Book worm – ulat buku

I hit my target of reading more books this year. I wanted to read more than eight. Much of it is bought from Google Playbooks and of course Shopee. Indonesia apparently has several toko buku that sells reprinted books at a lower price. I’d usually go to them for titles that are difficult to find at a proper bookstore unless I go to Kinokuniya or something. Indonesia is like Litte China. Semuanya ada if you look hard enough. Some of the books I read this year and have completed are;

  • Atomic Habits – it is very clear why it is a best seller. You find it and buy it.
  • Why we eat (too much) – it makes you understand why you get fat and remain fat and why it is so hard to slim down. But having read this, it empowers you to manipulate your body’s metabolism with the knowledge of it
  • Almond by Won Pyun Sohn – this is translated from the Korean language. A book recommended by Kim Namjoon.
  • HOw the paper fish learned to swim – tak payah baca. bosan. pelik.
  • Unfollow the flow by Aiman Azlan
  • Penat by Dr Alizi Alias

Books I am currently reading

  • Range – I initially bought an audio version because I thought I might listen to it during my work commute. But the voice is so boring. I might as well read it out loud and hear my own voice. So I restarted my read and is halfway through
  • The cat who saved books – started this on a bus, ongoing read
  • Perempuan perempuan berbudi dalam Al-Quran – let’s see if this is as what I expect the book will be
  • Creativity.Inc – cause it’s got to do with Pixar
  • Elon Musk – trying to understand how he can become a man s0 powerful yet socially awkward

Books I plan to read

  • Liar yang murung – birsilah bakar
  • Ma OOn – Hasrizal abdul jamil
  • How I learned to understand the world – Hans Rosling

Manny and Sandara on Knowing Bros

I have heard of Manny Pacquiao. I knew he was one of the greatest boxers in the current decade.

I have also heard of Sandara. She is in a girls’ group 2NE1. She still looks like she’s in her 20s when in fact she is approaching 40!

Having watched snippets of this variety show on Youtube, made me want to know more about Manny’s career and his philanthropic activities. The ‘human encyclopedia’ did a great job of piquing the audience’s interest in Manny. Sandara was also an interesting figure as she is South Korean but can speak Tagalog fairly well. Idols from SK are so smart. They learn languages, songs and choreographies very fast. Their intelligence is super high in the artistic domain.

Celebrating doctor’s Day

In Malaysia, Doctor’s Day is celebrated on the 10th of October.

We celebrated our last Friday. Pretty much delayed but still happening. My task was to create a mini-video relating to our team. My initial idea was to create a video introducing our medical officers to their respective portfolios. However, since it can be time-consuming and requires cooperation from the team, I decided to make something simpler. I’d do a montage.

I extracted the audio from a Youtube video. The OST I had in mine was the one from a popular medical series in the 90’s, ER.

Then, I scoured through my collection of videos I have collected of my friends via WhatsApp and my own take. I also had my friends send in their new videos if they want to. I trimmed and arranged the clips in a way that would suit the OST. As for the opening, I searched for the ‘ECG GIF’ and videoed shot it on my screen. I think the outcome is OK for an amateur.

Since this is going to be an annual thing – we’ve got to start planning for it next year. Ha ha.

Trying Cuura products

The best sunscreen to use is whatever brand or type you like.

Recently I bought a new sunscreen from a local brand, Cuura. It was recommended by a few of my younger friends who are on social media for most of their life. The founder of this brand is Sarah Shahnor. Millennials would probably recognize her from the times of Modvier. She was a business icon and it seems that after all this while, she has developed her skincare line.

I know I know.. I have said it before that I’m very sceptical of products from our local celebrities. But she is an entrepreneur, it doesn’t count. Ha ha.

I bought their sunscreen and the glo nectar product. These items seem to have very very positive reviews from their clients. At least two of my colleagues are consuming the nectar as well. Perhaps it is because apart from it’s rich vitamin C content, it also has hithion which is an antioxidant. It should work well as an adjunct to my glutathione supplements.

Each sachet is 27kcal and certified Halal. Well, buah kan.. takkanlah tak halal.

The nectar has a very strong prune taste and needless to say, the sunscreen is a bomb. It is on par with Beauty of Joseon. The cream does not feel sticky after application and it does not leave a white cast. Sesuai dengan kulit orang Malaysia. Kinda explains it’s rather steep price but with such quality, I think it is worth it.

Double cleansing

This was something I just discovered this year. The idea is to clean your face with two different cleansers preferably one of them being oil or a balm and the other being your usual cleanser. This ensures that all the particles from your makeup product or sunscreen are removed thoroughly. For this nightly ritual, I am using these products.

The Face Shop Rice Water Bright Light Cleansing Oil

Clean it Zero Cleansing Balm Vanilla

IM UNNY facial wash

SKII facial wash

I don’t use all at the same time but I apply them interchageably. Sometimes I’d use the rice water + im unny combo or rice water + SKII – whichever is to my liking at the time.

At first I was skeptic about this new beauty trend but I soon realized that it does work to remove all impurities undetected with the na-ked eye. I was using this new day cream and I was really confident that I had it all removed for my Zuhur prayers. This is because I have washed it with normal soap and I did not feel or see any obvious residue of the cream. Later in the evening as I returned home and showered, I was surprised to see that the moment I put on the oil, the product of my day cream somehow appeared, it was so white and bright and mixed with the oil. I washed it off and used my other cleanser for the second facial wash.

In a way, I was shocked by the fact that double cleansing is necessary. Ah the same time, it made me wary of the ingredients in my new day cream. Needless to say, I threw the product in the bin as I was worried that it may have suss ingredients. It’s like I know that, that is the original purpose of double cleansing but compared to other products I’ve used, it’s just strikingly in excess to be removed with the oil/balm. It made me wonder if I didn’t apply the face oil first, I wouldn’t know that there are some products still sitting stealthily under the surface of my skin. Perhaps it’s part of the ‘glow’ effect but still……