Five Years of Fun

بِسْمِ اللهِ الرَّحْمنِ الرَّحِيمِ

Hi people!

Among your friends, there must be at least one person who loves taking pictures of everyone and of course, one person who refuses to have his or her picture taken. I was and still am, the latter. But my friend, Nadhirah, looooooooooves to take pictures. She has loads of pictures from our secondary school years. By loads, I mean LOADS. Like if you print it out, you will be needing at least ten albums to put the pictures in. So few days back, she suddenly sent few pictures from her hard disk in the Whatsapp group. Oh. My. God. Out of several pictures, there's one with me. Please, see below.

See the tudung I made? So pretty hahahah. From left, Nadhirah, Melah (I call her Mel, easier that way) and me with Mirah the Tok Guru at the back. Other people might look at this picture and wonder why the hell we were so happy seeing a standing fan? HAHAHAHA. I also could not recall the occasion but I could confidently say that it must be during Ramadhan or bulan pose where we have longer praying session.

Back then, I think we did have the air-conditioner in surau. But it would be turned on only during special occasion. So, it is crucial to secure a kipas before you pray, especially masa bulan pose. Or else, by the time you habih semayang Tarawikh, you would be drenched in sweat. Pahtu nok gi prep some more. No, cannot do. So, we fought for kipas. That explains why three of us had such a big grin on our face. I bet Tok Guru at the back smiled just as wide too hahahah. It is not easy to fight for kipas. You need to be subtle or other people would judge you HAHAHAHAHA. But I think we were all Fivers, the senior at maktab masa tu so pffft being judged for berebut kipas was not a problem.

Five years in boarding school taught me a lot. Now, when I look back at those five amazing years, I would be grateful for everything. I remember a lot of stuff from my secondary school years. When I saw school kids, I would be reminded of all the memories I have - of ponteng prep, of walking to Kem Casuarina saja saja walaupun you have no business there, of eating at the cafe instead of DS, of attending addmaths extra class etc etc.

I would be reminded of the days where we had consecutive hysteria session for several weeks. All started with pokok pelam area dorm belakang. The story is too long to be told in one entry but I swear to God, the story is very exciting. I was among those who ate that buoh pelam and I remember Noyu asked the warden if we (the one who eat buoh pelam) would 'kena hysteria' as well. HAHAHAHA wow I sure can laugh now but back then, no one was laughing. Everyone was scared. I remember Kak Diana Lim, a Chinese senior, asked us to read Al Mulk and Yaasin so that our dorm won't kena kacau and one of her friends quietly said "Manalah ada setan kaca kawan sendiri. Dia tu dok patut takut." LOLOL

Pelam feat pinggan DS kot idk.

Maggi, biskut, air teh and buoh pelam again.

I would be reminded of the Friday evenings, where we were left to do our own activities and some of us would go record music video and all. The head of this kind of activities would be Nadhirah. She was and still is, crazy with camera. No, forget it. She is crazy even without camera. She is just crazy. Periodt. Anyway, my room neighbours - Dayah, Piqah Ibrahim, Mirah Piqah usually enjoyed drinking teh with biskut and maggi, usually mi sedap or if you are feeling fancy, you buy Ruski TomYam Kaw. I remember this one time, should be light off already but we kept chatting and I think Allah must love us so much because out of all the days we talk about stupid and nonsense stuff, it was on the night we talk about tanda-tanda kiamat that Teacher Nana stopped outside my room's window and asked us to stop the usrah and go to sleep. HAHAHAHA. If only she stopped by on other usual day where we talked rubbish, we might be asked to run on the field.

I would be reminded of the restriction to not bring phones and when I was in Form 3, Cikgu Rahimah, the warden forbade us from eating instant noodles because it's not good. I was caught using my phone about three times. One, my phone got taken away and two times, Cikgu Rahimah just reminded me to be careful hahaha. Piqah Ibrahim my roommate on the other hand, was draining the water from her mee sedap when Cikgu Rahimah walked into Wing A (our room was in Wing A). She panicked and instead of draining just the water, Piqah tuang the whole content of the Tupperware into longkang HAHAHAHAH. Cikgu Rahimah didn't even come close to our room and poor maggi, terbazir ke longkang hahahah.

I would be reminded of this one day, I think got some perlawanan bola and after the prep malam someone said if Terengganu menang, tomorrow would be a public holiday. And I don't know why we, the girls went to sleep that night, thinking oh tomorrow is a public holiday. The next morning, I remember waking up because Teacher Nana was screaming HAHAHAHAHA. It's 6.30 am and only a few of us woke up. Padahal, the dorm needed to be cleared by 6 am. So confident public holiday. Know know Teacher Nana tepik suruh bangun hahahah.

I would be reminded of lot of fun stuff, but fingers too tired to type. So here, pictures.

I can never understand what was I thinking, taking picture with the tudung covering half of my face. In picture - Fi, Pateng, Mokte, Eja and Jong. 

From left: Dirah, Me, Sarah and Jiera. I dont know why people hate baju beige. It is literally the better option than the blue uniform. BOOOOOO.

This one in Dewan Ibnu Sina. I think we had camp subject or something but judging from my table where I only have my bag on and not a paper, wow no wonder I didnt score straight As HAHAHAHA.

This was during mock interview. Sepu was the only male student for this group, I think. You see the girl in far left? That's Izzyana and she's definitely God's favourite because if you see her today, you'd be like "how could one just get prettier?". Anyway, I remember goreng my cita-cita konon nok jadi lawyer (pffft I would never) and the interviewer, who is a surgeon and an xKT, asked me what if the criminals threatened me by kidnapping my parents. Would I drop the case? I was like, "My parents are honest and supportive. They will understand my choice." HAHAHAHAHAHA and after the session I was like, what the hell why so dramatic the question??!!

Me, trying to run away from the crazy Nadhirah.

The crazy Nadhirah managed to chase me. Oh no. 

The bicycle was the guard's and I don't know why we took and ride it. I would like to fitnah that Nadhirah forced me to ride the bicycle and gendong her with me. That sounds like her. 

Me and Jiera. Going back to dorm after afternoon prep. Jiera always read surat khabar and she made it her routine to fight with Baby Norsha for surat khabar. Hahaha. Jiera is a mother now. And Baby Norsha is completing her medical study. And here I am, not that different from the picture. I wear a backpack, with baju kurung and a pair of Converse, walking. Except now, I walk to work hahahah. 

Writing what I remember from school in one entry would not do it justice. I had too much fun in school. I hope the people I spent time with back in school also had fun with me. Hahaha. Most importantly, I am forever grateful and thankful for the warm and steady friendship my friends offered me. I am amazed at how patient my friends are, putting up with me. We took different paths since 2012 and I can't believe that I still see them once every few months and for some, once every few weeks. Each of us have changed so much and we carry on with our own life but when we meet each other, it's like the old days all over again. Seeing this photo makes me realise that time has really flown by. I am no longer the same 17 year old me but these people of MRSMKT Class of 2012 would always hold a special place in my heart.

Thank you FB Ladies, for making my school life wayyyyyy more fun that it should have been. May you all be blessed and protected, wherever you are.

Thanks for reading.

p/s: To Nadhirah, puas hati mung? HAHAHAHAH

Same Old Issue

بِسْمِ اللهِ الرَّحْمنِ الرَّحِيمِ

Hi people,

I like spending my time on Twitter. I feel like it's the second best application on my phone. First is of course Muslim Pro. Hewhew. Anyway, last night, I stumbled upon this one tweet. Same old classic issue where a woman is comparing another woman's choice from her own perspective.

It was a response to a tweet regarding how a kid was pushed and bullied at a daycare by another kids. I still have a long way to go to become a mother. I need to find a husband first. So, I often refrain myself from speaking about things I am not experienced in. But, I strongly believe that a working mother, not working mother, a mother who adopted another child, ibu susuan are all mothers, in one way or another.

And for me, it is really not fair to label the mother as a 'perempuan yang keluar bekerja mengejar kemewahan dunia melepaskan tanggungjawab membesarkan anak-anak kepada entah sesiapa' just from a single video and a very short one at that. I respect people's opinion of how a mother should be staying home, looking after her children because it's the best for the family. Yes, it is. But from another perspective, if all women are to practise this, will we have any female representative in professional field?

Will we have female specialists in the hospital? What about teachers? The kids will be taught by all male teachers? What about women in politics? We will not have Jacinda Ardern, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Yeo Bee Yin (I like her hahaha). And to imagine I won't have my favourite teachers - Teacher Omai, Teacher Juriffah, Cikgu Suhana, Teacher Sharifah, Cikgu Zaitun... the list goes on. That's horrible. I can't even imagine...

You see. It's not fair for you to label a woman with kids who has a capable husband but still earning her own money as someone who lusts after the worldly wealth. The girl who tweeted the tweet did mention that she understands if a woman needs to work if the husband could not provide enough. However, not everyone are after money. But many are after their dreams. If you dream of being a housewife, that's amazing. If you dream of being a working mother, that's great. But ladies, you are shit if you shit on people's dreams okay? No one's dream is greater than another. It's not fair to simply call working mothers who have capable husband as kejar kemewahan dunia when you don't even know them or their situation.

And honestly, I think we women have enough issues and provocations from the society itself. Why would we trash on one another? Can't we, a woman, a human being who is often associated with kind-hearted nature, be less judgmental on people around us? Why do we women have to keep comparing? I have two older sisters. They are all degree holders, the first one was married when she was 23, the second one 25, they have three kids each and they are housewives. But, not once, they or my mother questioned my choice of being single at the age of 25 when they all married by 25 (kalau I have to keep the standard of getting married by 25, mampos. I only have two months left to find a victim hahah). And I on the other hand, not even once, have I felt like their degrees are wasted. We don't compare our dreams. I see my older sisters are all happy and they see me happy and that's enough for us. 

I once wrote about dreams in this blog. You can read it here. It's really frustrating when you see your own kind, in this case, female, trashed on your dreams, making you feel less of what you supposed to be, in this case, a mother. But you know what, judgment from people who doesn't matter to you, doesn't matter. I just hope that one day, we can stop comparing (it's impossible but whatever just need something to end my post hahaha). I used to judge people's choices too, but now I am older, I try to refrain myself from doing it. Can't be bitter and salty for all my life. :')

Thanks for reading.

Bye.

p/s: Stay safe.

Because I Feel Like Rambling

بِسْمِ اللهِ الرَّحْمنِ الرَّحِيمِ

Hi people,

So I have always thought that I am a person who likes to stay at home. But, recently, the number of COVID-19 cases spiked again and I was asked by my very caring HOD to work from home as I am commuting using public transport. The first day was okay, bearable. The days after that, not so much. I like to stick to my routine of going to work in the morning. Now that I don't have to go to work at 7.30 am, my routine is messed up. I even become more lazy and kind of sluggish which I really hate. So now I guess I enjoy not being home as well.

I like my train ride to and from work. I like the fact that I can stop by NU Sentral, spend time in MPH, browsing through the books and maybe grab some food before I go home. Now that I'm working from home, if I were to visit the mall, it will defeat the purpose of staying home to keep myself safe, right? I am trying to steer my head and heart to view this working from home as something positive and I should be grateful that my boss is so nice that she thinks of my safety (and my other colleagues too). And maybe I should start doing some workouts early in the morning so that I won't feel as sluggish. See, actually the lazy issue is because of myself, not because of working from home. Wow sendiri merungut, sendiri muhasabah. Wow.

Anyway, because working from home allows me to be in my bed longer than usual, I started to spend more time on YouTube. I am not that big of a user of YouTube but somehow, I stumbled upon this one channel called, Good Mythical Morning and boyyyyy, the current level of my GMM (the acronym for that channel) is not healthy in anyway. But, the show is so fun and I love the duo, Rhett and Link!

They did all sort of challenges and I think my favourite is "Where in The World .... Come From?" where they eat food from all over the world and then they guess the country origin of that food by throwing a dart onto the map. It's hilarious, it's silly, it's entertaining! Also, their episodes where they taste all Cheesecake Factory's cakes and Ben & Jerry's ice creams somehow made me craving for cakes and ice creams.

I am currently browsing through Season 17 and I have watched most of the episodes where they eat something. I watch them while cooking, I watch them while eating, I even watching them while flossing my teeth and oil cleansing my face. I hope this is just a phase because my jaw is about to fall off anytime now because I laugh too much. I honestly like their jokes (for their videos I have watched). They don't do offensive jokes, you know unlike some comedians who need to use sex or race or religion to make jokes. Like I always say, if you need to use sex, race or religion in a negative way to make jokes, you are not funny. Periodddddttttt

But these two guys are funny. I love their remarks, I love how creative and original the show is and although some of the contents are too weird (for me), I could still accept the jokes. Stumbling upon this show could be the best thing that happens during my working from home period (which is like 7 days now hahaha). 

Anyway, I know I should be grateful to be able to have the chance of working from home while some people need to take risk and still go to work. So, I won't complain anymore. Instead, I will take this working from home as a blessing where I can spend my time watching this show and read my books! Yes let's do that instead of whining like an ungrateful brat.

Okay, I rambled long enough. Thanks for reading and till next time.Stay safe, everyone!

Short Update

بِسْمِ اللهِ الرَّحْمنِ الرَّحِيمِ

Hi people!

Believe it or not, we’re in September now. And I’ve been working for a bit more than three months as a translator. Yeay! I have been working as a freelance since 2017 while completing my MA Degree and I was beyond happy when I was offered this office job. I still miss teaching and being a teacher once in a while, but I think I would need to work very hard if I want to get back in the teaching scene again. I think my preparing lesson plan skill is nowhere near good now.

Anyway, I am going to ramble about my daily life. When I was little, I always think that when I have a job, I will be wearing heels or some formal looking shoes with a nice handbag. But now, I’m wearing whatever shoes that are comfortable, with a backpack to stuff all my things in and… the Ikea blue bag for my daily bekal. Pffft not exactly what I pictured in my mind.

Life’s good for me now. I prepare my bekal in the morning, start walking to the LRT station by 7.30 and take the train to Kerinchi LRT Station. It takes me a little less than one hour to reach my office and my colleagues said it is such a hassle, but as of now, I’m enjoying my daily routine. I got to read during my commute, or if there are too many commuters, I would be watching k-dramas on my phone or do something useful like learning languages on Duolingo. Maybe when I get tired of the daily commute, I would look for a new room to rent somewhere close to the office.

During weekend, I would go grocery shopping, watch some movies, tidy up my room, iron one-week stock of baju to go to work and if I got freelance offers, I do it. It somehow sounds a bit mundane hahaha but... I could not be more grateful than I am now. I remember feeling so worried when my former boss announced that our freelance translation job would be ended by end of April and because I need to support my family, I was in quite a pressing situation where I need a job ASAP. But Allah is the Most Gracious. He gave me a job when I needed it the most.

I sincerely pray for my friends who are looking for a job or for a better job – may Allah ease their affairs and grant them a great job. Aamiin. I know how hard job seeking can be. May Allah give you strength and spirit to make it through. Aaamiin.

I think I have rambled enough.

Till then, bye! Thanks for reading.

Ramadhan 2020 - of food and kad raya

بِسْمِ اللهِ الرَّحْمنِ الرَّحِيمِ

Hi people.

Remember when I was soooooo excited about starting a writing challenge? Pfft. I made it until Day 5 out of 10. Weak. I might continue the challenge when the excitement is back but for now, Selamat Hari Raya, Maaf Zahir Batin! It's already June and raya vibes have long vanished but it is Syawal still and we should live like it's the first day of raya. I know some of us feel a bit confused with this year raya, but hey, I would like to add more confusion. I would be talking, I mean writing-- about puasa/ramadhan instead.

I was in boarding school for a good 5 year since I was 13, then I spent another 4 years away in Kelana Jaya for my degree and 2 years in Bangi for my MA. I had my fair share of berpuasa away from my family but this year, after so long, I got to experience the whole month of Ramadhan with my family. With the PKP, there is no bazaar this year but that gave me chance to try new recipes. Some turned out superbly delicious (gitu ye confident puji masakan sendiri), some turned out okay and some just went south.

I shall start sharing the pictures of few food I cook during puasa -- from the most OK to the worst hahaha. Here is, puding caramel or puding gula hangus. One of the few foods I can cook successfully. I love my caramel pudding a bit bitter and less sweet. Hence, the dark caramel.

Roti John based on Khairul Aming's recipe. This turned out so delicious that my family said I made better roti john than the shops out there. I don't know if my family was sincere with the praises or they just got tired with me endlessly asking, "Sedap dok?", "Okay dok?".

Brownies kedut! I am a complete noob when it comes to baking. This brownies right here, was my third attempt. It tasted nice if you love chocolate and if you love fudgy, chewy brownies texture. I guess my family likes it because it was gone in one sitting. 

Now we are getting to the barely-pass-food. Butir nako. Very easy to prepare, taste nice. It was actually my first time makan butir nako and of course first time doing it. My younger sister approved it soooo I guess it tasted okay? But! My twin nephews memang menduga kesabaran ya. Every time I tried to suap them the butir nako, they just drink the sweet kuah and left the butir nako for me to chew. Kuangsam.

 Next, pulut mangga. Having sweet mangga is important to ensure the deliciousness of the cuisine. So we had several ripe mangoes and the night before making pulut mangga, I cut one of them. It tasted very sweet. That's why I decided to make pulut mangga. Tapi the mangga scammed me. It has nice orange-ish yellow colour but taste like air masak. If blind person eat my pulut mangga, they might think I'm serving them chew-able air masak. Dasar scammer. Will never believe mangga again.

Now, the worst of all. My tepung pelita. HAHAHAHAHAAHAHA. They look soooo fine. Even my parents were impressed with the acuan I made out of daun pisang. Okay, first off, I used the wrong tepung. Tepung pelita is made with tepung beras but me, being so confident, used tepung gandum. But then, I was told by my friend (after the whole tragedy), Ain, that limas -- a kuih that is similar to tepung pelita used tepung gandum. So I was not entirely wrong.

But people... I made another batch on the same day, this time with the right tepung. If my previous pulut mangga tasted like air masak, this one taste like air. Air as in the one we breathe in. You know, air taste like nothing. Bland, empty, tasteless. Tepung pelita should be sweet but I would like to clarify that my tepung pelita is the (very very very) healthier version of the kuih. I guarantee that diabetic people should not worry about eating my tepung pelita. They can eat a dozen of my tepung pelita and still be fine. 

Anyway, those are my stories about my cooking attempt during ramadhan. And as usual, I wrote several kad raya this year for my friends. Last year I posted out around 20 if I am not mistaken, and this year around 22. I love kad raya but it's getting really hard to find the classic one. Most of the kad raya being sold online are in postcard format and I don't like that. I want those folded cards, with carved out holes, funny caricatures and traditional pictures of random masjid and ketupat that does not look tempting at all. I love those old school cards.

Handwritten notes and cards have a special place in my heart. I kept every single note and card I received since primary school. Some notes are on tissue or small piece of paper but to me, they all are so special, considering the effort being put in by the writers to write me the notes. Gittewwww. Next year raya, I might be designing my own kad raya. I'm figuring out what kind of theme I want and whether I want it handmade or design it and get it printed out somewhere. We'll see next year.

I wish to continue this tradition of writing kad raya to the very end. I want my friends who used to receive kad raya from me, thought of me when I passed away. Like every year, when they are kemas kemas rumah and isi kuih raya dalam bekas kuih, they will go "Dulu, mama ada kawan. Selalu hantar kad raya. Ni dia dah meninggal, dah tak ada kad raya." Gitu. Hahahah. 

Anyway, I am so grateful for this ramadhan. There's nothing to rush as I'm home all day long, for the whole holy month. I have a lot of free time that I managed to khatam Quran on the night before 17 Ramadhan. The shortest time I manage to achieve before this was 22 days. See? There are some good things with the PKP.

 I would like to end my post with this picture of my choc chip biscuits. I usually baked these cookies for raya, but this year I mogok. My youngest brother, Eil, asked me to bake the cookies twice in the month before ramadhan and after that, I no longer have the spirit to bake them. Very the bosan these cookies.

Anyway, thanks for reading. Selamat Hari Raya, Maaf Zahir Batin. Siapa nak duit raya, tinggal nombor account kat bawah hahaha.

Bye!

Day 5: Something I Struggle With

بِسْمِ اللهِ الرَّحْمنِ الرَّحِيمِ

Heyyyy people!

I skipped the previous topic to write about, 'Five ways to win my heart'. It's a bit hard to write about because I think I need a longer time to think about it. Benda pasal hati ni messy and berat so we need to tunggu ada hati then we can write. Ah gitu. So, I will write about things I struggle with first.

I think most of my friends know I am struggling with driving. I just turned all pale, sweaty and silent when I sit behind the wheels. It is so nerve wrecking and I could not muster enough courage to drive. Hence, I stopped halfway in my driving lesson hahaha. I did try to drive but well, you should ask my friend, Mirah, the look on my face the moment I sit in the driver's seat. Let's just say I look like I saw death in person pffft. But, it kinda difficult to tell people that you are struggling with driving because it appears to be an easy task to many people. Let's pray that I will be able to drive too in the future, ok? Hahah.

Another thing I have been struggling with is talking to strangers. I would say that I am very talkative and chatty but with people who I am not familiar with, I come off as poyo and sombong gitu. I talk very little. I remember my conversation with a fellow bus-rider at TBS few years ago. He was sitting two seats away from me. The conversation went like this;

Him: Nak balik kampung ke?

Me: Ha'ah.

Him: Student ke?

Me: Ha'ah.

Him: Kampung kat mana?

Me: Terengganu.

Him: Ooo bas pukul berapa?

Me: 10.30.

Him:  Oh sama lah.

Me: *senyum and nod*

And after a while, the brother's bus arrived first, he picked up his bag, said bye and I smiled. The reason I remember this conversation is because right after the brother left for his bus, my friend, Kak Yong who was sitting beside me said, "Hang ni Ba, kalau dengan orang hang kenai bukan main riuh. Dengan orang hang tak kenai mulut serupa ada emas. Dia tanya banyak banyak, hang jawab ja. Apa salahnya tanya balik dia asal mana, study mana, bas koi berapa. Berat mulut betoi."

Now, this is my struggle. When strangers make conversation by asking me questions, I automatically masuk gear menjawab soalan semata-mata and never ask them anything. I think the reason I acted like that with strangers is because I often feel like I only need to ask questions to people who matter to me, whose life I am interested to know about. Hence, I don't ask questions to strangers. Wah begitu angkuh pemikiran seorang Bazilah ya. No wonder I received lot of remarks telling me that I look sombong. I guess I do appear like an indifferent asshole to strangers. As Mark Manson said, indifferent is bad. And I don't want to be seemed as bad.

So, one of my 2020 resolutions is to talk to strangers. If they ask me questions, I will answer and ask same or similar question to them. I will learn to control my level of indifference so that I don't appear as bad. Maybe I should take a lesson with my partner in crime, Bibso. That woman, she can make friends with people who sit beside her in the bus. An amaze-ball she is! Me on the other hand, would always take the single seat, buried my head in a book and avoid making eye-contact with anyone. Bibso is so amazing she can make friends with almost anyone. She asks the right questions, shows the right amount of interest and knows where to stop the conversation. In short, she's not awkward at all and she's friendly with everyone. That's it, the first thing I will do tomorrow is send my application to be her disciple.

I guess these two are among things I am struggling with and trying hard to overcome. Y'all wait, in 2021, I would be driving on the road and while driving, I would be so friendly I roll down all four windows and say 'Hi!' to every car that passes by. You just wait ok.

Till then, thanks for reading!

Day 4: Places I Want To Visit

بِسْمِ اللهِ الرَّحْمنِ الرَّحِيمِ

Heheh I skipped a day because well you know, issues. By issues, I mean my laziness. But now, I've kept Miss Lazy in her room and I will continue the writing challenge. It's about the places I want to visit. Speaking of which, this Covid-19 is really a bitch. I planned to visit Singapore with my friends at the end of February. And around that time, there was several confirmed cases in the nation. So, we canceled the plan. Then, I plan to go to Genting Highland with my other friends at the end of March. But well well well, RMO happened. But there must be reasons and hikmah why Allah allow this to happen, right? So, marilah kita berlapang dada.

Anyway, about the places I want to visit. I am not big on travelling, idk. Maybe because I don't have enough money to go travelling? HAHAHA. Ok seriously, idk. Usually, I only go to new places because I want to see my friends who live there and most of the time, I will stay at their house, cook for them and that's about it. Bhahaha I am so boring. But, if I were asked about the places I want to visit, I think I have quite a few places. 

1. Japan

As a kid, I used to watch a lot of anime and J-drama. I used to favour J-drama over K-drama and I always feel like Japan is a very beautiful country. The food, the culture, the scenery, the mind-blowing technologies they have, I want to see them in person. Not through screen or pictures. Well, some day when I have the chance, Japan would be the first place I want to visit.

2. Iceland Northern Light

I love sky. Like very very much. What's better than sky with mesmerising light during night? Practically nothing. Except my mom's cooking. That maybe better. But that's totally different so yeah, northern light is the best. I remember back during my degree years, I took this one subject -- Creative Writing. One of the assignments was to prepare ABC book where you have to describe each letter with the things related to yourself. The alphabet A for my ABC book stands for Aurora and I pasted a whole lot pictures of northern light. It amazes me so much and I always marvel at the thought of how amazing Allah is, being able to create such beautiful things, far in the sky, untouched by the hands of the human. So amazing *insert emoji teary eyes*

3. Switzerland

I used to keep quite a number of scenery pictures in Switzerland. Everything looks so serene. And I kind of realise that I make a boring travel partner HAHAHAHAH. I love places like this where people can sit down, drink coffee and stare at the beautiful scenery for hours. It looks so nice to just breathe in the fresh air, appreciating God's creation and do nothing. Hahahah Goddd I am so very boring but yeah I think I would do exactly that if I visited places like the one in the picture.

I think that's it. Apart from these three, I think any beaches or places with nice sky would be enough to make me smile from ear to ear. Haha. The challenge is to list 5 places I want to visit, but I only have three in my mind. Okay maybe when I grow a bit older, I would have more places I want to visit. I will check in the next few years ok? Or maybe, I will stay as the boring person I am, still have only these three places in my mind. Miahahah.

Ugh I myself feel like puking reading this entry of mine. Maybe I should look up for places I should visit so I would have more in my list. Hahaha whatever it is, thank you for reading! May I still have the spirit to keep the challenge going. 

Till then, take care and stay safe!

Resepi Kek Butter Simple

بِسْمِ اللهِ الرَّحْمنِ الرَّحِيمِ

Heyya people. 

I'm taking a break from the writing challenge because I want to share this simple recipe of butter cake with you people. First off, I would like to tell you people that I loooooove baking but sadly, I am not always lucky with the things I bake. But! This recipe is really simple and if a failure like me can ace it, so can you.

So, you will be needing:

1. 250 gram butter

2. 200 gram castor sugar

3. 250 gram flour

4. 1/2 tablespoon of baking powder

5. 4 eggs

6. 1/2 cup of fresh milk

*additional: three tablespoons of cocoa powder and one teaspoon of vanilla essence.

So, now the steps.

In the bowl, combine 250 gram butter with 200 gram sugar.

Beat them. I actually ran out of castor sugar and I used the normal sugar. So, the texture was not really pretty. After the sugar and butter dah turn fluffy or kembang, add the vanilla essence. Cemana nak tahu the sugar and butter dan kembang? When they turned pale yellow gitu or white gitu.

Then, remember that 4 eggs? Add one by one.

Alternately, after each egg, add the tepung. Remember to ayak the tepung with baking powder first. Masuk sebiji telur, masuk tepung. Pastu, pukul. Pastu gilir gilir sampai habis telur and tepung. And then, add the half cup of milk. Pukul lagi sampai rata.

Pastu, divide the mixture into two. Satu tu, you add the three tablespoons of cocoa powder. Kacau rata. Kalau nak buat colour colour also can. Kalau ada empat colour, bahagikan adunan kepada empat. Kalau nak buat 24 colour macam pensel colour luna, yaaaa terserah deh!

Letakkan adunan tu selang seli dalam loyang yang dah disapu minyak or di-layerkan dengan baking paper. Putih dulu, pastu coklat, pastu putih, pastu coklat. Buat sampai adunan habis. Lepas letak setiap adunan tu, disarankan menghentak loyang ye. I found the action of menghentak loyang helped the layer to be prettier hahah tapi heyy, mungkin saya hanya berkhayal.

Masukkan dalam oven yang dah dipanaskan for 10-15 minutes, at 170 degree celcius for around 50 minutes. Tapi kan, my oven kat rumah ni very the stupido. I actually put it on 190 for 50 minutes. Tapi kek tu alhamdulillah tak rentung. See, stupid oven? But really, it depends on your oven. So, kenali oven anda. Bukan boyfriend sahaja. Eh tiba.

So this is after terbakor dalam oven for 50 minutes. 

Keratan rentas. Daymmmmm they look so good. And oh, the recipe produced a very moist butter cake. And it smelled super nice wuwuwuw. Ya Allah dapnya makan panas panas!

I am not a fan of butter cake but my mom is. So, she loves this cake! I did try several times before this but eheheh my previous butter cakes need to be eaten with a sip of water after every slice untuk membantu penghadaman kerana begitulah kering, sekering hatiku. Gittew. But this one, is so gewd. I think I will be making this as my favourite recipe for butter cake.

Do try it and lemme know if you enjoy it as much as my family does.

Thank you for reading!

Day 3: Top Three Pet Peeves

بِسْمِ اللهِ الرَّحْمنِ الرَّحِيمِ

Day 3 and still got the spirit. Wow, 2020 does change me! Bhahaha. Today's challenge is to share about my top three pet peeves. Pet peeve is something that you find irritating and annoying. You know, when you see something done by other people or literally anything that made you all annoyed, that is pet peeve for you. What a fancy name to describe things you hate eh? So, my top three pet peeves are...

1. Chewing with mouth opens

This practically drove me crazy. Come on, the sound we made when we chew food with our mouth opens is not really nice, right? The 'cak cak cak' drove me up the wall. It is very distracting, especially when you are trying to focus on eating hahah. It's much better if you close your mouth, chew your food in silence and when you finish chewing, you can open your mouth again. I think we all have the tendency to chew with our mouth opens masa zaman budak budak but you know, we can always improve and change whatever habit we have.

2. Spamming my Whatsapp but does not get straight to the point

I really can't. Have you ever received text from people, spamming you with your name like 'Ba Ba Ba Ba Ba Ba Ba'? I rushed to my phone, saw the tiny red bubble on Whatsapp icon with the number 23. Oh, must be important I thought. So I opened the messages, and the sender just called my name from message #1 to #23. I replied, yes? And then, guess what was the reply? The sender said, busy ke? And when I replied, no, the sender proceeded with 'oh ada benda nak tanya ni' and then the sender waited for me to say 'tanyalah'. 

See how many minutes already wasted because you asked unnecessary questions? I could have answered your questions if you texted me 'Ba, *insert the question*'. But noooo, some people just had to spam some tens messages before getting to the point 15-20 minutes later. But then I learnt, if the sender could take their time to get to the point, they could endure some extra minutes waiting for my reply to muahahaha. So yeah, I no longer reply as fast as I can to such messages started with some tens of 'Ba'.

3. Dog eared my books

Why you do this? Whyyyyy? I really care for my books. So, I never read them without wrapping them with the plastic wrapper first and I will use whatever I have in my hands to mark the pages, as long as I don't have to dog ear my books. I have used all sort of items to mark the pages - cable tie, candy wrapper, dry leaf, tissue, pen, business card, cotton bud, used envelopes, name it. As long as I don;t have to dog ear my books, I don't mind. Worse come to worst, I will just memorise the page number. Never dog ear my book. If you do it to your books, go ahead. But, please, don't do that to my books. I hate seeing the folded marks on the pages. It's like killing my books slowly. Gitu ye over.

I guess these are my top three pet peeves. I believe everyone has their own pet peeves. Like one of my friends, she cannot stand people who ask question merely to ask, not to seek for answers. She got so annoyed at such action and you can see it clearly on her face. HAHAHAHA but I think we all hate being asked by someone, only for the answers to be ignored, right? Anyway, what's your pet peeve?

Day 2: You're Lucky

بِسْمِ اللهِ الرَّحْمنِ الرَّحِيمِ

Heyyyy, I come back on the second day of the writing challenge! *proud face*. Today is the 17th day of RMO. For now, I haven't feel bored yet. So many things to be done. I have tried making dalgona coffee, kuih bakar, kuih lapis, butter cake and my stupid sis, she made maggi tomyam kicap. I'm thinking of calling police on her but she's not really a normal human, so I don't want to harm the police. Anyway, there are lot of things to be done during RMO and aside from my translation job, I'm taking this writing challenge. So, here goes Day 2 - write something that someone told you about yourself that you never forget.

Well, I've been told a lot of things about myself by many people, but I will always remember what my close friend, Anum said to me. We were in The Grand Sofo at that time, talking with the rest of the housemates about life challenges and Anum told me "Kak Ba, Kak Ba ni bertuoh kang. Dok rajin ada masalah. Happy je sokmo." I think I just smiled at the comment but deep down, I reflected myself and I found my Anum was indeed right. I am lucky, I have very little problems and I am usually happy.

Her remark was short but thanks to her, I become more grateful, appreciative and I face challenges better. The comment also made me realise, that while I'm complaining about my life and hardships, other people see my life as smooth and easy. And it got me thinking, 'maybe it's just me whining. Maybe life is not as hard as I thought it was. Other people have it harsher.' And that really slap me in the face, making me more grateful than ever. After all, have you ever heard of the saying, 'what you take for granted, someone else is praying for'?

Anum's remark about me stuck with me until this very day and as I got older and less stupid, I now know that what I used to call luck are all blessings and rezeki and for that, I can only thank The Almighty. So, take a step back, look at your life and count the blessings. I actually looked back at my life and analysed every thing that happened, trying to understand how people could see me as lucky and eventually, I found the answers. My life and every thing that came into it, every thing I achieved, every thing I owned, they are all Allah's blessings and I am really lucky, or maybe, I should say I am blessed, truly. And so are you.

You too are blessed with endless rezeki. You just haven't realised it, yet.

Thanks for reading!

Day 1: 10 Things That Make Me Happy

بِسْمِ اللهِ الرَّحْمنِ الرَّحِيمِ

Happy Thursday, people!

First day for the writing challenge and I woke up feeling eager to switch on my laptop and start rambling. Halah first day boleh ah. We'll see if I will wake up with the same gusto on Day 5 hahah. So, as per the list I shared with you people yesterday, the first idea is to write about 10 things that make me happy. Easy people, easy. 'Sko. 

1. Family

Several months old me, with the fans.

Typical answer. But, really. I am at my happiest when I'm with my family. And some people, they just bonded so well with me that I upgraded them as my family hahaha. When I was younger, I had always dreamt of living independently. Now that I am older, I realised that in whatever situations, family is the only thing that I can rely on and can go back to, anytime I want. Although my younger siblings are annoying as hell and my older sisters are irritating, I would still donate my organs if they need one. But no, I won't allow them to touch my books or borrow my stuff (though I know my sisters will just take it anyway. taik.)

2. Books

The heaviest box when I moved out from Cheras

I love books, I love reading. My mother is the biggest influence on me in reading. She reads while waiting her sambal to be done, before sleeping, after cooking and whenever she feels like reading. I slowly pick up the books she reads and as years passed, books naturally become my best companion. I usually have one with me wherever I go, especially when I'm riding trains or bus or car. Books are just perfect in every single way ah gittew.

3. Baju Kurung

Especially cotton one. I don't know why, but baju kurung makes me happy. Some of my friends call me crazy when they know I wear baju kurung, even when I'm home doing nothing. I guess it's because baju kurung is so comfortable so I end up making it my everyday wear. 

4. Spicy food

Ayam penyet, masak lemak cili api, ayam gepuk pak gembus - AHHHHH heaven! There's nothing better than nasi plus sambal pedas or kuah pedas pedas paired with soft crispy chicken. Dapnyehhhh! I can eat nasi ayam penyet for two weeks straight and I can say the only reason I will stop eating after 14 days is because duit habis gais. Otherwise, can eat until Izrail comes take me away.

5. The sky

Have you ever looked up at the sky and you go "ya Allahhhhh cantiknya langit!". That's me in the morning, afternoon and evening. My phone gallery is filled up with pictures of the sky. Lemme share some with you so you will be happy too. 

 

6. Cooking for other people

I am not a good cook tapi saja lah I want to acah acah good cook. Hahah. My friend Miyah who was also my housemate had to eat whatever I cook. Poor girl. She's basically tikus makmal to my cooking. Another tikus makmal I have are Ain and Bibi hahaha. It makes me happy when I know people I care about will not go hungry and had something to eat, even if my cooking is not that great. :P

Puding roti to welcome Yana and Ira coming to my house.

Budu bash to celebrate New Year with Syah and Miyah

Udang masak lemak cili api, pajeri nenas and ikan kering. I tried making pajeri nenas for the first time and it tasted nice that Miyah and I ended up cooking pajeri nenas for three days straight haha!

Learnt to cook laksa sarawak from Loles and I always serve this to people haha

7. Chocolate

 

I bet chocolate makes everyone happy. For me, chocolate is a must-have item in my grocery list. Apalah maknanya peti ais tanpa coklat. I would at least buy a Cadbury if there is no good dark chocolate around, or when I need something crispier but still chocolatey, I would go for Kinder Bueno or Kit Kat. Scientifically, chocolate triggers your brain to release the same hormone like you are in love. Why find a boyfriend when you can eat chocolate? *cry in diabetes*

8. Handwritten cards

I am a sucker for handwritten cards or notes. Even if you gave me a simple good morning note on a tissue, I will keep it. HAHAHAAH. I always feel like people who put effort to write you something are really lovely. I'll share with you people, cards from my sekolah rendah and notes on tissues I kept because they all made me happy haha

Birthday cards and postcards. Some from 2003.

Kad raya from my primary school years.

Random notes and letters, some on tissue paper. Hahah

9. Listening to songs on the train or bus

Time time gini I can fefeeling like I'm in a music video puihhh tipu je. But it does put a smile on my face. It's therapeutic for me and I feel like I think better this way. The longer the trip, the better. Tapi kalau trip yang sepatutnya sekejap and become long sebab traffic jammed, itu bala, bukan better ye gais. I always had my mp3 with me. Been using the same mp3 dari tahun 2015 kot. Hahah. mp3 is nice sebab it's small and the battery last long. No hassle.

10. Watching good movies or TV series

You all would be happy too if the movies you watch are all good and nice kan kan kan? My favourite movie is The Shawshank Redemption. Anyway, have you ever watched movie that really sucks? I remember watching The Mist with Bibso and Tiq. The ending made us so frustrated that we all went to bed not talking and woke up the next morning feeling all bitter! Hahaha I hate it sepenuh hati jiwa raga. So if you don't want to sleep feeling frustrated, watch good ones!

I guess these are the 10 things that make me happy. While making this list, I sort of realised that what truly makes me happy are usually the small mundane things in life. I guess that's how it is. It's always the little things that made up one's happiness. What are your 10 things that make you happy?

Thanks for reading!

Let's pray that I can keep writing hahaha.