Padini Sale 2016

So at first it was said that this sale was in stores only, but Padini went back on their words and did a similar 4DAYSPECIAL on their website. For online purchases, a minimum spend of RM120 is required to get free shipping.

I browsed their shop but couldn't find enough stuff to justify a RM120 expenditure, so I went to Paradigm Mall (cheapest parking in all shopping malls nearby) to see what I can buy. At the same time I got a fix of my Juice Works craving.

After lingering in the shop for around 1.5 hours, I realised that there wasn't much pretty stuff to shop for, but the queue was considerably long (I bet still shorter than hotspots like MidValley and 1Utama). I tried out 10+ pieces, but settled on 2 basics which were both black like my soul.

I used to think Padini is some sort of high-end shit (you know, kampung girl here) until I came to the city. That's when I realised it's not even close to mid-end, and the designs are pretty sucky if you consider everything in the store.

Milky Diaries

Breakfast is undeniably the most important meal of the day. According to Traditional Chinese Medicine, the body systemic mechanism reflects the tidal energy of the 'biological clock'. Our digestive functions are strongest in the morning and weakest in the evening, hence leading to the popular Chinese saying of "eating breakfast like a king, lunch like a merchant and supper like a pauper". 

Despite knowing the importance of a proper breakfast, certain people do not practice the habit, citing reasons such as "no time", "don't feel like eating", or even "lazy to prepare breakfast". Some Gen-Y's like to combine breakfast and lunch, taking a branch at around 11am-1pm, solving 2 meals at once. However, this is not a healthy lifestlye in the long run because your biological clock is going to be disrupted, leading to decline in health. Just like why you should sleep before 11pm at night, you should also have breakfast everyday, ideally between 5-7am (or at the very least before 10am).

I am very much a breakfast person, for no other reason other than the fact that I'm always hungry in all my lucid waking moments. My stomach growls when it is not well-fed. Hence, I usually have a proper, fulfilling breakfast everyday. Even if I'm rushing, I will still grab a packet milk to ease my hunger first, before buying a slice of sandwich on the way.

Personally, milk is a daily must for breakfast, and never once have I skipped it in my life except for that one period of time when I was having terrible acne. Usually my morning diet consist of a combination of milk and something else, be it Hup Seng crackers, cereals or bread. Concisely, I cannot live without milk - it is that important to me.

I still remember the time when I was in primary school ordering bottled milk from a fresh milk company that came to our school to market their products. I asked my mom whether I could get one, and she said no cos it was RM1.50 (more expensive than a bowl of noodles at that time @ RM0.80), but I secretly bought one anyway with my 2-days meal money (and skipped the meals cos I got no money left). 

All of us know that milk contains a lot of nutrients that are helpful for growth of strong bones and teeth, enhance muscle performance and protect our nervous system. However, most Malaysians are not getting enough calcium intake from their daily meals. In fact, nearly 50% kids have inadequate calcium intake¹, and the average calcium intake among adults is less than half of the recommended daily requirement². 

This is where milk comes in to bridge the gap. Food experts recommend 2 daily servings of milk per day. Just by drinking 1 serving of Dutch Lady Pure Farm Milk (200ml) at breakfast, you can effectively pump at least 200mg of calcium, 6.4g of protein and 5.3µg of Vitamin D3 into your body. Incorporating milk into your daily diet (especially during breakfast) will greatly benefit you.

 Now you just need an excuse to actually start enjoying breakfast in the early mornings. Instead of saying, "I have no time for breakfast", isn't it better to say "I will make time for breakfast"? 

After all, if it helps you to be more energetic and focused in your daily tasks, why not?

___

¹Nutritional status and dietary intakes of children aged 6 months to 12 years based on the findings of the Nutrition Survey of Malaysian Children (2013). British Journal of Nutrition (110), S21–S35.

²Current nutrient intake among Malaysian Adults. Retrieved from MANS. (2014). The Medical Journal of Malaysia.(70). pp 12.

Controlling Your Emotions

I get so angry sometimes talking to my youngest sister. She can just blow the hats off my head (in an explosion of sudden anger).

Scenario #1:
Mum: Hey it's been weeks since you got the link for matriculation application. Have you done it?
Her: No, the link won't work.
Mum: Have you got the wrong link?
Her: No, the teacher gave it to us.
Me: You've got the wrong link.
Her: No, I tried so many times, it doesn't show any form.
Me: Pass me the link.
Her: *hands phone to me*
Me: *sees phone, sees page, check link, it says http://moe.gov.my*
Me: wtf this is the main page of the MOE! You got the wrong link and you don't even bother to check!
Me: *googles aplikasi matrikulasi and shows her the correct link google showed me*
Me:  Y U SO STUPID?!! U think something is wrong dunno how to ask ah? U got no mouth ah? Everyday online dunno how to Google ah? Wtf u waiting for? For the skies to drop u chunks of gold so u never have to work or study anymore ah?  Why are you so unmotivated? If you suspect something wrong, you should ask your teacher or Google it! *controlling inner Hades*
Her: *silent*

Scenario #2:
Her: I cannot compete with XXX. I'm so bad at this and that.
Me: Then do something about it.
Her: It's too late... *proceeds to check FB for hours*
Me: Go study la, you said you dunno this and that.
Her: Diamlah
Me: (In my heart WTF x1000)

Scenario #3*:
Me: Hey check out this scholarship info, I got it from my friend.
Her: Hey can't download cos my phone no memory.
Me: WTF U DUNNO USE COMPUTER TO DOWNLOAD AH!!! (Trust me if I don't say this she will never download it on the excuse that her phone has no memory)
Her: OK, thanks teehee

*Fictitious scenario, though I did get some scholarship info for her.

I have some major NO-NOs when it comes to people:
1. People who don't bother to work for what they want.
2. People who don't want to learn despite having the opportunities to.
3. People who just sit there and complain but do nothing to change their situation.

And my sister fulfills all three successfully. That's why she's on my list of hated people to talk to, but I can't help talking to her, because I love her despite everything. That's why I even helped her to ask for overseas scholarship information from my friend (thanks, Mah Song Wei!) and googled scholarships opportunities for her (because I used to be such a stupid kampung girl who never even knew such stuff existed!) but her results weren't very good (you can judge her 'pattern' from the scenarios above) and God I'm praying to you, please change her. 

I am sometimes guilty of 3. but I am in the midst of changing myself for the better.

Anyways, you can only teach people to be proactive, whether or not they actually become proactive depends on their own will. Do not shout/speak negative words because they do not help at all, and may have an adverse effect on the listener.

Control your emotions and be a better you!

Popular RM5 Fiesta

It happens that today's the last day of the book fair, and coincidentally I'm in KL (yay!!!) so obviously I went. RM5 per book is unbeatable, it's even cheaper than BBW. 

I told myself it's ok despite not having all my work done, I'm gonna allow myself some freedom to shop while it's still the beginning of the semester and I can still afford it (time-wise). Procrastination is my forté. (๑◕︵◕๑)

So off I went with Yi Hong and Debs. 

Parking was so hard to find I swear it felt like 15 minutes doing multiple rounds in B1. Finally I prayed to God to give me a good parking slot and proceeded to move to level B2. And ta-dah! My prayer was answered! He gave me a damn good spot - it's just beside the sliding door where the escalators are! Made my day! ᕕ(◕◡◕)ᕗ 

We were there for approx 2½ hours, and we went back with a huge haul. Well not so huge for me, if compared to past years. My buying power has diminished greatly due to multiple splurges in other warehouse sales like Cotton On, Triumph, SaSa, Esprit. I cannot resist (good) things that are on sale. I just have to buy them! So I only allocated RM50 for Popular sale, which got me a pretty decent amount of 10 books.

My pretty babies!

 I really liked how these covers seem to complement each other's color combos!

Initially I had 20 books, but due to budget restriction I kiasu-ly checked reviews for all titles on Goodreads. I only bought those that were rated 3.5 and above because I thought there's a higher chance that I would like them.

Among all these authors, I had only read Michelle Moran's books before, and they were pretty awesome (Nefertiti, The Heretic Queen,Cleopatra's Daughter), so I had high faith in Michelle's writing.

The Outsiders by S. E. Hinton was deemed to be the mother of YA novels, so I got a copy too even though the cover is so boring.

Others were a pure gamble.

Something worth mention was that while I was walking around with my trolley book-hunting, a lady walked up to me and said, "Hi, do you want this RM5 cash voucher? I'm going back now and won't be shopping anymore, so if you want it I can give it to you."

Can you believe my luck?

Thank you kind aunty, I will remember your kindness even though I don't remember what you look like. Made my day x2 ❤ 

Korean New Waves Concert

I had the privilege to attend the Korean New Waves Concert in KLPAC hosted by the Korean Embassy in Malaysia featuring popular instrumental band wHOOL, singers Chai Khan and Kim Hyun Su. 

Talking about this, I must start by apologizing to Youngjun (representative of the Korean Embassy) - I was supposed to go with Alex at 6.30pm, but he ffk me wasn't able to join at the last minute. And I underestimated the distance (yes, KL can be harsh during peak hours) - what was supposed to be a 30 minute drive took 1h 30m instead. Halfway there, my phone decided to die, and I had to go to the petrol station to borrow a socket to charge it enough to reopen Waze. What an eventful day! Made me think why had I not bring my powerbank with me to KL. Obviously I was so late that I went in when they were starting. I felt so bad! (｡•́︿•̀｡)

The overall performance was pretty amazing - the band performed multiple top-grade instrumental ensembles, and the lead singers Chai Khan and Kim Hyun Su had excellent control of the vocals. I must say Chai Khan's voice makes my heart shiver and raises goosebumps on my arms. Her vocals are that powerful.

The person who captured my attention the most is undeniably the drummer in wHOOL band. He plays with all his soul that you just can't stop looking at him.

Ms Chai is so pretty!

Min Qi, Kim Hyun Su, Jia Yi

With Noah! No idea wtf I look so ugly and the whole picture is so senget, but oh well!

Sadly, we didn't get to take any pictures with the wHOOL band, I think they might have felt neglected when all the fans were crazy about the lead singers but paid less attention to the band members. I really wanted to take pictures with them but couldn't. They went off so quickly. Noah tried to enter the backstage to look for them but was chased out of the room. (๑◕︵◕๑)

Anyways, it's still a happy day because (1) I got to meet Noah! (2) Met 2 new friends (3) All 3 of us got the lead singers' signatures (Noah didn't care about this, he just wants a photo with the pretty lady hahaha)

Once again, thank you to the Korean Embassy in Malaysia for organizing such a memorable night for us! It was certainly fun!

Axiata ULDP 2016 (Grand Finale)

CEO Challenge

My wonderful team

This is the final challenge of the whole program, and I learned some new things despite being down most of the time due to food poisoning (sorry team!):

1. Learn to control emotions and be positive even when there are obstacles.
2. Set time for work and rest - time management is very important. 

3. Be encouraging and keep the team spirit up at all times (Eu Gene is very good at this) 

4. Know your demographics, how often/likely they will use your product (reason why your product will work), and show the money numbers on screen!  ᕕ($◡$)ᕗ 

5. Prepare an answer/a justification for everything you want to do.

6. Quoting Mr Farid: If the question is beyond your preparation, make sure you can smartly pave your way through at the right times, cos everything is a prediction, nothing is set in stone. 

C'est le dernière défi dans le programme, et j'ai appris quelques nouvelle choses malgre d'être malade par l'intoxication alimentaire: 
1. Contrôler vos émotions, bien que les émotions négatives existent toujours. 
2. Trouver un juste équilibre entre les travail et repos. 
3. Soit positif et encourageant sur toi-même et sur tout. 
4. Le projections financière (particulièrement les revenu et ROI) sont très importante si tu veux obtenir une chance de gagner. 
5. Tu dois preparer une réponse pour chaque question.
6. S'il y a une question que tu ne sais pas, dis la foutaise pour t'echappes.

Dinners

Dinner #1 - Awards Night

I really want a nyonya kebaya like Emily's, but in light pink.

Vraiment, je veux acheter une kebaya comme le sien (c'est très belle, oui?) mais dans le coleur rose clair.

Dinner #2 - Spanish Night

Mandatory group photo. I love these people!
La photo de groupe obligatoire. J'aime ces gens!

The peeps chosen for Axiata Aaaahhhhh 

Jane is hands down the winner haha

 Les personnes sélectionnées pour Axiata Aaaahhhhh, et Jane est certainement le gagneur.

˚✧₊⁎( ˘ᴗ˘ )⁎⁺˳✧༚

This is my cute room mate beautiful Jasmine (Jia Lee). I didn't manage to get one with our other room mate Ilani. They're both awesome ladies.

Ceci est ma colocataire, elle est petite et mignonne. Elle s'appelle Jia Lee, aussi connu sous le nom la belle fleur. Malheuresement, je n'ai pas pris une photo avec Ilani, nos autre compagne de chambre. 

Meet Jocelyn, my pool buddy. I really appreciate how we randomly went for a game during one of our rare breaks and became friends since.

Mon amie Jocelyn qui jouait le billiard avec moi.

Emily, me, Karishma, Yi Xin

_________________________________________

Afterthoughts

We had excellent food for the whole duration of the camp, and had desserts of every kind after each meal. We were very well-fed I'm sure everybody gained at least 2 kgs by the end of the camp.

Nous avons eu la bonne nourriture dans ce camp.

The sharing sessions with Duncan from Blue Chip Leaders really force you to undergo a critical evaluation on yourself, identifying your strengths and weaknesses, your obstacles and goals. And Duncan is always telling us to take care of our health, go eat, or go sleep because he's worried that we might fall sick from the endless efforts to fulfill our tasks. Thanks Duncan! (◕‿◕✿)

Duncan est toujours inquiet pour notre santé.

Graduated!

It was a tough but rewarding 14-days, I learned so much about the business world in such a short time and developed lifelong friendships with some of the most loving, caring and supportive people on the planet. I also learned a lot about myself in the sharing and reflection sessions, and the things that I should improve on. 

I realized that sometimes I can be a bit of a bitter bug when I'm stressed, and this might have affected my team members negatively when times were hard. Noah, thanks for your efforts of talking and cheering me up (but honestly I wasn't sad or anything, I just simply look constipated when I'm stressed). I sincerely apologize for this, and I promise (to my future team members and colleagues) to smile more and bring more sunshine and contribution to the team.

On a side note, it was cool to discover so many "crouching tigers and hidden dragons" in the camp - people just stun you with their special talents! Aziz, Amirul and Ben are Photoshop pros; Ben, Vincent, Joe Ee and Zach are skilled guitar players; Xin Le is secretly a top-grade violinist and pianist; Shu Wei is a soprano and Joshua is a baritone who sings surprisingly rich bass.

It was a great 14-days with all of you, and I would like to thank everyone for making this camp memorable and exciting. It would not have been as much fun without all of you. (๑◔‿◔๑)

Last but not least, a huge thank you to Axiata for the chance to participate in this camp! It was both a privilege and a blessing to be able to join this group of highly-motivated youth in learning about business and also ourselves. I learned so much and I will improve myself in the days to come.

This is not the end, it is just the beginning.

Disclaimer: All Axiata ULDP posts are very descriptive but no photos / detailed information on the simulations were leaked for event privacy purposes. This is meant to be a journal of the event for personal remembrance.

Axiata ULDP 2016 (Part 3)

BUSINESS SIMULATION 3

A very fun and interactive game, but if you don't know how to plan your finances, you'd always be stuck in the 'rat race', possibly facing a bankruptcy suit in the near future. Again, you have to take calculated risks in order to succeed. But the problem is, we didn't know how. 

Our group was afraid to take risks in the start, but we eventually expanded our operations, and our salesmen Gary and Noah sealed some pretty good deals towards the end of the games, which enabled us to generate a positive cash-flow in the last year. A huge leap from 45M loss in the previous year.

Karishma was the CEO, and I sensed her stress and anxiety because people always asked her what are her plans for the company. She wanted to hide, but there was nowhere to hide. And she be like:

No, you've got the wrong person. Karishma is next door!

And then, she turned to me, "So, Yin Chien, what are your production plans?" And I be like:

Buddy you askin' me?

Again Vincent was the finance guy, and he went berserk when Gary sold off our assets to get cash (to sustain our failing company) and disrupted his holy grail projection. \(@_@)/

What I learned from this sim: 

1. The person who owns the "money-generating assets" first will dominate the market. 
2. If you want to win, you have to play big or don't play at all. By this I meant taking calculated risks and act on them.
3. Quoting Vee (was that you?): "Business is war!" No hard feelings guys, it's just a game. Honestly, though it hurt some people's feelings, that move was so unexpected I actually felt impressed. That's probably how the acquisition and mergers are initiated in real life. 

BUSINESS SIMULATION 4

This is by far the most stressful one, giving you a little more than 12 hours to get everything done including sleep time. 

Our team is hands down the sleepiest one in the battlefield. We treasure sleep more than anything else because if we don't sleep enough we automatically shut down. 

Vincent is pretty much a walking-dead after 1am. But give him sleep (and a sprinkle of fairy dust), he will come back with a super brain.   

When the clock strikes 3 (am), Emily: f**k this, I'm going to bed! (albeit still in a very soft, polite manner) - at this point, everybody reached a consensus to rest our bloodshot eyes, but the finance team was still going strong (Karishma and Gary).

When the clock strikes 5 (am), Karishma:

Yi Xin, Noah and Adi came up with a really nice design for our brand. They got nominated but sadly didn't win. Still proud of you guys! I witnessed so much change in Yi Xin as she totally transformed into a different person in this challenge. She became so much more confident and comfortable in her own skin. *hugs*

Even though we didn't win anything, it was cool to see many amazing end-products from other teams! In such a short time, they managed to produce masterpieces! So much creativity and humour - fantastic job guys!

BUSINESS SIMULATION 5

Gary repeated 3 times (something along the lines of), "Guys, this company has no future. Let's tell the CEO to sell this company, donate all the money to the kids in Somalia and spend the rest of his life playing golf in Zimbabwe."

It was hard, even without the scandal. 

We asked for financial reports, but what we got were pieces of loose information here and there. Turns out you have to be very precise when requesting.

In the end, Gary had to ask for help from Suriah for additional information. You can always count on him to call in favours because he is such an excellent PR guy/friendly competitor. (Thanks, little Sunshine for the data!)

I was in finance with Karishma this time round, but I was doing the expense-cutting and generation of cash flow with Adi while Karishma did the projection with Gary's help. I have no idea how he managed to come up with rational numbers when Karishma and I were both stuck - you really have to give him credit for quick grasp of things.

Vincent was the CEO, and he regretted handling back the docs to PA that he started to retreat into his own imaginary world, thinking of things that might have been different if he chose another method. Actually the best way is to do what Hamsya did: doctrine of separated equity.

Emily became very efficient in identifying the important parts and planning for the future. She told me she's beginning to get used to this. She is very smart and opinionated but very humble and polite, which is why I heart her even more.

The switch wasn't entirely unexpected but it hit close to home. You feel like you're being torn apart from your ohana, like till death do us meet (even though they're just moving next door). We were almost in tears. (ಥ_ಥ)

John and Shu Yuan are so nice, helpful that accepting that I regretted not smiling to them more when we first met. I was still railing from shock and sadness to see my kakis gone that I had forgotten to be kinder to them. Sorry! I love you guys! ٩(♡ε♡ )۶

-----------------------------------

To be continued...

Axiata ULDP 2016 (Part 2)

OPENING CEREMONY

Everyone gathered at the Axiata Tower for the opening ceremony. After registration and some awkward self-introductions downstairs, we were herded upstairs where individual photos were taken.

Breakfast was nasi lemak! No complaints, it's my favourite Malaysian dish ever. And I haven't had any yet since coming back from US, so I'm pretty happy about it.

After that, some speeches from Axiata's top leadership (Tan Sri Jamal, Datin Badrunnisa). It was quite enlightening to hear that sometimes people don't necessarily end up where they started with. Tan Sri Jamal came from IT background, Datin Badrunnisa studied Biochemistry and Pharmacology, but both came to work for Axiata, a telco group. Tan Sri Jamal is all for learning as much as you can, no matter what branch that knowledge is from. Seems to correspond to Robert Kiyosaki's learning style.

CAMP IN AWANA

Like what Jay thought, it's definitely a breeze. 14 days of holidays in an exclusive highland retreat. 

You wish.  

Axiata uses heuristic means to teach us about the business world. We are left to do all the nitty gritty stuff ourselves, with minimal dubious hints here and there from the facilitators. But really, you just have to figure out the whole picture yourself or risk getting eliminated in the games. If left alone, I probably would have teared apart any encephalic matter present in my head.

Most of the times, I felt dumb and just wanted to pull my hair out. The level of frustration is high. I hated not knowing anything and not knowing where to start learning (because almost everybody is clueless).

But in a way it pushes us to come up with something (anything at all), so I guess it actually works?

Also, once you get the gist of it, the metaphorical light-bulb will shine brightly in your head. Raw financial data is not a huge problem to us anymore cos now we know how to analyze the important parts.

MY GROUP

These people are ohana.

BUSINESS SIMULATION 1

I'm gonna admit it felt bad not being able to contribute as much to the team. Gary was busy doing all the thinking and presentation layout strategy, while Vincent (psychology major) was busy scrunching numbers which did not seem to make sense to anyone in the group. (But finally he got it! Bravo for having quick brains.)

That said, I think I did a pretty well in terms of artistic design for the advertisement, thanks to the help of Noah, Yi Xin, Adi, Emily and Karishma. And of course, Adi did an awesome job on the video as well.

One thing I think we could've improved on is people management. A huge part of the group did not know what to do or what they could do to help. But on second thoughts this is unavoidable because:

(a) We don't know what we are doing

(b) We don't know enough to direct others to do something we don't know

It boils down to numbers. If you understand the numbers, you are king. 

Presentation wise, Gary, Vincent and Emily are pretty strong. So are Noah, Adi, Karishma and Yi Xin (unpolished raw gemstones). Me, I always have my moments of jimjams. My brain reacting slowly is something I really need to work on. Debate Club, perhaps? To improve my overall fluency. And maybe take up a marketing crash course to learn how to sell/pitch with confidence. Any suggestions?

I hope the heavy workload that comes with the new sem doesn't wash my initial plans down the gutter again. Malaysian education is too much about homework and memorization and too little about reflection and self-discovery. Gonna try to make time to do what I wanna do though.  (๑◕︵◕๑)

BUSINESS SIMULATION 2

This is one of the fun ones, and perhaps one of the easiest ones (for those who are in the audience seats). 

What I learned from this simulation:

1. When people ask you what if questions, just reply with pure logic. Do not hike up your stakes to meet unrealistic demands. It's ok to be bitchy stand your ground if you have a reason to be.

2. Balance between personal interest and public interest. Do not promise more than you can give.

3. Don't claim credit for something you haven't done. Be smart. -(●-●)-

To be continued...

===================================================

GAME OF THE DAY

This didn't come until later in the week. BUT.

To keep things interesting...

Here's a game, first started by Gary. 

It messed up my brain so much now I wanna mess up yours.

ULDP 2016 participants, please don't answer cos y'all know the answer already. ;)

QUESTION:

A is a half-boiled egg

B is a leather jacket

C is your mom

What is D?

Leave your answers in the comments below.

Axiata ULDP 2016 (Part 1)

BEFORE

It all started with the Facebook Ad which kept popping up on my timeline, when I was still in America. 

After seeing it for maybe 3 times, I finally clicked into it to see what it's all about. Then, I found out that it's a 14-day camp for nurturing future leaders. Hmm, sounds interesting, but I needed more details. My first thought? I'm gonna join this camp, get a good story and write an article. Looking at the dateline, I still have time to apply after I return to Malaysia, so I bookmarked the page for application later.

I started snooping around for more details, mainly by asking my good friend Mr. Google. Then, I found several blog posts regarding this camp, which led to 3 bloggers/past attendees of the camp. Then, I used FB to track these people down, sending messages to all 3, but only one person replied. If you're reading this, yes, that's you Ken. (Ken is now my friend. LOL.)

Fast forward to post-submission, I received a call on Friday asking me to go down to Axiata Tower for an interview on the following Monday. But I was working for my attachment (I nego-ed with boss to have it done earlier cos I have plans to get diving license in Redang in August if ULDP plan fails), so I unabashedly asked for a telephone interview instead. (See how much balls I have?)

On an afterthought, I regretted it because it kinda made me sound like I wasn't interested at all. So I emailed them saying I will take a one-day leave to attend the interview in person, but the organizer replied saying, "no need, everything is arranged (for phone interview)." So alarms started ringing in my head, crying out "you're dead! you're dead! you're dead!"

On Monday, the interviewer called on time, and asked me questions like: 

1. Tell us about your leadership experience

2. One achievement in leadership

3. If there's one thing you can change, what would it be?

I bullshitted my way through prepared a set of bullet-points with whatever I think I wrote in the application earlier, but I was nervous and there was a lot of grammar mistakes. I'm not a good speaker, so naturally some kind of preparation is required.

At the end of the interview, I asked when will we be getting the results, and she said, next week.

Two weeks passed and I didn't hear anything from them. I made plans for Redang. UM organized a camp for diving license at Redang for RM800. BUT they later increased it to RM1000, so plan cancelled.

While I was wondering what to do with my life, I received an email from Axiata saying I was selected for the camp.

My first response: I must be a backup cos someone couldn't go. Cos it has been 3 weeks since the phone interview. 

My second thought: Oh well, since I got chosen.. might as well go!

*Please forgive my grammar mistakes, if any. I'm not checking what I wrote cos I'm sleepy. Do let me know if you find any though. Thanks!

Althea's 1st Birthday Bash!

My favourite Korean beauty website Althea is turning one today! As part of The Butterfly Project, I was able to participate in this event as a media supporter (blogger), and I'm really excited about it!

If you haven't heard of this website before, it is an online-initiative kick-started recently to make Korean beauty products more accessible to Malaysians. Currently it carries household names like The Face Shop, Nature Republic, Missha and Innisfree. Although the brands featured are perhaps less than other websites, Althea is constantly improving and expanding its reach.

The theme for today is pink! Orders placed today onwards will come in a birthday box and exclusive party kit. Post a picture featuring your party kit on Instagram and stand a chance to win great prizes! See below for more details.

Althea's Birthday Celebration 20th - 31st July, 2016

• Limited Edition Birthday Box + DIY Party Kit
  For orders placed on 20/7 onwards. While stocks last.
• Free Goodies for first 1,500 shoppers
  Full-size beauty products. While stocks last. 
• Birthday Giveaway. Pick 3 Top Sellers for 100% REBATE! Rebate will be credited into your account once order is completed. 
• #AltheaTurns1 Instagram Contest
  - Got your Althea party kit? Wish us a happy birthday with #altheaturns1 and stand a chance to win amazing prizes such as Macbook Air, Ipad Air 2, iPhone 6S, Galaxy S6 Edge, Canon EOS M10 Selfie Camera, Althea credits and beauty hampers from Althea! 
  - Prizes total worth KRW10,000,000 to be won.
  - Contest starts from 20th July - 15th August, 2016.

*Terms and conditions apply. Please refer to www.althea.kr and Althea Facebook for more information. 

Authentic beauty products

From Korea, by Althea!

Vitamilk

On my recent visit to Betong, aside from stocking up my supplies of Pejoy, Pocky and Pepero, I also bought something else. It's called Vitamilk.

I actually discovered this in a Thai restaurant called Frame in PJ when I went there for a meal with my room mate. It was sold at the price of RM3.00 (now with GST and all it's probably already RM3.50).

I tried original, red bean, black bean and they all tasted good. In my visit to Betong, I tried some other flavours: Double Black, Chocolate, Barley & Malt (this is ok) and Banana Milk (yucky unless you like banana).

So far, I like everything except for (perhaps) Barley & Malt and Banana Milk. Vitamilk has a weird but nice taste, it feels rather thick and creamy on the tongue. I read on another blog that this might be due to the thickener additive in the drink. But nonetheless it is one of my favorite chilled beverage!

It's sold at 7-Eleven at 15฿ per bottle, but I managed to find them for 14฿ at K-Mart, so I bought 9 bottles at one-go, because I know I won't be able to go back to buy more the next day. 

If you know somewhere I can buy these in bulk in Malaysia, do let me know!

P/S: I found this article online stating why one should never drink soy milk, so drink at your own expense!

Carpe: The Solution for Sweaty Palms

Imagine yourself in an interview, and the interviewer offers his hand for a handshake. You smile but silently curse as you wipe your palm on your pants before meeting his outstretched hand. Or, during exams you write furiously in hopes of beating the clock, but before you know it, your exam sheet is totally drenched in your palm sweat and some words are smudged. Or when you're playing your guitar, you leave watery streaks on the bridge. You know what is happening and your heart sinks just a little bit.

Before you say I'm just jabbering, I want to remind you that these situations are real. At least for those of us who suffer from palmar hyperhidrosis. Usually people with this issue suffer from another problem as well - sweaty feet. I've been through some horrendous moments in my life thus far involving social faux pas and personal problems caused by this medical condition. Even though it is nothing life-threatening, it is super annoying, troublesome and downright embarrassing. 

Inspired by Carpe Diem - Seize the Moment!

So when I chanced upon this little tube that claims to work wonders on people like me, I immediately contacted the founders of Carpe to request for a tube for review. But knowing it probably wouldn't arrive on time, I went ahead and bought myself a tube from Amazon, because it will be at least 24 hours of flight for me and I want to prevent cold, sticky hands (and feet!) during the whole journey. And I was so happy that it works! I was sweat-free for the whole flight, and remained so even after I landed in Malaysia. 

But in the name of science, I decided to test it for a little longer to see how well it works in different situations. But first, let me share how to use this little tube of magic:

This is the texture of the lotion. Rather viscous.

Initially it's gonna leave you with a weird feeling as the lotion absorbs into your skin.
But after that, you can't see or technically feel any trace of it. 

What I like about Carpe is that the anti-perspiration power stays even though you wash your hands after applying the lotion. Just a small pea-size will be enough. Take note not to slather on too much lotion because the excess lotion is going to make your palms sticky.

I used Carpe in various different settings at different times of a day.  

1. At work (8.45am-5.45pm)

I slather on a thin layer of Carpe on my palms and feet before going to work. It works well, no sweating at all. I have a feeling if it works on my palms, it works on my feet. No shame in admitting that. 

2. Sports (6-7pm)

Usually, I will put Carpe on my palms and feet. My palms and feet are sweat-free even after exercise. No smelly socks, yay!

3. Playing musical instruments (8-9pm)

I find this one to be more of a hit-and-miss. Perhaps my fingers get a bit overworked sometimes, or maybe it's just my brain stressing. But even when I do sweat while playing piano or guitar, it's dramatically less than what I used to have. No more water puddles on piano keys or guitar bridges, just a slight moisture on my palms. 

4. Social settings (random time, usually on weekends)

This one is also a bit of a hit-and-miss, though most of the times it works perfectly. If I sweat, it's real little though my palms will still feel a little cold and clammy. 

I have a feeling that how well Carpe works depends on my emotional state. If I'm super hyped, I might start to sweat a little even with Carpe, but when I'm in a relaxed state of mind, it works perfectly fine. Nonetheless, it's a really great product when you need to be sweat-free instantly.

I'd say Carpe is a good investment for long-term victims of palmar hyperhidrosis since a tube of 40ml / $14.95 can last you for 1.5 months (44 days) with regular daily use. That's only approximately $0.35 daily. It also claims to be able to stop sweating completely with constant use, I tried to experiment it in short-term usage, like putting it on Day 1 and stop on Day 2 to see the results. And even though no Carpe is applied on Day 2, my palms are still sweat free. But Kasper clarified that sweat-free situation can only be achieved with long-term usage, if you stop using it completely sweating will probably return to normal levels within a week or two. The main active ingredient in Carpe is Aluminum Sesquichlorohydrate (15%). Rest assured that it is used commonly in anti-antiperspirants products and is shown to be highly useful without any harmful side effects.

I'm happy to know that Kasper is from Utah! Call it Utahn pride!

Thanks to Kasper Kubica from Carpe for providing me with a tube of this life-saving lotion for this review! I'm very glad I bought a tube earlier on Amazon Prime (it's not available in Malaysia!) because I'm going to be needing it very much (though to my displeasure Amazon sent me one that expires in October 2016 so I only have 3 months left to use it). Mark my words I'm gonna make sure every drop counts.

WHERE TO BUY

1.  The official Carpe website (They ship worldwide, exact charges please refer below*) 
2. Amazon (US only, 2-day free shipping with Amazon Prime)

*Shipping to Malaysia for 1 tube of Carpe:

*Shipping within US for 1 tube of Carpe:

Update by Kasper 07/04/2016: You noticed that 10/2016 expiration date on the tube - that's actually an extremely conservative estimate, since we were only able to get a very small amount of expiration date testing done before we produced that batch of Carpe. While I can't legally guarantee an expiration date beyond that, I can tell you from personal experience that the tube will easily last at least another year without any noticeable changes - especially if you give it a shake before using.