1st year, 2nd semester

As mentioned on the previous post, I am currently doing a triple job - pursuing Masters, my Monday to Friday 8 hours a day job and a mom to lil Iman Alexandria. And I must say that my brain cells are damaging before its time.

Hard work, definitely yes! 

When I first started enrolling myself with my Masters, I didn't expect it to be this hard. Hard in a way that I have to juggle and plan my time properly. I have to unsocilize myself with friends and family. My schedule is fixed. It's either I'm leaving for work or to classes else I'll be at home spending my limited time with my growing-very-lasak-lil girl. It's tough that sometimes, sometimes it breaks my heart to know that I'm pushing myself chasing the uncertainties. 

Give-up, yes!

There are times when I feel like giving up everything - work, studies but not family. They are my life! But due to the high level of stress, it tends to go overboard. There was one time when I nearly, nearly submitted my resignation letter as I don't feel like I can cope with work and studies anymore. I have the letter prepared and ready to be submitted but decided not too! Nasib baik, kalau tak ada yang jobless sekarang ni. Seriously, I really can't handle the stress anymore with the crazy campaign that I have to handle and the killing PR assignment that I have to submit. My life gone haywire! 

And with that situation, I decided (at that point of time) to quit studying. Same reason as the above. Nasib baik tak buat. 3 bulan setengah tak lama mana pon.

And today, the day has finally arrived. The results is out.

Syukur alhamdulillah. I made it! Though it is not as good as the previous semester, I did it!

I owe it to the family for the support. Million thanks to the husband for having faith in me, for not giving up on me, for being my ears to listen to the countless complaints and to be my shoulder to cry on. I love you big time. Bag LV jangan lupa!

Also, a big huge thank to my team-mates. They are awesome. Without them, I don't think I can reach this far. Syukur alhamdulillah.

This was taken during PR final presentation.

Sepanjang seumur hidup, ni lah results yang paling membanggakan. Even during undergrads dulu pon results tak pernah sebersih ini. Masyaallah.

To a better new semester. September, I am not ready for you yet!

From a concerned citizen of Malaysia

I remember watching a movie (which I can't seem to remember the title) but the main actor were Marc Anthony and Dakota Fanning. It is a story of a rich man which inherited his wealthiness from his wife's father who built their empire in Mexico's city. Of course, money laundering was involved and Marc Anthony had no choice but to give away his daughter to save his business. There's a lot of shooting involved. Biasalah cerita gangster-gangster mesti ada tembak-tembak.

At the end of the story, his daughter's bodyguard (who is also a very famous actor whom I have no idea his name is) was the one yang terkorban trying to save his daughter's life or something like that.

My point is, the movie has a lot of shooting scenes and I, at one point believe that it will never happen in the real world. How can a place allows gangsterism berleluasa di mana-mana.

As naive as I may sound, it actually happens here in Malaysia.

It's scary to know that one is no longer safe walking by her/his own on the street walaupun di waktu hari yang terang. It's no longer safe for me to have my morning jog without having the fear of someone actually following me. It's worst now that it's no longer safe for someone to stop at a traffic light without having the feeling of someone stopping next to his/her car with a gunshot.

Takut kan?

Takut sangat!

With the recent cases where numerous of people being shot while waiting in their car is scary. Tembakan jarak dekat pulak tu. Worst thing is, this kind of cases appear in the news almost everyday. Why such things can happen here in Malaysia?

We used to be a safe country. Of course, jenayah memanglah ada but not to the extent of tembak-menembak secara terang-terangan. Where are all our police officers? Aren't they doing their job? 

Isn't it worrying to know that your country is becoming just like what is shown in the movie. Gangsterism leads to gun-shooting. What happens to Malaysia?

I'm no longer feeling safe living in this country. How can they keep on saying that our country is still safe whereas the cases of people dying due to gun-shooting appears everyday. It's worrying, Masyaallah.

As a concerned citizen, I really hope that something will be done by the authority to make sure that cases like this will never happen again. It's scary and worrying. Amat membimbangkan.

A dream to BaitulMaqdis

Earlier this year, my Maklong proposed for our this year's family trip to go to Palestine through one of the trusted travel agency. I was contemplating at first as security is my major issue especially when I have to carry Iman together with me. But after much consideration, we decided to proceed with the plan as it has been our dream to visit Baitul Maqdis as Al-Aqsa mosque is located in the district area.

But of course, with the current situation that is happening in the middle east, we have to ensure that our security is being taken care off. 

Based on the itinerary that was provided to us, we are going to Jerusalem through Egypt. We were also being informed that only small number of visitors are allow to enter Jerusalem and with this travel agency, we are able to do so under full security assurance. Well, my mother was not convinced at all with the assurance hence we did not proceed with the plan. Glad that we didn't!

Having said that, I'm actually feeling sad that we are unable to visit the holy land. It has been a dream to be able to perform solat at Al-Aqsa mosque, to visit the tomb of most para Nabi and to witness the life of Muslim brothers and sisters who have no major problem performing their duty as a Muslim regardless of having to share the piece of land with the Jews and the Christians. Isn't that amazing?

Dr. Halina (the wife of our astronaut man) posted her visit to the holy land quite sometime ago. It's amazing how she puts it in words and her photos, Masyaallah, she's very lucky to be able to step foot at the holy land. She visited most of the historical places and having to carry 2 of her children (a 4 months old baby and a 2 years old toddler) is amazing, Subhanallah!

Furthermore, last week's Jejak Rasul episode showcased their visit to the holy land. Masyaallah, bertambah-tambah sangat terpanggil untuk ke sana. It's amazing to see how Muslim survived in a country ruled by the Israelis and how Muslims' able to stand together with the Jews and the Christians under the same roof. Subhannallah.

Kalau kita faham dan mendalami sejarah perkembangan Islam di sana sangat mengkagumkan.

But then again, I guess Allah knows what's best for His ummah. I guess it is not our time yet to visit the holy land but Insyaallah kalau ada rezeki, mahu sahaja melawat tanah suci itu.

Coz I am the 80's baby

Police and thief, want to jaga, police and thief pencuri jaga.

Remember the song? 

I'm not sure if it is the right word but what's for sure is that, it has been sang by most of us during our childhood days. Main kejar-kejar time petang-petang sampai jatuh lutut luka, kan?

I grew up doing most of the things listed above. Transformer, Tomato-man and Little Lulu were among those favourite cartoon programme. I still remember recording my voice on a cassette and shared it with my friends with song that we sang, budget-budget konon suara merdu.

Those were the days. The happy days.

It's too different now. Kids nowadays, they are so much into gadgets, and too expose to the internet world sampai boleh record video "kita dah couple seminggu". Wth?

They missed the fun of playing galah panjang, konda-kondi, baling seliper, lompat getah and etc. Even my 1 year old daughter is very much into her iPad. Takda iPad mahu pengsan dibuatnya. 

But I got to say that we the 80's babies are the coolest. Who's with me?!

Wordless Thursday, eh?!

Iman's most viewed video, viewed by Iman and Iman only.

How I wish I can understand her baby language.

But it's fun though! And cute too.

Lagu Raya! Lagu Raya! Lagu Raya!

My initial plan was to write about the post that went viral yesterday on the story of non-Muslim primary students having their lunch break at the school's toilet room. I've collected my source, pictures and stories but decided to let it down because I think, I will not write it properly. 

Just to note some points:-

1. Don't always jump to conclusion. This is to the mother who posted this article. Do not just rely on 1 source and 1 source only. Instead of believing what the school bus driver said, you might as well go to the school and clarify yourself. There are teachers who I believe can assist you on your concerns. Toilet room and changing room are two different things.
2. Low self awareness. This is to the citizen of Malaysia. This is a good example of how we Malaysians see things. Often that we judge people without really searching for the truth. Paling tepat, what we see is not what we tell. There's always penambah garam, gula untuk penyedap cerita. 
3. Racism. This is also a good example of how racist we are. Baru tengok sikit gambar and the first thing that come to our mind is racism. This is really a serious matter.
4. Orang Malaysia cepat melatah. Period!

Then, I decided to post the most talk of the town story of Princess Kate Middleton who just gave birth to a beautiful baby boy. 

But then again, I believe there are thousands of people out there who will be writing about how glowy her post-natal appearance. For godsake, she's a Britain Royal Princess. For all you know, she has an army of people who will help her with her appearance. So yea, no story of the royal princess.

Note: If she was not married to Prince William, she will exactly look like most of us who just gave birth to a baby - having our hair tied up high and wearing kain batik. Ok, maybe not kain batik!

Then finally, I decided to post on my most favourite raya song. Yes, just like a kid I am, I am so looking forward to raya.

And yes of course, I am very sad the Ramadan is so close in waving its hand but I don't tell that to the world. I try my best to perform during this holy month. Every thing that I do is between me and for Allah to judge and not for the world to know. Sad that some people is so sarcastic in giving their comments. But then again, the intention is to remind hence I will take it with an open arms. Thank you for the reminder and Salam Ramadan to you. No hard feelings :)

With that, let me present to you Black Dog Bone with Cahaya Aidilfitri

Salam Ramadan.

Branded label seperti cendawan tumbuh selepas hujan

Panjang berjelar title-nya. I just couldn't shorten it as I couldn't find the best word to describe them in a shortest form of sentence.

Ceritanya begini. I want to get myself a new handbag. The one that I have been over-using dah agak-agak rapuh dah keadaannya. It is still in a good condition though. It's just that at some part of the bag dah terkopek sedikit the skin hence why the need of wanting a new handbag.

I've set the criteria of my bag. It must be an over-sized bag so that it can make me look smaller in size as I carry a lot of things in my bag. I have my organizer, my pencil box, my huge wallet (wallet is huge in size but small in frame, LOL) and sometimes, I carry my notes in it. It must have at least 1 small compartment in it for me to put my cardholder, lip-balm & lip-stick.

Not just that, the bag must fit my daughter's iPad, few diapers, her water bottle, napkin and if space permits, it can fit few of her favourite toys. 

See, I make full use of my bag. This 1 bag must fit everything and it is very much suitable to be used during weekdays for work and classes as well as the weekends for outing. Hence, good quality of bag is what I am looking for.

Since I am looking for a good quality one, I thought of buying one that can last forever. So, I opt for the branded ones - budget-budget konon mampulah. So, after much surveying, I have few in mind. Of course, they have to be within my budget lah kan. Tak kan pulak lepas beli bag nak makan pasir or bagi Iman pakai cloth diaper pulak kan.

So, the candidates are:-

LV Neverfall MM

Coach - Saffiano Medium City

Michael Kors - Medium Jet Set Saffiano Travel Bag

Materialistic much, yes I am! I think at certain point in life, you believe that you deserve those expensive bags. I work hard for it hence I deserve this. Cheh, ayat penyedap.

So check punya check, I bumped into few blogshops that carry those bags. And I was shocked to the max to see that they are selling these bags half (maybe 75%) cheaper than the market price. Of course, market price memanglah mahal. They don't call themselves branded for no reason right? But they sell it damn cheap man.

Imagine, one can purchase LV Neverfall for RM90, wth?

Bag ni buatan China, I don't know but how can it be that cheap?

Nowadays, having to own a branded bag is somehow essential to most woman to the extend that they don't know the value of the bag. How can you carry a RM90 LV Neverfall. It's disgraceful! It's disgraceful to the brand, for crying out loud. Itu tak payah cerita kalau budak sekolah, Ok, maybe not budak sekolah tapi budak University to carry a Chanel to their faculty. Aduh, malunya!

This is not envy. Definitely not envy. This is a consumer's point of view. My personal point of view.

When you start carrying a branded bag, it is somehow put you into a certain level. They are expensive for a reason. They carry a brand - the most trusted brand hence why the price. If you don't understand the value of the bag, you will never understand how worthy the bag is. I may not explain it well, but it is a disgrace for someone to carry an imitation version of a branded bag.

My concept is simple. Beli bila mampu. Tak mampu jangan beli.

Tiba-tiba nak emotional but this is the truth. You are demolishing the value of the bag. Kesian bag itu. You will never appreciate the bag, trust me! Shope wisely girls. Don't spoil the reputation of the bag.

Raya resolution

Every end of the year, most people will set themselves with resolutions - nak jadi lebih kaya, jadi lebih rajin, nak jadi seorang yang lebih baik, you get the jinx right?! While I, on the other hand, have never set any resolutions in my life for all I know, I will never follow.

This year is somehow different. I decided to have 1 resolution, and 1 resolution only. Funny thing is, I want to achieve this goal by Raya, in shaa Allah. It sounds a bit cocky (I think!) but this resolution is something that I have been working on throughout this year. Very challenging one, I tell you!

My goal is by raya, I should be able to forgive and forget.

But why raya?

It is because Raya is where you actually seek for forgiveness from your family and friends. If I am unable to forgive them, I am actually faking all my "forgiveness" and I don't want to do that. Being the stubborn me, I have no problem in forgiving, but my biggest issue is to forget. I tend to keep things in me to the extend that I become depressed over things that I shouldn't be and that is what I want to improve as much as I can.

There are people that I really want to forgive for things that they have done to my family. Due to that, I have been keeping my distance from them from all occasions. I know it is not right to judge. But what they did really hurts and it is not my call to judge them, I know that! But like I said, being the stubborn me, I tend to take things seriously and yea.... keeping distance is what I did. I just want to ..... forgive and forget!

In-conjunction with this coming Hari Raya, Watson is also doing a Raya resolution campaign. Wow, lucky me! I got to put my resolution and hope to meet Faizal Tahir.

Check this out!

Here's to how to submit your resolution,

Step 1 - Visit Watson's facebook fan page and click their Azam Raya apps.

Step 2 - Click "Mula Sekarang" button and key-in you resolution and  then, click "hantar" button

Step 3 - Check your email as you'll receive your e-voucher. This is my 2nd submission. Before checking your email, you will need to fill in your details first.

Step 4 - you will be able to share your resolution in your Facebook page. The highest vote will stand a chance to win a prize.

Step 5 - check your email now.

So, what are you waiting for? Submit your azam now to win a chance of having Faizal Tahir come to your house during Hari Raya. It's once in a life time opportunity y'oulls!

Submit now!

Friday rambling

I am currently working on this campaign which is supposed to start last May 2013. It keeps on getting postpone even until today, there is no confirm on the live date yet. What's worst is that, they keep on changing the campaign objective on every meeting that we attended or con-call to discuss about the campaign.

I got to be honest that I am already given-up on this campaign. As much as I am looking forward to it before, I don't give a damn about it anymore. 

But the good part about this campaign is that I learned a lot especially in digital planning. I know what conversion tagging is (I don't even know that it can be done at the first place). I know now that there's retargeting process that we can apply to our digital campaign. Basically, I already know the dos and don'ts of digital planning. Memang dah master habis.

But seriously man, can you make up your mind. It has taken a lot of our time just to plan on this campaign. And the planning process has not ended yet. Oh, I'm tired of it already. Memang menguji kesabaran ketika di bulan Ramadan yang mulia ini. 

Speaking of which, we have passed 9 days of Ramadan. How's your Ramadan so far? Mine, so far so good, Alhamdulillah. I hope I can keep to this practice till end of the year - which is by ber-Sabar, In Shaa Allah.

Oklah, off to prepare myself for Zuhr prayer. Nak doa banyak-banyak supaya di beri kesabaran yang tinggi dalam menghadapi dugaan kerja hari ini. Amin.

Have a nice day everyone.

Sony with Zizan or Zizan with Sony?

I'm not a fan of Sony product. In fact, Sony is the least brand to be considered if I were to buy any electronic/camera/phone/ product. It is just not my preferred brand.

If I want to buy camera, I'll go for Nikon (not even Canon).

If I want to buy TV, Panasonic is the No. 1 brand that I will look for but of course, I can't afford any of them, LOL.

If I want to buy a phone, oh well, I just wait for someone to get it for me. But what's for sure is that particular someone won't buy a Sony phone because he is also not a Sony fan. I'm talking about my husband tho, you know right?!

I'm loyal that way.

Basically I don't own any Sony product, not even the cool Sony Ericsson Walkman phone.

But.. But... Let me show you the coolest Sony video EVER!!!

Cool kan?!

Cool sebab Zizan. He delivered it well. It makes the whole Sony product looks cool too! 

Sony hits jackpot with Zizan, they really do. Well done Sony!

The Incontinent Truth

When I first started handling this new account, I was introduced by my colleague about "Incontinent Truth" and I was like Incon... what? I'm not familiar with the name at all. It shows how low my awareness level about Incontinence.

For those of you who don't know what Incontinence means, it is actually the inability to restrain natural discharges or evacuations of urine or feces atau dalam bahasa melayunya, kencing yang tak berapa nak lawas atau punya rasa nak buang air kecil tapi bila pergi tandas, shi-shi keluar sikit lah sangat. Sounds familiar?

I believe at one point in our lives, we do experience this kind of problem but we never take it seriously. Don't worry, it's treatable.

I would love to share with all of you on the interesting video by TENA about Incontinence.

Or you can log on to their website here for more information about Incontinence. 

It is very useful especially to the youngsters (20 of age and above). Age is not a factor anymore.

You can also send in your pledges at their Incontruth website to show your support on Incontinence. It can be very helpful in creating greater awareness especially to your family members and friends.

Breastfeeding 101

Alhamdulillah, I was fortunate to be able to breastfeed Iman even until today. But of course, there were times when the supply was low and the demand was super high. There were also times when I can simply throw the half-drink milk. There were times when I'm caught-up with work I missed my pumping session sampai baju basah kuyup. There were times when I'm just being lazy to pump, hence less no. of bottle for that day. My time and day include extra half and hour for the pumping session. 

There are 4 of us in the office who expressed milk everyday. Kenalah berebut nak duduk dalam bilik tu. Kadang-kadang, both of us sit next to each other facing the other way round to express milk. Memang menarik ketika duduk berdua. Confirm, susu tak keluar banyak.

I must say that it was indeed a challenging-tough-job to be a breastfeeding mom. Kiasu to the max, I tell you! But the good thing is, you sure know that you only give your baby the best milk in the world. Alhamdulillah, Iman takdelah sakit serious sepanjang minum breast milk. Sakit biasa-biasa tuh ada lah (biasalah nak membesar bagaikan johon mestilah ada sakit sikit-sikit) but alhamdulillah, she is one big healthy baby, syukur!

me, once upon a time ago.

And, very economic too. Itu paling penting. I do not have to be worried to go get Iman her formula milk powder. Formula milk powder is very expensive nowadays as if it was made by gold powder. Sigh!

After more than 14 months, I decided to mix formula milk & breastmilk. Ini semua gara-gara Iman refuses to drink milk in the bottle (that's another battle for first time mom to encounter, good luck!). Dah berbagai jenis botol susu dah di beli and it shows no signs of improvement. So, I give-up! Breast milk is to be added into her morning cereal and the formula milk is to be served twice a day - morning & night. She still refuses milk in the bottle, so she drinks the milk in a cup. Kira bagus jugaklah tuh. At least she drinks milk.

Slowly, I reduced the number of time to express milk because the demand is low (super low!) but I keep on adding the supply. At the end, supply melimpah ruah. 

At 18 months, I have totally stop expressing but I still direct feed Iman.

Now, I want to stop breastfeeding entirely and I want to train Iman to stop asking for my boobies. Yes, she can't live without my boobies. To the extend that she wants it not for the milk but for leisure. Kadang-Kadang Selalunya, I can't do anything just because Iman nak bergayut and it gets difficult to move. Kalu tak bagi, she can just throw tantrum (sebab dah pandai buat). She knows where to get it - simply angkat my baju. Not that I don't like the way she does it but she's already feeling comfortable with it and I foresee that if I don't start training her now, she will never stop asking for it. She's turning 2 soon, so yea...

The question is now, how can I do it - the hard way or the super slow way?

Some people suggested that I put something on my breast (like chilli powder or coffee powder) for Iman to taste it and eventually she will stop asking for it. Kau gila letak chilli powder? Mau terbakar breast nanti. 

Some people suggested that I talk to Iman that it is not her time anymore to breastfeed - but that's going to be super slow man!

How can I do it? Mothers? Anyone? Help!

Ramadan tak sampai seminggu dah sebok kuih raya

Yes, you read it right. Ramadan belum sampai seminggu, I am already busy booking looking for kuih raya. 

I don't normally buy kuih raya. Usually, I will be the one busy baking them but unfortunately, my over-used-super-old-oven decided to say goodbye to me last year. Never got a replacement for it hence no baking cookies for raya for 2nd year in a row. I was planning to get a new one, a big new one but yea, it never happens. So, cita-cita untuk membuat kuih raya pada tahun ini terbantut lagi.

I was looking high and low for a good quality kuih raya. It's difficult nowadays to look for the good quality ones. Kebanyakkannya semua jual sebab nak raya. Jadi, rasa semua ke laut. Yang terlalu manis ada, yang tak ada rasa pon ada and they are all expensive. Letak harga bukan-bukan.

Nak dijadikan cerita, one of my ex-colleague from the old agency brought in boxes of cookies to the office and one of it was my all time favourite chocolate cookies. A small square chocolate cookies and I started to become his customer ever since then.

I like it so much, I can finish 2 boxes of this cookies on my own, I'm no kidding! I can say that the taste is still up to my standard which is very nice - not too sweet. 

Cheh, nak tolong promote lah ni. Tak dapat commission pon. But I believe in his quality. So far, belum pernah mengecewakan lagi.

They sell variety of cookies as well.

Vanilla version of the chocolate cookies

Chocolate chip cookies

Nutty Nut

Chocolate Snow Almond

Just to pre-empt you guys that they don't just sell chocolate-y type of cookies. That's just me who is into it. They have others too:-

Pineapple Tart

Gajus Ayu. Aduh, nama tak tahan

Or you can email Azfar at nenepie.my@gmail.com to order.

I strongly recommend their cookies. They are really really good.

I gave birth to a drama queen

We went to a salon earlier today and Masyaallah never I knew that it was going to be a nightmare. Mother wanted to "re-style" Iman's hair do and Ya Rabbi, she screamed the moment the uncle hold her hair.

First bad experience for ibu and daughter. We are not going to visit the salon anytime soon. Not a million years for dear Iman.

#throwbackthursday

I was doing my usual "stalking" activity and somehow I landed on an old friend's blog. Very travelogue-ish. She has quite number of posts on places she visited from the local destinations to the European countries to the most visited SEA countries (Thailand, Indonesia, Singapore). And it made me realize that I have not been travelling that much for the past years, not even to Singapore. How sad!. Konon-konon je cita-cita nak travel the world but I never really work towards it. 

The last real travelling I had was in 2008 for the family Europe trip. I would like not to consider Koh Samui as one of the places I have visited as I was falling sick the whole trip (being sick due to pregnancy). Poor husband we only stayed in most of the time and we don't even lay down on the beach that much. I plan to revisit the place again someday. Let's just see...

Paris, 2008

Muka macam cipan

I am so looking forward for our next family trip this coming August and September. I really really need this vacations. It's been long overdue and Yes, according to my friends, I deserve this!

A year older, a year wiser

I am officially 28 yesterday. Alhamdulillah, for the rezki, to be able to breath the not-so-fresh air, to be surrounded by my loved ones - family & friends, to be able to go to work, being a student again and be a mom to my growing up baby girl all at the same time, to be a not-so-loving wife to my husband (still working on it), to serve my parents well and most of all, to be given the opportunity to improve myself to serve Allah the Almighty in becoming a better ummah, in shaa Allah. And for that, I am forever grateful for the life I have. Syukur, Alhamdulillah.

This year was rather special (taklah se-special mana). I got to blow cake twice. Woohooo!

My not-so-romantic husband bought a surprise birthday cake for me the night before the actual day. I wasn't expecting anything from him though. In fact, I don't even think he remembers my birthday. Tetapi, surprise, surprise, he came back home from work with a large box of my favourite chocolate cake.

Terang lagi bersuluh 28 tuh.

I did asked for a birthday present though. Tak malu betul tetapi he just ignored it to the core! Haish takpelah tak ada rezeki. I asked for a new LV bag memang patut pon dia tak layankan. But, he sponsored me few new pants and we had a not-so-romantic dinner last Sunday. So, oklah tak dapat bag LV pon tak apa. (But I'm still hoping for the bag though *hint*hint*)

The 2nd cake I got was from my colleague. 

A not-so-surprise birthday cake from my department gang. It was so sweet of them although I got to pick my preferred flavour. I almost burst into tears tapi tahan macho sikitlah. Yes, I am that hati sotong.

So they say, a year older, a year wiser. Yes, I hope I am a wiser person this year. Wiser in terms of decision making, wiser in maturity-ness, wiser in being not-so-hati-sotong, wiser in attitude.

But what I pray the most this year is being a person who is able to forgive and forget, to be able to stay positive all the time, to perform in being a better ummah, to be good to my surroundings, to love more and to be forever loved by my loved ones, to be a good mother and wife and to be granted with health and wealth here and for the afterlife, in shaa Allah.

With this, I would like to thank everyone for the lovely wishes and doas. May we be blessed by the Almighty, in Shaa Allah. Selamat berpuasa to all my muslim brothers and sisters and have a nice day.

Last lunch before Ramadan

We have been planning to have lunch at this place since last year. Finally, after almost a year of postponing, we finally had our lunch at this awesome restaurant located at Kampung Sungai Penchala today. It is called "Sambal Hijau"

If you're coming from Kuala Lumpur to go to Damansara through the Sprint Highway, you can see this restaurant on the right side of the road. Take the exist to TTDI and turn right into Kampung Sungai Penchala. The restaurant is on the right side from the first traffic light next to the huge mosque.

This is my first time here and I was in awe to see the food that were served during lunch hour. The restaurant is famous for its ikan bakar. Unfortunately, due to the huge crowd that came to the restaurant today, I did not get the chance to taste their famous ikan bakar. But my gosh, the food is awesome.

This is my serving. 

And it's cheap too. It only cost me RM11 for a plate full of ayam panggang, veges, japanese taufu, a bit of kuah lemak daging with kentang and ikan masin goreng. This is just quarter of what being served. 

I, definitely will come again. Will definitely go for its ikan bakar.

If you're looking for delicious local Malay nasi campur food, I totally recommend you this restaurant. The restaurant is open from 7 am - 2 am (not sure of this though) but if you are coming during lunch hour please come early. The restaurant is full even as early as 12pm.

Ramadan 1434H

In Shaa Allah in two days we will be welcoming the holy month of Ramadan and Syukur Alhamdulillah, we are given the opportunity to greet and welcome Ramadan again this year.

I wish this coming Ramadan will be a good platform for us as Muslim in reflecting ourselves in becoming a better ummah In Shaa Allah. And as a reminder to myself to always be patience, to do things one step at a time, recites Quran whenever possible (Masyaallah, I've been neglecting this for long time), performing better solat and to always forgive and forget (the toughest one to do). Bahawasanya, banyak ganjaran yang diberikan ketika di bulan Ramadan.

Based on how badly I did time ganti puasa haritu, it is going to be a challenge for me this time. It took me 3 weeks to complete 7 days of ganti puasa and I skipped those days where I have to attend client's meeting or events. Teruk betul Masyaallah and di tambah pula that I am still breastfeeding Iman. Last year, I skipped 4 days because my mind is not strong enough to convince myself that I can breastfeed and fast at the same time. Psychologically, I am very weak. I hope this year my energy remains till the last day of Ramadan, In Shaa Allah and psychologically strong too. I hope I can handle those dugaan, In Shaa Allah.

So let us take this opportunity to muhassabah diri and to improve ourselves in serving Allah as His Ummah. 

With that, I would like to seek your forgiveness if I have ever hurt your feelings through my writing intendedly or unintendedly. I have no intention in breaking those beautiful heart but as human, we can never run away from making mistakes. Apology from the deepest of my heart.

Semoga Ramadan in memberi seribu kerahmatan kepada kita, Amin. Salam Ramadan from me to all my muslim friends.

Blogging or no blogging

I can't really remember when I started blogging. It started way back when I was still schooling. I remembered having my own mini-website siap ada column for chatting purposes. Gila cool kan?! I was among those "freaks" who glued themselves in front of the computer 24/7. Konon-konon budget computer expert lah. I remembered it was a trend at that time to have your own website. Whoever who owns one memang cool gila. We even created a cyberworld community to share knowledge or exchange html code. Wow, memang gila gempak. It was like our own Facebook networking. I'm no kidding! And this is how I extended my networking to the VI/St John boys *cough*cough*

And because of that, I always wanted to do computer related stuff. Konon dulu nak ambik Computer Science but unfortunately, I'm no good in Statistics akhirnya, berjayalah sebagai seorang yang mempunyai ijazah dalam Graphic Design. Well, at least it is still a computer related course LOL.

Anyway, ever since I discovered Blogspot, I have been a loyal user to this blogging site and to date, I've changed more than 5 times of my URL. I used to be an active blogger. I blog all the time. I even earned money from it. 

When Nuffnang introduced itself, I got so excited and place their banners on my blog. Siapa tak mau dapat duit free kan. One of my blog was among those top blogs that I often got clicks from their ads. I was their "Glitterati" tier. So, the amount of $$$ I got from the clicks is higher than the normal tier. And for that, ads always appear on my blog. The more clicks I got, the more $$$ I received.

Until one point when I decided to be a "casual" blogger (blog bila sesuka hati) and not to earn money from it anymore, I deleted Nuffnang and have forgotten about it totally. Tiba-tiba semalam tergerak hati nak check my Nuffnang account and guess what, it's still there.... with the remaining balance money. Woowwiee.

I was so excited and contemplating at first whether to have it back again in my blog. Budget-budget konon nak jadi macam Proudduck lah kan and become active blogging again. It's not like I have all the time in the world to blog tapi what the heck, no harm in putting it and no harm in being so ambitious of being an active blogger kan?! It's not like I have readers to begin with. As much as I say that I want to blog very often but it never happens. Mane tau one day I can finally stop working and become a full-time blogger. Hey, 1 post can cost more than my monthly income ya know?! 

Let's just wait and see.

Happy Monday friends. I'm off Monday blues because I'm on leave today. Have a nice day!

Am I ready for the 2nd one?

When I was preparing myself for my wedding, being a not-so-bride-zilla like others, there were few blogs that I normally visited. Most of them were preparing for their own wedding too. This was just to prepare myself with the do(s) and don't(s), to give me ideas on how to prepare for my own wedding, to get an idea of which vendor should I choose or not choose and whatnot but once done, those blogs were no longer being visited.

Until one day, I was blog-hopping and somehow ended at one of the blog that I used to visit. I don't know the blog owner but I remember visiting her blog so very often because of the way she writes her post. She brings interest into her writing and that is why I like it so much. She held her wedding few months after mine (I think!) but sadly, based on her current post, they (she and her husband) are still hoping for their new bundle of joy.

They did some tests and Alhamdulillah, both of them were tested normal. It is just not the right time yet. 

I adore her positivity. Even after 2 years of being married, they have not given up hope and still trying for the best (based on her writing though). I can just imagine the pressure that they have to go through especially among family members who love to question about pregnant or no pregnant. If it happens to me, I would probably just scream at the person's face. But she took it wisely. Good for her.

For that, I started to muhasabbah diri. I was fortunate to have my bundle of joy 11 months after getting married. Though we did not plan for it but the rezki that was granted to us came very fast I must say. Syukur sangat. I wasn't sure of the plan. Furthermore, I was having a tough 1st trimester and it worries me a lot. But I guess, Allah knows what is best for His ummah hence He grant us with a beautiful baby girl. And I promise myself that I will never, never neglect my responsibility as a mother to my child. This is the amanah that is given to me to raise my child to be a solehah.

Iman Alexandria when she was just few days old

Having said that, she and her husband were given a different kind of rezki. According to her post, they finally settled down with one of the Semi-D at Cyberjaya.

I believe that Allah knows what is best for His ummah. Kalau tak kasi rezeki anak, Dia kasi rezeki harta. He has His own plan and His plan always works, in shaa Allah. And He would probably know that it is still not the right time for them to have an additional to their family.

To you (I'm sure you don't read my blog) but if you do, I would love you to know that I adore your positivity. I just couldn't imagine if it happens to me but you are one strong woman. In shaa Allah, one day, your doa will be granted. Never give up hope and never stop trying. Amin.

So, am I ready for the 2nd one?

Old vs New

When I first started my career with my current agency, I was assigned to handle one of the main brand together with two other small brands of a big company (Advertiser). They were one of the big client of ours (their yearly total brand spending were huge). After about 1 and half years handling the account, I was re-assigned to another two major brands of that company as my agency went into some restructuring process. All in all, I've worked for all of the 5 brands under that company. 

I learned a lot. From having no knowledge on how to do an effective TV plan to mastering the whole process. I gotta say that after 2 years handling the account, doing TV schedule seems very kacang tutup mata pon boleh siap, I'm no kidding! But of course, I have a good guru teaching me to become the TV master. I'm forever thankful to her.

This client of mine is very traditional. They believe in TV advertising more than anything is this world. It's measurable and they can capture immediate results based on it hence why we had so much hard time introducing them into doing digital planning. They are so traditional that they only believe in doing traditional advertising. Meaning to say that TV is their main medium supported by either radio or print media. I remember having to arrange some digital training to this client in order to convince them that digital is also working for their consumers. Finally, after 2 years of hard-work, they finally indulged with digital world. Sadly to say, we lost the account after 6 years. Sad! Sad!

Due to this, I was re-assigned (again!) to another client. I kind of don't like the new arrangement but I have no choice. They are very much different from the old one. They are very open, acceptance in terms of idea, willing to explore and very particular in terms of reporting. They just want to make sure that every penny is worth spending.

They are very much different (the old client and the new one) especially when it comes to media strategy. The old client is very systematic in planning their yearly brand plan. There would be some minor changing in between while the new one is not so systematic, change of plan every time. Hence planning for each campaign is very challenging. But the good thing about the new client is that they are not so traditional. They are very much into digital that I, from having zero knowledge on how to do digital planning to not-so-master-yet-but-still-learning.

On my evaluation form, I stated that I need to get more expose to the digital planning. Ha! hambik kau. Dapat sebijik.

I was having hard time coping with this. My new Manager is not so "mengajar" type. She reminds me so much of someone I know back in my old agency. There was a time where I feel like quitting because:-

1. I can't cope with having to plan a heavy digital planning
2. To cope with my Manager which was the main contribution to my quitting.

Rungut banyak kali pon tak jalan, so I decided to just deal with it. 

In my team, I am the planner while my Manager is...  a Manager. Since we are heavy on digital, there is a Digital Manager that work together with us but her role is just to advise on whether the plan that I propose to client is working or not. I will still need to do the ground work. The Digital Manager will roughly brief me how to do the planning and lepas tangan sahaja. Lepas tangan in a way that she allows me to explore in order to do the planning. Lepastu tercungap-cungaplah saya membuat kerja. But I don't blame her though, because at the end of the day, I got all the ilmu and experience.

So, after nearly 5 months of doing digital, I can proudly say that ilmu hampir penuh di dada and I actually glad that I'm doing it and for my Digital Manager to really lepas tangan because her lepas tangan really teaches me a lot. 

If it wasn't because of my annoying Manager and lepas tangan Digital Manager, I would still be the same old planner who doesn't even know how to differentiate a CPC & CPM buys, what conversion really means?, how re-targeting does and how can I serve well a digital campaign. At least now, I can explain how digital works if someone asks. Seriously, I was so dumb and stupid for being angry of the changes.

Changes is not always bad and it does gives good effect especially to your career growth (in my case). And it depends on how you going to take it. I didn't agree at first. Rasa sungguh down, de-motivated, and feel like quitting all the time. But I take it as a challenge. I need to do new things else I will still be stuck being the old planner. I believe that from time to time, we really need changes for our own good. Life is all about learning isn't it?

So, learn while can!