Good Morrow To Positivity

Assalamulaikum...

Its been a while since my last post.

Despite good progress in so many things and ways in life, i have also faced good and bad challenges from the past year and writing seems to be the least thing that I would do to avoid unpleasant self expressing posts.

After doing self observation, I found that I'm being surrounded with selfish, rude and ignorant people.  Life has become rushy and kiasu.  Work should start at 8.45 daily, but never can go back at 5.45, and at least twice a week, I should come at 12 midnight.  Not to forget weekends.  Last month itself, I need to be at the office every Saturday, from 9 to 6.  Something that I didn't prep myself when I accepted the job offer in 2011.   

I had into fights and arguments, and indirectly it recreates the 'old' me.  Which I have tried to preserve years back.  Its a norm here.  The organization calls it 'proactive' attitude.  In order to survive, you have to fight.

Those painful things paid a good deal in March this year.  Not to say that I'm not grateful, but in my state, I would say life is not all about the money.    

So, enough of that.  Today, after months, I looked back at my previous posts and blog-hopping to my dear old blogger friends, and I found out how I missed out so many good things about blogging.  Different people with different lifestyles and stories.  Us documenting stuff that we experienced.  It is impossible to remember all, isn't it.  

Well, though that some people find out that blogging is a medium of showing off and stuff.  Its their right to feel that way, but they should know that its one way of 'muhibbah' and its the blog-owner's right as well to write anything that they want.  'Buang Yang Keruh, Ambil Yang Jernih'.  No one is perfect and so do you.

Ummpphh... feel so much lively now after putting on one post.  Hopefully, I can spare a bit of my time to 'ziarah' lovely friends' blogs like the old times.  I sincerely have to apologize for neglecting our online friendship, and hope to see you guys on your next posts.

Wasalam..

Yours Truly,

- Cik Peah -

Selamat Hari Raya Maaf Zahir Batin...

As salam friends...

Di kesempatan ini...Cik Peah menyusun 10 jari seandainya..ada kata-kata di dalam blog ini yang mencuit perasaan kawan-kawan semua... Tujuan asal blog cik peah ini adalah sekadar utk berkongsi pengalaman Cik Peah dan sekeluarga dan juga berkongsi pendapat...tetapi kalau ada terkasar bahasa...harap dimaafkan...

Ada juga yang bertanya kenapa kebanyakan ditulis di dalam Bahasa Inggeris.  Ini disebabkan Cik Peah sekadar ingin 'brush up' writing skills Cik Peah yang bertahun telah Cik Peah tinggalkan sebelum ini.  Spoken English dan English Writing Skills adalah berbeza.  Penulisan adalah lebih crafty, mencabar dan lebih seronok.  Ia adalah sesuatu yang Cik Peah minati. 

Memandangkan Cik Peah tidak lagi mendapat the right slot di mana-mana akhbar untuk menulis sebarang artikel, maka Cik Peah menggunakan blogspot sebagai medium untuk melepaskan gian.  

Akhir sekali, daripada Cik Peah sekeluarga:  Selamat Hari Raya Maaf Zahir dan Batin dan kepada yang meminati penulisan tak kira apa bahasa sekalipun... teruskan menulis...kerana ia dapat menjadi therapy kepada inner soul kita...sekian..

Raya di Kulim Kedah

Peah Speaks #24: Struggling

1 year ago..during an interview..
Interviewer:  You have experience in A,B,C...but we are looking for Z...
Cik Peah:  That shows I am capable to cope up with changes and never quit.
Interviewer:  It will be a great struggle for you..
Cik Peah:  Sigh with a smile..

6 months ago...
Cik Peah's Friend-A:  IBM told me that you are struggling...Don't know whether you can pick it up fast or not..
Cik Peah:  Sigh with a smile...

18 hours ago...
Cik Peah's Friend-B:  'this we need to..bla bla...JVM Heap Size..bla bla...reload....bla bla...cpu spikes up...caused by the Java Compute Node..bla bla bla..'
Cik Peah:  Sigh with a smile...


..I feel so messed up right now....I'm at least 4 years behind from everyone....

Peah Speaks #23: No man is an island

...every man is a piece of the continent...

Da Boss :  'Fiza, what's the secret of the project completion'
C.Peah   : 'emm..No Secret..'
Da Boss :  'come on..share with the rest of us'
C.Peah   :  'true..No Secret..I only have the team..The team did it..'

"The way a team plays as a whole determines its success.  You may have the greatest bunch of individual stars in the world, but if they don't play together, the club won't be worth a dime" - Babe Ruth

Peah Speaks #22: Initial D

it's most important to find a world that belongs to us

  

                   



Life is meaningful only



when we can find this world

- Initial D

Peah Speaks #21: Desperate Housewife

Love the final episode of the Desperate Housewife's season finale.  I've learnt so much from the drama series about life, friendship, bondings and love...

Just want to share the best quote from Lynette Scavo, which you can find it at minute 5:48 from the youtube video.

don't ever forget.. always remember how much u wanted to be loved and how much you are loved and i think if u can do that..and that isn't easy you will stop looking and realize you already are happy..

Salute.

Peah Speaks #20: "its not MAGNET"

...."My full name has six letters. The first one is M. I pick up things. What am I?".... 

I woke up today, went straight to the computer and did my morning habit - internet browsing.  Today I browsed:  s.e.w.i.n.g.  My mother was lying on the bed behind me, observing me and said, 'If you don't have the interest, don't do it'.  I just responded lightly, 'If we don't try it for the first time, then how do we know that we don't have it..'..My mother just smiled.

I never knew I would love doing programming works.  15 years ago, I met somebody in an airplane talking about computer programming and a week after, I applied for computer science in a local U.  Its a love after marriage.  I didn't have my own personal computer for the first few years.  I always wanted to be an architect since primary school but my future steered in a different path.  I am wearing 'software' every single day now.  That proves the point.  

After I got pregnant with my first one, my maternal instinct grows.  That starts steering me to another different path now.  Its been 4 years now and the instinct keeps on growing.  Life balance is a keyword at the moment but the balancing part is very painful and tiring.  My love to my work is not dying and at the same time my love to my family keeps on growing, and it grows vigorously day by day now.

I know that I can't be a plain housewife.  I'm seeking the probabilities and opportunities in everywhere.  It won't happen now, but who knows if my 10 years plan works?  InsyaAllah.....

and the answer to that question is....MOTHER...

    

Managing Your Debts

Few days ago, I found Bank Islam's personal loan leaflet/brochure offers for gov. servant.  It charges 4.06% interest.  Its cheaper than for those who are working for private sector.  Then it came across my mind.  If I  were given the chance to have it, would I go for it?  

Then I found another brochure for non-govt servants from a different bank.  It charges double.  8.88% interest. That I need to self calculate as it doesn't appear clearly on the brochure.  My imagination stopped there.

 

I have lots of debts to clear out.  New debts can only come in once the old debts become manageable.  Again, I'm just sharing few tips that I found useful and can be applied based on our average income.   

1.  Budget Plan

You see this everywhere.  It is easy to create one, but its not easy maintaining it.  Budget plan creates the insecure feelings of not having money at the end of the month, at the very beginning of the month.  Your eggs need to be put at different baskets: Bills, Investments, Groceries.  This way, there will be no basket left out empty.

2.   Smallest Debts Go First

I found this tip from an article.  Some would disagree.  However, there's a good point to clear out smaller debts by shorten out the installment period, and pay more than the installment.  Smaller debts' interest will grow and it can become unmanageable if we overlooked it.

3.  Apply Mathematics In Your Shopping Spree

We just have to do it. We may be using some of these words while spending: bukannya selalu, baik ambik nanti kang dah takde menyesal, murah la ni... Those words can only be used once in a month at certain bargains.  It can be poisonous if used wrecklessly. 

Bank loan installment with 8.88% Interest Charge

Hobi?

Mr Shan  :  'Nanti Encik X nak keluar beli barang pancing'
Cik Peah :  'Datang sini nak beli fishing tackle?'
Mr Shan  :  'Dah tu hobi dia'..
Cik Peah :  'Byk duit mamat tu.  Jelesnyer.  Hobi ni boleh apply utk org kaya2...'
Mr Shan  :  'Org Kaya?'
Cik Peah :  '95% yg namanya hobby confirm keluar duit...to some people..boleh jadi stress relief...tapi kat kiter..lagi keluar duit lagi stress jadinyer..'
Mr Shan  :  '5% ?'
Cik peah :  'Nyanyi dlm toilet, mengumpat dan lepak tepi bangunan sekolah'

The End.

Lesson Learnt From Jakarta

The most memorable moment in Jakarta was to stroll at night along its road with Mr Shan and my little one.  I was scared for the first two nights but I started to feel comfortable the night after.  Instead of feeling unsafe, I tried to observe the surroundings.  Jakarta is safer than Paris, I believe.

Jakarta's rich and mid-class people go to work in the morning and come back at dawn like any other people throughout the world.  I can't see any much differences from our country, except for the language and their style.  They dress very well too.    

Then there are locals that sell cigarettes, food, even anything along the street on their carts.  Bikes serve as taxis whom the local called as the 'OJEK'.  There are sign languages that they use to call for Ojek.  Yes, these make the city view looks unpleasant, but the local authorities are giving the locals the opportunity of earning money.

Later that part of the day, you can see a lot of unfortunate people coming out at night begging for money.  You will see more of child beggars.  I had the experience of few kids surrounding us, crying 'pak, ibu, minta sikit uwang nya, kami mau makan..' .  My heart melt down when an 8-year-old gripped my left arm softly.  I was so sad because I couldn't do much except for ignoring or else there'll be more of them chasing us.  I really felt guilty for that selfish ignorance attitude.

..clip captured from a cab...

I don't think Indonesia is a poor country, especially Jakarta.  Even in Europe countries, you can see poor people begging for food too.  White people picking the garbage and sweeping the alleys.  Its pretty much the same everywhere.  

Anyhow, I will say that the cost of living here is certainly high.  Many people say that everywhere is cheap in Jakarta.  I would say the other way round.  Meals at the food courts or at the restaurants are expensive.  I even ate Maggi Mee for couple of days.  That shows Jakartans are rich if they can afford to eat at the food court every single day.

Work from/at home?

I was thinking about this for so long and finally I told my family about my 10 years plan.  I want to work from home once my eldest reaches 13.  She is now 3+.

Being a salary woman for 10 years now, makes me a working machine day in and day out.  Everything should be in places before I go to work.  At work, tasks must be settled according to datelines and once reaches home, needless to say, the housewife duty comes next.  Before 10, my body all worn out.

The first thing that I am looking at for this future-self-transformation is psychology preparation.  Having a short break is fun, but after a while, will my brain slowly ceasing? Will I feel depressed? Will I go mad?  I heard stories from many housewives who want to go back to work after 2 - 3 years of break.

Then budget plan pops out.  We have been following the same budget plan and now its at it's peak where we need to pay the house mortgage, car installments, study loans. etc.  This is still under planning and discussion with Mr Shan as we need to clear up few debts if we want to make this work.

So, I have started doing a bit of research and try 'googling' what kind of part time jobs that suits me.  Data entry sounds nice, ya.  Hopefully by the time reaches, I am all set to go. 

All these goes to the reason why I want to have early retirement.  There's only one answer:  Its all about the children.  Teenage years have the most memorable moments in our lives.  I just want to be there for my kids for every good and bad moments that happen to them.  Just like my mother.

And its a good practice too before we really go into the retirement age.

What is happiness?

Happiness defines differently to different people.  Some people think that career success can make them happy.  Some people are happy by having big cars and big houses.  Some people are happy by having a happy and healthy family.  To some, happy comes by just looking at the big blue sky.

True happiness is within your grasp.

My husband once said to me, 'It feels like Saturday today'.  It was on Tuesday and we were on our way to work.  By him saying that, my not-wanting-to-go-to-work mood changed from mellow to yellow.  How easy it was to feel happy at that moment.

Sometimes, we have to take a break from dreaming big and accepting what is and living in the present moment.

I can be happy by just browsing through any kitchen magazines from any bookstore.

I miss writing...

As salam...

Many years ago, there was this period of time that I was so into writing.  Few articles were published in the local newspapers and I got really excited.  Every Sunday morning, I would wait for the newspaper delivery boy and browsed through the sheets to find out whether my article will be published on that day.

Things happened, changes were inevitable, obviously I didn't turned out to be a journalist.  Instead of writing words of wisdom, I write source codes.  Then I write plans, reports, system designs, yada yada that really occupy my time and at the end I neglect the writing that I endure the most - casual writing.

I hope all my friends who love writing, keep on doing it.  Writing can sometimes be a therapy and at times it can be stressful, if there's no sincerity.  Write from your heart and great satisfaction will follow next.

Nothing Gold Can Stay....

Nature's first green is gold,
Her hardest hue to hold.
Her early leaf's a flower;
But only so an hour.
Then leaf subsides to leaf.
So Eden sank to grief,
So dawn goes down to day.
Nothing gold can stay.
  
-  by Robert Frost

Nothing can beat changes.  Changes are inevitable.  Good or bad depends on luck, but most importantly is how you deal with it and your choice of changes.  

My story is no different from EVERYONE.  I love my job.  I love what I was/am doing.  But there are few parties made me LEAVE what I love.  I'm no longer wearing the suit.  Now the suit is wearing me.  Day by day, its damaging my emotion and mental.  Today it reaches the stopping point and I am glad, out of the ordinary I took the risk.  I hate how things were and I change it!  I am not a tree for god sake.

We cannot change our destination overnight but we can change our direction in one night.  There were times when even if you're in your ideal dream job today, at your ideal place, that might change tomorrow.  Be ready as always.  I will always remember to work hard for myself not for the job, as life is short and career is not the most important thing in life.

“Let others lead small lives, but not you. Let others argue over small things, but not you. Let others cry over small hurts, but not you. Let others leave their future in someone else's hands, but not you.” - Jim Rohn

Mr Shan: 'When Its a NO...Its a NO...Period..'

Good morning everyone...

Guess what?  I met Hanis Haizi yesterday.  Hot Mama introduced me to her blog last year and I am very proud that she is a total success now.  I am not surprised that most of her followers idolize her, as she is so kindhearted to help anyone who wants to follow her steps. 

Her words of wisdom yesterday,

"Sesiapa follow steps tu..InsyaAllah berjaya..Tapi kalau tak berjaya...mesti ada something wrong...". 

Simple and compact.  But that's the thing.  I have gigantic doubts following the steps.  It may work for me for the first few months, but I seriously do not want to burden my downliners especially my upliners for my lack of commitments.  I can see that is going to happen.

Not only that, my day-to-day life surrounded by non-pro network marketing people.  Top 3 will be - Mr Shan, Ayah and Ibu.  God knows what they will do, or say, but since I live with them, I can see how thick the challenges will be.  That will definitely redirect to my -lack of commitments-.

Anyway, I did what I supposed to do -getting the information-.  I am totally exposed to the network marketing strategies now.  Thank you so much to Kak Fizah for sharing her knowledge and yes, its true that there is a gold mine in this business. 

If anyone of you, my beloved readers, have intentions in making money but does not know how to do it, just ping/pm me at my email address nurfiza@gmail.com.  I will introduce you guys to K.Fizah and her team as they are fully committed, very helpful and very nice people too.

I'm just too tired...

Hiya fellas...

Wow...it seems like ages...I feel really really bad abandoning this blog for quite sometime, and yes! I do miss blogging and you guys too.  What's up people!!! 

As for me, I've been living a wreckful life.  The truth is, I am very busy with my non-promising career life right now.  It has eaten up most of my precious happy days, and I live day to day by putting up a very big imaginary sign board 'Peah, take a deap breath and smile..'.

This was what happened:

Few months ago, the company was awarded with a small project.  Being me, I've always like to be in a new project.  I've always like meeting new people.  Even better, I was just being nominated to be the SA for it.  Great news! I'll be nothing but just a plain SA.

A month after the project kick-off meeting, the initial Project Manager ran away and the boss started to find a new replacement, whom he finally chose me.  I was not really excited though, as I frequently keep on receiving new heavy workloads, and definitely no interesting compensations were being offered.  The biggest mistake that I made was accepting the offer.

But then I realized, that was not really the biggest mistake of all.  The ultimate mistake was to receive the offer while I am so excitedly wanting to leave.  Even worst, I am working with these highly dedicated people that I have worked with before.  I am in agony.

I hope that I don't complaint that much now, I am still finding ways on how to be my normal-me for at least until this mid year.

I'll see u guys later....

Stress Quote...

“If you ask what is the single most important key to longevity, I would have to say it is avoiding worry, stress and tension. And if you didn't ask me, I'd still have to say it.” ~ George F. Burns quotes (American comedian 1896-1996)

..Enjoying Sunday...

:

:

10 hours later...
:
:

.."But look at the BRIGHT side...At least MONDAYS only happen once a week" - Garfield

Don't Sudoku and Drive....

Stressful .  Not a good start for 2011, eh?  Anyway, I have been juggling these stress for a couple of months now, and hopefully it will ease up soon.  This is not a complaint but blogging can be a stress reliever.

To cut a long story short, I bumped in into one of my worst traffic jam.  I put on the radio, but there's nothing good to sing along.  I ransacked my handbag, but there's nothing to munch.  I called Mr Shan, chatted for 10 minutes or so..and kept on calling him until he bored.  So, I played with the handphone and found this SUDOKU game which I have never played before. 

Thanks to my lil cousin Sara for giving me a 3 minutes of SUDOKU lesson.

If anyone interested in playing, checkout these links:

• Web SUDOKU
• Sudoku Daily

Notakaki:  I used to like the evening traffic jam, because it is a free reality show.  I have seen people digging their nose while driving and couples fighting, hitting each other and mourning in their car.

Saya Dan Kamu: Penjana Ekonomi Negara..

There were times when we had to skip our lunches.  
There were times when we had to have lunchners. 
There were times when we had to 'berlari-lari anak' here and there. 

1.30 pm:  rush to the meeting

6.00 p.m:  rush back to the office

If Dato' Seri Mohd Najib read this...would he be proud?

If all CEOs read this..would they revise our salary?

If all the clients read this..would they appreciate us more?

Congratulations!

I bet year 2010 will up well for us, as Harimau Malaya claimed the AFF Suzuki Cup 2010 victory at the Gelora Bung Karno Stadium yesterday.  Thank you so much Harimau Malaya for played well and rewarded us with a one-day public holiday tomorrow!  Yeay!

..Rania and Victory..

I would also like to congratulate my colleagues whom have passed the Microsoft SharePoint 2010 (click here to visit my programming blog) and .NET Framework 4.0 exams yesterday and the day before.  It was a great relieve after passing the exams, ya? 

Last but not least to all "Cik Peah's 2B Pencil" readers out there, even to the silence ones, thank you so much for spending a bit of your time to exchange our life adventures and congratulations on all of your achievements throughout the year.

Wish you all the very best of luck for 2011 and Happy New Year!