Staying

I am actually quite sad writing this because I haven't had the time to blog and I'm feeling myself slipping away from it and it's quite heartbreaking. Because I love this blog, it was my favourite thing (still is) and now that I've gotten busy with work, I just don't have the time. Every time I'm back from work, I'm just so, so tired and I usually just head to bed after watching a few Youtube videos and/or catch up with the rest of the world on Twitter and Instagram. I don't have time to sit down and write a post. Other than not having the time, I think I've also been pretty uninspired to write. I just don't have much to talk about these days. And more than anything, that leaves me kinda really very sad. I used to have a million and one things to talk about but these days, it gets difficult to do things when I'm always occupied with work. I still check my work email before going back to sleep to prep myself for the next day. I make working look like it's the shittiest thing but it really isn't. I just try to get as much work as I can within the hours I'm in the office because I hate feeling like I'm not worth the money I'm paid so I try to really exhaust myself at work and come home feeling like I did ok and that it was a great, productive working day.

I'm still getting used to it, actually. Getting up early still isn't as automatic as I'd like (my mum can't sleep past 7 am anymore, she's just so used to waking up super early for work) and I thought I'd get used to being tired and having a fixed bedtime routine. I don't, really. I'm not used to the work, I still get pretty stressed (and it shows because Nelissa and the rest have actually said that I've looked different from when I first interned, I'm looking much more stressed at work) when under a lot of workload. Thought at this point, I'd be a well-oiled machine. I'm working on it.

I really, really, really want to be a young, hip, cool, 24 year old, the one who still travels up and down and takes a lot of OOTD photos and have fun dinner parties with friends but I don't really. My whole thing of wanting to be more active on this blog and on Insta feels pretty much short-lived. And that upsets me because I'm still so new at working and I don't want to make it feel mundane and depressing. I guess I thought I would have done a lot more at this age. 

I think I might cry.

I want to change things around for myself but I don't know how to get myself up for it and it's worst when you don't know where to start. I always start writing blog posts but never have it out because I never finish it. I'm like, stuck at the 2nd sentence because I won't know what to say. I have my own personal diary and there isn't much space to write in for each day anyway but even then I can't fill it up. Sometimes I forget to write an entry and I tend to just write 4 days worth at one go and it sucks because generally there won't be anything much for me to remember to write within that 4 days anyway. I feel really uninteresting and it sucks. 

I think what I'm trying to say is that I'm not excited for a lot of things as much as I thought I would be. I feel like I'm kinda letting my younger and more exciting and more adventurous and ambitous self down. It's like I'm slowly succumbing to mundaneness and I'm allowing it to consume me. 

I'm probably going to cry still about it but tomorrow's the 1st of April and I'm going to have to wake up tomorrow feeling better about my situation and that I'm one step closer to the bigger dream.

I'll write more and not just for my friends and family who read it but for myself so I hope everyone stays. 

xx

Snack-free March!

I have this habit of writing and then exiting the page, which would push all of my would've-been posts into Drafts.

I'm determined to have this posted TODAY.

Apologies for not writing in so long - I just have been quite busy with work and I risk sounding like a total broken record but I just get too tired once I'm home from work. And weekends... well, weekends I don't do much and I try to take both Saturdays and Sundays completely to myself. Whether it's meeting friends at night or out for shopping trips by myself. I don't check my work email at all (I used to!) during my days off, 'cept for Sunday so that I can do some Monday prep. Like last minute homework kinda thing.

Anyway! 

I've just had lunch, I had samyang for noodles. I haven't had that in ages but I've been craving for something spicy and that was the perfect fix. Maybe not that great of an idea seeing how I have sensitive lips and this was my first meal of the day????? But it was so good, I couldn't resist.

My parents and grandparents are out for a wedding and Iman's out working so I'm at liberty to sing an Ariana Grande tune to my heart's desire. So that means loud and way off-tune. Only the best way to sing, really. I've been also incredibly digging Ed Sheeran's new album. Iman and I bought the record and have been playing it non-stop in the car. My favourites are 'Perfect', 'Happier', 'New Man', 'Supermarket Flowers' (SOB!!!!), 'Dive' and of course 'Shape Of You' (which I have concluded as perhaps the best song on the album).

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R I V E R D A L E

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I've also been binge-watching Riverdale! I looooooved reading the Archie comics when I was younger so I was actually looking forward for this new series. Started late 'cause it's now 7 episodes in already and I'm only starting but it's actually kinda good?? It's not as... plasticky as Pretty Little Liars. PLL was a bit Desperate Housewives-ish in terms of its production and filming. Riverdale is a bit more clever with its filming and props and colours. Being a huge fan of the Riverdale gang, I especially love it immensely when I hear references to the comics. Jughead doesn't wear a literal clown, he wears a beanie but cut out to look like a crown with it's original shapes sewn on it. I LOVE IT! When he mentioned Jellybean, I was like !!!!!! Jellybean !!!!! And I also really love the differences the show makes so as to not be a carbon copy of the original. There's diversity in the series which I appreciate. I feel if it was too similar to the original comics, it would've been... predictable and boring.

But go watch it regardless! I haven't tuned in an English speaking show in so long so this was a pleasant surprise. Haha

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M o n t h l y  C h a l l e n g e

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Update on my Fast Food Free February : Went pretty well though I cheated twice. But it's pretty good I guess seeing how McD is literally a 3 minute drive from my house and the temptation was REAL! I don't think it's all too difficult anyway because when I was in Bristol, I hardly ever ate fast food. Once in like 6 months. So ok lah I guess.

This month is snack free! Which means I can't have snacks in between proper sit-down meals. Breakfast, lunch and dinner and that was IT. This is actually proving to be harder than February's challenge. I tend to be a bit peckish in the evening. I would actually go downstairs of my office to the mart and get myself crisps or an ice-cream. We'll see how it goes. Took me some time to figure out what to cut out this month! My mum's on the same challenge this month. I'm running out of ideas so help me out if you have better ones!

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O i l y  h a i r

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Ok so about 2 weeks ago, I realised my hair was really, really oily. Like the kinda oily that was greasy to the touch. You know that feeling when you have a strand of hair that is clumped together as a result of unwashed conditioner? Like product buildup? YES, that's what I had. But it was frustrating because I would spend ages in the shower trying to wash off all my shampoo and conditioner. I wash my hair with cold water, I would only apply conditioner to the ends of my hair, I would scrub my scalp like crazy. I was doing everything right! It was still the same. To the point that it was really getting to me and I was so unhappy at work because it was so rimas to have severely oily hair that was completely noticeable by anyone and everyone. And now that I have a fringe, it would look really just gross. And the weird part about it all was that the oil and grease was solely concentrated on the left crown of my head.

So I did what every millenial kid would : Google-d the shit outta 'oily patch hair on left crown of head'.

And lo and behold, I was comforted to see that this was apparently quite common and a lot of women have been going on the net seeking for advice on how to get rid of this. Some swore by home remedies like dish detergent, apple cider vinegar, and baking soda. I even watched a Youtube video of how this girl concocted some of the mentioned ingredients and went on a length process to rid her oily patch.

Ever since my whole reindeer-pimple incident (have I not mentioned it on this blog? Basically, I had a bright red pimple right smack on my nose and I googled home remedies and someone mentioned that rubbing garlic all over the affected area was an effective way of ridding the pimple ASAP and since I'm all about that ASAP life, I did just that. It left me with a burning sensation but I thought that was good. LOL I totally woke up with a minor burn on my nose and it was BLACK. My pimple had gone dark but still very much present. Doctor gave me an ointment, but not without completely judging my completely naiive dependence on the Internet for medical advice, and it peeled right off 3rd day in. I had to wear a plaster across my nose to school and looked ridiculous. Ahh, high school), I chose to be smarter about my decisions and NOT succumb to tempting home remedies and decided to grab the good ol' tea tree shampoo. So I did. The next day after work, I rushed to OU and went to the specialised hair care shop (right next to the Balloon Buzz store, same row as Sticky candy store) and this Chinese lady went on and on to say

"Aiya you banyak muda lagi lah, you tak perlu bimbang lah, ini boleh baiki punya! Teknik you basuh rambut mungkin tak betul punya, itu pasai rambat you oily! You muda lagi, ini sebab you stress kerja itu pasal rambut you minyak lagi"

Which I oddly took so much comfort in. That this was curable and that I was 'banyak muda lagi' hahaha.

Bought a tea tree shampoo and came home and headed straight to the shower. You know those aggressive hair washes at the salon where they shampoo the life out of your hair? Yeah I did that. Because I couldn't take greasy hair no mo'!

IT WORKED! After the first wash, it was so much better though still had some oily strands. Third wash in, and it's back to being fluffy and light. I'm back to loving my hair and the whole world. And that aunty for selling the tea tree shampoo.

Can't believe I went on so long to talk about my hair hahahaha but it was emotionally tough ok!!! I love my hair so it was unsettling for me for the past few weeks. It's done now and I'm haaaappy!! I highly recommend tea-tree shampoo for oily hair - works like a freaking charm!

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Ok back to watching Riverdale. Talk soon!

xx

Blunch

Y'know what, even if the world came crushing down tomorrow, I'd be ok with the bunch of friends I already have. I know some really great, intellectual, funny, ambitious people and I have the ultimate privilege of having to call them my friends. 

Today, I had brunch with 2 of them. And they're both really purdy and sweet and I love them. And we're all like the same size (short) so it's actually quite cute. Hahahaha

I treasure small blunches (it was supposed to be brunch but we only got there at like, 1pm so... blunch is like we intended it to be brunch but didn't really quite get to that stage so...) with my good friends because you can just go on and on and on. This time it was 4 hours of just talk and photo taking. We met up at Botanica and Co. The food's fine. Actually, I didn't even pay much attention to what I ate because we were just catching up with one another so much that there wasn't a time that we were actually eating eating. I had arrabiata something something and it was pretty basic pasta. And it's quite pricey also! Total came close to 200 bucks and it was just the three of us. 

We talked about everything under the sun - work and how hard it can be, love and how hard it is, boys and how hard they've always been, and everything in between. So basically rants lah. Always such a fun, fun time. I feverishly looked forward to this blunch so it was so nice to meet up again. The last time we met was in November! But everyone's so busy these days and it gets difficult to have spare time for friends. I miss school where work was so much less. So much less stressful. Fatin and Sarah have it way worse than I do lah but still! 

Some photos from today.

We didn't have to wait long for a table - but maybe it's cause it was only the three of us. Also, this place is pretty popular for birthday. About 5 times we heard Happy Birthday sung aloud by the waiters. 

How gorgeous are these girls!! Stunners.

This baju was the first thing I bought in Seoul. Literally on the first day where I vowed to not buy anything yet. I couldn't pass it up - I absolutely love it. Both frills and blue/white stripes? Um yes please???

Sarah's laksa is HUGE. Poor girl - looked like she was continuously eating but it was never-ending! 

Eeeep so sayang! Also look! I gone got some bangs for meself, didn't I? Tiny bit annoying having to fix them every so often but I think I look like 8 years younger so there's that. 

#WIWT is something I'm trying to make happen again. For you who don't know, it's 'What I Wore Today'. Ok also how annoying is Sarah and Fatin - they're always so photogenic - they look like this in literally every shot!! Perfect smiles and all! I had a million before settling on one measly photo. 

I have the BEST bunch of girlfriends around me so I'm going to hold on to them for a long, long time.  Strong, independent, super smart, generous, kind souls and I'm forever forever blessed with great company around me like Fatin and Sarah. To more late brunches, my beautiful gems! 

xx

A white brunch

Hello ! 

I'm not only apologetic to this blog and the friends who read it but also to myself. I've been procrastinating on updating my personal diary also. I just don't have that much time anymore and I'm just really, really boring and tired most of the time.

This is what my weekdays look like : 

Alarm goes off at 8:30 but I only really get up close to 9. I rush to get ready and I'm out of the door by 9:30 and hope to God that traffic isn't that bad. And although I know I shouldn't, but I skip breakfast.

Takes me about 20 minutes to get to work if the road is clear. Traffic going to work isn't always horrible but some days it can be quite a bitch and I grumble to myself for not checking traffic ahead.

I'm at work and I like to do a bulk of what I'm supposed to do early in the day because I'm now appointed to NH (for real this time, guys, forgot to update on this! But yay!) under fulfilment and customer experience so orders going out and enquiries coming in, a bunch of that I have to do early on before courier comes in to pick them up. But since it's a small company, I try to help out in a lot of other things too. 

Lunch at 2 (I've been championing an earlier lunch time but sometimes we get too tied with work that we forget it's past normal lunch hours). We don't have a lot of food places around the office so we usually go to this Malay restaurant called Enak. Quite appropriate because the nasi lauk is really quite enak.

Continue doing work til it's time to head home. This can vary between 6 pm - 7 pm. Of course, the earlier the better because I'm dead sleepy by 5.

Traffic going home depends on what time I leave the office, really. The earlier, the clearer. Anytime past 6:30 and I can expect to be in the car for an hour. Horror!!!! But BFM has really good interview and debates around the hour which makes up for good car time. 

Once I'm home, I'm usually asked to get ready to leave home again for dinner. My mum hardly cooks anything for dinner because we're trying to not have rice for dinner. We usually save that for earlier meals. Dinner we go light. So it's usually either roti canai/tosai or fast food. But since it's Fries Free February for me, it's been admittedly quite limiting for me. Both mum and I are way too lazy to travel far so we're always just circling around our neighbourhood to see what's good. 

Home by 9:30 and I still laze around til 10 before I finally push myself to the shower. Takes me so long to get in the shower and takes me so long to get out! 

In bed by 11 and I'm sooooo tired but still, I try to catch up with Youtube and Korean dramas (K-Drama update : I've been watching Hwarang only nowadays but I'm starting to get into Defendant and really want to start on Tomorrow With You.). I try to sleep by 1 latest because I really really really need my 8 hours. Once I slept super late like at 3 and woke up just about the angriest and grumpiest I've been in so long.

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That summarises my day. Which is why I don't really update much because as you can see there's nothing much I can update anyway.

I had a great day yesterday! It was Johann and Aidit's joint birthday brunch. Brunch. BRUNCH! I don't do brunches because I really hate sacrificing my weekend mornings for meals. And I'm usually out late the night before (which was true this weekend - was out til 3:30). But this was a meal with good friends so as much as I groan about an early morning, it was really fun. We went to The Forum @ The Signature in Desa Hartamas. I've never been to this place before. This was a themed brunch - we all wore white and the birthday boys wore black. The place was so warm! So I was kinda happy we wore white because damn, if I had worn black...

I think I should really start wearing eyeliner lah, my eyes are so small!!

When Ayesha and I saw Debra eating this, we ordered it right away.

I got my top from Monki and I really like it! It's a wide-sleeved cropped white shirt. Loved it because it looked like your typical, common white shirt but nothing about it apart from being white is like a typical, common white shirt. 

All they do is insult each other but the sweetest group of best friends ever, I swear!! 

With the birthday boiz.

We had a huge group photo but I stupidly exited the group chat and deleted it without saving any photos! GG.

After good laughs all around, a birthday song sung twice, a million photos taken and lounging around, a bunch of us went for karaoke in SS2. Ok tip! I don't know if this was a one-day special but we all got to go in for free because we were all born in the Year of the Rooster. This was at Neway, btw. We only had to pay for our first drink and I think drinks past that was also free. Great deal because the room we got was huge! Haven't karaoke-d in a long time so this was really fun. I always forget how much I enjoy a good karaoke session. 

Left at 5:30 and I showered and got ready for bed. Skipped dinner, even. Slept at 9 and woke up 8 am today.

I've been in my room all day today because Sundays are my thing. 

Have been listening to a lot of Kehlani these days. Her new album is so bomb, I love every track but my favourite is Personal, Piece of Mind and Keep On. 

How was your weekend? Are you already looking forward for next weekend? Me too, babes. Me too.

xx

Root beer and toast!

I intended on sleeping pretty early cause I was so tired by 8pm but now the fireworks are up and at it and it's been a good hour now of REALLY loud ones. 

But anyway.

Today was a good day. I slept in til about 12. Felt bad for missing out on breakfast - one that I asked my mum for. But I felt like I really needed that few hours in hahaha considering how I slept at almost 5 last night! 

Yesterday, I went out for drinks with Karen at 10 and caught up with one another. According to her, we haven't met in 3 years! Didn't feel like 3 years because we're still the same ol' same ol' and we laughed and talked and reminisced and gossiped like 3 years got nothin' on us. Sighhhh, I've missed her!!!! We used to write to each other almost on a daily basis! And we were from the same school, same class! Hahahaha but it was really fun lah. Just realised this but I've known my Taman Tun for 10 years now!! Which is kinda really crazy long. But Karen was one of my favourite friends in high school because she and I clicked on so well and eeep, it was just really nice to catch up with an old friend. An oldie but a goodie, always! 

I was really oily in our normal photo so this one was the only decent one hahaha

After that as Starbucks was closing, we headed to A&W because that was where the boys were. The one in front of Amcorp which btw I thought had closed down. They told me it was a gimmick and I think it kinda worked? Because that place was still buzzing at 1 am ?? It's a Fast Food Free February for me so I only had the root beer because going to A&W to not drink root beer is like watching Up without crying or traveling without taking a photo or reading Donald Trump's rants on Twitter without wanting to kill yourself.

I started the day with a WhatsApp conversation with Dayana, my friend (and fellow blogger) who wanted to know more about my working with Nelissa and we then talked about what we want to do. Thing about me is, I LOVE listening to people who are passionate about their future and want to take control of what they want to do. I think it's incredibly inspiring and I'm very giddy when I talk about what I want to do so when I hear that same giddiness in others, I can't help but be very happy with them. It makes me really proud and happy to know we have so many Malaysians who are deeply dedicated in creating something, contributing something to the Malaysian scene and showing what this new generation is capable of doing. I think it's great if you've got a corporate job because that's damn tough so props to you but I hope we, as a society, come to understand that not everyone is cut out for such a job and that it's not right to impose that on everyone. There's a creative spark in everyone - everyone desires to do a lot of things so I hope that fire is burning in everyone still. We're definitely super capable in making a change! It's about time we do!

Ok but on a different note - I had a fantastic lunch at The Toast Co. A good friend of mine, Marc consults on the food there and he's good friends with the owner so we all went today. And I'm not biased in any shape, way or form but the place is SO highly recommended. They sell a wide selection of open faced toasts and ughhhhhh so good so DAMN good! It comes with a side of wedges and salad and I wiped my plate slick clean. I had the one with duck and mushroom, some of my other friends had the pull beef one which seemed to be a favourite with customers. I'll definitely go again! If you're around KL and want to get some really tasty food, make your way there! 

GO! I'm a horrible restaurant reviewer and just reviewer in general but take my word for it - it's good. And I'm not even a toast kinda girl! 

xx

Turning 24!

So since the last time I blogged, one thing's changed...

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... I've turned a year older!!! Yay!

I'm pretty big on birthdays and it brings me so much joy so I was pretty pumped about turning a year older. It's no different (because a lot of people have asked, "Best tak 24?" FEELS THE SAME, PEOPLE!), lemme just tell you that. I'm not particularly affected by my age because I feel pretty young anyway. When I was at my birthday dinner with my family, we gave some cake to the ladies at the next table and one of them asked, "So how young are you, miss?" and I said, "24" and she replied, "Ugh, me too!". She completely wasn't btw and I don't know why but that made me feel young for some reason?? I think it must be that I'm starting to surround myself with people older than I am (instead of my same aged friends) that I actually consider myself still quite young. 

So I just went on a paragraph basically patting myself on the back for still being 24. Great post so far zz.

My birthday was a pretty mellow, chilled one. Marissa called me half an hour before the clock hit 12 as expected of the ultimate best friend!!! We laughed and we talked and we sang. I'm not going to go on a whole novel about how I love the girl because it's pretty given that I do but her call gave me a wonderful start to my day. Tasha and Amira from work gave me cute presents; Tasha gave me earrings and Amira got me a H&M gift card and I was so happy because I was really about to buy something from H&M so this came at great timing. Tasha even made me a card with my face all over it and "SELAMAT HARI NADIA" written across it. Looove! I lucked out at work because I've got some really good company with me, would've been not too fun if I had boring colleagues! 

For dinner, we went to one of our (but mostly, MY) favourite restaurants called 'Dancing Fish'. No food photos because I suck at taking them and was too hungry that I wasn't bothered. Mama got me a BEAUUUUUTIFUL cake, the prettiest I've had to date! And I've had pretty damn good cakes in the past. And this one TASTED just as good as it looked. They're from @tigrelilycakes if anyone's interested. My mum has always been very enthusiastic about birthday cakes since we were young (sit her down for a conversation on the parties she's hosted and she'll gladly talk to you for a good hour and a half about it all) but this was my favourite one. It had actual REAL flowers in it!!! I insisted that we had to cut from the back because didn't want to ruin the cake. And it stayed like that 2 days after hahaha, so sayang to remove all the decoration! 

My frilly baby pink blouse is from Forever 21, my pants are from Seoul, and silver heels are from Nelissa Hilman. Of course.

HOW BEAUTIFUL, right?? I'm so only going to order from @tigrelilycakes from now on. This was a strawberry cake and it was really quite tasty!

Iman got me a perfume for my birthday with her own money!! How sweet is the little kiddo! 

Missing my other two siblings.

Though it was actually quite difficult to cut into the cake because of all the flowers so this took me a good minute to figure what was best for the cake. Haha not for my family who wanted to eat it but for the cake. 

Birthdays are when you're reminded again and again throughout that you have some pretty sweet company around you which is why I really love them. Very, super blessed for the family and friends I have and very, super touched for all the personal messages I got - whether it was from phone calls, lengthy Whatsapp messages, direct messages, everywhere! I highly appreciate that hot minute everyone took to wish me a happy 24th because I felt appreciated. So far I haven't had a bad year (alhamdulillah syukur let this not be a jinx amin!) and it's a lot thanks to the people I surround myself with. 

So thank you, you've made this 24 year old girl very happy!

Another trip around the sun, insyaAllah! Let this be a wonderful year for me and for everyone. Amin!

xx

Sat & Sun

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Ok so today was gross.

I slept practically all day! Slept pretty late last night because I was out with the boys for drinks. Only slept at 4 something and woke up at 12. Came down for lunch and after having 2 plates of rice, I came up to continue watching Goblin only to fall asleep while watching. AGAIN!! Next thing I knew, it was 6 pm. I don't recall my week to be that tiring so I don't know what got into me that I slept all day today. But I quickly consoled myself saying that it's the weekend, when else can I sleep all day, right?

Right. 

I'm determined to have an early start to my day tomorrow - to make up for today's lack of activity. 

I'm turning 24 this Thursday!! Pretty wild that it's already a whole year of me being 23. Too fast, too fast!! I'm pretty stoked for this birthday, not because I have a million things planned but because it's my first time celebrating at home! It's been a good 3 years since I had a proper birthday dinner with my family. I've had great times celebrating with my friends in the UK but it wasn't quite the same without family with me. We're having dinner at one of my favourite restaurants and I can't wait for the actual dinner because of the food to be quite honest. And the cake. Who doesn't love a good birthday cake?

I'm still doing good with my monthly resolution - it's been a No Sweet Drinks January for me so I haven't had a glass of sirap limau in what seems like ages! But I think I'm cutting a huge amount of sugar. I drink sirap limau every working day and I drink coke atleast once during the weekends. I've only, **ONLY** been drinking plain water and/or green tea. I'm dyiiiiing for a glass of sirap limau and McDonalds don't feel the same without coke.

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Ok, so waking up early failed totally. Slept late again last night because I was watching every video on The View's Youtube channel. I love myself some Whoopi and Joy.

Only left for Starhill for my hair appointment at 3:30. Reached 10 minutes late because parking is a struggle forever and always on a Sunday. Thank goodness for valet. I love Pavi for its valet parking, KLCC and Curve for its all-female parking space. It's just so much easier for us lone shoppers. And safer, of course.

This was my 2nd time at Number 76. Last time I went, I went to colour my hair and I really disliked the result - it was beautiful first few days but the colour totally ran 2 weeks in in which I had to recolour it. So I didn't bother going for anything else sine then but I got an email this week saying I was entitled for a complimentary hair treatment because it's my birthday month.

Umm... yes please sign me up??

I had to wait for an hour from my scheduled time but I wasn't going to be a fussy customer because this was free so I wasn't going to make a huge deal out of it. And they were very apologetic about it so that's fine. It'd be a totally different story if they were indifferent to me. TBH I don't see a huge difference. It just looks nice now because they blew dry it but I don't know how my hair feels post-treatment. But whatever, it was free.
(EDIT : Writing this 2 days after the treatment. My hair actually feels moisturised and less frizzy. Blew dry my hair this morning and it was just a lot more easy to straighten it out than it was pre-treatment. And when I was shampooing my hair, my wet hair felt a lot softer to the touch which wasn't the case before this. I kinda really like it but we'll see. I'm still doubtful!) 

I finally got myself a 2017 diary because holy cow it is SO difficult to find a decent one. My 2016 one was from Paperchase and I miss it! I feel like Typo is the one and only option here and although some of their things are cool and quirky, I'd appreciate more choices in the market. It's pretty sad that there's not much stationery-dedicated stores here.

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That's my weekend. I'm going to blog more on Weightlifting Fairy Kim Bok Joo (henceforth referred to as 'Fairy') because it ended this week and I've never felt this happy and this sad for the ending of a Korean drama since Reply 1988 (which if you've not been following my blog and/or myself you wouldn't have known that I'm practically the ambassador for that drama). I've got so much to say and it's really one of the best things I've watched ever and I can't wait to blog about it and post all the photos!!

Hope January has been pleasant for everyone! Drink more water because it's hella hot these days and don't forget to slap on some sunblock. Very important, girls!

xx

HAPPY 2017

It's about an hour to 2017.

Sigh.

I don't know why but I get kinda emotional getting into the new year. I don't know if it's regret for not living it to the most or if it's the feeling of leaving something. I'm excited for 2017 and I'm determined to be a newer me but 2016 was my big-girl year. I graduated from university and I started my first ever job. I'm more stuck by the fact that it's leaving a chapter rather than starting a new one. 2016 saw me leave my student years behind and embracing the working adult life. And I see that as such a huge step and it's the beginning of a whole new phase of life and being the nostalgic girl I am, I kinda need a moment to take that in. I've had the absolute best student years ever and I loved school and college and university so this year was finally my farewell to all that. I always say I hate exams and dislike studying but I've been doing that since I was 7! That's 17 years!!! You can't just leave 17 years of a phase in life just like that. So I'm still trying to adapt to being an adult and I personally think I'm adjusting to it well but man, I miss being a student. InsyaAllah to more and more meaningful and beautiful moments in life in the future but thank you ya Allah for blessing me with such great schooling years. Unforgettable!

But as we inch into a new year, I have to adjust accordingly and I have to look through big-girl lenses now. I'm excited and I'm looking forward to a lot of things. I've made some New Year resolutions and all of them contributes to my own personal growth; to be a better version of myself now, to be more responsible, to be a better friend, sister and daughter and just to be a well-rounded adult. I want to have fun more, I want to create better and bigger memories, I want to learn more and I want to be more ambitious. I want to start taking some action in my life. I want to be a go-getter. I need 2017 to be my go-getter year. If I want it, I'm going to do all that is needed to get it done and I'll just pray that Allah blesses my work and my efforts along the way.

Eeep! Excited!

Be kind, be generous and be great. Let's make this year our favourite one yet.

HAPPY NEW YEAR, EVERYONE!!! WISHING LOVE, LIGHT AND SO, SO, SO MUCH HAPPINESS! 

xx

Monthly Resolutions for 2017

I have an intense love-hate relationship with long weekends. I look forward to it and I bask in my fort of pillows and Korean dramas but at the same time, I'm so fidgety and I need to do something. But I end up not doing anything because I can't be bothered to drive anywhere! Frustrating but I'm trying to still just be happy with the fact that it's Monday tomorrow and I don't have to wake up early for work.

So other than watching endless Youtube videos (anyone knows of a good Youtube series to watch? I've pretty sure I've finished watching all of Buzzfeed's and Vox's videos), it has dawned on me that next Sunday is 2017. How quick has that been?? It got me thinking that I need a new approach for the new year so instead of a new year resolutions, I'm going to make monthly resolutions. I brought it up to my mum and she's already announced it to the whole world via her Facebook. Sigh, parents and their FB obsession. 

The whole point to a monthly resolution is that instead of having a yearly one in which I completely abandon by 4th January, I thought it'd be better to have 12 short-term ones. I think I'll be more focused and more enthusiastic to fulfil and achieve it. Right? Right.

January will be a month where I stop drinking sweet drinks (all kinds - sirap limau, coke, fruit juices, everything!). Mama was so enthusiastic, she has already planned 6 months in advance! I was thinking of doing month by month but ok....

My yearly resolution is to start saving up for my future. I should've done it long time ago hahaha but I'm going to take it rather seriously this coming year. And hope it snowballs into something big and fruitful in the near future. InsyaAllah! That and to take more photos. And not necessarily for Instagram. 

I'm going off tangent but fellow K-Drama fans, can we please discuss what a GORGEOUS drama Goblin is???? Some people are having a hard time digesting the age gap between the Goblin and Eun Tak but ??? Love is love ??? It's such a well-written, well thought out drama and I'm sooooooo into it. Production wise, it's brilliant. Gong Yoo is hella dreamy!! He says everything so romantically tragic, it's breaking my heart!! I keep changing favourite actors all the time but Gong Yoo is defo top 5. 

 I'm also really loving Dong Wook (have always regarded him as a great actor - loved him in Bubblegum) and Kim Go-Eun is so precious here. Didn't like Cheese in The Trap but thought she was really good in it so I was looking forward to her in this drama. Overall this drama is just golden and I highly recommend it. It is kinda heavy but the characters themselves are very lighthearted, it's just the plot that gets quite melodramatic and tragic. 

Oh and of course, merry christmas!! I love Christmas and I long to be back in England where Christmas was everything shiny and sparkly. I'm so dead jealous on everyone's holiday photos and their Christmas lunches and dinners. My Christmas lunch was Mama's cooking (the best ever!) and my dinner was McDonalds and fried rice. Not that festive but home is home and I'm kinda really loving it. 

Wishing everyone a great week ahead! Can't believe it's the last week of 2016!

xx

A wedding, some tears, and a lot of laughs

My weekend with friends! 

I spent my Friday night watching Sing with Iman. I LOVE that movie - particularly all the singing, duh. I'm reminded again and again how brilliant Tori Kelly is as a vocalist. I haven't stopped listening to her rendition of Stevie Wonder's 'Don't You Worry About A Thing' ever since I got back home from watching that movie. 

Saturday, I attended Ha's wedding. The Ha I sat with in history classes in KY. Sighhhh, I'm so elated for her. To be married to your high school sweetheart is everything! She looked stunning in her baju pengantin, with her husband on that pelamin. Makes me want to get married! The place was also really beautiful - she had the land next to her house look like the fanciest wedding hall. And the food was really sedap - they had apam balik!!! I'm definitely having apam balik at my wedding, y'all better be sure of that. And roti jala. And sirap limau because it's my favourite drink ever. And banoffee pie for SURE. I'm definitely the kind of person to want her guests to remember my wedding for the food.

Ha had this really cute photo booth section in her house and it was really fun because they had some props and you could take the photos back home. This one was a soft copy from their Facebook page (the photo booth company is called Theseplay). Always loved these photo booth ideas. Don't worry - I'll defo have this at my wedding too. Hahaha

Didn't know you could make a canopy look this gorgeous! Definitely in favour of an outdoor wedding now. 

With my girls!

Got my pelamin - need the groom now. 

A selfie with the beautiful couple! 

 Look at how stunning Ha is - I need a moment!! So happy for her - only wishing you the best happiness and the best marriage ahead for you, darling girl! 

Isn't the pelamin soooo beautiful???? Sighhh my heartttttt... I'm such a sucker for weddings.

And then on Sunday, other than taking like 3 naps, I went for Kaveetha's little gathering at her house. The event was in remembrance of Hafiz. Kaveetha and Sanju, being the amazing friends they are, got us all together for some makan-makan and to celebrate him. There were some tears but there were a lot more laughs. I was incredibly excited to go for this one because it feels like it's been so long since I met this bunch of friends. I got some smack about it obviously but I loved the whole night - being with some of my very, very good friends since high school was so damn fun. Forgot how much of a good time I have when I'm with them. 

Kaveetha's house was where I used to go for my BM tuition when I was in high school and she'd always host gatherings then so going to her house is like going back to being a teen. I love it. Conversations have changed but we're still the same people. We're now talking about work and our careers and who's getting married. It's so weird!!!! But so wonderful because shows how we've grown together. I had such a good time that I only left at 2:30 knowing very well that I had work the very next day. What's a little less sleep than being with friends, amirite?

A weekend of friends - only just about my favourite type of weekends. 

To more dinners, weddings, and celebrating our youth!

xx

My Week

Hi! 

It's a Friday and I have next Monday and Tuesday off!!!! Yes!!! So excited to do absolutely nothing. 

/ Talking to Strangers /

Yesterday and today was spent being in a exhibition on behalf of the Nelissa Hilman brand. I think one thing I've realised from working with NH is that I'm getting more and more comfortable talking to new people. I realised people aren't that scary as I had once thought. You say 'Hi' and more often than not, they're going to say hi back with a smile. I spent most of the time talking to people who had a genuine interest about the brand. Well, enough interest to walk over to me at least. I must've looked bored as heck as I had no data on my phone at all and there was no working WiFi. But nevertheless, I had a great time. I actually really do genuinely like talking to people. 

/ Crush'd /

Also, on a totally unrelated note but I just had to write it here so that future self can remember, I met an incredibly cute Chinese boy at one of the booths and sigh, he was quite dreamy. He actually came up to my booth when I was by myself and looked at the shoes and took one of the coupons we were offering. Ahh, my 2 day crush, how do I find you on social media??? I know where you work but how do I find you??? Kinda reminded me of my younger, naive high school days when I used to have crushes all the damn time! Hahahahaha thinking about it makes me laugh but coming across this Chinese boy at the exhibition made me really miss having someone to like! It's such a great feeling to be excited about someone so although it was short-lived, I was quite happy to have someone to be excited about. Dear Chinese boy at the GEC exhibition, thanks for igniting a missed yet completely familiar feeling in me. Twas great. Find me on Instagram. Please.

/ The Dot Com Change /

Also, you might've noticed but I've changed my blogspot to a dot com. Exciting!!!!! For me, at least. For those who don't know about the back story of my blogging, I started when I was 14. Form 2 and I had just moved to Taman Tun. A good 60% of my friends in that class were running blogs. Some updated it frequently, some not so but all the same, I LOVED reading their stories and their 14-year-old feelings that I thought I'd join in the fun. I had kept a diary before that anyway so I just thought of it as a natural millenial thing to do - take diaries on a more public platform. 

And I'm pretty sure (but do correct me if I'm wrong!) that I'm the only one from that circle of friends who still keeps a blog. I'm a hoarder by nature, takes me so long to throw out things because I'm quite sentimental that way. I feel so sayang to trash things because at one point in life, it must've meant a lot to me. So I try to hold on to things til they go old and rusty but even then, I sayang. So that's why I've never been tempted to deactivate or delete my blog. Holds so much memories and old cringy stories to me! So the progression from a blogspot to a dot com was natural. Big girl already! Both me and my blog.

--

Don't really know what I'm going to be doing this long weekend. My mind says to do something productive like finally catching up on my Korean skills or read that marketing book I haven't gotten around to doing but my heart says to pamper and chill and maybe do a Harry Potter marathon. Or maybe finally I'll get that massage I've been wanting to do for ages. 

Or maybe I'll prompt my stalker/detective skills to find that Chinese boy on Instagram/Twitter. 

Current Favo(u)rites

Current favourites! 

I haven't done a post on this in so long so I thought I'd update you and future self on what I've been really loving and enjoying this past few weeks.

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Music

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OK so I'm absolutely jiving to Bruno Mars' new album. My favourite and most repeated track is Finesse. It's very reminiscent of the 90's boy group vibe and I just cannot get enough of that song. To the point where I didn't even give Korean songs a chance the other day! And that's pretty major in my book. And I've been listening to Honne and they're really up my alley. They're like The Neighbourhood almost? My favourite is Good Together, such a fun track to listen to.

In terms of the Korean music sphere (because how can I ever forget?), I am really liking the slower songs. I only just recently discovered Urban Zakapa's 'I Don't Love You' from watching a drama (will get into that later) and it's sooooooo good. Given the rather slow melody, the lyrics packs a punch and it's quite emotional also. Me, emotional song lyrics? Love it! I also love Jay Park's new 'Stay With Me' and Hyolyn's new track featuring Jay Park 'One Step'. So happy she has a new album out - truly one of K-Pop's current biggest and best divas! 

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Fashion

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Stripes. I'm crazy for blue and white stripes as of late. Iman reckons I have too many and tells me off for buying more but I can't help it! I'm also obsessed with silver, gold and other obnoxious metallics. They're my new favourite things to see and grab when I'm out shopping. It's a fun addition to the normal outfit. Hah, I say all this without actually having a single metallic item in my life but I WILL! This is a promise in itself, you just wait! 

And mules! Oh my God, give me my mules in all colours and material, I need them in my life! I only have one good one from Charles & Keith in black suede. I wear it to death. It has a low block heel so it's really comfortable to walk in, but most of all it's so conveniently stylish. It's such an easy way to perk up an outfit and I mean, it's a slip on so you save on so much effort. I loveeeee mine and want to get more. 

 

Both from Mansur Gavriel

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Beauty

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Blush. Blush. Blush. I am allllll for blushes. And I only have one! I love the rosy look on my cheeks. I've mentioned this before but it hasn't really changed. I don't even wear much mascara and brow pencil/powder anymore. Probably because I'm always rushing in the morning so I don't really bother. But I must must have blusher on. Just gives life back to my face. I don't do bronzer because I don't really like how patchy it goes on my face. 

I love my Dolce Vita from NARS and am looking to buy a more orange toned blusher for the sake of trying. And I also totally suck for missing our Sephora's Black Friday sale. I did manage to, however, take advantage of Colourpop's free international shipping the other day and got myself more goodies. Can't wait for them to arrive! 

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Dramas

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Sigh. Moon Lovers was good in its early stages and it's largely because I was highly rooting for Kang Haneul. It got really lousy by the end of it and I just only watched for the sake of just staying til the end. It got dry and the plot just lost it. I desperately need him (Kang Haneul, henceforth referred to as 'soulmate') to be in a leading role in a romantic drama next time I see him. He is magic. On the eyes and as a character, he is beautiful! Definitely new favourite actor. But then again I say that about a lot of Korean men...

Now, I'm currently absolutely enjoying Weightlifting Fairy : Kim Bok Joo. It's centers around student athletes and it's so ~ adorable ~. I cannot say enough about how I love Lee Sung Kyung's dedication to her role. She put on 5 kgs (she was a fashion model and she is stunning) for it and she really gives a 110% to be Bok Joo, this goofy little girl who is rough as they come but melts at a cute guy, holding an umbrella for her. It's the little things and I really admire how she's trying to prove early doubters that she's up for anything for her roles. She's played the bitchy character in the past so I'm very happy that for her first leading role, she's this sweetheart who is not your stereotypical damsel-in-distress. She's literally and figuratively strong and ugh, I just love female roles like that. Strong-headed, determined and doesn't take a beating from anyone. It's definitely not a heavy drama and I highly recommend it. ALSO, Joo Hyuk is such a treat every week. I can't get over how handsome the guy is. It's actually painful to see these two beautiful lead characters on screen. Hurts my self-esteem. 

I'm also watching 'My Wife's Having An Affair This Week'. Stars Ji Hyo (also known as the only female on Running Man). It's about... well, affairs. It's not as cutesy and fun as Weightlifting Fairy but it has its comedic parts. It tells a story of a couple who is going through a tough time as the husband discovers that his wife is committing an affair. And to see how they endure the storm. My first time watching Sun-Kyun's acting (he's the husband) and I'm a new fan. He acts frenzied and distraught so perfectly! I empathise with him of course but he's such an endearing character and I am really enjoying watching him act. 

Not a fan of 'Entourage' which is disappointing to say the least. Was looking forward to it so much and it's nothing but a bunch of guys who have nothing to do but walk around together??? Haven't started with Legend of The Blue Sea. REALLY looking forward to Hwarang because Park Seo Joon (lead of She Was Pretty) and Go Ara (Reply 1994) have my heart and I can't wait to see their chemistry on screen. It's going to be off the hook, I can already SMELL IT FROM HERE. 

I didn't know what to make of the Korean drama system in which they only produce a drama for one season. Something I wasn't used to as an avid American TV drama fan before. Although I'd love to see how my favourite characters in my favourite Korean dramas go on to do more than just a season, I think it's pretty brilliant that they only have 16-20 episodes to really tell a story. And it just means more opportunities for more actors to be in more dramas. I have Dramabeans bookmarked because I often go there to read drama reviews and drama news. It's actually really thrilling to hear new dramas being made and see who's being pitched to star in it. If you're a K-Drama fan and don't know what Dramabeans is, then well, what have you been doing?!?!?! Best thing ever to happen in K-drama land. Go!

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Instagram

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Some Instagram accounts I really love these days. I really admire people with excellent taste for content curation on their social media. It's art, people!!! 

+dreachong 

@powideas

+designboom 

@vis_a 

@kristywho

@sortofobsessed

@mollyx___

@beigerenegade

@zosuen

___

Ok phew so that's all for this post. Long and chatty but feels like I haven't updated this blog properly in so long so this was needed. At least to me. 

Have a great day, talk soon! 

xx