Coffee

It's weird when I need coffee to help me sleep.

Ship

“The ship is safest when it’s in port, but that’s not what ships were built for.” 

― Paulo Coelho, The Pilgrimage

I like the quote above.  I think it’s the same thing with us, human.  We gotta go out from our comfort zone and ventures to the unknown.

Such as travel to new destinations, learn new things, work in new environment, etc.

These past few months, my ship has been to a lot of ports. The captain certainly has a lot of things to do.  Some ports were okay, some require a lot more thinking and reasoning to adapt to the situations.

The guy I never met, but admire

Can ahh, like dat ?
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written on 27th Nov 2017, 5.01am Myanmar time

It's been awhile

Gotta start writing again.

Food journal (WIP)

Food journal-ling as a way to motivate myself to get fit by the time Naz's wedding (read : achieve 60kg by Apr)

14/1/2017
B : 2 eggs + vege + chilli + black coffee
S : 1 tbsp peanut butter + coconut flakes + nuts
20mins elliptical + 2 songs 4lbs dummbell + 2 songs 3kg leg press
L : 1 big bowl of chicken + onion + chilli soup
--too lazy to go down for exercise, but sleep instead--
D : 1 big bowl of chicken + onion + chilli soup + black coffee
S : 3 squares of dark choc

15/1/2017
B : 2 eggs + vege + chilli + instant coffee
L : chicken soup + vege + green apple
D : chicken soup again
20mins elliptical + 2 songs 4lbs dummbell + 20mins cycling + 15mins reverse elliptical

16/1/2017 (Monday -fasting)
B : 2 eggs + vege + chilli + instant coffee + fish soup
D : beef spaghetti gravy + coffee
--too sleepy to go exercise, but in the end I slept at 1o'clock in the morning. duh--

17/1/2017
B : breakfast bowl (oat+peanut butter+pear+choc chip) + coffee
L : Secret Recipe Parmiagna chicken + water + coffee
D : fish soup + coffee + green apple
...and guess what? gym will be closed till 20th for air-cond refurbish. say WHAT?..so I just do Miley cyrus leg workout

Caryatid be like

How’s your Monday going?.

Mine:

Short version- just like these caryatid-with weight on top of their heads.

Long version –one of the well not flowing due to the PSD, and people dare to ask can we bean down the well? Hell-o, understand the issue first- the well cannot flow -sebab high water. Erti kata lain, paip air pun x bukak lagi, dah caner nak kecilkan paip tu? Adui la. So, just like these caryatid who support the pillars of the buildings, I also always do my best. Bak kata pepatah scout,”buat sehabis baik”.

My theme for this week is-I choose silent. Kurangkan kontroversi, tingkatkan prestasi gitu (still like last week motto)

And I fail on the first day. Gue masuk mesy pagi dengan keazaman tidak mahu bersuara melainkan perlu. Malang sekali bila hari ini ialah hari Isnin dan 50% of your colleague belum sampai masa mesy adhoc tu. Dan bila kamu dari minggu lepas dah dok risau pasal pengeluaran gas lepas insiden yang tiba-tiba jadi kat telaga kamu, dan kamu tahu dalam dan luar pasal isu itu, fuhh mustahil lah nak duduk senyap aja kan. Lagi-lagi bila ada batu api yang tak tahu hujung pangkal dok masuk jarum.

Oh dan gue terus bersuara bersama analisis2 gue. And i hate it when people don’t understand core of the problem, and bajet2 pandai nak solve problem.

And I keep on praying and praying so that I have more patience in dealing with this kinda situation.

If you cannot bring a solution, better be silent. Can you do better than this?  If yes-go ahead.  If not you know what you should do.

Cao.

Lay low

Motto minggu ini :

"Kurangkan kontroversi, tingkatkan prestasi".

This week, I decide to be a hermit in the office.  I plan to do my own work, don't dwell on other people's stuffs.  I plan to not reply immediately to the emails I receive.  I plan to complete my self-assessment which I keep putting it aside.

Why so?

I think, I overdo myself.  Most of the times, I tend to assume responsibilities to stuffs that somebody else must do it.

So I decide that I have to step back.  Lay low a little bit.  Focus on the stuffs that are important to me.

We'll see how it goes.

Puas hati

Something special for yesterday's achievement.



Tak sia-sia hold on and stand to what I believe when others don't.

/patonmyback

How's Ramadhan?

Happy Ramadhan all!

So, how’s my Ramadhan so far?

Alhamdulillah, it had been great. I promised myself to finish reading 1 juz of Al-Quran everyday and perform tarawih. 1 juz means try to read 5-7 pages of Quran after each prayer.

Celebrating Ramadhan in Yangon has been a good experience so far. Everyday(except Friday, Saturday and Sunday), most of the families in our big family in Yangon will organize iftar, tarawih and moreh at their home.  No iftar on Fridays as there’ll be less number of ppl on Friday, since some will go back to Malaysia.  No iftar on Saturdays as we’ll attend iftar at the embassy.  Sundays are rest days.

Imsak time in Yangon is around 4.09-4.11am and break fast will be at 6.30pm-ish.  Working time is as usual- 8.00am to 5.00pm or 9.00am to 6.00pm.  I normally set my alarms at 3.00am, 3.15am and 3.30am for sahur.  During the first few days of fasting, I was very slow at eating during sahur.  But I know that I need enough time to drink coffee and cups of water.  Soon I realized, I have enough energy even if I only have oats, dates and water during sahur.

After Subuh, I’ll read Quran and since some days I don’t meet my target to read 5-7 pages of Quran after each prayer, I’ll try to make up the losses after Subuh prayer.  Normally this will finish around 5.30-6.00am.  It’s already sunrise by this time.  But, it’s another 2 hours before I start working (lama tu).  Some days I’ll take a nap, some days lazing around-web surfing-reading-beating my eyes.

Transport to the office will arrive at 8.10am normally.  But since I’m carpooling with others, the transport soon getting to be late and late.  I hate being late to the office as I appreciate the golden time in the office when people is yet to arrive at the office.  Luckily, there’s a change of contract to the transport company this month. Under the new contract, the drivers will work from 7.00am to 7.00pm.  So, I made up my mind.  I need to go to work by 7.30am.  No harm in being the earliest, right?  At least I got my golden time and I don’t have to waste my time unsurely waiting when will the transport arrive.

Working will be as per usual.  Though sometimes I’ve hard times beating my sleepiness and connecting dots in meetings.  And some meetings just spill into our ‘lunch’ time where I’m suppose to read the Quran.

By 5pm, I’ll go back to my home-bath and get ready to attend the iftar by 6pm.  This is where I shall prep ahead- ironed & clean cloth for prayer and food to bring to the iftar’s house.  Else, it’ll be a rush.

Usually if the traffic is good, by 6.15pm I’ll arrived at the iftar’s location.  Food will be a lot.  People will bring lots of kuih- a smaller version of Param that we have here.  Thanks to the ladies with wonderful cooking skills that we have here.  I really appreciate their efforts in preparing the food as they save us (office people) time for food prep and thinking on what to eat for break fast.

During the early days of fasting, I tend to eat a lot, I wanna taste all sorts of kuih, eat all of the food prepared..and I discover that I get tired after return home.  Meaning, after Isya’ prayer and tarawih, I’ll go home and straight to bed. Gosh, I’m too tired to read Quran.  Too bad right?

By second week of Ramadhan, I took cautious step to eat moderately and remind myself of my Quran goal.  Alhamdulillah, I think I made some improvement as my weight is reducing now and I’ve more energy to celebrate Ramadhan.  Hopefully I can khatam my Quran on time J

Ramadhan Kareem

Happy Ramadhan from Malaysia (Yangon puasa lambat sehari)!

Semoga dipermudahkan untuk beribadat dan khatam Al-Quran pada Ramadhan tahun ini.

Hujan

Musim hujan sudah bermula

Serba tak kena

I knew a friend who was once working in Middle East. For O&G people, working in Middle East was one big thing (once upon a time $$$).

So I asked him, “Why return to Malaysia?”

H: “Owh, panas..the weather is too hot for me”

M: “Just like that?” (of course I don’t believe him at first. We’re talking about HIM not her-puteri lilin. Plus, to me guys don’t bother much on the weather)

H: “Yeah, just like that”

M: “Ooo OK”.

Today, another friend living in Kuwait mentioned that it’s 41degC in his place.  But, it’s still not the hottest place on earth today. Sudan is the hottest place-at 42degC.  On the other hand, Yangon is in the hot season now, and today’s 38degC (with high UV).

Back to earlier story, only now I understand why my friend told the weather is too hot for him.  High temp is OK, provided you work indoor & in aircond some more.  But, it’ll not be OK if you are working outdoor. And he worked outdoor.

Even that, we still complaint a lot. Panas x bleh. Sejuk x bleh. And yeah, that sounds like me. 

Yangon has 3 kinds of season. Cold-hot-monsoon. Currently it’s hot season.  Someday, you’ll sweat profusely even only after few minutes staying outdoor.  But when it’s monsoon season, it’ll rain continuously and you’ll get wet and cold. Pastu pot pet pot pet sebab flash flood and x bleh balik rumah dari office.

So, human is human. Serba tak kena. Mungkin kena selalu beringat dah perbanyakkan bersyukur.  Macam kawan sorang tu cakap, kalau kena duduk kat igloo, cemana plak rupa sejuk dia kan.  Say Alhamdulillah, at least hot season comes with mango season here 😁😁😁

False Identity

The other day, on my way home from my business trip, I was seated in the middle seat, between two guys. Middle seat has never been my favourite kind of seat- squeezed in between with no arm rest (most of the time).

As I was browsing the in-flight magazine, the guy on the left started to make conversation. “Ah, small talk only”.  Being a nice person, just bear with it.  Though I already aim to catch up on my sleep during the flight.

Hmm.. turn out to be the “small talk” turn out to be a long talk and the guy makes me feel very uncomfortable to sit beside him.  He kept on putting his left arm on the armrest, which is OK for me since I’m not resting my right arm on the arm rest anyway.  But then his arm doesn’t stay put when he’s talking.  I think the guy on my left side knew that I felt uncomfortable as I kept lying on my left side body, trying to keep my distance from the guy on the right.  Even when I already open my book and try to concentrate on my reading, the guy on the right kept on bothering me.

Questions like “U travel alone?”, “Have you married?”, “Where’s your husband”, “Where do you live?”,etc.

I don’t dwell much to strangers, what more when I have the not so good instinct on a particular stranger.  So..false identity is the way to save myself.  After telling him that I’m married and have 1 son, the guy seems to slow down on talking.  Though he seem not convinced enough on my story and how come I travel without bringing ‘my son’ (‘my husband’ and my family take good care of ‘my son’), how come I don’t wear my wedding band(I don’t like to wear jewelleries) and how come ‘my husband’ is OK with me travelling to other country and left him to take care of ‘my son’(‘my husband’ is an understanding guy and support my career).  People people, why la I met this kind of people.

In the end, I didn’t manage to catch on my sleep.  I pray that next time I’ll get a better seat or better people to seat next to me.

Decision

Kan senang kalau boleh buat keputusan macam dalam drama ni.

"Saya nak pindah London, sambung belajar".

Owh, can I make a decision like this? Like flipping a coin and just go?

Truth is, I wanna further my study. But, there's to much but that I put, and in the end this hasn't materialized..yet?

So how?

I should just do it. Can you help me to push that 'just do it' button?
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Meanwhile, 'Lukas Graham-You're Not There' is so menusuk kalbu. I'll blogged about this song in another blogpost.

Stalking the crush

Everything is OK until you see the too much flesh picture.

Ah, spoil betul.

F Feeling

No matter how many times I've already taken the flights, these feelings still haunted me:

.. wrong flight date - since most of the time, flight bookings were made in a hush-hush manner (to catch the promo price)

.. wrongly inform arrival time - especially when there'll be people picking me up from the airport

Owh yeah, I flied Malindo Air yesterday, and I like it!



No entertainment, but it's OK




Food




Fried rice with side dish

New Language

Learning French and Burmese - there's no difference.

Both also require qalqalah and  right pronunciation.

I try this "Learn by Ear" method which I thought is easy.

Haha. Tough weyy.

Should go to the classes then -_-

Get Fit Playlist

I'm trying to keep up with maintaining a healthy lifestyle..
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..with the ultimate goal of reducing my weight to 50ish kgs, slimmer thigh, better fitness and looking good :D

The deadline is suppose to be by Naz's wedding, however we'll see then (cos I'll have 1 week training at KL-which means hotel buffet all the time #dietwhatdiet).

Anyway, in order to reach my goals, I put some effort to ensure I'm doing enough cardio at the gym.

But then, running(walking fast..hehe) or ellipticalling can be boring, especially when they became routine.  Music can help, but after awhile I get bored of my current gym playlist.
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Until
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I randomly played 'etnik kreatif' kind of song during my cardio. "Eh, not bad lah". Pumped up yo!.
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So, my current go faster songs include all Siti Nurhaliza and Noraniza Idris kind of 'etnik kreatif' songs.  Doing elliptical pun dh macam menari zapin.

Hopefully I'll achieve my fitness goal.

Travel Planning

Don't know why, but I'm getting lazier and lazier in doing any travel plan.

Shortlisted few  destinations, and plan to buy the ticket, and then..NAH, malasnya.

Inspired

Love Vivy- I think it’s such an inspiring show. “As a team player you should know what you do and others do”.  Just amazing how Vivy & Fadza put their team together.

kesaYangon

This, has been hit among us:

Thanks AirAsia, for (always) being kind to our pockets :D

Dyslexia

My sister send us photo of my nephew’s handwriting.

Looking at the picture, I sensed something wrong – as he wrote in opposite direction. Dyslexia?

But my sister think it’s funny looking at my nephew’s handwriting.

How can I tell her nicely about this?

Yeah, in the meantime, I actually read about Dyslexia-just trying to understand it and know what can be done to help my nephew.

Smiggle (not Smeagol)

The other day, I went to visit my nephew and nieces. And they decided to follow me home.  Being a good Aunty (hehe) I asked them if they have any particular place that they wanna go.

“Smiggle”

“Aah, Smiggle”

“Smiggle, ape tu?”

“Dia ada jual stationary.  Google cakap kedai tu ada dekat KLCC, Midvalley and Sunway Pyramid.  Auntyna pilihla mana yang dekat”

Amboi.

Driving to KLCC or Midvalley for sure is a no-no to me, especially on the weekend. My niece actually implied to me that it’s only 30 minutes driving to Sunway Pyramid. So, dekat je! You know, it’s not good to put down the kids’ hope, right?

I don’t know when was the last time I went to Sunway Pyramid, but I know I dislike going there because of the traffic.  But then again, it’s not often that I got to spend my time with the kids.  So, off we go to Sunway Pyramid.

Just like they said, “kedai jual stationary”. But not that typical stationary shop that u think about. A simple pen can cost you RM20?

Since I don’t want to let down the kids, I asked them to look around for anything they interested in, and then we’ll see.  When they come back with the things that they chose, I was like “mak aihh, everything also very costly and I can get the same quality things at much more cheaper price”.  Sorry kids, you got yourselves a nifty-thrifty aunty :(.  To be honest, the stationary are mostly made in China and labelled as Smiggle.

Carefully I told the kids that let’s put  the things back and we’ll go to nearby bookshop or Daiso.  Luckily there’s a bookshop nearby.  But yeah, the kids still have the thought that they must have the Smiggle (stamped) stationary (cos some of their friends have it).  Lastly, I manage to convince them to buy the normal stationary from the bookshop.  Tapi lepas tu kena la belanja makan just to make them happy again.

Point of this story is, sometimes we need to educate the kids to value things.  In this case, I told them that a pen is still a pen, you still can write with RM1 pen and that RM20 pen, and will still get the same result.  That RM20 pen is different just because..it has brand.  Sometimes just because we can buy things (have buying power), doesn’t mean we have to buy.