A snap back to reality shakes me up. Busyness should never be a constant – I’ve always fought hard for that ideal work life balance and thought I was pretty good at juggling it, up until now. When a few friends (individually) told me, “You’re always so busy, I have to tell you way in advance if we want to meet up.” When picking up a book to read seems more like luxury than leisure, when technology grows on me like a parasite and when my journal has more empty than scribbled pages…

This has got to change. Soon.

Believe it or not, since the introduction of recycling bins in our kitchen, we have just been constantly surprise (and appalled) at the mounting recyclable waste accumulated over time. Almost every product we buy off-the-shelf has an element that can be recycled.  Everything from plastic wrappers, plastic bottles or cups, old newspapers, cereal boxes, juice cartons, tin cans – the list seems endless!

As if that’s not enough of a waste shocker, according to statistics from the Department of Environment (DOE), an average Malaysian produces 0.8kg -1.2kg of waste per day. That’s an average of 30kg of waste a month! Statistics also show that the biggest waste contributors come from urban areas. Yes! Urbanites like you and I who thrive happily on convenience and spend blithely without thinking twice.

The horror does not end here. If waste is not separated at disposal point, EVERYTHING (literally everything) ends up in the landfill. No waste collector will care enough to rummage through our garbage and pick out what can be recycled and what can’t. Hence, all of us need to play our part, and it all starts at home.

We’ve tried to minimize our waste by bringing Tupperware containers when ordering take-out, declining plastic bags at the supermarket and refusing to take plastic cutlery instead using our ‘SPORKS’ when on the move. Still there are products we can’t avoid buying despite realizing how laden it is with excessive packaging.

It’s easy to get overwhelmed by rubbish (literally), especially when information is sparse even in a thriving city like KL. So here are a few tips to help make recycling easier for you!

How to start? While fancy colour-coded recycling bins would be a nice inclusion at home, a simple box or garbage bag is really all you need to sort and hold your recyclables. We bought ours from IKEA (although not the wisest decision since we’re adding up on plastic purchase – however esthetic elements and durability won us over). You will need at least 3 bins/boxes/containers, for; paper, plastic and aluminum.  Another for glass if necessary.

What to recycle? Virtually all newspapers, magazines, junk mail, cardboard, cereal & juice boxes, glass bottles, plastic wrappers, aluminum and tin cans are recyclable. Remember to flatten boxes and aluminum cans before dumping it into separate bins. As for plastic bottles, remember to remove the cap and rinse the bottle. Both the cap and the bottle go into the same bin but will be sorted again at the recycling center.

Where to bring your recyclables? At certain locales, DBKL, MPPJ or Alam Flora will have designated days to pick up recyclable waste. Ask your neighbours if you are not sure. Another option is to bring your recyclable waste to recycling centers around your area.

Alam Flora has made life simpler for all of us by listing down recycling centers within Klang Valley. It’s best to identify a center near your home or office for added convenience. Click HERE to see the list.

Alternatively, if you feel like doing a good deed, you can send recyclables to a disabled home in SS2, PJ. They collect recyclables to sell in order to earn money to run the home. There are drop-off boxes at their centre.

Lovely Disabled Home
No 1, Jalan SS 2/5, (opposite Taman Bahagia LRT station)
47300 Petaling Jaya, Selangor, Malaysia.
Contact person: K.K Lum (Director) @ 03 78739622 / 013-3409622

In the age of digitization, finding a physical photo album or prints are hard to find. Photos are burn onto CDs, uploaded on Facebook, shared on Trip Advisor and emailed to friends. Whilst this digital phenomenon has made destinations more ‘accessible’ and it has also allowed friends to digitally travel with other friends without leaving our seats – it has also rid us of the nostalgia of flipping through physical photo albums and cleaning dusty albums whilst having a good laugh or cry over memorable milestones.

Since technology is moving so rapidly, we figured that one day, photo albums will not exist and we better create an option before its to late! We still want to have the assurance that pictures and physical memories can be accessible in the event our nation’s power source goes kaput or if our hard disk crashes.

So we decided to continue our meticulous efforts in creating scrapbooks! We’ve spent hours sorting through colours papers, choosing borders, buying embellishments, sticking, stamping and stenciling – it’s what we do with our free time, our together time – reliving our trip once again through the creation of our 4th photo book.

We’ve reached yet another milestone in our marriage, though our wedding was 2 years ago, the celebration continues (everyday). It’s been an incredible adventure thus far. Sure we have our squabbles, rifts and not-so-great-days, but conflicts only makes us a better person, a stronger couple – if we choose to work through it. One of the things that amaze me most about Terence is his passion and sincerity to work this marriage. Honeymoon years are great, feeling all fuzzy and warmth in the new found union – time passes quickly too but for a marriage to last, it takes lots of work and effort to prepare for turbulent times. I’m ever grateful to have a husband which sure foresight to challenge us to greater depth and heights.

Over the last 2 years, we’ve reached our lifelong dream to travel to 2 continents, made a new list of destinations to conquer, created our own set of rules at No.8 (for example, if Terence cooks, Deb doesn’t enter the kitchen, if she does she’d end up complaining at how messy it is) and learned which buttons to push and which to stay clear of.

We’ve learned that loving without holding back makes us vulnerable to each other but almost always, it opens an opportunity for us to receive more than we can ever give. How true when the Bible says, “Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends” (John 15:13). I love the Maker and Author of marriages! My deepest desire is for this marriage to be a reflection of Him – His love and character.

After being away for so long, I would imagine that our house would feel foreign, our plants would somewhat wither, the letters overflowing and lizard poop polka doting the walls. But we were wrong! We came home to an oh-so-familiar place we called home. The sheets clean, pillows as we left them, floors spanking clean and no trace of lizard poop.

Our families gave us the best welcome gift, aside from overbearing hugs, kisses and beaming faces at the airport – they helped clean our home!!! Fresh flowers took center piece at the dining table and fresh new curtains hand-sewn and fitted for our kitchen. We love them to bits!

Since our fridge looked pathetically empty, we decided to do some grocery shopping. What should be a usual activity turned out rather peculiar. I was in for an economic shock as I gawked and awed at the prices of items here in Malaysia. Yoghurt for RM5? Bread for RM4? Cheese for RM12? Unbelievable to my purse’s delight, I was like a girl grabbing at everything that took my fancy and dropping it into the shopping cart.

Then I was up for another gastronomic shock. After touching down, we headed straight for breakfast at a local coffeeshop. I ordered my favourite Wan Tan Mee and finished it in no time. Later for dinner we had a Malaysian spread of fried rice, bah kut teh, assam fish and veggies. Little did I know that my stomach had not prepared itself for gastronomical buffet. I found myself visiting the toilet umpteen times for the next few days. Needless to say, it was a mild case of ‘Malaysian diarhoe’.