Natural Disasters

If you don't know about the Earthquake and Tsunami hitting Japan last night, you must be living in a cave. But I'm pretty sure everyone knows about it since it has become the number 1 topic on Twitter and of course, everyone is on Twitter these days. That was how I found out about it actually.

My parents, sister and I were on our way to Kuantan, Pahang to fetch my little brother from his boarding school as the school holidays is starting. I was in the car, checking my timeline and I saw everyone freaking out! I automatically freaked out without knowing what actually happened. So I read through all the tweets and found out that something happened to Japan. Even Disneyland got hit!! :( I also saw warnings for Malaysians to stay safe and far from beaches. Though they mainly warned the ones in Sabah and Sarawak, I couldn't help but panicked since Malaysia means here. Right here where I'm at, where my families are and where my friends are. To make things worse, I was on my way to Kuantan, where the beach is!! I was freaking out in the car, I swear my sister and I almost cry. We were scared the whole way but I was glad that we were on our way to fetch my brother. I mean, imagine if it isn't school holidays and he's far away from us. I'd rather face anything with my family than being safe without them. While freaking ourselves out, someone had to post something about the sun hadn't come out since morning and it's a Friday. All Muslims know that the end of the world (Kiamat) happens on a Friday. I read the tweet out loud so my family knows about it. As much as I was worried about Japan, I couldn't help being a little selfish and think about Malaysia.

On the way, I tried to keep my mind positive but with the weather, rain pouring since dawn and the news I heard on the radio to keep updated about the disaster in Japan, I was literally shaking. To add salt to the wound, we passed a lot of accidents along the way. Cars turned 360 degrees, people lying on the road.. How was I suppose to be calm??? I could feel the tears coming out and I wonder, 'what's happening to the world?'. I didn't want to keep thinking too much, so I tried sleeping. Though I kept waking up every few minutes, I forced myself to shut my eyes. Alhamdulillah, we arrived safely and Zahir kept WhatsApp-ing me to come back as fast as I can and he advised us to not stay the night there since the beach is so near. But we had to consider my Dad too. He had been driving for 3 hours straight in the rain, the least we could do is to let him sleep in a proper bed before we go back.

We had dinner there in Kuantan and Dad decided to stay the night. Unfortunately, every decent hotel was fully booked and we were searching for a hotel until midnight. Dad decided to just go back since there wasn't any rooms available. I was worried of course. Dad was tired, I could tell from his eyes and it was past midnight! I kept asking him if he was tired but he insisted he was okay. We arrived safe and sound in Subang. As soon as we reached home, we tuned in CNN and watched the disaster. It was really scary.

It really hit me that we human tend to take this earth for granted. We should really appreciate and start taking care of this earth as much as we can. I hope it's not too late..
So here's my condolences to those who have lost families and friends in Japan. My hearts goes to every single one of you. Stay strong.




*photo from :
http://www.boston.com/news/world/asia/articles/2011/03/12/quake_tsunami_ravage_japan/

Chocolates!

Both my parents really want their daughters to get fatter than we already are. They went to Langkawi last weekend and came back with a whole lorry of chocolates. Not that I'm complaining.. I love chocolates and I get so excited when I have chocolates in my refrigerator at all times so I can munch them any time I want, as much as I pleased. But as if it isn't obvious, chocolates do fatten people up. That's what I've been worrying about since last Sunday when Mom opened up her luggage full of chocolates. Mostly were Hershey's Kisses.

I said to myself that I will control myself from all these temptations. Not that I'm on a diet or anything but chocolates everyday? I don't think so. But then I saw these..

I was like, whaatttt?!! How can I resist these things?? They are my favourites and Mom knows it. Especially those Reese's peanut butter cups! I love them so much and Mom bought two packets of those. I straight away opened up the packages, forget all about 'I won't let chocolates win over me' and stuff my face with them.

The next day, Mom asked me to try a chocolate bar. I was so caught up with Reese's and Mars that I pay no attention to other chocolates Mom brought back. So I tried this Almond Gold bar and..

I'm in love!!!!! I've been eating this bar every single day. I just couldn't resist!

So, be ready to see me on Bigger's Loser Asia next season! :p

Frozen Yoghurt

Living in Malaysia means we don't get to indulge on all the delicious desserts like Ben & Jerry or Tutti Frutti. I wasn't familiar with the term frozen yoghurt because back when I was little, we didn't have Tutti Frutti in Malaysia(or was it because I never explore when I was little?). Since I was a kid, I love to read. I once read about froyo in a book. I pretended to understand what 'froyo' means and kept reading. There was this one time, I read somewhere that froyo stands for frozen yoghurt. I was so proud that I know what froyo means. I thought I was the smartest one but what people didn't know is that I know froyo is a short form for frozen yoghurt but I have no idea what frozen yoghurt is! I started imagining things. Is it like when you buy a Nestle yoghurt from Tesco, you go back and placed them in the freezer until it froze? I was so confused why Americans love froyo so much that they always talk about it in the books. It wasn't special, what's so great about a freezer-froze yoghurt??

A few years back, I saw a store that caught my eyes. It had 'Tutti Frutti' and 'Frozen yoghurt' written on the sign. I was so shock! I was weird because how are they going to sell frozen yoghurt? Will they give you the same Nestle's bottles but they will freeze it for you?

"Even I can do it myself at home", I said to myself.

So I went back home and determined that I can make froyo myself, I put a bottle of Strawberry yoghurt in the freezer and waited patiently for it. The next day, I took out the bottle and opened the seal, hoping it will taste good. I took a spoonful of it and yes! I did it. It tasted so good! I was so proud that I bought a whole bunch of yoghurts and placed them in the freezer. Mom was confused why I did that.

Mom : Adik, why did you put all these yoghurts in the freezer??

Me : Because you don't know what froyo means. DUH *rolls eyes*

Mom : Froyo????

Me : See, I told you. You don't know what froyo means. It stands for FROzen YOghurt, get it?

Mom walked away, not impressed like I thought she would be. Seriously, I thought I was a genius for finding out what froyo means and by making it myself!

I ate my so called home-made froyo for days till I got bored with it. So I decided to give Tutti Frutti a try. I was very sure it can't beat my home-made froyo! I was pretty blur about how do I put it in a cup since it's self service. With Zahir's help, I managed to solve it out. I was kind of surprise it didn't come in bottles. It comes out from a machine instead. You know, like the ice cream machine thing they have at McDonald's? Yes, it's like that. And when it comes out, I was more surprised because it looked like ice cream! But when I tasted it, I was speechless.

"Okay, this is so much better than my RM1.90 Nestle yoghurt that I froze myself", I said to myself, embarrassed for being so full of myself for making froyo.

Since then, I've become a regular customer of Tutti Frutti. But sometimes when I'm broke but crave for froyo, I still buy the Nestles and put them in the freezer. It tastes nice, especially when you pour some Cornflakes in it, but seriously, it's nothing compared to Tutti Frutti. Even Zahir knows when I'm PMS-ing or not in the mood, it only takes a cup of Tutti Frutti to cheer me up.

My personal favourite flavours are Blueberry, Strawberry Banana and Red Velvet. And I can never eat the froyo without the rainbow Quaker's cereals!

For those of you who haven't try (why??), you should. It's worth it. Some of my friends complained why I liked it so much and some of them said that it's expensive. It costs you RM5.30 every 100 grams. It sounds cheap but you don't know how much are you pouring in since the prices vary according to the weight. Sometimes people even pay RM 40 for a cup! That's when I told them the trick. You should know how to predict the price by the amount of froyo you pour in your cups! That means, you have to go regularly so that you can get use to the weight and predict the price yourself. I've never paid above RM 20 for a cup, except for the first time I went.

I paid (okay fine, Zahir paid) only RM 18++ for this much!! Told you, it's not expensive if you know the trick. Oh and one more thing, don't take too many fruits as fruits can be quite heavy.

I always aim for RM 15 to RM 20 every time I go to Tutti Frutti. And you should too because buying below RM 15 will be such a waste as Tutti Frutti will give you a card when you purchase above RM 15. They will stamped your card every time you purchase above RM 15, and even if you buy RM 30 in a single receipt, two stamps will be given. You have to fill in 9 stamps and by the 10th circle, you'll get 50% off! That's when you go crazy and pour in as much as you want!

Don't worry, froyo is a healthy dessert and it won't make you fat(or at least, I think so). Okay, I really don't know if that's true. I was just trying to make myself feel better because I eat Tutti Frutti too much...

Presentation

Do you like to present in front of people? I know I don't. Doesn't matter how small the audience is, I just don't like it. My level of confidence is average but when I go in front to present, my self esteem goes down as low as the ground. But what is weird is that it actually depends on my mood. I'm taking Presentation Skills this semester so of course, there are a lot of presentations I have to go through. A few weeks back, I had to present an introduction of any topic I chose. I was confident in front of the class that I shocked myself. I'm always nervous while presenting. So who was that standing in front of my class, presenting like she knows everything?

I'm now preparing for a presentation tomorrow. And only God knows how I hate preparing for a presentation. Let alone present in front of people. I know this is not good for my future as presentations are crucial. I guess this is why Presentation Skills is mandatory for Uni students. They want people like me to build up their confidences. But what if we can't and what if we don't want to build up our confidence? I always get so embarrass of my English. Being a Malaysian, running from speaking Manglish is quite impossible. I can't judge my own English but I'm scared I sound like a typical Malaysian English. I think that's one of the reason why I don't like presenting. Because people will know my English level. What if I pronounce a word wrong? How if I stumbled a wrong grammar? How??? That would be so embarrassing!

Despite the fact that I hate presenting and how I get so self conscious standing and talking in front of people, I wish I am good at this. I hope in the near future, I will be able to present spontaneously. I always respect people who can just go and present without preparing for it the night before. I always have to practise in front of the mirror with my flash cards in hand and I will time myself talking to the mirrored me. After practising a thousand times in front of the mirror, my hands still shake when I present the next day.

I always wonder, how do I get that confidence to be able to talk in front of people without stuttering and shaking? Any ideas?

Found the one!

I've been trying different brands and products for my face but I can't seem to find the right one. The one that's suitable for my skin. Every time I try a new product, it'll be too dry for my skin or gives me rashes. I settled with Body Shop's Seaweed range last couple of years. It dries my skin so much that my skin always peals off but I couldn't be bothered to try other brands. I've become lazy to search for the perfect one. It's so hard to find the one that suits your skin without burning your wallet too much. I've tried going for New York Skin Care once but there wasn't any difference. Maybe it's just my skin. Who knows, maybe it works well for others.

Some of you might know I worked at Benefit Cosmetics for a while last year and this year. I never thought of their skin care since they are known for their make ups, not skin care. I use their blusher and foundation(Coralista and Some Kind A Gorgeous) which are so good! Their powder blushers have the best shades! So is their liquid blusher, Benetint. If my skin is a few shades lighter, I would so use Benetint. Anyway, I always focus on the make up products that I forgot Benefit has skin cares!

My Body Shop moisturiser finished and I wasn't sure whether I should change to a different brand. I was just too lazy to go around the mall searching for a moisturiser that suits my skin. When I was working at Benefit in Sunway, one of my friend came by and asked about Benefit's skin care. Customers barely ask about skin cares at Benefit. So I didn't know what to say to her. I just explained the basics to her and she tried the Dear John moisturiser. She was so interested because according to her, the moisturiser is the best one she found so far. I was so puzzled. People usually prefers SK-II or Clinique when it comes to skin care. After my friend reminded me that Benefit actually do sell skin cares, I started to try out the testers while there were no customers(shhh, don't tell my manager!).

Dear John is a moisturiser that helps to smooth your skin. It's so great, you should try it! And the price isn't so bad either. Looking at it's size, RM 143 is worth it!

I also tried Honey Snap Out Of It Scrub. You'll have to use it only twice a week, which is so convenient because you don't have to burden yourself to wash your face multiple times a day. When I applied the scrub on my face, the first thing came to mind is that it smells bad! But despite the smell, it does wonders to your pores and blackheads! After I applied it to my face, I left it for about 10 minutes and rinse it off with water. I felt so fresh and I can't even feel my blackheads sticking out on my nose! I fell in love with that scrub right away! Another must try! ;)

I didn't make this post because I worked at Benefit and this post won't bring me any money. Just thought of sharing something worth a try for your skin. And it won't cost a bomb compared to the other brands. So, if you see Benefit, don't just ask for Benetint or Hello Flawless!, ask for the toner, moisturiser, eye con or scrub too!

Finally, an official date!

After so long, Zahir brought me out for a date on Thursday. It wasn't like I didn't see him. In fact, I see his face almost every single day. But it's either at my place, just hanging out with my family or his place. That doesn't count as a date, in case you're wondering. What about the cinemas, the dinner, the walk around the mall? When did we become such a boring couple?? I think my Tok at my home town is more happening than I am these days! Wednesday night, I realised how boring Zahir and I have become. So I updated my Twitter saying it's been so long since we last went out for a real date. Knowing Zahir, of course he would make my wish come true!!

The next day, I finished my class at noon and Zahir had the whole day planned out for us. Can you imagine how excited I was? It felt like we were going for our first date again! I went home and changed to something nicer than my leggings and my baseball jacket. I even put extra effort and curled my hair! Zahir brought me to OU and I watched No Strings Attached for the second time(things I do for Ashton Kutcher) since Zahir hadn't watch it. And the best part was we got the tickets for free because we had coupons. Unfortunately I had to sit next to this woman who loves to shake her legs. As if being super uncomfortable sitting next to a stranger wasn't enough, I got to sit next to 'Leg Shaker'. Can you imagine my level of annoyance at that time?! I mean, come on, you're a woman! It's not nice to do that, especially in a cinema where everyone can feel the seats shaking because of you. I thought it was earthquake or something, I even prepared to run, just in case. Despite my annoyance, I still had some patience in me and went through the movie with lots of shifting and turning. Someone lost his patience and I had to stop Zahir from saying things to that woman.

Zahir bought me a chiffon top from Dorothy Perkins. How nice is he!

After movie, we went to Ikea for dinner. This is something we used to do a lot. We would drive all the way to Ikea just to have dinner. I don't know why we stopped doing that. Things are a lot easier when we were younger. Not saying we're old, but we have a lot more to do now that we're turning the big 20 this year. Gasp!

Look at him, he was so hungry that he ate like he had not seen food for 30 years :p

I was jubilant the whole day. Thanks to Zahir :) I think we should do this more often, when we have the time of course, and no, I'm not saying that because I want more tops from Dorothy Perkins. But because it feels so nice to spend the whole day with him :)

Cleaning up!

I managed to get some 'me' time this morning. Both my parents left for Langkawi for the weekend and they left early in the morning. My sister went to school. So I woke up and thought it was a perfect time for me to organise my things. Seriously, my room is getting dusty and messy! So then it began..

For a moment, I didn't know what to do with all these things!

Then I started with my accessories.

Took me about an hour to decide on which compartment to put my rings, my necklaces, my earrings, bracelets..

And the hardest dilemma was to decide whether I should just throw away the old chunks. I know I won't wear them any more but it's either I bought it with my own money or I used to wear it a whole lot! And of course, a few other reasons to convince myself not to throw them away. I managed to toughen up and bid farewell to some of my accessories because it's not worth the space if I know I won't even wear them. After so many goodbyes, I managed to keep only the ones I need and will wear.

Deciding on whether I still need those nail polishes is another thing. I used to love colouring my nails with soft pink or purple during my period every month(since Muslims can't perform their prayers if they have polishes on their nails). But as I grow, I barely touch those colourful bottles. So I thought, maybe I should just let them go too.

Since my sister is still a fan of colourful nails, I passed them to her. Luckily, giving away my nail polishes wasn't as hard as giving away my accessories.

As I was deciding which box should I put my shades and which box should I put my hair products, I saw my cat trying to help me decide.

Apparently, he loves boxes too much. He jumped into one after another. I bet he thought he was in heaven since all these pretty boxes were all around him! I was distracted for a little while because of Ginger.

The whole process of cleaning up took the whole day but it was all worth it. I never felt so good! And getting rid of my old stuffs was such a relief. YES of course it was hard but I'll get over it when I go shopping :p I found a lot of memories, here and there. And that's the greatest part of cleaning up. I found hundreds of books tucked at the back of my closet. I used to collect the Olsens' twins and Lizzie McGuire's books. I loved them so much that the last time I cleaned my room, I didn't have the heart to throw them away. But today I set them up in a big box and placed it safely in the back room. That way I can always visit the back room whenever I miss those books. I also found all my medals when I was still in school. I was shocked to see how active I was in school compared to me now. I used to participate in netball, handball, high jump, long distance run. You name it , I've participated. I know, I know, I can almost see your 'Are you serious?!' look already!

I'm surprised I'm not in a Sports course right now in college! Despite how I've become now, I do miss my days back then. I used to jog almost everyday and I will go to school for netball practise even if the sun is directly above my head. And the feeling when my name was called in front of the assembly for the prize giving. Ahh priceless!

After spending hours cleaning up, I finally finished up by vacuuming my room.

After throwing away all the stuffs that I don't need, I realised that I need more rings, earrings and necklaces.

All the jackets, chiffons and traditional clothes that I love are hanged since they're my priorities.
Not that I don't love the others, but you get me right?

Again, OBVIOUSLY I need more tops and pants. Duhh!
Tried to do the whole colour coordinated thing but since I don't have enough tops in my closet after throwing away 4 plastic bags worth of clothes, I failed. Miserably. Have I told you I need new tops??

I changed the frames on my bed side table and placed the rose that Zahir gave me beside the photo of him and me :)

Pheww who would have thought cleaning up your room means making life changing decisions? Should I throw away that ring? Should I just donate this top? Would Nina take care of this dress if I pass it down to her? There were a whole lot more than that in my head, you have no idea.