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?

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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

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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.