Pfth!
Saturday, September 5, 2009
Wednesday, September 2, 2009
I was back in Muar for the long extended weekend.
Drove back with my cousin and her boyfriend, and picked Adik up in Melaka before heading back to Muar. Adik wanted to spend the remaining of her school holidays at my Mom's place.
My family was never a big sahur family. Yes, when I was young and was just started fasting, we were forced by Mak to wake up for sahur, but since we are all adults and mementingkan tidur dari makan, the only obligation that my Mom has this fasting month is to remind us to eat something before we sleep, or the very least, get up to drink glasses or bottles of water to keep us hydrated.
But this time around, with Adik in the house, my mom has specifically instructed me to kejut Adik up for sahur, and make sure that Adik has plenty to eat.
Since I was the one responsible of taking care of her (well, dah bawak dia balik kenelah jaga), so I have no choice but to agree.
I set my alarm clock at 4.30 a.m and knowing my laziness, I gave myself a time buffer of 15 mins to roll about before I finally get my lazy arse up.
Sunday morning, at 4.30 am sharp, surprisingly I woke up almost immediately after I shut the alarm and watching Adik sleeping beside me so soundly, I tiptoed out from the room, washed my face and brushed my teeth. Pergi dapur, panaskan the chicken soup and rice from berbuka time, fried telur mata kerbau, then only I woke her up.
I asked her to wash her face, brush her teeth and teman her for sahur. After she had finished eating every bit and pieces of the nasik and telur, although reluctantly, I asked her to turn on the TV and wait for the food to settle in her stomach before going back to sleep. At the same time, kejut Mak and Ayah for their sahur drinks, kemas meja, basuh pinggan, masukkan baju into the washing machine, and by the time I’ve done with all those things, it was almost 6 a.m and Adik was already asleep infront of the TV.
This is my first time taking charge of the sahur time, making sure everyone is good to puasa the next day.
And all I can say is, NOT BAD!!
Drove back with my cousin and her boyfriend, and picked Adik up in Melaka before heading back to Muar. Adik wanted to spend the remaining of her school holidays at my Mom's place.
My family was never a big sahur family. Yes, when I was young and was just started fasting, we were forced by Mak to wake up for sahur, but since we are all adults and mementingkan tidur dari makan, the only obligation that my Mom has this fasting month is to remind us to eat something before we sleep, or the very least, get up to drink glasses or bottles of water to keep us hydrated.
But this time around, with Adik in the house, my mom has specifically instructed me to kejut Adik up for sahur, and make sure that Adik has plenty to eat.
Since I was the one responsible of taking care of her (well, dah bawak dia balik kenelah jaga), so I have no choice but to agree.
I set my alarm clock at 4.30 a.m and knowing my laziness, I gave myself a time buffer of 15 mins to roll about before I finally get my lazy arse up.
Sunday morning, at 4.30 am sharp, surprisingly I woke up almost immediately after I shut the alarm and watching Adik sleeping beside me so soundly, I tiptoed out from the room, washed my face and brushed my teeth. Pergi dapur, panaskan the chicken soup and rice from berbuka time, fried telur mata kerbau, then only I woke her up.
I asked her to wash her face, brush her teeth and teman her for sahur. After she had finished eating every bit and pieces of the nasik and telur, although reluctantly, I asked her to turn on the TV and wait for the food to settle in her stomach before going back to sleep. At the same time, kejut Mak and Ayah for their sahur drinks, kemas meja, basuh pinggan, masukkan baju into the washing machine, and by the time I’ve done with all those things, it was almost 6 a.m and Adik was already asleep infront of the TV.
This is my first time taking charge of the sahur time, making sure everyone is good to puasa the next day.
And all I can say is, NOT BAD!!
Sunday, August 23, 2009
This is my first time updating this blog through my handphone. It makes me feel hip and techy. Coolness. Hehe. Or should I use the word Poyoness instead.
About yesterday. I've managed to scratch off a couple of items from my to-buy list. So this morning, am going to search for the remaining items, and quickly come up with today's list.
Am going off to Ace Hardware to get the all the things to finish off my mural today. We'll see how ugly it turn out to be. Later.
About yesterday. I've managed to scratch off a couple of items from my to-buy list. So this morning, am going to search for the remaining items, and quickly come up with today's list.
Am going off to Ace Hardware to get the all the things to finish off my mural today. We'll see how ugly it turn out to be. Later.
Thursday, August 6, 2009
Why I do this.
I've been cutting down my expenditure due to the economic crisis. Really.
I've set up a to-do list, and also manage some financial planning and expenditure scheme, to help me stick with it, just in case I forget or stray away from my future plan of having a financial freedom (ewah!).
So what are the things that I've managed well for the past one month?
1. I no longer buy expensive coffee (starbucks, coffee bean and etc). I save up RM45 per week, because I usually spent close to RM15 for the grande sized coffee atleast 3 times a week.
2. Limit my expenditure to what is necessary. I list everything out, and prioritise it according to its importance. So instead of buying mineral bottled water from the hypermarket , somewhere around RM12/12bottles 1.5L x 2 (RM24) per every month, I would masak air sendiri before tidur, and top up the bottle bila dah sejuk the next morning.
3. Changed all my light bulbs in my apartment to energy saving bulbs. I spent more on the upfront, but hopefully it will provide me with a high ROI in terms of electricity bills.
4. I don't wear "branded" (middle range) stuff anymore. No more online shopping for Victoria Secret undies/undergarments, no more ZARA jeans (well I restrict my ZARA jeans purchase to 1 helai setahun, during bonus time). For shoes, I love Clarks because it is comfortable and it usually lasts me longer than any other shoes. But my craving for shoes is restricted to only 1 Clarks every year, or until I wore the old one out (which ever comes first). Untuk kasut kerja, I found one store that offers superb collection with low price. SUMMIT. Freaking comfortable and you can send your shoes back if rosak and they fix it for you for free!!! Get the member card RM15 for 2 years, and you'll get 15% off for normal purchase, and if there's a sale, 15% off on top of the reduced price. Baju, back to FOS and Padini Chain Store. For padini, since the cycle of their collection is really fast, I don't purchase my baju kerja at normal price or new arrivals, but tunggu sebulan, then they'll give 50% or maybe 70% off during the clearance.
5. For handbags, I made a promise to myself that I will use all the bags that I currently own; all the purchases from Paris and around Europe (which is more than a year dah) and Bangkok; sampai sekarang ada yang belum pakai. No more purchase sampai semua koyak rabak.
6. Before this, I spent almost RM100/month on my reading materials; books and magazines. Women Health, Easy Living, Apartment, Glamour UK and all those fabulous imported mags. But now, I buy them one month late. It makes no different really, except that I get to purchase it at RM9 per mag some even RM5, because it is outdated and the store need to clear it out asap. Favourite mag store - Sun Mag @ Cineleisure. Books; tunggu warehouse clearance.
7. Store canned and dry goods. Like mee hoon, spagetti, all kinds of pasta, sardines etc, so that if am at home, and I am hungry, I can just cook something simple and filling. Tak payah keluar beli or buat delivery. I've been doing that for almost a month now, and it works. I hardly spent more than RM50 for food every week during workdays. Now, my mission is to make and pack my own breakfast / lunch to the office.
8. I want to learn how to bake. Nak buat cookies and keep it in a jar, and belajar nak buat bread (Still trying to mintak Along to sponsor me my breadmaker, so mahal tak mampu beli sendiri). So bila my niece and Mr.Snots (both are known to be avid snacking creatures) datang, we don't need to buy tonnes of snacks. It will be healthier too. Both need that extra nutrition because those two babies are still growing. Hehe.
9. I have this small irritating and membazir habit of letting the tap running when I'm in the kitchen or in the bathroom. Sebab pemalas nak bukak tutup air. Sekarang dah tak buat dah. Although the bill was never more than RM20, basically free, but it is just a bad habit.
10. Buy perishable items when necessary. Beli bila nak masak. Instead of simpan lama-lama and bila tak pakai, then ended up buang.
11. Spending lesser time at the shopping malls actually help me to curb my shopping habit to the extreme. I was never a crazed shopper pun, cuma I usually spend money unnecessarily. Now, I only go if I need to buy something, or nak tengok wayang.
Honestly, I know am not so much of a big spender before, but I never think that I can actually save up more than I ever did. All I need to do is to control and monitor my spending habit.
So proud.
I've set up a to-do list, and also manage some financial planning and expenditure scheme, to help me stick with it, just in case I forget or stray away from my future plan of having a financial freedom (ewah!).
So what are the things that I've managed well for the past one month?
1. I no longer buy expensive coffee (starbucks, coffee bean and etc). I save up RM45 per week, because I usually spent close to RM15 for the grande sized coffee atleast 3 times a week.
2. Limit my expenditure to what is necessary. I list everything out, and prioritise it according to its importance. So instead of buying mineral bottled water from the hypermarket , somewhere around RM12/12bottles 1.5L x 2 (RM24) per every month, I would masak air sendiri before tidur, and top up the bottle bila dah sejuk the next morning.
3. Changed all my light bulbs in my apartment to energy saving bulbs. I spent more on the upfront, but hopefully it will provide me with a high ROI in terms of electricity bills.
4. I don't wear "branded" (middle range) stuff anymore. No more online shopping for Victoria Secret undies/undergarments, no more ZARA jeans (well I restrict my ZARA jeans purchase to 1 helai setahun, during bonus time). For shoes, I love Clarks because it is comfortable and it usually lasts me longer than any other shoes. But my craving for shoes is restricted to only 1 Clarks every year, or until I wore the old one out (which ever comes first). Untuk kasut kerja, I found one store that offers superb collection with low price. SUMMIT. Freaking comfortable and you can send your shoes back if rosak and they fix it for you for free!!! Get the member card RM15 for 2 years, and you'll get 15% off for normal purchase, and if there's a sale, 15% off on top of the reduced price. Baju, back to FOS and Padini Chain Store. For padini, since the cycle of their collection is really fast, I don't purchase my baju kerja at normal price or new arrivals, but tunggu sebulan, then they'll give 50% or maybe 70% off during the clearance.
5. For handbags, I made a promise to myself that I will use all the bags that I currently own; all the purchases from Paris and around Europe (which is more than a year dah) and Bangkok; sampai sekarang ada yang belum pakai. No more purchase sampai semua koyak rabak.
6. Before this, I spent almost RM100/month on my reading materials; books and magazines. Women Health, Easy Living, Apartment, Glamour UK and all those fabulous imported mags. But now, I buy them one month late. It makes no different really, except that I get to purchase it at RM9 per mag some even RM5, because it is outdated and the store need to clear it out asap. Favourite mag store - Sun Mag @ Cineleisure. Books; tunggu warehouse clearance.
7. Store canned and dry goods. Like mee hoon, spagetti, all kinds of pasta, sardines etc, so that if am at home, and I am hungry, I can just cook something simple and filling. Tak payah keluar beli or buat delivery. I've been doing that for almost a month now, and it works. I hardly spent more than RM50 for food every week during workdays. Now, my mission is to make and pack my own breakfast / lunch to the office.
8. I want to learn how to bake. Nak buat cookies and keep it in a jar, and belajar nak buat bread (Still trying to mintak Along to sponsor me my breadmaker, so mahal tak mampu beli sendiri). So bila my niece and Mr.Snots (both are known to be avid snacking creatures) datang, we don't need to buy tonnes of snacks. It will be healthier too. Both need that extra nutrition because those two babies are still growing. Hehe.
9. I have this small irritating and membazir habit of letting the tap running when I'm in the kitchen or in the bathroom. Sebab pemalas nak bukak tutup air. Sekarang dah tak buat dah. Although the bill was never more than RM20, basically free, but it is just a bad habit.
10. Buy perishable items when necessary. Beli bila nak masak. Instead of simpan lama-lama and bila tak pakai, then ended up buang.
11. Spending lesser time at the shopping malls actually help me to curb my shopping habit to the extreme. I was never a crazed shopper pun, cuma I usually spend money unnecessarily. Now, I only go if I need to buy something, or nak tengok wayang.
Honestly, I know am not so much of a big spender before, but I never think that I can actually save up more than I ever did. All I need to do is to control and monitor my spending habit.
So proud.
Friday, July 10, 2009
It's 1.44 AM and I am still wide awake.
Normally I would go to sleep somewhere around 10.30 to 11 PM and most of my friends know that I'd be cranky if I don't go to sleep on time.
But that has certainly changed now hasn't it?
I have just finished working on an assignment for the Business Management Course for my quite-close-but-not-that-close friend who is also my ex-clerk yang currently taking up a part time Bachelor Degree Course in OUM.
I have been helping him out with assignments for the past 2 years; mainly on assignments that require much research and analysis; because I know for the fact that he can't manage to do all the homeworks that have been assigned to him and to complete it on time.
He is almost 35 years old, married with 5 kids. I'm obliged to help him. I want to help him. Why? Simply because he is a good man, and he had strived his way up to where he is now by being patience and nice to everyone around him.
When he started working, he had no high school qualification or whatsoever. A drop-out. Now he is already half way of completing his degree. If that is not aspiring then I do not know what else is.
He is a hardworking man, in my opinion, it is just that sometimes he can't juggle too many things at one go. Well, it is given that man totally sucks at multitasking innit?
Alah, lagipun not all the assignments that I have been helping him with is really that hard to complete. Some might requires me to spend more time than I usually do on research and reading, but then nothing beats the rush I have inside of me on learning new things, something that is out of my comfort zone and territory. It is a good exposure I may add, because I've always wanted to do my MBA and working on his assignments and from all the research I've done, I think I can do well if not great.
Being an engineer my whole working life, my brain has been trained to think structurally, calculatively and imaginatively (not artsy fartsy imagination but the fact that we learn things that we can't see or touch like the flow of electric current, electromagnetic field, F=M*A , A=(v-u)/t and all those engineering stuff) so it was always difficult for me to churn out big , pseudo intelligent words ;) and also business jargons to describe and to elaborate on all things business and management. Hell, I can't properly goreng and make my gorengness believable even when I was doing my karangan.
But now, I can proudly say that I can goreng a bit. Not really THAT good, but at least when people ask me about the concept of management and whatnots, I won't sound too dumb or look blurred. Kan?
Kene bunyi pandai walaupun tak berapa sangat.
I think this year alone, I have acquired more knowledge and pick up a few new stuff in comparison with past years. Ok lah not bad. Probably my next target is to read one technical book a month. (Tiru this habit from my ex-Deputy Chief Engineer and he is so knowledgeable and basically considered an expert in anything)
Sounds boring eh? But I don’t know. Just a plan anyway. If tak jalan, then just cover a few chapters is good enough. Just for a refresher course, so that the neurons in my brain could store and hold on to the information longer.
Gosh am so hungry. It’s time to find something to eat, and force myself to sleep. It is going to be a long day tomorrow.
Good nite.
Normally I would go to sleep somewhere around 10.30 to 11 PM and most of my friends know that I'd be cranky if I don't go to sleep on time.
But that has certainly changed now hasn't it?
I have just finished working on an assignment for the Business Management Course for my quite-close-but-not-that-close friend who is also my ex-clerk yang currently taking up a part time Bachelor Degree Course in OUM.
I have been helping him out with assignments for the past 2 years; mainly on assignments that require much research and analysis; because I know for the fact that he can't manage to do all the homeworks that have been assigned to him and to complete it on time.
He is almost 35 years old, married with 5 kids. I'm obliged to help him. I want to help him. Why? Simply because he is a good man, and he had strived his way up to where he is now by being patience and nice to everyone around him.
When he started working, he had no high school qualification or whatsoever. A drop-out. Now he is already half way of completing his degree. If that is not aspiring then I do not know what else is.
He is a hardworking man, in my opinion, it is just that sometimes he can't juggle too many things at one go. Well, it is given that man totally sucks at multitasking innit?
Alah, lagipun not all the assignments that I have been helping him with is really that hard to complete. Some might requires me to spend more time than I usually do on research and reading, but then nothing beats the rush I have inside of me on learning new things, something that is out of my comfort zone and territory. It is a good exposure I may add, because I've always wanted to do my MBA and working on his assignments and from all the research I've done, I think I can do well if not great.
Being an engineer my whole working life, my brain has been trained to think structurally, calculatively and imaginatively (not artsy fartsy imagination but the fact that we learn things that we can't see or touch like the flow of electric current, electromagnetic field, F=M*A , A=(v-u)/t and all those engineering stuff) so it was always difficult for me to churn out big , pseudo intelligent words ;) and also business jargons to describe and to elaborate on all things business and management. Hell, I can't properly goreng and make my gorengness believable even when I was doing my karangan.
But now, I can proudly say that I can goreng a bit. Not really THAT good, but at least when people ask me about the concept of management and whatnots, I won't sound too dumb or look blurred. Kan?
Kene bunyi pandai walaupun tak berapa sangat.
I think this year alone, I have acquired more knowledge and pick up a few new stuff in comparison with past years. Ok lah not bad. Probably my next target is to read one technical book a month. (Tiru this habit from my ex-Deputy Chief Engineer and he is so knowledgeable and basically considered an expert in anything)
Sounds boring eh? But I don’t know. Just a plan anyway. If tak jalan, then just cover a few chapters is good enough. Just for a refresher course, so that the neurons in my brain could store and hold on to the information longer.
Gosh am so hungry. It’s time to find something to eat, and force myself to sleep. It is going to be a long day tomorrow.
Good nite.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)