Rayemay Blogs

I love summer. The freedom to absorb the sun’s warmth, wear the cutest summer outfits, watch beautiful sunsets, and ultimately, enjoy summer activities. For a girl that used to only ever want to stay indoors; it’s quite to my surprise that the great outdoors have become one of my favourite things ever. As I blog today, I sit in a café in Steveston and look out at the rain. I’m starting to miss the sun, though the heatwave did destroy me. From starting my summer holidays with a healthy summer tan, to slowly ending it with “rain watching”. Now with Fall making its arrival to Vancouver; I heavy heartedly say my goodbyes to the consecutive sunny days and scorching sun. I do see a few sunny days on the weather forecast in the coming week, but with a temperature drop. That’s alright I guess, at least I still have my last few days of summer fun.

Looking back when my summer started, I remember just feeling this burden lifted off my chest because I was living academic-stress free! Just kicking my summer off with morning walks in Main St, all ready to thrift the cutest summer clothes and buy donuts at Parallel 49. Later, getting excited because the sun would set around 9pm-10pm. A month or so later, I started to live life to the fullest since I started to tick off my summer list of To-Do Activities.

I remember tanning by the beach and coming home to only shock my mother because I was 3 shades darker. I mean.. how could I miss out on a summer tan? It’s Hot Girl Summer! A week after that, I went on a picnic again, but this time I made sure to sit under a shady tree because I notice my tan getting worst. I abruptly remember the second picnic because a kid was screaming so loud as I was eating Poke Bowl. On the same week, I think I went on 2-3 barbeque Parties. I couldn’t help myself from saying yes to every Barbeque invite. What is summer without Barbeques?? They are a must in summers. Moving on, I swear that sunsets in summer are so beautiful; they make you appreciate colours and the cooling summer breeze. The kind of breathtaking view that is accessible at beaches, parks and even from my own room. Plus points to the fun if you watch it with friends.

In July, I remember Whale Watching and I cannot express the happiness that poured into my soul. I’ve been wanting to Whale Watch for the longest time and finally getting to do it made me the happiest. The whole experience was an eye opener to the aquatic life in their natural habitat; unlike Aquariums since that’s marine life brought to us. Plus, I had Steveston Pizza right after the watching and the pizzas there are just so good. In the same week, I went on the most scenic hike. I’ve been yearning to go on this very hike because the view is so much more outstanding than other mountain views I have encountered. Just like most hikes in Vancouver, I was constantly surrounded by trees and the buzzing noises of insects. The sun rays were shining through every gap between the trees and leaves. At the peak, I was obviously exhausted but the view was worth everything. To be in awe of the blue skies and seas and beautiful surrounding islands from above.

The week after I went to visit a Van Gogh exhibition in downtown. The exhibition projects Van Gogh’s art with dramatic background music to add more life to the paintings. I could see every detail of each painting; starting with the direction of the strokes, the color gradient, the story the painting tells and the character it displays. Before admiring his art, a showcase room is opened by the entrance. There are multiple segments to this room, each part displays posters that explains and summarizes his lifetime on earth. I enjoyed reading most of it since I was actually curious to know about his lonely and tragic life before fame.

I’m blogging in real-time, and in the same spot I was sitting at the cafe when I first started to write this blog. It’s much sunnier today, considering that the sun is no longer hiding behind the clouds like this morning. Anyway, back to describing my summer fun. There were days when the weather decided to be gloomy, and at times it made me a little reluctant to do anything. On one of the few gloomy days, I decided to take a dip at the 30 foot pool in North Van. It was already so cold that day, but I still decided to dip in ice cold water. While struggling to stay in water, I stared at people cliff jumping and wondered how they found the courage to do it. First, you’ll have to be brave enough to jump while your adrenaline is PUMPING through the roof. Second, you’ll have to swim in that ice cold water back to land. I did cliff jump last summer; I must say that I am incredibly impressed by the bravery I had at the time. I was a different girl, that’s for sure. After enduring much shivers, I stacked rocks just to define gravity. Not exactly but, there were other stacked rocks that successfully stayed in place though its foundation seemed so unsteady. We slowly staked the rocks we carefully and strategically chose and after 20 minutes we created our very own stack stone. Later, we headed Downtown to have my favorite waffles and it was a great way to just end the day.

My summer was mostly filled with water sport activities now that I look through my photo gallery. I have complied tons of photos of me Kayaking, Paddle Boarding, Crabbing and Fishing, Swimming, Boat Paddling and the list goes on. Most of my kayaking trips were with Father Chiam! The ultimate homie of all time, of course. My dad owns a 12-foot kayak and we decided to take it out to sea, lakes and coves. In every kayak trip, I use an orange paddle my father bought for me because it’s smaller and fits my size better, “apparently”. Of course, father Chiam uses the cool black paddle that is much longer than my paddle. The black paddle is much nicer to use since it does not splash water onto him, and drip water down his armpit like the orang paddle does to me. I usually paddle with my father on a sunny day just to enjoy views of reigning mountains or mostly just to fish and crab. I love telling people about how I usually spend time with my father because the quality time spent with him is never wasted, but burnt into my memory to cherish for a lifetime. I love my dad so much. Paddle boarding has officially become my favorite water sport, though I kayak more during the summer. I love the idea of paddling as I stand because the stability I feel from it is actually so fun. While I’m surrounded by the deep blue waters, mountains and other kayakers on a sunny day; my heart is at ease. When I hike, I admire the view from above, but as I paddle board, I admire the view from below. It makes me feel well rounded with nature, I’d give myself an award for that if I could. About a week ago, I went boat paddling for fun. Not the most exciting, but at least I went with someone fun so that added some entertainment to the activity. I just paddled a boat around the lake of Burnaby… and… yea that’s all.

I forgot to mention that I went on a few other scenic hikes, or maybe just walks that involve more vigor. Though they do not involve as much energy to hike St Marks Summit or The Chief, they are hikes that still immerse me into natures beauty. I appreciate that because beautiful British Columbia provided me with top-quality outdoors.

I enjoy the company of quality friendships, a sunny day out and good fun. Summer is so carefree and easy, I appreciate everything about its warm beauty. My dreamy summer is coming to an end, but I’ll always have snippets of it from my memories.

Knowing that I’m at a phase in life where changes are rapid and constant, I put my head up high towards challenges that come my way. After this summer, a new school year begins. I’m not too sure about looking forward to it, but I’m going to have to move ahead anyway, I can’t stay in one place.

After months of longingly staring at leaflets of Whale Watching Adventures; my yearning has been satisfied. Vancouver Island is well-known for their top rated Whale Watch Tours since they are located closer to Gulf and San Juan islands. I live in Richmond BC, and the closes fishing village that offers whale watching tours is at Steveston Seabreeze Adventures. This blog will lean a little more on the factual side, unlike most of my other blogs. Though I’d still insert some heartwarming encounters during the trip here and there!

Harbour Seals (Photo 1)

These seals have the cutest way of waddling into water. Their entire chunky body moves in stretch and contract motions as they move, and their little flippers simply flap around on land. Here in this photo, the seals are resting on a stranded rock before they decide to take a dip. They have these incredibly adorable puppy eyes as they curiously stare at the passerby boats. These species of seals are as gentle as they look, it is never that you hear of a Harbour seal attack. Our cute little creatures mainly feed on fish and shellfish and the average lifespan of a the Harbour seal is ranges between 25-30 years.

Stella Sealion (Photo 2)

This 8ft long Stella Sealion weighs an average of 1000kg. They are practically a living dumpster to marine life because they eat almost everything; more commonly squids, octopus and fish. Just like Harbour Sealions, they live up to about 30 years old. These large creatures have long broad flippers (aka the only part of the body without hairs) that help them jump onto higher ground. In comparison to the Harbour seals, the Stella Sealion in the photo was able to hop onto the buoy. Houbour seals would struggle to do so since their little flippers are too small to achieve the grip of a Stella Sealion. I love how it’s enjoying all the warmth of the sun without having to worry about a sunburn (unlike me).

Bald Eagles (Photo 3)

Most of the time, facts of animals’ humanlike nature intrigues me. I love the idea of how Bald Eagles mate for life; till death do them part. There’s no need to worry about getting cheated on in this part of wildlife.. so wild. These eagles have build a nest on a solar power tower by the shore of Steveston. Our tour guide said, “They live free rent.” It is so true though, there is no vacancy for anyone else since they have been breeding in this nest for the past 4 years. Here in the nest, there are 2 eaglets and we were lucky enough to see the parents by the nest. In photos, the eagles seem to be visually small, however, in reality they measure up to 30-32 inches in height. During our boat ride, I saw about 2-3 Bald Eagles soaring and the sight of them gave the ocean view so much more life.

Thanks for reading!

The Glory goes to God for blessing these blessings.

While spring cleaning my room today I got the sweetest text from a close friend of mine reminding me that she’s thinking of me. Kathy, who I met in first year, was concerned about my safety since I work part-time and since I’m constantly in contact with people during this risky time. This is a great example of platonic love and I just love the idea of this type of love. Platonic love in friendships is such an important quality! If you’re not familiar with this type of love, I’ll explain it a little bit here! It is a form of love that does not involve any intimate feelings or emotions, the bond between the two people are a special connection that helps bind the friendship with love, care and good intentions.

As someone who cherishes true and genuine friendships, I love that most of my friendships make me feel like I’m in a safe place. With most of my friends and I making the effort to maintain a healthy and strong friendship, I always feel that sense of security around them. Overtime, the depth of the connection I have with many of my friends becomes so much more deeper, and my heart only becomes fuller for the people who are not only friends but also blessings. True friendships do not require an abundance of effort to maintain the connection between two people. From my experience, the friends I’m close to are always the easiest to talk whenever and wherever and easy to spend time with even when time seems so tight. Most importantly, the platonic love that two friends have for one another has to be genuine and constantly maturing. When love is incorporated into a friendship, everything else falls into the right place. The care that friends have for one another is everlasting, there’s always efforts to treat each other like a priority, and the sacrifices we (my friends and I) make is never wasted effort with the help of platonic love!

Another example is a friend of mine from church. She has the best way of expressing her love for people and I truly admire that! Andrea, has this way of making sure you always feel cared for and I can only thank God for bringing such a blessing like her into my life. She radiates this aura of happiness and being around her always lifts my mood. Platonic love is pretty self-explanatory in my opinion, it just proves its meaning in any friendship that is truthful and healthy.

I’ve learned to handle a lot of my friendships with care, and one of the ways I love to demonstrate it is to treat them like a priority. My best friend is my definite go to for a lot of things and he makes an effort to provide me with as much help and support. In accordance to that, I make sure to do the same to be a good friend in return. Aside from these examples I’ve shared here, I’d say that a lot of my other friendships now are strong and healthy too because of this powerful binding tool, Platonic Love. A connection that helps maintain friendships with enduring love and care. I’ve told myself to always appreciate the ones who are here for a real sisterhood and brotherhood or just true connections. Appreciate the ones who care for you properly, because they are and they have been rooting for you through thick and thin. The Glory goes to God for blessing these blessings.

Homemade Tomato Soup with Veggie Kabobs

Ingredients:-

Ingredients:-

1. Oatmeal
2. Bananas
3. Blackberries or blueberries
4. Almond Butter
5. Almonds
6. Biscuits

Directions

Cook the oatmeal of your choice and add some brown sugar. Pour it into a bowl and add Oat or Almond Milk. Top your Oatmeal with bananas and blackberries. Add a side of almond butter to give your oatmeal a nutty taste. Lastly, if you want a crunch to every bite of your oatmeal, add some almonds and biscuits to it!

Stir Fry Asparagus Noodles!

Bagels

The last time I made food portfolios was a year ago! Check out my previous food blog post https://rayemayblogs.home.blog/2020/04/18/vegan-and-vegetarian-lacto-ovo-meals/

I spent many nights journaling and blogging this year, I write about the downfalls and the times when I thrive. Reflections are a mirroring effect of our experiences and emotions at a certain place and time. Changes were so rapid this year, that my personal growth kept trying to fit into a new mold every time. There were many times when I really needed a breather but I was so obsessed with keeping up with my busy schedule. Over the span of 12 months, I saw a drastic change in my view of life and wellbeing. I started to shift my priorities, invest my energy in the right people, learn to love more everyday and appreciate the littlest things in life. A lot of my internal growth developed after a lot of prayer and quiet time. I am a believer of Christ and I believe in daily prayers, so I did a lot of praying to build and strengthen my faith. My love for my surrounding started to flourish, and I could see myself feeling more and more contented each and everyday. A lot of it took time, but I’m so glad that the things and people in my life are receiving the love they deserve to feel.

On New Years Eve, I decided to write my 2020 Takeaway alongside Andrew over zoom. We answered 10 journal prompts that really made us think about the entire year in detail. Some prompts took longer to answer than others. Andrew reflected a lot on his challenges and adventures, as for me I reflected on my emotions and wellbeing. He’s naturally very stable and calm, so emotional roller coasters are probably something foreign to him. It is a lot nicer to talk to someone who is older since they’re more experienced and mature, and the conversations tend to have more depth and understanding.

Below I shared some of my 2020 Takeaways and I’m really happy with them! Some of them have short answers because I prefer to keep some things confidential.

Bus 99 B-line (from UBC)

A homeless man sitting in the corner because he’s in need for warmth from the heaters.

Canada Line

Begging people for food instead of money

Downtown Vancouver

A homeless man sharing food with his homeless friend

There are so many ways to contribute to the community! You can help and make a difference! I’ve been doing my part to help since I was in high school, but the only reason I did was to build my hours for university applications. Although working part time is “giving back” to the community too, I wouldn’t consider it as to be a contribution.

What gave me the will power and empathy to contribute at this time?

A couple of weeks back, this lady came through my till and she bought $30 worth of canned foods and trust me, scanning 20-30 food cans in one transaction is A LOT. I bag them and pass her the receipt and say, “Thank you, you have a great day today!”. Not forgetting that I have a certain pitch and intonation when I say it, it sounds catchy. Anyway, she buys bags of canned food and puts them into this huge wooden box by the exit of the store. I always see that huge box but never take notice of what it is, so I walk towards it and I see written on it, “FOOD BANK”. I pondered over the idea of a food bank, giving back to the homeless instead of receiving my paychecks to fulfill my pleasures. My heart started to grow empathy for the people who are underprivileged, the ones who are naturally selfless although they already have so little. For the past 2 months WHEN I RECEIVED MY PAYCHECK, I FIRST SPEND IT ON FOOD TO DONATE TO THE FOOD BANK. Then, doing more research on what type of foods to donate!!

How can you donate?

Monetary Donations

For every $1, the Food Bank gives out $6 worth of food

I always tell myself “If you can buy $6 dollars worth of Bubble Tea WITH EXTRA BOBA (the audacity I know). Then, you can donate to the Food Bank too.

For donations:

Non-Perishable food donations:

Most needed food items if you don’t know, how, what or not to donate:

It is important to know what type of foods to donate since nutritional values are important for a consumer’s health.

Let’s give back to the community!! ❤️

References : Donate: Richmond Food Bank Society. Donate | Richmond Food Bank Society. (n.d.). https://richmondfoodbank.org/donate/.

Dad walks into my room and asks, “you okay?”. He takes me into his arms and holds me tight while I start tearing up. He doesn’t let go because he knows I need him.

Earlier this evening, I was sitting by my windowpane while looking into nothingness. I think to myself, the night look so beautiful in my neighbourhood. There are tiny lights shining from my neighbour’s windows and porches. It’s a little chilly too since the fall season is slowly setting in. I’ve been overwhelmed with school and work but really that’s all part of university isn’t it? While I take some time to sit down and do some self-reflection, it felt nice to reflect on much needed “self-feedback” from challenges and situation I had recently faced. Some breakthroughs were pleasing, achievements were nice reminders, and the failures made me rethink and reposition myself. There are times when I knew that I had to handle my own situations because it’s a war against myself and the world. No one is going to step in and handle it on my behalf.

The tension is real and my father feels it, he knows the struggle and understands the frustration. As the wonderful man he is, he supports me through by feeling my pains and carries me through the phases. I only grow more love for him everyday, he cares so deeply for me and my heart grows fuller.

While holding me in his arms, his exact words were, “I’m here for you. You can always come to me, I love you a lot”. A fathers words of affection like that can only make a daughter cry of joy. My father has always thought of my concerns and wellbeing, he loves and cares so deeply. I am truly blessed to have a wonderful dad.

You’ll always be my number one, dad. I love you through it all.

Your little girl,

Rachel

Many times we go through a hard phase and forget to take care of ourselves, or maybe we’re too busy being selfless that we forget we’re a priority. On this warm summer night, I’ve decided to blog and share about my many self-care/ self-love tips that carries me through the recovery process after a rough phase. These coping mechanisms have kept me staying optimistic and hopeful to make room for improvement for my physical and mental state.

Being adventurous

I’ve decided to leave my comfort zone over the summer holidays, the past weeks have been filled with thrill and adventures! I’ve been hiking, cliff jumping, skating, kayaking, going on picnics, beaches, shooting (I have a gun license), made plans to go flying over Downtown Vancouver and decided to work part-time! Term 2 of first year was bitter sweet really, a big part of me was thriving but I still had some missing pieces to gather. While recovering from the hectic term, I kept myself busy with doing new things I’ve never thought of experiencing ever. My mind was focused on ticking off my adventure bucket list, as time progresses I see more opportunity to embrace nature under the sun. Knowing myself, I easily dwell and overthink and that is never healthy especially over the holidays. The whole idea of immersing myself into new experiences has kept my mind off negativity but more so on being open to the world and myself. The excitement has changed my views on life, it gave me this sense of hope that the ups in life will always come around.

Surrounding myself with the right people

Throughout my time here in Vancouver, I kept meeting the most positive and genuine people. They come my way every few months or so and I always considered them as a blessing. When surrounded with the right crowd, I see myself appreciating life so much more. The crowd you surround yourself with has the most influence and impact on your views and principals in life, it truly does. Their priorities will shape yours and slowly mold you to be similarly like them. Back in 2015, I was obsessed with a Disney sitcom, Girl meets World, and I always remember the protagonist saying “People change people”. It’s true that people exert the most influence, we have admirers and we admire all the time, the cycle is endless. Most of my friends are very family oriented and I like that they have healthy relationships with them. It shows that they have been brought up in a family that teaches them to be good and kind. Love is primarily learnt from home and I can see how they spread it to me or the people around them, I especially like that the love is genuine, there’s trust and loyalty to it. From there, I have learned to spread love upon others like my family does for me and how my friends have after learning from their families.

I’ve been friends with the most caring and mature people, I cannot stress on how much I appreciate their existence. This helps me realize that there are good people on this sinful planet, there’s no need to try too hard. When I know there’s support from my circle of friends, the world becomes less evil and haunting. I love to see myself building a future with them or even memories that soon become core. When there’s appreciation and support, times that are difficult become less burdensome because I am in the knowing that good people are by my side.

Allowing myself to feel emotions

There has been several occasion when I tried to push emotions aside because its caused too much discomfort. I felt like starting a new all the time but I figured out that rushing into a new start will not always be the solution. This I believe is relevant to life, friendships, relationships and much more. Just because the downfall has been rough does not determine that pushing the whole event aside is going to make it any easier. I don’t support overthinking or drowning yourself into emotions, but taking time to understand and develop closure from hitting rock bottom will always direct me to acceptance before moving on. To accept what has happen will require time and through this you will have to feel emotions. When trying to completely push a strong emotion aside can result in a rebound effect. As a growing individual, I’d prefer to slowly have the emotions fade or to grow out of it because then I’m naturally moving on.

Setting new priorities

I’m at this phase in life when priorities constantly change, there are core ones like working towards my degree and staying close to family and friends but there are other priorities that were only important at a point of time. As of now, summer courses and my part-time job are my main objectives over the summer holidays. It keeps me staying productive and motivated, the want to achieve that potential high GPA and making good money for myself or to use to bless others is strong. It’s a healthy priority to commit to, plus while I’m working hard at it I learn more about myself. For example, while I’m busy working on school and my part-time job, I noticed that I’m a really hard working person. Although the first-year studying grind was gruesome, I still wanted to do more to gain credits and earn my own money because it builds independence. During the fall, my priorities might solely be on school but that’s fine too because its healthy to work towards my career. While I’m at it I’ll also keep in mind that time to myself is just as important because self-care/love is crucial. Time to myself is important because I’m allowing my mind to be less distorted.

Looking good!

It’s important that I take time to pick up from where I left off, but to also flaunt while I’m at it. When I know I look good, I feel good. I believe that looking good gives you this sense of confidence, the idea of feeling good about yourself and pushing through the long day with style. During final season, I remember spending so much time in the library and staying back late to brush up on anything I’ve missed out on in class. It’s cold and the urge to wear something cozy and frumpy is tempting, but when I’m not well dressed I feel lousy and demotivated for my long day ahead. So, I’d usually wear something nice and comfortable, brush my hair, wear light makeup and conquered the day ahead. I’m not saying that I always make sure to look good, there are days when I’m a mess too but I tend to feel motivated to get through the day when I know I look prepared and adequate.

Learning to appreciate

“There’s so much to appreciate, why do we allow the negativity to outweigh the positives?”-Rachel Chiam 2k20. Before the pandemic, I remember when life was so fast going that there was no time to think and everything seemed like a blur. After school was declared to be online for the rest of the Spring term, I felt like this was just too much. The whole idea of calling off school was overdoing it and staying in was pretty depressing at times. However, my time during the pandemic made me appreciate more. I was so happy whenever I was given an excuse or chance to leave the house. My morning and evening walks were the best, the blue skies and the sun’s warmth always lifts my mood. I was appreciative of the close relationship my family and I have, the cozy room I get to hibernate in, the virtual friendships I maintain during the pandemic because I couldn’t see my friends and much more! These have suddenly become so real to me and I couldn’t seem to warp that around my head. I forgot to appreciate and love the little things I already had! Life was too busy pushing me around that it took a pandemic for me to figure out how blessed I am. Ever since, I’ve become so much more optimistic and I am happy to be so much more appreciative.