Time flies. It’s been a year plus of flying and roaming around world. I have also been orbiting the cyber space on my blogging journey, carrying with me still, a huge suitcase of back-logged adventure stories to catch up on and bring them up to date onboard my blog. All because I started travelling way before the birth of this blog.

This blogosphere of mine is really so unexpected and fast moving. I guess I need to build up my stamina to run this blogosphere race. Never had I thought it would be such a fun and rewarding journey. Besides swallowing daily social media threads and eating data cookies for blog curation, I also breathe, eat and sleep with social media these days. Basically it seems like I am now living inside this cyber world.

Since the beginning, I have never given a thought of what will happen or become of this blog in the future. As long as I am still breathing, this blog will breathe new ideas and stories. This is simply a place for my passion, my travel and my ups and downs and all other experiences in between to stay alive and true. 

Only until yesterday, while roaming on my Twitter…a little twitter bird notified me that I was nominated for the Liebster Award 2017. Of course I was stunned and the sound of it  sounds just too good to be true. But after I reading and vetting through the post twice, I then concluded that I’m not dreaming…and indeed, I am nominated for the Liebster Award 2017!

My Nominator

A big thank you to the awesome writer over at My Daily Journal, Anindya Rakshit for the recognition and nomination of my blog. This virtual recognition really does give me the motivation and encouragement to further innovate my ways and style moving forward to bring forth better and more interesting works.

My Daily Journal is a down to earth ‘daily life’ blog from India featuring everything about life in its simplicity, including the love for music. Besides having the same favourite novel writer, Nicholas Sparks, what I personally love most about My Daily Journal is the many beautiful and captivating photos of India. As I am planning my trip to India soon, My Daily Journal is a place of transit for me to gather information. And of course, if you are planning to hit India soon, please visit My Daily Journal to seek some fresh inspiration. I believe Anindya Rakshit is a good India travel advisor too should you need recommendation or tips. 

My Liebster Award Questions & Answers

1. What inspired you to start blogging?

I started blogging out of persuasion by some of my friends. However along the journey, I fell in love with my blog as the seed I’ve put in has resulted in some kind of a ‘me’ result. Everything here in my blog is me and by me. Starting with very small bits and pieces of things and stories I put into this blog, it started to grow. Eventually and over time, this has, in return, become the biggest passion in my life. 

2. What is the best thing you love about your home city?

Oh my! Haha I guess it’s the food. In Singapore, there’s cheap and good food at its every nook and corner. I love chicken rice and fish ball noodles, both topped with extra chilli. I’m a very ‘spicy’ person. Since this is my birth country, I have grown so used to the taste and flavour of the food here. Sometimes when I travel, I cannot get used to the local foods where I am. So, I always got pack some home made local flavoured cup noodles with me.

3. What are the types of music you usually listen to?

I like all kinds of Latino music. What I love most is still Bachata mix and all Spanish songs by my favourite Mexican singer, Alejandro Fernández.

4. Who will be your dream date on any day of the year?

Shhhhh… Thought this is suppose to be a secret? Hehe. Well, there’s only one person. You know I know ‘can’ already (Singlish).

5. Kindle or hardcovers /paperbacks?

Of course paperbacks. I love to be able to hold a book easily and feel it while I’m reading. Also the whiff of crisp printed pages is like an autumn breeze of a resting summer’s light. Electronic books….no connection if you know what I mean.

My Nominees

This is more difficult than writing a blog! In my own personal opinion, there is no such thing as a perfect blog. There is no way to specifically define blog perfection. It’s totally up to each individual. To me, to start a blog, be it an amateur or experienced blogger, it takes the same elements but in varying degrees; effort and dedication. Just for this alone, kudos to you.

Now, I shall put on my “legal hat” for a few minutes to officiate this.

“The following resolution shall be approved and duly accepted with immediate effect:

That I, Cally, the cyber-goddess behind Calysta Hannah, be hereby empowered to nominate the following five virtual peers for the Liebster Award pursuant to the power of virtual space recognition.”

1. Cindy’s Travel Diaries
2. The Traveller.
3. Cracking Adulthood
4. Britt’s World
5. A Mindful Traveller

These are the blogs I highly recommend. I personally feel that these blogs have either a great character or potential room for growth, each carrying a different writing style and a flair for design. Do check them out and give them a like.

I also hope that I will be the one to nominate My Daily Journal. Nevertheless, I am happy for him as he deserves this award and has gotten his “CTC” (certified true copy) award stamp. And again, a big thanks to him for nominating me. Please check his blog and take a virtual India tour.

Questions For My Nominees

Following my nomination, here’s a few questions for my nominees to answer on their Liebster Award post:

1. What inspired you to start a blog?
2. What is the one most valuable insight you have gained from blogging?
3. Which is the most challenging social media platform and why?
4. What’s your top three bucket list destinations? Please explain briefly.
5. Will you ever give up blogging?

About Liebster Award

Derived from German, Liebster means ‘dear or beloved’ in English. I guess it is a perfect word to name this award. To start a blog, it’s not easy. You need time, brain power, perseverance and many more elements to make it come through and keep it alive. You are establishing a relationship with this blog that becomes part of you. That at the end of the day, you are kind of attached to it and it has become a very dear thing of yours.

Liebster Award has been flying around the cyber space since 2011 and is a very popular award in the blogging community. Many amateur and experienced bloggers have heard about it. It is an online recognition from a blogger to another blogger. It is also a form of encouragement to every blogging peer to continue the good job and continuously challenge the infinite depth of creativity.

The Liebster Award has a few simple rules.

Answer all the questions put forward to you by your nominator. Thereafter, nominate a few bloggers whom you admire. Put forward your questions to your nominated bloggers and inform them about their nomination.

For more information on the detailed rules, you may visit The Global Aussie.

Blogging is the best thing I’ve pick up so far and this is the only thing that had stayed with me for nearly two years. All my past passion usually lasted for only about a year before disappearing into thin air like the evening chill in a morning’s day break.

I guess there’s truth in the saying: “Real passion sticks for a life and you’ll never get bored of it”. I’m truly happy to have receive this recognition.

As much as I love my blogging journey, I do also encourage you to continue this journey with me.