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I wasn’t supposed to post anything today, out of sheer laziness of course. But I logged in anyway, and found that Time is No Enemy had nominated me for the Liebster Award! A pleasant surprise, really!

She’d only nominated three, and being one of them really made my day. Before I do as the rules demand, I’d like to thank you, Chelsea, for the honour. I’m glad to have come across your blog, with its mix of inspirational pieces, creative writing, reviews and opinions. It’s definitely a must-read, must-follow.

This being my first ever blog, I was always uncertain of what I was doing, and had trouble finding the motivation to continue. Each and every one of you who happened to stumble across this blog became my motivation. So, I’d like to thank you for being there, and being the reason why I’m still here.

But everything comes with a price, right?

The price for accepting this award, is to answer a set of questions. Thankfully, I don’t need money for that, so I’ve accepted it.

Come at me, questions!

1) Why did you start your blog?

I started this blog to force myself to write, because I found myself claiming that I loved writing, but never actually getting down to writing anything. I hadn’t done any serious, committed writing in an entire year! When I did finally decide to hit the create though, I had the What the heck would you write, and who the heck would read that? fright. It almost made me put everything on private. Cracked self-confidence, probably.

2) How do you define happiness?

I think happiness lies in finding “the big things in the little thing”, as a fellow blogger worded it. To me, happiness is up to us; if we’re willing to be grateful for what we’re blessed, or if we’ll continue to complain about those things we don’t have.

3) If you could live anywhere, where would it be and what would you be doing?

I would probably live in a Switzerland countryside with horses, mountains and all. During the day, I would be working on some sort of invention to cure places with not-so-fresh-air of their disease so everyone can have mountain-cool and healthy air. I’d spend my leisure time writing as a published author or painting (though I’d probably portray the mountains as marshmallows or so, because my hands aren’t very good at the fine art). Or horse riding, though I have never learnt how to. Night times would have to be sky-gazing and star watching, with a telescope, if possible.

I’d have to have no wi-fi connection to actually do any of that though, of course.

4) What does an average day look like?

My day starts at 6am with a bowl of cereal and a one-hour drive. I’m still studying, so the rest of the day is the usual eat, study, fail a test, eat again cycle and another one-hour drive back home. Then, it depends on the time of the year; if it’s exam season, I’ll probably be scribbling story ideas into the scrap book with too many pages torn out. If it’s any other time of the year, I’ll spend the time texting the “Owl that got away” instead of doing my homework.

If I happen to be on holiday though, the “study, fail a test” part of the day becomes “tell myself not to get on the computer and end up on it all day”.

5) What makes you smile?

Almost anything cute can make me smile instantly, but unexpected surprises that money can’t buy keeps the smile coming back over and over again; this includes conversations, complements, coincidences, or well, surprise awards *wink*.

6) Beverage of choice?

Cappuccino, hot and cold. Minus the ice though, I hate when it melts into the drink and makes it terribly watery. Unless the ice is in water, of course.

7) Any weird writing quirks or routines?

When I’ve got hundreds of more important things to do, my brain wires into that long-forgotten novel idea and starts pumping scenes and dialogues into my head. So I scribble little notes down so I can get back to them when I’ve got the load off my shoulders, but by the time I’m actually free though, the scribbles just don’t want to connect to one another.

Brainstorming just rips it all apart and then I leave it to die out in my head again.. until the next time I’ve got a fate-deciding deadline the next morning or an exam in half an hour.

8) Who are your inspirations?

I know this may be very cliché, but my inspirations come from the people closest to me; family and close friends. This is because I know exactly what they’ve been through, and it makes them perfect people in my eyes. They play a huge role in my life, and I know I can make a difference in theirs.

9) When did you start writing?

I started writing in first grade, I think? If i wrote before that, I forgot, and I doubt I did. My teacher then (the one I want to meet again) encouraged me to write more by taking my (pathetic) stories and shelving them in the class “library”, for my classmates to read. I’m pretty sure I haven’t written that much, so confidently, in ages.

10) What is your biggest fear?

I fear the fear of failure. Though I think my cockroach, spider and public speaking phobias have greater effects on me when I’m forced to face them. I’m also scared of the dark when I know there’s a bug in the room.

11) In 10 years, where do you want to be?

I want to be here on WordPress, on this blog. But if you meant an actual location, then I would like to be where I’d described in #3. I understand that’s virtually impossible, but it’s okay to want such a thing, right? The one place I don’t want to be though, is in my non-existent-novel’s world, because I want to have finished off with it before ten years pass.

Facts about me:

1. The one time I tried to stop a fight, I ended up with a scar on my face.. It’s not too bad, but it’s there, and I’ll never forget that kid.

2. I started wearing a headscarf (hijab) when I was three; it was yellow and so were my shoes.

3. I have a short long-term memory. All I remember from first grade is the kid who puked on my first day, and my teacher Ms Eileen who I’d do anything to meet again.

4. I don’t only suffer writer’s block, but also texter’s block. Sometimes, it takes me a day or two to text normally again.

5.  I don’t understand how people can “lose their appetites” when they’re sick. I’m pretty sure I eat a lot more then than I usually do!

6. I’m the kind of person who would rather stick to a strict diet than break a sweat to exercise; I’ve lost 10kg so far without working out. I can’t say no to chocolate, cakes and junk though, so the numbers are always changing.

7. I never knew Malaysia existed until the day my dad told me we were moving here.. My friends here still seem surprised that Canadians come in all colours and races.

8. When my first best friend ever, in second grade, moved away to Libya, I gave her my number and told her to call me.. She never did. I haven’t called anyone my “best” friend since. (Though Lima Bean, aka Owl, gets closest)

9. I just have to buy every cute notebook I come across, and then I put it away in the top shelf of my bookshelf to save it for the day I decide to write something “worth the covers”. Unfortunately, everything I want to write never seems to make the “worth it” cut, so I have ten notebooks now, waiting for me.

10. I miss the days when my sister was like, 8, because she’d love everything I’d write and it made me feel amazing. I wrote the most back then. But now she has her opinions and it does bad things to the flow of my writing.

11. Sometimes, I wish my Grand Fantasia account would get hacked or something, so I could actually do something useful with my spare time instead of waste it as a game addict.

Wow, I actually managed to answer all that. I didn’t believe I could!

Now, it’s my turn to nominate blogs for the Liebster Award.

Time is No Enemy

I don’t know if this is allowed, but I just had to. If someone else nominated me, I’d definitely nominate you. I know you’ve already done your “duties upon receiving the award”, so you don’t have to repeat them, I guess. If you’re interested in answering the questions though, feel free to!

Blackbird’s Nest

The Blackbird’s Nest may have a dark appearance, but it’s one of my favourite places to go; with the “button of doom”, Camila keeps me entertained for hours with the variety of her posts. Thank you for not labelling the button “don’t click this”!

Fluency

In just about a month, Jane managed to pump her following all the way to 700! It’s amazing, really, but her work well deserves it! When she named her web address “fluency of words”, she definitely knew what she was doing.

Heart of a Lunatic

This blog here is a collection of amazing pieces by Jack, and deserves a nomination. Many of his posts are thought-provoking, and kept me thinking long after I’d read it. He was also one of my first followers, and I’d like to thank him for all his support!

PhoTrablogger

I know, I know, you’ve got your no-awards policy. But I just had to. You have an amazing blog, and I couldn’t hit the publish button without adding you here. Thank you for all your support!

If you choose to accept my nomination, then YOU must follow these rules:

1) Acknowledge and accept the Liebster Award by leaving a comment on the blog that nominated you.

2) Copy and paste the Liebster logo onto your blog.

3) Link back to the blogger who nominated you.

4) Answer the 11 questions posed to you by the person who nominated you.

5) List 11 random facts about yourself.

6) Nominate and link to 3—11 other blogs you enjoy that have less than 3000 followers.

7) List 11 questions for your Liebster Award nominees on your blog.

8) Inform your nominees by leaving a comment on their blog.

Nominees, here are your questions!

1) What made you start blogging, and what are your blogging goals?

2) If failure was impossible, what is one thing you’d do?

3) What is one thing you wish someone told you five years ago?

4) If you had 100 words to say to the entire world right now, what would they be?

5) What do you find yourself idly thinking about?

6) If you could live in a novel-world, which world would you choose to live in, and why?

7) If you could re-write the ending to a novel, which would you choose to change, and how would you end it?

8) Do you write better on the computer or on paper?

9) Are you a morning, afternoon, evening or night writer?

10) What is your favorite post you’ve ever written? (link too please!)

11) How many times do you usually proofread your work before finally hitting the “publish” button?