my brain dump

So yesterday I gave in to my colleagues' plan for us to have "healthy lifestyle".

They've been planning for hill-climbing for so long now that everytime we go out, they'd keep talking about it and would never forget to include "Zatil you should join too exercise is good for you bla bla bla.." knowing fully well I'm really not a sporty person.

Sometimes, I really wonder why we're even friends. Haha.

But yesterday after much planning, I decided to give in. Broga Hill is closest to us and we heard "it's not that far to reach the top so it's easy".

Mostly why I agreed.

And regret I never was! So beautiful.


We reached there by Subuh and after prayer, we started climbing. I was surprised cause there were so many people! They really have no clue how Sundays should be spent. Lol.

Reached the top before sunrise, so we get to see how calm the city is and when the sun is up. Felt good to sweat that much once in a while, but when they're planning for the second trip, I pretended not to hear.


"Shall we go to Gunung Tok Wan next?"
"4.8 km?! Are you kidding me?! That's almost 3 Broga Hills!"

There was even a stall selling fresh air kelapa near the car park area so that the climbers can refresh after getting some exercise from the climb. And it's crazy good.


So can proudly say now, one of my milestones in life is reached.

In case if you're interested (or you're like my colleagues who love outdoor things), here's a map to Broga Hill :

Another thing you discovered when you started working is, how limited you can accessorize your wrist compared to uni days.

Granted, even in classes I didn't really feel like accessorizing too much - you HAVE to use your fingers to write notes, and having those bangles in the way is really not convenient, first of all, and also how much noise they make whenever you try to write down something.

It's distracting, really. And since there were already attention drawn to us by being the only girls wearing scarves in the class (heck, even in the whole uni), you won't want to be labeled "the girls with the noisy wrists" some more.

So I figured I'd get the chance to comfortably use the wrist candies once I started working. Boy, was I wrong        -___- 

Firstly, you'll be using laptop/desktop ALL DAY and wearing bracelets won't be comfortable for your wrist to use mouse and the keyboard. Secondly, you'd feel self-conscious if you're the only one in the office wearing one!

(That applies to me, btw.)

But did that stop me from doing what I love? No.

Remember when I was in CC Skye phase?

Well, since spending almost 700+ bucks on a single piece of accessories I could only worn off work isn't justifiable in my case, I decided to look for alternatives. And I found it!

Internet introduced me to Wanderlust + Co.


If you check out their website, you'd notice how affordable they are compared to similar high end accessories brands.

I'm not sure if this could satisfy my need for CC SKye, but for now, they'd do, don't worry.


Eye-ing the screw bracelet similar to the CC Skye's I posted, but we'll see. Still not sure if I could pull it off.

Nothing is better after a long tiring day at work than coming back to this place.


Seriously one of the nicest business suite I've been to. Beats even Hilton Amsterdam!

A few months back I found out one of my batchmates, Uted (Sarah) is getting married, and I got really excited.

You know why? Because back in high school she was known as someone who's gifted with creativity - I remember her designing a few stuff for our school occasion, and she'd hardly ever disappoint. Well at least none that I remember of haha!

So I knew she'd make a crazy ass unique wedding. Hello, she owns Omnomnom okay. At least the pastries there would be crazy good.

She sent us this invitation card that looks like a concert ticket (I SWEAR) and the theme for her wedding? Rustic.

Now that's something you'd rarely see!


My date for the evening was Farah, and we were given babies to hold all freaking night. What is it with weddings nowadays really?! Kinda freaks me out to see some of the batchmates having little kids running around like it's perfectly okay..

Wore Fuzana Mokhtaza's Arina dress which I fell in love with the moment I saw the picture. Reminded me of Eliza Dolittle in her black and white dress; nevermind the fact that both dresses are two completely different silhouettes..

But black, white and red - you can never go wrong. Loving the new red lipstick (have always been a blush pink lip balm girl) but as soon as I reached home that night, realized I dropped it somewhere :(

So now I've been daydreaming about it every freaking hour. Sheesh.

To Uted, congrats and it was a lovely wedding! Hope you'll have a blessed and happy marriage insyaAllah ♥

...is that I've been having them for those 4 years in Japan, and I really don't get all the hype about it.

And you know what I found out? It's because I had them so regularly (daily basis, couldn't get away from the uni's cafeteria) that I was so tired of the smell and taste.

Because when I had them during the last trip, the taste magically became so good to me I couldn't even resist!

If you're a fan of shu cream, you'd love those things at Beard Papa's. Back in AAJ, he used to bring me those shu creams from Mid Valley's Beard Papa and that quickly became our staple food we'd eat whenever we go on a date (ah the young days..).

If there's a saying "the way to get to a girl's heart is through her tummy" then it'd be true, in my case. Lol.

So what did I do after finishing my first ever assessment?

Headed straight to Apple store..and bought my first ever Macbook.

So am officially converted!



And the first thing I installed is VLC, what else.

Been wanting a Mac since uni, but my conscience just won't let me spend that much while studying. (It really amazed me how teenagers nowadays totting iPad and Galaxy Note and whatnots..I mean, what do you need those for?! My 15-year old cousin has a Blackberry, for heaven's sake.) Vowed that I'd get one once I started working, so it's been a long time coming!

After the boss said we have to take the assessment (and every year after this..sobs), I decided to study and reward myself something after being done with the assessment. And it makes all the difference, trust me. Suddenly I'm seeing the Apple logo everywhere and had been suspiciously glued to the books just so I'd feel better going to the Apple store.

No, it's not a silly excuse.

One thing you should know about me is, I know squat about Mac. Borderline clueless. Basic things yes, but do you know how dynamic the touchpad is, and how almost every shortcuts are different from Windows?!

So I turned to my trusted colleague to fill me in on Mac 101.


And the first thing I Googled was "how to print screen on Mac". Lol.

So I'm done with my annual assessment. Safely tucked all the documents and books inside the cupboard.

I shall see you again next year, darlings.

Anyway. There is one book in particular I'm into now - regardless how many times I've read it.


How to be Lovely by Melissa Hellstern is meant as an unofficial biography of Audrey Hepburn cause it contains all the previous interviews done by the iconic actress; so in other words, it's all about her quotes. And relating to her legendary life.

I wanted this book initially was because of the pictures, but I'm so glad I bought it. I would say the title doesn't do it justice because it should've been "How to Live your Life Gracefully" as there are so many things that have been bothering me lately - and this book kinda gives me a perspective I never thought it could.

From the book, I've learned that living life isn't all about other people, or things around you, or the so-called world-y desires. It's about learning to feel contented and to not pressure yourself too much. It's about accepting yourself completely without focusing on those flaws you see or pointed by other people.

It's such an irony because today, my colleagues and I were chatting and suddenly one of them go "Zatil why are you so anti-social?" because I turned down their invite to go watch a movie on Wednesday night.

And I don't know why but the words keep ringing in my head.

I enjoy peacefulness of my own space. I'm a morning person so I go to work earlier than anyone else and I love how calm it is when I go to the pantry to make my morning coffee, I love how I have the choice to go home earlier some days just because I'm entitled to do so, I love spending some alone time in the car while listening to the radio.



So when one of the colleagues points out how anti-social I am, I realized that while I'm comfortable in my own skin, it hurts someone else. The statement/question might be driven by those few occasions when I refused to go out so late on weekdays, or when I refused to go watch movies at night, etc, so I understand. 

But I also realized that I can't certainly expect them to understand my space, things I'm comfortable doing, or things I'm not. It's no surprise that my close girlfriends would never question why I rarely go hooha-ing at night because they already know every bit of me (sigh, it's true. I'm such a grandma) but for my colleagues, it's certainly a point they don't seem to comprehend. 

So sometimes when you feel like you're doing something right, take note of how it affects other people too. I might be able to loosen up a bit someday but I will never let it change me for who I am, as long as it doesn't hurt other people. 
 
But regardless, it's such a relief to know how comfortable I am even if it doesn't make sense.
 

I have this annual assessment thing (yes, all staff have to go through this every year. I didn't sign up for this!) tomorrow, so these two days have been spent in my comfy room with documents scattering around on my bed. 

Not that it's my choice not to go out, though, cause he's been all "what are you doing online? Go study!" or "stop playing Candy Crush" non-stop. Who says girlfriends are the nagging one?? Pfft.

Anyway, one of the major baseline I have to go through is on technology qualification because for research & development, this thing is crucial.

There a few stages for a certain technology to be assessed and qualified :

1. Unproven concept; where the maturity of the technology is green and all there is is purely R&D. When you set your eye on something, you have to make sure whether the patent of the concept belongs to anyone, or if it's applied already, etc. And also investigation on the background.
2. Proven concept; where the "interested" technology is approached and has to be modeled using a certain method to get the basic "formula". Basically to check and see whether the model is successful or not by understanding the whole concept.
3. Validated concept; where all the concrete data is taken into account instead of purely hypothesis. Basic components of the concept are analysed using the concrete data if they're true and complement each other or not.
4. Prototype tested; where the technology concept is applied in a relevant environment as a "first try" to see whether it can be applied and if it's compatible with environment to be applied to.
5. Field proven; where the actual technology proven through successful field operations.

Of course, there's also the techno-economics evaluation to see whether the whole concept is economical to be used; how much it would cost and comparison with other similarly potential technologies.

To me, it's all almost like marriage. Do your research whether he's eligible or not, go through the getting-to-know each other phase, test whether you are compatible, and finally decide whether he's right.

 Proof that this thing is never easy.
  

So after a long week, I realized I am not done with my Japan trip blogpost yet.





 We were sitting on the bench and watching the Cinderella girl went out and met her "fans", and a few minutes later she went inside one of the stores.

And came out again as the Snow White. So there you have it, they're both the same person! Lol.



Our self-cooked fried takoyaki and okonomiyaki done! I'm not usually a fan of cabbage but love the dishes. Takoyaki is my favorite, if you haven't noticed.

Tried looking for the restaurant online, here it is. The makcik was super helpful and can even speak English a bit!


Though I wanted to kill him at first for making me cook my own dinner after a long day at Disneyland, I must say he scored big this time. Mum was super impressed seeing him with all those frying tools lol.