A Day at the Book Fair

Yesterday was a happy day! I took a day off just for the purpose to visit the International Book Fair Kuala Lumpur (PBAKL) at PWTC. The biggest annual event that gathers the most books, one that I always looked forward to attend. This was our (my bestfriends and I) one of many activities that we did together back in our university time. I remember we took an LRT together, a few of us, and spent long hours in the heaven on earth. It’s always so good to have buddies sharing the same hobby. Books bring us together.

It has been a few years since my last visit to PBAKL even though I always planned it earlier, there were always a hitch during that one important week of the year, and that left me frustrated. The feeling of stepping into the book fair was so overwhelming. Haha. I don’t know why, books can really make me happy. At first I just walked freely as I felt I have plenty of time here today! But hey I said to myself, don’t waste time it’s only 6 to 7 hours I have then ting ting ting Cinderella has to come back home!!

And so I did it systematically. I checked out the floor plan and the levels and the halls they had and made a few rounds picking, flipping and putting back the books without buying anything yet. I snapped the picture of some books that seemed interesting, with the prices too. Went for lunch first, visited P. Ramlee exhibition, made another round and suddenly it’s 4 pm and my hands were still free from any shopping bags! I was already exhausted (oh my, so old) and so I sat down somewhere, scrolled up and down the pictures in my phone deciding which ones to buy and to drop.

The next cycle was me like a fast-forwarded cartoon popping in and out from one booth to another transacting those lucky books into my possession. A little mistake that I did not mark which-book-is-where so for a certain moment I wandered around and if I was really a cartoon, you could see me cross-eyed, with question marks above my head. Lesson learnt.

Ended my day at my kinda happy place carrying heavy shopping bags, met some friends for dinner and went home with blistered feet yet still, smiling big. 😀

Till the next post,
SALZY

Book Review and To-do

I just finished a book that is a biography. Title : One Day It’ll All Make Sense by Common with Adam Bradley. The author is an American rapper, actor and film producer. I was attracted by the title that it’s like telling you how life can be full of question marks but in the end, it’ll all make sense.

So yeah it started out with the story of a broken family that he came from and how from there he went through life achieving his dreams. Nicely written and thoughtful but also too detailed and so many names mentioned. Nevertheless, what I really like is that throughout the chapters, there are passages written by his mother speaking her view of his life from her perspectives.  It’s like a parenting book as well.

At the end of the book, there’s a study guide by Dr. Mahala Hines discussing on the topics to relate the contents of the book with us. For example :

“Rashid (the actual name of Common) writes about love and fear influencing the decisions he makes. How do love and fear influence the decisions you make?”

Something like that. But I’m not interested with that one. I’ve picked these two prologue activities as my to-do’s :

In the prologue, Rashid states, “I also realize that my life is an expression of all those I have known and all who have known me.”
List at least five people who have made an impression on your life. Explain how each person has shaped who you are today.

In the chapter Take It Ez, Rashid wrote a letter to his younger self. His own person who once did not know what the future had in store.
Write a letter to yourself as if you are a thirty-year-old reflecting on your youth.

Now, does this mean I have a homework? Yes, one that has no deadlines 😀

Till the next post,
SALZY

Confessions of a Planner Addict

Guys! Do you realize that Ramadhan is only 38 days to go?? Yes, it’s true and I’m sooo excited about it! It has been like 2 months people keep sharing the countdown update to welcome the holiest month again. Suddenly today I realized that it is just next month! 27th May 2017 to be exact.

And do you know why I am suddenly so excited?? Haha. Yesterday I went to this Silver Linings Talk by Ustazha Yasmin Mogahed at the Federal Mosque with my buddies. There were a few booths opened outside of the hall selling her new book and also other Islamic products such as Ramadhan Planner. Ramadhan Planner guys?! A planner specially designed for us to carry the month wholly? It’s sooo cool I bought it straightaway! Even the fact that I already have an all-year planner.

Just so you know, I’m a Planner-Addict. I loveee planners so much I mean physical planners not digital. I can’t welcome a new year without one and in fact I always have more than one, mind me. Each for different purposes. Not to forget the accessories like colorful pens, stickers, note pads, washi tapes and clips!

Knowing me and my interest, people around me always associated me as an “organized” person. Planner – planning – organizing – organized. Particular, meticulous, proper, detailed and not to forget the most of an overstatement one; “OCD”.

The truth is? I AM THE MOST CLUTTERED PERSON ON EARTH.

My life is cluttered, my brain is cluttered, my desk is messy, my things are everywhere. I am lazy, a big procrastinator, unproductive especially in the mornings, a slow decision maker. I have so many things in mind and they’re stringing to each other. And while they’re pulling and twisting in my head, a panic-ball kicked in out of nowhere just to get lost in the crowd and makes the whole system jammed!

Now you are jammed too? Sorry for the negative vibes. Haha.

That’s how I am the total opposite from what people thought I was. Reality is I am struggling with my slothful self to get my things done. This is why I always need a planner to keep me going, to keep me sane. But that still does not mean I am an organized one. Sometimes, I can’t or just don’t want to even make time to sit and think of the day. And so I go on live unprepared.

Things get messier, new priorities coming, multiple postponement finally becomes urgent and in the end, I get stressful myself. To make it worse, my body reacts to stress in a way that makes me sick and emotional. Worst? When it’s accompanied by that P.M.S!

Up to this point I will get back to my planners and restart my life. Re-arrange things in order based on the importance and urgency, re-motivate myself, meditate moments, clear my mind and there I go. And the cycle goes on and on in a high frequency. I mean, staying organized can last for just like…a week or two? After that, “drama” begins again.

You see…such a big deal myself is. And you’re telling me I am orrrganized?? That is just an annoying sound I can’t process. I feel like have I been faking myself all my life?? I don’t! I just do what I love to do and I do it my way. But why are people seeing the other side of the coin?

If only they knew how disturbed I am with the random good comments they make on me, they’ll know how funny I am. Or maybe they don’t even mean it? Thinking too much. Haha. I remember when I travelled to UK, a friend of my friend called me “Ms. Inventory” when she saw my multiple pages of packing list.

And she said “Oh My God! Your house must be sooo systematic, right?”

You said my houseeee?? I crumpled my 10-page packing list with rolling eyes and sigh! No, I’m kidding. Hehehe…

That’s how perceptions are killing me softly. And so I made this confession that I am not an organized person that you thought I was. I struggle with myself daily to be a better person, to appreciate time that I have because “By time, indeed mankind is in loss.” [Qur’an, 103 : 1-2]. And planners are my little helpers and I’m doing it also due to my true love for stationery so much! My childhood obsession that never fades as I age. The end of my confessions.

Oh yeah, the Ramadhan Planner. I can’t wait to officiate it as it’s dated starting from Sha’ban month to start preparing for Ramadhan, and Sha’ban is just next week, guys! Ya Allah, may we all utilize the month wholeheartedly and gain as much compounded rewards as we hoped for. Let’s try our best.

Till the next post,
SALZY

Blogging & Me

It has been almost two months since I started blogging again. Seems that I really stick to my resolutions. So far, not including this post, I posted 6 entries in each month. Yeah, I know it’s a very low statistic for bloggers but hey, for such a ‘newbie-not-so-newbie’ like me, it’s really an effort..kuddos! :p

Blogging is writing. Writing is a way to express ourselves, writing is also thinking on papers. And blogging is a way to document everything in one place. The very first time I blogged was 10 years ago in my university years. I wrote about my campus life, friendship, love stuffs like that. It’s like a diary open for everyone to read about my life and my thoughts.

Growing into adulthood, I found myself becoming more like a private person. I became more reserved about my stories for public openness and kept it for sharing with only my close people. It’s simple but maybe I was a bit of a complicated person. To me, people could be judgemental on every single detail I shared on the Internet. They will judge and critic about me, my life, my past like they really ‘care’. So I stopped blogging.

I do blog-walking and sometimes I stumbled into my old blogs. Re-reading all my rambles since my younger years, it doesn’t only bring back memories I’ve been missing but also the yearn for writing. It makes me miss blogging so much! True that some of my expressions were non-sense, it is still fun..yeaa I was immature but hey, that’s just the old silly me. Above all of the feelings re-reading my old journal, I thanked myself for the time and effort I made for authoring the stories. Blog is really a personal value I would cherish.

Fast forward 10 years and making a comeback, I view blogging as a channel for me not only to express my thoughts openly but more proficiently. Practice makes perfect. If we wanna improve our writing skill, we have to keep writing. I used to be very meticulous on each entry I’m going to post. It took me so longgg to write a single blog post just for me to find the right words to use, a single typo would annoy me and I would re-read many times before I clicked “Publish”. That was the reason I couldn’t make time for blogging.

Those manners should be abolished. Personal blogging is casual I shouldn’t try to be too perfectionist or else I just won’t move forward. The point is to deliver my points as long as people can understand, that’s find, right? Along the way, I hope I will develop my own writing style and be more comfortable writing from anywhere, the words will just flow..

Till the next post,

SALZY

Reading Diet

“A reading diet is basically reading different types of books. A lot of people tend to stick to one genre of books because that’s what they like but they should liven up their reading “diet” by reading other types of books like classic books, educational books, etc.” https://answers.yahoo.com/ [What is Reading Diet]

I came across this term today. It’s something that I always do especially when setting up goals for the new year, I don’t know there’s a specific terminology on that. Hehe, cool. Some other definition says it’s about allocating how many hours a day or a week to read what. Depends on individual as for myself, let’s take it as a diet for the whole year of 2017.

Speaking of genre of books, my all-time favourite is; self-help, or you call it motivational books. I’ve been reading this kind of books since my university time and I could not stop. Self-help books are always inspiring and they keep me going with my daily life. It is the first section I will head on to whenever I pay a visit to bookstores. I have read everything self-help. Family self-help, Islamic self-help, parenting self-help and even a self-help for a broken-heart. This genre will never go out of my reading diet.

But when setting up my reading goals annually, I will add-on other genres too. For 2016, because I was involved with stock trading, my focus was more to investment books and related. My favourite pick I would love to recommend to anyone who’s searching for a good investment book is the ‘Secret Psychology of Millionaire Traders by Conrad Alvin Lim.’ 

Non-fiction was my favourite when I was a student but now, not anymore. I even had a collection of Shopaholic series by Sophie Kinsella. It’s been awhile I haven’t been reading novels so I added it in my list and the target was to read three novels in the year. So yeah, I did it three but somehow, it wasn’t really fun anymore like when I was younger. It was so draggy to finish one book, haha you know the feeling.

Here comes 2017, I have set some new genres to feed my reading appetite this year. Those are Religion (Islam), Places and Biography. These are sooo rare to me..hehe. All these while, I do read Islamic books but those are more to ibadah guidelines, du’a collections and Islamic parenting. This time, my approach is more towards worldly issues that happened in the history of our religion. It’s pretty mortified to admit that my knowledge on this subject is so scarce. At times, I avoid to read on these topics because I think it’s too heavy for me absorb. But hey, I’m 30 already I should make a change! Until when do I read just my favourite genres and not grow? I will start with this book “Jerusalem In The Quran by Imran Hosein” recommended by my reading buddy, Aimi. She’s been recommending all those heavy-to-digest books to me. She said “stop lahh reading all those self-help books, read theseee” haha so cruel! But yeah, gonna give myself a try. I’m sure there are so much interesting facts about my religion I never knew existed.

Places. I am not a frequent traveller. The first time I went out of the country was only at the age of 30. I even haven’t finished visited my own country. The problem is with myself. I am not adventurous and travelling is absolutely a big deal to me. I’m not the kind of spontaneous guys who can just pack and go with only minimal planning. But I know the benefits of exploring places while it’s also a sunnah of our Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) who, amongst other things, saw it as an essential way to seek knowledge and appreciate God’s creations. To develop the interest, why don’t I start with reading books on places or travelling tips which I saw quite a plenty nowadays produced by local travellers. That would suit me.

Biography is the story of someone’s life. Personally, I love to learn from people’s life experience. Every individual has his own stories and especially for successful people, there must be a journey worth taking. Sometimes, life can be so dramatic yet real. How do these people get through it? What do they learn from it? After all that happened what has actually made them today? What are their personal thoughts on life? My mom has a biography book of Prof. Dr. Muhaya and when I read through, I can’t be more inspired. She is gold. May Allah bless her and my mom too.

There goes my reading diet for 2017. What about yours? I can’t wait to head on to my favourite bookstores to splurge myself with books. Whatever your pick is, may we all gain something from it and this is gonna be another year of contentment. Happy reading!

Till the next post,

SALZY