I think I've gained 10 pounds since I first got home on Saturday.
Like, seriously.
3 course of rice + all sorts of Malay-type all-oil-and-cholesterol-baby chicken dishes + ice cream + jeruk + KFC every day doesn't exactly scream diet, so expect a ballooned-up version of me one week from now.
Am not complaining, though :) I was 37.5 kg last week, for God's sake! But I know for sure my boyfriend would hate by now, for rubbing in his face like this. Hehe.
Reached Penang safe and sound last Saturday, and Sunday was my 24th birthday! My mum was especially ecstatic to celebrate the day with me, since I've spent my last 4 birthdays far away from home, this is basically my first birthday at home in my twenties. NO MORE PRESENTS. It doesn't help when your mum thinks you're all grown up and doesn't need anymore presents and your sisters are having their own lives and baby and husband to take care of, while in my head I'm still 18.
Leaving Japan was hard. I didn't think it would be that hard, I thought seeing my mum and family would make it all better - well it did, a bit - but I miss Japan instantly. And him. I don't need to tell you how the drama at the airport went, thank God there weren't many familiar faces there.
It feels weird, being in Malaysia for good after all these years. He started working yesterday, so we're still adjusting to his 8 am - 8 pm work hours. I'm in awe with Skype and Viber, cause seriously, these are what LDR couples' life depend on! I still can't believe I can call him using Viber for free. FOR FREE. If anyone decided to kill this app or anything like that, I swear I'll find and kill him.
Anyway, I've found my new companion.
YAY.
On a brighter note, my generous friend from MagicBeads Portal gave me a discount voucher for my birthday! WOOOHOOOO. If you haven't visit their site yet, please do. I think other than FashionValet and Poplook, this is where you should look for nice and chic clothes.
Sigh, my friends all have their own businesses nowadays..I feel so old.
It was hard for me to shop online from Malaysia online boutiques before, partly because of the shipping cost and the all the payment hassle (I hope Pos Malaysia has changed for the better. Please) and partly because I know I'd tend to shop more when I'm in Malaysia. Now that I'm home, I realize I have to open new bank accounts and whatnots!
This is what happens when you only come back once every two years.
MagicBeads Portal, please please extend my voucher period..the Zahra kaftan dress is too nice :(
Am on the bus to Osaka now, first attempt to blog using his phone cause I've canceled my number. Living without phone and internet is HARD, people.
Anyway, we went Purikura-ing for the first time today! It. Was. Hilarious. But I gotta say, he's not so bad for a first timer.
Sorry for the cheesiness, we're not usually like this. I SWEAR.
Anyway. Do you know how hard it is to type on a moving vehicle?! I've a newfound respect for those with laptops on the go nowadays, cause this iPhone keypad is really bugging me. Pfft.
Tomorrow's the day. Can't really tell if I'm happy or sad, though. But leaving Japan is definitely a hard thing to do, having spent 4 years here.
And this whole long distance relationship thing really sucks.
My life is pretty much a blur these days.
He's here, and he's been so great helping me sorting out important stuffs to do - I can't possibly get everything done by now if it wasn't for him. Though there are a LOT more things to do after this, I'm glad I've had some things crossed off my list!
Went to the city to celebrate, but it was raining. Seriously..can things just go my way, for once..at this point, I was just too tired to think of anything, so we were just kind of soaking up the air, walking in the city. It was good.
Had Thai food for dinner.
I've always loved Thai food, so it was nice to have this as our last dinner in the city.
And the highlight of the day is when he gave me the world's greatest present :
Earlier last year I found the dVb jeans in this mall in Hiroshima, prices ranging from 30,000 yen - 50,000 yen. And of course, I was heartbroken. After that I never saw the jeans again - the store moved, I guess it's God's way of telling me not to spend good money on jeans. THERE'S NO WAY I'M GONNA SPEND THAT AMOUNT OF MONEY ON A PAIR OF JEANS.
Bags, maybe.
He got this pair on sale, so it's crazy cheap compared to the original price. AND I'M A HAPPY HAPPY GIRL :) Thank youuuuuu!!!
Now, I can finally sleep in peace.
He's here, and he's been so great helping me sorting out important stuffs to do - I can't possibly get everything done by now if it wasn't for him. Though there are a LOT more things to do after this, I'm glad I've had some things crossed off my list!
Went to the city to celebrate, but it was raining. Seriously..can things just go my way, for once..at this point, I was just too tired to think of anything, so we were just kind of soaking up the air, walking in the city. It was good.
Had Thai food for dinner.
Tom Yam Kung
Shrimp in chilli paste. Crazy delicious.
I've always loved Thai food, so it was nice to have this as our last dinner in the city.
Seriously, I look like a mess these days. That's what packing 4-year worth of stuffs does to you.
And the highlight of the day is when he gave me the world's greatest present :
Earlier last year I found the dVb jeans in this mall in Hiroshima, prices ranging from 30,000 yen - 50,000 yen. And of course, I was heartbroken. After that I never saw the jeans again - the store moved, I guess it's God's way of telling me not to spend good money on jeans. THERE'S NO WAY I'M GONNA SPEND THAT AMOUNT OF MONEY ON A PAIR OF JEANS.
Bags, maybe.
He got this pair on sale, so it's crazy cheap compared to the original price. AND I'M A HAPPY HAPPY GIRL :) Thank youuuuuu!!!
Now, I can finally sleep in peace.
Miss Zatil is currently away right now.
She's busy kemas-ing her house under my direct gaze.I can't look away just for 1second otherwise mmg xsiap2 la brg nk dipacking.
So apologies to whom yg tgu for her to update this blog.
I just want to say a quick word here.
It's been 5years already, & next week we'll start a new phase in our life.
My heart have never been this hard to let u go..
I just hope that u enjoy yourself back home with families & friends.
I promise to work hard so that 1nichi mo hayaku i can be with u for the rest of my life..
I love u so much Nurzatil Aqmar bt Othman @>---
Today Japan was hit by a 8.9 magnitude earthquake, making it the most powerful ever recorded, triggering a massive tsunami in north-east of Japan.
It was 2 pm-ish, and I was at home when I read my friend's tweets - all about their house being shaken, and things scattering all around. That wasn't weird - Japan is used to occasional minor quakes, but later I was concerned when they said 'TV fell off the rack, walls are broken'.
That was weird. And apparently it is - the strongest earthquake they've ever felt in these 4 years.
Thank God for Twitter and Facebook, friends keep updating their statuses to inform families and relatives about them and their friends, which even came in handy for the embassy to gather information cause electricity and any sort of communication with the affected areas went dead. Tried calling my friends in Iwate and Sendai but couldn't get through.
Affected areas - Sendai, Iwate, Miyagi, Fukushima, Ibaraki, Tokyo.
Apparently the tsunami hit northern parts of Japan, so the southern parts (Kansai, Kobe, Hiroshima, Fukuoka) are safe, for now. Some say it might get here soon, but no red alerts have been given yet, so it's still safe I think.
I can't be more thankful for being in this part of Japan, but more sad with other friends' condition. Some friends even have their families here right now for holiday, and stuck in Tokyo. Imagine how their families must feel.
Texted my mum later in the evening, and sister called. Got some messages on Twitter and Facebook - thank you so much for your prayers, really appreciate them. Am praying for my friends in the affected areas, hopefully things will get better soon :/
You can go to Syikin's and Diloz's blogs for more updates.
Bought new Lancome's Hypnose the other day, to add to my ever-expanding mascara collection.
OK maybe not so much as 'collection', to be honest..just a bunch of cheap Maybelline ones.
My favorite used to be The Magnum Volume Express, then Define-A-Lash. I believe not to spend too much on makeup, hence the slowly developing love for NYX cause NYX is cheap here. (Owned a Chanel travel makeup palette, and that prolly the only expensive one I've got - besides a couple of MAC's eyeshadows.) And when it comes to mascara, I'm not so fussy cause to be honest, every mascara just gives the same result to me.
Back when I used Define-A-Lash
But this Hypnose mascara really impressed me. No rash, no smudge, easy to use. Personally I've not seen any improvement in terms of making the lashes longer from the previous mascara I've used, but reading other reviews on internet, Lancome really has a very good mascara range.
Sorry I can never apply eyeliner on my upper eyelid right..pfft.
Me & Sue decided to have our girls outing today.
Let's rephrase that. Actually, we went to settle our visas in the city; and it's been agesss since we last had an outing together, so we decided to spend some time doing girls' thing. Yes, shopping.
But of course, stopping by Doutor is a must. At this stage, I've come to realize that this cafe would be one of the things I'll miss once I'm back in Malaysia end of this month.
Reached Zara, and realized Zara's having a massive sale. To be frank, we turned into zombies afterwards. I saw lots of things I want, while Sue was eyeing cute long-sleeve tops I was busy collecting pieces after pieces because EVERYTHING IS SO CHEAP!!
After what seems like forever fighting that noble sense in my head, I settled with two pants and a gold knit cardigan.
Remember this post?
I can safely say, my jeans would be laid to rest (for a while) now.
LOVE LOVE LOVE THE PANTS!!
When it comes to Zara and sale, I guess I've always been lucky - I might not get both pants at their retail price, to be honest. Tops and jeans would be my top picks, so this time I thought I'd give pants a try.
I was not wearing any blusher - that's my natural cheek color. I KNOW, RIGHT. I'm one of those girls who have very blusher-y skin tone - sometimes it's frustrating cause guys keep noticing 'you're blushing' when actually, I'M NOT! My skin gets red everytime the heat in the room is increasing or when I'm laughing too much or when it's cold, it's impossible to wear a blusher cause it'd make me look like a clown with the slightest touch of it.
Got home, got a text from the boyfriend - it's gonna be a long day tomorrow, because I'm nervous like mad. Will blog about it later.
AM. SO. NERVOUS. -__-'
Let's rephrase that. Actually, we went to settle our visas in the city; and it's been agesss since we last had an outing together, so we decided to spend some time doing girls' thing. Yes, shopping.
But of course, stopping by Doutor is a must. At this stage, I've come to realize that this cafe would be one of the things I'll miss once I'm back in Malaysia end of this month.
Reached Zara, and realized Zara's having a massive sale. To be frank, we turned into zombies afterwards. I saw lots of things I want, while Sue was eyeing cute long-sleeve tops I was busy collecting pieces after pieces because EVERYTHING IS SO CHEAP!!
After what seems like forever fighting that noble sense in my head, I settled with two pants and a gold knit cardigan.
Remember this post?
I can safely say, my jeans would be laid to rest (for a while) now.
LOVE LOVE LOVE THE PANTS!!
When it comes to Zara and sale, I guess I've always been lucky - I might not get both pants at their retail price, to be honest. Tops and jeans would be my top picks, so this time I thought I'd give pants a try.
I was not wearing any blusher - that's my natural cheek color. I KNOW, RIGHT. I'm one of those girls who have very blusher-y skin tone - sometimes it's frustrating cause guys keep noticing 'you're blushing' when actually, I'M NOT! My skin gets red everytime the heat in the room is increasing or when I'm laughing too much or when it's cold, it's impossible to wear a blusher cause it'd make me look like a clown with the slightest touch of it.
Got home, got a text from the boyfriend - it's gonna be a long day tomorrow, because I'm nervous like mad. Will blog about it later.
AM. SO. NERVOUS. -__-'
Last night, my sister tagged me in the latest photo of Alya, after months of me nagging her to put one on Facebook so I can see Alya's latest face. Seriously, when I left her she was like 7 days old.
This picture just warms my heart.
Alya, Aunty Atil misses you like no other.
5-month-old Alya :)
Alya, Aunty Atil misses you like no other.
OK after all these years, I thought I'd spare you the cheesiness and just get straight to the point already.
It was his 24th birthday yesterday, and he came here for like 5 seconds just to celebrate it with me. Yeah yeah so sweet and all..but apparently to him, it's just another day.
Yeah right.
His parents are coming to Japan today, and he only got one day to spend with me before going off to Tokyo to meet his family. I've actually planned all this fabulous spa and treatment and cake celebrations at our favorite restaurant in my head, but since we've got only one day to spend, the birthday boy only wants to spend it as humanly humble as possible.
Going to town with me.
So yeah, on his birthday we just walked around town and malls and watched movie together. Which is, personally, my most favorite thing in the world, too.
Puked already? Hehe.
Had dinner at Teratai, an Indonesian restaurant in Hiroshima for like the millionth time, so this place is officially in our favorite restaurants list. The food is superb (considering we both have a thing for sambal)
It was his 24th birthday yesterday, and he came here for like 5 seconds just to celebrate it with me. Yeah yeah so sweet and all..but apparently to him, it's just another day.
Me : (clock struck 12) HAPPY BIRTHDAY SAYANG!!! (singing happy birthday song)Him : Oh it's my birthday already? Didn't realize.
Yeah right.
His parents are coming to Japan today, and he only got one day to spend with me before going off to Tokyo to meet his family. I've actually planned all this fabulous spa and treatment and cake celebrations at our favorite restaurant in my head, but since we've got only one day to spend, the birthday boy only wants to spend it as humanly humble as possible.
Going to town with me.
So yeah, on his birthday we just walked around town and malls and watched movie together. Which is, personally, my most favorite thing in the world, too.
Puked already? Hehe.
Had dinner at Teratai, an Indonesian restaurant in Hiroshima for like the millionth time, so this place is officially in our favorite restaurants list. The food is superb (considering we both have a thing for sambal)
The birthday boy :) Not so boy anymore.
Nasi Goreng Special (it still amazes me how I can order this dish over and over again no matter how many times we've been here..)
Ayam Bakar with Sambal
Ikan Masam Manis (I think)
The price is much cheaper than any other Indonesian restaurant we've been to, and the owner of the restaurant is very nice. He looked real down to earth and even came to our table a few times! The last time we were here, the service was quite bad (they took so longgg to cook our dish, I think we waited for an hour) but this time it's really different. Kudos to the new owner, I think.
But yes, the main event is of course, the cake.
Cis.
Now he's off to Tokyo to meet his parents, and I've just spent the whole day watching movies and eating ice cream.
Being a potato once in a while actually doesn't hurt.
My uni days are over.
Submitted my thesis today, and while packing my bag to go home in the evening, I swear I smiled a bit. Had to keep my feet from jumping up and down, though, so a smile is all I could afford to do.
I wish I had taken a picture of the whole book, but then I thought I'd spare you the over-excitement.
To tell you the truth, these past weeks had been hell for me. I'm not kidding. I never thought the stress of getting the work done could overtook me that far; considering how many years it's been since I was the Miss Perfectionist (back in high school). The pressure was unbearable; I came home everyday with the phone at my ear crying my eyeballs out to him. He was worried, I could tell, hence the care package.
I've never had anyone pointed out my mistakes so blatantly hurtful - that sound of 'you're not good enough' was haunting me day and night to the point that I was so scared to be called to my lecturer's office. Lecturers are to be respected, I knew that, but I could feel day by day he was draining my positive-ism (excuse the non-existent of the word) with his every condescending critic of my work.
I don't know if that's how the Japanese work - but there's gotta be better ways to educate students. Not patronizing them into doing something just because 'you want', and put them under a lot of pressure for something they're not supposed to do. Because there's such thing as humanity, I believe.
If there's one thing I've learned throughout the whole process, it's in whatever situation, trust your instinct and don't just agree with what others say. If you believe what you're doing is right, follow your heart. You have to stand up for yourself especially when it involves with dealing with other people cause no one's gonna do it for you, you have to do it for yourself. Learn to speak up even if it's once in a while, because trust me, it makes all the difference.
Having said that, I'm glad I'm done. I'm not missing the work, though, I'm missing the other people I've worked with, my labmates.
And this video practically sums up what I'm feeling right now :
The girls (Fiqah, Jua, Pekah & Hani. You can tell who were the stars of the video HAHA) and I, having the night of our lives at Universal Studios Japan, Osaka back in 2010. The ones who never fail to make me laugh in an instant. I MISS YOU GUYS!! :((
Now excuse me while I eat my fried chicken with a fork and hot tea :)
Submitted my thesis today, and while packing my bag to go home in the evening, I swear I smiled a bit. Had to keep my feet from jumping up and down, though, so a smile is all I could afford to do.
FINISHED.
To tell you the truth, these past weeks had been hell for me. I'm not kidding. I never thought the stress of getting the work done could overtook me that far; considering how many years it's been since I was the Miss Perfectionist (back in high school). The pressure was unbearable; I came home everyday with the phone at my ear crying my eyeballs out to him. He was worried, I could tell, hence the care package.
I've never had anyone pointed out my mistakes so blatantly hurtful - that sound of 'you're not good enough' was haunting me day and night to the point that I was so scared to be called to my lecturer's office. Lecturers are to be respected, I knew that, but I could feel day by day he was draining my positive-ism (excuse the non-existent of the word) with his every condescending critic of my work.
I don't know if that's how the Japanese work - but there's gotta be better ways to educate students. Not patronizing them into doing something just because 'you want', and put them under a lot of pressure for something they're not supposed to do. Because there's such thing as humanity, I believe.
If there's one thing I've learned throughout the whole process, it's in whatever situation, trust your instinct and don't just agree with what others say. If you believe what you're doing is right, follow your heart. You have to stand up for yourself especially when it involves with dealing with other people cause no one's gonna do it for you, you have to do it for yourself. Learn to speak up even if it's once in a while, because trust me, it makes all the difference.
Having said that, I'm glad I'm done. I'm not missing the work, though, I'm missing the other people I've worked with, my labmates.
And this video practically sums up what I'm feeling right now :
The girls (Fiqah, Jua, Pekah & Hani. You can tell who were the stars of the video HAHA) and I, having the night of our lives at Universal Studios Japan, Osaka back in 2010. The ones who never fail to make me laugh in an instant. I MISS YOU GUYS!! :((
Now excuse me while I eat my fried chicken with a fork and hot tea :)
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