The Skinny Bakers x FVBridal

Okay, I cannot contain the excitement anymore ! My mum and my sister is currently at FV Bridal's launching at St. Regis !!

Its been about a year since I've been chasing and finding ways to work with FashionValet, to find for ways to collaborate with them. I mean Vivy & Fadza are such aspiring entrepreneurs and for us to be able to collaborate with them and FashionValet, is a dream come true !! 

I've been finding ways to collaborate with FV and when they told us about this private event, we were more than thrilled to be part of it ! Our cookies are now part of door gifts at the end of the event !

Okay at first the event was planned to be earlier and I thought I could make it but the dates were changed and I had to miss out on it since I had to fly back to the UK and pursue my final year in my law degree, which at first I was pretty bumped but I saw the silver lining, that my lovely sister could go and bring her brand with her too for the event, "The Zaahara Telekung". Definitely was feeling happy that we could provide opportunities to my other siblings as how they have supported us and provided us opportunities from the start <3 

Couldn't have made it without the family's support!

But I missed out on my first fashion show though ! I never thought I would ever be invited to a fashion show and to be invited the first time because of my own product (with my mum ofcourse), was AMAZING! I'm still feeling as happy and excited as if I was there at the event though !!

The event is ongoing now and I've been getting pictures from Afiq Nazar, our great photographer (thank you so much Afiq) ! Its okay, I'll try to get my sister or mum to Facetime me while they are there at the event later to atleast be there, visually hehehe. Would also most likely write another blog about the collaboration once the event has ended in Malaysia :)

My day was definitely made though with these pictures all the way from home !! Hardwork does definitely pays off ;) 

Thank you Vivy, Fadza and the FV team for making it happen for us :))

Really appreciate it beyond words !

Alhamdulillah 

Work vs Books

So today another hiccup came up with the shop although I'm far away from home. Can't help it, I'll still want to check up on the shop when I have the time to do so. It's not a major issue though so no frets ;) IF only I was in Malaysia though, I would grab my car keys and drive straight to the shop haha.

But I took a deep breath and came back to my senses, 

It occurred to me, there will always be hiccups with business and that I would still always have to focus on my studies. No way was I gonna let a 'hiccup' in the shop get in between me from working my heart out to graduate with (insyaAllah) good results for my Law Degree. 

Its set now, that there will always be hiccups, let it be the shop or any other problems in life. But I just always have to take a deep breath and get back to my senses.

Also, I just realised I'm starting to get a hang of doing work in between my study breaks or my 'chilling time'. I still could make time to watch TV series so why couldn't I spare a few minutes from watching TV series and do work instead a little? They were not kidding when they say, if you enjoy whatever it is you are doing in life, you wouldn't have to even complain or give a *sigh* about it. Just that for now (for atleast the next 9 months),  my priorities would be on my studies, and I've got nothing to complain about that :) 

Bismillah, please 3rd year, be a good year to me :) 

Not Rushing into Relationships has been the Best Thing that ever happened to me (yet)

Okay, so the cat's out of the bag, it's been almost 2 years since I last went out with a particular someone, and it has been the best 2 years ever since !

I have always been in relationships, since I could last remember. And who'd ever thought that being out of relationship is the one thing one actually needs to go through, especially in uni life ! People always make it seem that uni life is sorta the best time of your life to fall in love, travel together etc. Well, I think it's the best time for you to fall in love with yourself, to love yourself before you love others !

Uni is the only time in your life where for most of us, are able to make our own decisions at our own pace and we can shape our lives into however we'd like it to be. For me atleast, throughout highschool, my parents has always advised and encouraged me to join debate teams, represent sports teams etc which indirectly sorta shaped into my goals throughout highschool. But in uni, its different, all they want is for me to score for my exams (also to make money la if possible hehehe). So I had the pleasure and freedom of making my own choices ! Knowing what I really wanted and like.

When I came into my first year, I was trying out almost everything really but I tried out the things that other people think would be good for me, not what I think is best for myself nor would I enjoy it. I mean I know for sure I'll enjoy the time I have, like most of the time, but I was doing it because it seemed right to others. So, I got into a relationship with someone who you'd seem would be the right guy, I joined student bodies like Model United Nations etc. Everything seem to be laid out so perfectly, but I never really smiled from within, there's always something missing.  Don't get me wrong, I had a good time ! But I was learning about the same things as I did throughout highschool, putting up with debates, learning how to organize events etc.

Then Spring break came, and I had my first solo travel to Serbia, Macedonia & Kosovo. Not even knowing if I'd enjoy travelling alone, but I knew one thing for sure was that I loved travelling ! And being lost alone in a foreign country, was I guess, the moment that changed everything. Getting adrenaline rush and feeling nervous meeting strangers for the first time, that was really thrilling! And I guess that was the word for it, I was searching for something out of the ordinary !

Then during the Summer break of my 1st year, I did my first internship & started off my very own business with my mum. I didn't know I had that much time and energy to be put into my goals at that moment really ! All I knew was I was going to waking up for work at 7AM and would go cafe hopping after work to sell my cookies and would arrive home at 10PM. And there were no frets, because I enjoyed what I was doing :)

Then throughout my 2nd year in uni, having a boyfriend didn't even seem like a thing I had to have to be happy ! I started to love being able to do what I wanna do how I want it, not having to worry if the other half would be concern who I'm out with, what time will I be home, having urgent texts I would have to reply to, waiting anxiously for someone else's text, think about how the other person would feel if I decided to do something without telling and all that relationship stuff. I figured that I'm only 21, and I mean honestly though, I'll have only a couple of years left before I will put others before me (you know, before you completely fall in love happily etc) so why do I have to rush that now? So I had a great time throughout my 2nd year! I even started to watch TV series from the beginning of the season till the end because I just realised, I never really had the time for my own all this while.

Over my Summer break of my 2nd year, I was busy growing my own business, expanding it, with my partner (my mum ofcourse) ! We got so busy that I didn't even have time to do manicure or pedicure, nor did I have time to watch the movies in the cinema that I wish I did ! I remember the many times I had to cancel meet ups with my own friends and the nights I slept with my laptop watching me.. And the only movie I really wanted was to watch Suicide Squad so I made myself free for that movie, which was interrupted by the many phone calls I had since we had something going on at the cafe. Although it got a little intense setting up our own shop within 2 months, it was definitely worth it in the end, I felt satisfied, I knew I was doing what I wanted :)

Coming into uni the 3rd year, at first, I could feel a huge space of emptiness. And a lot of reasons came into mind. I had to prioritize my student uni life again, and find for student jobs and still make time to do work for The Skinny Bakers far from home. Having to spend more time in my room, I got to sleep without alarms neither did I have to rush myself out of bed, which was kinda nice since it's been awhile.

I even had the time to watch Harry Potter ! I've never really finished watching all Harry Potter movies before ! And it felt so good having to watch movies without my phone buzzing again. It's such a bliss to have time for my own again, some me-time :)

To think of it, it's kinda nice. Not having anyone else's expectation of you to indirectly shape who you want to be or the decisions you make. To be able to sleep through the night soundly not having to argue with someone or cry over the decisions you make that might have indirectly hurt someone else. I mean love

So here's to enjoying that carefree life for as long as possible ! The right one will come at the right time at the right place (even if its after this blogpost which is most unlikely because I'm about to continue my Harry Potter marathon hehehe). Point is, I wouldn't go out of my way to fall in love or find the right guy, all these love and relationship stuff, will find its own way around things :)

Stranded in Laos

Laos was so beautiful ! It was a planned 5 days trip from Vientiane to Luang Prabang and then back to Vientiane (and if I am rajin enough soon, I will write about it hehe) but I Luang Prabang is so beautiful !! 

Here's a sneak peek... 

Anyways, we had a flight to catch on the 27th at 9AM. It'll take us about 8 hours to get to Vientiane from Luang Prabang so we left on the 26th at about 5PM estimating to arrive at the airport way ahead before time. Having to go through the hilly mountains which made most of us car sick (my sister mostly, which surprised me cause usually I'm the one who gets car sick easily), it took up a little extra time for our journey but our driver was driving like Fast and Furious: Tokyo Drift , drifting through the mountains which I felt was super dangerous so I literally went like "Okay, you better sleep your worry off now or you can just continue your next 7 hour journey just going like Bismillah, Bismillah throughout the way", and so I decided to sleep. 

Then when I woke up, I suddenly saw we had a few other local passengers and thought that "ah, okay, its cool, as long as my family gets enough space to sleep hehehe". We had a pit stop at about 10PM for a dinner at an RnR - which doesn't really look like the RnR in Malaysia but they had food so it was definitely good news ! (Although the only thing we could eat was their fried rice as usual because their soup was made with pork broth, gahhhh how I love soups but pork? Errr, no)

Then we left again, and I fell asleep the moment we got into the mini van. I was so soundly asleep that the next time I woke up, it was already 2AM !

I looked outside and saw lights beaming through our windows, my mum sleeping on the whole back seat row and realized, that our mini van stopped moving !! Okay to be honest, I was sleeping so soundly but I woke up because I dreamt of someone dying, which I freaked out like crazy especially with the scene I woke up to !

I woke my mum up (just to make sure everything was okay), and she said apparently we've been stuck for about 2 hours and there was a road accident. Our driver came in with torchlights and telling me, "Accident ! You, go, see !" Back in my head I was like, "HELL NO, I'm not gonna go out into the jungles at 3AM just to witness an accident when I just woke up from a nightmare and leave my family sleeping in the van". So, I tried to calm myself down by sleeping back *which is my cure to almost everything* and believe it or not, I dreamt of death again. Okay, I know, I sound so dark now heh but its not like I asked for it ! 

Then I was woken up by my mum's panic voice at about 7AM, wondering what was going on?! The whole family just realised that the other 3 local passengers have left the van and crossed to the other side of the accident trying to find a way to the other side or the closest town. My mum was busy asking the driver why didn't he wake us up, but with language barriers, he could only answer, "You sleep, sleep, sleep!" Well, to me, that's what my mum usually say to me whenever I wake up after 9AM so I quite understood what he meant from there haha

My dad, being the Engineer, went to investigate the accident and tried to solve it but not having to explain it to the locals, he explained it to us on how the tractor should be coming and etc *but me and my sister couldn't do anything but to listen, obviously*

Although the view was beautiful, I couldn't bear the idea of waiting any longer without having food or shower etc.... My parents flipped because we were about to miss our FLIGHT !! We were only 2 hours away to our boarding time and there were still atleast about 5 hours journey left to Vientiane. 

I crossed to the other side of the accident to see if there was any other way for us to get to the nearest small town or atleast somewhere with a toilet ! I was trying my best to avoid using the nature as my toilet 

Only did I come to realize that these road accidents seemed pretty normal to the locals. They would just take out their mat and sleep on the roads, take a bath at the nearest river and just chill. Me and my dad could even hear a chicken doing the usual morning *cuckadoodledoo!*

So,  I convinced the family that we should get to the other side of the accident and convince drivers who were stuck coming from Vientiane heading towards Luang Prabang, to bring us to Vientiane, but we only managed to get to the nearest small village since we kinda got a bit tired going up hill especially with my parents' luggage

(no idea how my sister still managed to smile for this picture haha)

So, we hitched a ride which we obviously had to pay for cause nothing is free in Laos, in the back of this van which idk how to explain how it looks like besides looking like one of those van kandang kambing just cause I usually see people bringing kambing or lembu using these kinda vans haha. My dad was busy taking pictures and selfies of the scene, reminiscing his hitch hike days and I fell asleep right after this picture was taken.. (also, I had a bandanna on my head but sacrifised it when my sister was getting car sick and you know what happens then since there were no tissues in the minivan haha) 

And then, we got to another nearby village which was slightly bigger... and offered us a ride to Vientiane so we had to choose either one of these rides.... and we chose... 

The minivan of course ! It was faster but for the same price, so why not ?

So I slept again in the van hoping that the next time I wake up we would've arrived in Vientiane *trying to make the journey feel as short as possible than it already is*. And we arrived at 1PM! Wohoooo, congratulations, we missed our flight.... 

Funny part was that although we had to pay for our mini van, it was not legal so we were not dropped off at the proper bus stop and had to take a tuk tuk to the airport. Rushed to the airport and we were constantly searching for wifi, planning our next move. Either to buy a new airplane ticket back to home, or get a bus down to Malaysia, or book extra nights in Vientiane etc. My dad went straight to the AirAsia office and Alhamdulillah, we could catch the next flight to Malaysia under AirAsia for only an additional of 60USD per person !

Then when I asked when the next flight was, they mentioned it was the 29th! Omg, it was another 2 days that we had to stay in Vientiane.... So, we booked an affordable family room and the mattress was as hard as the floor was, and the aircond had just broken down, but you know, it's cool, because after all we've gone through the past 24 hours, the hotel room was definitely not the worst of it haha :)

In Seeking for Happiness

"I made a list of the happiest periods in my life, and I realized that none of them involved money. I realized that building stuff and being creative and inventive made me happy. Connecting with a friend and talking through the entire night until the sun rose made me happy. Trick-or-treating in middle school with a group of my closest friends made me happy. Eating a baked potato after a swim meet made me happy. Pickles made me happy.

I thought about how easily we are all brainwashed by our society and culture to stop thinking and assume by default that more money equals more success and more happiness, when ultimately happiness is really just about enjoying life"

- Delivering Happiness "A Path to Profits, Passion and Purpose" by Tony Hsieh (CEO, Zappos.com, Inc)

Coming into Final Year

How did time fly by so fast? It felt like it was just yesterday I took the picture above, going into the university's library for the first time, not knowing what to expect out of my 3 years in Law School.

Next thing you know, within a blink of an eye, I was already packing for my 3rd year LLB Law Undergraduate and I was having the utmost mixed feeling moment ever. Like finally, I'm graduating (insyaAllah)! But whoa, how did time pass by so fast? 

No words can describe how I feel or the thoughts running through my mind, so I guess it stops here, for now :)