Little Things 197 : Big

Even after 28 years, I am still surprise by :

• how open people can be in judging and putting labels on someone else like we have the right to do so,
• how no one seems to see this so called nationalism and individualism are making us arrogant and dividing us human into as much divisions as we can create,
• how rude and blatant people can be in spreading rumours and negativity through social media,
• how people don't realize that label, title and self-created ranking never really put anyone anywhere,
• how fast we can think and type and share without thinking about the consequences to other people,

I'm still surprise by so many little things and I heard people said before, 

those little things are actually things that matters to you. 

This post is inspired by Newsfeed in my Facebook, Diva Azwan, political uproar, and current social media posts.

Image from Pinterest

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Work Related : Begadang Backpackers 2

Usually it takes several attempts to have a task approved by my boss. Take for example this little poster of "Keep Calm", I tried around 10 times of having it improved or rejected. Certain design even took several days or weeks T^T

She taught me a lot about doing research and keeping inspiration moodboards on Pinterest so that we keep on refreshing our mind with designs from all over the world.  Learning to be a designer takes a lot of time and huge amount of practices, and even after 2 years of trying to be a designer, I still don't feel like I'm good enough to label myself as one. 

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My personal Begadang character :

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Ohhh, and I posted the Behance post for Begadang Backpackers,
>> here, here, hereee. <<
:D

Little Things 196 : Believe

I believe in the small things I randomly write in my book, in the unfinished stories, in those drafted posts, in those repetitive shots in my mind that still waiting to be written down. I believed in the whole process of reading and more reading, and buying books that I don't have enough time to read. I believe in being surrounded by people who write for a living. I believe in those short moments of hiding in the toilet, or while waiting for my husband to arrive, or when the euphoric caffeine-effect kicks in.

I believe that some people just enjoy writing as it is. 

And those promises of finishing up a piece are just promises that we tend to ignore, just because the thought of having to end it depresses us. We don't write for those who want to read, we write for ourselves. That's the thing. We don't want to end it, like putting a full-stop on something that has been in our mind for so long.

We want it to keep on living.

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Image from Pinterest

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*Believe is inspired by Megfee's post

Doodle : Le Petit Chef Sticker

Remember this post?

Well I printed these stickers along with the Kuro Neko sticker pack and put it up on my Etsy. Too bad for us Malaysians, the Ringgit rate is quite low nowadays so the converted price is a bit expensive! T^T To make up with this, you can just request to buy these sticker packs via email : azreen_31@hotmail.com and I'll give you special price for all the stickers on Etsy plus free postage in Semenanjung :)

Buy this little chef stickers and
you can stick it on your recipe book with your hand-written name on the hat :

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Sprawling black cats :

Little House : Buying your first property

I bought my first apartment in 2012.

During that time, my salary was RM 2,000 and the apartment I bought was RM 150,000.

The apartment is a low-density type, around 1080 sq ft, corner unit with extra windows, located on the first floor, fully tiled and grilled. Other than helping my mom, I love the apartment and it's a nice investment. So even though I was single, 25 and was not ready - I bought the apartment.

It is located in Seri Kembangan, in a small peaceful neighborhood where I grew up,
it is quite far from the city center.

How?

• I applied for "Skim Rumah Pertamaku" and got 90% bank loan for 30 years, I'm currently paying around RM 700 monthly. Much cheaper than renting a decent apartment in a nice environment. 
• There is also monthly maintenance fees : RM 90+, and for me personally, I like how they take care of the building, all the plants are nicely groomed, the corridor's lights are all lighted, the security guards are always there, the floor are mopped weekly, all clean and nice. So I don't mind paying the maintenance bills. 
• At this moment, my family is still living with us. So I divided the monthly fees to 4 of us grown-ups. *that's like RM 175 for us. Two of my younger siblings are still living like parasites until they finish their studies by the end of this year.
• When I first bought the apartment, I need to consider 2 big things regarding the money. Use this calculator to estimate what you will need to spend : 
• The 10% down-payment, which I haven't paid to my mom because I promised that I'll pay when I live there fully. So I haven't paid it yet. 0-0 *bonus point for me.
• The legal fees and SPA, I have a travel-saving that I planned to use for my Euro-trip back then. But I cancelled it and I bought the apartment. It costed around RM 8,000+ for the legal fees and SPA. I used it all up. T^T
• I didn't buy a car because I think it is the worst investment for people with low-monthly salary. I pay my PTPTN loan for RM200-500 each month. So other than bills and insurance, I didn't use up my salary at that time. It was cukup-cukup makan, but enough. I still don't own a car though. 

These days, the price went up to RM 210-250k for these apartments *even in this short 2 years time. If I include the loan + the interest (RM97k) for 30 years, the apartment would cost around RM 230k. With the high rise of property's prices, I think this is the greatest investment I made when I was 25. I'm not sure what will happen in the future, especially when the 2nd MRT is fully done in Seri Kembangan area :D

I'm thinking on buying the second property with AF.

I love the extensive research and all the possibilities. With property's prices go up to being almost-ridiculous, I think what we can do is find something small and nice enough place for a good investment.

As I told my colleague,
"buy a property now, when you don't have other responsibilities and loans".

Tips :

• If your salary already reached RM 2,000 per month, you can consider finding a small flat in the city or an apartment a bit farther from the city. You'll be paying more or less the same as your rent anyway.
• Don't buy car, yet. Use public transportation or motorcycle. I used to walk over 3km daily to work. It's a nice exercise.  
• Live a frugal life, especially when you just starting up your life as an official adult.
• Work as a freelancer. 
• Read useful articles on financial planning, ie : iMoney

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Escapism : Tokiyo Trip 1

I'm going to share some information about our next escapism to Tokyo. 

This would be the planning and information post.

Return flight ticket :

I bought 2 tickets to Tokyo on February this year before we got married. It wasn't from the famous AirAsia promotion, but it was from normal several days of ticket hunting. I managed to buy return tickets for around RM 900 each *not including adding extra for a seated chair next to each other and dinner. So we actually bought the ticket 7 months before the date instead of last minute plan. But I'm pretty sure they got promotional tickets to Tokyo all year long.

Money : RM 1000 each person (Return ticket, dinner, seated chair, insurance)

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Accommodation :

I wanted to try Couchsurfing, but for our first official escapism AF prefers it to be well-planned because we don't know what to expect yet. So instead of hotel and backpackers hostel in Tokyo area, I searched for available places rented by the owner from Airbnb. I've been wanting to try this for ages!

I saved in my "Wish List" since February, but we decided to book the place at least 2 months earlier. For this, we missed a lot of cool and cheap places because they are fully booked for September :( We found one nice little apartment near a public park but a bit farther from the main city and thought we should give it a try. 

We requested to the owner, during this process - our debit cards were declined from using the system, later we found out it was because of our default amount for online transaction is RM 500 and any amount more than that will be declined. So, if you are planning to use your debit card for online transaction, make sure you add your maximum amount from your online banking account. 

Later the owner replied and accepted our request, the fees was paid instantly and I received the receipt. The owner is really nice and helpful; he shared the detailed map and explained things that we should know about the place. 

Money : RM 883 for 7 days 6 nights , around RM 442 for each person. For me, it is cheaper compared to hotel but more pricey compared to hostel. But we got ourselves a nice apartment for both of us, we can cook and all. I hope it's a nice catch.

Note : Places in the main city is really pricey, 

so you can choose places a bit farther and make sure you book early.

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Maps :

We went to MATTA Fair in last March. We weren't there to see all the promotions they offered, we actually went there to see places and events that will be happening in Tokyo. So we went to a long booth with all the Japanese people - as they were promoting Japan. And we took all the maps that they can offer : The city map, the train map & schedule, the mini map, the list of places and all :D

Money : FREE maps & free stuffs

Other than that I downloaded mobile applications for : JR-East *the train, TripAdvisor *offline map. 

I'm yet to discover other useful mobile app. and I'll share this later. 

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Food :

We will be bring foods like : Maggi, bread, sardine, biscuits, instant drinks, serunding and all those easy stuffs so we can survive on our own backups foods when needed. Maybe we can try bringing sandwiches for lunch while going to places and late night food while we were too hungry but lazy to go out. Having our own kitchen should be useful.

Money : RM 100 each person.

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Other stuffs to consider :

I haven't planned on the transportation cards and whether we want to rent mobile internet while we are there. AF also haven't applied for a passport, whereas mine will still be valid until 2018. I will also need to have a power bank for my old iPhone.

I will be bringing my old Lumix LX and AF will be bringing his dLSR Canon 600D.
Which book should I bring ??? 

:D

Work Related : Hello Kitty Cafe 2

Last weekend after work, we went to Sunway Pyramid to see the "Hello Kitty Gourmet Cafe" in making. This second baby of mine will be due end of August 2015, we will be having a soft launch and later a grand opening :D It is located right in front of the Sunway entrance door *I noticed there are a lot of entrance door, this would be one of it. 

PS : Images are a bit pixelated and dark due to the moody rainy afternoon.

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This would be the main entrance :

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This is the side corridor :

It is already painted !

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This is the side view, right next to the main road.

It is supposed to be 2 levels, but I only did the panels for the lower level :

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And here's for the back door :

That's Hello Kitty wearing the main dress as a chef.

:D

I also did 2 of the mascots for the launching, I can't wait to see them *I hope it won't be ugly. 

Although I'm not a big fan of Hello Kitty myself, I personally cherish this project. Plus, the stroke for this Hello Kitty version is challenging enough for me. But I managed to do it - along with another partner of mine at the office. I'm really thankful for this.

Thanks to AF for bringing me here right after work :D

Work Related : Begadang Backpackers

I discussed with my boss and she told me that I can share this project online now. We've been working for this project since early this year. Personally, this would be my most favorite project while I'm working with LGM. This is my baby ❤ 

This is a little hostel in Gilis Island, Lombok, Indonesia.

Links : Website, Facebook

It should be a place where things are nice, friendly and fun. A place to relax, enjoy the sunset, dance to a psychedelic music, and talk all night.

There are few reasons :

1. For this project, I got 'almost' complete freedom in illustrating - guided by my boss and the client. At first, all my drafts were rejected and I remember she said to me that it was all too 'safe' and boring. She asked me to try to have fun with anything I can come up with. So my second drafts was totally different - I was given the permission to do anything, so I came up with what I'm good with, which is little random creatures. Long story short, they liked it!

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2. I decided on the colour mixtures, style, font type, and those little things. My boss decides on the final say and new additional ideas. I love that. This is some of those little things that I illustrated based on the need to add new items in the illustration :

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3. I met the owner, James. He's a bit quirky and friendly. It's great having a client that agrees and appreciates what you do. Even though I hardly say anything and I'm comfortable with sending emails and say less than I need to. It's really different; what I really feel in my heart and what I show to people. *pure introvert breed.

4. I created each characters based on the people in Begadang Backpackers' family. James & Paula gave me the descriptions on all the people and I illustrated them. I feel like I know them because I've been listening about them for so long; I know what they are like or how they look and all :D

I even created my version ! James thought of me as a designer/painter, but I don't see myself like that so I drew one with a book :

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Other characters :

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I got a lot of works on BB that got rejected, because Paula is a perfectionist *a good one. So I'm going to put past works and share it here little by little, because I like those rejected stuffs as well and Paula okey-ed it. So this baby deserves to be shown in every phases - the good and the bad. 

Doodle : Bookaholic

I found a nice picture of a girl reading and it reminds me of myself :D 

So I illustrated this for fun :

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I finished reading Amityville Horror Part 2 while we were stuck in the car during Raya. Thanks to the technology, I have several more books in my iPhone to kill some time :D I have the classic "Neverending Story" by Michael Ende (1979). I've never read the book, but I watched the movie when I was small. I also have the classic Siddhartha (Hermann Hesse), On the Road (Jack Kerouac) and several short stories by F. Scott Fitzgerald.

Even with all the ebooks, I still can't get myself to read the digital copy unless when I'm really bored and I need to read something. *PS : I'm still stuck with Hannibal part 2 and Neverending Story.

Maybe I should make a bag specially-made for my 'physical' book keeping. So I can bring several books at one time instead of putting several books in my handbag :D I used to secretly put 2-3 books in the car's bonnet when we went back for Raya - without my sister's knowledge, because she will complain about the amount of books that I choose I bring back.

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PS 2 : Even for our next trip to Japan, I've been thinking about which book to bring since I bought the ticket in February! 5 months just for the preparation of choosing 1 book for a short trip. A tough choice to make. Any idea? 

As Erasmus, the 16th century scholar said : 

“When I get a little money I buy books;  and if any is left I buy food and clothes.”

Work Related : Hello Kitty Cafe

It's no longer a secret! 

We've been working on this project for almost a year and as much as I wanted to share, I had to keep it as P&C project until it is ready for public. But it is almost near to the launching date and they've put up some teaser stickers last week :

( These images were taken from my boss's )

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This would be my final and biggest project while I'm with LGM. And because I am there from the initial start of the project until it is ready to be born, I feel super excited and proud. I designed those sticker panels along with so many other things, I never have physical things printed and put up in a mall - so I'm going to mark this amazing year. My teammates and I worked very hard for this project.

I hope the launching will be scheduled soon.

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PS : And I will go there soon and do selfies and take more overly-excited photos.

The cafe is located in Sunway Pyramid by the way :D

Little Things 195 : This Eid

Eid isn't days that I usually look forward to.

We all have our stories, and for us, this particular festive season was always about little arguments, hassles and drama. We play our role as someone responsible enough to make these days work for those people that cherish Eid in their lives. As much as I want to feel it, I do still feel those bitterness in my mouth, the taste of things that were never enough. 

But things slowly changed, this Eid, I'm celebrating with AF and his family. 

I'm trying to feel things according to how they feel instead of how I usually feel. I wanted to enjoy these days, to cherish this religious celebration of ours, more than a yearly tradition. I wanted to feel what a family should feel. I've been waiting for almost 10 years, I knew there must be something in these days that make people get so overly attached and emotional. I wanted to understand those feelings. I wanted to see things that other people can see clearly. 

Having another new family is a bliss, a whole new chapter, a chance. 

I'm really thankful for these days. 

Selamat Hari Raya Aidilfitri,

Maaf Zahir and Batin. 

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Little Stories 96 : Awan's New Enemy Part 3

Last week, I found a decent cat flea's comb at a pet shop for RM 14. 

I bought one, I wanted to try it on Awan. 

By this time I've tried it 4 times, as many times as I can without having to annoy Awan so much - because she isn't use to petting and she doesn't like physical contact much. 

As I read from Google, it should be advisable to put a little plastic container with water next to her while combing her fur. I also added several drops of lemon juice in the water. For every stroke, I'll dip the comb in the container and dip it back again right-away. So those fleas can't jump when it got stuck on the semi-wet comb and it will drown in the water. That's the most efficient way I found for now.

Even for this morning alone, I managed to catch around 15 fleas from the adult to the tiny-tiny sized ones. I guess those tick drops I bought several weeks ago didn't kill them all =.=

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As for plan B :

I already bought a box of Frontline Combo Spot-On that should be able to kill all types of ticks and fleas from all levels (eggs, larvae and adults) in 4-6 weeks. There are 3 little pipettes in the box, each to be used once a month. It costed RM 65.70, that means around RM 20 for each month.
Here's about Frontline Combo Spot-On :

• It stops and prevents flea and tick infestations. 
• It prevents all flea stages starting from eggs, larvae to pupae developing. 
• Frontline Combo effectively kills adult fleas, flea eggs, and flea larvae.
• It completely helps control re-infestations.
• This topical solution has long lasting effect and thus, keeps away fleas and ticks for a longer period. With its fast-acting property, it removes all fleas and ticks within few hours. 
• Being waterproof, there is no worry whether your dog goes for swimming or bathing.

BUT, it is a type of insecticides type 3 so it is poisonous and it is a bit expensive.

I'm still having doubts on using this due to reading so many good and bad reviews, so if there's no results on traditional ways to fight those fleas' infestation, we'll have to try this method.

Doodle : Moonrise Kingdom 2

Ages ago, I did a fan-art of Moonrise Kingdom, here I just updated the digital version of it in my Behance : Moonrise Kingdom. Behance is improving, they changed their interface setting for user's portfolio - now we can use preview it for full version. Imagine looking at awesome people's portfolio on iMac, with all the detailing that can make me cry :F  

I've been asking my colleagues and siblings to create a Behance account and upload their past works there, as their online portfolio. By far, this is the only platform that I'm comfortable to use and I've been meeting with many great clients over the past few years, thanks to Behance. If you are serious in improving yourself to be a professional designer or illustrator - you should put this into consideration.

Even if you don't have any qualification in designing, but if you have a decent portfolio, there will be clients or companies that will be willing to hire you based on your personal experience alone. I'm the living proof :D 

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Little Things 194 : Control

On our verandah, there are plants in various sizes pots. The thing is Ma loves to buy new plants, but she isn't quite good in handling them and most of people in the house never really cared. So the only one person in the house who actually think about those plants is me. 

Last weekend I had to do something for those dying aloe vera. After several years, they consumed most of the space in the verandah because they can grow up easily without water for quite some time compared to other plants. Those aloe vera were huge, they were protruding out from the verandah, trying to expand more. I had to do something, so I cut them all. The huge monstrous ones. And I feel bad.

This is what I've been thinking :

In a small space, we let plants grow. As human, is it wrong for us to control its growth by cutting and pruning? It is a living thing, and although pruning is a good kind of controlling - we are still the one who decide on how it should grow, how big, how much space it will take. 

Is it wrong for us to simply let them grow in a small space, huddled together with new little saplings that came along the way? Just because we can't afford to let them grow in a proper place with more space and real soil from the grounds with big fat healthy earth worms? 

Should I really control how they should grow and let them own the freedom that will lead to future congestion and starvation? Or should I control their growth and let them live comfortably in a controlled environment?

I have no idea.

  

Mini Escapism : Penang

We arrived at the bus stop at 3 am, somehow I miscalculated the time and we were there too early. I brought my little comforter out from my bag pack and slept at one of the chair. AF was awake the whole time I was sleeping. There were people like us sleeping on all the benches. It was outdoor, lighted, guarded and fairly safe. I am not a night owl, so I didn't pretend like I can stay awake. I was on and off the whole time.

By 6 am, I woke up, lights at the train and ferry stations were turned on and we found a decent public toilet near the area. A walk to the train station took several minutes, we needed to change our money *to some old coins to pay for the ticket that costed around RM1.40, if I'm not mistaken. We took the first ferry ride to Penang. Everything were dark except for the little building's light near the harbour, there wasn't much of fishy sea smell and grand landscape to enjoy.

When we arrived at Georgetown, it was too early for any shops to open. We wanted to find a mamak for our early morning breakfast, but got lost walking on the road because of the misleading tips given by the local. Phew. By the time we finally found one, it was almost 7.30 am. 

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We headed to the place we were staying by using the map we bought before our trip. It wasn't hard to read and remember certain roads after several walks around the area. My old iPhone isn't capable of handling too much 3Gs, so I hardly use it.

We found a nice looking old building that turned into a new Mc' Donald. I ordered Mocha from the Mc' Cafe and read the map once more, that's when I learned that the old building was used to be Birch's old building. We can hardly feel excited because of the exhaustion of sleeping less than 5 hours the night before and walked for more than 3km with our heavy bag to our destination.

The map wasn't used as much as intended, we hardly explored new paths because Penang was just too hot. Honestly we spent most time eating and watching movies in the mall :p I hope we'll be back for more exploration and new adventure. Even this write-up feels like soulless writing that lack of story. But it marked our first official escapism together and this counts ❤

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It's been ages since his last videos, here's the latest one :

ESCAPISM #5 from Farikarim on Vimeo.

Little Stories 95 : Awan's New Enemy Part 2

Not a happy story *for Awan.

It started 2 weeks ago, when we decided to do something with Awan's fight with cat's flea. Sunday morning, Azmi woke up and told me that he's going to shower Awan with Machiko Flea Control Shampoo again. Yeay! - for the initiative without having to plead him to do so :D 

We aren't sure about the effectiveness compared to all other brands - but for now, we are using this, at least until her rashes get better *ingredients : all natural herbs. Awan isn't a cat that loves water, she hates it. She even knew Azmi was going to shower him this morning. The last time I showered her, my legs were bleeding all over from her scratches =.= So it needs to be done by my brother because he's the only one that can be a bit tough on her. 

This was how she looked this morning, all grumpy and whiny :

Next plan :

In another 2 weeks time, she will need another shower and new flea drops on her neck. I read several reviews on other flea sprays and decided that maybe we'll try to avoid something that might make her rashes worse because of the chemical ingredients. We'll consider Frontline if all these don't work. In case people might ask why I didn't bring her to the vet? - the last time I took her out, this happened. So I'm trying to avoid forcing her go out from the house, I knew she's the worst anti-social. Even worst than her mother :D

Plus : We need to clean-up the whole house weekly. Chop chop ! 

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Wedding Story : The Card

Several months before the wedding, we discussed about our wedding card. 

AF and I are both a graphic designer so we decided to design our own card. But from our Tumblr inspiration posts and previous collaborations, we are both quite aware of how different our styles are. Designing a card together will lead to arguments *I'm sure of this. His idea of proportions, colours combos, styles and spacings are totally different from mine. 

Look at these examples of what he designed for his Ig countdowns according to his style :

It is nice, but it is not something that I would go for :p

And because we are both designers - we should both have our says in how it should look, yes? 

Some people asked me : why I didn't use doodles in our card? Well trust me, me as a real person is really different, I am quite serious and I am not a fun person. Doodles is something I do out of mindless activity, but it doesn't represents me as who I am. So I didn't want to do doodles on the card plus it wouldn't be fair for AF to have a fun-childish-doodled wedding card :p

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So we finally decided that he should design our card and I will do the QC. 

He made several drafts before we finalized it in simple postcard size. 

This is how it finally looked :

I loved it. It looked like patterns from my favorite cotton kurungs and my secret purse. Originally we didn't expect it to be pinkish, we just wanted it to be clean and white. Other than he designed it, it looked like something that I would design as well :D

We sent it to online web printing company and it arrived in 5 days.

We received free pink envelope that I came to hate *I prefer decent off-white.

We didn't have many friends, so at first we wanted to print maximum of 300 cards, but Ma insisted it to be printed 500 pieces. So it ended up taking the space on the shelf in our room now. 

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A box of cards arrived :

Books : Amityville Horror Part 2

I read The Amityville Horror by Jay Anson last Ramadhan last year, the one that I bought from depository books. I particularly remember this because I don't read horror books during other months *ridiculous superstition of mine. The book is quite rare, I tried to find it in every bookstore I went to but I never found it.

Yesterday we went to Reader's Paradise in Ampang Point while waiting for iftar. I was searching for The Series of Unfortunate Events by Lemony Snicket - the whole collection. In horror section between Dean Koontz and Stephen King, I found an old book of The Amityville Horror Part 2 by John Jones that was written in 1982 ! 

I was super excited because I know it is super rare to find the book especially the original copy so I decided to rent it. I passed it to the owner and she asked me whether I want to buy or rent it? "Excuse me? I thought this is for rent?" And then she said that some book owners sold their old books there so other people can buy it if they want to. "This book costs RM 5". 

Of course! 

For RM 5, I bought super old rare book of The Amityville Horror part 2 ! The original first edition version :D I'm not a fan of horror books, but this is a special case :

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Little Stories 94 : Domain Names

I bought 2 domain names via blogspot (Google Apps Administrator) few years back for $10usd per year.

I realized one day while as I was checking my domain name, that my personal contact was publicly listed as the owner of the domain with full address, email and phone number. I can simply Google it and it is listed there for public. I was outraged ! If I didn't think about checking, I wouldn't know. I made a complain to enom about this. The reply and whole processes took several days. 

I received an email from them explaining about the software defect and they fixed it right-away at no cost. They worked fast and efficient, for this, I salute their customer service department :

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Other than that, I was trying to access Google Admin to update everything and unsubscribe the domain address but I kept on failing to login to the account. This too, lead me to email the customer service from Google. A person named "Jesus" from Google for Work Support helped me. He guided me through a fussy processes and I finally replied him this *I still think this is funny :

- This happened in Feb 2015 -

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Update July 2015 :

I just checked again and they've updated everything. Now all my personal details are protected by WHOIS Privacy Protection Service, my contacts aren't publicly exposed anymore. And I let my domain name expire last week and I'm not thinking of buying a domain name anymore *at least for now. 

I guess I realized 2 things :

1. I don't want to own it. 

Azreenchan will always be my commercialized name, I do not own it as it doesn't own me. 

Funny thing is I found out that someone is using it to give advises on dating - a boring copy-pasted blog posts *well I'm flattered and azreenchan.com is currently open for anyone to buy : in case someday I'll be super famous and the domain name will actually have value. Go ahead and buy it, but please don't make it to be a rated-18 website ya.

2. If I die, I don't really want to leave anything behind on the net, except for my little writings. I'm trying to erase things from social media as much as I can. So people won't be burdened much. Imagine if I die one day and people read back my ridiculous gibberish Twitter/Facebook posts that sounded nothing but annoying complains all the way down. I don't want people to remember me like that. Ha. 

I want people to stumble upon this little blog and read me like someone that once lived. 

That's all.

Little Things 193 : Beryls'

On every year's national public celebrations, Beryl's factory in Seri Kembangan opens for public. It is not new for our family, we've been hunting chocolates every year during this time. Although Beryls doesn't sell for cheap - 'cheap', they do give at least 20-30% off for all chocolates compared to commercial price in supermarket and half price for rejected chocolates *they are slightly senget and deformed - but it tastes the same. 

I bought 1 packet of Tiramisu (300g) and 1 packet of Dark Chocolates (300g) for RM 14+ each compared to their normal price : RM17+. Also one packet of Milk Chocolate with sesame for ma.  For me, those chocolates are still pricy but that's the lowest they can give during every year's sales. That's why we will visit the factory once or twice every year.

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My favorite has always been the pink packet version of Chocolate Milk Tiramisu without almonds. I put some stocks in my bag and eat one piece for each day like how everyone should consume chocolate for health purpose. Ha. Except during Ramadhan of course :p

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1. Beryl’s Chocolate & Confectionary (Tel 603 8943 6136) 

2 Jalan Raya 7/1 Kawasan Perindustrian Seri Kembangan Seri Kembangan 

Mon to Fri : 830am – 530pm / Sat to Sun : 830am – 500pm  

2. Bangi Factory (Tel 603 8925 6136) 

8 Jalan 9/1, Seksyen 9 Bandar Baru Bangi 

Mon to Fri : 830am -530pm

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Little Stories 93 : Tooth War Part 2

Part 2 :

E. She cleaned up those remaining temporary fillings. It took some time. She said the tooth is halfway broken and I need to take an extra care of it now, because it can no longer be used like before - half of the tooth's natural wall is now man-made resin with no natural support. My previous filling lasted for almost 10 years, not sure how long this one will survive.

Pain level : 2/10, no blood

F. Again, she poked 2 painful spots. She said that my nerves are still okay, at least they are not dead yet. So she continued mending it with adding new tougher fillings, creating a tooth-like mold. She scraped, structured and molded until I can close my mouth without feeling uncomfortable. All the processes might took around 30 minutes - I am not so sure. Plus, I can't eat any solid food for at least 24 hours before it completely harden.

Pain level : 1/10, no blood

Total cost : RM 50 *covered in medical fees.

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Some tips :

1. If you have broken/decayed/holes in your tooth, meet a dentist right-away. The faster the better because it will eventually gets worse. 

2. Brush and floss your teeth, also, spend some money on mouth-wash to control plaques. I use 'Dental Floss Mouth Pick' from Guardian, the one that sell 3 boxes (50 pieces per box) - that can be used for more than 3 months if I don't floss everyday :p
3. Meet your dentist every 6 months for scaling, they will clean up all the plaques that lead to more problems in the future. It is a love-hate relationship, where you don't want them but you really need them, so deal with your fear for dentist. You won't regret it.

Little Stories 92 : Awan's New Enemy

I think about 2 months ago, our family was attacked by some kind of little insects. We got spots on our bodies and those spots itch twice as bad compared to mosquito bites. At first, we thought it was red small ants' bites. But we never found those little ants.

Until we finally figured that it all came from Awan, probably cat's fleas or ticks. We always see her scratching, but we never really checked. She never went out of the house and never really met other cats, so we thought it was near to impossible for her to get fleas. I was wrong. I checked online and read about symptoms on human - even if cat's fleas don't really like human, they do attack human if they need to. Red spots, never-ending bad itch, 3-5 spots each part, I think the culprit is cat's fleas. I never saw any cat's fleas on my bed or clothes, and I do use roller every single day - so I still can't confirm this.

But, as for Awan, it is a serious case.

She got fleas and it is troubling her.

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1. I went to pet shop to buy flea control liquid. The one that cost around RM 14 per tiny bottle where I need to put it on her neck. So I put several drop of those last week. 

2. The day after, it was Azmi's turn to help. He was in charge of showering Awan with Machiko Flea Control Shampoo, the one that ma bought for RM 17.80 per bottle. It should removes fleas, lice, mites and ticks naturally - it stated "Combination of selected plant extracts including neem, citronella, tea tree and cedarwood, to collectively maximize their traditionally known insect repelling and skin care properties in a mild shampoo base." Sounds good enough - all traditional ingredients.

By this time, Azmi mentioned about her reddish skin condition around neck, obviously from those scratching.

3. I bought another bottle of flea control liquid, this time cost RM 10 - because it was from different pet shop. I dropped those liquids 2 days after she was showered. This should last a month. We should repeat the showering with Machiko Shampoo and flea control drops for 3 months.

4. Buy tablets for cat's worm control. I read about how usually some cats with flea infestation will be infected by worms as well. I bought one for RM 8. The feeding process was handled by Azmi, again, because he is the only one that can be tough on Awan. Momsies can't do such brutal thing like forcing tablet inside her throat :p It went in after 5th try. They said we should give her the tablet at least every 6 months.

Other :

5. We cleaned our beddings, use the roller everyday, wash towel every fortnight and clothes everyday. We also need to vacuum the house every week. Oh, and she is banned from entering our room until she is completely flea free.

6. Cut Awan's nails to avoid more harm for her skin.

7. Spray vinegar on carpet and sofa in the living room.

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I hope this would end super soon-soon.

And if you are bitten by cat fleas, don't you ever scratch, just use ice.

  

Little Stories 91 : Tooth War Part 1

Other than slightly protruding lower jaw compared to other people, I have a nicely structured jaw with all teeth naturally in line. Even with 2 wisdom teeth back in my lower jaw making its way since several years ago, everything else is still in its place - so I don't think there's a need of meeting a dentist to take both my wisdom teeth out. I think there will be several more years before they are completely mature. Plus, I'm still waiting for my 2 upper jaw's wisdom teeth to start coming out.  

I don't think I went to see a dentist for almost 10 years. I'm taking care of my teeth religiously : brush my teeth 3 times a day and floss it daily. That's how serious I am in taking care of my oral hygiene. This is all because I have weak teeth.

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I've had my first molar tooth (on the right side) crowned because it was badly broken while I was in school. Ditto the left one, several years later - it was halfway broken and my doctor did some nice filling that lasted for almost 10 years. Both my 2 first molar are really weak even when I was quite young and been taking care of my teeth. Imagine that.

About several months ago, the filling on my left molar teeth was broken. But I didn't go the the dentist right-away. Like any other people would do, I procrastinate. I cleaned up every time I eat. Up until several weeks ago, I started to have pain in my broken tooth. I knew pain wouldn't be a good sign, and I'm not really afraid of meeting a dentist so I had to called up for an appointment before it gets worst.

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Last weekend, I met her again. It's been almost 10 years!

Part 1 :

A. First she did scaling to clean-up all the remaining plaques that I can't remove. I asked her, why is it possible to have plaques even when I floss daily? She said that some people have the tendency to form plaques on their teeth and some people don't. It depends on the people.

Pain level : 3/10, minimal blood, normal.

B. Next, she removed all the remaining fillings. She drilled and those old fillings were broken. Other than hard pressure and bad shrill, it was rather fast. She asked me to gurgle water, and the fillings were out. I just noticed that only half part of my first molar side left, she gave me mirror to see it myself. Kesian. 

Pain level : 2/10, no blood.

C. Before she can do any new fillings, she asked me whether I was in pain? She checked by putting something on my broken teeth and found out that I have an exposed nerve. I'm not sure whether she poked or what. But by far, that was the worst kind of pain possible in this whole course. She said she needs to put something to heal the nerve first before adding new fillings. Just in case, so it won't spread under a covered teeth. She put some medication for the nerve, by this time - I was almost halfway crying / halfway in  mortal pain. She was nice the whole way, motherly nice, so it was tiny bit ok.

Pain level : 9/10, no blood. 

D. She put some new temporary fillings and asked me to come at least after 6 hours. I made appointment for Monday morning, 2 days after. The temporary fillings got broken when I ate salad that night =.= Now it is half broken again, but with no exposed nerve, so no pain, only odd pressure on the empty space. She gave me pain killer pills if it feels too bad for me to handle. 

Pain level : 0/10

Total cost : RM 200 *covered in the medical fees. Plus I actually got more discount, hahaa. 

I didn't dare to go to government's dental clinic after I read several bad reviews online and heard that I need to wait for months for each appointment. 

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It's actually an old clinic, family-friend's one. 

I've known her since I was 6.

That's why I've been going to her clinic all this time :

Klinik Pergigian Dr Munah, Seri Serdang. Map.

Little Things 192 : Eyes

Have you ever wondered, why is it that when you put one finger in front of you, you can see it clearly. But when you put the finger closer and closer till it stop right in front of your eye, you can only see something blocking your view. It no longer looks like a finger, it only looks like a blurry undefined thing. 

Maybe in life, we should see things accordingly in the right length, which is different among people especially if they are short or near-sighted. When we see things too far, the eyes can't process it and when we see things too close to your eyes, the same thing happens, our eyes can't process it.