Why Do I Write?

Salam..

I admit that quite a lot of people have been asking me why do I blog but I do not have a definite answer to that question myself. At first, it was about living abroad as I started blogging when I reached UK. Then I began to write about random things, i.e anything that crossed my mind and I felt like jotting them down somewhere. Having everything in mind written in a blank page, to me, it might be a self satisfaction. Or you could see me as a sentimental kind of person. A person who writes about the present and looks back at her writings to reminisce the past. Gitteww..

Yet it is not actually a new habit. When I was 11 or so, I used to have a notebook which I described each of my friends at school. But I swear I only wrote good things about them. Luls. Anyway the book is nowhere to be found now. Then, not so long after I stepped into high school, I wanted to own a diary and so I did. I ranted about everything happening around me from the beginning until I left my high school. Therefore, all good and bad stuffs were kept inside. If I were to go through each of the pages, I could only read it less than halfway because most of the contents revealed how immature I used to be. Haha. Truth be told, I was thinking of putting it into a fire before my future husband or anybody else finds it since that will be very embarrassing, but knowing all the memories during my high school were all inside, I somehow hesitated. 

Right now that I am already writing publicly, there needs to be a balance between my privacy and general posts so whichever ought to keep as private remain as private while those I put up on the screen hopefully will be something that is worth sharing, if not a part of reading for pleasure to those who are seeking for. I could be on and off here, depending on my mood. There are moments where I feel like writing as much as I could but once I stop, it takes me a while to brush the cobwebs off my blog. Hew.


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And I'm missing my family a little too much today. Spending my day off at home makes me feel no less like a forever alone. Hahaha.. Doa saja yang mampu dikirimkan semoga semuanya baik-baik saja :)

Till then, Assalamualaikum..

How To Reduce Eye Tiredness

Salam..

Young adults nowadays are hardly escaped from using digital devices ( computer, tablets, smartphones) and as a result of a prolonged near work, our eyes will become tired and some will also notice redness of the eyes. Also, this is sometimes accompanied by a headache at the end of the day.

Working in the optical sector, I have received a lot of complaints regarding this issue. If you are experiencing these kind of symptoms, here are some tips to reduce the risk of eye tiredness.

1. Regular eye exam

First and foremost, have your eyes checked regularly to ensure you have an updated prescription for your glasses or contacts. Inform the optometrists/opticians how often you use the computer and how far the screen is in front of your eyes so they can test your eyes at a specific working distance.

2. Practice 20-20-20 rule

Take a break! Do not push your eye muscles. For your information, our eye muscles help us to focus at near. Just as the muscles at other parts of our body, they will get tired after a prolonged activity. For example, after we do a vigorous exercise, our muscles will become sore. The same goes to our eye muscles.

So, remember this 20-20-20 rule. Take a 20 seconds break after 20 minutes of near work and gaze at distant objects (preferably green objects) before continuing your work. This will make a significant difference.

3. Remember to blink

Believe it or not, we blink less often when we are using computer/tablets but little that we realize about it. Blinking is very important to keep your eyes moisturize as it will spread the tears around the eyes. When we blink less frequently, the tears will get evaporated easily to the surrounding and leave our eyes dry.

Another vital thing you need to know is, tissues in our eyes (cornea) also need oxygen which generally comes from the surrounding. The oxygen will first dissolve in our tears before it is supplied to the cornea. So, when we are having dry eyes, less oxygen will get inside the eyes. As a result, our eyes will become red.

4. Use computer eyewear

Lenses nowadays have a protective coating against harmful blue light emitted from the computer screen. This blue light can cause damage to the eye especially retina (macular degeneration) and crystalline lens (cataract). By having a blue light filter built in your lens, it will reduce the damage to the eyes and lessen the eye strain. Besides, ensure that your lenses have an anti-reflective coating to reduce the glare by minimizing the light reflecting off the front and back surfaces of your lenses.

3. Modify the position of your workstation

It is important to position your computer at a proper distance in front of you. Generally, the screen should be slightly below the eye level and around 20-28 inches from the eyes. Avoid positioning your computer near to the window as it will give out glare which causes eye strain.

5. Eye exercise

Regular eye exercise can reduce eye strain by improving our focus and concentration. Simply hold a pen at your arm's length at your eye level. Focus at the top of the pen. Slowly bring the pen closer to your eyes and stop when it appears blur/double. Then bring the pen back to your arm's length. Repeat 10-15 times.

6. Modify computer display

Use larger prints as small ones require more focus. Adjust the brightness of the screen so it will be at the same level to the surrounding.

Last but not least, do have enough sleep as it will affect our overall health and well-being. Hope those tips will help!

Till then, Assalamualaikum..

Carbonara Recipe

Salam..

            Back then when I was in the UK, I preferred a home made carbonara sauce rather that getting one from the store because as far as I've been looking around, their carbonara sauce didn't look so tempting. All of them were just plain white sauce while I like to put some flavours in my cooking. So I decided to prepare the sauce from scratch. And that was the first carbonara I've ever had, thus I wasn't too sure of how it should actually taste like but getting positive feedback from the housemates, I could not care less of the 'real carbonara flavour'. As long as it tasted good and went well inside the tummy, everything should be fine. Hihi. Plus, the recipe is very simple and took less than half an hour to get it ready.

But now that I'm already back in Malaysia, my preference has switched to a ready made sauce, specifically from Prego. Why is that so? It's more cost effective! Haha. You will just have to add 2-3 more ingredients to complete the taste. So, here they are.

Ingredients :

1. 250g pasta ( I like to use either tagliatelle or bowtie pasta)

tagliatelle

bowtie

 2. 200 ml of fresh milk

3. Cheesedale

 4. 300 g prego carbonara mushroom sauce

5. Frankfurter

6. Button mushroom

7. Butter / Margarine

8. 3 cloves of garlic, peeled

9. 1 large yellow onion, finely chopped

10. Ground black pepper

Directions :

1. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Put a spoon of oil. Add the pasta and while waiting for them to cook, you can prepare the sauce.

2. Melt a table spoon of butter/margarine inside the pan. Add the garlic and yellow onion. Saute for 2 minutes to soften.

3. Add the frankfurter and the button mushroom that have been sliced into small pieces. Fry until crisp.

4. Empty the carbonara mushroom sauce inside the pan. To reduce the thickness of the sauce, add some water and 3/4 of fresh milk.

5. Add 3 slices of cheese to the sauce. Let them melt.

6. Season the carbonara with ground black pepper and salt.

Once done, serve your carbonara with the pasta of your choice. Simple right?

Till my next recipe,  Assalamualaikum..

My Braces Story

Salam..

I have been dreaming of having the braces on since in the primary school to be honest but got put off several times before finally had them on 11 years afterward. Ever since I have this metal displayed on my teeth, the questions I got asked a lot were, 'Does it hurt?' and 'How much does it cost?'. I'm pretty sure almost all the braces wearer have come through these kind of questions. So I'm writing this bit in hope that it will benefit for those who are planning to wear braces :)

The answer to the first question is, it doesn't hurt as much as what you might have heard from other people. But even if it does, it is still tolerable. It's all about your mindset. Actually the pain is a subjective thing I would say. Or maybe I just have a high pain treshold for this one. Hehe. 

There will only be a slight pain for the first week, so you'll find it troublesome to consume any solid food. At this moment, porridge has become my best friend. It didn't bother me that much having to eat porridge all the time. At least I was no longer indecisive thinking of what to eat as there's no option apart from porridge and above that, I'm good at making a nice one. Hiks. 

The only problem I have was during chewing because the upper and the lower teeth did not touch each other so well, therefore food were never properly bitten off. Most of the time I felt like I just stuffed them inside my mouth, chewed 4-5 times before swallowing them down the stomach and let my digestion system finish up the rest of the job. Haha. Now it gotta work harder. Besides, I found that I have to put extra care when chewing and got panicked a few times thinking of the brackets might come off from its place.

Regarding of the cost, it would vary from one place to another place. I did quite a lot of survey with the help from Mr Google, for sure. In this case, you have to take into account not only the price, but the location and the dentist as well. After scanning through the reviews, I decided to do mine at Klinik Pergigian Aina in Kajang. The dentist, Dr. Aina is an experienced one and she offered free consultation if you want to first discuss about the braces. The total damage of mine was RM 4k (excluding X-rays and scaling). Luls. But it's not a lump-sum payment. They will ask for the deposit which was RM 1500 and the remaining balance can be paid off monthly.

2016 new look.. eh not so new hiks

Till the, Assalamualaikum..

Life as a Big Sissy

Salam...

Oh haiii... I have been leaving my blog for quite awhile now but I'm not completely back. Just came to realize there's no single entries published for 2015, so yes, let's write at least one before this year ends :D

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Alhamdulillah I have completed my course last August and soon to be graduated, so in the meantime I am proud to announce myself as a temporary 'bibik'. My daily routine is basically about keeping the house in one piece other than TLDM ( tidur, lepak dan makan). Luls. But one thing for sure, I just hope to spend more time with the family before I start working. 

Today I went to accompany my little brother to his pre-school graduation day, representing my parents as they were both busy. This little boy kept reminding me to wake up early since the night before. Well I'm glad I did. Hehe.

And this manja boy also led the VIP inside the hall. That was during the opening of the ceremony before he went up the stage to receive his certificate. I continuously reminded him to walk like a boss since the day before, which was the rehearsal day, his teacher reported he was a bit 'shy shy cat'. Haha..

photo credited to his class teacher

I remember 16 years back during my pre-school graduation day, it was my mom who stood beside me in the picture. She was with me all day long. She even prepared me the speech that I had to deliver in front of the crowd as I was selected to represent the whole class. After all, today was about bringing all those memories back. Blessed.  

This time around, I had to take over her place. Yes, I'm a big sister now. Being an older sibling is fun really. One of the best things is you will get to see how the younger ones enjoy admiring your passion and attitudes. They make you feel appreciated. They make you feel respected and they often cheer up your days with their silly questions and spontaneous acts.

But surely things can get a little haywire at times while handling these kiddos. I have three to handle and there were certain times where I lost my temper. *sigh. When they came back from school and started to throw their uniform everywhere on the floor, I still managed to stay cool. That's normal. They are still kids. When they secretly went into the room, locked themselves from the inside while carrying out their own kind of 'business' and when they came out with the room condition in a total mess, errr that's okay too. The thing is when everything happened in a row, one after another, that was when the bomb inside me started to explode. Hahaha. And a second after the bomb exploded, I would feel bad.

Fortunately, fortunately.. They listened well to me. When I asked them to clean the mess or whatever, they would do it right away. See, that's why I felt bad. I should have not get mad in the first place.

The moment they get me hit the ceiling, I wish I could be more patient. I wish I could hold my anger way better than previously I did. I didn't like it too, having to scold them.

Therefore, in the situation where I feel like blowing up, the first thing I remind myself is to stay calm. And then, make an agreement with them. In order to get access to my ipad, they ought to fix the mess they have done so they will get what they want and I will not get mad. Easy peasy. But that's not always the case unfortunately. Sometimes it doesn't work on that manja boy. Hewhew.. And I have no choice other than being succumbed to his demands. Nasib baik bongsu. Sekian cerita adik-adikku.

Till then, Assalamualaikum.

RISE 3.0

Salam..

Alhamdulillah berakhir sudah RISE 2014 yang membawa tema Until the End of Time ataupun Kronologi Akhir Zaman. Rata-rata bersemangat datang ke program untuk mengetahui kisah-kisah dan tanda-tanda akhir zaman, bagaimana Dajjal muncul dan menyesatkan manusia, adanya Yakjuj dan Makjuj membinasakan bumi juga turunnya Imam Mahdi untuk menyelamatkan seisi alam. Namun, setelah di'brainwash' oleh Ustaz Syaari, kami semua pulang dengan persepsi yang berbeza dari objektif kami yang awal.

Hadis riwayat Mughirah bin Syu'bah r.a, ia berkata:

"Tidak ada seorang yang bertanya kepada nabi saw tentang Dajjal lebih banyak dari apa yang aku tanyakan". Beliau bersabda, "Kenapa kamu bersusah-payah menanyakan hal itu? Sesungguhnya ia tidak akan membahayakan kamu.

Nabi Muhammad saw tidak membentangkan kisah akhir zaman untuk kita ghairah tentang kronologi dan definisinya, sebaliknya kisah-kisah ini diceritakan sebagai motivasi untuk kita mencari bekalan bagi menghadapi fitnah akhir zaman. Apa tujuan kita mempelajari tentang Dajjal serta Yakjuj dan Makjuj kalau kita tak mampu mengambil iktibar. Dengan bertambahnya ilmu kita tentang fitnah akhir zaman, adakah solat kita semakin khusyuk? Adakah kita semakin berusaha untuk upgrade istighfar kita? Itulah point utama yang ustaz cuba sampaikan, bukannya tertumpu pada kronologi akhir zaman semata-mata.

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Kalau RISE tahun sebelumnya aku hadir sebagai AJK dapur, kali ni aku dilantik untuk menjadi facilitator. Pada awalnya aku mendaftar sebagai peserta tetapi dengan perancangan Allah, aku akhirnya bersetuju untuk menggalas tanggungjawab sebagai fasi kerana pihak RISE kekurangan tenaga kerja. Sejujurnya sebelum tiba di tempat program hatiku sudah berdebar-debar. Monolog dalaman tak henti-henti mengasak.

'Dah bersedia ke aku nak menyampaikan ni?'

'Ilmu aku sendiri kurang, ape je yang aku dapat sampaikan dekat ahli-ahli kumpulan?'

Hakikatnya yang mengajar itu akan turut belajar, maka aku serahkan segala urusan kepada Allah. 

Kali pertama menjejakkan kaki di Port Talbolt, mata sudah terpaku pada keindahan alam. Di samping berprogram, dapat juga kami mencuci mata melihat alam hijau. Alhamdulillah..

Konklusinya, pengalaman pertama menjadi seorang fasi adalah satu perkara yang tak dapat dilupakan. Aku lebih mengenali apa itu erti memberi. Di saat peserta-peserta pulang ke cabin seawal pukul 10.30 malam untuk tidur, kami para fasi dan AJK lain masih giat bermesyuarat sehingga 2-3 pagi untuk memastikan peserta-peserta mendapat yang terbaik dari program ini. Setiap borang feedback dari peserta kami bacakan satu persatu dan cuba sedayanya untuk memenuhi keperluan mereka.

Masing-masing menahan rasa mengantuk

Sepanjang program berlangsung, kami terkurung di dalam gua yang terputus hubungan dengan dunia luar kerana di Port Talbolt tiada line ataupun wifi. Kata seorang AJK, 'sometimes we have to be disconnected to get connected'. Ada benarnya. Kadang kita terlalu sibuk 'mengoptimumkan' teknologi sehingga membelakangi silaturrahim sesama manusia.

Hari terakhir merupakan hari yang agak sebak, mengenangkan kali ini mungkin adalah RISEku yang terakhir. Ditambah pula hendak berpisah dengan ahli-ahli kumpulan. Walaupun dalam tempoh 4 hari yang singkat kami berukhuwwah, tetapi bila dua hati bertemu dan berpisah kerana Allah, ikatan yang terjalin dirasakan bagai erat.

Di slot terakhir juga, setiap dari kami diberikan amanah untuk dilaksanakan. Dapatnya ilmu harus disertakan dengan tindakan kerana ilmu tanpa amal ibarat pokok yang tidak berbuah.

Slot bergambar bersama ustaz

Till then, Assalamualaikum..

Switzerland 2014

Salam..

Finally I'd be able to click on that 'new post' button to write something. Hehe.. I'm now having my winter break before the exam starts on this 6th January. To make it short, me and my other two housemates went to Switzerland for 5 days via ryan air and easy jet. The return ticket cost us around gbp50. We had also purchased the swiss pass prior to our trip for free train and buses and to get a discount for the entry at most places of interest.

Day 1
After checking in at ibis hotel in Zurich, we directly headed to Winterthur where the Rheinfall is located at. With the pass, we only need to pay 5 franc per person for a very stunning view. Subhanallah.. Rheinfall was an absolute beauty. The view wasn't as stunning as viewed by our own eyes as compared to those captured by the gadgets. Secanggih manapun teknologi masih belum mampu menandingi kehebatan pancaindera yang Allah bagi. Bunyi air yang mengalir tu pun sangat menenangkan. Kalau kita perasan banyak ayat di dalam al-Quran yang bila mana Allah menyebut tentang syurga, digambarkan bahawa syurga itu ada sungai-sungai yang mengalir di bawahnya. Kalau sungai di atas muka bumi ini pun dah tersangat cantik, apatah lagi di syurga nanti. Masya Allah..

Top level

There's also a Malaysian restaurant in Zurich we went for our dinner. The owners were so welcoming and friendly. Siap bagi kitorang tapau for free lagi. Alhamdulillah rezeki Allah. Don't be surprised with the price because the living cost in Swiss is definitely quite high. A plate of nasi lemak cost about 24 franc, if converted will sum up to rm100 sepinggan. But as usual, the craving made it worth the money.

Satay and spring rolls. Kuah kacang serius sedap sebab manis. Ahaha..Kelantan sangat

Nasi Lemak with Lemongrass Chicken

We planned on goofing around the city after the dinner but I requested to go back to our hotel as my head started to give out its usual throbbing pain. Thanks travelmates for your concern. Hehe..


Day 2 & 3
These 2 days we stayed at Katy Mur's Lodge in Interlaken, the cheapest accommodation we could find. The service too, was great with a comfy setting and free breakfast.

The balcony

After settling down, we walked around the nearby city since it's already dark and there were not much things to do. Swiss terkenal dengan jam so sepanjang jalan ada banyak kedai yang jual jam. Not to forget the chocolates as well.

Laderach

The next day, we went up the mountain by cable car and on our way back, the snow fell down heavily.

Day 4

We took a cruise to our next destination, Geneva. It was free of charge with the pass.

As soon as we arrived then only we realized that we should have returned to Interlaken or might as well drop off at Lausenne. That won't cost any franc though, since we got the swiss pass and obviously it is a far better option instead of ended up being stranded in a very isolated part of France, which is Thonon. Not only the language became the barrier, we also did not have any euro to pay for the train ticket but luckily they received payment by debit card. I started to get distracted when my stomach asked for some food while all we had at that moment was only a boiled rice. What even worse was the toilet. I literally had to hold my breath while answering the nature's call. Hewhew..

After taking some time to sit back and reflect on our journey, Ummi asked each of us to point out what lesson have we got along the way so far. That was when our muhasabah session began.

First ibrah : Kewajipan untuk solat. Once we declared ourselves as a muslim, that means we agree to take Islam as our way of life. That includes the way we dressed, behave and performing the Islamic rules. So we shouldn't feel burdened or worried of the strange looks people might throw at us. We had actually missed our train to Annemasse while we were still praying and had to wait for another 3 hours to get there. Tapi redha aje sebab yang penting urusan dengan Allah kena diselesaikan terlebih dahulu walaupun hati dah meronta-ronta nak keluar dari tempat yang bernama Thonon ni. Huhu..

Second ibrah : Yakin dengan perancangan Allah. We had initially made a proper plan on our itinerary. Skiing should be one of our activities while in Interlaken but the service was made unavailable on that day that we only had a chance to ride on a cable car. Though skiing in Swiss might be once in a lifetime experience, when Allah says it's not gonna happened, then it will not be.

Third ibrah : Be grateful. Bila Ummi cakap, 'perasan tak kita ni terlalu berada dalam keadaan senang sampaikan bila toilet kotor dan berbau sikit dah mula merungut?'. Tiba-tiba tersentap. Sebelum ni pung pang pung pang nasihat orang lain untuk bersyukur but when it came to my turn, I failed to do so. Realize it or not, you lose the sense of grateful the moment you started to complain. In a difficult situation, it's hard to see things on a positive side so you tend to whine. But what makes a good muslim different is the way they react towards problems, that is with patience.

Ada hikmahnya juga kenapa Allah sesatkan kami di kampung Thonon ni buat sementara waktu. Rupa-rupanya Allah nak didik hati untuk bersyukur, sabar dan redha dengan perancanganNya. Walau susah sebentar, setidak-tidaknya perjalanan kami terisi dengan ibrah, bukan sekadar merasa keseronokan semata-mata. Alhamdulillah thumma alhamdulillah..

Till then, Assalamualaikum..