Twenty Nine!~

Assalamua'laikum wbt & Good Day,

It has been almost a month passed from my exact 29th birthday and I only had the time & ideas on things to write now :P  As per previous post, I am still enjoying (hopefully) my sabbatical journey somewhere in Malaysia before return back to my career by end of Quarter 1 next year. Looking back on the things I have done, the decision to take this break is somehow unexpected and it is not true if I say that I have no worry at all before proceed with this. So far, life is still good and of course, it is a mixture of tidal wave and beautiful sunrise. I have to thanks Allah trillion times for making things easier most of the times; more importantly, I always have the options. :)

Talking about options, I am a strong believer that having multiple options usually make us act more human and rationale as compared to those who had no choice. But somehow, after browsing through few articles and websites, the idea of having an option is sometimes object by some motivators as they believe that a strong desire for success is only created once you have no other option except to reach for your goal. In this regards, my personal view is the option in this context would be more on the methodologies in reaching the target. But if people ask me what is my medium goal, it will always having an option to work because of I want instead of I need by age of 40 :)

Janda Baik, Pahang, Malaysia

29 is quite significant for me as it is the last twenties before I get into thirties. *definitely*

There are few lessons throughout this 29 years of living which sometimes do make me smile:

#1 

Life is always uncertain. It is fine to make a plan but there must be a balance between stick to the goal and go with the flow. 

#2 

We will be more selective in choosing the people that we want to surround ourselves with as we grow older. It is not because they are bad, it is mostly because the values that we hold are different.

#3

Opportunity always come whenever we have prepared ourselves for it. Luck just play a small portion. :)

#4

Being thankful for what we have is a must. However, I have to admit the fact that gratitude is always easy said than done. 

#5

Living a content life is about having an option. Hence, knowing the difference between what we need and what we want is extremely crucial.

#6

There is nothing more precious than having ample time to do things that we love. It will take quite some times to discover things that we are passionate about.

#7

There is no one that we met in our life is by accident. They exist in our life's chapter for some reasons; either as sweet memories or bitter lessons. 

#8

It is definitely fine to pay for experience. As I grow older, memories make me feel more alive than things that I bought or hoarded. 

#9 

We will appreciate our parents more as we grow older. Most of their advice will somehow appear as very true from time to time. Hence, it is OK to disagree with them when we were young, but keeping some of the disagreement to ourselves is still a good option.

#10

Colleagues mostly remain as colleagues. Only few is worth to be considered as friends. Keep the boundary clear to avoid unnecessary conflict in future.

Lawas, Sarawak, Malaysia

#11

First love is always hard to be forgotten. But there is nothing more special than the last one. (Based on true story among my circle) *HAHA*

#12

Actions speak louder than words. Trust the non verbal more and your own observation & guts.

#13

There is always a fine line between networking and propping. Networking is good, but propping is otherwise. Huh!

#14

The hardest thing that I find hardest so far is to find a balance between enjoying the presence and preparing for the rain. Try it! 

#15

Law of attraction is real and true. That is why we always attracted or closed to personnel who hold the same value and mindset with us.

#16

It is hard to remain kind when we hold an absolute power. That is why absolute power corrupt absolutely.

#17

Keeping our body and mind fit and healthy should be the most important agenda in our entire life. Try to get sick if you do not trust me :P

#18

Wisdom comes with experience is true. We may see and feel this by observing people with right experience versus those with no experience.

#19

Everyone got some selfishness in them. A success negotiation always fulfill the answer for "What is it for me?" for all parties except our Prophet and our mom.

#20

Not all educated person have good manners. But lack of education may results in lack of manners.

Milford Sound, South New Zealand

#21

Sorry is the simplest word but the hardest one to be said. Most of the people just dare enough to say it through written communication. Hence, the truest song that I heard so far is Sorry Seems to be The Hardest Word.

#22

In spite money is not everything, it is the foundation of many things. Try to observe the treatment received by a good payer versus those who are not.

#23

People who beg you to borrow your money will hardly pay it back unless you ask from them. Hence, it is safer to lend the money in the amount that you are OK to not receive it back. Or else, never lend your money in the first place. 

#24

Time is more valuable than money. We can put efforts to gain more money but there is no way to get more time unless we improve the way we manage it.

#25

Reading is magical. I cannot deny the fact that reading somehow brought me to where I am today. Choose our reading materials wisely.

#26

The more we able to delegate our task diligently, the faster we master the art of being a successful leader. Always delegate when the things that we must do ourselves count the most.

#27

Insecurity exist; and it is detectable :P

#28

Our best friends usually our biggest critique whenever we meet them. But no worries, we call them best friends because they are the one who praised us a lot at our back. :)

#29

29 is just a number. Lets embrace our age. #ladywithclass

Till then, have a nice day. Wassalam~

Sabbatical Journey: A Beginning~

Assalamua'laikum wbt & Good Day,

We are now in Quarter 4 of 2018 and soon, 2018 will be just another history! This year is also quite significant for me as this will be the last year of my twenties era as next year my age will soon move to another number. But after all, age is just a number; as long as our heart and mind remain young and energetic. *HAHA*

When this post is published, I actually had taken a big leap of faith in my career journey by taking few months of career break. It is definitely not an easy decision as it was decided the night I received my second promotion letter throughout my career with P. Some speculation is also been made, knowing that the moment I took this career break is somehow quite close with some event in spite it was not related at all. Plus, with my recent progress in getting myself back into the right BMI, yeah, people can always interpret it in their own perception. This is just a mumbling that people who know me closely will able to relate, I guess.

Tirana, Albania.

Looking back on what had happened this year, I suddenly realized that being too well-planned and overthink on things had passed had taken so much of my time and hence I rarely feel and enjoy the presence. On a deeper thought, sometimes I do feel that it could be because my faith and trust that "rezq" is something that Allah had destined for me since I was not even born to this world still need to be improved. And the moment I do my self-introspection on this, I personally feel it is because sometimes I do forget that life in this world is just for temporary. 

The current journey of my life also had opened my eyes to re-look at all the blessings and nikmat that Allah had poured onto me. At this age, I could not deny the "different" feelings that I had when I see the posts from my friends via social media about their life and their family. I am now looking at babies post as something that sooth my heart in spite it was a total otherwise before. But I personally think that the incremental in age is one of the factors for this. And maybe the peer and society pressure as well. I just pray that I will always be able to refrain my heart from the feeling of despair and losing my hope to the One and Ultimate Listener. Because once it does, it is a sign that my heart had hardened, and there is a possibility that I will stop asking and it indirectly means that my faith towards Him is deteriorating. Nauzubillahi min zalik. I always believe that Allah's timing is always perfect and as a servant, we just have to STRONGLY BELIEVE :)

Just a month before I commenced my sabbatical, I had completed another series of my traveling chapter which I named as Chapter 20. I went to 12 countries in total, within 18 days of a-very-once-in-lifetime-hectic-schedule which I don't think I will want to repeat again in future. I would love to share all the experience and personal insight that I had went through in next post, InshaAllah. Started with transit in Dubai, I went to Slovenia, Croatia, meeting my long lost friend in Bosnia, Montenegro, Albania, Greece, Bulgaria, Romania, Turki, Jordan and Thailand before return back to Malaysia. This is another once in a lifetime opportunity that I should thanks Allah for as everything went smooth despite a bit hiccups here and there. 

View of Ljublana City from Ljublana Castle, Slovenia.

As of now, I am yet to plan for another trip. After been to New Zealand last year, I think I had become the victim of Paris Syndrome; as other places seem failed to make me excited and feel that "Wow" again. Shall I make another trip to NZ again? *HAHA*

After all, whenever we are in doubt and the decision has to be made, do ask Allah through Istikharah prayer. There are lots of blessings that I never expect before had happened during this career break and I believe those are reasons why I still feel want to proceed with the decision in spite financially, it is a liability. At this age, I do not deny the fact that money is a basic need but surely, it is not everything. 

Till then, have a nice day. Wassalam~

Post New Government of Malaysia. Eh?

Assalamua'laikum wbt & Good Day,

I hope it is still not too late to wish all Muslims Eid Mubarak! Taqabbalallahu Minna Wa Minka & lets continue for 6 days of fasting in Syawal. :) We have another 6 days remaining in the second quarter of 2018 and in just a blink of eyes, we already in July and I will need to be fully prepared for the next stage of Kuiz Agama at Borneo Level.

A lot of things had happened since my last entry back in April 2018. As much as I want to write, there are lots of other things that need to be prioritized over writing inclusive of itinerary planning for my next travel in July and September. And few minutes ago, I just bought another one flight, just for your info. Hehe~

Since April, I had went to a short trip to Jakarta & Bandung and there are few lessons that I wish to share. If it was not because of Lion Air last minute promotion, I would spent my Labour Day holiday just within Malaysia. After all, everyone is unique and have their own comfort zone and sitting in a plane is mine :)

Angkor Wat, Siem Reap, Cambodia

A month plus after my Chapter 18th travelogue, a big change happened in Malaysia. For the first time, the 60 years ruling party was defeated badly in Malaysia 14th General Election and today, we are govern by new party called Pakatan Harapan. And we also got our 4th Prime Minister had been sworn in again as 7th Prime Minister, but this time he was representing different party. 

There are lots of funny and weird things happened around these days and some of it really makes me agreed with one of my previous desk mates when she said that, "I just shocked to see some of our friends are still stuck at fifteens in spite of majority of us will reach our thirties next year!". HAHA. It was the most legend statement that I read this year but somehow indirectly taught me that some people are not worth our energy and removing them permanently from our circle is crucial to maintain our positive energy. 

However, this does not means that we put the door permanently close for any good things later. This kind of incident sometimes can be good lessons learnt in ensuring the things that we do is always right & kind. Some people can be overly sensitive, some are actually holding their envy for a long time, and some are sincerely honest in giving their feedback for our own betterment. And if it is were not because this kind of incident, the true color of human will rarely prevail and for this, Alhamdulillah - all the praise is to Allah alone. :)

I am currently in the middle of marathon in replacing the missing days of Ramadhan fasting of mine. As usual, I always try my best to ensure all the missing days are fully replaced before any long haul flight trip as we may not know what will happen. But this year, the challenge is real. I have to celebrate Ramadhan a bit later and Eid a bit earlier. Can you understand that? HAHA~ *facepalm* 

Miniaturk, Istanbul, Turkey

Back to my recent travel which is not so recent anymore, one thing that I start to realize is we cannot leave the responsibility to plan for our journey solely to other person. However, in spite I was so frustrated with the trip, I figure out that blessing in disguise will always happen once we put full hope and faith for Allah to ease our journey. It strengthen my belief that there are more kind people in this world as compared to the bad one, and in spite I strongly believe in this, being careful is still essential. 

I also met one Malaysian who is more hardcore than me in her traveling and I just impressed with her determination in low budget travel. This lady really taught me that we can always achieve our dream once we have a strong desire in spite all the obstacles that exist along the way. 

Basically, Bandung is a very cool city in spite the traffic is not that good, just like Jakarta. The best thing about Indonesia which makes me return for the third time is the food diversity on top of the price which I think is very reasonable. After all, Malay is always a Malay in term of food preference and for me, there is nothing wrong with that. 

I wish Malaysia will continue to prosper with this newly appointed governing party in spite the media freedom that they are trying to exercise have started to show the bad side of it. I still remember on the election date, I have to continuously look at my Twitter in spite I have not been using it unless to question the service provider that I have paid whenever their services are bad. It was such a trembling moment as the full results are only released few minutes before Fajr prayer time in the city where I am currently work. That is how bad it was! Huh~ 

Lodge Maribaya, Bandung, Indonesia

Major things that I have learned these few months basically can be summarized as follow:-

1. Reading is the key to knowledge and intelligence. Even acts of kindness is the reflection of knowledge that we had through reading.

2. Busy people tend to have more things get done.

3. Planning is very essential. Failing to plan is basically planning to fail; and this is ultimately true.

4. The most difficult choice is to choose between being right versus being kind. Don't you agree?

5. Everyone is unique and that will determine the way they arrange their priority. You just don't be busy body unless their choice will make your life suffer like borrowing your money. HAHA. 

Till then, have a nice day. Wassalam~

P/S: Please pray for the smooth journey for my upcoming Chapter 19 & 20 travelogue.

Tips for Opportunistic Buyer :)

Assalamua'laikum wbt & Good Day,

One quarter had passed for 2018 and Hola! 

This is the second entry on the third week of the first month in second quarter of 2018. 

Did your tongue feel twisted while reading the statement above? HAHA #lamejoke

I am currently very excited for my next short vacation to Indonesia in less than 10 days’ time. Never thought that I will be traveling to Indonesia for the third time after my first visit to Padang in 2014 and Jakarta last December.

 For this time, I think I would like to share on financial related matters.

I acknowledged that I am not a very  customer oriented person and that is where I always find it hard to start any business. However, I believe that I am a good strategist and opportunity identifier. Hence, after reading few financial management books, I can conclude that I can use another platform to ensure all my expenses are done smartly without jeopardizing the quality of the items or services that I desire. 

Frans Josef Glacier, South New Zealand.

Here we go!

1. I usually plan upfront for my travel and do my groceries based on that planning. As much as I can, I want to leave minimum amount of items in my refrigerator during my traveling period. On top of price, I really look in details on the expiry date of items that I would like to purchase and instill the mindset of "Better buy less items than it becomes expired later".

2. I subscribe to all kind of membership for items that I usually buy and do not mind to pay for the fee. However, for items that I rarely bought, I am fine to subscribe myself to be the member as long as it is free. I closely monitor my points and immediately convert the points before it expired.

3. For fuel, I closely monitor the promotion of PETRONAS gift card at LAZADA. This year, I had saved almost RM 50 from it. By purchasing this gift card, I got a lot of benefits in maximizing my purchase through the following:

a) Credit card points as I usually pay any online purchase using this method. 

b) Air Asia Big Points - do make sure you key in your BIG Membership No. at the end of your purchase. This point later will benefit you whenever you want to purchase any Air Asia flight. :)

c) Cash Back - by clicking LAZADA through Smart Saver, I am entitle for few percentage of cash back. You can register yourself HERE. Just use your IC No as username & password during sign up & first time login. You can change the details thereafter. 

d) MESRA Points - purchase of fuel at PETRONAS using gift card also enable you to collect  MESRA points which can be converted to cash whenever you purchase any items at PETRONAS Station.

Can you see how opportunist I am? HAHA!

4. For long lead items or items that do not have any expiry date, I usually buy in a reasonable bulk amount during any special sales. 

The view from Casablanca to Marrakesh via train.

5. For any other online purchase excluding gift card, I usually make my purchase via ShopBack to enable me to get cash back from all my online purchase. ShopBack  got plenty of online stores inside and offer rewarding amount of cash back which will be credited to our bank account once we hit a minimum available balance of RM 10. You can register yourself HERE and start browsing the site. I even request for Grab through ShopBack as any complete ride will enable me to get 20 cents. At least, something is always better than nothing. #opportunistbuyer

6. As for traveling, I usually search through Skyscanner.net and select on my preference based on the price & traveling duration. 

7. For any offline purchase, I always browse through any special offer from any credit card/ debit card provider and do my purchasing using that card to get the rewards.

I hope this sharing will benefit you and let us (who have minimum entrepreneurial skill) maximize our purchasing benefit by utilizing every available avenue. Lets be financially smart & savvy!  :)

Have a nice day. Wassalam~

The Greener Grass ~

Assalamua'laikum wbt & Good Day,

Two months had passed for 2018 and HOLA! This is my first entry for this year :)

Being me who tend to get the seamless ideas to write at odd hours and whenever I am on tight schedule; here I go!  Writing & sitting in aeroplane are basically my comfort moments.

Listening to Ku Percaya Ada Cinta by Siti Nurhaliza at this moment really bring me into self introspection. 

"Ku percaya tidak sia-sia aku diuji

Demi cinta tersembunyi hikmahnya pasti

Pandang-pandang alam ini

Sambil pandang difikiri

Mana bumbung langit tinggi

Mana lantai bumi

Tiap satu yang terjadi

Tidak mungkin tersendiri

Cuba cari jawapannya andai meragui"

One of the mosques in Muslim neighborhood, Phnom Penh

Being on downtime due to few factors are not easy. In spite of good supports received from many people surround me, it is all in the end depends on me either to continuously walk forward or remain in my small circle of negativity. After having few breaks since last December until the most recent one in February, I do realize that in the end, everything depends on us to accept or keep denying; as everything were already being destined by Allah since I were not exist yet in this world. 

My recent trip to both Phnom Penh & Siem Reap, Cambodia did opened my eyes that the willingness to forgive is one of the most crucial factors that will set us free. The way they recover post Pol Pot's administration back in 1970s impressed me; not to mention the big heart of the family members of those being killed during that oppression. THEY CHOOSE TO MOVE ON & FORGIVE. Still, I find these qualities are not easy to have and needs a lot of mujahadah. :(

I am quite worry as I have one more year remaining to reach the age of three series. In spite of the ultimate factor whereby the time remaining to live in this world become shorter, I should anticipate that more challenges are on its way. And whenever there is challenge, I should learn to discover the opportunity that lies behind. Again, huge positive energy require for this. HAHA

Taman Safari Bogor, Indonesia

Having good circle of acquaintances is one of the most important elements in our life as a normal human. The reason why I use the word "normal human" is because I believe  that only 10% of people in this world is exceptionally strong and positive in spite of any hurdles in their life and taking a very short time to recover. Having this kind of people around us is not only helpful in elevating us from the deep hurt, but also showing us that the grass is greener on the other side which in the end speed up the recovery process. 

I truly agreed that emotional pain hurts more than physical pain and that is where I noticed the people who suffered with cancer but having good and strong support system (family, financial, friends, etc) can go through the pain easily and manage to have longer lifetime from the one anticipated by the doctors. And knowing this, I start to realize that having a good one always started by being a good one. This is one of the most important lessons which I believe it is well known by many but realize by only few.

In the end, in order to set ourselves free, the ability to forgive & forget are essential. Noted that the things happened to us could be because the past mistakes that we have committed; and it indirectly taught us that karma is always work without we even realize. 

Have a nice day. Wassalam~