I woke up with a sharp pain on my right ear and yet was all dressed up to work. In the midst of the crowd inside the LRT, I suddenly realized that I should not go to work at all. On one side I could hear the sharp noise from the railway, while on the other side the noise was so sharp that I could feel the pain stabbing into my ear. Despite the pain, I heard nothing. I got scared. I panicked. I quickly WhatsApped my colleagues and manager, informing them that I would be getting a sick leave on that day. So many thoughts were swarming inside my head that morning. What if I was late for medical consultation that I might become deaf? What if I became deaf because of something unknown that happened to my ear? Do I need to learn sign language? Is sign language difficult? Will I lose my job once I become handicapped?
Long story short, I had my MC after consulting the doctor nearby my workplace and then thrown to Gleneagles like a ball for specialist check-up (ear very sensitive you know), and got my medicine so I am currently half-deaf.
Anyway, this is my first time taking an MC after three months of work (I broke my record HAHAHA). I went to work despite falling sick twice ok! Hence, I was not really used to staying at home on weekdays. Thankfully I had fever because of my infected ear so I spent most of my day sleeping away.
During the time I was not sleeping though, I did a lot of thinking. A LOT. I let my mind ran around and wandered away. I was thinking:
1. I love my family and I am a nerd. Thus, I am surrounded with family-oriented nerds who happened to be my colleagues. I was expecting the super-open, slightly badass oil and gas players like those whom I met in the clubs in Miri back then. But then they are so family-oriented and they were such good boys (mama's boys)! I can't help thinking how adorable those little boys are sometimes (yes ALL the colleagues in my HSE Engineer department are males). The "you are surrounded by who you are" thing exists. LOL.
2. Contrary to popular belief, the Malays that I knew at my workplace were liberal and rational. One would have expect that they are so sensitive that everything must be halal, only their opinions are entitled and no one else's bla3, they think they are superior and other races/religions are not and they are radicals. Don't believe everything on media. Even though they love spicy food, sing Malay song all the time and often eat with hands as depicted on media, they know what is right and what is wrong. They know when to defy the norm with logic instead of going with the flow, especially those senior managers and heads. And please, speaking with them, eating spicy food with hands and karaoke-ing Malay songs with them do not make me a Malay. Likewise, them speaking Chinese (I have a few colleagues who spoke Chinese fluently, sometimes even more fluent than myself *embarrassed*) and expressing their attraction to Chinese people do not make them Chinese. To start living harmoniously, please get rid of the "don't leave your roots" mentality.
3. I hate KL road system and transport. When I got off the LRT station at Jelatek, there is no taxi stand or any place for waiting. I had to call MyTeksi and asked the taxi driver to pick me up at the main road. And the main road is a highway LEH!!! Please, please, Malaysians, please improve your own knowledge and skills. No wonder our ministers are huge mistakes.
4. Speaking of knowledge and skill, my deepest regret was not to study much harder during university days when I had the chance. I was so engrossed with the fact that "to secure a job in an MNC, you need to fulfill CGPA of 3.5 and able to demonstrate leadership skills". Yeah thanks, because of that I was so focused on trying to obtain a CGPA of 3.5 instead of obtaining the knowledge which is worth the 3.5 of CGPA. Up till today, I felt that my knowledge in engineering was inadequate. Implementing process safety in engineering design? How and what? Master control in all engineering designs so that we do not need to control the little things anymore? Then what if the master control breaks down and there is no redundancy? But isn't redundancy of the master control itself difficult to replicate and may be even more complex as well? What am I even thinking? And process integration, is RAPID considered process integration? Or not? By integrating everything into one space, have one considered how to manage all the wastes? Will managing waste costlier than using more energy to recycle waste? From one process to another? Won't that contribute more to carbon footprint? I WANT TO TAKE MASTERS DEGREE CAN KAH BUT I NO MONEY NOW HOW?
5. I mentioned earlier about "fullfill 3.5 CGPA and demonstrate leadership skills". Do you know that not having adequate leadership skills but scoring a CGPA of 4.00 can also secure you a job in an MNC technically? Well at least in my company, technical people are highly prized. It's not easy to be technically capable you see. I always admire those who are technically capable. They know many things and those solutions they suggested were not merely bullshitting, but were backed up with their knowledge and experience. No offence, but nowadays people are so engrossed with sharpening their presentation skills that they basically forgot about sharpening their technical knowledge and common sense. You cannot be a bookworm and sacrifice common sense, but at the same time you cannot be a good marketer and sacrifice knowledge. Even if you sound like a boring nerd, if the words you spoke make total sense, then you are an asset. Not creative in presenting your ideas? Make use of young interns or fresh graduates. Let them play with your solutions and ideas while presenting them in a most creative manner possible. That way, they can learn more about the technical knowledge while sharpening their creativity at the same time. What I'm trying to say is, it's okay to be a nerd. If you cannot speak like a lawyer but at the same time you have a brain of a professor, just let it be. I admire those who speak words of substances more than those who sounded super convincing and yet only bullshitting away.
6. I'm still at my crossroads of my career. What will I be in 10 years' time? Is this job the right job for me?
7. At what age should I start investing in property? And where? Bintulu? High likely I will be going to Bintulu (MLNG extension and because upstream definitely tak boleh pakai and also because I am a Sarawakian so MLNG prefers Sarawakian). Or Miri? Or Kuching? Or KL? But I don't like living in KL. Transport itself is a huge turn off already. Not to forget everything in KL is mega expensive. And please, doing spontaneous plans in KL is a BAD IDEA. But I am investing, not permanently living right. I haven't found a place where I actually want to stay there until I die so perhaps properties are only investments for me as at now. Maybe in a year's time? Maybe two?
8. So sad that I have to live life like a poor, thrifty auntie. LRT trip to work costs me RM2.80 one way; budget taxi queue at my condo area costs me RM1.50 one way. Everything multiply by two meaning I spent RM8.60 per day for transport. Previously I only spent RM7.00. RM1.60 increase per day is, a lot. I also want to save money for travels, property investments, retirement fund etc leh? Hence, I have no choice but to resort to cooking daily. Sad life it is. Not to mention how expensive groceries are nowadays. I spent an average of RM50 weekly on groceries (I only buy meat like once a month; itu pun chicken only).
9. Why is growing up so difficult? I should just find a rich man who already owns properties and stable financial status and marry him. But then my ego got better of me and I want to earn my own money and pay for my own bills. At least now I am paying for my own bills and managed to give some to my family.
10.I don't want my life to grow old so fast. Continue to give thrills to others and to feel the excitement in my life. Even after I'm 30.
11. How come I haven't been exercising?
That's all that I think of on a day's leave (sick leave mind you).
Friday, December 18, 2015
Tuesday, December 15, 2015
Shopping for Women's Cardigan
I have a problem that every OL faces. Especially for those who work in corporate world and will meet managers, Datuks and VPs quite often (although they will not remember this small peanut junior executive like me).
I like sleeveless dresses and blouses but I cannot wear them to office just like that! Not to mention the ridiculous below knee-length skirts and covered shoes, plus the "please-put-on-makeup" rule. Akibatnya, I wear long pants on a daily basis (although sometimes I wear skirts as well). But don't you all women (who read this blog of course) agree with me that sleeveless blouses and dresses are usually the most fashionable ones?
There is one way to wear those sleeveless fashionable clothes in the office of course. Outerwear. But what outerwear exactly? I have suit (reserved for meeting and to match my pants if I wear sleeveless), I have hoodie, I have sweater, I have coat and I have cardigan. If you do not have meeting on that day and you decided to wear some fashionable blouse and skirt, you will have that common sense that the suit is truly out of place in the name of fashion. Hoodie is out of the question as well, since it does not look professional in the office. Coat? You won't want to carry a heavy coat around the LRT (for those who take LRT like me). Sweater? Slightly unprofessional-looking, I would say.
It then boils down to just cardigan. Cardigans, in my honest opinion, is the most versatile outerwear for any woman who is fashion-conscious. You can easily match any office wear with cardigans. Cardigans are not limited to just sleeveless blouses; you can wear long sleeved-blouse and match it with a lovely cardigan as well. I have two in fact; black H&M and grey Cotton On cardigans respectively. Well of course, cardigans are not only limited to office wear, unlike suits. You can wear cardigans for a casual outing, a movie session in a cinema, a date night and even an evening party. Long story short, cardigans are categorized as "must-have" in any woman's wardrobe list.
You have two choices; head to the nearest shopping mall or start online shopping right with your laptop/smartphone (nowadays people use their phones for anything literally!). I would recommend the latter due to the honest reasons below;
1. For those living in KL:
- Human traffic (if you use public transport) or massive road jam (if you drive).
- Increased public transport fares (if you use public transport) and toll hike (if you drive).
Seriously, these reasons are more than enough.
2. For those living outside KL (who hail from Sarawak, like me *ahem*):
- Not much choices.
- Usually, those brand names (H&M, Cotton On, Mango, Esprit etc) ship over the unfinished stock from KL to East Malaysia so that they can bring in new stock for sale. So you get old stock if you shop in Sarawak (sad right).
I still love Sarawak though.
Hence, Sarawakians like me will always opt for online shopping. When I was in Sarawak, I got to choose up-to-date fashion and had them delivered right up to my doorstep instead of flying all the way to KL to shop. Now that I live in KL, I am much closer to all those fashionable brand names (f block, Dressing Paula, Topshop etc). Yet I still shop online, because of the reasons mentioned above.
Online shopping is pretty risky though. You do not get to see the actual product UNTIL you have it delivered right up to your doorstep. You risk having the goods:
1. Damaged and could not be returned once delivered. You are unable to check the condition of the goods beforehand because common sense, delivery is a one-way thing. Couriering back the damaged goods means paying another sum of postage fees and you may not guarantee getting something similar. Scary right?
2. Not as expected from the catalogue. Sometimes, it's the photographer's skills that sells the product instead of the product itself. The angle was so good that you were sold, but when the actual product arrives at the doorstep, it may be different from what you expected.
3. Size may not be right. Measurements vary for each brand. Again, the trouble of exchanging goods.
Sounds so ironic for someone who claims to shop online often.
I only have three online websites which I am loyal to. Those are Zalora, Lazada and PMC (Pestle 7 Mortar Clothing) respectively. Zalora because it has gazillion choices of everything any human being wears, provides 30-day goods return policy and COD (Cash on Delivery). Lazada because it is cheap. PMC because it is fashionable and during Black Friday it gets super cheap (free delivery as well leh).
However, the bad news is I can only buy cardigans from Zalora because those mentioned online shopping sites do not sell cardigans. Zalora has different types of women's cardigans which not only scores excellently in fashion sense, but also reasonably priced. Basically, the women's cardigans are divided into three types as below, with a slight touch of fashion advice.
1. Cotton Cardigan
For the individuals who prefer a simple look and outerwear which can be worn as a day-
to-day outfit can opt for a nice cotton cardigan. Cotton cardigan gives women that cute
sweet appeal and brings out your feminine side to others. Besides that, this type of
cardigan is suitable for women to wear on a day out as it has a very lightweight material.
The cotton cardigans are perfect for women to add into their closet as they will never go
out of style.
2. Knitted
Meanwhile, ladies who want outer wears that can give you that warmth feeling will love
the knitted cardigans and sweaters. The knitter outer wear absolutely makes you feel
comfortable in cold settings or weather and still look stylish effortlessly. Layer it on top
of your t-shirt or tank tops and enjoy the comfort of the knitted wool material.
3. Long Panels
Some of the ladies will also prefer a more modern yet chic appearance and the long
panel cardigan will definitely do the trick. Show off that hipster look and still appear
modestly stylish. The long panels are great to be matched with a nice pair of jeans or
even shorts.
Now that you know where to shop for your cardigan, all I can say is...
HAPPY SHOPPING!
I like sleeveless dresses and blouses but I cannot wear them to office just like that! Not to mention the ridiculous below knee-length skirts and covered shoes, plus the "please-put-on-makeup" rule. Akibatnya, I wear long pants on a daily basis (although sometimes I wear skirts as well). But don't you all women (who read this blog of course) agree with me that sleeveless blouses and dresses are usually the most fashionable ones?
There is one way to wear those sleeveless fashionable clothes in the office of course. Outerwear. But what outerwear exactly? I have suit (reserved for meeting and to match my pants if I wear sleeveless), I have hoodie, I have sweater, I have coat and I have cardigan. If you do not have meeting on that day and you decided to wear some fashionable blouse and skirt, you will have that common sense that the suit is truly out of place in the name of fashion. Hoodie is out of the question as well, since it does not look professional in the office. Coat? You won't want to carry a heavy coat around the LRT (for those who take LRT like me). Sweater? Slightly unprofessional-looking, I would say.
It then boils down to just cardigan. Cardigans, in my honest opinion, is the most versatile outerwear for any woman who is fashion-conscious. You can easily match any office wear with cardigans. Cardigans are not limited to just sleeveless blouses; you can wear long sleeved-blouse and match it with a lovely cardigan as well. I have two in fact; black H&M and grey Cotton On cardigans respectively. Well of course, cardigans are not only limited to office wear, unlike suits. You can wear cardigans for a casual outing, a movie session in a cinema, a date night and even an evening party. Long story short, cardigans are categorized as "must-have" in any woman's wardrobe list.
You have two choices; head to the nearest shopping mall or start online shopping right with your laptop/smartphone (nowadays people use their phones for anything literally!). I would recommend the latter due to the honest reasons below;
1. For those living in KL:
- Human traffic (if you use public transport) or massive road jam (if you drive).
- Increased public transport fares (if you use public transport) and toll hike (if you drive).
Seriously, these reasons are more than enough.
2. For those living outside KL (who hail from Sarawak, like me *ahem*):
- Not much choices.
- Usually, those brand names (H&M, Cotton On, Mango, Esprit etc) ship over the unfinished stock from KL to East Malaysia so that they can bring in new stock for sale. So you get old stock if you shop in Sarawak (sad right).
I still love Sarawak though.
Hence, Sarawakians like me will always opt for online shopping. When I was in Sarawak, I got to choose up-to-date fashion and had them delivered right up to my doorstep instead of flying all the way to KL to shop. Now that I live in KL, I am much closer to all those fashionable brand names (f block, Dressing Paula, Topshop etc). Yet I still shop online, because of the reasons mentioned above.
Online shopping is pretty risky though. You do not get to see the actual product UNTIL you have it delivered right up to your doorstep. You risk having the goods:
1. Damaged and could not be returned once delivered. You are unable to check the condition of the goods beforehand because common sense, delivery is a one-way thing. Couriering back the damaged goods means paying another sum of postage fees and you may not guarantee getting something similar. Scary right?
2. Not as expected from the catalogue. Sometimes, it's the photographer's skills that sells the product instead of the product itself. The angle was so good that you were sold, but when the actual product arrives at the doorstep, it may be different from what you expected.
3. Size may not be right. Measurements vary for each brand. Again, the trouble of exchanging goods.
Sounds so ironic for someone who claims to shop online often.
I only have three online websites which I am loyal to. Those are Zalora, Lazada and PMC (Pestle 7 Mortar Clothing) respectively. Zalora because it has gazillion choices of everything any human being wears, provides 30-day goods return policy and COD (Cash on Delivery). Lazada because it is cheap. PMC because it is fashionable and during Black Friday it gets super cheap (free delivery as well leh).
However, the bad news is I can only buy cardigans from Zalora because those mentioned online shopping sites do not sell cardigans. Zalora has different types of women's cardigans which not only scores excellently in fashion sense, but also reasonably priced. Basically, the women's cardigans are divided into three types as below, with a slight touch of fashion advice.
1. Cotton Cardigan
 |
| Image obtained from Zalora.my |
to-day outfit can opt for a nice cotton cardigan. Cotton cardigan gives women that cute
sweet appeal and brings out your feminine side to others. Besides that, this type of
cardigan is suitable for women to wear on a day out as it has a very lightweight material.
The cotton cardigans are perfect for women to add into their closet as they will never go
out of style.
2. Knitted
 |
| Image obtained from Zalora.my |
the knitted cardigans and sweaters. The knitter outer wear absolutely makes you feel
comfortable in cold settings or weather and still look stylish effortlessly. Layer it on top
of your t-shirt or tank tops and enjoy the comfort of the knitted wool material.
3. Long Panels
 |
| Image obtained from Zalora.my |
panel cardigan will definitely do the trick. Show off that hipster look and still appear
modestly stylish. The long panels are great to be matched with a nice pair of jeans or
even shorts.
Now that you know where to shop for your cardigan, all I can say is...
HAPPY SHOPPING!
Sunday, December 13, 2015
Kipidap Uolls; Korg Sume Terer
**DISCLAIMER: No intention of offending anyone. I'm merely expressing my cultural shock in this still-new-environment.
Maybe I'm new and am still adjusting. Maybe I'm so used to seeing proper English on texts I tend to get annoyed with improper usage of words.
I started work in a national oil company in Malaysia. It is no secret that 90% of my colleagues are Malays. You have two choices; blend in or stay stranded. Being a sensible person, of course I opt for the former. I couldn't remember conversing that much in BM ever since the last time I did so during NS back in 2008. And my BM has improved quite a bit.
But one thing that annoys me A LOT is the recent usage of weird spellings that has been plastered all over the social media. I'm not against short forms or slangs as I myself used some of them in WhatsApp as well (dy = already, izit = is it, hz = house etc) but this is truly on another level. Let me list a few of them out here:
Kipidap = Keep it up
Dongibap = Don't give up
Terer = Terror (supposedly means talented)
Member = Member (supposedly means friend)
Wiken = Weekend
Yukenduit = You can do it
Uolls = You alls (supposedly all of you; directly translated from BM's kamu semua)
I'm not against simplifying or shortening your own language for fun or whatsoever. I don't have the privilege nor that significant amount of knowledge to do the same in Chinese language (perks of being a banana) so I can only do it for English. Hokkien also cannot do what; the only short forms are kns, cb etc *oops*.
Anyway, excuse me for the digression but again I am here to stress that that "slang" is so annoying.
It took me awhile to realize that kipidap has a meaning in it. And why is terer considered talented? How did that idea even come in? How can the original meaning of the word be diverted into another different meaning altogether? Thankfully I did not take TESL or teach English, otherwise my blood pressure would rise if my students started using those "slangs" in their essays.
Please, adjust, alter, repackage your own language by all means, but do not repackage others' language. Especially if the country itself does not have a strong command of English to begin with. I am fine with hz, jz, dun, giv, nigga etc because at the end of the day, I am able to string a proper sentence in English effortlessly. But what about those younger generations who are not as fortunate to receive a proper English education? All they have is a smart phone and internet sans proper English education. They would assume dongibap as don gib up, since they already pronounced the "v" part as "b". And I cannot fathom the idea of talented being classified as being equal to terrifying (terror ma). Don't spoil, or in your layman's terms, merogol bahasa orang lain.
I'm just worried on behalf of the future generation in Malaysia. Glad that Sarawak is moving towards development by highlighting the importance of English.
And to answer those people who asked questions such as:
1. See France and Japan. Their English is worse than ours, and yet they are so developed. Why must we sharpen others' language?
Answer: Simple. We are not a developed 1st world country. We are still a developing 3rd world country. Give a huge "Thank you" to our beloved government who caused this. So much resources, yet we are living in a country with expensive goods and cheap pay. Seeing how far behind we are globally, we definitely need to do something to keep up. And by learning English first of all, we get to educate ourselves further with knowledge which is mostly taught in that particular language. And again, what is wrong with equipping ourselves with an additional language other than BM? English is a beautiful language.
2. Won't the stress in sharpening the English language eventually caused BM to lose its place altogether? What if someday all our young generation of Malays spoke English so much that they lupa daratan (forgot their own roots)?
Answer: The "lupa daratan" thing depends on individuals. If they are proud of BM and the culture, why would they even "lupa daratan"? Again, this all boils down to our beloved government who has done so much to make the young Malaysians who were educated overseas not to be proud of their own country. To be honest, if our govenment carry themselves well in the eyes of the citizens, they will still be proud of the Malaysian culture regardless. And if Malaysians themselves are creative enough to change don't give up to dongibap, they are able to extend their creativity elsewhere in other field. The correct mindset is all we need for Malaysians not to forget themselves. Don't put all the blame on English language (or whatever language that is internationally used like Mandarin).
I guess that's all. My poor blog is dead. Just need to write something and that's it.
Maybe I'm new and am still adjusting. Maybe I'm so used to seeing proper English on texts I tend to get annoyed with improper usage of words.
I started work in a national oil company in Malaysia. It is no secret that 90% of my colleagues are Malays. You have two choices; blend in or stay stranded. Being a sensible person, of course I opt for the former. I couldn't remember conversing that much in BM ever since the last time I did so during NS back in 2008. And my BM has improved quite a bit.
But one thing that annoys me A LOT is the recent usage of weird spellings that has been plastered all over the social media. I'm not against short forms or slangs as I myself used some of them in WhatsApp as well (dy = already, izit = is it, hz = house etc) but this is truly on another level. Let me list a few of them out here:
Kipidap = Keep it up
Dongibap = Don't give up
Terer = Terror (supposedly means talented)
Member = Member (supposedly means friend)
Wiken = Weekend
Yukenduit = You can do it
Uolls = You alls (supposedly all of you; directly translated from BM's kamu semua)
I'm not against simplifying or shortening your own language for fun or whatsoever. I don't have the privilege nor that significant amount of knowledge to do the same in Chinese language (perks of being a banana) so I can only do it for English. Hokkien also cannot do what; the only short forms are kns, cb etc *oops*.
Anyway, excuse me for the digression but again I am here to stress that that "slang" is so annoying.
It took me awhile to realize that kipidap has a meaning in it. And why is terer considered talented? How did that idea even come in? How can the original meaning of the word be diverted into another different meaning altogether? Thankfully I did not take TESL or teach English, otherwise my blood pressure would rise if my students started using those "slangs" in their essays.
Please, adjust, alter, repackage your own language by all means, but do not repackage others' language. Especially if the country itself does not have a strong command of English to begin with. I am fine with hz, jz, dun, giv, nigga etc because at the end of the day, I am able to string a proper sentence in English effortlessly. But what about those younger generations who are not as fortunate to receive a proper English education? All they have is a smart phone and internet sans proper English education. They would assume dongibap as don gib up, since they already pronounced the "v" part as "b". And I cannot fathom the idea of talented being classified as being equal to terrifying (terror ma). Don't spoil, or in your layman's terms, merogol bahasa orang lain.
I'm just worried on behalf of the future generation in Malaysia. Glad that Sarawak is moving towards development by highlighting the importance of English.
And to answer those people who asked questions such as:
1. See France and Japan. Their English is worse than ours, and yet they are so developed. Why must we sharpen others' language?
Answer: Simple. We are not a developed 1st world country. We are still a developing 3rd world country. Give a huge "Thank you" to our beloved government who caused this. So much resources, yet we are living in a country with expensive goods and cheap pay. Seeing how far behind we are globally, we definitely need to do something to keep up. And by learning English first of all, we get to educate ourselves further with knowledge which is mostly taught in that particular language. And again, what is wrong with equipping ourselves with an additional language other than BM? English is a beautiful language.
2. Won't the stress in sharpening the English language eventually caused BM to lose its place altogether? What if someday all our young generation of Malays spoke English so much that they lupa daratan (forgot their own roots)?
Answer: The "lupa daratan" thing depends on individuals. If they are proud of BM and the culture, why would they even "lupa daratan"? Again, this all boils down to our beloved government who has done so much to make the young Malaysians who were educated overseas not to be proud of their own country. To be honest, if our govenment carry themselves well in the eyes of the citizens, they will still be proud of the Malaysian culture regardless. And if Malaysians themselves are creative enough to change don't give up to dongibap, they are able to extend their creativity elsewhere in other field. The correct mindset is all we need for Malaysians not to forget themselves. Don't put all the blame on English language (or whatever language that is internationally used like Mandarin).
I guess that's all. My poor blog is dead. Just need to write something and that's it.
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