Saturday Memo

The day is Saturday. I am standing on the platform, waiting in line for the next train. Hands are comfortably tucked in my coat pockets, I could still feel the fairly cold air from outside. Thankfully my ride is subway, there’s no need to wait in open space and having no option but to grit your teeth and constantly moving your feet just for that slightly almost non-existent warmth.

Spotify is kind enough to make me a random playlist every other day, which I find enjoyable whenever I feel like taking a break from Tulus, Billie Eilish or Labrinth.

I like it today, the train station isn’t crowded and I’m pretty sure I could easily grab a seat. Remembering my days in Tokyo..crowded train was never a delight.

I scroll through Instagram and there’s this one celebrity eagerly promoting her podcast and that reminds me of how entertaining podcasts are. Unlike radio, you can choose what theme or content you want to listen. And most of the time they’re informative and raw.

Tomorrow is Sunday, then it’s Monday. Oh my, another week, same routine. Blue feeling is peeking it’s way through

“hell no, it’s too early”

Random, I typed “happiness” into the search box and start scrolling to find any relatable podcast. I clicked on Happiness 5 a day by Gemma Bennet.

“The Art of Trusting Your Intuition”.

In Islam we have firasaah or firasat in Malay, and it’s comes in a simple yet illogical hunch or a strong feeling.

Perfect title, this suits me right now.

My train arrives, and I start listening to the whole 8 minutes podcast.

The content is straightforward and easy to the ears.

I made a short list of the points:

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▪Intuition is like a third eye, everyone has it

▪The more you stay in tune with your gut feeling, the more intuitive you become

▪Gut feeling often defies logic and it is beyond explanation

▪It is a skill we need to work on, and once you can listen to it, it’s powerful

▪It might have you changing directions and making big decision, but trusting your intuition can reassure you and makes the process more comfortable

▪Most of the time it directs you to where you need to be, and what you need to do

▪How to practice? Start by finding a quiet moment for a day (may takes hours, days or even weeks!)

▪No deep question. Start simple. eg: what dinner should I have tonight?

▪Find the answer and act upon it. That’s a practice.

▪Once you master in handling simple questions, move to big question

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This topic is really interesting as it points out the importance of getting yourself in the center of your life again. And enables us to re-focus our aims and purposes clearly. For me, I’m still trying and wondering.

Some days I’m lost, some days I’m found. Sometimes both, sometimes neither.

May Allah guide us 🙂

So, what does your gut say?

Autumn Activity 1.0

Happy Tuesday readers 🙂

It’s still weekday, I’m just laying in my bed writing while listening to some old songs playing in the background. Prepared my hijab and shirt for work tomorrow. Had sambal sotong with brown rice for dinner p/s: only having brown rice because I ran out of white rice. As an Asian, I have to eat rice, be it white or brown. It’s a need..

It was a raining earlier today and I realized I missed the rain. It has been quite a while since it last rained and it wasn’t as cold as yesterday. Just love the sound, the cozy feeling on a rainy autumn day ❤

As Autumn season has arrived and the leaves are slowly (or rapidly at some places) turning yellow, people usually go out to enjoy the scenery and they call it 紅葉 (koyo)　which means autumn/maple leaves. So last Saturday I had a last minute plan and joined my friends to this place, Gujo Hachiman in Gifu Prefecture. The place is 1.5hour drive from my place, I’ve never heard of this place before but this is the description from this website,

Visit Gujo Hachiman and you can expect to be immersed in an authentic small town Japanese experience unique to an “off the beaten path” town. Here the traditional way of living is on a very human scale. People passing each other in the street still greet each other with a small bow, and exchange a passing greeting.

…which is true!

It’s a small town with traditional small wooden buildings along the road with a river flowing around it. We arrived quite late so we went to the castle up on the hill and then took a stroll in the street. And thankfully we found an Indian Halal restaurant so we had our dinner there. Each of us were shivering because it was so cold it felt like winter! I didn’t take many photos but here are some. Probably because I used my phone to take some videos for my Youtube channel but we all know how lazy and unmotivated I am during weekdays..Well, lesson learnt here!

 

 

Thank you for reading 🙂

 

Breath out

Assalamualaikum!

I’m currently writing this in my bed while getting all cozy and ready for my adventure in dreamland . It’s Monday today and things were a tad bit rough at work so I thought of a writing just to vent (girl gotta vent, right?)

At work today I was having a communication problem which I actually have to face every other day but when it happens on MONDAY, my motivation just went down to 0. It’s hard enough when you can’t fully understand the task given but it’s harder when they just talk too fast and you’re there turtle-ing and just taking some time to digest what they just said. Like, give me an actual minute here. But as a foreigner here, I always remind myself that I won’t be here forever and I’m not the only one having to face these kind of barriers.

On a side note, the weather is getting colder these days as autumn is here. Morning temperature is usually below 15 degrees, people are already wearing trench coats and pretty knit clothings. I’m still looking for a cute trench coat to wear this season, hopefully jumpa la yang cantik n murah haa tu yang penting tu!

Yesterday I went to Kuragaike Park, this spacious park 10 minutes ride from my house to have a quick jog session. I can’t remember the last time I jog so that explains why my muscle hurt so much this morning…oh well. But compared to jogging, Yoga hurts even more but it is so satisfying and refreshing. However I tend to get sleepy in the middle of Yoga session! So I usually take a break and do some quick movements here and there.

Life update, nothing much. Just me working on weekdays and trying to figure out what I want in life while still keep finding time to do what I love, like writing. When I think about it, I have been blogging for almost ten years now. I’ve always enjoyed blogging. It’s a fully personal space where I don’t have to impress anyone and have it customized MY way. From Blogger, to Tumblr then to WordPress. I’m thinking about writing more often and share about my life here as a foreigner in a country many deemed as an ideal place to live.

Thanks for reading, Goodnight 🙂

p/s: condolence to the family of the passengers in Lion Air JT610…Al-Fatihah.

My pace

Assalamualaikum 🙂

I’m currently writing this post in my bed while listening to chill music and my freshly applied olive sheet mask. It’s Friday and my last day working in September. Time just flew so fast! 6 months went by since I started working and alhamdulillah I’m still sane as ever despite countless emotional breakdowns. I mean, you’re not a fully adult until you question every decision and cry on daily basis right?

Next week is already October and then it’s 2 months before we bid 2018 farewell! Wow.

Today I had dinner with some of my colleagues and alhamdulillah it went well, the food was good and the service was fast. I was super starving after a long day at work. Then I went back home, showered and snuggled up in my bed. Cold season is starting soon, I can already feel the autumn breeze. Ah…autumn. My second favourite season after summer. Gotta bring out my autumn clothing again (and *cough*buy*cough* some more)

I wanted to share my mini adventure last week. I have been living in Aichi Prefecture for 6 months now but I gotta admit, I didn’t do much exploring here as my time is limited to weekend which I usually spend doing house chores and grocery shopping. But last week, I went to Osu Shopping District and tried this Brazilian Restaurant which serves Halal roasted chicken. Back in Tokyo, I loved to buy fried chicken and roasted chicken with potato from my favourite shop, ChickenMan. Omg rindunyaaaa

Then I went to see one of the landmarks in Nagoya, which is the Nagoya TV Tower, which kinda looks like Eiffel Tower but slightly smaller.  ❤

It was really refreshing to go out of my routine to just explore this place. I’ve been feeling like I’m losing myself to work and not being able to properly express myself nor do the things I enjoyed before. Personally I think this is normal but I’m still struggling to incorporate small things I enjoy into my daily life.

I think it’s important to have faith and keep dreaming. It’s the light that you need during dark times ❤

 

Thank you for reading 🙂

Sunday rant

Assalamualaikum everyone 🙂

How are you all doing? I hope you’re healthy, happy and striving. Today is Sunday and I don’t have any particular plans so I’m just chilling at home, just going to cook some food and make some work preparation for this week; ironing some clothes ja pun padahal duhh. Well I’ve been thinking about making frozen lauk because I tend to work overtime lately so when I arrive home I’m already tired and just cooking some random things or just grabbing random instant noodle. So I guess it’s better to make some preparation.

I’ve never written anything detailed about my work and I’m planning to do that after at least 6 months of working so it’s about a month to go! I’m sure some of you wants to know how is it like to work as an engineer in foreign country, lagi-lagi as a muslimah. Plus it should be fun to re-read the experience when I’m back in Malaysia one day, or perhaps another country?

*wink wink*

Working has actually changed me a lot in terms of how I use my time and energy. It is really different from when I was a student, I used to have a lot of extra time to do things that I love and managed my schedule which is different from time to time so there is no repetitious activity except for classes and going to lab. But both of them has pros and cons. As students, we bring our task home contohnya assignment, kena fikir pasal presentation and such. But working, (in my case) you only work at the office and as soon as you step outside, it’s fully your time. This is where it gets tricky, you want to do other activity, but you’re tired. You’ve used up your energy at your workplace. So you just come home and eat and prepare for the next day. It’s a cycle. I’m not saying that one is better than the another, it’s just a comparison between the two. But what I know is, both are tiring. Well, you gotta do what you gotta do right? 🙂 As a very unorganized person, working actually forced me to organize my life and made me appreciate little things more because time has become more limited and precious. Gituuu

I just want to be able to see the good side of everything because some days are just challenging my principle and what I stand for. But sometimes you learn things the hard way. It helps you to grow and understand things from another whole perspective.

If adulting isn’t hard, you’re doing it wrong :p

Just don’t beat yourself too hard, know when to take a break and when enough is enough. Take care ❤

 

Thank you for reading my random entry. See you on the next post!

 

xoxo

9.9.18

Assalamualaikum,

yes I know.

Jarang update. I just kept procrastinating and ended up not knowing what to write or how I should put my thoughts here without overreacting or complaining. It’s 9th September today, which means I haven’t updated my blog for almost two months. Wow. Didn’t know time passed that fast.

I just returned home from a gathering or ‘makan-makan’ as we call it held by a couple living in the same area as I do. Had delicious food and met soo many new people. Was so anxious at the beginning but I’m glad I brought my best friend along with me. It was great catching up session and I listened many stories from Malaysians living here. Last weekend I spent my Saturday with some of my colleagues playing trampoline. It was super fun! My first time actually. And I didn’t know trampoline is so much fun we actually paid for extra 30 mins! Definitely gonna go there again. I’ve been trying to spend my weekend outside, at least for a day to prevent myself from feeling blue or lonely. And so far, it works! #selflove

Getting fresh air once in a while is soo important. Even at work, whenever I feel stressed out due to work I’d just go out and take a walk outside during lunch break. It’s so refreshing to be reminded that this place is just temporary. This is not home…yet.

Quick updates on the past two months, went back to Malaysia for week in August to spend time with my loved ones. I also went snorkeling in Mamutik Island! About 30 mins by boat from my hometown. That was my first time too, I was suuper scared at first because I don’t know how to swim and thanks to shark movies, I was nervous of big fishes and such. But I tried and dah alang-alang there, I went with it and had such a great time. Plus, it was addicting and I can’t wait to snorkel again. Swimming with turtles is in my bucket list but that is still a long way to go..Is it? :p

Then I also met my friends and had a good time catching up with them. It’s always hard to leave my family and friends behind upon returning here and I think about going a back A LOT. Like, seriously a lot..I mean, starting fresh in another country is so damn hard..Well the world probably knows the environment of Japanese company but I’ll save that for another post.

However I’m grateful that I still have my friends and loved one here to help me and be there for me whenever I need them. I personally think THAT is what makes me happy here. Not the salary, not the four seasons.

But the people that stay true, new friends and fun adventures ahead.

And Uniqlo on sale.

Friday the 13th

20:08, on a train en route to Osaka

It’s Friday! Which means the long awaited weekend is finally here! Writing this on a train ride because I feel like sharing something today and thinking better share sekarang nanti malas lama2 nda post hihi

Went straight from work so it’s a pretty tiring day but I’m glad I went through another week. Alhamdulillah.

Today we had this short training session for manners at workplace and guide to becoming a 社会人(read: syakaijin) Based on what I read in the material we were handed, this syakaijin term is used only in Japan, which directly translates as member of society. It only applies to someone who is employed and pays the taxes aka white collared workers. The instructor explained many things including basic manners and the responsibility as a syakaijin. This term is really big because it sets you apart from other people, a syakaijin is viewed as someone who is (should be) contributing to the society and economy, it basically means an adult but like more responsible (because you’re employed obvs). Being a syakaijin, you have an image to preserve. To some, this might be tiring as you have to keep up with the pressure and expectation. Some view it as a burden even. (the taxes here is quite high) But to some, being a syakaijin is fulfilling because you have that sense of belonging in the society, knowing that you are contributing for the country. Plus, you have steady income (who doesn’t want that?)

After the session finished, the instructor asked us a question that each of us had to answer. My hands instantly went cold as I am not that good in speaking in public! Be it in Malay, English or Japanese. ESPECIALLY Japanese. The question was asked in Japanese but I’ll just translate it.

“What was the thing you want to do when you applied to this company? And are you satisfied with what you are doing now?”

There were 8 of us. Fresh graduates that just got in last April. As soon as the question was asked terdengarlah suara-suara “alamak” “susahnyaa” “nak jawab apeniii”

But in Japanese la of course ahak

Then one by one answered. From their answers, only a few is OK with what they are doing now. Some of the answers were

“Hmm dulu teringin nak buat enjin tapi sekarang dapat body(kereta) tapi xpa saya teruskan ja”

“Sedih sebab teringin nak design kereta tapi dapat bahagian quality assurance”

“Betsuninandemoii” (saya ok ja anything)

and a few more but most of us are not satisfied. When my turn came I just said I wanted to enter a global company and I don’t have any certain thing that I want to do. Fresh grads are still young so we should learn many things and not focused to one while we can still absorb knowledge like a sponge”

Of course, my answer comes from someone who is not 100% clear of what she wants to do. And I came to realize, from 8 of us, only 2 person really knows what they wanted to do/create. The others(including me) are still searching. Yeah I’m not alone weehihihi

Then the instructor said it is totally OK to not know what you want to do in life. The key is to get as much exposure as you want in the FIELD you are interested. (engineering, management etc) And how important to see the bigger picture. He told the kid that wanted to design a car engine to not regret his decision because he will get there eventually. Just don’t lose the passion, he said.

It got me thinking that yeah, being 23 is kinda hard. You don’t know what’s best for you. And nobody can decide for you. Sure, you can take as many advice you want but in the end, it’s your life and your decision and whenever bad things happen, the blame is on you. I guess we’re not ready to come out from school cocoon and being pushed into the society just yet. Man, I don’t know where I was going with this post. If you wanted to share anything or if we are in the same boat just let me know ❤️Just wanted to remind myself and everyone reading this, if you feel miserable or helpless,

trust me, you’re not alone.

Thanks for reading. THANK YOU ❤️