Monthly Wrap-Up: July 2026

August 3, 2026 Dini @ dinipandareads30 Comments

July… What happened in July? Honestly, I ain’t got a clue. It was my first month on a retainer contract (meaning I have 3-days of work per month) and “suddenly” finding myself with a heckuva lot more free time resulted in me getting very comfortable very quickly with doing nothing particularly productive every day. 😅 *big sigh* I guess you can say that I have a very lazy + avoidant personality, so I tend to really stick to my comfort zone, which means that I (mostly) allow myself to shove my head in the sand and just exist in ignorant bliss. I am the question hound in the “on fire” comic strip turned meme where the house is burning down and the hound is sat at the table saying “this is fine” (at least for now).

In other news, well, there really isn’t much other news. I managed to be productive a few times over the past month by doing a spot of spring cleaning here and there, but otherwise, I’ve just been languishing the days away… I’m trying not to be too hard on myself cos this is a big life change and I’m very much a creature of comfort and routine, so it has messed me up a bit. But I hope that August will see a turn around at some point. 🙂 Here are some photos from gaming, bookstagram, book mail, and my catto. 🐈

Monthly Wrap-Up: June 2026

July 2, 2026 Dini @ dinipandareads18 Comments

Well, June wasn’t any different to what I expected. It was the last month of full-time work for everyone at my office and wow, it was hectic, stressful, frustrating and emotional in so many different ways. It hasn’t been an easy process and if I’m being honest, there were so many instances the team felt deep betrayal and disbelief due to decisions being made by the higher-ups in New York, but would be the most impactful to the local team on the ground here. By the time the 30th rolled around, the energy was almost manic because everyone was beyond exhausted but at the same time, relieved to not have to deal with the heavy burden of this change full-time anymore.

Personally, I was feeling pretty numb to it all and even now, I don’t think it’s fully set in? There were a few panicky moments towards the end of June when I started thinking too long and hard about what I’m going to do next, whether I’m ever going to be able to get a job again, how I’m going to survive in this economy, etc. I know it’s a serious situation but I also know my brain was making things more dramatic and worse in those moments. As of right now, I’m feeling quite a bit of guilt because I’m not working, and I’m also struggling to not feel like I have to constantly be online and available for work because I’m no longer being paid to work full-time. It’s a weird transitory feeling and I’m sure it’ll take a while for me to get used to it, but I know I will adjust. 🙂

Monthly Wrap-Up: April & May 2026

June 1, 2026 Dini @ dinipandareads16 Comments

Wow, I had no idea—or at least I completely forgot—that I didn’t do a monthly wrap-up for April, so I guess I’ll be combining April & May this time. I’ve been so exhausted and brain fog heavy these past two months, that aside from my weekend away in May, I don’t really remember anything else that’s happened. 😅 It’s probably because nothing has happened (other than work issues and my trip), but sometimes it’s discombobulating not remembering what happened a month ago, lol.

I announced a mini-hiatus at the end of April, and I really thought that I would still post every now and then in May, but I pretty much wound up going MIA. I think I just don’t have the energy for much these days and so it was needed, but as always, getting back into the groove of things always takes time. I think I might still be a little here-and-there in June, but I’ll try to slowly start to be more active!

My highlight in May was the pre-birthday trip that I took myself on to Vietnam (Ho Chi Minh City) which is about a 6 hour flight in total with one transit through Singapore. I went specifically to get a tattoo with an artist who I’ve admired for a long time and who’s based there—thankfully, it all worked out and I wound up spending about 4 days there. It was a really quick trip but I’m quite happy that I did it! I actually don’t have a photo of my tattoo but I do have the video the artist shared on her page. I’m really happy with how it turned out. 🥰 The majority of my tattoos are black so I’ve never had this much colour on me before. I’ve been really careful with the healing process so far and it seems to be looking good although I notice some colours (like the very light green) don’t show up as well on my dark skin, but I t hink it still looks really good. I’m so pleased I got it done! 🙂

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Monthly Wrap-Up: March 2026

April 9, 2026 Dini @ dinipandareads9 Comments

What happened in March? I honestly have no idea. It passed by in a blink, but with the end of Ramadan and the start of Eid, half of the month was practically a holiday for the majority of the country. 😂 While my family doesn’t celebrate, we still got a holiday, and though I literally did close to nothing for my 5-day weekend, it was still very nice, lol. 🐼 Something I started again this month was gaming. After years of putting aside Disney Dreamlight Valley, I decided to pick it up on a whim and have found myself enjoying the gameplay so much more this time around! There are tons of new characters and quests, as the “base game” has developed further since its launch. Despite the tons of frame drops and massive lags, it’s been a great way to unwind daily and I’m a little obsessed.

The big event this month was celebrating my dad’s 72^nd birthday with Korean BBQ and a delicious fluffy chocolate strawberry cake. Other than that, I experienced a few more gorgeous sunsets in the car on the way home, and I also ate some mouthwateringly good Indian food! Here’s some snaps from the month…

Monthly Wrap-Up: February 2026

March 2, 2026March 11, 2026 Dini @ dinipandareads23 Comments

She blinked and somehow ~~January~~February was already over. I know February is a short month, but it felt like it was only two weeks long with how quickly it flew by? Looking back on the month, I’m not really sure what happened? We had some farewells at work with two colleagues leaving us, but other than that, it was just a whole bunch of work (🎶work, work, work, work🎶) and little else. One farewell involved karaoke and I hadn’t been to one (sober) in ages but it was actually a lot of fun. I still can’t sing to save my life, but I had a great time with my colleagues! We also had our office iftar (the evening meal to break the daily fast) on Friday hosted by our Head of Office. His wife arrived from Egypt with some amazing treats and she cooked up a delicious feast for us. It was fantastic! I drool still thinking about it. 🤤

Monthly Wrap-Up: January 2026

February 5, 2026February 5, 2026 Dini @ dinipandareads13 Comments

She blinked and somehow January was already over. I spent the first (almost) 2 weeks of the month in Sri Lanka attending a friend’s wedding, ringing in the new year, and going on a mini-beach vacation. It was jarring to fly back to reality because my brain had basically been checked out since Christmas 2025, and I had to remind myself what days and dates were a little too quickly for my liking, lol. 😂 Coming back to work after close to 3-weeks away wasn’t fun—especially since I was thrown straight into the deep end—but we survived. Despite passing so quickly I can’t believe it’s over, January also felt like a decade long. There was so much chaos and heartbreak in the news. I’m sending so much strength and support to my friends on the other side of the world! I hope everyone is taking care and doing as okay as can be. 🫂

Here’s a small January photo dump:

Monthly Wrap-Up: November 2025

December 1, 2025December 1, 2025 Dini @ dinipandareads23 Comments

November… What even happened in November? I honestly can’t tell you! Seriously though, where did the month go? Because it feels like it just started and now we’re already wrapping up. This is the same old song I sing every year but it still boggles how quickly time flies. Here’s (a very boring) gallery of images from November:

Work was busier than usual as we had several events, with one more to go to complete this year! I think that definitely made time go faster because it felt like there was no moment for rest, lol. Aside from that, there really wasn’t much going on. As I’ve mentioned before, I have no social life whatsoever, so whenever I’m not at work, I’m a gremlin in my cave, sitting with my books, refusing to meet people, and being an all-around lazy panda, haha. I didn’t do any baking this month either because I’m nothing if not a professional procrastinator. 😅

Monthly Wrap-Up: October 2025

November 3, 2025November 2, 2025 Dini @ dinipandareads7 Comments

October was a heavier month than expected. There was a lot of illness and loss this month, with several family friends and a former colleague who passed away. It made for a rather heavy month, and I think the thoughts and feelings that brought affected me much more than I realised!

The month wasn’t all terrible though. I did a lot of baking (apple pies, lemon pound cakes, and banana-chocolate walnut loaves), I finally booked my ticket to Sri Lanka for a friend’s wedding and the New Year, and I treated myself to many books and cute Pop Mart things! I’m sharing some highlight posts from the month off my Instagram (and I just realised that one of the pictures I posted was from September, lol… oops)!

Monthly Wrap-Up: September 2025

October 2, 2025October 2, 2025 Dini @ dinipandareads22 Comments

September… What happened in September? Not a whole lot, really. The highlight of the month was celebrating mum’s 70th birthday, which was surprisingly low-key. It was nice though, and I enjoyed spending time with her and her siblings who joined the festivities. Other than that, I got a new desk set up, which I’m feeling pretty half-half about at the moment.

I love how big it is and how I have more shelf space to put books and my knick-knacks (although it is looking a little bare at the mo), but I’m not keen on the desk part being so wobbly. It’s especially bad with my monitor on this arm cos it’s like, one touch of my desk and it wobbles like it’s going to break. 🤣 I guess I can’t complain considering the desk set up was less than $50… 🤭 Let’s how long it lasts though—I sometimes feel if I put too much pressure in the centre of it (where my wrist wrest is), it’ll cave (or at least bend) in, haha. Not ideal!

Monthly Wrap-Up: August 2025

September 1, 2025August 30, 2025 Dini @ dinipandareads35 Comments

August… Wasn’t a great month in terms of health. I spent the majority of it knocked down by various illnesses, the latest being the worst flare up of my chronic bronchitis that I’ve experienced since I first got it. As I’m writing this up on the last day of August, I’m just extremely exhausted of feeling exhausted. On the bright side, my chest no longer feels like it’s been stomped on by a herd of elephants and run over by a train, but it still feels like a weight is hanging off it and I hate that I get out of breath from simply moving around. 🥲 I’m really hoping that September will be much better health wise! 🤞🏽