Duduk di rumah

Hari ni hari ke berapa entah kena berkurung di rumah.....jap nak kira...hmmm rupanya dah sebulan ya.. Sejujurnya, Lin tak kisah pun kena duduk di rumah ni. Sudah biasa kerja dari rumah sejak pindah ke Alor Setar pada tahun 2009 dulu. Semuanya buat kerja online. Masa tu di Alor Setar, working from home ni memang orang Alor Setar tak berapa familiar sangat. Kiranya Lin ni dikira pelik la masa tu sebab kerja dari rumah.

Masa Perdana Menteri bagi arahan duduk di rumah bermula pada 18 Mac, rasa agak panik la masa tu. Rasa macam nak beli segala benda untuk simpan beberapa bulan. Tapi tak dapat pun buat macam tu pada 17 Mac tu. Alhamdulillah la beberapa minggu sebelum hari tu, Lin dah memang dok agak yang perkara seperti ni akan berlaku, jadi Lin perlahan-lahan, sedikit demi sedikit stock up barang juga kat rumah. Tapi takdelah panic buying. Just beli barang-barang yang betul-betul perlu saja. Cuba juga settlekan segala masalah sebelum PKP. Malangnya ada juga yang tak sempat nak settle sebelum 18 hb tu.....so agak risau jugalah masa mula. Alhamdulillah berjaya juga settlekan dalam tempoh PKP tu dengan jayanya.

Tak sangka masa minggu pertama PKP tu Lin kena tahan dengan polis masa pergi cari makanan di Alor Mengkudu. Mak aiii jauhnya Lin cari makan! Rumah di Taman Lumba Kuda....agak jauhlah dari Alor Mengkudu tu. Rasa pelik sebab sekarang agak susah nak beli makanan luar. Rasa takut pun ada nak beli makanan luar ni. Kiranya rasa lebih selamat kut masak sendiri...dah tak percaya sangat kat orang sejak ada Covid-19 Di Malaysia ni. 

Weekly maid pun tak dapat datang dah ke rumah untuk mencuci. Jadinya segala benda kat rumah ni Lin kena buatlah jawabnya. Tapi masak memasak tu my Mom pun ada tolong sekali so kira alhamdulillah la. 

Paling menyampah time Covid 19 ni adalah bila nak membeli barang-barang keperluan di supermarket. Tiap kali nak keluar je kena pakai mask la, gloves la....and kena sanitize tangan semua. Tak dinafikan agak nervous gila tiap kali nak keluar tu. Kena sentiasa beringat. Sentiasa berjaga-jaga. Tak pernah seumur hidup kena dugaan macam ni so it's a lot jugalah nak hadam semua ni. Lepas tu, bila balik rumah pula....kena basuh segala benda kita beli tu. Ya Allah, yang ni yang paling azab! Kalau sikit jer barang yang dibeli takpelah juga...masalahnya tiap kali beli, sure banyak sebab maklumlah kan tak nak keluar selalu, so beli banyak makanya nak membasuh pun banyaklah. Kalau masih muda dan takde masalah kesihatan sekarang ni, Lin memang takde hal nak buat semua tu. Tapi now I realise how hard it is for old folks to handle all this.  Sebab Lin memang tak terdaya rasanya nak buat semua ni. Every time kena keluar shopping, balik jer rumah sure pengsan lepas membasuh dan menyimpan barang. 

Tiap-tiap hari dok dengar berita kat TV pasal Covid 19 ni, Lin rasa kita semua kena hadap benda ni lagi setahun dua baru nak selesai. It's not going to go away that fast. Tambahan pula ada sesetengah negara yang kurang peduli pasal nak tangani masalah virus ni. Jadi makin lama la masalah nak selesai dan entah berapa juta orang akan mati. Kesian tengok kat USA tu, ramai betul yang mati. Semua ni sebab tak ambil serious. Bila kerajaan dan rakyat tak ambil serious, maka ramai yang akan terkorban.

Ramai juga yang mencuba buat topeng muka atau face mask sendiri. Banyak gila video tutorials kat YouTube pasal diy face mask ni. Ye la...satu dunia nak guna face mask ni kan.... kena belajar buat sendiri juga sebab mahal la nak beli surgical mask tu, lagipun surgical mask tu patut kita bagi kat frontliners....they need it more than we do.  Gatal tangan nak mampus nak cuba buat maklumlah dah repair sewing machine tu maka bolehlah jahit face mask sendiri. Teruja sangat nak buat, last2 buat satu jer. Bukan tak nak buat banyak cuma masa tak mengizinkan. Banyak benda lain nak kena buat kat rumah ni. 

So far kat Malaysia ni masih terkawal. Kawalan pergerakan pun makin ketat. Kat Alor Setar ni makin banyak jalan dihalang dan dikawal polis dan tentera. Makin lama makin malas nak keluar ke mana-mana pun. Kalau boleh tu nak duduk diam-diam kat rumah tak nak ke mana-mana. Tak tahulah apa akan terjadi lepas ni kat negara tercinta, hanya mampu berdoa banyak-banyak semoga semua dilindungi olehNya. Amin.

Goodbye Streamyx, Hello UNIFI

Sekejapnya masa berlalu.....hari ni sudah pun hari kedua dalam tahun 2020. Dah lama dok tunggu tahun 2020 ni, tak sangka kejap ja dah sampai. Konon ada la angan-angan nak blog setiap hari di sini, tapi first day pun dah terlepas!! Adoi! Selalu macam tu. Entah bila la nak boleh buat setiap hari pun tak tau la. Rasa macam impossible jer. 

Anyways.....tentang cerita yang berlaku semalam.....sibuk pepagi lagi kena kemas rumah like crazy sebab orang TM nak mai pasang UNIFI kat rumah. Bayangkanlah, rumah Lin ja kat sini yang masih menggunakan Streamyx! Selalu juga la orang TM call suruh Lin tukar ke UNIFI tapi seperti biasa Lin degil! Macam-macam alasan Lin bagi untuk elak tukar ke UNIFI. Rasanya depa pun dah fed up....senyap la kejap untuk sebulan dua pastu depa call balik minta tukar. Hadoiiii.

Lin nekad lepas tu nak tukar ke UNIFI tapi sebab kekangan masa juga menyebabkan Lin asyik dok tangguh. Maklumlah, Lin ni ada perangai suka tangguh kerja. Something I should change this year! No more tangguh-tangguh ok Lin!!! Babab kang baru tau!! Haha! Ok, pastu, bila dah hati dah set nak tukar ke UNIFI, maka pulun la kemas bilik kraf Lin ni yang sepah yang amat. Kena kemas sebab nak pasang UNIFI tu kat dalam bilik tu la. Nak panggil orang mai masuk pun takut depa tergejut beruk tengok betapa messy gila bilik Lin tu. So lepas dah pulun gila kemas, Lin pun pi la daftar UNIFI hari berikutnya.

Rasa nak gelak guling-guling masa daftar tu sebab baru sedar bahawa selama ni Lin punya Streamyx , kelajuannya hanyalah 2 Mbps!!! Mak aiiiii lembab gila beb!! Patutlah nak upload video kat YouTube pun berjam-jam lamanya. Lin ni bukannya jenis internet savvy sangat. Kalau tanya bab-bab kelajuan internet ni boleh ternganga jugalah kekadang. So bila nak pasang UNIFI, memang tergejut sebab terlampau banyak beza kelajuannya, 30 Mbps berbanding dengan 2 Mbps Streamyx.!!!

Sekarang ni memang seronok sangatlah bila guna internet. Laju sangat! Boleh rasa perbezaannya. Yang penting, sekarang ni walaupun laju ja internet tapi bil internet murah! Sangat murah berbanding yang dulu. Kena puji la pada siapa yang bertanggungjawab di atas perubahan yang baik ini. Alhamdulillah, akhirnya dapat guna internet laju dengan harga yang sangat berpatutan. :D Happy sangat!! A good start for year 2020! :)

Pengajaran dari kisah duka

Otak Lin terganggu sejak semalam....tak dapat nak lupa peristiwa bila berjumpa kawan baik Mak Lin di kediamannya. Kami jarang-jarang jumpa tapi setiap kali jumpa pasti Lin akan menitiskan air mata dan terganggu jiwa beberapa hari. Tapi perjumpaan semalam paling terkesan di jiwa sebab setelah bertahun-tahun Lin kenal Aunty ni Lin rasa Lin tak betul-betul kenal dia sebenarnya sehinggalah semalam bila dia cerita serba sedikit  kisahnya kepada kami. Mak saya sendiri yang berkawan baik dengannya sejak kecil pun tak betul-betul kenal dia macam mana. Pandai betul orang sembunyikan hal peribadi walaupun pedih di hati penuh berisi.

Tujuan asal jumpa dengan Aunty ni semalam adalah kerana nak hulurkan sumbangan dari kami dan juga dari bekas rakan-rakan sekolah yang lain untuk menampung kos perubatan Aunty dan juga suaminya yang sudah bertahun- tahun uzur. Duit pencen saja tak cukup untuk menampung perbelanjaan setiap bulan. Tambahan pula kalau selalu masuk hospital. 

Buat pertama kalinya Aunty ni luahkan perasaannya pada kami, seolah-olah tak dapat menahan perasaannya lagi. Tak dapat dibendung lagi rasanya. Lin pun tergejut. Barulah tahu betapa susahnya hidup dia sejak kecil lagi. Kalau Lin rasa Lin hidup susah, susah lagi orang lain. Rasa insaf bila dengar ceritanya. Lin janji Lin takkan mengadu lagi hal kesusahan hidup Lin kerana apa yang Aunty ni cerita habis tepis cerita Lin yang Lin rasa tak susah mana pun sebenarnya. 

Banyak cerita dia berkenaan hidup dalam keluarga yang menindas sesama sendiri. Yang senang perkudakan yang susah....ambil hak yang susah....walaupun apa yang dibuat tu salah dan berdosa dalam ajaran agama Islam tapi yang hidup senang ni tak pedulikan semua tu. Yang penting bagi mereka, mereka nak kaya dan  bertambah kaya walaupun dengan duit haram.

Kita yang dok dengar cerita ni memang boleh relate dengan apa yang diceritakan sebab kami pun pernah lalui benda yang lebih kurang sama. Tapi bagi Lin apa yang Aunty ni lalui, lagi trauma.

Tentang hal memberi sumbangan pun Lin rasa terkilan dengan  kawan-kawan  Aunty ni yang banyak soal bila diminta beri sedikit  sumbangan. Hari ni hari dia....hari kita entah bila kita tak tahu. Apalah sangat nak berkira sampai soal macam-macam untuk mengelak dari beri sumbangan. Rasanya lebih baik diam dari soal yang bukan-bukan. 

Aunty ni baik orangnya dan selalu tolong orang. Tak sangka selama ni hidup dia begitu susah. Dia tak cerita kat orang atau pada kawan-kawan. Selalu senyum saja bila berjumpa. Happy go lucky gitu. Pada 15hb Disember ni dia kena buat pembedahan  mata sebab matanya ada masalah di bahagian retina. Agak risiko tinggi sebab kemungkinan boleh jadi buta. Ya Allah....kalau Lin la, rasa takut yang amat nak buat pembedahan ni. Risau yang amat sangat. Macam manalah dia nak jaga suaminya kalau matanya buta nanti....Allahuakbar....

Saya pohon sangat-sangat pada yang membaca post ni untuk sama-sama berdoa supaya Aunty ni dipermudahkan segala urusannya, dapat menjalani pembedahan matanya dengan baik dan dapat melihat semula dengan baik. Terima kasih sangat-sangat pada semua. Semoga Allah memberikan ganjaran dan keberkatan atas usaha kita. Aminn.

Tesco jual celery Australia!!

Bahagianya rasa dijiwa....like, seriously guys, bila Lin pergi Tesco dan terlihat Australian celery dijual dekat bahagian rak sayur, terus Lin rasa macam nak menjerit kegumbiraan!! Akhirnya!! Yes!! Thank you Tesco!! Thank you!! You listened to my request. Sebab Lin pernah tag Tesco di Instagram dulu tentang Australian celery ni. Memang itulah yang Lin harap-harapkan sangat sejak tahun lepas lagi sebab Lin tak suka buat jus guna celery dari China. Celery dari China ni bau herbanya tu kuat gila...dan rasa dia tersangatlah  tak sedap berbanding celery dari Australia. Tapi pada mula-mula Lin buat jus celery ni, Lin terpaksa guna celery China sebab susah nak cari yang dari Australia ni, dah tu mahal teramat! Tergejut juga masa permulaannya tu.

Setelah beberapa bulan pening kepala cari stok celery ni di merata tempat, maka terjumpalah akhirnya a good stock di market Koboi, Alor Setar ni. But the problem doesn't end there guys....oh no no....still ada masalah ok! Entah kenapa ya, setiap kali beli celery Australia ni, especially di market ataupun di pasar tani,  peniaga-peniaga ni  suka sangat nak bagi komen ataupun tanya soalan yang Lin dah nak muntah dengar. Kenapa asal nak beli celery Australia ja kena tembakan soalan-soalan yang menjengkelkan. Kalau beli sayur lain, takdak plak depa nak soal lebih-lebih! Why la whyyyyyyy!!! Sampai satu tahap, Lin jadi phobia and sometimes rasa allergic nak beli disebabkan soalan-soalan ni la!

Di antara soalan yang Lin menyampah dengar ialah.....

1. "Akak nak buat jus ya?"

2. "Akak nak buat ubat ya dengan celery 

     ni?"

3. "Beli banyak-banyak celery ni buat 

      masak apa Kak?"

4. "Akak ada darah tinggi ya?"

5. "Akak buat jus ni campur dengan beet, 

  peria, apple dan lemon ya? Tak boleh minum banyak celery jus ni Kak, nanti sakit lain timbul. 

6. Orang dari restaurant memang suka beli 

    celery Australia ni Kak, celery China 

    teruk, depa takkan beli punya Kak!! 

    Baguih ni Kak and bla bla bla.... :P

Yang Lin tak faham tu, kenapa walaupun beli dari penjual yang sama tiap-tiap kali, setiap kali tu jugalah dia akan ulang soalan yang sama....what the celery la!! Annoying sangat. Memory lost kut depa ni...perhaps??

Anyways, itu semua dulu ok....dulu....la ni Lin tak payah dah nak layan soalan-soalan tu semua, all thanks to Tesco!! Cuma sekali je ada cashier yang hairan tengok Lin beli banyak celery tu. Dia takut Lin tersalah pilih celery...sebab Australian celery kan mahal, so dia takut Lin tersilap. Lin cakaplah kat dia, takpa dik, akak sedar apa yang akak pilih ni, jangan risau ya dik hahahahaha! Panik cashier tu :D. Beza banyak harga celery dari China Dan Australia ni. Entah bila harga Australian celery ni nak murah tak tau la.

Satu lagi yang best pasal beli celery kat Tesco ni ialah brand company celery ni pun lain dari yang jenis yang Lin dok beli kat market tu. Dannnnnnn rasa dia pun jauh lebih sedap! Ada rasa manis-manis sikit celery jenis ni. Bau herba dia pun tak kuat. Jadi bila dijuskan, sudah tentu lebih sedap! Yay!

Another plus point adalah, bila beli kat Tesco sudah tentu boleh borong banyak sebab boleh guna trolly depa tu! Takdak lagi rasa sakit tangan nak bawa celery dari market ke kereta macam dulu. Rasanya memang Tuhan nak tolong Lin la.....itu yang Lin dok minta....itulah yang Lin dapat akhirnya.... Alhamdulillah! Syukur sangat dapat juga teruskan semula minum jus celery ni.

Rugi kalau tak dapat nak sambung minum sebab kebaikannya terlalu banyak. Dulu Lin kalau jumpa kawan-kawan atau sesiapa pun, walaupun tak kenal rapat, Lin akan nasihatkan depa untuk cuba minum jus celery ni tapi sekarang tak lagi. Dah malas nak nasihatkan orang sebab kebanyakan orang malas nak buat benda ni untuk jangkamasa yang panjang. Depa hanya nak quick solutions. Kalau boleh, minum jus hari ni, pastu esok lusa hilang semua masalah kesihatan. Nak cepat dan mudah. Malas juga nak membaca atau buat research tentang kesihatan. Semua nak kita cerita kat depa...nak kita feed. So I give up. Kita tak boleh paksa orang ikut cara kita walaupun terbukti cara kita tu bagus atau betul. Kan? Kan? :D

Teruja naik tangga guna lift

Nak gelak pun ada, teruja pun ada, semua perasaan ada, gara-gara cuba kemudahan yang terdapat di The Jerai Hotel, Alor Setar hari ni. Bukan saya yang cuba ya, tapi Mak saya dan kawan-kawan dia yang mencubanya. Excited sangat depa pagi ni! Haha! First time la katakan. Tak pernah naik lift macam tu sebelum ni. Mak saya ni memang ada masalah berjalan, especially kalau nak kena naik tangga memang dia rasa beban yang amat sangat. Jadi bila dapat tahu yang kat hotel tu ada kemudahan ni apa lagi, dia tak teragak-agak nak cubalah!

Pergi kat hotel tu hari ni sebab nak jumpa kawan lama dia. Kawan lama sejak sekolah rendah lagi dan kami kenal rapat dengan keluarga dia juga. Birthday dia pun baru a few days ago, so adalah celebrate sikit.  Actually yang sakit lutut tu Mak saya jer yang paling kronik masalahnya, kena guna tongkat tapi bila Mak saya nak cuba naik lift tu, kawan-kawan yang lain pun nak join sekali. Depa ni selalu macam ni tau.....semua kena ikut "leader"....Mak saya la leader tu. Apa ja leader buat, barulah depa rasa berani nak buat, kalau tak, jangan harap nak buat sendiri....gitewwwww. Hahahaha! Rasanya dalam mana-mana group mesti ada yang kes sama macam ni kan? kan?? 

Saya ni selalu jugalah ikut keluar bersama kawan-kawan Mak saya ni dan dah jadi part of the geng! I'm the youngest in the geng la nampaknya but it's ok, I like it. Seronok bersama orang-orang lama ni sebab topik-topik perbincangan selalunya gempak! Ada saja yang dapat kita belajar dari orang-orang lama ni. Sopan santun, berbudi bahasa pulak tu! Lagi lah I suka! Takdak sapa pun yang cakap kurang ajar atau eksyen tak tentu pasal. Semua happy-happy jer! We had fun today! ;)

Seriously, saya rasa kalau semua hotel ada kemudahan tangga lift untuk OKU ni pasti akan memberikan satu bonus point untuk hotel tu sendiri. Sebab lift tu bukan saja orang OKU boleh guna tapi sesuai untuk wanita mengandung dan warga emas juga. Kiranya kekadang benda macam ni lah yang menjadi sebab kita buat keputusan untuk sewa hotel tu kan? ;)

Tulis blog dalam Bahasa Malaysia

Sudah lama dah saya teringin nak blog dalam Bahasa Malaysia. Why not kan? After all saya kan orang Malaysia bukan orang luar. Disebabkan bertahun asyik blog in English, sampai orang ingat saya orang luar. Banyak kali dah orang salah sangka! Believe it or not! Haha! Sudah dikhabarkan yang saya ni orang Malaysia tapi masih ada yang fikir saya orang luar. I give up! LOL!

So! Harap-harap lepas ni kalau ada yang melawat blog saya ni, akan sedar yang saya ni orang Malaysia. Kedah born ok! A Malaysian dan sampai bila-bila pun Malaysian! Tak boleh bayangkan jadi rakyat negara lain sebab saya sayangkan Malaysia no matter what people say about negara tercinta ku ini! Ada jer kawan-kawan yang sanggup jer tukar kerakyatan demi gaji lebih dan kehidupan yang disangkanya jauh lebih mewah dan baik berbanding kalau dia tinggal di Malaysia. Oh well....apa nak buat kan? Tapi kalau ramai yang tukar kerakyatan, rugilah orang Malaysia. Ramai graduan berbakat pergi ke luar, tak dapat berbakti untuk rakyat sendiri. Rakyat negara lain yang untung.

Ramai juga yang tertanya-tanya, kenapa selama ni saya blog in English?? Ada yang ingat I do it because I can't write in Malay. Oh God! Please laaaa....takkan laaa tak reti...tolonglahhh! :P Of course ada sebabnya saya blog in English. One of the reasons is because saya nak improve English saya. Kalau selalu menulis dalam bahasa tu, maka semakin lama semakin mahir kita berbahasa Inggeris. Itulah yang saya harapkan. Semakin lancar, semakin banyak vocabulary, semakin confident menggunakannya setiap hari.

Sebenarnya, bahasa ni...kalau kita tak selalu menggunakannya, semakin kita lupakannya. Itu yang saya takutkan. Takut sangat kalau saya lupa. Dah la pandai dua bahasa jer....kalau lupa satu, tinggal satu saja lagi. Rugi!! Penat-penat belajar sejak tadika sampai form 5, pastu sambung pula sampai ke universiti pastu lupa habis....oh no no no....no way! Tak boleh ok! Kena selalu praktis...walaupun orang kutuk Bahasa Inggeris saya tak bagus, ada saya kisah? Saya teruskan saja. Cuba untuk improve setiap hari. 

Satu lagi sebab ialah kerana followers saya ramai dari negara luar jadi susah mereka nak faham apa yang saya tulis kalau saya tulis dalam bahasa Malaysia. Memang boleh jer translate tapi menyusahkan mereka la. Bayangkanlah, dekat Facebook pun mereka ni complain kalau status update saya ditulis dalam bahasa Malaysia, inikan pula kalau blog panjang-panjang, lagilah mereka ni complain. So, nak senang cerita dan untuk mengelakkan masalah, maka saya tulislah dalam bahasa Inggeris. Dan saya tak tak menyesal pun buat macam tu kerana ianya memudahkan followers saya membaca content saya di blog. If they are happy, I'm happy too! At  the end of the day, kita haruslah kenal readers kita ni macam mana....and give them what they want. Betul tak? :D

I love green tea!

I've started to drink green tea again lately because I wanted to decrease the amount of my daily coffee intake. So far I am loving the taste and how it makes me feel afterwards. There's something about the after effects of green tea that helps me control my urges of taking sweet drinks.

It's so different compared to drinking coffee. If I were to drink a cup of coffee, I would surely want to drink it again later in the day. But with green tea, once is enough to keep me feeling content and no longer crave for sweet drinks afterwards. So if I felt thirsty, I would just drink plain water. Strange.

Strange as it may be to me, I kinda like it. Because this means I get to control my sugar intake as well. 

It's been said that green tea aids in losing weight. Hope that's true because I really need to lose some weight that's been lingering too long at my waist. Some say it helps in digestion too. It relieves nausea, constipation and diarrhea. That's great news!

Update on my celery juice journey

Over the years I think I have gone in and out of a good healthy diet hundreds of times. Everyday telling myself that I should eat healthy but I end up eating something that might potentially kill me in the end  anyways. I just don't know what else to do that will motivate me everyday to eat well. I just don't have that self control. Not then....not now. Still working on that.

I think the longest I've been SO FREAKING  disciplined about something was when I was doing that celery juice detox. I was at it for about 8-9 months straight. I was so positively sure I was able to do it for 3 years...LOL! So much for the positive thought. I don't know what happened. I woke up one day and I find myself not being able to do it anymore. I just lost it. I didn't get the thrill looking at celery. WEIRD! I see people doing it everyday on Instagram and getting great results and yet I still couldn't bring myself to continue. I went to the market to buy celery but I end up cooking it instead. Gosh....what on earth happened to me. I wonder if other's are experiencing the same thing.

Part of it I think is also because of the effect of the detox from celery juice that demotivated me. The eczema flared up like crazy at times. I just felt awful. It was a strange experience because some part of me had  a positive effect and some other part just went to crazy and was in pain all the time. It was driving me crazy as well.

I know I should take care of my health, but the fact is that, it's just a lot of work. I just don't have the time, nor the energy for it. I guess that's one of the reasons why I stopped juicing the celery. It was so exhausting for me to manage it everyday. Making smoothies was a lot easier. So at least I was still making smoothies. 

Talk about smoothies. I kept it simple nowadays. Since cucumber is also an alternative they say to detox, similar to celery, so I made sure that cucumber is always available at home. Same goes with apples. I found out that I can't eat anymore fruits that are sour. Seems that it will make the eczema worse than before. So I had to stop taking a variety of fruits because of that. Making smoothies will be simpler and cheaper for sure, LOL! I used to make smoothies with blueberries and pitaya....now I don't consume them anymore. No matter how delicious they are, no more will they be available at home. The price is pretty high as well. It's crazy! How on earth are we supposed to be eating all the super detox food when the price is too high. Go figure.

Thinking back on what I've done over the past few months, I realised what I was doing wrong. I thought I could get away with it but that was the reason for the failure. Although I drank celery juice  everyday back then, I wasn't 100% following the rules. For instance in my case, there are a lot of food or drinks that I should avoid taking. But since I have no self control, I took them anyways thinking that it won't be so bad since I'm taking celery juice everyday. 

SO! What I'm trying to do now is to focus on avoiding the things that are making me sick first before focusing too much on taking  the celery juice. I don't want to stress myself out anymore. 

What's new with this year's Ramadhan?

Alhamdulillah, I feel so blessed to be granted the opportunity to fast again this year. I wanted to write about my experience fasting so that I can document what I did this year that makes fasting for me this time around different from the past. How was it different from last year's Ramadhan? Well, for starters, this time around, I'm included celery juice and fruit smoothie as part of my daily menu. I have been drinking celery juice since last December of 2018 till now. There are some days that I would go without it but only because I couldn't get new stock from the market. During that time I would replace celery juice with cucumber juice or cucumber smoothie because cucumber has similar effects on the body that we get from celery juice. It does have good source of minerals in it, very hydrating which is good for the body when fasting and it is cooling too.

What I noticed so far when fasting these past few days is that I don't feel sick like I used to years ago during the first week of fasting. I'm sure many of us face the same experience. The feeling is so remarkably wonderful now. I don't get headaches or feel very feverish either. I can actually "function", feel calm and have more patience. So this is really great for me. Even my Mom says she feels different this time around. She doesn't take the fruit smoothie though because she does not like the cold smoothie that I make...she does not like to take cold drinks. Plus, she is not that fond of taking fruits that are blended together. She prefers fruit juices or take them whole instead. 

I would have the fruit smoothie for iftar (breaking of fast) with some dates and plain water. It's enough to keep me full till after Isya'. After Isya' I would eat something more filling. Usually I would break the fast with a glass of plain warm water first, then have some dates and continue with the fruit smoothie. By then my fruit smoothie won't be too cold for me to drink. The reason why it is cold is because some of the fruits are frozen. Sometimes in order to keep the fruits from rotting fast, it's best to keep them in the freezer. So I clean them and then cut them up into small pieces and freeze them. That way, they last longer. I do get headaches if I drink cold drinks too fast or when my body is feeling hot. I do feel hot when fasting because I am not drinking any water during fasting. So to take a VERY cold drink upon breaking the fast is actually not a good idea. Warm drinks and food are best. It won't shock the body like cold drinks and food would. That's why I took plain warm water with the dates first before taking the cold fruit smoothie.

If you want to see more of the fruit smoothies that I take daily and how I make them, you can check it out at my IG link --> HERE. I really enjoy taking them for iftar because it is sunnah to break the fast with dates or fruits. And I don't like to mix fruits with other food at any one time. After taking the fruit smoothie, it is best to wait for 30 minutes before taking any other meal. I feel that Iftar is the best time to eat fruits. At other times, I just don't see myself taking fruits because we can only eat or drink twice a day in Ramadhan, and for sahur, I can only see myself taking heavy meals like rice, veggies or meat. I also take celery juice half and hour before I take my meal during sahur, because it is good to take celery juice on empty stomach in the morning and not at night. I had to wake up very early in the morning around 3.30 am just to juice the celery. It was not easy to be discipline but for health sake, I did it. It was possible. I made sure I washed the celery the day before, cut them up into small pieces, all ready to be juiced in the morning.  

Yes, it is so important to prepare and plan the meals in Ramadhan because I don't want to get sick. If I do get sick, I might miss my opportunity to fast and that would be so sad. I don't want to miss fasting unnecessarily.  I did have a bad experience last year and I don't want it to happen again this time around so I'm very careful now with what I eat in Ramadhan.

Now that Ramadhan is over, I'm so happy that I came out of it feeling good. I'm so glad I made the decision to change my diet last year. Although I did cheat eating food and sugary drinks that I'm not supposed to take sometimes, at least I never stopped taking the celery juice and the fruit smoothie. Those two things helped me reduce a lot of my cravings, and even if I did cheat, I didn't take a lot of it like before. So there is a huge difference.

I remembered over the years, I have been on and off with eating healthy. I could never stay on a healthy diet for a long period of time. Usually it would last for 2 or 3 months...then I would cheat for a few more months, and I would be back on that diet again for another few months. It's like a vicious cycle. It was really hard to maintain the diet. The difference this time is the celery juice. I definitely feel that the celery juice helped me maintain the healthy diet. Even when I was taking the jamu, I couldn't stay on the healthy diet for long.

I really hope to continue with the celery juice and fruit smoothie for as long as I possibly can. All I hope for is a healthy body and mind. When I have health, I have everything and I can do anything. In shaa Allah. I'm praying for the best! :)

SUU BALM Product Review

Product review! Yes! A product worth reviewing. I just couldn't wait to tell the world about this product I've just discovered. It's probably been around for quite some time already but I never knew about it till just recently. In the beginning I was a bit skeptical to try it out but since it was introduced by someone on Instagram  (Rocyie Wong) whom I kinda trust because she has a similar problem like I do, I thought why not, just give it a shot, who knows the products might suit me.

It just so happen that SUU BALM is giving free samples for the public to try out, so without giving it a lot of thought I immediately went to their website to fill up the forms. You can click on the link HERE to request for free samples. About two weeks after that I received the free samples. The first thing I tried was the body moisturizer, I was really really surprised with the body moisturizer because I didn't have to use a lot of it, just a little goes a long way. It's very cooling because it has menthol in it and it's not oily at all. Best of all it has ceramide!! Ceramide is well known to play an essential role in structuring and maintaining the water permeability barrier function of the skin.

After just a few minutes applying it on my eczema and on other areas of my skin where it's itchy and dry, there's this very cooling sensation and it feels so good! No more feeling itchy for a long period of time. Amazing!! I can now sleep soundly at night without having to scratch my feet like crazy. No more swollen feet too!

No other product gives the same effect on my skin. Believe me, I've been searching like crazy and spent so much money for that lotion or cream that would suit my skin problem for years but I could never find one that would actually do anything for my skin. In fact, some actually make my skin worse than it already is. Come to a point, I got so scared of applying anything on my skin.

The body wash is amazing too!! Love it just the same. The only thing that bothers me is the price. I wish it was more affordable. But I believe that it's worth every cent. You don't need to use a lot of it to see the effects. What's important is that it works! I hope more people are aware of it and give it a try. I did and I love it. Thank you SUU BALM!!! ♡♡