Being 33

Turned 33 last October and quite a lot of things have changed ever since.

I had my full check up recently and Alhamdulillah everything is ok except my cholesterol level was borderline. Thinking about it again, I am not really surprised. Despite my 'petite'ness, I do eat all the time. Took it for granted since I hardly gain any weight, all my favourite lemak satay, kepala udang, a bowl of kuah lemak and a good spoonful of butter for a slice of bread need to go somewhere after all.. sigh..

I also did my full face analysis, and witnessed how despite the hydration of my skin increased (thankful for my regular facial treatment), the elasticity of my skin showed otherwise (not thankful for my diet!)

The icing of the cream on being 33 is my lactose intolerant worsened and rainy season became the worse time for my sinus.

I have been avoiding supplements for years, except during pregnancy. Stopped taking them when I was 19. 14 years passed by but this time around I surrendered. :( Took jamu and my period cycle went haywire (T_T)

Now, taking Vitamin C and collagen, soon planning to take calcium pill, sigh.. I exercise regularly nowadays. My breakfast changed from milo to coffee to ginger tea. Hot drinks and juice rather than my favourite ice tea. So that's how I turned 33.

To a better 2019, in shaa Allah.

Leaving 2017

Tad bit too late, but I'm gonna post anyway. And slowly but surely gonna catch up with my blog, in shaa Allah.

2017 has its fair share of ups and downs. I was under a little depression when my first born was warded for the first time, it gave me the scare of my life. Alhamdulillah all is well now.

No more kay?

Was blessed to have been given the chance to visit Brunei for the first time.

I was also upgraded to Senior Member IEEE, was beyond happy.

I've finally finally submitted my PEng application, doa banyak2 all is ok. Went through Route 3 BEM, where I applied to convert my CEng to PEng.

I have one graduated Master student in 2017, alhamdulillah. That feeling in viva room is scarier than your own.

I have also been upgraded to Senior Lecturer A, aiming for Associate Professor next.

And the happiest is that we have got the chance to visit the holy mosques one more time.

Am so blessed.

2018 is gonna be a better year, in shaa Allah. Bismillah..

My 32nd birthday

Ohh so old!

Sadly, I couldn't take leave on my birthday as my leave this year was very very limited since K was warded last April.

I had to work as usual, it was the first week of semester.

Went to lab and I received a call. Shortly after..

Received a bouquet of flower from my aunt. Awww...

After lab, had a lunch date with my favourite girls.

While having my lunch, this BFG came to surprise me with a box of KLduck in Olive Green. I have always wanted KLduck, specifically in Olive Green. My fourth duck, yay!! (2 out of 4 from Love) But it's not the Duck that really matters, it is the fact that he came all the way from work for lunch to meet me!

Had dinner with my beloved back at home. Had too much of fancy food, I told my mom I just wanted a comfort food this time around, Tomyam from my favourite Mamak. Sorry guys. (They were expecting some steaks from steak house, hehe)

I am 32, Alhamdulillah. Thank you Allah for my excellent health and my wealth (my family and friends). Thank you for giving me a husband who still shower me with surprises and spoil me with gifts. I pray you will give me an idea on how do I surprise him back during his birthday next month, Ameen.

Aidilfitri 2017

As salam everyone,

Selamat Hari Raya Aidilfitri!!! Please please please forgive me for all the wrong doings, I pray may Allah accept all our deeds during Ramadhan and may He grant us all jannah.

Ramadhan this year has been the most meaningful for me so far.

Prior to Ramadhan, I have attended a talk in my office by Ustaz Pahrol Joui "Andainya Ini Ramadhan Terakhirku". I included the notes I took from the talk at the end of my entry. Simply said, it was a wake up call for me. I wanted to make my Ramadhan this time around more meaningful than the previous ones.

I had a bumpy start but by Day 5, I started to have my Ramadhan routine.

I want to have something that I continuously carry with me after this Ramadhan, and for this year, I wish to start Solat Witir even after Ramadhan. It's day 6 Syawal aandddd I failed miserably. Am totally not happy with that. May Allah swt grant me strength.

This Ramadhan, I felt the bliss of going to Surau for Tarawikh and so happy to listen to the interesting short tazkirah in between. And I learned something new this year..

I always read a saying, "Laylatul Qadr lebih baik dari 1000 bulan".

All these years, I thought "bulan" refers to moon, assuming it meant that during Laylatul Qadr, it shines so brightly better than 1000 moons.

Only this Ramadhan, I know that "bulan" refers to "month". Laylatul Qadr is better than 1000 months, meaning your good deeds in that night is equivalent to doing good deeds for 83 years!! Oh my, the ignorance.. (T_T)

See, I have been so ignorant all my life. Khaira and Aisha Asyikin, if you're reading this one day, I pray everyday that you will be better than me in every way, my love.

Oh, don't forget to puasa 6 everyoneee!! I pray this year, for the first time in my life, I will be given the opportunity to complete my Puasa 6.

...

As promised, the notes I took during Ustaz Pahrol Joui's talk. Kalau ada silap, mohon maafkan dan betulkan. Saya budak baru belajar.

3 jenis puasa:
1. Puasa awam: puasa jaga benda2 yg batalkan puasa sahaja
2. Puasa khusus: puasa jaga benda2 batalkan dan seluruh pancaindera dari buat dosa
3. Puasa muqorrabin: puasa jaga benda2 batalkan, pancaindera dan jaga hati dan fikiran dari buat dosa. Ingat Allah all the time, kalau sesaat tak ingat Allah rasa berdosa

Amalan wajib digandakan 70x, amalan sunat sama pahala dgn wajib

Rukun islam = proses. Cth: Bila kita ada iman, kita puasa. Kalau puasa kita elok, output ialah kita jadi org bertaqwa. Kalau tak jadi orang bertaqwa, improve our process; ie. puasa

How to increase iman so that puasa elok:

A) Input=niat
1. Niat kerana Allah swt; bukan ekonomi/kesihatan/hikmah/nak kurus etc
2. Didik anak kerana Allah; bukan kerana adat. Contoh: Solat raya penuh masjid, tapi solat subuh? Subuh jemaah dgn tarawikh?
3. Mcm mat saleh masuk masjid, bila keluar tak tutup aurat balik. Mcm tu juga kita tinggalkn ramadhan, dah boleh baca quran setiap kali lepas solat masa ramadhan, tinggalkan pula lepas ramadhan
4. Serahkan diri pada Allah, serahkan kekuatan kita untuk puasa pada Allah
5. Once umur 40 tahun tapi tak jaga rawatib, something is wrong with us
6. Bangun sahur istighfar, masa sahur paling mudah nak dapat keampunan

B) Proses = pohon
1. Siam (menahan)
2. Qiam (membangun)
-jaga solat subuh dan isyak berjemaah, seolah bersolat sepanjang malam
-jaga tahajud, taubat, hajat, witir
-ibadat sehingga letih nak buat maksiat
3. Quran
-semua ahli keluarga mesti ada 1 Quran hardcopy
4. Sedeqah
-sedekah menajamkan doa

C) Output = taqwa
1. Banyak kemenangan fizikal dlm bulan ramadhan (badar, khandaq). Sbb bila bertaqwa
2. Berjaya atau tak puasa kita? Surah al imran 134
- nafkah harta masa susah atau senang
- tahan marah
- Maafkan salah
- Bila dosa cepat taubat

A wonderful end of 2016

Bismillah and hello 2017! ♥

Alhamdulillah I have achieved  most of my wishlist in 2016.

1. Umrah

2. Kuching

3. Get CEng

4. Write a book

5. Wean off Aisha at 2

6. K 30 surahs

7. Save 60k

8. Copyright

9. Gold any exhibition

I started the year with us performing umrah, I miss Makkah and Madinah everyday. Everyday for the rest of my life now.

Then, I spent about a week in Kuching.

I managed to wean off lil Aisha at 2y2m

Managed to get gold in ITEX and SIIF 2016, Alhamdulillah.

Filed one copyright for my Master student.

Recently, I officially obtained my Chartered Engineer, the ones I worked for since end of 2014.

And a couple of days before 2016 ended, my book is launched.

Just when I thought wishlist number 4 is yet to be achieved for 2016, I got an offer to publish one.

A reminder for me to always ask from Him. Nothing is impossible for Him. Ask and have faith.

Alhamdulillah, I am so blessed. I hope 2017 will be an even better year. And I hope I get the chance to be in the place where my heart belongs and the ones that I long to be again this year, in shaa Allah!

The secrets of people who never get sick - A review

So I just finished reading this book.

Lemme just share the 25 secrets (not really secrets, peeps!)

Let's first talk about number 5, if you have been reading my blog for quite some times, you'd know that I've been having issues with Khaira's cough a while ago. Among the advises that I received to strengthen her lung is to have a cold shower every morning. To begin with, she started to use hot shower the moment she went to Kindy and when the coughing drama started.

Number 6 on detoxification, I've always had  a bad eczema growing up. I have no fingerprints, so I have special letter from JPN, but the hassle is unbelievable. Alhamdulillah, I'm used to it now. My eczema is almost gone since I detoxify myself and started to eat clean. Fasting is a way to detox as well. I did mine using juices back then. And still doing it every now and then.

Number 9, garlic with olive oil massage all over K's chest and feet helped eased up her cough as well.

Number 15, napping. Rasulullah's sunnah, peeps! My favourite!

And number 24, Vitamin C, K is on supplement at the moment until she is really stable. I used Transfer Factor and Champs.

She is on Goat's milk everyday now, and I found that she has been at her healthiest since she started Kindy, Alhamdulillah.

Overall, I am happy with this book. I rate it 3.5 over 5.

The unexpected expected question

"My last question, as usual, why would you want to be a Chartered Engineer?"

Slap, on the face.

That was how I felt.

I stunned for a good 30 seconds, I guess.

I should have anticipated that question.

You know how sleepless my nights were preparing for the interview? You know how many articles I read? How many people I have asked about the interview? How long my list of anticipated questions and answers were? You just wouldn't believe the extend I went through for this one.

An hour interview prior to the question was smooth sailing with Allah's will, but this.

I stunned and I could feel my hands shaking. So, I hid them under the table.

"I was ignorant when I first started joining in IET," I could not believe that just came out of my mouth.

WHAT WAS I THINKING? Telling stories of my life to the panels??? Come on!

And I spent a good 3 minutes talking about how much I have learned since I became an IET member and I am sure there are lots more I could learn if I was given an opportunity to be a Chartered Engineer.

Here I am, for a PROFESSIONAL interview and I talk about "learning"?

Continuous learning and networking were my main points. What was I thinking???

"I could have answered it better," almost cried of frustration when I called hubs after the interview.

Frustrated of myself. So much.

"I should have anticipated that question. What was I thinking?" screamed. At the top of my lung. And I shut myself from everyone that day.

"Must be a reason why Allah SWT did not open your heart to anticipate that question, Sayang," Hubs calmed me down. "Were you honest when you answered the question just now?" He asked.

"Yes." That was my honest intention as of why I opt to get a Chartered Engineer.

"Your sincerity will get you through. Assuming you anticipated the question already, would you answer it the way you answered it just now?" He asked.

"No!"

I calmed down a bit.

And Love was right.

My sincerity did get me through.

And as usual, everything always happens for a reason.

Alhamdulillah, waiting for my registration number from the Engineering Council, and you'll be looking at a new CEng, yay!

Timing is so nice where my uni needs a professional engineer to stabilize the PE-student ratio for our EAC accreditation. It feels good to give back ♥

Another year wiser

So I turned 31 a day before Inferno's first show in Malaysia.

Guess what I did?

Took a leave the next day and catch the very first show of Inferno, proud Dan Brown's fan here!

Date with handsome!

That morning of my birthday, Love surprised me with one huge bouquet of white roses on my driver's seat, preserved flowers that will not die. And so far it is still as fresh as when I received them!

My birthday, as usual was so fun!

Except that two days after my birthday, I had to leave the girls and Love for a three day team building at Janda Baik, and arrived home on K's birthday eve.

So sad to leave the girls, but the three days finally made me able to wean off little Aisha, one more wishlist to strike for 2016, woot! Alhamdulillah.

Thank you Allah, for everything, seriously everything for 2016. My biggest challenge is that I've lost my Grandmother, but I know that she is in the BEST hand.

Muslimah hair salon - I found it!

My always "mostly read" post in my blog is the "Muslimah hair salon, please!"

I wrote that in 2012, and now it's 2016. It proves that many of us, Muslim women are still looking for the best hair salon for us.

I haven't been updating anything previously because I was still looking for one.

I have been in and out of Hairven, Math Equations, Dedaun Spa, etc. None. None made me stay. So for the past three years, it has been a battle. A constant battle of where.

I have a thick hair, straight at the root but wavy at the end. My previous stylist at Headkandee did a wonderful job in layering it so it won't look too thick and make me uncomfortable. But none. Just none after her. I switched from my 4 years hairstylist after I started to wear my headscarf.

Recently, I tried one and it is love at first sight, girls! Seriously, literally. I know this is the one that I'm gonna stay with for the longest time.

Capello by Nina in Bangi :)

Ain't it beautifullll??? Sorry didn't dare take too much picture, takut tercapture gambar girls without their head scarves here as this is strictly for women.

It has a place for your kids to play around as well. Not that I bring the girls for my "me" time. But just in case you have to, they even't play Boboboi for your kids so they won't distract you.

I had the senior stylist trimmed my hair for RM 53 and Moisture treatment for RM 96 for my first visit a week ago. I'm planning for another visit and hope to try the 02 treatment next :)

Also, obviously got the member card for RM 25, where it will give me 10% off for any of my visit after this including for my friends if they are with me. And on my birthday, 30% off of any treatment, How good is that????

Ohhh.. this is not a sponsored post, girls. I just share my findings, so no worries. I benefit none from my post.

Also just some updates from my previous post, Seputeh Kapas has been closed down some time ago.

So, since 2013, I have been going to Wain Health and Beauty Centre for my facial religiously. And Reborn for my massage. These two are the best, seriously.

But I'm looking for a good place for body scrub still. Been going to Dedaun Spa previously, but it closed down earlier this year as well. So, please suggest if you have any good ones. ladies!

Much love ♥!

Hello Jobs!

My Note 2 suddenly went kaput :(

That one fine morning, I woke up, recited Quran using my Note 2 and after I was done, the phone became really really hot at the screen near the speaker area. I turned off to let it cool down, then I did not manage to turn it on again.

Motherboard gone, after nearly 4 years. Not bad at all.

At the second year, after OS update, it went crazy until I reformat, which made me swore to not using Android anymore.

At the third year, I lived with that annoying crack screen which affected my front camera, no more selfie.

Before it went kaput, it did not give me any problem at all. So, I contemplated to stay with Samsung or to change.

But, I always believe, the signs are given to me in many ways. My phone went kaput 3 days before iphone SE was released in Malaysia. What better signs do I need. I've always wanted an iphone, but chose Note 2 because of the Stylus previously. I'm done with Stylus.

So, on the 13th May, say hello to my new phone, after queuing up early in the morning at Machines, I got one in my favourite colour, rose gold. Then, I saw SE in Gold, I think it looks nicer (T_T)

My taichi story

It has been 4 months since I am actively involved in my Taichi class.

It started off with so many of us, until it became only two Malay ladies in the class. I was, as always the youngest.

My Master, of course was so excited to introduce me here and there. Wanted to bring me to the Grandmaster who came all the way from China, proudly saying that Taichi in Malaysia is multi racial and even attracted the youngsters. My physique obviously made me looked younger. I'm 30, Sifu.. not that young anymore (T_T).

But to be, honest.. I'm not that proud of my Taichi.

I have been in sooo many classes before. I excelled in my Aerobic class, doing okay in my Yoga class, so-so in my Tae-Kwan-Do, BUT Taichi is not something I'm proud of yet.

Taichi differs a lot from other classes I've been into. It is so detailed, and gentle and requires a lot of memorization.

The Introductory class, there were 16 steps. 16 complicated steps to memorize. Just when I thought I am doing okay with the 16 steps, I went to Taichi 103.

What is Taichi 103?

"Ohh.. it is just the extension of the 16 steps," my Sifu said.

Right....

Except that the extension means you add 87 more steps, hence Taichi 103.

16 steps + 87 steps = 103 steps = Taichi 103.

I don't even consider it as extension okay!! It's a whole new thing. *cries*

"How do I memorize all the three steps?" I asked my Taichi class monitor after my last session ended.

"It's like a lab session, you know.." He answered. And his following reply made me cursed myself for asking that stups question. "When we want to test the students on psychomotor, we ask them to do the prelab first. Practice is like doing the prelab. Then only you can master the session."

Okay. I deserved that punch *sigh*

Need more practice after this. Like my Sifu always told me..

"Do not cheat Taichi, or else Taichi will cheat you."

Whatever that means..

The guest of the Almighty

When my bimbo girlfriend (she's super genius by the way, we love calling her bimbo because.. well she acted like one.. happy, chirpy, loud girl, hehe.. and you know we love you for that, S!) went back from Umrah a couple of years ago and I met her, she said..

"When I first saw Kaabah, I cried and I don't know why.."

You know how when someone said it so sincerely, you could just feel it and kind of went "Awww..." and get all teary like that.. this was one of those moments.

And this came from, like I mentioned earlier.. happy, chirpy non-emotional bimbo friend of mine.

From that day onwards, I knew I just had to.

And things went smoothly afterwards in terms of financially for me. I made super easy money by involving in stocks. Alhamdulillah. We thought of leaving the girls to both my parents while we were gone, and it is only fair if I let my parents go first. They have never been there before.

Parents supposed to go this year, and both Love and I were supposed to go next year (Could not take too much leave in a year), but Dad had a hectic year at work this year. So, they had to postpone to next year.

Sedih? Of course because that only meant we could go the following year. I was so so down and of course mad at the same time.

During this year's Matta fair, Love had to visit his booth. Love is a head in Avis now, so Avis had a booth there, we came to visit. There was an Umrah fair as well, I decided to drop by.

Upon discussing with the Ustazah, suddenly Allah SWT opens my husband's heart to bring the girls. In short, it means we can go next year with both of my parents.

The rest is history and in shaa Allah we will be leaving on the 13th January. Mashaa Allah I'm beyond excited. At first I was nervous to bring the girls, but I know that if Allah brings me to it, He will surely brings me through it.

Doakan ye kawan2. I really need your doa so that everything is smooth sailing for me. I have been wanting this for years, really wanting this, I could cry thinking of it. Doakan ok :) In shaa Allah.

At the moment I'm reading the Syamail Muhammadiyah, a recollection of the Prophet's Hadis, which I totally recommend by the way, I rate this 5/5. The more I read, the more I feel that I want to go to Raudhah and meet Rasulullah, rindu yang I've never felt before. So your doa means a lotttttt to me, I really really want to go there!!!!

**Pics from Google

THREE ZERO, may I have a concealer please?

So.. I turned 30 on 12th October, just last month.

Yup, 3 series yo.

Both Love and I took a leave on Monday as usual and we were all over the place.

1) Woke up very early and went to KWSP. We decided to withdraw our Account 2 KWSP to pay for monthly installment of our home. Basically what you need are just the letter from the bank where you have your loan with and your sijil nikah if your loan is under both names. And you can opt for one of these two ways;
     a) to pay lump sum to your loan account (But you still need to pay monthly)
     b) to pay monthly to your own bank account
We opt for option b and in less than two weeks, they banked in to both our accounts the monthly installment and this will continue for the next 60 months as per instructed.

We put aside the money and aim for major renovation for Homer, in shaa Allah.

2) From Jalan Reko, we went to Ampang to have my Medela looked at.

3) Then to the tailor to pick up my altered jubahs. (Currently obsessed with Jubahsouq)

4) To IOI City Mall for a movie (The Martians, fun but mengarut) and Magnum Cafe.

My sweetheart

Both Love and I would so much prefer the usual Magnum than this one, hehe.

Arrived home super tired but happy to spend time with my girls.

Love bought me a new mini lappy since I'm always on the go with work nowadays. So. Worth. It. Tq Love!

How was it being 3 series?

Well.. I'm more comfortable with my body, healthier Alhamdulillah. I know what product suits me best and what not. Same goes to style. I know which friends to stay, which friends come and go. I know what pissed me off and what I could tolerate. So I'm happier day by day.

But, there is always a catch.. my eye bags annoy me every single time.

I seriously need a concealer guys. (T_T)

Selamat Hari Raya everyoneeee!!

Selamat Hari Raya to all my readers. Please forgive me for all the wrong doings.

Raya has been fun! Grandmother was back to her house after almost 3 weeks staying with us on Raya eve. So, first day is the usual. Except.. without Datuk around. Our first Raya without him. Al fatihah to Datuk.

Purple vs orange

Went back to Kuala Selangor on second day Raya. Couldn't make it last year because both dad and Love were worried of the fact that I was due anytime. I would say it is a wise decision that I listened to them both.

Third day raya well spent at Batai with the relatives.

Started working on the 4th day of Raya.. macam loser busy marking whole day. But back on leave 5th day Raya for a date with Love.

Wanted to play mini putt at citta mall but it is no longer operational, boo. Ended up watching ant man which was fun!

Loving my raya this year. Very grateful to the Almighty to have spend it with my loved ones. Hope yours went well too, peeps!

Year end review: 2014

2014 is finally over. Phewww.. What a harsh harsh year for us Malaysians. How the Almighty reminded us over and over again to look for Him. Subhanallah..

So.. my 2014 year review..

1. Alhamdulillah, my uni suddenly organized mengaji class, I joined for about half a year until qatam all the makhraj and tajweed. How Allah swt eases everything for you when your niat is towards goodness.

2. Managed to qatam (Nazar no. 3) before I gave birth, Alhamdulillah.

3. Went to KK which was super fun, the Rafflesia was a bonus for me.

4. Managed to Pru my dad, in shaa Allah soon, mom.

5. Managed to publish 5 papers and 3 journals.

6. Gave birth easily and safely to a super healthy baby girl, so thankful for this one.

7. My savings is SEE (Super exceed expectation), extra RM841 from targeted. I don't know how I achieved this, I know it's quite crazy to dream this big. But I always remember, Kun Fayakun, never under estimate Him. Reminder to self, nothing is crazy.

8. In shaa Allah, Professional Engineeringship, soon. When He knows when is best for me.

So, hello 2015. Assalamualaikum. I hope it's a better year for all of us.

More achievements, in shaa Allah :)

And dear Allah swt, I just wana say THANK YOU. Alhamdulillah.

Alhamdulillah for the wonderful year 2014. Alhamdulillah for everything.

Alhamdulillah.Alhamdulillah.Alhamdulillah.Alhamdulillah.Alhamdulillah.Alhamdulillah.Alhamdulillah.Alhamdulillah.Alhamdulillah.Alhamdulillah.Alhamdulillah.Alhamdulillah.Alhamdulillah.Alhamdulillah.Alhamdulillah.Alhamdulillah.Alhamdulillah.Alhamdulillah.Alhamdulillah.Alhamdulillah.Alhamdulillah.Alhamdulillah.Alhamdulillah.Alhamdulillah.Alhamdulillah.Alhamdulillah.Alhamdulillah.Alhamdulillah.Alhamdulillah.Alhamdulillah.Alhamdulillah.Alhamdulillah.Alhamdulillah.

It is still a sad thing..

Was browsing through Facebook, and randomly watched a video that makes me cry.. so badly, never in my life I cried this bad watching a video/movie before.

I cried again the next day.

And the following day.

And cried today just as I typed this.

It's about a social study done in NY, where a man asked for a slice of Pizza from strangers for hours; none gave him. Until a homeless guy shared his with him.

I shared the video and thought of putting "the saddest video I've ever watched" as the caption in Facebook, but I bet some absent minded followers (followers, not friends because my friends would never do this) would comment things like, "Palestinians died everyday, that's the saddest thing".

Of course it's sad. Those things. I've never watched the video or picture because it's too hard to bear. But that doesn't make this video any less sad.

Click here to redirect to the video

"Why did you cry?" Love asked, slightly puzzled with my overreaction.

It's because all reasons. How could you still eat your Pizza knowing a hungry stranger asked you for a slice of yours; just a slice of yours, God knows how many days he hasn't been eating. And the fact that a homeless guy of all people would share his. And the homeless guy cried in the end. I can't even..

"It's happening all around us, Sayang," Love tried to console me. Accurately, Love thought he was consoling me.

I mean, when? When is this a normal thing. Last time I checked, my friends were all normal people, not even twice they think of sparing some cash for some strangers that came over our lunch table every now and then. I can forgive people not sparing cash, but food? Come on, you treat cats and dogs better than this.

"You're blessed to be surrounded by beautiful people then. Either that or you choose to block those things that you don't intend to see around you," He thought he was consoling me again.

I have to agree. Beautiful people, yes. And blocking things I dislike are also what I did best. Ignorance.. is still a pure bliss for me, sorry. Hence, I don't mind you calling me ignorant. I am. That's where I found peace in this nonsense world.

"Let me tell you a story.." He began. Of a story how back then when we finished SPM, he dropped by to Strudels and spent all his cash to buy a cake for me. I mean, ALL his cash. Only to realize, he didn't have any to spare for his parking ticket. For his one ringgit parking ticket that now became the obstacle for him to see me. He just wanted to get out of the parking. Numb. The value of one ringgit at that time meant more than the RM100 he spent to buy me the cake.

"Umm.. which part of your story meant to console me again?" I asked, puzzled. Though I kind of get what he meant. The value of RM5 to us compared to a homeless person like in the video. Encouraging me to give more.

"Let me tell you another story.." He began again. On a story of how he asked our little girl on what would she do if there's a hungry stranger came to her. "Do you know what Khaira said? Nothing I did to influence her on her answer. This came from her herself."

"What?" I asked.

He called Khaira and the reply of a small child, totally innocent and obviously has more common sense than the adults in the video..

"I would feed her!" She replied in all excitement.

That makes my day. And I should just stopped crying. But I didn't.

Wishlist and nazar

Alhamdulillah.. as of today, I've done all my nazar for PhD.

I nazar for 3 things:
1. To belanja my department
2. To fast for three days; and the hardest was..
3. To qatam Al quran.

I was hoping and praying to get the last one done before I give birth.

With morning sickness and all, I managed to get it done finally.

Happy sangattttt!!

I must say this is one of the super helpful app..

Help me kill my time during traffic and while I was bored.

2 down for the year, 6 more to go.. in shaa Allah, ameen. I have faith :)

Now nazar for the gentle birth I'm about to have..

Of death and loved ones

In less than a year, I've lost five relatives back to back.

Both of my grandmothers, two uncles and an aunt.

There are a lot of things both Love and I learned from these losses, one of them is to make sure all the things we work hard for (in another words, our savings) are well utilized by our loved ones.

So, we took a leave last Friday.

First stop is to Tabung Haji. To put a 'Penama' for Tabung Haji is very straight forward. Just get a form, you can fill up to two Penamas. If anything happens to you, the savings will go to the first Penama. He/She will be the one to distribute all the money. If anything happens to both the first Penama and you, the money will go to the second Penama. Then, they need your fingerprint and just submit the form to the counter. In less than a minute, the process is complete.

The second stop is to ASNB. Here is where complications began.

See, I have two accounts with ASNB: ASB and ASW. Love has three: ASB, ASW and ASM.

Both of us have ASB loans; in which will end in 2030.

The Hibah Amanah program (the program they named for you to put the Penama for your savings) works in a way that:

1. You cannot have any loan (which is so leceh because our major portion of money is in ASB and we have loans there)
2. It comes with a charge of RM180 a lifetime, and RM10 every year
3. You can have up to 10 Penamas and you can put the percentage for each Penama (each Penama needs a siganture, a copy of IC and for all Penama needs one witness)
4. If anything happen to any of the Penama, that portion of money that should go to that Penama will go to Amanah Raya.

As if it is not troublesome enough for me, I have now difficulty in withdrawing my money because I was born with a rare case of eczema that changes my fingerprints every now and then. In another words, my IC and fingerprints do not match with each other.

The agents (CIMB, post office) said I need to withdraw them only at ASNB. But ASNB said, I need to get a letter from JPN. Which is sooo troublesome.

Now, I'm thinking of closing my ASW account and withdraw most of my money from ASB to put it in my Tabung Haji. Sorry lah ASNB, not only troubling me with the syariah compliance issue and the fact that Tabung Haji's dividend is better nowadays, you just have to make life a lotttt harder with all these.

So, what's left now is EPF. The problem is, it needs a witness whom is non other than your Penama. I hope to get it done in near time.

If you're wondering what happens to all your savings once you're not around, it'll go to Amanah Raya and the process takes ages. Hence, the post.

Bismillah..

Goodbye 2013 and hello 2014

2013 was a good year.

I managed to strike all my to do list, and I did them gracefully. Alhamdulillah

On top of that, we went to Japan on December. For a while, I survived Japan alone :)

Also, a day before leaving to Japan, I found out that I'm pregnant.

All praise is to Allah swt the almighty.

However 2013 has been a challenging one. I lost my grand mom and my grand mom in law. And the uncle who was closest to me a day before my birthday. I caught an accident for the first time in my life.

I hope 2014 will be a better one. In shaa Allah. Ameen.

my phd convo and my interview with rtm

Last Sunday was the day where I became the happiest girl in the world. It was my PhD convo.. the day I've been waiting for, for as long as I could remember.

Alhamdulillah.

I graduated with most of my friends from the department..

It was also a special one as Tun Dr. Mahathir was awarded with honorary doctorate from our uni at that day. What better way to have your convo right.

Being the youngest to get her PhD at the convo, I was also later being interviewed by the RTM.

After having our lunch on that day, we had a family photoshoot done by Elegant Vision. It's a door to door photoshoot.. very convenient for Khaira.

I bought the deal from mydeal for RM100. And paid additional RM350 for the raw and edited pictures both soft copy and printed.

Some raw pictures captured on the day.

Though I was hoping both my grandmoms and uncle were here to celebrate,  I guess I miss my co supervisor the most.

The first journal I made, he gave me about 30 revisions. Now, I published around 30 journals and conferences already.. and a renowned reviewer in my field.

The first exhibition I attended he gave me 17 revisions. Up to date, I participated in 10 exhibitions and won medal each time.

I miss him.. so far away in Oman now.  But my supervisor is still here to mentor me, so much I need to learn still.. so Alhamdulillah for His plan.

To both my supervisors, Prof. Dr. Norashidah and AP Dr. Mansoori.. thank you for making me who I am today. God knows how much I change.. both of you witness the evolution.. I pray every day.. only Allah swt can pay back all the debts I have to you guys.

I love them a lot.

While at it, the university suggested me to write a book and gave a talk on how i finish my phd part time in three years.

In shaa Allah.  Let's pray I'm given the strength to share it with my dearest readers.