Sunday 31 December 2017

we all were.

under normal circumstances, we'd be
happy if we are proven to be right.
but at times, that isn't a great thing.

currently reading an interesting book,
and this excerpt from it definitely
caught my attention;

"...two days later we were in a hall attending
yet another orientation talk. The Boy came up
and sat next to me. we had an awkward, whispery
conversation in an otherwise silent hall.

and the minute he asked for my number,
i was convinced that this was going to be
the big love story of my life.

i was right, only not in the way i would've
thought it would unravel and certainly not
with the ending i ever had in mind..."

from 'dumped', by amal nadiah ghazali

well, that hit close to home, and as much as
it deflates me, we also all thought that The Past
was our very own happy ending.

so yup, we were right in a way. we all were.

Saturday 9 December 2017

sesungguhnya.

another lyrical posto, off the lovely
'sesungguhnya', a cover by hael husaini.

it roughly translates into;
"...and without me realizing,
you taught me a new meaning in life..."


Friday 1 December 2017

ruined. by happiness.

someday that seat will be filled.



david : he sounds great. why didn't you marry him?

elise : because of you. 

i'm not some hopeless romantic and 
i would never allow myself to be that way.
but once i've felt, even for a moment, what i felt with you,
you ruined me. i didn't want to settle for less.

david : i know the feeling.


the adjustment bureau. i love that movie.

Tuesday 28 November 2017

C.M.B #2


count it.

if you're a citizen of this planet,
by now you've heard of that saying;
"count your blessings", right?

it's a great reminder for us to see
positivity in life, and for us to have
a bit of balance and reflection.

now, imagine seeing or reading
about people who literally do
the thing in which that saying asks us.

...which is LITERALLY counting it.

so, based on the inspirational 'justlittlethings'
by nancy on tumblr, and because i realize
that sometimes i can complain too much,
i have decided to start counting the things
that makes me happy as i go along!

so here it is, Count My Blessings (C.M.B.)


Monday 20 November 2017

stuck in the same old lane.

another lyrical posto, off the catchy
"honeymoon avenue" by ariana grande.

it's a shoutout to all of us,
who have been brave enough to let go
of our past because it was the right thing to do.



Thursday 9 November 2017

take responsibility. and be ok with it.

i have a theory about life.

fate has this bizaare way of pushing us
further and making us better people.
all by NOT fulfilling what we want.

for example, you want a good paying job,
you want to do something interesting daily,
and you wanna spend time with your loved ones.

now, there are people out there who are lucky
enough to have all those things, but in most
cases, you'd only have 2 out of the 3.

you can't always have what you want.

now, one might argue that life is unfair
and that's just the way how crappy life is
and that's why we'll never be happy.

i view it as something to keep us going.

in my opinion, if you haven't reached all 3,
that gives you something to work for,
and something to look forward to in life.

it gives you a reason.

now, at times you are faced with a dilemma
of choosing your 2 out of 3's,
whatever those things might be to you.

how to choose which ones are more important?

unfortunately, there's no way to actually know.
but fortunately, i think there are ways to make
an informed decision, as best as you can.

think about your options, be fully aware of
the consequences of your choices, make a
firm decision, stick to what you've decided,
take responsibility for the good and the bad,
and do all of that for a good reason.

now, someday you might think back and
see whether it was the best decision or not,
but if you did it for a good reason,
then whatever came as a result of it,
is ultimately a good thing.

in my case, i might end up old and alone,
but at least i can look back someday and
know i put my loved ones first, ahead of me.

alhamdulillah.

wisdom of the day.

how success actually looks like.


how do you measure success?

most people measure it by wealth,
worldly possessions, family, good health,
position and admiration and power.

i have my own thoughts or definition
of how i measure my success, but that's
another story for another day.

but here's something i'd like for us all
to think about and ponder. this is something
i read, and it humbled me and made me smile.

"...my wish is to order food at a 
restaurant without looking at the price.
that's what it means to succeed..."

think about that, everyone.

Monday 23 October 2017

every path leads back to you.

another lyrical posto, off the beautiful
and melodic 'path' by finding hope.

a reflection of what may happen.
perhaps sooner rather than later.


Wednesday 18 October 2017

two things.

the problem when i'm awake late,
is that two things will happen;

i'll start eating lotsa crap non-stop,
and i'll start bugging everyone on whatsapp.

one is not good for me,
the other is definitely not good for them.

kudos.

so i finally get wind about the story of
this adilla kamaruzzaman person, and
the things she's gone through in life.

on one hand, i find it remarkable how
her life story could be summarized by her
in a few paragraphs over a few posts.

it takes us a few minutes to read, but just
imagine the amount of difficulties she had
to go through over years and years and years.

a life's worth of challenges. in paragraphs.

but that's the beauty of reflecting and being
able to share and to express yourself to others,
regardless of how personal or painful it may be.

and the best thing about it is, you're able to
inspire others to love our parents or guardians
or anyone in life that has taken good care of us.

for this person, i am inspired by how humble
and how appreciative and how sensible she is
when success comes her way.

someday she'll realize her greatest achievement
isn't the academic certificate she received, but the
inspiration and hope she has offered others.

well done, well done, well done.

semoga kedua ibubapanya dirahmati allah.
semoga kehidupannya dipenuhi dengan berkat.
amin.

Tuesday 17 October 2017

status profile of the day.

off the wonderful and often bizaare fesbuk;

"...each drops of gas from the sea will be 
extracted to fill my stomach for the better me..."

and they say NOT to worry about the next
generation of our engineers. LOL

Friday 13 October 2017

bell oh bell.

smile just like this fuzzy miaw. 


now, i didn't really disappear,
but i got really sick for a month
about a month and a half ago.

i couldn't move half my face.

now, the greatest irony is that it
happened to someone who just
smiles and laughs most of the time.

i couldn't even physically smile then.

so being in that situation is just horrifying,
you feel scared, you worry every single second,
and you feel as if your life is over.

so if you ever find yourself in that situation,
here's a coupla things i'd like to advise on,
based on what i went through;
 
1. accept the fact that something is wrong.
2. seek medical help as soon as possible.
3. get your facts from the right professionals.
4. trust your doctors and the medication & treatment.
5. stop dwelling on things and set your mind to recovery.
6. ask for help from your colleagues / friends/ loved ones.
7. have some faith and ask help from the almighty. 
8. allow yourself room to grief and feel sad and angry.
9. allow yourself even more time to count your blessings.
10. get lots of rest and give things time.
11. once you recover insyaallah, learn from it and be better.

i know what it's like now to hope.
i know what it's like to be happy with small blessings.
i know what it's like to be supportive of others in times of need.

the best thing i've learnt from this whole experience is,
things can be taken away from us very simply and quickly.
so make the best out of your everyday, count your blessings,
make someone else's life better as much as you can,
and tell those you love that you love them.

and smile. as much as you can. regardless.

alhamdulillah.

Thursday 12 October 2017

definition of the day.

strangely, this seems very relatable. 


updating your cv or resume is the process of writing down
all the stuff you've done in all the places you've worked in,
only to realize you're still a dumbass even after 12 years.

tweet of the day.

off the twitter;

fren : went to utm with big boss,
and most of the time he's busy
answering and receiving calls,
reading and replying e-mails
via his smartphone.

me : i play with my phone all the time too.
but instead of doing important things,
it's just to avoid talking to people around me.

yup. dats mua.

reach.

watched this video for world mental health day,
kevin, a man who survived a suicide attempt,
shared his reflection on how to manage this situation.

and this resonated a lot with me;

"...i built a support network over these years
of treatment so that i wouldn't be fighting this alone.

so like, it's ok not to be ok,

it's not ok not to ask for someone to back you up..."

now, god knows how isolated i feel sometimes here.

it's difficult when you're far away from friends you can
actually hangout with, from your family who you can
depend on every single day, or even when you're alone,
you'd still be able to go here and there, have lotsa walks
around town, take lotsa train rides, like when i'm back home.

in any case, thank goodness for whatsapp and
fesbuk and all those other communication apps.
and even this bloggy, if i think about it.

it makes it far easier for me to reach out and feel happier.
so reach out if you ever feel the need to, and more importantly,
be the one for others to reach out for as much as you can.

it'll be worth it. trust me.

Wednesday 11 October 2017

lesson of the day.

it's been a while, but i've gotten round to
revisiting blogs i love to read stories from.

ok, admittedly my main objective was to
hope and see the return of sarina's fun doodles,
but i came across this fantastic piece of learning;

"...to act as a muslim instead of just looking like one..."

true, dat.

fantastic.

fly great escapes with you.

lyrical posto time! today off the wonderful
'honey' by the awesome kehlani.



Tuesday 9 May 2017

perspective.

perspective is a wonderful thing.

we all have bad days, don't we?
i know it's normal for us as people to see
things in our lives as being less-than-ideal.

we're exhausted, we're not happy,
we don't see the reason why anymore,
we're not sure if it's all worth it.

but here's the thing, be sad for a while,
be angry, be pissed off, be disappointed,
be whatever, and let it subside.

and once that's over, take a deep breath,
calm yourself down a little bit,
and look at things they way they are.

if you're exhausted from a day of work,
that means you've earned your paycheck.
if you've earned your paycheck,
that means you're lucky to have a job,
and if you're broke from paying your bills,
that means you're responsible.

...and being a responsible person is good.

see? perspective is a wonderful thing.

Sunday 7 May 2017

diagnosis of the day.

performed a self-diagnosis, and i have
concluded that i have idiotamoronisosis.

it's a condition where i am physically and
literally allergic to idiots and morons.

god knows there's plenty of those around.

Monday 10 April 2017

where your love has always been enough for me.

another lyrical posto, off one of my old faves,
'home' by daughtry. it's a shoutout to anyone
out there that sometimes feel the way i do.

at times i feel alone, in terms of the decisions
i made, in terms of the life i'm living, where
not everyone will agree to, or understand.

so here's a shoutout to all of you out there.


Sunday 9 April 2017

label of the day.

this miaw might look old-fashioned.
but that makes him that much more adorable.

 
in this fast-paced and instant world of ours,
i don't see being old-fashioned as an issue.
to me, old-fashioned is being respectful.

old-fashioned is taking the time to build
and nourish and cherish things or people.
old-fashioned is taking the time to read,
or taking the time to write and think.
old-fashioned is about respecting tradition,
and seeing it as a virtue instead of a barrier.
old-fashioned is about looking at the long-term,
rather than instant or short-lived gratification.
old-fashioned is putting in a bit more effort
in order to achieve something meaningful.

old-fashioned is something special that lasts.

so i wouldn't worry when people starts labeling
or thinking of us as being old-fashioned.
matter of fact, to me, it's a compliment.

i'd pick being old-fashioned any day. hihi.

Sunday 26 March 2017

somedays i can be a bitch.

another lyrical posto, from the fantastically
catchy 'pretty girl' from maggie lindemann.



self-wisdom of the day.

off tumblr's words-of-emotion.

i quote;

"...you're not the same person you were
a year ago, a month ago, or a week ago.
you're constantly changing; experiences
don't stop. that's life..."

i disagree.

i am still the same smart, awesome and
funny person i was a year, month, week,
and hell, even a day ago, you know that?

ok fine, maybe now i'm just cuter than before.

i take it back. i agree wholeheartedly now. LOL

erm ok, no thanks.

"...become your own boss today!..."

yup. that's what all these 'why be stuck in
an office job-you should be a zillionaire-
you can travel the world' articles tell you.

be my own boss? are you kidding me?!!

knowing myself, i'd probably annoy myself
to death, because not only would i want my
work to be done quickly, i would want it to
be correct, executed way ahead of time,
with results way better than prognosis,
analysis done after the successful job,
with documentation done for future reference.

...with correct grammar. and nice colours as well.

see? i'd make the worst self-boss EVER.

just expect you.

be ok with yourself. like this meow.

 
imagine two people looking in their mirrors.

one, a normal villager, living in a small shack,
livelihood being a fisherman, farmer maybe.
surrounded by family members every day.

the other, a high-flying worker, living a
luxurious life in the big city, surrounded by
fancy friends, houses, cars, all sorts of things.

now, who do you think is happier?

if you think of the initial possibilities,
it could be the villager, because of the person
being close with family and loved ones daily.
but it could also be the city worker right?
because the person seems to be successful.

but then again, maybe both of them are unhappy.
one might struggle to support the family, and the
other might only have possessions but not love.

but then again, BOTH of them might be happy.
because they both might be living the lives that
they always dreamt about, and have worked for.

my point is, we shouldn't care if one is happier
than the other. the thing we should be looking at
and hoping for, is that both of them are happy.

secondly, this is the danger of living your life
based on other peoples' expectations and opinions.
who cares if both of them doesn't fit in OUR
idea of what success and happiness SHOULD be.
as long as they are happy, that's all that matters.

so now i turn to you.

when you look in the mirror, you shouldn't be
expecting to see someone who is unhappy because
you haven't met other peoples' expectations, but
you should be expecting to see someone who is
honest to oneself, and who is perfectly ok with it.

just expect you.

now THAT, is something we'll both be happy about.

Monday 13 March 2017

you got much closer than i thought you did.

another lyrical posto, this time off
one of my all time favourite rock songs,
"rest in pieces" by saliva.



a parallel universe.

yup. my kind of scenery. 


"...when you develop an infatuation for someone,
you will always find a reason to believe that this
is exactly the person for you.

it doesn't need to be a good reason,
taking photographs of the night sky, for example.

now, in the long run, that's just the kind of dumb,
irritating habit that would cause you to split up.

but in the haze of infatuation, it's just what
you've been searching for all these years..."

- the beach by alex garland.
still one of my favourite books and movies.

Saturday 4 March 2017

3T#10

finally back in oman for the past 2 days.
here's three things that i've felt lately;

1. as anti-social as i might be, i love to
connect with people in public, be it strangers,
cab drivers, waiters, bankers, anyone really.


2. there's a specific reason why i don't like
traveling, but honestly, deep down inside i
admit that i enjoy airports and plane rides.


3. as much as i love the hustle and bustle
of city life back in kl, i absolutely love how
nice and simple and quiet my muscat life is.

Thursday 23 February 2017

no BS.

the thing about best / close friends is,
you may have not met them for ages,
but you just pick up where you last left off.

maybe it's bcos of technology, where now
you can keep in touch every single day thru whatsapp,
so you don't miss out on any of the fun
or heartbreak or enjoyment or surprise or sadness,
and it's even better once you see them face to face.

no bullshit, no hidden agendas, just friendship.

and that's the cool thing about having friends like this,
you can be halfway around the world and more,
and yet be closer to them more than anyone else.

i'm one of the lucky ones to have em.

Monday 20 February 2017

always knew it would come.

well, it's no secret that kehlani is
my currently my favourite artist
and i think "escape" is the best song ever,
but here's a lyrical posto from another one
of her lovely songs "hold me by the heart"


73 to 100 in 2 weeks? no problem.

this is me. each and every single trip.


you know when you have these plans,
like you wanna do something at work,
or you have a list for the weekend.

and then you have adhoc stuff so you
end up not doing what you planned, or you
wake up late on sat, so your weekend is gone.

that's the same thing that happens to me
each and every single time i come back home
to this lovable food-infested country of ours.

...dieting goes out the window.

Saturday 18 February 2017

my favourite martian.

something strange happened the other day.

you know when you go through something
a dozen times over, and you notice certain
trends happening on a regular basis, but then
for some reason what you usually observe
doesn't happen, you can't help but notice it.

as a kid, i remember watching this rather
weird but amusing movie, aptly called
"my favourite martian".

it's about this alien that comes to earth,
and he sticks out like a sore thumb
simply because he's super foreign.
so at first people struggle to relate to him,
but after getting to know the alien a bit more,
they finally see that he's ok and is cool.

now, on my flight home the other day, i too
was first intrigued by someone who was a
bit foreign to me, since i've never met
anyone from that part of the globe before.

and i too, was a bit apprehensive at first,
but after getting to know the person a bit more,
i found her to be cool, has a good brain on her,
and has a pretty good sense of humour, to boot.
all in all, different but nicely similar to us.

so when we didn't get air turbulence in the
place that we always, always do, and when
we didn't get to see that magical straight ray
of sunshine filling in the cabin at daylight,
i straightaway noticed something was strange.

i thought to myself, maybe it's pure coincidence.
maybe for that particular day in that particular
time, those things weren't meant to happen.

or maybe it's because of my favourite romanian.

and that's a weird, but wonderful thing.

Saturday 11 February 2017

elite, my ass.


your life. your happiness.

another lyrical posto, off 'jalan terus' from
the always awesome afgan. it's about being
happy together even when the world is against it.



yup. dat could sting.


deleting.

i'm the type of person who contacts old friends /
colleagues who i haven't kept in touch for quite
a while, just to share stories and jokes.

however, people who contact me after not being in
touch for ages, always just seem to want something,
instead of being just a friend and to re-connect.

time to delete phone numbers again, it seems.

opportunity of the day.

i wonder why people don't pay me
to do product reviews on the internet.

i'm pretty good when it comes to
making fun of your competitor's products kan?

no vision whatsoever. hmmmph.

story of my (potter) life.


Saturday 4 February 2017

mengerti bila harus berhenti.

another lyrical posto, off the wonderful
'usai di sini' by the gorgeous raisa.



hot, cold, no.

i quote;

remember: when you touch someone's hand
and their hand feels cold, your hand feels
warm to them.

don't be afraid to hold cold hands.

now. also remember: when you're a dude
and you hold another dude's hand, you might
be a bangla, or is some cases, gay.

and if you're a dude and you hold another gal's hand,
your hand might feel warm when theirs are cold,
but your cheeks will also feel quickly warm
when they get bitch-slapped.

so don't go touching random people's hands.
and keep your darn hands to yourself.

and just in case you forget, here's a quick
reminder of what happens if you do it.


Friday 27 January 2017

yup. darn.

the moment you find out that your kid
will grow up into an apple product-
starbucks drinking-hipster wannabe.

don't want you thinking my love's in vain.

couldn't quite remember the last time an artist
hit me like a tonne of bricks like kehlani.

her music is just plain awesome, and here's
another lyrical posto off the fantastic
'escape' from my newest musical obsession.



Tuesday 24 January 2017

a couple of things differently.

just learnt a dear friend was involved in a rather
serious car accident earlier this week. he and
the other party are ok now, alhamdulillah.

we had a bit of a talk about it, and the thing is,
just a couple of seconds later, or a couple of feet
in the other direction, things would've been much worse.

...fine margins, this life of ours.

the point is, it's a timely reminder that for us,
in our everyday, take care of our amal, and do as
much good to others, as much as we can.

hopefully these small things can help us later on.

DickTionary#10

"Watermelon"

- a piece of fruit, that for some weird reason
is put on pizzas, eaten by asian people. the
rest of the world calls it 'pineapple' instead.

kids again. hmmmph.

DickTionary#9

"House M.D."

- a show about a psychopath,
with a man and a woman in front,
investigating about stuff.

kids nowadays. dissapointing.

Sunday 22 January 2017

yeah. so much for dat.

i made a mental note to myself
before i went to carrefour earlier today;

"...just buy necessities, since there's plenty
of food stock at home, plus the fact that
i'll be going back home in february..."

this was me the second i reached carrefour;


yup. my lack of self-control can be legendary.


wisdom of the day.

off his final public speech;

"...i am asking you to believe.
not in MY ability to bring about change,
but in YOURS..."

- barack obama. he & michelle will be missed.

conversation of the day.

whatsapp group conversation of the day;

guy A : kol bape t time arini?
guy B : ha nak pi ngeteh ke? joms.
guy C : bleh gok. mi, jom ah join minom teh.
me : ok fine, i'll come.
guy A : t time tu maksodnye kol bape stat golf,
             bukannye hal minom teh laaa
guy B, C & me : ohyekeeeeee. okbai.

nampok sangat kitorang ni bukan golongan elit ok.

Thursday 19 January 2017

how to end conversations.

let's face it, there are plenty of instances
in our daily lives where we just don't wanna
talk to certain people, usually the judgemental ones.

instead of tagging along and wasting your time,
here are some personal tips on how to end
these unwanted conversations. very quickly.

person A : you spend too much time playing games.
me : it's better than spending too much time being gay.

person B : your detail work is making me look bad.
me : a mirror can make you look bad, let alone my work.

person C : money can't buy happiness, ok.
me : yes it can! i'm richer than you. and i'm happy about it.

yup. evil najmi is back. thankyouverymuchpeople.

love ad of the day.

off the star website today;

a lecturer from uni tun hussein onn posted
the qualities he's looking for in his future wife,
and he didn't mean to offend anyone, but he feels
it was necessary for his potential other half to
understand his job in the academic field.

his list? the woman must have plans to pursue
a PhD programme, be independent, has a great
personality, and must be good in ironing clothes.

dude. ironing. really? ROTFL

wisdom of the day.

morning wisdom from mark twain;

"...if your job is to eat a frog, it's best to do it 
first thing in the morning. and if it is your job to eat 
two frogs, then it's best to eat the bigger one 1st..."

morning wisdom from your buddy najmi;

"...don't eat frogs, eat chicken. and btw, 
if your job is to eat one or two frogs, 
then it's best that you get a better job..."

thankyouverymuch.

small happy point of the day.

my colleague told me earlier today
that he really digs rock music. and
his favourite band is metallica.

as much as i'm happy to hear that
middle-eastern folk also likes rock music,
i'm faaar more happy that he said metallica.

this way, it doesn't make feel THAT old.

concerns of the day.

normally i can be serious when a situation calls for it,
but i couldn't quite believe how serious our conversation
was regarding the impending end of our contracts here.

sometimes i forget for others, they have their spouses /
kids / in-laws / pets / plants / whatever to worry about.
and it really does play a big part in their thinking.

all i think about is whether i'd still find that delicious
prosperity burger from mcdonald's or that cheese mushroom
chicken thingy from kfc once i go home this february.

twenty seventeen.

things i do not want to see anymore in 2017;

1. gals calling themselves / their frens / the products
they're endorsing as "gojes" or "flawless".
usually they're neither.

2. any sort of 'hipster' product. be it donat hipster or
spender hipster or whatever the heck it would be.
actual hipsters are horribly annoying.

3. writing down random and puke-worthy inspirational
quotes, just to find a reason to post your latest selfie.
please oh please do neither.

other than that, happy 2017 everybody!