. What I mean by that is her tendency to be caring and kind, at the same time be hard or stern when necessary.

I’d say my best memories with her are quoting vines (RIP) and being able to talk smack about things that stress us out and still be able to laugh in the end. Our love for anything pop-culture related that originated in the late ‘90s-early 2000s brings us even closer just because of the campness of it all and the really ridiculous ideologies that those films revolve around. I’m so thankful that I have another person like Diyana to talk about these things to.

Diyana’s love for Jimin of superstar KPOP group BTS is really special and I hope she meets him. WHICH BRINGS ME TO MY POINT: Diyana, you are a very beautiful person! There are many people out there in the world who will AGREE with me. Don’t feel that you are not worthy of other people because of the way you look or are (which in my opinion, you look amazing and you have a good heart). I really believe that you are way more than how people think of you, and I believe that you are destined for great things. I’ve known her to be very hardworking. To see the things she’s gone through, I really admire how she manages to keep herself afloat. And not only that, but to bring joy to others at the same time, is really amazing. I really see her achieving great things in the future, like win a humanitarian award or something of that field. She really is the type to help others when they are really in need of it. Of course, that is what I believe she can do, but time will only tell. If you’re reading this Diyana, I love you loads!

2nd December, 2017

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1 AM AT THE PARK

Just a little late night bantz with Yan and Inarah at the nearby park. Joined with a cool lad called Atan. Chats about college life and friendships.

8th April, 2017

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YAN

This is my friend, Yan. I met him along with Kasih and Inarah in the beginning of my college course in January, 2017.

A thing to know about him is that he has dyed his hair in colours I’ve dyed my hair in. So there’s a similarity. We bond over K-Pop and the idea of being socially cautious of the people we occupy. From then, we clicked well and pretty much treat each other with a good amount of respect. Of course, that doesn’t always happen as sarcasm is a strong suit of ours. It would be either me or him calling the other a ‘Fatty,’ or ‘Ugly,’ when in need of something from each other.

We got a little emotional a few days ago over not going for Exo live in Malaysia. That was probably one of my deepest moments with him, to be honest. Unless, we pick at this other moment in our Personal Development and Leadership class, where we were paired up for an assignment. This assignment needed us to open up to the other person of what we thought our personal values, habits, characteristic, wants and needs. We did not expect to understand each other in a deeper meaning like crying over Exo. I think that’s when we really understood each other.

Yan plans on studying psychology. Which is all I can say about it for now. I am yet to learn as to what his motive for studying psychology is. Other than that, he’s a great dancer. Funny story, I got a lil emotional watching him and Inarah dance at this school event, just cuz I appreciated their dance cover to ‘Rookie’ by Red Velvet and ‘Pick Me Up’ by IOI. (In my opinion, he should do some part time dancing for some $$$ and also ‘cause he enjoys it.)

I feel that he is always there for people, but some are not there for him in return. He’s either had or stabbed (sarcasm) my back ever since I first met him in college. I’m frankly glad for that. He deserves a lot that comes his way and I hope to be there to watch him grow into a beautiful butterfly. That’s all I have to say about him for now.

24th March, 2017

[lowkeymiaki]

MY FIRST STEP TOWARDS BIGGER OPPORTUNITIES: That’s Entertainment: A Night of Radio Hits

I was asked to audition for Pan Productions last year by my dear Aunty Nell. I still remember when I was asked. It was on one of the nights of the T4YP 2017 batch’s final showcase and I wasn’t feeling so good. I saw Nell after the show and she offered me a ride home as I didn’t have any transport back. Mind you, the last time I saw my Aunty Nell before that night was when I was about 7 or 8 years old. She’s a close family friend, and I look up to her a lot. On the drive home, she asked me to try out for them.

2 months passed after that, and I was at the audition. I was a little nervous, given that I have never auditioned for something that was outside of what was convenient for me. By “convenient,” I mean that I have never gone to an audition that was not of my circle of people I’ve worked with before. I’ve auditioned for school plays/ known theatre people since I was little, which would lead to just being asked to play a role rather than audition for it. I was finally coming to a state where I was going to do a lot of these things on my own. Whether the outcome was in my favour or not. 

I was asked to come back for a second round of auditions, but this time with the performers that worked with Pan Productions before. That was the scariest part of the process. There’s not much else to talk about at that point. Alas, after a month of waiting, I was selected to be part of one of the two productions they were holding, That’s Entertainment: A Night of Radio Hits.

At first, everything was pretty new to me, of course. I was pretty much an amateur in the midst of all these very talented and professional performers and so I was trying my best to fit in. In the end, I managed to find my connection with each and every single performer in different ways possible. For example, the story between how me and Lynn started to bond was over Rupaul’s Drag Race. She saw that one of our male cast members was put in drag and she said to herself, “Hehe like Eureka.” I stopped, turned to her and asked, “Eureka O’Hara?” That’s when we clicked.

Being a part of this production has honestly given me so many future opportunities and I cannot thank Nell enough for this experience. I learned a lot more about how much is put into bringing a production together, from all sides. I made new relationships with people who helped me see things in perspectives of those who’ve worked in the theatre industry for a while, and memories that will stay with me and will help me for my future reference when it comes to theatre work, hehe.

12th September, 2017

[lowkeymiaki]

MY KIDS

Everyone, meet my children who I adore to the fullest. Encik, and Belly. My pride and joy.

Encik is a female British shorthair plus Scottish Fold and was born in either November/December of 2017. She has the personality of a Cancerian and is the eldest baby.

Belly is a female Scottish Fold and was born in either late December of 2017 or early January of 2018. She has the personality of an Aries and is younger than Encik.

My sister Illy (who mind you is 8) named the cats before we had a chance to, but we felt that the names were fitting. These two cats are always either sleeping together, fighting or playing with each other to the point where they will knock over anything in their direction of running.

We find that Encik is the more mature and good kitty while Belly is the immature and naughty cat. Even though they’re nearly the same age.

I just love these babies so much!!!!

12th September, 2018

[lowkeymiaki]

DIRA

This is my good friend Eznyeta Izhar. We call her Dira because it’s short for her middle name ‘Nadira’. I met Dira alongside Franco as they welcomed me for my first day of boarding school, and we know how that goes in my entry for Franco. She is such a bubbly personality with a contagious as f*ck laugh that keeps the room lively. She’s someone of a very big heart, and I will explain why.

Dira was in the same class as I was in high school, and when we moved on to International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme (IBDP) she was my roommate in the first year. Even though we bonded very well during the years before we were roommates, I think on a spiritual and a disgusting level we bonded way more when we were roommates. She was the best person to have as a roommate, only because she was nicest person ever. She would check on me once in a while if I was ok, and sometimes remind me to come down for dinner. I say sometimes, because after classes me and her would head back to our rooms and nap. Sometimes these naps end up until past dinner time. We were both messy people.

I would say when it comes to her and work, she is balanced. But once in a while the balance is lopsided, hehe. For example, she is very focused when it comes to studying, but when it comes to certain assignments… Just let the 3 dots explain that for you, lah. I find her to be very smart and a very strong person, which are very good attributes to have when in boarding school. Also, she is super talented. She can sing and dance very gracefully, and I’m always in awe by her. As for acting, haha well she is spectacular if you were to make her do her own material, she would go koyak as hell and it would be so funny to watch. Which reminds me, I’m thinking about our drama classes together and I can’t help but cringe and laugh hahahhaa.

Dira is really someone else, lah. What she makes up for her petiteness is a very loud laugh you can hear a thousand miles away. Honestly, most of the time when we’re 😅 while she is, its because of her laugh. Even when the joke is not funny, I can’t help but laugh with her. She can be so funny even when she’s not trying. It’s really an experience where you would have to be there to know. Once, she came up to me during the first drama class (during IGCSE times) and randomly said, “I will destroy you,” in a Scottish accent. I’ll never know why she said that in that way but that’s one of the most prominent memories I have of her.

WHICH REMINDS ME OF HER HALLOWEEN COSTUME IDEAS! She once went to a Halloween party dressed as a man with a go sign. Because… Man… Go… And she tried to walk around like a dead person once, like… The Walking… dead…

I think Dira is a very strong, kind, and funny girl. Looking back at the three years I spent with her in boarding school, I just want to say that I am very proud of her for everything. I may not know her as well as Ariadna or Franco do, but I consider her to be one of my closest friends and a shoulder to lean on. She has done so many things that have left an impact on me and a couple of gold memories for me to keep. I love you loads, Dira. I hope to drop by and visit you at uni!

PS. I have only 2 nice photos of you because all the other photos of you are either you sleeping or you doing something dumb. Like MAN-GO.

DISCLAIMER: Nadira is not actually her middle name. It’s one of her names in her full name. I think? Smh.

12th September, 2018

[lowkeymiaki]

FRANCO

Natasha Franco was one of the first few people (alongside Dira) I met in boarding school. They were really welcoming, and were eager to help me with anything when it came to boarding school life. This is sweet and all, not until you know why they were so nice. When I entered my room, Franco and Dira were waiting there for me with a polaroid camera, because they thought my dad was gonna be there too. SO YEAH I was super welcomed. (Franco was called Franco due to the fact that my boarding school had like 5 Natashas, so we call them by their last names.) This girl is pretty much one of the most hardworking people I know. During my time in boarding school, Franco was a high achiever in academics, she was put into a lot of extra curricular activities and she still managed to balance everything else, was prefect THEN was elected to be HEAD PREFECT, house captain, was elected valedictorian of her batch, and took the International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme (IBDP) on top of all of that. Also, very scary when leading march pass. At the age of 17, she’s managed to get accepted in a uni in the UK for law. I mean, first of all, I dropped IBDP halfway, and really could not bare the unnecessary crap that was happening while I was taking that course. Sometimes I wonder if she’s like a legit human, just because of all the achievements she’s gone through. BUT, when you mengupaskan all those layers on top, there’s a real crackster underneath. While dealing with IGCSE and IBDP stress, all we could do to pass the time was watch Vines, almost every time we were free. Being able to reference Vines in class with people who know them was like therapy to me. Sometimes, when she does something really dumb, you always remind yourself that she’s head prefect of the entire school campus, and you’ll just laugh even more. There was once where we were walking back to our rooms one night and she fell down a flight of stairs, and I didn’t know whether to laugh, help, cry or just stare. I just watched her roll down and I was literally frozen. I still find it funny cuz Franco would probs tell people that story if she were to bitch about me. Again, I’m sorry. Franco and I got along because of our shared love for musicals, hip-hop/r&b music, really sakai humour, and boYS. From Hamilton, to whether boy A was more interesting that guy B. We also got along from singing a lot together, whether it be harmonising or singing so that the other person in the dark doesn’t feel alone hahaha. OH YES and we got along because of FOOD and MOVIES. We would bring our own food to boarding school just because the food served there wasn’t that great (sorry lol). This Italy girl would bring Brie, Camembert, salmon, canned tuna and whatnot and we would share it amongst each other. I would occasionally bring blue cheese, mac and cheese and cereal. Essentially what you’d have is a potluck at the end of the day. This Franco girl is one of the few people I see as a good friend of mine. Though, I must say in honesty that my conversations between me and whoever that’s gone on to continue their studies elsewhere have strayed, just due to all of us being busy with our own little things out there. I only wish for Franco to have a really successful life ahead of her and hopefully my lawyer when I get into scandals and shit. Stay crack and smart. 30th January, 2018

[lowkeymiaki]

18TH BIRTHDATE Jibril done did it again. For my eighteenth birthday, Jibby decided to take me to Aquaria. As he was always in college, he thought that during the weekend before my birthday he would treat me to something he thought I would like. I’m not sure if he knows this, but I have a great fascination for things that contain mystery. That would vary from the depths of oceans to the infiniteness of space. SO of course, like what he did on our 4th date or so, he may have thought that it would be nice to explore other mysterious things. When I was little, I used to have fears of visiting places like Aquaria. As a little girl, I’d fail to not imagine myself in that glass tank filled with fish, probably drowning, or feeling claustrophobic, or just being so scared that I spend all my energy swimming away from the threats, then pass out. I know, it’s very dramatic, especially when those fears stayed with me from when I was 9, up until 15. I guess seeing myself now in a place where I have nothing to fear alongside a slightly crippled man (I mean Jibril, of course) counting down to the time I turn 18 was something I did not realise to notice. Up until that day. Jibril hobbles around looking at the fish while I take pictures, for the A E S T H E T I C obviously. He jokes about how the large fish are one of his friends as he scrambles for his phone to record the fish with added commentary. I assumed he was gonna send that to him. Other little things I enjoyed about this birthdate was the fact that I got to see otters, and that I touched a few sharks and starfish. Felt like a damn mermaid, bro. By the end of it, I’m extremely satisfied, hungry, and thankful. We walk back to the car while Jibril squawks about some science festival thing. I’m not sure why, but I found it funny that that would amuse him. Nerds, lah. 30th January, 2018