Cita-Cita Ramadan

Ramadan bukan bulan membodek pertama kali dengar ni waktu 2009, sekelip mata je dah 3 kali Ramadan berlalu. For me, a good way untuk analogikan beribadah di bulan Ramadan ni, kita kena jadi macam shopaholic. Shopaholic ni, memang kerja dia shoppinggggg je, sale ke, tak sale ke, dia memang nak membeli aje... Tapi, bila time ada SALE, lagi la bagai nak gila kan dia bershopping.

Macam tu lah jugak kita sepatutnya. Bulan lain kita kena beribadah secara tegar, tapi bila Ramadan kita LEVEL-UP sebab tengah ada SALE kan? Sesungguhnya tidak ada jual beli yang lebih menguntungkan berbanding dengan Allah SWT.

Bulan puasa ni jugak tempat untuk kita retreat. Setelah 11 bulan bermujahadah dengan syaitan, nafsu sebulan yang ini kita balik ke retreat camp masing-masing, bina semula kekuatan untuk menempuh 11 bulan mendatang. 

Ok, untuk tahun ni I have a mission in Ramadan in terms of isu kemasyarakatan. Ewah. Yang pertamanya just popped up this morning in my head, ramai orang sekarang suka sebut pasal bila dah bernikah semuanya pahala; masak pahala, tengok muka pasangan pahala, yada yada yada. TAPI, apakah kita lupa, sebelum masuk ke era itu, ruang kita mencari pahala tu adalah dengan berkhidmat untuk ibu bapa? Tengok muka ibu bapa pun pahala, masak untuk mak pun pahala, tolong buat kerja rumah pun pahala, cakap dengan lemah lembut pun pahala.. (ewah, dah nak masuk ramadan mula la pahala-oriented sangat bahasa kan, lol).

So, I decided to do my best untuk berbakti, berkhidmat to my beloved mommy and daddy :-) at the same time nak encourage supaya benda ni jadi kebiasaan Bukanlah benda ni tak biasa orang buat, but I think nowadays people dah off-track sikit sampai lupa antara benda paling penting dalam hidup ni, untuk berbuat baik kepada kedua ibu bapa. Kita ni jadi suri orang belum tentu, tapi sah sah je kita dah memang anak mak ayah kita kita kan...

Secondly, this year I wanted to help people to quit smoking. Alhamdulillah, in my small family memang dah tak ada smoker. But I have friends who are smoking and I hope sangat this year I could help at least ONE person to quit smoking.. Reading about cancers was so depressing tau, and I don't think anyone should lose someone they love to cigarette. The problem is, masyarakat kita kurang support group. And most smokers ni pun tak study berkenaan nak berhenti merokok. So, I wanted to help orang yang nak berhenti merokok and also orang yang nak tolong orang lain berhenti merokok. 

Tak ada masa yang lebih baik untuk buang habit-habit buruk melainkan Ramadan. Especially kalau smoking kan, sebab time bulan puasa, siang dah memang tak boleh hisap rokok. Sama lah apa-apa habit pun. Kalau you all perasan, usually bulan puasa ni, hati kita lembut sikit, ada soft-spot yang easily-reachable. So, semoga Allah beri kekuatan dan hidayah untuk kita semua untuk achieve kebaikan di bulan Ramadan nanti..

Till next time, Ramadan Kareem :-)

online shopping in Jordan

Let's just stick to ebay. They have never disappointed me. All items arrived safely, if you ship from the UK and Korea it's super fast.

Guess why is that? Because they have quality control - seller gets rated and people leave feedback for both seller and buyer. I don't usually buy from seller who were rated below 99%. And I always read the negative feedbacks about the Seller to see if the items were authentic, the communication and stuff.

Unlike some local online shopping site - there's no need to mention names, who have been disappointing me over and over again.

I usually forgive people once and give them a second chance. But when you screwed the second time, I'm not that forgiving especially when it comes to purchase. We all know which online shopping site I'm talking about. I'm thinking of quitting online shopping from them and I want to give a try to Sukar.com - who claims to ship after 3 days. If I find something cheap and interesting there I'll definitely share with you :-)

till then, toodles!

Sukar.com registration

Langit Menangis : OST Dejavu Di Kinabalu

tee hee hee...
haritu my sister suruh tengok Dejavu Di Kinabalu - everyone in the family I minat sangat dekat aqasha... we reached our download limit so I refrained myself from watching la...this month baru tengok...

and I got super duper sangkut dekat this song in the series...I seriously thought it was from Indonesia (selalu kan lagu kalau best, mesti from seberang...)

seluas angkasa ku hampar cinta
luhur hati bagi mu saja
bagai udara tuk ku bernyawa
kau bercahaya
penyuluh jalan gelita

Jenuh cari tak jumpa ni...finally I found it... "Langit Menangis - Nazim Othman"

TAPI.... lagunya seminit je yang dah release... sob3... kejam tau...you made me go hysterical bila jumpa lagu ni, jantung palpitation sikit... tengok2 eh...? sekerat je?

takpe la..kite sabarkan aje la tunggu release lagu penuh kan..
till then, toodles!

**update**

I geram sangat tak jumpa-jumpa yang full version, so I record je pakai PC time tengok Dejavu Di Kinabalu.. Masa buat ni pun dah 1 am, so ade sangkut2 sikit....and I malas nak buat balik... so enjoy lah mana yang ade ye...huhu...tak sekonoh (sekolah + senonoh) punya kerja...

summer treat : your own spa :-)

Hello gorgeous!

Summer is hot, hot, hot!! Walking in those blazing sun is just tiresome. You know what will be great? Pampering yourself - an hour is more than enough! Tapi, tau je la dekat Irbid ni, sometime kalau nak pegi tu setengah-setengah tempat kena buat appointment. SO, what if you penat sangat and tak sanggup tunggu? Pamper yourself at home lah!

Thank God, in Irbid ni senang nak cari bahan-bahan for self pampering. Here's some ideas you can try out.

1. Get a cosy chair - or your own bed for that matter. Lazy chair memang sesuai. I got a pretty chair from a friend yang dah balik Malaysia - it was perfect for self-treat.

2. Your own pedicure.Buy some bath salt. You can get it for 2.5jd/pack in Natural Care. I use it only to soak my feet, so it should last up to 3 session :-) And also got myself a plastic container/basin from Honj Konj for 3jd. If you looooove foot massage : go for the electronic one at 45 jd. You'll also need pumice stone : boleh didapati in any kedai yang jual aksesori, ctown pun ada. Foot cream, and nail clipper too, don't forget!

3. Scented oil and oil burner : for soothing effect.

4. Dim the light if you're doing this in the day light. Kalau buat malam, get a night lamp.

5. Download some relaxation music. My choice : caklempong...feeling-feeling bali gitu...

6. Facial mask - you can buy sheet mask or just mix something from your kitchen, and tadaaa! Go all the way from cucumber + yogurt + milk or oatmeal + yogurt.

Some notes :

- Have yourself refreshed , take a long bath, do some exfoliation. Smell good :-)
- Make sure you have everything ready - this YOUR spa - no staff to cater your needs.
- Let your friends know you're having some time for yourself.

Soak your feet with warm salt water for twenty minutes - just nice to get the goodness of your facial mask absorbed into your skin. Then dry them. After soaking your feet in the water, it's easier to trim your nail and remove the calluses with pumice stone. When you finish, massage your feet with foot cream or essential oil.

Ok lah, have a great summer !

summer essential : sunscreens

Hello pretty girls :-) It's summer and to my surprise I got some messages asking about the use of sunscreen in this season. 

Sunscreen or Sunblock? 

So, if you ask me, is it necessary to use sunscreen? My answer would be absolutely yes! As much as we need the sun to survive, the thinning of the ozone layer has caused the harmful UV ray to be able to reach us. My main concern is definitely pigmentation or lebih common lagi, berbelak/berbelang and of course : skin cancer. With the amount of exposure (time) I have daily -sunburn is not one of my concern.

How to pick a good sunscreen?

Over this 5 years, I have tried from Neutrogena, Clinique, L'oreal and also Dermacol sunscreen. L'oreal sunscreen turns out to be too oily and therefore is not suitable for oily skin like mine. Clinique's sunscreen was not that great given the fact that it hurts your pocket! So, Neutrogena and Dermacol has my vote. 

What do I look for in a sunscreen ? 

1. Non comedogenic - what's the use of not having pigmentation but ends up breaking out like craaaaazy.

2. Not too drying for my skin.

3. Amount of SPF.

4. Smell - for two reason : products that contains perfume is more likely to cause break out and - I memang tak suka bau kuat sangat for skin products.

How much SPF is needed?

For me, I don't go for more than 50. Neutrogena Ultra Sheer SPF 45 is good, and for Dermacol I bought the SPF 50. Is SPF 15 enough? Well, for me, I personally don't want to risk getting pigmentation because not having enough protection. But do you have to go above SPF 50 all the way to 100?? Absolutely NO! Here's why :

SPF 15 product blocks about 94% of UVB rays, an SPF 30 product blocks 97% of UVB rays, and an SPF 45 product blocks about 98% of rays. Source

Is it enough to wear moisturizer that already contain SPF? Nope. Because the amount is too little to provide you with protection. 

When do you have to apply the sunscreen? 15-20 minutes before you expose yourself to the sun. I don't wear sunscreen if I know I'll be home before 10 am, because morning sun is good for your skin - for Vitamin D and stuff. And if I have to go out in the evening I usually wait until the sun is not so intense, but if I really really really have to, I'd just apply the sunscreen. 

Do I use sunscreen in Malaysia : I do, but I'm not sure if it' necessary. Remember L'oreal sunscreen? Once I brought it back to Ipoh and just as I squeeze the bottle : the oil was separated from the cream. How horrifying!

Okay.. now we go to the most important thing we often overlooked. How about removing the sunscreen? Is water or facial wash enough?

I didn't know this until last year. The lady from Clinique booth in Kinta City told me "You Have To Remove Your Sunscreen Just Like Any Other Makeup". Some people opt for makeup remover, but for me I just don't want to be using much products on my skin. I minimize my use of products to the occasional facial cleansing gel, and moisturizer. I skipped the toner - turns out it is not that beneficial for your skin, and I wash my face with oatmeals. So, I remove my sunscreen with yoghurt. Or when I'm lazy I use Shaneeneh hehe. 

Yoghurt Mask : Yoghurt is simply amazing for your skin - will talk about this later. I loooooove putting plain yoghurt on my face when I get home in the afternoon. I'd lay down for 15-20 minutes and then rinse the yoghurt.

Shaneeneh : Just pour the shneeneh on cotton pads and wipe away the sunscreen. Easy!

My current sunscreen 

Ok, I think that's it for today. Till we meet again!

Melanoma awareness video.