Japan mari!

Seriously, eventhough i was there for 5 (plus 2 days travelling = 7 days in total) days.. I didn't have time to explore Osaka..neither did I have much time to shop for stuff.  Only brought limited things back, mostly edible stuff..haha.. Fridge magnet pun tak sempat nak beli..Sorry aa Kak Ita, next time. :)


I only bought one piece of clothing from Uniqlo..a hooded sweater/jacket..that's it. And I don't know why I even bought it.. aih, probably because I felt like I was leaving empty handed I guess.  But most things are expensive here, because of the currency.. so I guess it was a good choice to abstain from shopping like crazy.  


They have the 100 Yen shop here that sells nearly anything and everything under the sun until I got so overwhelmed that I didn't know what to buy. I only bought almond chocolates there.. :p 


So these are some of the things that I managed to grab and angkut back here..

 I have not tried the cafe latte, but the caramel flavour is really really good! I wish I had bought more of these.. 

 There are 2 packets of the udon noodles in the box. Don't know how exactly I should cook it..will ask my friends how. The ones that I had in Takamatsu were super duper nice.. aaa, drooling just thinking about the big prawn tempuras that came with the udon..yum!

 They are only just that cracker thing with nuts (the cracker as the body and the peanut as the head).  Normal tasting snacks but I just love the packaging. :)

A token from the host of the event. We worked together with them for the past few ships. The one with the ribbon is a small mirror (yeah, i know, so me right?) and a lip brush. Mikimoto ni I think is a famous Japan designer for jewelleries..cool pressie :)

Glamorous

Please excuse me, i ran out of a good title...

First attempt to make her smile..result? Auntie je yang senyum lebih-lebih.. :p

Second attempt.. blurghhh..she looks bored with the auntie who won't give up trying to snap her picture.

3rd and final attempt.. Yeay!!! Success! She finally looked at the camera and smiled :) wheeeeee....

Who's cuter??? v(*o*)v

Envy..envious..

Found a few interesting quotes online.  Some are easy to understand while some, you may need some time to decipher what they really mean. 

To me, envy is sort of a disease... and am not too sure if it is curable.  One has to seek his/her own solution on how to overcome this sometimes infectious disease. 

Interesting quotes:

Envy is an insult to oneself.



Yevgeny Yevtushenko
True...very true.. maksudnya, diri sendiri tak bersyukur dengan apa yang the person already have. 
  
Envy is the art of counting the other fellow's blessings instead of your own.



Harold Coffin
Again, we have to reflect on ourselves and be grateful with what we already have. What we don't have? Well, fix our own goal and target to achieve or obtain the things that we want to have in future.  That is how we can push ourselves further and make ourselves better.  The feeling that we get once we achieve something, for instance buying your first car using your own money.. the feeling is priceless!
 
Envy, like the worm, never runs but to the fairest fruit; like a cunning bloodhound, it singles out the fattest deer in the flock.



Francis Beaumont
People will always envy the person that has the most or the best...or the prettiest..or the smartest..or the most loved by everyone else.  But sometimes we can turn this feeling into something positive. Maksudnya, we will try to change ourselves for the better for example, we will study harder to achieve what that person has achieved. So if we do it right, envy can also be a positive thing.  Use that to push ourselves further and to achieve greater and better things.
 
Do not overrate what you have received, nor envy others. He who envies others does not obtain peace of mind.



Buddha
This does not need further elaboration..very straightforward and easy to understand.
 
Fools may our scorn, not envy, raise. For envy is a kind of praise.



John Gay
Yes, envy is a praise to the person that we are envious of... If ada orang envy kat kita, remember to say Alhamdulillah and smile :) 




 

Money money money...

After nearly 7 years, my debts with PTPTN has decreased to a comfortable level.  The total loan received during my diploma years was RM15000. However the total debt grew because the interest began as soon as we graduated, eventhough I continued with my degree that did not stop the interest from accumulating throughout the years. The interest (or they call it caj perkhidmatan) accumulated until I began servicing the loan when I started working in 2005.  The total debts for the diploma loan became RM16502.. and this is not inclusive of the loan for the degree level. Berpeluh jugakla nak membayar..start sikit-sikit dulu.

I didnt have to repay my degree loan because I was exempted as I obtained good grades during my degree..Alhamdulillah. Cuma kesian my hunny as he has to repay both the diploma and the degree loans. Takpe, usaha tangga kejayaan... surely boleh habis jugak nanti :)

As for me, lagi sikiiiiiiiiiit je lagi nak habis. Tak sabar nak habiskan semua.   I have my savings which I can use to repay all at once, but then again, rasa macam bayar installment is better as I also do not want to lose out on my dividends from my savings..sayang.hehe... Insyaallah in 10 months' time I'll be free! Free!!! Freeeeeeeee!!!!!! (Drama queen mode y'all!)

So I wish to those who are servicing your PTPTN loans, good luck and mari kita membayar hutang bersama-sama secara berhemah. Our children and future generations are depending on us to ensure that they too, will have the same education opportunities as we did.

LITTLE munchkins

Babies are always the main attraction in any family.  For mine, my aunt's grandchild is the latest apple of our eyes.  Her name is Tisya...celebrated her 2nd birthday recently, bila ikat rambut dua macam tu sebijik macam perangai Boo from monsters inc..hehe.. She is one very well loved child...for this year's raya only dia dah dapat 17 pasang baju from her nenek, nenek saudara, aunties, her mama and etc.. Banyaknyaaaa..boleh last sampai raya tahun depan. Hehe..  this is Tisya..my lovable but sometimes very mischievous niece :)

 Okay, it was very hard to take her picture because she didn't want to stay put!  :)

On hunny's side of the family, the latest addition would be my SIL's daughter. After 4 sons (phew!) she now has a pwincess :)Yeay! Boleh beli baju pink banyak banyak banyak!  The baby is so tembam..putih pulak tu, kalah i..o boy, do i need to start using Fair and Lovely now? hehehe...

I bought her a pair of blouse and seluar, rupanya dah tak muat kot, sebab beli untuk budak 6 months old..Takpe lain kali ada rezeki boleh beli lain.  

hehe..sorry baby, snapped a picture while you were sleeping..baby muslimah ke ni? :)

retail therapy..

Now I am grateful that I participated in the employee share option scheme (esos) when they offered my beginning of 2008.  Rupa-rupanya bila berhenti kerja we get all the dividends from all the years that I have accepted the share option scheme. Woo hoo!

Dengan bestnya I was excited to go on a retail therapy session..but of course after setting aside a portion for my own savings.  Alhamdulillah, rezeki lebih ni boleh share with my family and family kat kampung during raya...si kenits la confirm enjoy lebih dapat duit raya :)

So what did I get for myself? (Note: wanted to treat hunny as well but he was never in the mood to buy anything for himself until a few days before raya..bought him a sampin, 2 shirts and a shirt for ayah).

For me.. I got these..

 O, this is not actually part of my retail therapy but it is actually for my feet yang dah ada rekah-rekah. Kerja keras ke sebab selalu mop lantai ke jadi macam tu? Boo hoo hoo.. hope this thing works. I want to have happy feet! :)

 This I got for Raya to wear with my kurungs.  RM60 for 3 pieces at the Curve's bazaar tapi lepas tu kat Jalan Tar RM10 je for one. Okay a bit of rugi for me but who knew I would be rajin enough to follow my friends to Jln Tar kan? Kalau tau confirm tak beli dari Curve. Gave 1 piece to my SIL.

Last but not least..my all time fave! Got it at Subang Parade..think it was on 40% discount. Berbaloi-baloi :) This pair, I keep in the grey car while the Marc Jacobs I keep in my myvi.  Senang bila keluar mata tidak silau :) yeay!

I also bought 2 pairs of sandals from Charles and Keith (like, like and superlike!).. same design but different colours. I find it hard to find heels that I can wear nowadays, so bila dah betul comfy, baik beli lebih sikit for future use.

And I bought a pair of cute black flats from Scholl for office use.  I guess this shopping spree makes up for the next few months since I will be very busy and hunny will have to go to his weekend classes again.

Retail therapy anyone?