With all the current depressing news of COVID-19 trying to rule the world and making the next zombie apocalypse, let’s take a step back and calm our tits and tissue-paper raiding shopping spree.

Just a few days ago, our government took action to enforce the Movement Restriction Order (MRO), keeping Malaysians at home to control the spread of the virus. Depressing as it may be especially for the extroverts and ambiverts who are dying to be out there, let us take this time to think positive and reflect on how we should do better in the future while we #StayAtHome. Instead of spreading hate and negativity because of the coronavirus, take this opportunity to see how you can make the situation better for you, family, or the community.

These are some of the factors that could make you a better person during the MRO:

1. You Have Better Hygiene Habits

At this point, you may have started the habit of washing your hands as much as a medical practitioner does, or you may be slightly bit paranoid when soap or sanitizer is unavailable at public washrooms and restaurants. And that’s fine. It’s a good reminder that many companies are still lacking the basic hygiene that they need to implement. It also teaches us never to take a simple handshake for granted again and be mindful of the things we had touched or the places we have been because germs and viruses can “fly” and live on anything that we come to contact. At this point, it pays to be paranoid with everything we touched. So, just keep washing, and we’ll be fine!

And if you do happen to found them using cheap water soap dispenser… omg please don’t use them. I find it incredibly disgusting! 

3. You Will Want To Relook Into Your Job Or Side/Passive Income

Out of work because you fall into the “non-essential” businesses? Well, time to relook on how to secure yourself a job that still needs you. Maybe taking that accounting job or pursuing the doctor dream your parents always wanted was the safest after all.

At this time, you will start to reflect on the words of that annoying MLM salesman that kept on repeating that passive income is essential. Well, he was right. You do need one, or at least have a plan to have one (but please don’t join any MLM. I will kill you). It’s highly unlikely that companies will want to pay you forever, and waiting for government funds won’t be enough to support you and your lifestyle, especially if you have a family.

Take this as a wake-up call to relook and replan your career. It’s not gonna be easy, but it’s something necessary to secure the boat when the storm comes. I’m no expert in giving advises, but the best way I would suggest is to diversify your skills and experience. Just like investments, we need to expand our skillset in case one thing fails. When the worst happens, we still have the other as backup. For instance, if Person A works as a mechanic (service line), he/she can sell some car essentials online (product line) or be a freelancer providing car services to customers at home (service + product line). So being a Jack-of-all-Trades comes in handy if you are one.

4. Inspires You To Start Your First Start-Up Business

Now that the virus is here, seems like a lot of people are becoming their own entrepreneur. Well, there’s a little entrepreneur in everybody, regardless of big or small, you just have to take action to make it happen. Besides innovation, entrepreneurs grab on to opportunities like this to gain some extra cash, offering food delivery services, selling masks and sanitizers as middle-man, recommending supplements and more. With the undersupply of resources and materials, people are finding ways to meet the overwhelming demands.

Well, when all these virus thingy is over, we’ll know who’ll be the ones laughing all the way to the bank. Doesn’t that inspire you to be one of them or at least to do something to get a little more cash? What can you brainstorm and provide to meet the current situation needs?

5. It’s A Good Time To Invest, Invest, And Invest

With many stocks taking a plunge with the widespread of businesses being affected, the fear is slowly sipping into some investors’ pockets. But this turmoil is not stopping those who are keen to jump in the stock trading wagon, especially for first-timers. It’s not only limited to stocks, but also loans, businesses, and so on.

The only question is when would be a good time to enter the market? Well, it’s time to study, analyze, and put our financial knowledge to the test (since you got plenty of time to waste at home anyway). Your unused financial uni textbook will feel more proud of you when you finally use what you have learnt to good use.

It would a good time to relook onto the missed opportunities that you had come across from past political and worldwide issues that cause the stocks to react similarly in the past. Again, I’m not a financial expert, so invest at your own risk. It’s never too late to grab on to the opportunity to gain some financial growth in your life. And maybe this is one of it. 

 

We may never know when this pandemic situation will be over, but #slowlybutsurely it will. And once it is, we have finally had a list of things to inspire us to work on ourselves so that we can be a better person and have the peace of mind of being prepared and secured when the next virus season arrives.

 * * *

Beautiful

Their architectures are extremely beautiful and so Insta-worthy! Even their ancient step-well (Malaysian version of Syabas Water storage) could look so jaw-dropping and is even free to visit!

There is a lot of forts and castles in India, and they’re made with every precision like a baker makes his cakes! Every carving, sculpture, texture, and everything else is made to fit every wall, and sometimes it comes with a meaning or story behind it. It’s a very thoughtful thing for an “engineer” to do those days. Even these days, there’s hardly any thoughtful architect who wants to do the same. I think the people in the olden days are even more thoughtful than your average boyfriend lol.

The most beautiful building that stands out from my trip was the Taj Mahal, one of the Seven Wonders of the World. It’s definitely something not to be missed if you plan to visit India because the story behind each brick and wall has all the details it needs to make you feel amazed.

If you have any plans to visit Taj Mahal, it is recommended by the local guide to visit it at midnight during a full moon between March - April, where they’ll open up to the public to see the glimmering shining marble monument. It is such a rare occasion, that it only opens a few times a year!

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Cheap

Cheap! Super cheap! Almost everything and anything!

To show a clear comparison, a trip to Jeju Island, Korea, for 6 days cost a total budget of RM7,000 for 2pax. This includes car rental, flights, home stay, food, and everything else except souvenirs.

A 10 day trip to India, specifically to 6 parts of its cities, including visa, flight, train tickets, 3-star hotels, food, shopping and souvenirs (RM600 worth of Winter clothing and some Indian snacks) only cost RM3,000 per pax!

Even though it’s not a fair comparison, as the expenditure is always depended on the activities that was done at the location, but looking at the bigger picture, the transport and food in India is super affordable!

Their locally produced goods are way cheaper than any imported foreign goods, which are 5x more expensive due to the import tax and tariffs. A locally produced packed of 110-120g biscuit (almost same flavour) cost 10INR (60sens) in India, whereas it’s worth RM1.40 in Malaysia. That’s like more than 2x more than the local price! Besides that, the local transports are made so affordable for the locals to travel. You can get a ticket that cost only RM10 to travel a 4 hour journey trip from Jaipur to Agra (but also provided you choose the lowest of the lowest class). 

But of course, cheap always comes with a price. With the cheapest of the cheap, you can’t expect anything that you expect to get when you visit other foreign countries. Even if you are able to bargain your way for a very good tuk tuk fair rate, be prepared to be scammed as they will find ways to get more money out from you. A big group of tuk tuk drivers were looking for customers, we checked the market price from Uber to our hotel which was only 250INR, a tuk tuk agrees to the price although he initially asked for 500INR. On the way, they purposely took us to the wrong hotel, and demanded another 250INR to take us to the right hotel. We got down immediately and refused to pay. We got into a big fight and lot of yelling and shouting caught a few attention of a few passersby. Luckily, a kind local helped to tell off the tuk tuk and get us a trustworthy driver. 

* * *

Grateful

Out of the 5 words, this word definitely deserves the most written point. Plus, it’s the only word that I will tell anyone whenever someone ask me about my trip. You can send some ungrateful, spoiled, little brat here and let them live for a few months, and I can guarantee you, that little brat will become enlightened and wise by the time they get transferred back to wherever they are. Maybe I should tell my kids next time that I will send them there to suffer when they refused to obey me. Hmm….

Frankly speaking, I felt like I paid for an expensive survival boot camp overseas.
The 3-stars hotel felt like the worst place to stay with the white stained bed sheets. Hotel blanket that smelt like 100 Indians had used it before me. Cold running bathroom water that requires some time for the heater to work (and sometimes even requiring to call the receptionist to switch on the heater for you to use. Fascinating.). And not forgetting, the freaking annoying morning calls and countless knocks on our hotel door so that we will wake up and order our breakfast. Sounds pretty much like a boot camp to me. No?

I felt grateful because I felt so fortunate that my country didn’t have to deal with cow and dog poos everywhere and the stressful traffic all day. Even with a sheer distinct hate towards dogs by our Islamic law religion, the dogs in Malaysia still had better lifestyle than India. I saw dogs being kicked, tails being run over by tuk tuks, dogs limping, and sometimes bone sticking out of their body, skin badly infected by flies and germs. The only food they get is from the trash at the side of the road, and sometimes it gives them diarrhea and it’s really heart breaking to see them shitting so pitifully with their broken legs all over the place. Even the cows had better lives than the dog. I’m super grateful that my dog and all stray dogs in Malaysia don’t have to live like this.

Besides shits, the traffic in India is super congested, it’s even scarier to cross the road compared to Vietnam. There were a few times cars and tuks tuks came head to head with each other and they just dodge it with just a 5cm gap. Lines on the road served no purpose at all as everyone just drives as if it’s their grandfather’s road. The constant honking makes everything even more stressful (I heard it’s a way for drivers to communicate with each other). Even though some Malaysian drivers are dam inconsiderate, but after this experience, I’ll gladly embrace the Malaysian traffic no matter how bad it is. That 1 hour LDP jam ain’t that bad after all. 

Also, I’m also grateful that I have a strong immune body system that helped me recovered when I fell sick due to the cold weather and the fact we were really under-dress. Me and boyfriend fell sick on the 4th day of my trip at Lucknow, and with the polluted air and the 5°C cold, it didn’t help very much. We settled into a hotel with the filthiest hygiene care ever (due to our initial hotel booking issues, we had to shift to another hotel booked by the company). Our hotel cupboard was filled with bottles which contained some sort of poison. There was no hot water and we had to shower in cold running water during winter. The hotel staff was shitty and hopeless. I doubt they even clean the bed sheets and blanket. Safety was a concerned when there was no proper door lock system for our room (only using traditional padlock plus I had to ask the receptionist countless of times for the lock). Oh, did I mention that I found out there was a mice living in our room too? Despite the worst conditions that we had to stay, we still manage to live through this experience and recovered the next day, and that’s all we need to be grateful for.

Grateful that not all Malaysians are liars and scammers, because we were scammed countless of times with their A+ acting skills. A press walk up to us being friendly and all, and even suggest us a tourist shopping location to visit which had very cheap price. He even helped us get a tuk tuk (whom miraculously appeared out of nowhere) with a bargained price. When we Googled the location, to our surprise, there were tons of reviews saying that tourists were scammed to coming here by a random stranger walking up and recommending to them. The same act as we’ve experienced. Doesn’t matter if Malaysians are not that friendly, I would rather meet people who won’t stick their butts into our business than those who tried to scam the shit out of you. So Malaysians, you are still the best! 

Grateful that Malaysia digital infrastructure and public transport is so much better even if DiGi or Maxis internet and line fails us when we need it. Getting a SIM card in India takes a longer time and we took a good 2 hours getting our numbers up and running. Even if Malaysia’s public bus is always late, still, it’s not as late as a delayed train that can be delayed for more than 12 hours. Worst still, the train wasn’t functioning well as it keeps jerking on and off, and yet they still force the train to go on working, like your mom forcing you to eat veggies even though you don’t like to eat but you still have to (worst example, I know, but you get my point). The lifestyle here in India is so chill and relax, I think it would pissed off all the Hong Kongers if we were to deport them to India to work.

* * *

Blessed

When I saw a family sitting opposite our seating berth, having nothing else but thosai or chapatti for breakfast and lunch. The only thought came to me was,”wow this family really love their bread so much.” But little did I know that maybe it was the only cheapest thing that they could afford to eat. A piece of chapatti or thosai cost only 5INR, that’s like merely 30sens in Malaysia. It was that cheap, but at the same time, I couldn’t harvest my thoughts to eat them everyday when I already grew sick of it on the 2nd day. This made me feel blessed that my love ones around me are able to enjoy the variety of good food to choose from back in Malaysia. 

Surprisingly, I’m blessed that we could eat the streets foods around India and never experience any stomach discomforts or diarrhea. The only issue is, only these symptoms appeared once we started eating restaurant foods. This somehow doesn’t makes sense, but I reckon that the restaurant foods were more unhygienic when it comes to food handling. Even so, at least I got the chance to go through a self-made “detox” program which allowed me to shit almost everyday. At the end of the trip, my body felt refreshed and lighter thanks to the spices and fermented stuff in most of their food. For a person who barely shits everyday, this is really a good thing!

On the last day at New Delhi, we travelled to Sanjay Colony, one of the slums which I planned to go tour around and maybe give out something to the locals. Sadly, all I could bring along with us were sweets. I could barely bring anything heavy with me and I have no idea what would the less fortunate want. After some time of walking, we came to an open area which we spotted many kids playing. The kids were all hooked to their games and didn’t bothered looking at us, while the adults passed us by giving us a curious look. I had no idea how I should start giving out the sweets, but once I started giving out a few sweets to 1 kid, all of them came launching on to me, pushing and pulling, everything seemed to happen instantly. The kids were trying to get in front of one another with their hands reaching out to me, begging me to give them something.

Even though I told them to line up many times, after once or twice, the line-up system just kept crashing and failing. The kids started pushing and pulling again, sometimes even yelling as screaming. It was a total chaos! And all these for just for a few sweets only! Until 2 of the locals had to come to my rescue. Oh, thank God for them! I wasn’t sure if I gave them all out equally, but each time I touched their tiny cupped hands, stained with dust and dirt, with their pitiful eyes looking at me as if I was about to give them their first meal in centuries, I couldn’t help but to feel sad for them.

“These kids are so lovely. They have the potential to be anyone they want to be, but yet they are here. I wish I could give them more.” These were my only thoughts when they came to shook my hands when I was about to say goodbye. The “Thank Yous” and “Happy New Year” were the only thing that made me felt so disheartened to leave. If these kids could feel happy for the sweets they received, why can’t we feel happy even if we don’t have much money to buy whatever we want?

Regardless of it, the kids were the best blessing that I have ever encountered in my life. Thanks to them, it had strengthen my view that no amount of money could ever make me happy if I’m never happy and grateful for what I have now.

* * *

 

Happy

Our trip ended when we finally flew back to Malaysia. Not only was I excited to be going back, I was so happy to see everything as it is when I arrived to the airport. I never once felt this happy ever in my life to be back. For a moment, the toilets in Malaysia, even though dirty, were as perfect as it be. The smell, inviting. The floor, very warming. My homesickness was instantly cured (by the toilet)!

What made me happy was the thought that Malaysia ain’t that a bad place after all. I felt safe. I have the freedom to go where I want to go. I don’t have to be scared of being scammed. The warm temperature and the delicious food. Everything about Malaysia, for once, I felt very grateful and fortunate to call it home. This is where India had taught me that gratefulness and happiness will come to you only when you have nothing and/or less of what you have. This experience made me live my life differently ever since.

India had taught me a lot of things. It was pretty tough for a modern city girl like me to adapt to the challenging culture and practices in India. No ordinary person would be able to make it out alive. Still, I will never regret going there even if I had to pay to go through such a “bootcamp” as it taught me gratitude, kindness, and appreciation. I made a choice to be there even when I knew I don’t have to go that far to experience all these factors. But I made this choice so that I can be reminded that littlest things in life means so much to someone else even when we don’t have it all.

One day, when I have run out of gratitude juice, India will definitely be the medicine to my ungrateful soul. Till then, thank you India, you have been amazing. Namaste!

I'm getting all the more lazy to do this reflective journal every year before my birthday.

But all the heartbreaking moments and tough events that happened this year are the ones I should never want to forget. The biggest challenge this year for me was getting out of my comfort zone. As you know, once you're there, you're never gonna grow. It's a big wake up call to me. Thanks to the "alarm", next year I'm going to endure every little bit of pain to be what I want to be.

Bring it on, 2020.

* * *

1. Completed My First Viper Challenge

Because I was a chicken, we only did the easiest category, and I realize how badly this event was organized. Long waiting time, and ridiculous long queue to get the entry band. Not even punctual according to the timing flag off. Very bad privacy security, I could just search some random person’s name and e-mail via their website. If I were an MLM agent, these data will definitely serve as a good e-mail ads spam.

 

2. Did My Favourite Workshop On Marathon In D2YC

Teaching something that I’ve been training for almost 4 years is something that I’ve been passionate about. Incorporating the Dhamma values into my trainings has helped me mentally and physically as a person, and it would seemed relevant these days to not only educate the younger Buddhist generation that Buddhism is only for work, relationships, etc., but is also relevant for sports and any activities that we do too.

 

3. Hike Up Gunung Datuk

The next day after camp, I had a zombie climbed up to the famous scenaric view of Seremban. It was truly beautiful and breathtaking. #noregrets

 
4. Bought Being Sponsored A Suunto Watch And Won Myself A Trip To Koh Samui

With plans to venture into triathlon, I decided to take my performance to another level with the multi-sport watch. At the same time, I saw an opportunity to win a trip to pamper my mom to a holiday. I brought my sister along (with a hefty expensive fee), and enjoyed our quality girls trip for the first time.

5. Completed My MSTA Practical Course And Swim Butterfly

After attending my so-called swim teacher internship, I realize 2 things, some teachers are bloody unprofessional when it comes to handling kids, 2nd, touch is really important to connect to the students.

6. Attended My First Company Trip To Tandom Hill

Even though it’s my 3rd time at this place, I truly enjoyed the time spent with these people who I’ve been working alongside. I almost panicked when I saw Richard, Director of my company, gasping for air during one of the water activities (he was in my team). The only thing I could do was pull him to safety, but so glad he was fine. Happy for my team that won 2nd place with all the team work, and making me the proudest team leader for having such an amazing team!

7. Got Hooked To PUBG

When I first played it, my hands trembled and shook from all the shooting, scary lonely relocation trips, and sudden sniping deaths. Of course, it got better over time and I also learnt a few things about this game. One, to analyse and be sensitive to the surroundings, and be patient not to rush into fights not worth fighting for. Second, I think I’m better in solo because I’m a horrible team player. I can’t even save/cover my teammates lol. Third, I’m the noob camper every gamer calls lol.

8. Reconnect With Familiar Faces

It was one of my new year resolutions this year to reconnect with people who had inspired and put me through certain phase in life that had forced me to grow up to be who am I today. But there's only a handful of energy and time I have, so I tried by best to meet at least 1 person a month. Sadly, I can only meet 6 of them this year. Still, thanks for the meet up Carmen Lee, Surej, Kuang Shan, Poh Ling, Lisynn, Melvin Seow, and Jonathan Khoo.

Nevertheless, I still think it's a good continuous effort to reconnect with those who had meant alot to us at one point, at least it's not through social media and we get to stay inspired and positive. So, yes. I'll definitely continue this. So next time when I ajak you out, please don't take it personally ya, my intentions are purely just to reconnect, not to sell you some insurance or MLM scheme. 

 

9. Got A New Bicycle

Just my loving boyfriend showing his support for my triathlon goals. Thanks for all your love!

 
10. Celebrated our 3rd Year Anniversary at Fraser Hills

It was the scariest trip to camp at the pitch dark campsite (did I mentioned there was practically no one there?) after coming back from a 5 hour hike from The Pine Tree Trail. The most memorable moment was having to enjoy my boyfriend’s delicious meal after a freezing cold bath by the running river.

 
11. First Time Sitting At The Main Table

I thought I could just sit down and shake leg to enjoy the dinner, but oh well… a girlfriend’s gotta do, what a girlfriend’s gotta do to sit at a VIP table.

 

12. Tried VR Gaming for the first time

3 words. Cool. Realistic. Fun! (Except for the part when I have to shoot flying virtual cockroaches flying towards me)

13. Camp In A Shopping Mall To Purchase My First Concert Ticket

Not a big fan of Westlife, but automatically became one after this crazy adventure. Just decided to jump in the wagon one fine day from a spontaneous YOLO decision. Went camping in the shopping mall with my beloved Ken-Hui, and enjoyed the concert with “My Love” for the first time. Found out that I can actually earn money from queuing to buy and sell tickets. Will slot this in as a back-up plan if I’m broke next time lol.

Sorry KenHui, I lost all my pictures of us together. This shall be the best memory of us with them. Also, I get to "hugged" Mark's legs kukubird

14. Took A Break And Understand Myself More About My Relationship Anxiety

In a relationship, hardships, heartaches, and disappointment are bound to happen. Cried and overthink more than I need to, only to realize that I couldn’t continue going on like this. So, when I can’t change something, I learned how to adapt to it. Along the journey, I not only understand my partner more, but also I get to know myself better. It brought me closer to knowing what I emotionally/physically need, and communicating those needs in a compassionate way to my partner without hurting his feelings. I also learnt that I have a mini anxiety of my relationship ending up in the same divorce situation as my parents. I hold on to the attachment to prevent that from happening again until I became obsessive to “correct” my partner actions. I overthink on every lil’itty bitty on things that he did and it affected me mentally and emotionally until I decided I couldn’t take it anymore and I should stop it. With more time and practice to come, one day, I will be comfortable being okay to communicate my vulnerabilities to my partner.

“Commitments aren’t chosen once and then done—but must be chosen again and again and again, as life, people and understanding evolve.” 

15. Attended My First Toastmasters Meeting

Wanted to do this quite some time back but didn’t have the time. Thanks to Lee Ying Ying’s encouragement, I took up the courage to try their impromptu table topic. The thrill, excitement and anxiousness excites me to come out from my comfort zone. And I did. I miss this feeling for a long time.

 

16. Attended My First Bon Odori

Again, this was part of my to-do list, and I’m glad that I had truly manage to immerse myself with the event together with my good friends.

 

17. Had A Rough Time At Worked And Had Shifted 3 Times

New projects, new portfolio, more expectations, more stress. Still trying to adapt myself to the new challenges ahead and make myself relevant to the current industry. It’s either I adapt or die a slow death like the rest of the traditional retail world. Staying up to date with your skills and knowledge in the industry you’re working with is truly important. Oh, did I mentioned I shifted table 3 times? With the last being back to the original place I once started? =.=

18. See Something I Love, Die

I still couldn’t forget the horrible scene of my dog dying as we rush to the nearby pet clinics to save him. Until this day, we still couldn’t identify the cause of death. For the first time, I cried for something that I never thought will go away someday. I still miss you Loki. Very Much

19. Helped Out In 42th Incovar Dhamma Camp

Camp always came at the right time when my life is upside down. I’m glad that it had helped me find the right answers to all my life challenges, emotional, and spiritual needs this year. I’m indeed blessed to be able to receive all these teachings at this moment of my life. Bhante was right, I’m more spiritually better and happier than I’m used to.

20. Achieved my personal best twice in 21KM Sub 2.30 Category

Surprisingly, even with the lack of training, my performance is 12 minutes faster than my last personal best. Achieved my 2.30 sub goals in IJM Seremban Half Marathon and Kuala Lumpur Standard Chartered Half Marathon. I guess performance gets better when we age.

21. Swam My First Openwater At Pork Dickson And Went On To Achieve Oceanman Krabi 5KM

It would be a lie if I never told you that it was deep shit crazy, and scary to swim in the open water. Achieving half-oceanman was the biggest achievement and highlight of my year, and I still find it hard to swallow (eventhough I’ve swallowed a lot of seawater). Of course along the journey, I met some great friends and athletes who helped me along the way, and thanks to them, I made it! Special thanks to my supportive boyfriend for being there for me. If there’s only 1 person I can pick to be at the finishing line, it’s him…. with a pack of potato chips.

 
22. Took Our First Family Photo Together

Thank goodness we took this picture at my current age. At least I look more femininely and maturely gorgeous in the pic. Much better without my braces if we took it when I just graduated. #truestory

23. Reliving My Art-sy Side Of Me

I missed the art side of me during the high school days. The watercolour stains on my hands, the colours coming together on a paper, the deep concentration of just being in the moment. I missed all of that. I didn’t know where to start again. So, I did this. Sometimes it’s sad that people lose a part of their side which they used to love (and are talented in). I wish this doesn’t have to happen to me.

 

24. Spend More Time With My Mom

After dating some time, I realized and felt that I was so selfish to spend time doing my favourite activities with my partner instead of my mom. This put me into question, there are some things that we both likes, but why can’t I do it with her? Instead, I decided to do it with boyfriend? If I were a mom, I would also wish that my daughter/son would spend time with me and bring me to fun places (It’s a promise to myself that I’m gonna be the very-in-mom okay.). So, I decided to take her out to make her feel happy, healthy, and young again. Not only did I get to bond and understand her better, but I also realize that my mom is getting old, and it means the world to me if I could always be there to protect and spend time with her.  

25. Started Preparing My Own Lunch To Work

Once upon a time, I attended a property gallery showroom with Lai YiXuan and I realized I can't even afford a 10% down payment for a 700k hotel/house unit (not that I need it or plan to buy, I'm just a kepochi). After reviewing my financial planning and receiving a few naggings from my boyfriend, I realized I overspend a lot on food. At the same time, the opportunity came up to cook up some recipes for a video shooting for Butterfly. Not only that, my boyfriend home cooked lunch habits had inspired me to do the same. Since then, I would cook and prepare my own lunch at least once or twice a week. Other days, I would be strict on my spending to RM10/day, and a one day special expensive lunch treat to reward myself. The results? I saved up to RM200-RM300/month, which is basically a lot from my usual RM500/month food budget. Now, I’m more interested in cooking and learning new recipes, but healthy or not healthy, is another story. Lol

This by far is the most delicious recipes I've created. Bacon garlic fried rice with celery at the side. All you need is an egg, carrot cubs, diced onions and garlic, sliced bacon, overnight rice, and a tablespoon of soya sauce to enjoy the yummy-ness!

26. Experience My First Car Break-In And Got My Phone Stolen

Although it has been almost more than 2 weeks, I’m still feeling a bit of the trauma from the incident. I was lost, and in a disbelief moment. “How could this happen to me?” I kept thinking to myself, even until now. It’s also my first trip to the police station, and I’m so glad that there are people around me to help me. I’m fortunate that I only lost a phone.

Well, at least I’m safe from harm and danger, and it gave me a good excuse to get myself a new phone. Did I mentioned that it’s seriously super difficult to get help when you have no phone? It’s also hard to get by without a mobile data on your phone these days.

 

 * * *

Today, I turned 27.