Pengalaman berharga

Assalamualaikum...

I almost forgot how to blog here... Haha!

Ada sesuatu yang harus di blog kan.  Sesuatu yang mungkin mungkin tak patut saya share di media sosial yang lain sebab takut disalah-erti kan.  Di sini mungkin lebih selamat, sebab tak ramai followers.  :)

Hari ini, kami suami isteri cuti!!! Yeay!!! Unfortunately both of us are down with fever, sore throat and cough. Demam tu come and go.  Kejap ada kejap tak ada mcm iklan chipsmore yang dah expired... Heheh...

Saya ke sini bukan nak cerita pasal demam.  Saya nak cerita pasal pengalaman petang tadi...

Ada sesuatu berlaku di AEON AU2A (dulu dikenali sebagai JUSCO, atau Gen X lebih familiar dengan Jaya Jusco :P ).  Semasa kami parked kereta kesayangan kami, yang namanya ParadiseViolet elok-elok di basement parking, tiba-tiba ada seorang perempuan ni memanggil saya,

Perempuan: Boleh tak panggilkan abang tengokkan kereta saya yang rosak ni (sambil tunjuk kat suami saya)

Violet: Dia pun tak berapa tau sangat bab-bab kereta ni, tapi cuba lah abang... 

Abang: (Mula ambil kunci dan cuba start engine but failed) Mungkin battery kong ni

Violet: Jom laa, kitorang hantar balik rumah.

Dipendekkan cerita, kami offered hantar dia balik ke rumah dia sebab kesian tengok dia bawak baby yang masih sangat kecil dan seorang lagi anak perempuan yang berumur 3 tahun, katanya.  Lagipun kami tak ada peralatan dan kepakaran untuk tolong repair kereta dia.  Daripada lebih rosakkan kereta orang, baik kami bantu cara yang paling baik iaitu memastikan dia dan anak-anaknya selamat sampai di rumah mereka.  Kebetulan handphone dia pun tak boleh nak hubungi sesiapa.

On the way hantar ke rumah mereka, bermulalah perkenalan mesra:

***
Perempuan: Nama siapa ya?

Violet: Edward, Edward Cullen (sambil tunjuk ke arah suami saya). 

Perempuan: Yang isterinya pulak?

Violet: Panggil saja Bella...

(Perempuan tu dah berkerut, hairan)

          Abang: Mu duduk alik mano? (tetiba kecek kelate, kata Edward konon...) 

Hahahahahahahaha!!!!!!
***

OK OK... Yang dalam column *** saya bergurau sahaja.  Takkan lah saya nak mengaku diri kami ni mat saleh.  Dah tentu-tentu suka makan sambal tumis udang.  Hahahaha... Kami beritahu nama kami yang sebenar.  Barulah kami tahu perempuan itu tadi baru lepas habis pantang.  Dia cuma teringin nak bawak anak-anaknya pergi makan kat luar.  Dia fikir AEON AU2A lah yang paling convenient to walk with a baby and a toddler.  Tak di sangka-sangka kereta boleh rosak pulak... Kebetulan handphone dia pun tak boleh pakai.  Kesian sangat kat dia...

Kenangan dan pengalaman yang amat berharga dalam minggu terakhir 2014.

Semoga pangalaman ini bermanfaat untuk kita semua...

Wassalam...

Stay healthy and fit at work!

I found this interesting and useful tips to stay fit and healthy while working, CareerBuilder suggests:

Take walks. Get off the bus or train at an earlier stop and walk the remaining distance. Take the stairs at work, go for a stroll on your lunch hour, walk over to someone’s desk instead of sending an email — the key is to increase activity throughout the day.

Stay hydrated. Drinking water not only makes you feel full, it can also help cut down on calories from sugary drinks.

Pack a lunch. Packing your lunch is an easy way to choose a healthy option and control your portion sizes.

Try fruit or veggies. Keep some of your favorite healthy snacks in the break room refrigerator so you’ll be less tempted to go to the vending machine.

Keep a food journal. It helps you keep track of calories and identify peak snacking times, so you can modify behavior.

Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/jobs-that-make-you-gain-weight-2014-1#ixzz2qQz2Lzcl

Home remedy: Vicks VapoRub

My Paradise had a high fever last Saturday. In the morning it was just flu, but later that afternoon he told me that he felt warm inside but his forehead felt cold. So he took a long nap and suddenly his entire body felt hot.  Then we quickly went to see doctor and found that his temperature had reached 38+.

Whenever I fall sick, I always remember one useful home remedy which was taught by my mom and it has always worked wonders for me especially when I have dry cough.

After he took medicines that were prescribed by the doctor, I did what I had to do. I applied the home remedy - put Vicks on the bottom of his feet and then asked him to put on his socks, just like how My mom told me to do.  He snuggled  up with his blanket and fell asleep like a little boy shortly after he put on his socks.  I guess the home remedy works well for him too.

And yesterday, I pulak kena demam with the same symptoms.  Last night, my Paradise did the same thing, applied the Vicks on the bottom of my feet then I covered them with socks before I went to bed.  It felt so good and comforting which perhaps came from the remedy and also from the TLC I got from him.  When I woke up this morning, I felt better. Alhamdulillah...

This home remedy is not like getting yourself an immediate full recovery. I am now still having flu and mild fever.  At least it helps you to get enough sleep you need when you fall sick. Go on try this.

 

Ushering in 2014 with hope and love

As we usher in 2014, I am taking a little bit of my time to reflect back of what I have done and what I have become in 2013. I would also like to think of what I would like to do and who I would like to be in 2014. I know for a fact that we always have to be ourselves and embrace of something we have always consider as our weaknesses.

On the last day of 2013, I must admit that it has been a tough year for me. 2013 has given me a lot of challenges and I shed a lot of tears.  I did not achieve many dreams that I have been dreaming all these years. That's OK. With that, Alhamdulillah 2013 has led me to be a stronger person.  I am ready to face 2014 with so much hope that better things will come our way.

I am also hoping and praying that I will be a much better person in years to come, in sha' Allah.  May Allah bless us all and grant us peace, goodness and acceptance.

What is my 2014's resolution? I guess I would like to start with giving salaam and be nice to all these people around me particularly my family, relatives, colleagues and friends.

Giving the Salam

Abu Hurairah (ra) related that Rasulullah (saw) said, "You shall not enter Heaven unless you have Faith and your Faith is not complete until you show love towards one another. Would you want me to show you how you can achieve this? Shower your Salam upon one another."

General meaning -- When we give our salam to another Muslim and he answers it, we are actually praying for each other's peace in life. Thus our relationship will become closer. This is one of the signs of people who have Faith. - Sayings of Rasulullah SAW.

Amazing Autumn at South Korea

Aside from Seoul, we went to other places like Nami Island.

I have always wanted to go to South Korea especially to see the shooting location of the famous love story "Winter Sonata".  Alhamdulillah...  I felt so blessed to be able to see the colourful trees in such a beautiful weather. 

I love autumn trees, there were amazing olive green, yellow, orange and red leaves seen in Nami Island, the shooting location of Winter Sonata .  It was so Masha' Allah beautiful.  

It's the first time I saw those very tall pine trees there before me... The colour of those pine trees were from light olive green to light orange.  The metal statue of the love birds from Winter Sonata stood proudly in the garden of pine trees.  The memory of Winter Sonata was vaguely ran through my mind.

Although we took a long walk in this small island, we did not able to explore the whole island.  Some might have thought that all you could see is just trees with falling leaves.  As for me, I felt tranquil and at peace looking at the scenery.  It's a beautiful place to be with your loved ones...  There are plenty of lovely picnic spots.  We also saw couples in love strolling in the park including ahjussi and ahjumma... It was really sweet...   




   

Soul to Seoul Pt. 2

I'm still in holiday mood although I came back from South Korea so many weeks ago. Hence that is why I managed to grab Air Asia Free Seats tickets recently for another trip in May next year... Weeehooo... Chicken dance c'mon everybody, make some noiiiiizzeee... Hehehe... 

Demam Korea tak habis lagi ni... 

Caffe Bene
As I mentioned in the earlier post, I saw a lot of Starbucks in the places we visited in South Korea.  However I have decided to forget about Starbucks but try their local coffee place instead.  It is called "Caffe Bene".  Caffe Bene is a leading coffee label of Korea.  Try it and you will fall in love with it!  I tried hot Caffe Mocha with whipped cream, just so perfect for a cold weather.  I loved it! It was yummilicious! Their cashier system was also efficient! After I placed an order, the cashier gave me this cute device (like an alarm clock or something) then asked me to sit down.  (Eh belum dapat coffee, kena duduk pulak? Weird!)... After 5-8 minutes later, surprise2.. The device helped me to alert me with a sound when my mocha was ready. And then, I returned to the counter happily to collect my coffee.  This is so efficient, no long queue.  Awesome!

I also saw this "Powder Room" in this cafe.  It's very useful for all of us specially women... I think Malaysian cafes should be inspired by it. Why not all cafes in Malaysia provide a small room for customers.  This room can be a multifunctional space for solat, betulkan tudung, make-up, breastfeeding!  I wish we had this kinda room at the office!  Right now, if tak sempat pegi surau, we have to solat in the filing room. :(  In fact we have to take turn with the bf mothers, kesian diorang...

Kimchi time!

In Seoul, there's only one place you can find HALAL food which is at Itaewon. Itaewon is known as ‘the global village in Seoul' where one can meet people of diverse nationalities and cultures.  Unfortunately we got tired of eating the same buffet dishes, curry, dal, and rice for every meal for the first 2 days.  So, our fabulous Ms. Jennifer (tour guide) took us to the vegetarian Kimchi restaurant alternately where we had wonderful experience eating Korean dishes with Korean ambiance.  Duduk bersila sambil makan dengan stainless steel chopsticks laa. Although their food is not as good as I thought it would be, but I really enjoyed the experience of eating traditional Korean way! It's like an art which an experience that you definitely don't wanna miss.

Mentari

Mentari is the first and the only one restaurant that serves Malaysian cuisine.  However, it is very very pricey tapi I guess it's worth it if you suddenly miss Malaysian food when you're there. Its interior decoration pun cantik and cozy. Who is the chef? Encik Baha, yang pernah appeared in Akademi Fantasia 1.  The food was also quite good. I love that place, it almost felt like home.  

One thing I notice about most of the restaurants and cafe we went, they were quite concerned with cleanliness.  When I went to a small kebab cafe at the roadside, all straws were individually wrapped unlike Malaysian food stalls or even restaurants, all our straws are collecting dust and germs all around us... Hehe..

Samsung d'light
Enough about food...Now moving on to the next place we visited.  Samsung d'light. Samsung d’light is an exhibition space that showcases all the latest consumer electronic products by Samsung Electronics. According to Samsung, the name d'light combines the words "digital" and "light", to correlate with their vision of being a "guiding light to the digital world" and leading consumers to a whole new lifestyle through digital technology. It is also meant to convey delight and excitement.

Our company took us to Samsung d'light to learn the new and latest technologies and inventions by Samsung since we are dealing with technopreneurs everyday.  It was an interesting visit for all ages.  Everybody is using smart phones now and even my 63 year old mom is also using Samsung smart phone now!  I was totally impressed by their new invention of the large HD smart TV.  Dreaming is free! And I dream to have such TV in my new house nanti...

Samsung is a very successful Korean brand that has standing in the global market.  I just only learned that they have also produced cars in South Korea which recently 70% stake was bought by Renault due to the Asian financial crisis. Now it is called "Renault Samsung Motors".

To be continued...

Soul to Seoul

Assalamualaikum... Blog saya dah berwajah baru!!! Yeay!!!

Dah bagi salam baru boleh greet korean way ~ annyeonghaseyo!!!

I bet with the popularity of K-Pop scene inching upward right now, most of us know what annyeonghaseyo means ~ HELLO KITTY!  Eh silap! H E L L O!!! Ngeeee~

I recently went to South Korea with my fellow colleagues.  I've been dreaming to go to Korea dah lama since tengok cerita Winter Sonata yang sobs tu.  :) Alhamdulillah sampai juga akhirnya tanah kelahiran Samsung. Ramai juga staff yang tak dapat bawa spouse. Tiba2 kitorang jadi single ladies in South Korea yaw for almost a week.

Here are some other useful basic vocabs of Korean language that I have learned before and during our recent awesome trip to Korea. Special thanks to my nephew Zaren Clyde who is currently working there and our fabulous local tour guide, Jennifer for sharing these vocabs.

• Kamsahamnida - Thank you.  The best way to say thanks is to slightly nod while saying Kamsahamnida.  Easy to remember if you relate to Malaysian names like "Kamisah Hamidah"... Use the same gesture to greet Annyeong... tips tips tips!

•  Cheonmaneyo - You're welcome. 

• Yeong eo halsu isseoyo - Can you speak English? The hardest thing to remember and did not use them at all in Korea! Iya2 je menghafal sambil iron baju... :P

• Onni - sister. Kelantanese may define it as "Mek"

• Oppa -  "bro".  Like 'wazzup bro' gitew! Whazzzuppp... Hence that's why the title of Psy's song "Oppa Gangnam Style".  Sorry not my favourite tho...

• Ajumma - A married woman I suppose (more of women in their 50s and above) 

• Ajossi - A married man maybe (more of men in their 50s and above)

• For shopaholics:

1. Olma-eyo - How much
2. Pisayo - Expensive
3. Kaka juseyo - Discount please

Oh wow, macam kelas bahasa Korea pulak... OK... Proceed with the tour please...

Gyeongbok Palace is the largest palace of the Five Grand Palaces which served as the main palace of Joseon Dynasty.  Joseon was the last dynasty of Korean history and the longest-ruling Confucian dynasty.  If you have been to the Forbidden City, Beijing, you might find the similarity of those 2 palaces.  In my humble opinion, Beijing Forbidden Palace nampak lebih cantik maybe because Forbidden Palace was designed with many more colours. Maybe...  

Korean Tradition:

Traditional Korean side dish: Kimchi

We had the chance to learn how to make an easy Kimchi then taste it.  Kimchi is a traditional fermented dish which is made of vegetables with a variety of seasonings.  Tapi ada jugak squid and fish...  Frankly speaking not my kinda food.  Rasa pedas dan pahit macam makan ubat.  I prefer tomyam please...

Our tour leader, Jennifer taught us that the word "KIMCHEEE" is also used when taking pictures just like when you say "CHEESE" to get the most attractive smile when you are posing for a photo... We also learned to pose Korean Gals way... (give a cute peace sign and grin now!) :D 

 Traditional Korean clothing: Hanbok

We also had the chance to try Hanbok costume for freee~ amboi freeloader! Hanbok is a vibrant traditional costume for Koreans and now only worn during national holidays or weddings. To me, Hanbok does not discriminate against plus size people because of its empire cutting. Hence, you kecik ke, you besar ke, tetap menawan bila pakai Hanbok.  How's my fashion statement? :)

N Seoul Tower where your love comes true?

When the bus dropped us off at the entrance of N Seoul Tower, we had to walk up a steep road to the tower.  It looks very similar to our KL tower.  Mengah jugak la.  Many young couples wore the identical shirts, holding hands and wrapped their arms around each other while they walked to the tower.  Ada apa dengan couples ni?  They make promises by buying the colourful love locks, write romantic messages of love then leave locks in specially designated areas around the base tower where now thousands of colourful love locks and pictures of couples are placed there.  We were told that the keys were thrown away to symbolise unbreakable love. Awwwhhh so sweeeet...

Konon kan... Our tour leader kata jangkamasa unbreakable tu tak sampai 3 bulan... Caner tew?... hehehe... 

SHOPPING!

1st night jer dah pegi shopping.  I was extremely tired at the time but ikutkan jugak my colleagues yang memang dah buat research nak pegi jugak2 Go-To-Mall, the Gangnam Underground Shopping Arcade since it's only 10 minutes walk from our hotel.   I don't really fancy the stuff there. Macam uptown je... Macam Pertama Kompleks je... Then again, maybe I was just too tired!  We spent a lot of time at the Nature Republic shop as we had to struggle to speak to the non-english speaking retailers.  We had to learn to use sign language. Serious macam itik dengan ayam.

We also went to Myeong-dong Market if I'm not mistaken on the 3rd night . Haaa... Ni la baru best...  Myeong-dong Market is the awesome place for shopaholics! There are loads and loads of shops seen there.  I saw Uniqlo, Forever 21, Starbucks, PUMA, Adidas and MNG but I found that the attractive shops were those which sell local cosmetics and skin care items. I don't want to go to another Pavilion Mall! I obviously want to enjoy Korean stuff! What to buy there? Facial mask, lip crayon, CC cream and eyeliner with absolutely gorgeous price!

To be continued...