1st Ramadhan of 2016 was my 1st anniversary of covering my head since I started back in Ramadhan 2015. I didn't remember until a colleague of mine reminded me during lunch last week. Wow. Time really flew so fast.
Throughout this 1 year, I have learned a lot. Like, you don't just cover your head but you also change the things you do, talk and how you act. You represent the symbol of hijab. Modest. I also learned to be more patient in any situation. I chose to to be quiet when I'm angry cause I'm worry that I might blurt some bad things out.
One thing for sure, I learned how to be closer to Him. Bit by bit, good things came through. I mean rezeki comes in many forms at my door step even the smallest. I also learned that covering your head doesn't mean you're religious or pious than other people. It shows that you've embrace your religion and yourself in a different way.
I'm glad that my change did not cause me to lose some of my friends or maybe I did. But what I know that those who were with me throughout this journey were people I love and care most.
Things has changed ever since my hijrah, I mean in a good way. I see who my real friends are, I get so many supportive words from friends, I became more appreciative of things around me, I became a humble person, I realize that money is not everything, I try not to be judgmental towards people, I try to talk only good things about people, I try to make my parents happy, I try to see things in a different perspective, I try not to be bothered by the worldly things, I try to be nice to people (although sometimes it gets to my nerves), I cursed less, I make new friends who can inspire me to be a better person, I learned to be a better daughter and wife.
As I type this, I wonder what would happen if this change has not take it place. Where am I now? But that was the past. I also learned that changed come in stages. No matter how small a change made by someone, the action that counts. Every first step leads to another.
This journey hasn't been easy for me. There are times when I wanted to go back to my old self. The test were to great for me. But my parents, close friends and Juan always motivate me to be consistent and to be strong. Peer pressure is always there especially when they criticize you or when they question your decision but through determination, you can make it. Nothing comes easy in this world.
On another story:
A few days before the Ramadhan, a Chinese friend of mine texted me:
She: Hey, puasa starts next week right?
Me: Yes on 6th June
She: Wanna meet up for buka puasa?
Me: Can. But can you tahan or not until 7.30pm?
She: I ok. You wanna do this week or after you start puasa also ok. I will preserver
Me: We make it on Friday next week?
She: Ok. Selamat berpuasa ya
She was the first to remind me of puasa even before Ramadhan starts. I feel very grateful to have such thoughtful non-Muslim friend and moved by her action. We knew back when we were doing our Masters and promised to make a point to meet up every once a month no matter how busy we were.
Throughout this 1 year, I have learned a lot. Like, you don't just cover your head but you also change the things you do, talk and how you act. You represent the symbol of hijab. Modest. I also learned to be more patient in any situation. I chose to to be quiet when I'm angry cause I'm worry that I might blurt some bad things out.
One thing for sure, I learned how to be closer to Him. Bit by bit, good things came through. I mean rezeki comes in many forms at my door step even the smallest. I also learned that covering your head doesn't mean you're religious or pious than other people. It shows that you've embrace your religion and yourself in a different way.
I'm glad that my change did not cause me to lose some of my friends or maybe I did. But what I know that those who were with me throughout this journey were people I love and care most.
Things has changed ever since my hijrah, I mean in a good way. I see who my real friends are, I get so many supportive words from friends, I became more appreciative of things around me, I became a humble person, I realize that money is not everything, I try not to be judgmental towards people, I try to talk only good things about people, I try to make my parents happy, I try to see things in a different perspective, I try not to be bothered by the worldly things, I try to be nice to people (although sometimes it gets to my nerves), I cursed less, I make new friends who can inspire me to be a better person, I learned to be a better daughter and wife.
As I type this, I wonder what would happen if this change has not take it place. Where am I now? But that was the past. I also learned that changed come in stages. No matter how small a change made by someone, the action that counts. Every first step leads to another.
This journey hasn't been easy for me. There are times when I wanted to go back to my old self. The test were to great for me. But my parents, close friends and Juan always motivate me to be consistent and to be strong. Peer pressure is always there especially when they criticize you or when they question your decision but through determination, you can make it. Nothing comes easy in this world.
On another story:
A few days before the Ramadhan, a Chinese friend of mine texted me:
She: Hey, puasa starts next week right?
Me: Yes on 6th June
She: Wanna meet up for buka puasa?
Me: Can. But can you tahan or not until 7.30pm?
She: I ok. You wanna do this week or after you start puasa also ok. I will preserver
Me: We make it on Friday next week?
She: Ok. Selamat berpuasa ya
She was the first to remind me of puasa even before Ramadhan starts. I feel very grateful to have such thoughtful non-Muslim friend and moved by her action. We knew back when we were doing our Masters and promised to make a point to meet up every once a month no matter how busy we were.
Wearing Milktee sweatshirt, Sometime mini Niko-niko bucket bag
El Nino is a common weather for Malaysians. It comes and go every year especially this time around, it lasted longer than it was previous years. How do you normally beat the heat? You switch on the aircond around the house while watching TV. When you go out, you thought better no to off it as you might come back to a warm house so you let it switch on the whole time you were out. When the bill comes, 'Woah, why so expensive one?' Familiar?
Here are some tips for you so that you can save your money for travel (joking)
1. Clean your air-conditioner filter
Making sure that the filter of your aircond clean and service is important so that it'll run efficently and power saving.
2. Switch off unnecessary lights at home
I cannot stress this numerous times because switching off the lights when you go out will save you a lot of $$$. Even if you need to switch on one light to make sure that your house is not pitch black dark when you come back, opt for a lower watt bulb. There are many choices of bulb in the supermarket. I prefer the Phillip bulbs.
For more energy saving tip, click here
Here are some tips for you so that you can save your money for travel (joking)
1. Clean your air-conditioner filter
Making sure that the filter of your aircond clean and service is important so that it'll run efficently and power saving.
2. Switch off unnecessary lights at home
I cannot stress this numerous times because switching off the lights when you go out will save you a lot of $$$. Even if you need to switch on one light to make sure that your house is not pitch black dark when you come back, opt for a lower watt bulb. There are many choices of bulb in the supermarket. I prefer the Phillip bulbs.
For more energy saving tip, click here
Situated nearby to a hostel cafe in USM itself, this little quirky cafe serves cakes, Western cuisine like lasagna and spaghetti, pie, coffee and other variety of drinks. By the way, the brownies are to die for :-) This cafe was recommended to me by a colleague.
Finding this little cafe was not easy cause if you're not local, you might have difficulty in finding it. The first thing we noticed when we entered was the deco. Old school yet rustic. Seats are quite limited as most of their customers prefer to take away their food. Sit in customers were a few and I noticed they were mostly staffs or students from the uni itself.
Their signature drink is the 'Kopi Balak'. Your typical black coffee with sugar serve in a glass bottle. Unique and creative although it's not my type of coffee. Prices were okay but I'm not sure if the prices are affordable for students. Judging from its portion, they're quite fulfilling to your stomach. Small but mighty.
The cosy feeling of this cafe makes it suitable to have assignment discussion or a place to hang out with your friends. The menu has many selection of food but most of them were not available. We had spaghetti bolognese, aglio olio, choc brownies and beef lasagna.
One thing I love about this little haven is that, you find much needed comfort and privacy when there are times you just want to be alone because it is less crowded. The whole cafe is just photography friendly. Every corner has different element and little figurines you can capture with your camera or mobile phones.
Photo courtesy of Google:
To get there, find USM in your Waze and once you're there, you can ask around for the direction. Here is the landmark. The Kapits is situated on the ground floor of Desa Cahaya Gemilang hostel
For more info on their latest cakes, pies, drinks and other promotions, visit their official Facebook here or call 013-499 9507
Operations hours:
Monday - Friday 11.00am to 12 midnight
Saturday and Sunday 4.00pm to 12 midnight
I've never understood the meaning of exhausted until I got married. Juggling 2 things at one go is so draining. I go to work in the morning and when I come home in the evening, I became a housewife. I can only dream of having a lazy Sunday when weekend is the only time I have to clean the house, do the laundry, cook and whatever needs to be done.
Juan was down with backache and the muscle behind his head were swollen due to long hours in front of the PC. Basically, an ergonomic related conditions I decided to stay home on Monday to take care of him. Cook healthier food than usual, massage his head and make sure he drinks lots of water.
I was working on my PC while I took care of him. It was hard to really concentrate on what I was doing. At the same time I was doing some house chores too.
Don't get me wrong, I love what I do now. Having 8 years of working experience, I witnessed how working full time has taken most of my time from doing what I love. I'm good at taking care of my home and I love doing it. I prefer doing house work than going into the work force. There's too much of politics involved and sometimes, it drains you.
Wearing dress from Poplook *super love*
We planed this trip 9 months ahead of us. But the detailed itinerary completed 3 months before our departure. We double check our destinations, transportation passes, flight tickets, contacted our AirBnb hosts, list down alternative/emergency plans.
We were quite worry that we might overspend looking at what Japan has through our surveys and research. Seeing Japan through your computer screen and experiencing the real thing is not the same.
However, it is not that expensive to travel to Japan. Know your budget and make sure that you stick to it. This budget is based on our 10 days stay in Japan within 2 prefecture. However, the budget will be lower than this if you were to spend in just 1 prefecture.
Divide your cash for souvenirs, ad hoc expenditure, food, transportation, accomodations, etc. Halal cuisines are quite easy to find around Tokyo. Osaka and Kyoto has a few but not as many as in Tokyo. So make sure you prepare yourself with some packed food in your backpack.
Flight tickets:
PNG--KL--KIX--KL--PNG = RM1,897.60
Transportation:
1. JR passes (to be used for Kyoto---Tokyo and Tokyo area) = RM2,140. We purchased through JTB penang. They have other branches as well in Malaysia.
2. 3 days-Tokyo Metro and Toei pass = 3,000 yen for 2 pax (RM111.70)
3. Adhoc train tickets which some passes doesn't cover: 9,100 yen ( RM338.70). We purchased at the tickets machines at the stations.
Food:
1. Lunch, snacks, dinner = 28,174 yen (RM1,048.53). We have dinner at local halal Japanese restaurant. Halal food are quite pricey in Japan. A decent meal can cost you around RM60 to RM70 per person.
Souvenirs:
2,530 yen (RM93.80)
Accomodations:
1. Osaka Airbnb: 6th - 8th March= RM451
2. Kyoto Airbnb: 8th - 10th March= RM668
3. Tokyo Airbnb: 10th - 14th March= RM791
Tokyo's accommodations are quite expensive. Even those situated 1 hour ride via train from the main city. Spend a little more on accommodations to make sure you're comfortable.
Universal Studio Japan Pass:
Wifi is very important in Japan in order to you to find your way around the city. Google map is a savior here in Japan. From finding the distance, time, train, bus and other transportation info, you can find it all through Google map. For this, I subscribed through 4gpocketwifimalaysia The price is RM33 per day. You can expect reliable and fast internet speed. Customer service was good too. So total cost for our 10 days trip is RM330. Photo courtesy of Stripped:
*Please note that some travelers may spend less than this budget as they did not purchase the JR Pass Nationwide.
So this is our final leg in Tokyo. Truly an adventure to remember. We will definitely come back. Juan is now talking about wanting to visit Tokyo again. 4 days weren't enough for us. We skipped so many places. If you Google interesting places to visit in Tokyo, the result only shows tourist attraction sites. Actual fact, if you were to read travel blogs from experienced traveler, there are more.
We decided to go on a slower pace on the last day of our stay. We wanted to make sure that we embrace the culture, the people and the food one last time (and the cold weather).
Our Tokyo Metro pass has expired by this time. You have 3 types of pass ; 1 day, 2 day and 3 day. We decided not to purchase an extra 1 day pass as our JR pass is till valid. So it wasn't a problem for us to commute the train or subway. The only thing was, we can only ride trains that are under JR company and it takes slightly longer time to travel from one place to another.
We headed to Harajuku street and Shibuya downtown for the 2nd time to get my sister's overall pants. The 1st time was our 3rd day in Tokyo. We went for a brief walk, survey prices on souvenirs and to see what Harajuku is all about. The crowd were lesser at that time cause it was almost 7pm when we arrived at the Harajuku stations. Most shops along the main street were already closed because it was still late winter/early spring.
Prices around this area are quite reasonable compared to other places. You can find the weirdest souvenir to the most decent ones. Instead of walking on the same street, we explored the back alley of Harajuku. To our surprise, there are many more shops you can find. From toys, clothes, souvenirs, food, anime lovers and everything you can think of. You can also find variety of super cute cafe. The famous LINE cafe can also be found here. We didn't went in cause the line was super long.
Photos courtesy of Google:
Expenses of the day:
Gift 2050 yen
Snacks 600 yen
Badge pouch 756 yen
Clothes 4212 yen
Daiso 162 yen
Wego 3877 yen
Dinner 4914 yen
Fish flakes 471 yen
Things has been pretty much hectic for the past 1 week. With so many things happening at workplace, I hardly have time for myself. When I go home, I'm a housewife and when I'm at work, I play the 'good employee' role.
Watching Hanie's 30 days vlog challenge today gave me the inspiration to tell you about how I flunk my life over and over again but these are the experience that made me who I am today and where I stand.
I've always wanted to be a doctor and that ambition has never change until today. If I would done differently, I'll do it properly this time. Raising up with my parents, education has always been number 1. My parents spent so much on our tuition fee from the moment we went into Standard 1 until we finished secondary school. I remember having to travel 1 hour from my place to a tuition center in Alor Star during my A-levels. My mum would wait for me 3 hours at shopping malls cause it was too far to go back home. Because they did not come from the new era of education system, they think it would be best for an experienced teacher to give us the extra lessons.
I wasn't the genius daughter but I worked hard although sometimes I needed a push from my dad. I didn't do well in my SPM that I had no choice but to proceed to Form 6 when my friends were all in kolej matrikulasi. I would call them and cried almost everyday. It took me a while to get used to being separated from my friends. I was the only one who went into business studies although I came from a science streme background. It was really hard that I almost gave up. Not having any finance or accounting background, I feel like a failure.
But that did not stop me from graduated. My parents and classmates gave me their support and some of them even tutored me after class and during weekends. To make things short, I graduated in Bachelor's in Business Admin. I cried when I got a letter from my uni saying I was eligible for graduation. Called my dad and my mum. They couldn't be more happier for me.
You know, sometimes you feel like things doesn't go your way or you wonder why is everything so wrong. It makes you feel helpless and hopeless but it is not the end of the road. Sometimes it could be a start of something good. There's always a way for everything. It's a matter of how to find it. Your experience has taught and change you into someone new, someone stronger. Perhaps one day, you'll look back and thank your failure for making you into the person you're now. Don't give up and always be honest, good things will come your way.
Life is like that. You either suck up and deal with it or you can choose to mourn for the rest of your life. I've done mistakes that I wish I could mend but what's the point. I'm glad the mistake I did in the past taught me to be who I am today. A wiser person. Be steady and take one thing at a time.
Life is like that. You either suck up and deal with it or you can choose to mourn for the rest of your life. I've done mistakes that I wish I could mend but what's the point. I'm glad the mistake I did in the past taught me to be who I am today. A wiser person. Be steady and take one thing at a time.
