I wrote this excerpt in my food blog last year this month and once again a year passed by in a blink of an eye. Ah, sometimes I feel like I am on a fast train through the track of life. But lucky for me this year I got more time to look out the window.

Still Newember is very apt for me, it will be for every year to come. Here is what I wrote back then to explain Newember.

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New is a very positive word. New signifies birth, like a new born child crying when it got to this world in shock and then marvel at all the sights, sounds and smells around him. From then on a child will grow with curiosity where everything is like anew, everything is exciting, everything seem like a big opportunity for exploration. When was the last time you see things from the eyes of a child?

November – autumn, fall, rainy and cooling, depending on where you are in this world. The old would have to go before the new can come in. November had always been a quiet month for me, it is neither the end yet, no that’s for December, but yet it is definitely neither the beginning of the last quarter of the year. It is normally the month where people take the last opportunity to mellow a little, slack a little and wait for the holidays to come. It is just like how in autumn the trees shed the leaves; here human will shed their burdens. As for me, I am throwing in spring for this autumn. I would shed the leaves and grow new flowers. Flowers bring joy.

Life is a long road of journey, don’t forget to stop and smell the flowers.

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Life and time seems to be more unbearably light to me as I grew older, which I hope to grow wiser as well. One thing good out of this is that it always keep me on my toes, it keeps me thinking and going, as if I have my whole life on my back, ready to go. But one thing for sure is that we have to shed the excess baggage in life in order to stay agile, to stay light enough to keep on moving and keep on being naive and happy.

So that’s what Newember is about, to shed the unnecessary old and to move on with our nimble feet, with a spring in the steps, and wise enough to slow down and enjoy every moment.

Come join me in my month of renewal, in Newember.

If life is a fast train, then don’t forget to look out the window and enjoy the view.