8-week habit.

Ever since I was a student, there are things which I don’t mind spending more money on.

3 things as I recall: food, books and hair care and treatment.

I don’t really have gorgeous healthy, wavy hair, as much as I’d like to have it (bersyukur ada rambut sudah), but I try to get it trimmed and treated every once in a while because that, to me is better therapy than retail.

I get someone to massage my back, my head, talk to me (and talk me into doing expensive treatments), and of course, I get to feel a lot prettier about myself, although what other people want to think about me is not really any of my business ;p

When I go to shops like Thomas and Guys, Snips, Top Knots and the likes of it, I tend to ask for junior stylists.

This is not only because I have some budget constraint, but also because I happen to think that junior stylists give us better service, hands down, as compared to their seniors.

They are so ever willing to please. They educate us on the products they use. They educate us on each and every thing they are doing to our head. And also, you can tell them to do anything. Picit kuat-kuat kat kepala atau garu kat tempat gatal because they will do it.

Plus, they allow (fickle-minded) people like yours truly to change her mind like 50 thousand times before I am satisfied with the kind of hairdo I want, even if it doesn’t make much difference from the current hair I already own.

And the best thing is perhaps they don’t force us when they are promoting something and they ask a lot of questions about us and basically makes us feel quite special, even if just for 2 hours.

I say this because we’ve had a senior stylist work on Fah’s (my cousin) head before. No doubt that the senior stylist expertly chopped her hair off in just minutes. Plus, she chopped it off like exactly the way Fah wanted her hair to be done.

But the senior stylist didn’t listen to Fah when she said the massage was hurting her, plus she didn’t say a word to Fah. All we know is that… she did her superb job in silence. If you don’t like people talking to you and you want your head to be done pronto, this might suit you.

But to me, if you’re going to splash like RM 100 or so, make sure they do it right, even if they take all the time in the world.

After all, we all go there for therapy of some sort, so… make that therapy worth it.

I have stopped going to other salons because I developed some scalp condition after a while of hop-hopping from one salon to another. So, I maintained going to Snips at The Curve. They use products which are suitable for Asian hair, plus their hair treatment lasts for about 6 weeks! Splendid!

I ask for Koren each time I go there because he’s a nice boy who does wonders with my head plus giving me tips here and there where he can. And he’s obviously very willing to please, which pleases me and gives me a good ending to my bad hair days, especially if I decide to go on weekdays.

Another shop I recommend is in Seksyen 2 Shah Alam. Though I can’t recall the name right now. That one’s quite a maestro, he is.

Pengajaran hari ini ialah: mintalah untuk Junior Stylist. Walaupun saya tahu harga kadang-kadang beza RM 10 sahaja. Mereka sangat best.

Dan jika anda dah kenal, baru boleh minta Koren. Beliau saya punya ;p. Jangan tipu kerana beliau kenal customer ;p

Lagi satu, bawa teman yang suka ambil gambar supaya journey 2 jam anda akan direkod dengan baik sekali ;p

the last time was?

It’s been such a long time since…

… the last time I went out for a date. I mean, although Abdul has been coming down to KL more often in the past few weeks, I think we can count with just one hand (or a few fingers) of how many things we’ve done together. Normally, we’re either chilling out at home, or… preparing for an interview or doing something work related, or the likes of it.

So, you can imagine how euphoric I was this entire weekend, to have him ALL to myself doing all kinds of silly stuff together (sampaikan Keng Soon lambai dekat escalator Times Sq. pon tak perasan?) Haish.

Well, anyways, after breakfast with his friends at KJ and after sending him to Subang to get a bath (sangat jauh nak mandi saya tahu), we went to Selayang to check out his Lollipop, who is going to get a new coat of paint. Lucky I wasn’t hesitant about making that trip to see the car, etc. because I managed to persuade him to change the initial colour he had already decided on. Terima kasih Abdul kerana mendengar “suggestion” saya. Ngeeeee ;p



Then from there, we headed to Times Sq. to have lunch with AmedSya and Mamin. Had Wendy’s for the first time ever and I thought that it was okay. Ordered the ¼ pound and finished it like lightning (as if that’s anything new) and I loved the strawberry milkshake though Abdul happens to think that nothing can beat McD’s milkshake. I still think the one we ordered was superb.

Since we both hate crowded places and pening-pening crowded shops, we decided to go back into more familiar territory – to The Curve.

After all, I have wanted to do something with my hair since Monday. But since Abdul told me to wait for him to come, I thought I’d hold it this time 'til he arrived. Dia tak pernah teman saya buat rambut ke apa ke, jadi nak merasa lah agaknya.

And so, he dapat merasa and waited for 2 WHOLE HOURS, while I happily sat there with people treating my itchy head. (I will blog about this in a separate post). I kesian Abdul a bit, but hey, no pain no gain, I guess? Hahaha. I’m sure since he’s a patient (enough) man, he doesn’t quite mind. Haha. Kan? Kan? Kan? Ngeeeee ;p

Then, I treated him to Coffee Bean Caramel (with the Coffee Bean card he gave me, jadi saya tak paham concept belanja saya ;p) while we sat in front of Marche’s band at The Street, listening to the songs they performed that night. I didn’t buy all the things in my current wishlist that night, but I got myself the coolest pair of shades (in my opinion by the way), which is a bit like so not me, but I need to revamp a lot of things about myself and this is kind of like a good start actually.





We headed back home soon after that and waited until AmedSya came to pick him up to lepak-lepak at Subang. Obviously I didn’t join them because I don’t sleep that late at night even if my parents are not around to pester me to come back home early.

That was my Saturday! Nak lagi macam ni please?

pesanan penaja kepada adik-adik.

sticky post until 10th July 2009 (entry baru di bawah, harap maklum)

adik-adik, seingat saya, sejak saya berumur 7 tahun lagi, saya telah membelikan Mama birthday present beliau dan menulis card seperti berikut:

"love, akak, abang, adik"

pada waktu itu, saya hanya mendapat 50 sen sehari untuk belanja sekolah, tetapi saya telah mewakili anda semua apabila membeli hadiah Mama.

pada tahun ini, memandangkan saya telah berjaya mendapat pekerjaan yang stabil (alhamdulillah) dan earning 5000 kali ganda 50 sen tersebut, bolehkah jika saya tidak mewakili anda semua lagi?

kerana saya tahu adik-adik sekalian mempunyai duit masing-masing sekarang yang lebih banyak daripada saya :) setelah bertahun-tahun saving dan juga kakak belanja ;p

jika tak setuju, tak mengapa, saya akan tetap mewakili adik-adik, sebab saya kan kakak. lagipun, haritu Babah telah sound apabila saya kasi golf balls kepada beliau dan tulis:

"love, akak" sahaja

beliau kata kesian adik-adik takda duit lagi (dalam hati fikir, iye ke???) ;p

tapi terima kasih kerana talifon beliau pada hari tersebut, beliau amat terharu sampai berkali-kali cerita kepada saya dan Mama. beliau kata beliau tak menang golf pada hari tersebut sebab tak sempat layan anak-anak call.

okay, back to birthday Mama. saya berharap agar adik-adik jangan lupa call beliau okay? dan jika boleh hantar card, lebih bagus. Mama suka snail mail ni dan dia juga suka show off kepada kawan-kawan dia yang kita ingat dia. dia kan Mama, jadi tak apa dia macam tu.

lagipun, dia selalu kata:

"wait until you have your own children. dapat cakap sekejap pon takpe. rindu tau tak"

jadi, saya ingin mendapatkan persetujuan. tahun ini saya beli present dari saya sahaja okay?

tapi card kita masih boleh share.

nurul amira, minggu depan saya rasa saya nak jumpa anda la. saya miss bergaduh sama anda.

ada kursus or anything tak? jum kita keluar tengok transformers? kawan-kawan saya semua dah tengok tapi saya belum tengok.

love, akak.

p.s.: tahun ni Mama tengah suka mandian-mandian dan lotion-lotion. tapi jangan beli body shop okay? dia alergic reaction nanti. tapi dia suka yang macam fusion of floral-fruity. tak tahu apa nak beli lagi. mungkin di Seremban dan Adelaide ada benda lebih menarik. kamu-kamu juga cari-cari if ada anything okay?

tsk tsk.

Menggigil kesejukan.

Although there is no aircond directly in my room, I am still cold. This place is the ultimate lemari ais, yes.

Actually, I am writing this to just pass time because I am nervous. I have passed motion many times, yet still drinking Neslo like nobody’s business. I think I might have a sore throat and my senior officer just told me that:

“I termimpi-mimpi book review you”.

Ohmaijohn, not helping at all, okay?

I just washed my hair last night, so, it’s a bit static. But then, as much as it’s a bad hair day, it doesn’t look all that bad either. I hope the day will turn out to be like that.

Today should be a good day, it’s Friday, it’s Mama’s birthday, and nothing should spoil it really.

I have finished writing the outline, etc. and now I have to practice.

Masa nak jadi MC dulu pon tak takut macam ni. In fact, mooting pon tak takut macam ni although mooting siap ada judge bagai.

Apa ni apa ni.
Menggigil sampai ke tulang.

The principles of condonation

Condonation should be an English word, but my guess is that it isn’t since it’s got a bright, red line zigzagging under it.

Condonation comes from the root word condone.

Condone, among other things means to allow, accept and disregard, overlook, to forgive an act or imply forgiveness or to give tacit approval of something.

Sometimes, I wonder why some people wonder so much why some things happen. Because sometimes, I think it's very obvious that they were the ones who allowed the way the course of events took place. You allow it to happen yet you wonder why it happens? So to me, the joke is on them.

I condone alot of things too. Sometimes, I don't know why I do, or why I allow it, but there are times when I don't have much of a choice to begin with. And when that happens, it sucks, yet it's something which cannot be helped.

But if I condone this feeling to prolong, I guess the joke is on me and me alone.

As for the real principles of condonation under the law, look it up yourself.

I feel so bloody damn shitty.

empty shells.

When I am positive about something, I’m not only trying to psych myself. I am not only trying to be positive just because. I want to be positive. And I want others to be positive with me.

I want to do it because I want to be a positive person. It really isn’t hard once we get into the groove, but getting there is a royal pain in the ass.

You see, most of our problems in life probably begin with perceptions; both of our own and also of others. Sickening as that may seem, it is the truth, and more often than we want or intend, we allow perceptions to bring us down to our lowest, always thinking that we know that nothing could ever change the things people are thinking.

I always hope to change people’s perceptions. I pep talk myself with hopes of pep talking the needy, hence this blog, which probably no one reads for real or takes seriously. But I don’t mind. Because point is, it’s important that I am positive about me. If some of that can rub in on you, then good!

You see, I was nominated and subsequently selected to present a book review this Friday. Yes, this Friday. We were informed yesterday. To be very honest, I love book reviews. I really do. I love books, having been inculcated with such love from such an early age. So I have no qualms about it.

However, the qualm is about the subject matter. After my first reading of the email I received, I thought it must be work-related, good grief, how freaking boring! I am in the Advisory Division and my work is to advice on ICT matters. The more appropriate and of course accredited person to teach on ICT is of course, non other than my boss. I on the other hand, am an expert where fiction is concerned.

But after reading the second email, I came to a conclusion that it need not necessarily relate to my substantive work, but could also be related indirectly to it. Safe to say that at this juncture, I have selected a book and I am happy with my choice.

The only qualm left now is that we would be presenting against the International Affairs Division (better known as IAD). If you are not from around here, you wouldn’t know head and tail about the never ending tug of war, unhealthy competitions and a host of other problems which are just too much to even list. If you are from here, you would know that this has been going on since 2003, and my division has always lost hands down.

Sadly though, a lot of people don’t recognise the officers in my office simply because we are overshadowed way too overly. Honestly, where I work, the majority are people so dedicated about their work, we get intimidated just looking at them. Undeniably, those from IAD have impeccable language, great sense of style, flawless looking make up and of course, charm which shoots way beyond the sky’s limit.

It’s difficult to be placed next to them, without feeling like a terrible midget. And an ugly one at that.

It’s also difficult to not feel utterly inadequate, when put beside them, what with all the external credentials they own, which make them look far more superior to us.

I write this today to put my foot down.

I believe that although this is not a debate or a mooting competition, it will be treated like one, like it or not. But I don’t want to care about it anymore.

I am already terrified by the fact that one of the speakers from IAD would be Melati Abd. Hamid, whose name is synonym to “best mooter”. Whenever her name slips off someone’s tongue, it sends shivers down our spines. Don’t think I am not afraid.

But I believe that I am not that bad either. People have just yet realised that I am more than an empty shell. That I am more than just a contract officer.

And I have no choice but to prove that, and to prove them wrong all at once. I will try to do us proud.

kisah benar saya.

Kisah tak sedar diri saya for today is that… I have files strewn on my table to be submitted by the end of today, which is I’m not so sure when (tetapi saya di sini menulis belog ini). Plus, I have been nominated to do something which doesn’t really bother me apart from the BORING subject matter, which pisses the hell out of me.

And I have terrible period pain.

There is such a thing as tug of war going on in women’s tummies, please bear with us, it hurts!

My hair is falling off and my skin is problematic.

Please tell me I’m special even though I’m not.

Off for now. I don’t want end of today to be 11.59 p.m.

p.s: saya rasa blog saya kemas :)