Growing Up With Board Games

A couple of months back my sister and I stumbled upon a quaint, cozy place with a fantastic twist: a café themed around board games. Since then we've gone back a couple of times, because they give a voucher thing with each receipt and they have a pre-paid card with special rates.

Board games mean something special to me, having grown up with the happier part of my childhood being involved with playing board games with the adopted family. There's always time for board games, I'm always in the mood for board games. It's simply the best.

What first began as a hunt for frozen yoghurt (we were disappointed that Tutti Frutti in Kota Damansara had closed down) ended up with us playing board games with New Zealand Natural ice cream to satisfy our sweet tooth. (Coincidentally, NZN is my favorite ice cream brand- so of course the large banner caught my attention.)

Our first game we were introduced to is Ubongo, a puzzle-based game where you had to fit all the pieces into the board within the time limit and collect stones. It's not as easy as it looks! xD

Enjoying our ice cream and cake at the same time.

The other game is Blokus, one of my favorites, which you literally try to dominate the board and be a cockblock to everyone else.

The next game we tried included pandas and bamboos, and it included lots of limiting factors and things to consider, so it took quite a while.

There was also a fun kiddish-game including ghosts, mice, chairs and colors. Adorable!

There was one last game that included trains and train tracks and it's awesome (and I won it) but unfortunately I don't have the pictures for that. :( But I won that game, and it was great. :D

Food at the Border City Cafe is at best, mediocre. It does make things a little more fun and warm though, and they have a variety of finger food and pastas (also slightly cold all-day breakfasts). Evidently food does make the heart fonder!

Drinks to accompany our scheming.

I was pretty happy because they really do treat customers as friends, and you can have a polaroid taken on the first visit to put up on the wall. (I'm sure you can ask for it back, though- I should have just taken mine home with me, haha.)

The rest of shop was decorated with boardgames (for sale, too) from various different countries and and super comfortable seating arrangements for an optimum group of 4 or above.

All in all, Border City Café is quite a comfortable place to hang out with friends, and they open till late as well. It's worth visiting again!

Mind Palaces and Appreciating Things

February has come and is nearly gone, and yet I have barely written anything worth mentioning at all.

It has recently come to my attention, however, that I have gradually stopped reaffirming my thankful and appreciative habits, so here's kicking myself into the zone to love life and live life.

• my family is 300% amazing
• this includes my extended family
• of which my grandmother peaks at a 765% amazing rate
• le petit ami ♥︎
• all the pretty cute things I own
• all the useless but adorable impulse buys
• the ability to even afford such things
• friends who buy me things
• friends who buy me food
• friends
• the House of Vorosmarthy
• the TAS famiry
• 异类
• the amazing childhood friends that never lost touch
• the amazing not-quite-childhood friends that sorta lost touch but still stalk constantly
• learning about love
• learning the meaning of love
• learning how to love
• learning how to in general be a better person
• I have the privilege to study and learn
• even more so the opportunity to do it at my own pace
• to find my own interests and develop them
• the ability to write and communicate through words
• which I do so on a laptop
• a very good laptop
• my favorite one
• unlimited internet access
• torrents
• movies
• snacks
• good food
• more food
• best food
• all kinds of food
• desserts
• yum

The list will go on forever, because there is always something to smile over. Things that remind me of good times, of good people, of good effort.

I might write about them, but they're short (but of course that does not necessarily mean it's bad) and the train of thought loses itself quickly in my mind palace.

I'll have to organize my mind palace...

In Limbo

I've been putting off going to America for much too long, and it frustrates me.

On one hand I'm so reluctant to leave my home, my friends, my life here in Malaysia... On the other I'm so excited, so desperate to want to explore and be amazed.

I've met some problems with my application, which set me back another half a year. And in this free time when I step out a little to experience with my internship, I realize I'm not young enough to hide behind a silly reason for not being useful or responsible anymore.

I'm 20 years old with nothing to my name, with plans long-discarded or abandoned.

The same friends who used to look to me enviously because I'm granted the gift to study abroad have already experienced their first years in another country, being scared and overcoming their fears. They've grown up, matured somewhat, and gained a fraction of independence.

At the same time I sit at home and scroll the depths of the interwebs, aching for such a day.

I know it won't be easy- then again nothing ever is, and an object at rest stays at rest- but do I ever want to be part of the buzzing, vigorous life. Creating magic and filling the world with saturated youth and blind optimism because I can, because I want to, because I believe so.

I want to go out and explore, fly away and find new things, open my eyes to controversy, think scandalous thoughts and write about things that inspire, disgust, interest, horrify me all with enthusiasm only the young can generate.

Except I don't want to end when I'm not-young, I want to end when I'm not-remembered (which implies that I will not die in traditional silly means like body decay) and when no one knows my name anymore.

Of course all this is nothing but wishful thinking, because we all think we can change the world.

Now I just need to get up and do something about it.