Hello December (^^)/

Bismillah..

I'm currently down with viral fever. Been having headaches and muscle aches for the past few days and PCM has been my 'staple food' to keep me going with all the planned activities. Decided to write something tonight to keep me awake. I didn't intend to keep the short emo post on top for long but November has been a super busy one and to be honest it was a month full of happiness despite me leaving the blog dormant after posting something like that hahaha


November was the month to celebrate success.

Sara scored straight As in her UPSR and BFF SS passed the final clinical exam for her masters program. Yeay! I'm very proud of them! While they are obviously from a different age group and at a different education level, what is similar between them is they are both super busy people. Our family got a bit worried with Sara being too active in extracurricular activities even when UPSR was approaching; she even went to play netball at national level in July, 2 months before UPSR! And SS had to juggle between her rotation at different departments and facilities, settle her thesis proposal and of course manage her family.

Failing my N4 last year, I guess, was a reminder that I was never the type who could study last minute. And now that these two important people in my life had made it in their exams, I should strive to score and pass mine too. I have about 10 months left to prepare, I'm quite busy myself, but SS is much much busier since she has two very clever minions to deal with, I shouldn't make my tight schedule as an excuse for not preparing well. I've been bothering SS quite a lot and has been asking for study tips hahaha I guess it's all about prioritizing and self discipline.


November was jam-packed with activities

First was Medical Night which I didn't plan to go at first but then since I had nothing in schedule so I went anyway hahaha I hired a professional make up artist who recently was listed to compete in Malaysia Top  MUA (so proud of her!) and of course I was very satisfied with my look for that night.

Manage to gather some girls to form a futsal team and compete at our hospital level tournament. We didn't win. I was not in my best shape too; my thigh muscles were aching throughout the games T_T
But the most important thing is we had fun and we burnt lots of calories that morning! What I really love most about my team, they always get even more excited after losing and can't wait to get better (^^)/ Huk huk!

Family trip to Kundasang! This is not something unusual but Sabahan families just never got tired going there for holiday, This time my big bro wanted to go to the Arnab Village because it was he who cancelled it 2 years ago after he saw the gravel road. I went there with my uncle's family earlier this year. They added quite a lot of things since my last visit.

We had to go to Kundasang on a Sunday because all accommodations that suit us were fully booked that weekend. We stayed at Suang Noh Homestay which is situated at the Mesilau Village and very near to the Desa Cattle Farm. I highly recommend the place for families. Ours was a house with two rooms. Each room has a queen size bed, a bunk bed and its own bathroom and toilet. The kitchen utensils were quite limited because I've been to some that had more but it shouldn't be that much of a problem.


So now welcome December, my birthday month! (^^)/ Also was started with fun activities

Like the annual World AIDS Day celebration

I was very very occupied as the event was approaching. I really had to prioritize stuffs and be very disciplined those few weeks in order to ensure that every single thing gets done well. I even skipped the trip with my family to the zoo to settle some stuffs so that I can spend all my time with them afterwards. And what I think I'm most blessed with is my very dedicated team

I didn't have time to do a meeting and was only delegating the tasks via whatsapp. Everybody had their share of jobs and Alhamdulillah everything was done very very well, and they even exceed my expectations. I tell you, my teams are best at refining my ideas and also executing them. I couldn't have done it alone and I always believe that if our team is limited to what I say, think and want, we will not go far. 

Last year we made a timeline about stigma. I'm glad that some of last year's visitors actually remembered that. Partly because it was very moving (I even cried while doing the research hahaha) and also we included some public figures in the timeline. This year the main intention is to make the communities understand HIV and be able to contribute to help make a difference in handling HIV as whole. Why there was an unexpected crowd at our booth? There was a crossword puzzle there that requires visitors to read and answer the questions. I'm not sure if it was the prize that allure the crowd, but I was surprised that the visitors were actively reading the posters and even approached my team members, not for quick answers but for further explanation. And for that, I'm very thankful. I hope the visitors did learn something from what we exhibited.

Eh panjang pulak pasal WAD hahahaha

Beach cleanup with Mercy Malaysia Sabah Chapter.

This is my first activity with Mercy. Didn't really get to know the people because it was just a half day activity in Pulau Sepanggar. There were soooooooooo many plastic bottles on the beach that I started to think, if the drinking water is not filled into a plastic bottle, how should we sell them then...? No, I didn't find the answer hahaha

We collected a total of 1750.4 kg of garbage that morning. That is a lot! Prevention is indeed better than cure~ There were still a lot left especially those that are buried underneath the sand. We gave up on some since it was too deep to pull out everything.

Okay that's all for this post..
Yes... With this full schedule I am struggling to find time to study huargh~ And that story will be told in another post (^^)/

This post was written on 7 Dec. Stopped half way and completed tonight hahaha

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Silenced...

"... forget about the ones who don't.. ."

Her silence simply means she is exhausted of uncertainty and doesn't care anymore...

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Recipe: Sup Daging Abe Yus!

Bismillah

These days, we feast almost every day during lunch. It's either we order food delivery via food panda, bring food from home or simply cook at our pantry. Abe Yus is actually 3 years younger than me. I don't call him by that name, of course. But the rest of my staffs called him Abe Yus. He was stationed at our place to cover one of our staff who was on leave and he'd taught us how to make a delicious beef soup with a pressure cooker. It's surprisingly simple!

I was frying eggplants and making an omelette in another room so I actually missed the whole process but E took pictures of all the stages so voila! Here goes...

First, stir fry some garlic, onions, cinnamon, star anise and one sup bunjut Adabi

This is the picture of the pressure cooker. We put the ingredients in layers

The bottom most layer:
Garlic, onion, ginger and 1 sup bunjut adabi (All these are different from the stir fried ingredients. So you need 2 sup bunjut Adabi)

2nd layer:
The beef

3rd layer:
The stir fried ingredients, chicken stock cube and squeeze some lime juice. Please remove the seeds ya~

4th layer:
Carrots, potatoes, Holland onions (itu ka namanya tu.. hurm??) and lastly, tomatoes

Add some salt and sugar and then leave it to cook inside the pressure cooker for 30 minutes

Okay.. I can't find the picture of the soup but I can assure you, this recipe is very delicious! Yummy yummy!

That's Abe Yus in action

And this is us enjoying our lunch on the floor.

You can zoom in the pic to see the soup haha

All I need now is a pressure cooker but I have no space to store my kitchen appliances at home if I were to add more...

Kena tunggu ada rumah sendiri la neyh~ Sigh~

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Natsukashii...

"Orang-orang yang merindu, namun tetap menjaga kehormatan perasaan nya, takut sekali berbuat dosa, memilih senyap, terus memperbaiki diri hingga waktu memberi kabar baik, boleh jadi doa-doa nya menguntai tangga yang indah hingga ke langit. Kalau pun tidak dengan yang dirindukan, boleh jadi digantikan dengan yang lebih baik... " - Tere Liye


Aku... Kamu... Jarak... Rindu... Dan juga doa...

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Disillusioned...

Bismillah...

STORY 1

I was waiting for my laptop to properly shut itself down when an acquaintance that I haven't seen for years passed in front of me, walking towards where the on call rooms are located. He stopped when I called his name, walked towards where I was sitting and we had a very brief catching up...

As he was about to leave, he asked what I was doing there with the pile of papers and laptop. I explained to him I was just killing time doing some of my work projects while waiting for the rounds to start.

"Why so rajin? Who are you doing this for?"

"Fisabilillah, brother..." I said, laughing.

"There's no such thing.. I was 'rajin' before, you know.. But then I realized there's no use to it. I was exhausting myself only to allow the rest (in my department) to relax.. So then I decided not to be 'rajin' anymore. And now, I'm happy.. So you shouldn't be so 'rajin' too.. Gaji same je babe!"

"So tell me... Now that you're not so 'rajin' anymore.. What do you do with your spare time then? Convince me! since you're telling me I shouldn't be 'rajin'"

"I do what others do lah!" laughing as he replied

"Aha! and what are those things? Tido kat oncall room? Gi gym? Escape?"

He laughed and started to walk away while waving his hands dismissing my questions.

"Remember,brother. FISABILILLAH!!!"

Yes, I can say those things to him because we graduated from the same university and I am the senior hahaha

STORY 2

That morning my bff first message to me was

"Have you ever feel like you hate your workplace so much.. Like it's meaningless.. Like you have no friends.."

I was not startled. I told her that was exactly how I felt when I decided that I needed a long break to find motivation again. It was not depression, I'm sure. It was just a transient blip in my self esteem.

STORY 3

The trainee turned up sharp at the promised time

"It's good that you've submitted your logbook early. In fact, yours is the earliest ever... But I need you to amend some stuffs. And please do me a favour... Help me stamp all your forms and I'll sign it later.." I instructed hurriedly.

After about 10 minutes, she came back into the room with everything done. I was surprised at how fast it was because there were hundreds of them to stamp. Other trainees would've submitted it on another day.

When she went back to her station that morning, I recalled on how she performed while under my supervision. I remembered, while she's not that smart type who can answer all questions, all tasks that were given to her was always ready before the due date. During our discussions, I noticed her lengthy colourful notes which proved that she has been extensively reading the topics prior to the session. I'm sure, if this girl continue with what she is currently doing, she is en route to somewhere great. She made me think about how I've been spending my time. Made me asked myself; have I been just busy or have I been productive like her?

******* 

What I want to share in this post is actually the content of this blog ; 5 tips to start self-improvement. For someone who sought motivational and inspirational readings on daily basis, of course the points are usually not something that I'm unfamiliar with. But I still love reading how different authors uniquely elaborate them in their own point of views. Plus, reading them again and again is like a reminder and an affirmation.


How does the blog post relate to the 3 stories?

Tip 2: Get a Mentor
Tip 3: Don't go at it alone

It's difficult to find someone who has the exact same goal as yours. But what's easy to find are people who crave for the sense of purpose, who love to produce excellence and never get tired of trying.

There was a period of loneliness when I felt that the people who was close to me at that time just don't get me. I felt like they were no longer relevant because we were not speaking the same language anymore. But then I was wrong. They are still and will forever be relevant in my life. We might not be like minded when it comes to our endeavors, but they are the source of my happiness, people I make memories with and those who never fail to tickle my funny bone. I figured it out that the people in one's journey varied in their roles. I don't just need those who can discuss ideas and inspire. In fact, those who kept me sane is even more important.


I learned that the like minded circle of the same field can be just anywhere in this world of advance technology. They don't have to be physically present to interact with. Mentors? I do have them, yes. They are those I looked up to in my career and they are my source of advice. Of course, to do that you should not feel shy to seek for advice. And I also have those people whom I share my ambitions with even though they're on a different field and definitely on a different course in life. We kept each other updated on how far we have progressed and we motivate each other to keep going no matter how difficult it may be.


Tip 5: Realize it's not going to be smooth

If I've dug deeper, I might have gotten the real reason why my junior have decided to stop being 'rajin'. Or perhaps he had thought he was walking a lonely road too and it has taken him nowhere other than being physically and mentally exhausted.

"The road to success is never easy" I was told just a few minutes ago by my good friend's mom.
(I stopped writing this to meet her outside my house to pass some stuffs and we went on talking about her son and daughter in law pursuing their masters)

And like what is mentioned in the post, there will be inner and also outer negative voices that will resist this change for the better. I think this is when a strong conviction from within is imperative to keep oneself on the right track especially if we're on a 'less traveled route'. And we can't stay on the route alone for too long but we should find or build our support system as we go.


And story 3..

Well, like I said, she made me thought a lot about what have I produced with the time I spent. That's when I realized that I was actually not aptly preparing for what I am aiming for. I thought I needed more time because I've not properly 'mold' myself. But then, come on, 9 years of service and still not ready? Will it take another 9 years to be ready or maybe until yaumul qiyammah perhaps?

Thanks to her, I decided to just dive into it and prepare myself as much as I can with the time I have left. Well, when you 'dive into it' there are of course sacrifices to be made but with this I learn to channel my energy and time to the things that are really really important to get the best of results everyday. I'm still trying to adapt and be disciplined. Semoga istiqomah~


Why I titled this as 'Disillusioned'... I was in a state of disillusioned for so long...
I was progressing but have I not reevaluated the whole thing,  I wouldn't have realize that I could actually speed up a little bit...

Someone said to me that our hopes and dreams are not aligned thus we can't walk the path together. I pondered... Perhaps he preferred to sail solo while I believe in team work makes the dreams work. It's not a matter of having similar dreams, but it's how we work together and support to achieve each other's dreams. Like I mentioned earlier, the people who keep me sane are important. They might not be directly contributing to what I'm aiming for, but they are important in propelling me to my fullest potential.


So are you the same as me...? Lets get out of this disillusioned~ Together....

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Imbak Canyon: 13-16 Sept 2019

Bismillah..

DS was the one who told me about Imbak Canyon last year. I have no idea of its existence until he mentioned it and did my research. I thought of arranging the trip on my own but, as usual, I didn't get the chance to do all the necessary. I'm too busy with work these days.

So, how this trip came to be... Actually HM mentioned  that he will be going there in November when we were in Tabin. Ever since I heard of that, I repeatedly reminded him to let me know if he's going for another trip and tadaaaaa he arranged an earlier trip instead hahaha

At first, I have no idea where on earth this place is located. But then I saw the signage when we were on our way to Kg Inarad the weekend before the trip. Since I was going to drive Baby Dragon to the starting point, knowing the distance, I decided to spend a night in Kundasang. That morning we started early an had breakfast in Ranau.

We parked our car at Kg Imbak and went to the Imbak Canyon Research Center with 4WD vehicles. I already told MM that the road condition is not suitable for his car and being typically him,
all stubborn, he drove his car only to be stranded halfway. Manage to refrain myself from saying, "I told you so..." hahaha

It was about an hour drive from Kg Imbak to the research center. The facilities worth millions of ringgit thus I can say that the place is kind of exceptionally complete, beautiful and clean.

This is the main building where the office and shop is located. This is the only area with wifi too.

This is the restaurant (or was it called dining hall.. hurm..??)

You can actually book a full board package that includes meals but then it's very pricey, I think.

Plus, from the 2 meals that we had here, I rather cook hahaha 

The kitchen facilities are situated in a separate building. Very complete, I would say.

The dining area is just outside; a shaded area with tables, chairs, sinks and bbq sets.

And this is our hostel

We spent the first night here and the second night at Kuli Research Station

It was about 2 km hike from where the 4x4 are parked to the research station. It is equipped with all the basic amenities so I consider it as quite comfortable (for my standard, which is quite low after all the rugged adventures). We were told by another group that happened to be here for the second time that this place is just as comfortable as the hostel at the research center and we end up not bringing our sleeping bags with us. Well, it's best to have sleeping bag with you if your itinerary includes this place because there are only mattresses so you'll need the sleeping bag as cover.

We went to a waterfall that evening and then went to another one the next morning. As always, I don't remember the names hahaha fail betul kalau tulis travelog begini ni. Nda apa... Anggap ini an element of suspense haha

The highlight of this trip was of course the Imbak falls. To be honest, I was quite dissapointed to find that this  magnificent waterfall is reachable by car hehe I thought we were going to hike there. I have this mindset that something is much much more valuable and memorable if it's hard to be reached such as the Maliau falls but anyway I was mesmerized by its beauty. 

I say this is one of those trip that I really enjoy because of the people whom I went with. The activities were very light so I wasn't really all hyped up with adrenaline. It was the laughters, the time we spent getting to know each other in such a brief period of time, the teamwork when things didn't go as planned and a smile :)

Us holding our certificates

And me, arranging the ration with all seriousness hahaha

I was actually on a burnout period at that time and was really hoping to release some stress during the trip and keep repeating to my friends..

"I'm going to put everything behind and enjoy this one..."

Alhamdulillah.. This was part of my recovery~ (^^)/ yosh! 

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