Journal Monthly Cover

Welcome geng, to my 2024 recap number 16.

Most of my recent posts are recaps. unless I stated otherwise. 

So, I hope you still enjoy reading and looking at all the pictures I took back in 2024. I believe this will continue into February 2026. and after that I plan on doing a recap for 2025 next. hopefully I will remain motivated and excited to share all that I planned to share before 🤗

So, here goes - my Journal Monthly Cover theme for 2024. There were not many actually. but masih ada.

New Year 

    

September

October

November

Hahaha basically 3 bulan saja aku buat and atu pun towards the end of the year. 😅

but like I said, at least ada. 🤷‍♀️

I'm scared to check if I created any in 2025 😬

my BuJo Theme this month

Hi guys.

a short one. 

I thought I'd shared with you guys a few pictures from my journal/diary February theme. 

I was inspired by AmandaRachLee's LilDoodle fan project's; Self Love. it was in dedication to Amanda as she took a break from youtube for the month. and I think the theme fits well with me too.

February is coming to an end and March is fast approaching. I wonder if I should follow Amanda's March theme or should I do her February theme for my March theme? I don't know what's her March theme going to be like but here's her Feb:

she said these were inspired by the movie To All The Boys I Loved

this theme will suit me PERFECTLY too. like, do you know how much pen I bought back in 2018 (or probably even more far back than that) and still belum use to this day? I have a problem.

which theme should I go for then?


. . .

2019: A Year of Change

for some reason, this was in the draft section since 10th Mar 2019 and was empty.

hmmm

Hi guys.

we are now in June 2019! half way thru the year already. wow. time flies.

So, as mentioned, this draft was left empty since 10th Mar 2019. I checked thru my draft notes in my laptop and found one notes that was dated 10 Mar too. It was obviously raw and not suitable for direct posting. I might hurt a few hearts. but do I really care? muahahah 

I actually still care, hence, the edited version below.

Here go:

composed on 10th Mar 2019.

Hello everyone and anyone.

I know, I abandoned this page for so long.

I even almost not come back at all. 

but here I am.

I really don't know why I should continue to be here. It's not like my life depended on it.

I guess I'm just not ready to part ways from this part of my old life.


Blogging had been my life since forever. I think I started when I was 15? Back when Friendster was a thing. LOL Friendster had a blog feature where your friends got notification whenever you posted something and when I finally switched to Blogspot, none of my readers came along with me. 

it demotivated me a little bit but I still continued to post. soon after, friends started making their own blog and we shared/exchanged stories and comments.

As we grew as an individual, I guess people grew out of blogging too. Except me. I'm still here, as if holding up the fort.

more years passed and I mentioned a lot in my posts on how me too no longer 'feeling it'.

Am I grown?

or

Am I tired of holding the fort?

Maybe I am.

I turned 31 last year. I'll be 32 this year. For some reason, that hit me hard.

at first, I thought it was becoz I thought I lagged behind everybody. Thirty One years Old and still the same old me; achieving only in growing old, stuck in the same old routine year after year.

You would think, someone who read a lot like myself wouldn't have such negative thoughts. 
You thought wrong.
I used to tell people how I'm a self-motivated person. I began believing in it too. 
Until I realized how tiring that ish was (still is).
Your mind is spent and your heart is heavy, do you have any idea how hard it is to stay motivated/positive during that phase?
I also used to think that I was strong mentally and physically.
boy, was I mistaken. LOL
Well, maybe I am strong both mentally and physically or I wouldn't be here talking about this right now.

Realizing all this and accepting that my life has come to this, I decided to let go on a lot of things.

They say it's never too late to push reset and start over.

So, for the past six months I've been working on my well being;
1. Me is enough
2. Me matter
3. I can't change the world overnight. so chill.
4. Stop worrying about what others think of me.
5. Control my emotion especially at work (coz GOD know I have a problem in that ish place LOL)
6. my self improvement is important.

And something happened on my 7th month.

I've worked hard for this mindset and soul to be at peace and for me to fall back into the me from 6 months ago is such a waste of time. 
To fall back to the same routine/dark-mindset all over again? I don't have the capacity in my mind and in my soul for such burden anymore.
I used to think "let's just follow the flow" but I don't want to be that easy anymore.
I wanna work hard towards a new goal in life. Especially with my life. I'm important too. 
I have the obligation to better myself before I can worry about other people.

I really don't want to go back to 6 months ago. I can't and I refuse. I am only going to focus on moving forward.


Wow! I was so deep back in March. LOL wow.
I surprise myself too most of the time. Every time I read back my old thoughts, I'm impressed on how well I write/type. HAHAHAH and now back to the present.

Like, I said, the above is filtered for 'tayangan umum'. There were two more pages of thoughts but I don't think it's quite relevant for today's title.

I don't think I planned that post as a New Year Resolution coz I hate that term: 'Resolution'. who started that ish? I think i just want to say that I'm trying to change my life routine and be selfish for once. obviously old habit die hard; I can't just be completely selfish. but I'm gonna try.

Have you ever feel or felt this way before? How did you overcome or deal with yours? Share your thoughts down in the comment box.

if you read up till here, you the real MVP. and thank you.

See you in the next post.

ciao~

. . .

my FAQ

other than the Solan Capo Emas (Soalan Campur Emas) "Ko bila lagi (kan kawin)?", 
I have another FAQ; about my travels.

without further ado, lesgo!


Question No.1
"Ke mana ko ari atu?" "apatah?"
"Where you go?" "how was it?"

You would think I love these kind of questions but not really.

Becoz:
1. People only asked to pass the time
2. People asked 'just becoz'
3. People genuinely curious but don't match my excitement when I started talking

When they asked me this, i usually become so hyped up and ready to tell them my 'adventure' time but then I see their faces. ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)
I have this intuition thing going on where I know I should calm down and minimize my story. It made me feel blergh and I wish they would not start up that conversation if they were not ready to hear my explosive with excitement story.

WHY YOU PLAYING WITH MY FEELINGS! ლ(́◉◞౪◟◉‵ლ


Question No. 2
"Ke mana saja tah ko?" "Bahapa saja ko di sana?" "shopping tah ko?"
"where did you go (there)?" "what did you do (there)?" "did you go shopping?"

Ok, first of all, are you sure you want to know the answer to these questions?
second of all, "I sight seeing a lot", "I sight seeing a lot", and "not really shopping coz I'm on a budget but yeah, i did buy a few knic knacs"

These questions are the most intimidating to me.
Even though it's my travel, my plan, my time and money, and it's my dream, I still feel a little anxious telling people what I did or didn't do.
People often replied with, "eh inda kan di sana saja?" "rugi tu eh inda ke sana" "sayang jua inda shopping". 
🙄🙄🙄
These responses used to mess with my head. Like, if I didn't go to the place where THEY wanted to go, I'm missing something. and If i didn't buy that one thing THEY would've just bought (becoz it's from overseas 🙄), I miss the opportunity.

Akusmi (excuse me), whose travel is this for? You kah? Me kah?
Different people, different wants and needs.
Just becoz my travel plans/ideas are not up your alley, doesn't mean I'm doing it wrong.

I just had a deja vu. have I made this kind of post before? 🤔

*search blog* yup! i did. back in March 2018. LOL but this is the 2.0 version!


Question No. 3 
"Since ko pernah ke sana, tell me what to do" "What should we do about tempat tinggal?" "Ke mana patut di aga ni?" "Berapa patut ku bawa?"
"Since you've been there, tell me what to do" "what should we do about accommodation?" "Where should we go?" "How much (money) I should bring?"

These are the questions that pushed me into making this post.

(I have a feeling this one gonna be too long but I'm not gonna break this into two part post coz, I'm not rajin)

People have the notion that since I've been there before, I must be an expert!

Ok, listen up (or read up) people! I AM NOT. 

the answer to this seems so difficult for me to give. coz i strongly believe that different people has different idea about 'travelling'. Kindly refer to Question No. 2 for my anxiety ridden reflexes. More often than not, I got annoyed.

but, I decided, I'm gonna take this opportunity to educate people.

Here we go:

it's 2019 and internet is a thing.

I'm not being ungrateful but I always feel like I'm the one person who has the least internet access or the only one who doesn't have access to wifi. 

BUT I have my phone data, and if I can do this with just that, then you definitely could too! 


Step one!
Google is your new bestfriend!
I know it can be daunting. You might feel like you don't know what you should do coz you've never done this before, etc.
But in this age and era, you must know about Google.
So, step one, open your internet browser or chrome go to Google.com (if this is not you default page, what are you doing?)

and then ask away~ 
What I did was ask Google "what to do in Seoul"

Example: 

Youtube videos will pop up with this too. So, if you are not rajin to read, watch those suggested videos.

Step two!
Accommodation!
Agoda.com
this one, I seriously cannot recommend you places to stay.
Why?
coz my idea of accommodation is cheap and for sleeping.
If you're the type to say, "eh so small the room" "no wonder cheap", please, I can't help you there.
As far as I know, hotel is expensive every where.
There will be cheap ones, of course, but you can't expect a lot.
You can't have the best of both worlds in this.
And if you're with family, definitely don't book 'hostel'..be realistic. 'hostel' is dorm like hotel room, meaning bunkers bed, shared bathroom area, no personal space, etc.
Again, you can Google your specifications; room for family, cheap hotel for family.
Also, remember to choose a hotel nearer to tourist attractions. thank me later.


Step three!
As you Google/browse thru ideas after ideas of what you should be doing in the country that you're going to visit, you definitely will have a list of places to go and things to do.
List them down. on a piece of paper or on your phone if that's more convenience you. 
I'm always the pen and paper girl, so I would list that down on paper.

this is just a sample, not mine. 

and it listed down countries but I hope you got what I mean LOL

If you wanna be extra you can do a Travel Journal like me. 
Jot everything down, where you wana go, what you wana do there, etc.

again, just a sample, not mine.

My journal was supposed to be like my travel itinerary and what I'm gonna use when I was in Seoul but it became so personal that I ended up not bringing it anywhere in fear I could lose it.
but the point of this step is to just jot everything down and making a list.
so stick to that.


Step four!
After you have your list, it is time to organize.
Yes, you must. if you come to me for advise, this is what you gonna do.

You must already have dates set on when you're gonna leave and when you gonna come back from your vacation.
with the help of the list you just make from Step Three, you now can do some military precision planning!
No, but this is gonna be awesome. especially when this is your first time going there.

for this step, Microsoft Excel is your bestfriend!

it also helps if you divide your places to visit base on area/city.

Here you can see me dividing places to visit/see base on area/city; two places to visit in a day, during night time can do shopping, etc.

I also do research on how to get there, what train to hop on, where the exit to a place from the station gonna be, etc.

I'm a little OCD, don't judge me.

I mean, every little thing helps! especially if its your first time there.

This Excel timetable was what I printed out and use all the time I was in Seoul.

Ok, ok. maybe this is not your thing. You can skip this part. Do your own thing. Improvise. You do you.
I honestly don't use this to the T! I made adjustment where needed. this is just a form of guideline. like, if that castle is close, you can go else where. you know, so you don't waste precious time and money.


Step five!
Budgeting!

here's an example from my Seoul trip.

again, depends on your wants and needs

you can break it down by days too if you want. but I can't do that. (▰˘◡˘▰)
also, something worth remembering, again, different people, different wants and needs.
I was on a budget, and yes, I do jot that I'm gonna shop but really, depends on you. If your plan is to shop then you know you gonna have to bring extra. If you plan to try all the food, again, you gotta bring extra, coz food ain't that cheap, for halal restaurant food anyway.

and that is what, when, where, and how I do my planning before my travel.

Three responses to FAQ, and additional "STEPS" on how to plan yours. 
I hope I laid it down clearly. If not, feel free to comment and I will try my best to respond back. 😉

If you noticed, this is my first time doing my planning this thorough. Even on my first solo Japan trip I wasn't this thorough. All I did on my first solo was print out a one-week time table and wrote down the places I wanna visit and i winged it when I got to Japan LOL.

but same principle applies; that plan is just a form of guideline so you don't waste precious time and money. 😉

I know this too long of a post but I wanna get it out of my system.

I wanna say thank you to Iku Tree from youtube.

it was from her video that I learn to make 'thorough' planning for my trip.

Thank You! (ﾉ◕ヮ◕)ﾉ*:･ﾟ✧

Check out her video below.



Yes, her video is for solo travelling to Japan but there are a lot you can take out for your own non-solo travel planning.

and with that, I shall end this here.

Thank you so much for reading up till here.

you the MVP!

. . .

me making an excuse

I finally figure out why, at times, I don't post anything here.

it's becoz, I have so many other personal blog;

1. IG

2. Facebook

3. LINE Play Diary

although my post there are not very detail,

I still post. with pictures. 

except for Facebook, I don't post my own pictures there. I only SHARED other posts yg ada pictures.

Point is,

once I posted/shared in any of those social media outlet,

I often don't find the need to post here anymore.

LOL!

poor excuse 

but there you have it!

maybe this short post explain my lack of initiative to post here.

apart from being lazy, of course.

HAHAHAHAH

Ok, bye

 . . .

Unboxing Day

Ssuuupppp!

I collected my SHINee's Season's Greetings Calendar set yesterday from our local kpop dealer (mcm drug dealer hahaha), Yeszone. and the box is hugggeeeee!! like, equals to two F4 sizes.

In the beginning, when Yeszone announced that they open pre-orders for the SM's artists season's greetings, I wasn't excited about getting one coz I already missed 2016 punya version (I bought 2014 & 2015 previously).
But last minute and impulsive moment, I pre-ordered mine.
kehkehkeh
Glad that I did, coz, you know, SHINee. Ｏ(≧▽≦)Ｏ

Let's get to the unboxing

First thing you saw when you open the lid. 

(front)

don't they look fuzzy and cuddly?

(back)

this box comes with a Table calendar, Wall calendar (pictured above), Diary, Mini calendar and a mini Stand board. I think worth the price of BND70.

1. Wall Calendar. (New Features)
comes with the 'hanger' (lupa ambil gmbr)

surprised that the copies are loose (not stapled together in the middle)

double as a poster

and I went, "Oh! patut loose. double as a poster panya"

ada some English infos (walaupun a few lines saja English nya o(╥﹏╥)o ) on the members which is always nice to see.

2. Table Calendar

Love the fact that January started off with leader Onew. <3 font="">

(●´ω｀●)

quite similar to the previous calendar I got; the entire page mostly covered with their photos and the dates are in smaller fonts. in all honesty, I hardly ever refer to this calendar to check the dates or such. *gelak*

3. Diary.

this one is similar to 2015 one. hard cover, book-like diary
2014 punya is ring binding.
2014 and 2017 have similar fine line inside. 

easier for me to turn it into normal one-lined journal (づ｡◕‿‿◕｡)づ

4. Mini calendar 

basically a postcard photo collection. 2015 pun have similar like this one. \m/(>.<)\m/


5. Mini board stand (New features)

I got Minho. I, of course, would have love it more if aku dapat cOnew's.

You noticed how the photos are repetitive. similar to the previous released. at least from the 2014 & 2015 lah ah. I can't say about 2016 coz I missed that one.

Let me list down items from different years' box
2014 - Diary, Table calendar, and DVD (features the making of)
2015 - Diary, Table calendar, DVD (features the making of), and Mini calendar
2017 - Diary, Table calendar, Wall calendar, Mini calendar, and mini board Stand.

Lupa ku dulu berapa harganya but I'm sure it was cheaper than 2017 punya.

*shrug*

and with that little info, ends my unboxing post.

Hope you enjoy this entry.

I see you on the next post.

Have a great week ahead.

Work resume tomorrow for me, 3rd of Jan 2016. 

excited.

. . .

Hello, Hello

Honestly, the reason behind my lack of posting is because every time I feel like posting, 
it was always about me complaining about ..stuff.
So, in the end, I decided to not post anything.

Let's face it, no one really cares.
I noticed, in many different occasions, that people don't really have an interest when I tried to 'meluahkan perasaan'. I guess they just have their own problem to worry about.
So, I try not to take it into heart sometimes.
I guess, I'm right again. 
Writing things down in my diary is far more satisfying!

muahahah! 

anyways,
that is all for today.
I will try and post something not-kpop tomorrow, or later after midnight.

I sincerely hope that your days had been far better off than mine.

a/n: at my age, I finally understand what they meant when they say, "Quality in friends versus Quantity".

. . .

Here come the lot

before we start on anything else, I shall post my August Challenge first.
coz it's dead overdue! ●‿●

So, here it comes

D15: Your Bedroom

well, this is like 1/3 of my room. and it's not exactly in that color. LOL

they are actually in white color.

D16: Something you bring for vacation. or in my case; THINGS

Honestly, I wasn't sure of what I actually bring during vacations. I know we had to bring some necessities. but the one thing I usually bring isn't really just ONE thing. it' a lot of things and the above are the examples. LOL me babbling is the worst.

D17: Childhood game

I was initially thinking of drawing Monopoly since that board game was and still is my fav but I thought, Snake and Ladder is so much fun to draw (and far more easier to draw (●*∩_∩*●) ) than Monopoly. AND it's a little nostalgic when I see this so I am glad Icpicked Snake and Ladder as my childhood game. 

D18: Nails

I drew my left hand and used real nail polish on this. \m/(>.<)\m/

I've always love the 'Sailor' theme paint for nails but I never got the chance to out them on my real nails. （〜^∇^)〜

D19: Fave Drinks. or Drink. (coz I lazy to draw (*~▽~))

 I only noticed that it says 'Drinks' as in plural. LOL 

I would have drawn like plenty if I've noticed it earlier. but I guess this will have to do since it really is one of my top most fav drink. ヾ(*´∀｀*）ノ

D20: Fave Artist/celebrity. (here's my version of cheat day; an edit picture via phone apps 
( ́ ◕◞ε◟◕`) )

this was done like last year on his Bday. hahaha 

I did want to draw this but see how complicated it gets? 

My brain isn't equip with such brilliance

⇎_⇎

D21: Workspace

this is a 3/4 of my work table at home. but believe me when I say picture(s) can be deceiving. hahaha and what I meant by that is my table isn't that neat.

D22: Dream

Yes, my dream is to go to one of the SHINee World Concert. After not being able to go to a Westlife Concert, I feel like I NEED to go to a SHINee Concert this time around.

D23: Fave Song

Annie 1999 version had always been my fav musical/movie of Annie.

I haven't watch the 2014 Annie but I heard this song on the radio and love it right away.

D24: Rainbow

I've loved Rainbow for its colors since forever. I even loved Rainbow cake for that same reason.

but ever since the US are using Rainbow as their 'Equality' colors, I began to not liking it anymore.

It's just my belief. I will not try and explain it here. 

I'm just pointing out just WHY THEY HAD TO RUIN MY FAV?! 

D25: Fandom

YAS! I am in the Shawol (short for SHINee World) fandom.

I'm also in so many book fandom (namely Harry Potter).

D26: Gadgets (once again, just ONE gadget)

as simple as this drawing goes, it took me ages to finish.

So that's it for this post. I have five more doodle challenge to go. and it shall be post before the month is up of course.

but first, (°ロ°)
let me take a selfie!

OK. See you on the next post. 

. . .