What a year, 2014!

2014 has been a tragic year for Malaysia. The great mystery of #MH370, #MH17 shot down over Ukraine and the recent #QZ8501 crash. Not only that, northern states of Malaysia is flooded. The worst ever in years. I wish for a better year for Malaysia. 

Personally, I started 2014 unhappy. I was watching the fireworks with someone i didnt love, my girlfriends were all over the city, my siblings celebrating with their own families and my parents were out partying with their friends. I had an amazing 2013 and i wasnt going to let the first day of 2014 bring me down to a potentially good year. I had a rough 1st and 2nd quarter but everything picked up right after! I graduated!!! I fell in love with futsal, became closer with my girlfriends, a new job and got with an amazing guy. My family is healthy and strong. I cant ask for more. 

Looking forward to 2015. 2015 is about career, health and working on my relationship. Here is hoping and praying that 2015 will bring better luck, happiness and health.

He made it official

Nothing says love in this modern world by a man who believes that a healthy relationship is no sign of it on facebook by changing his Facebook status to In a Relationship. Now its that awkward conversation in firguring out what date we started dating. Month - check. Date - ? 

#DONE

ALBANY, WA

Its okay to want.

I am driven by goals. By achievements. By excel sheets and everything black and white. I can be a little straight. But! haha, if the rules and regulations dont go my way, i will work my way around it. I have a life plan and know what i want.

Had a very interesting conversation with my brother the other day. I hardly get to hang out with my brother - him having a VERY active 19months baby girl and recently a new baby boy. He is busy with work, tired and overwhelmed with two babies in the house.

We were in the car on the way home and he asked me.

4 Ways On How To Stay In A Relationship With Yourself Whilst Being In A Relationship.

People are creatures of habit. We wake up, have breakfast, go to work, go home, have dinner, sleep and repeat. Same like relationships – as much as we don’t want to admit this, there is that one relationship in our lifetime, where we stay a little too long because we are comfortable. It might be hard to admit, but at some point of your relationship, you and your significant other have form a habit/routine together - order the same takeout every day, watch a movie on the same day of the every week, sex in the same position and get caught up in the bubble that you forget that you are moving into the danger zone = settling. Settling means no good. No good for you. 

1. Establish what you want from the beginning.

This is probably going to be a very hard thing to do. Especially when you are up on cloud 9 in love with your significant other.  I think this is where most couple struggle doing - establishing what they want from the relationship. It can be as simple as sex, attention, companionship, marriage and etc. When you get down from your cloud 9 - have a conversation with your partner about your future plans, your beliefs, your family traditions or your views on the Kardashians/Honey Boo Boo. When you know what you want, this will set the foundation of your relationship.

2. Don’t go with the flow.

Again, people have a habit of going with the flow. When the flow doesn’t go where we want it to, we blame it on #life. You set your flow. You set your own path. If you don’t like your current path, change it. It’s fine to include your partner in it, but don’t set your pace to his. You shouldn’t be with anyone who holds you back. Relationships are selfish. You take what you need from your partner and vice versa. Don’t get sucked into it. You look after your own happiness. 

3. Listen and Look.

Love is blind. Listen to the people around you. They see it. You don't. If your family isn't keen on your current boyfriend, there is a reason why and it's best you talk to them. Your friends can't stand being around your S.O, something is seriously wrong. Or are always asking you when are you dumping this guy? Are you are still seeing him? Don't you think you can do so much better? Don't hate them for it. Question it! Ask why they are saying these things. It can be a little hard to listen to love ones when they hate on your S.O. It can come off as they are not supporting you but try to take a step back and think about it. 

Look at how he treats the women in his life. Mother. Sisters. Girlfriends. His relationship with his the important women in his life will be the same way he treats you. If he is screaming and talking down to his mother, say bye bye now. 

4. Don’t Wait

Your dreams/adventures/inspirations/goals are yours. Don’t sacrifice something just because your S.O isn’t happy with it or keen on doing. You want to go on that trip with your girlfriends and your S.O is giving you a hard time about it. You love watching horror films in the cinema and your S.O is not a fan of horror films. Find someone else to watch it with you or watch it yourself. There are options. Talk it out, if you guys can’t compromise something... That should be a red flag for you. Also, be more proactive with yourself! It’s totally fine to test your relationship in the early stages. Go on a holiday early in the relationship, if you guys can go through 5 days with each other 24/7 without fighting. You guys are gold.

Remember, you only accept the love you think you deserve. If you think you deserve more than you are currently at right now. Go get it! 

Black Feline

Was told to wear all black on Halloween at work. I have so much black coloured clothes, that i was spoilt for choice on what to wear! So many choices, so little time! After much deliberation, I finally resorted to wearing my cut off shoulder sheer shirt. Pei Yee (my beloved colleague from Zalora and now C27) who sits next o me - said that from the corner of her eyes, it looked like my arms are amputated. -____-" Thanks Pei! 

THANK YOU

I have never been good with receiving compliments. Every time i uploaded a photo on Facebook - whenever someone compliments me.

omg, you look so pretty!

Aww, no lah, its just the filter/camera/angle/position.

10 things i need to start doing

Sometimes we get so caught up with things around us, that we forget little simple things in life. We go through a monotonous routine without realizing. Today i had a reality hit conversation with my mom that made me re-evaluate some things in my life. I forced myself to sit down and write down what i needed to do for myself. This is just basic daily things i need to remind myself to do. Personally, i think having little reminders like this helps keep you focused and happy. Hopefully by doing the things above, i will lead a more fulfilling life. 

TEAM #MK

Been feeling off lately, nothing major, just a little off. Like i needed a pick me up or do something for myself. Its funny because work has been good, my weekly activities has been great (winning at futsal, how can that not be good???), family is good and healthy and girlfriends/relationship have been good as well. I had no reason to feel off, but felt sooo shitty, crappy, emotional and needy. At first, i thought i was going through PMS but no, this is a whole different level of PMS. Then i thought... I am a girl, i dont need to justify WHY i am feeling all of the above unless... people around me are complaining (i hope not). Don told me to do something soulful for myself. Like yoga or tai chi -_-" i told him... ice-creams are good for the souls. It was his turn to -_-" 

Screw diets (for now) I got my long-craved coconut gula melaka (brown sugar) gelato!!!! i swear to god, it is sooooo good. #sogood 

Ice-creams are the best mood swings killer. 

WISH

19th Green

Penchala Link

The want to drop everything and move, then... reality brings me back. 

:( 

OHSHITmoment!

I think every girl has this sentimental part in her where she likes to keep her girlfriends, boyfriend, family and things they love close to her. 

My girlfriends and i have been friends since primary school. We were close, but it was one small incident that happened on June 15th 2005 that made us even closer. Since then we called each other the "circle" and when we turned 21, we decided to get a necklace to represent our friendship in a circle symbol. BUT of course, girls being girls... we couldnt decide on a single design, hahaha! So i decided to just get my own necklace to represent my forever girls. 

I got a cliche initial necklace to represent Don and i. Got a significance amount of teasing from my friends for wearing that necklace but hey, i like it, screw you guys! 

The earrings i am wearing in the picture above were from my parents for my first graduation present. I say first because i have been to THREE graduation ceremonies!  I was pleasantly surprised when my mom told me that she was going to buy me diamond earrings because i survived 3 years in Melaka (think city girl who has never been away from home thrown into Malay government university 2 hours from home) without complaining. Ever since i got them, i have been wearing them almost every day... 

I had an OHSHITFUCK moment with these earrings in Perth. Don and i were watching TV and i dont know, i just had this feeling to touch my ears. OHSHITFUCK, my left side earring was missing!!!! I panicked and had a thousand thoughts going through my mind... omg omg how the hell am i going to find my earring???? its like a needle in a haystack in house!! why are the floors freaking carpeted!?! omg what happens if it dropped in the shower?!?!? and went down the drain!?!!?!! 

After minutes of frantic searching, we found it in the shower!!!!! The scariest part about the situation was.. I had my shower first. Then Don had his... it could have washed away with his shower water...into the drain *horror* I was so overwhelmed with emotionS that I broke down crying. Don had to make me chamomile tea to calm me down and gave me tight cuddles. 

MORAL OF THE STORY: LISTEN TO YOUR MOM WHEN SHE SAYS TAKE OUT YOUR JEWELRIES BEFORE YOU SHOWER. 

SLEEP MORE

A quick one before i have to eat and get ready for futsal!!!! I arrived KL three days ago and getting back into my routine. I start a new-ish job next week, my schedule is pretty free, so i am soaking up whatever free time i have before i become a slave to 9-5. In my case... 10-6! 

Yesterday i met up with Azian at Publika for brunch. Publika's parking lot is the ONLY parking lot i get lost at. I have been there so many times, i walk back to my car the same way i came in, i always get lost and cant find my car. Publika's parking lot system is so confusing!!! Sometimes...i valet park because i cant be bothered to go through the frustration of losing my car. So, today (honestly... i dont know why i never did this before) i took a picture of my location. Found my way back. >.<

Its so nice to talk to Azian in person, we are constantly talking to each other on Whatsapp - sending random pictures of cats, handbags, baby updates, screenshots of things and etc. She is the one person i talk to every day and it feels odd if i dont hear from her for a few hours. 

Azian was craving for pancakes - so we went to Red Bean Bag! I had Cheese on Portobello mushroom on pancakes with poached eggs and tomato chutney. SOOOI GOOOD! One of the best meals i had in a while where i was thoroughly enjoying my meal without feeling full after a few bites. #sogood 

Right after Publika, i went to BSC to meet up with Rudy and Hurriyah at La Bodega. I ordered a hot mocha. It was gross and overly sweet. Naturally, food/drinks i cant finish i would pass it to the next person to me = Rudy, even he couldn't finish it. When the bill came...the mocha was RM17!!!!! Rudy looked at me and said, "You better finish it!" I had to scull the mocha :( and chase it with water. Yuck! No more Mochas from La Bodega. I had time to kill, decided to go to Digital Mall to find out how much does it cost to upgrade my mac. Don has been breathing down my back and complaining how slow my laptop is. "Its frustrates me that you tolerate how slow your computer is!!" I didnt notice my laptop is slow until he was on it and gave me a list of things i needed to upgrade. RM700 is how much it cost to upgrade. Not including a 24" screen i want to get so i can watch my tv series/movies while i do my work. #technerd I swear, everytime i go into Digital Mall, i want things i dont need - Photo-printer, MP4, selfie tripod, pink mouse, pink power bank and etc.

After Digital Mall, i wanted to go to Fuel Athletics to renew my membership, but thought i could do with a cup of peppermint tea first and sat at Mollydookers. Managed to get some work done as well, replied a few emails and whatsapp messages. Didnt need to go to FA because FA came to me! Haha, while doing some editing, Matin (Head Coach) came in Mollys for his coffee fix and sat down with me. #1 They are opening a bigger gym! #2 Made me download an app (Myfitnesspal) after I told him how much chocolates and timtams i ate in Perth and #3 forced me to go for class on Monday. Ill be going on a futsal binge after 3 weeks of "resting" my sprained ankle this weekend. Watch out for #sorebody tweets this weekend. 

Wore my brogues, havent worn these babies in such a long time. Many kisses and hugs to Don's housemate who got me sockets - which are below-the-ankle socks. Definitely made it more comfortable and easier to wear my brogues out. If you can see the white thing on my left foot, those are the sockets. Love them!

Got home, had super early dinner (530pm!) with my parents, niece came over, played tea time with her and got bored. I told myself i would be the "cool, hip, young" aunty but i am turning to be the opposite! My sister is the cool, hip, not-young aunty!! Whenever she drops her toys, i will give her a stern look and make baby-friendly scolding sounds, oh boy... get ready for ear plugs. Gave her a big squeeze goodbye and went off to get my measurements done for my bridesmaid outfit for Laila's wedding. Her wedding is in February and i told her i cannot guarantee that i will maintain this weight until then. 

Rushed to Helium & Konfetti's HQ (Haha!) to see Nash to discuss wedding details, while Laila talked about her colour themes, the invitations design, door gifts, (hot) photographers, wedding halls and etc, Nash and I were...astounded by wedding costs. Kahwin di masjid je la. Kena set up tabung kahwin sekarang, kalau nak kahwin in 10 years. #badjoke #tilljannah <- bahahahahaha! i crack up whenever i see couples hashtagging that.

Got home close to 2am, brushed my teeth, washed my face and straight to bed for 8am dentist appointment the next day. Mental note to myself to never set a dentist appointment at 8am EVER again. In my state of drowsiness, i told the doctor the wrong side of my toothache which lead to taking a wrong x-ray which means...... i have to go again on Monday! 

xxx

DAILY COFFEE

Don is a heavy coffee drinker while i am not. I like going to cafes to look at their interior designs and take pictures of them. So this works well for the both of us. The Daily in Swanbourne has a wall of raw bricks at the corner of their shop. I LOVE! Something about brick walls reminds me of my childhood and i find it very comforting. I am caffeine sensitive, one cup of coffee after 4pm, i will be wide awake until 4am.

My tolerance/love for coffee started when i started hanging out with Don. After class, we would go down to a cafe and catch up with our classmates over coffee. I got sick of drinking hot chocolate after a while and decided to just try a latte. i was hooked! I evolved from hot chocolate with soy milk to mocha to flat white and now black coffee with milk. My tolerance is getting way better, I now need (good) coffee in the morning to function better.

Check out The Daily's Instagram here. 

SUNDAY

Last Sunday, while editing on the post below, Don sitting across me working on his assignment, looked up and announced "Its sunday! Lets go to the beach and have an afternoon drink!" I hate leaving things half way but i am a sucker for beaches, off we went! 

Such a lovely day, it was sunny and windy. I forget how much Perth has to offer. I didnt take much photos of the beach (like i usually would) because #1 Don and i were having a conversation about start ups/businesses and nerdy stuffs and #2 The sun was so bright, i was wearing dark sunglasses, my iphone screen was too dark, it was too much effort to take 'artistic' photos. There i said it! i get lazy sometimes to get take photos. 

Here is a cheesy photo of Donny and I. I got asked if Don is really his name. No its not, it just a nickname he gave himself after Don Draper from Mad Men. He is a good guy, pushing me to go over my limits, good and bad. 

Wearing Mac's Rebel to give a pop of colour to my usual black and white outfit. Havent worn this lipstick in a loooong time, i love the berry maroon-ish colour. Rebel is a satin finish, dont wear it if you plan on kissing your boyfriend. Unless you want to make your mark on your man to shoo off other girls! I am also wearing Tarte's amazonian 12-hour blush in Natural Beauty - love this blush as well.

Sundays are supposed to be doing things you love with the people you love!

CIMB Color Run 2014

It was CRAZY and eventful weekend for me! It started off with Helium & Kofentti's Cross City Challenge but that event deserves an entry on its own. So ill skip right through that to one of the most colorful Sundays of my life.

I was super cranky that morning, it was mostly due to being really tired from #crosscitychallenge and a friend's wedding the day before. I can say that i am pretty laid back, easy going but that morning i was shocking. I hated EVERYONE. Why are these people so happy at 7am?! Can you stop talking? Why is your hair down for a freaking run?! I couldnt crack a smile and was just in my own world. Its scary what tiredness can do to people.

Took the train to Padang Merbok 

The whole train was filled with people on the way to the run. I went to the run with my sister+Bil and their friends. My sister+Bil are camwhores. They are the vainest couple i know. They MUST take a picture of everything... if you think im bad, they are worse. I will admit, my bil takes pretty cool pictures, so its okay... While waiting to be flagged off - we got flagged off in waves. There were SO many people that it took about an hour before we got to the start line to run.

I felt bad that i was being a sourpuss, so i thought okay, just suck it up. Get in the moment and take pictures. You are going to regret it later. Put on a fake smile and joined them for pictures! :D 

My legs were sore from futsal on Friday night and running around KL on Saturday. The plan was just to "walk" and get coloured, but my sister+Bil decided they wanted to jog...leaving sore Khaira at the back. It was when i got to the first 1km and the first colour zone, i got bored. I was still in my shitty mood and i thought...just run. you hate running and there is nothing to do... Just run. I ran! FYI, i really hate running. Running is my least favourite physical activity. I rather do 50 burpees than run 5km straight but i run because its the easiest form of exercise and fastest way to lose weight. #firstworldproblems Me joining marathon is just because... i want to be in the cool crowd. 

Blue zone 

Running alone also meant that i wasnt getting coloured as much as the rest of the runners. People were throwing coloured powder to each other. Friends laughing, giggling and getting sprinkled/attacked with powder. While i just watched....and ran through. :( I had nothing from the blue zone because i need to loo so badly which meant i had to get out from the colour zone. :( Picture above was taken by a volunteer because i wanted to see...how coloured i was, but hmm... not colourful enough. 

I continued running along until a familiar face and hands reached out to me! Michi, my classmate back in Melaka!!!!! It was so nice seeing a familiar face and just catching up with him. Of course, finally having a proper conversation with Tun. I love their story. Its funny how we were course mates (the 3 of us) and years later...they get together! We went to the same uni for 5 years and boom! love story! Back to color run, we were pretty clean having gone through 4 colour zones. 

When we go to the last color zone, the volunteers went "You guys are too clean!" BAM! We got covered with pink/blue/orange/green powder in less than a second!

When we got to the finish line, i instantly felt better. I dont know, it didnt feel like we walked/ran 5k but it just that feeling you finished something and the fact that i ran half the run. Yay! Felt so much better, yay to finish lines!

There was a massive rave party going in the middle of the field which i took a video of but will edit it soon, you can check my ista-video my personal instagram here to get an idea of "rave"-ing it was. It was weird seeing people partying at 830-9am. Fists up in the air, dancing like there no tomorrow and jumping up and down. By then i was exhausted, just wanted to go home and sleeeeep. I managed to get ahead of my my sister+Bil who ran off ahead of me early in the run, while waiting for them to finish the run. I bought two steamed buns (sooooo hungry) and ate my buns quietly, while judging people in my mind for having so much energy. 

The only part i didnt like about the color run was my precious Nike Frees getting powdered, they are a pain to clean! I tried wiping them off with wet wipes/wet towel but no avail. Might have to soak them in water. Overall, it definitely good fun run! Despite my shitty start of the day, i had alot of fun. As much as i wanted to run with my friends, i was kinda glad i ran alone. Its been a while since i did something fun by myself! 

Albany 01

Lunch

At a distillery 

Beach

Feet in the sand

Wild roos

The host

His home

Really lucky to have housemates from south of Western Australia this year. During the easter break, a few of us went down to Albany to visit Stephen! The 5 hours journey down south was pretty interesting with 7 people in the car with different taste in music. I had to listen to Linkin Park for a good one hour. Stephen took us to the beach, a whiskey distillery, the natural bridge and viewpoints. I fell in love with Albany. Albany is such a beautiful town, rich with history. 

Nikon FM2 and NikonF90x

I spend a good amount of time and energy the past few days going through all my high school memorabilia. What do you do with your medals and trophies from when you were 13-14-15-16? Do you still keep them? I found my old high school diaries and goodness!! They were so cringeful! How was it possible that i was 'in-love' at 15 years old!! And reading letters my first boyfriend gave me was...horrible, only because we are friends now and to see him that way again was GROSS! I did a whole detox and threw them all out. Making way for new things and new memories :)

The one thing i noticed most when i was cleaning out my room was - i had so many (printed) photos (that i took over the years) all over my room. I never realised how much i was into photography. I wasn't really into like real photography where people take account in their lighting, iso and etc, but more into moments. All my photos were the typical Kodak moment. I don't know what happened along the way, i stopped taking photos. 

But so glad i decided to get back into it and start shooting. In the midst of cleaning, i was also thinking about my getting next camera. I have been reading photo blog from Singapore, she is using a Nikon Fm-10. She takes awesome travel photos of ALL the places i want to visit in Asia. Cambodia, Krabi, Vietnam just to name a few. Such a wonderful camera, takes honest, grainy and sharp photos. Of course, i did my research and couldnt help but think... I have seen this camera before! 

I found my dad and asked him...

Daddy, what happen to all your old slr camera? 

Its in the top cupboard in my room

*runs to get it*

Lo and behold!

New found love: Nikon FM2

My dad has the Nikon FM2 . The moment i saw it in his camera bag, my eyes has hearts in them. <3 <3 <3 <3 Manual only semi pro SLR film camera! I didnt know he had this camera!! I love the thrill of trying to figure out ISOs to take certain pictures and making sure i have enough light. Its a pretty sturdy camera and can definitely be used as a paper weight but i wont of course! My dad still has film in the camera from god knows how many years ago, i am pretty keen on finishing the roll and seeing what my dad took years ago.

Nikon F90x

My dad still has the manual for this camera dated 2001, i was 11 years old! This is the camera i remember seeing him use and taking pictures of the family especially me. I spend a lot of my younger years with my dad following him traveling all over Asia. I can easily say before i was 12, i have been to all South East Asia countries - except Brunei, East Timor and the Philippines. Dad was based in Bangkok, Thailand for a few years and work always had him travelling. I have pictures of me on/with elephants/tigers/snakes/monkeys, running around temples, eating, running across fields and me sulking because i was either told off to stop running around or i was hot. Sadly, i was too young to appreciate all the travels, which is why i want to re visit these places again. When i opened the camera bag, a wave of nostalgia came over me... I was a lucky kid. 

I am going to get films, batteries and start using these cameras out! 

Organised Mess

Bukit Damansara

Been trying to organise my room ever since i got back and failing miserably. For starters, I have so many clothes that my cupboard (mind you...my dad designed the cupboard for his two daughters to share) is FULL. Some are brand new, worn once or just forgotten. I have officially put myself on a NO-SHOPPING ban for a month. Besides clothes, i have so many books and random trinkets around my room which makes up the clutter!

New rules for myself:

1. I am not allowed to bring Magazines in my room.
2. I am only allowed to buy 5 books or less from Big Bad Wolf 2014
3. Every month i will donate/give away clothes. For every clothes i buy, i have to get rid of 3 clothes.
4. Every week i have declutter my desk including drawers. (Its amazing how much junk i just stuff in my desk drawers!)
5. I will alternate ALL my necklaces and wear them daily.
6. I will use ALL my Make up and not keep them for good days.

I have an excessive amount of things in my room. I am on a mission to declutter and make my room as minimal as possible. As much as i say i am not sentimental, i have to stop being sentimental and just throw things out!

Wish me luck!

Always

#DW47

My Favourite Spot in Curtin University

My Pertie (Perth Bestie)

Its been a good overwhelming past few days for me. I have been so blessed with good opportunities that it seems freaking unbelievable! I was so worried that i was going to hate coming back home but so far, everything has been in place for me, except the one thing i really want, but you don't always get what you want. 

The three pictures above are my foundation in Perth. The house i lived in, the reason why i was there and the person who went through the journey with me. It is so weird moving back to my room in KL and not have this feeling that i have to go back to Uni in a few weeks time. Its funny how when i first came to Perth, i disliked it. I couldn't wait to finish my course, go back to KL and start working. I was so used to KL's hectic lifestyle that i didn't know how to appreciate Perth's laid back lifestyle. Now, i love it and want a future there. Pertie says its karma for us for complaining early on how much we hated it and now we have to go back. But I believe there is always a reason to why things happen. #imissperth #sadface #missdonmore

Camera: LC-A+, film: Kodak 400

The corner of building 202

Kim Kim

Kim Kim, Faldo and Dave 

Khaira 

Camera: LCA+
Film: Kodak 400 ISO
Flash: Coloursplash flash

These are my first few shots from my LCA+. I am truly impressed with the camera's quirks and flaws. I am not a big fan of Coloursplash flash because the colour filter is too hard on the subject, like the first picture of Kim Kim. But the contrast between the background and Kim Kim is so vivid that i am starting to love the flash.

My LCA+ is always with me now. My friends are getting a bit annoyed at me for taking photo of them. I went to the Ramadan Bazaar (a bazaar that sell all sorts of Malaysian food for people to break fast with), i looked like a tourist holding two cameras #whocares #youwillthankmelater. I dug up my first fisheye camera, found that i still have film in it from over a year ago and i completely forgot about them. I just send 3 rolls of film to the shops and i cant wait to pick them up. Its going to be a pleasant surprise!