17 Days

I have seventeen days left of my annual leave to last till the end of the year. It’s not like I have anywhere to go, really. There is no out-of-state hometown to return to, since we are all Selangor natives; no in-laws (yet) in the picture, and no exotic overseas vacation planned. Even the thirteen days off I took were spent mostly sleeping late and having long breakfasts with my parents.

My mother has been bugging me to buy a new baju melayu for the coming Raya, but I managed to convince her that my four-year-old baju melayu is still in excellent condition, and most importantly, fits. It was a mistake to joke earlier that after missing it twice when I was in Boston I am celebrating this year’s Raya like crazy in a full songket baju melayu. I like the idea of shopping and buying new clothes, up to the point of actually paying for them, LOL; and shopping during a festive season like now is just crazy, sale or no sale.

Anyway, here's a song for the weekend:

The Hardest Part
by Coldplay, from the album X&Y (2005)

And the hardest part
Was letting go, not taking part
Was the hardest part
And the strangest thing
Was waiting for that bell to ring
It was the strangest start

I could feel it go down
Bittersweet I could taste in my mouth
Silver line in the cloud
Oh and I
I wish that I could work it out

And the hardest part
Was letting go, not taking part
You really broke my heart
And I tried to sing
But I couldn't think of anything
That was the hardest part

I could feel it go down
You left the sweetest taste in my mouth
The silver line in the cloud
Oh and I
Oh and I
I wonder what it's all about
I wonder what it's all about

Everything I know is wrong
Everything I do, it just comes undone
And everything is torn apart
Oh and it's the hardest part
That's the hardest part
...

What do I do with the seventeen days?