Category Archives: Books

Death cleaning

Posted in Books, Everyday Life, Reviews by

Death cleaning is challenging. It requires focus, physical stamina and a level of detachment and ‘unbotheredness’ to even start the process.

My brother is planning to get hitched soon and has the intention to bring the bride back home for a while before they find a place to rent. The current house is our family home and over the course of time it has become quite worn out and full of ‘things’. After all, we have lived in the house for over 10 years and when it comes to a family of 6, that is a lot of things.

The initial plan was for all of us four siblings to get together and tackle the problem. However, some of us did not get our leaves approved and my sister, had a last-minute course to attend. So it was just me battling against the dust and clutter. I managed to sift through my late mother’s wardrobe and it was astounding to discover how many clothes she had – both worn and new! It seems that she used to have a habit of buying those buy1 free1 items but never actually got to give those garments to people she was meaning to give it to. Thus, ended up with me being puzzled at the site of so many T-shirts with the same design in the wardrobe.

I shared my experience of decluttering on Instagram that weekend and an acquaintance recommended me this book. I managed to find it at Shopee for RM59.94. Quite a splurge for a softcover book but I’m excited about it’s content. It did not disappoint me at all.

I felt so connected to the author’s problems and felt that her thoughts on this subject matter were familiar yet fresh and very insightful. It’s like having a cheeky grandmother telling you what to do now before you die. In a way, it’s about decluttering and making life simple so you wouldn’t leave too much trash for your loved ones to pick up once you’re 6 feet under.

I am inspired to do my own death cleaning too. In fact, I feel it is an instinctive thing to do every so many years as my family’s life cycle changes over time. Now I am discarding old baby clothes, baby gadgets and toys as I am clear that I have no plans to conceive another baby. I have been making trips to the bin at Lotus to donate my old clothes that don’t fit anymore and those that are out of fashion. This included linens for single beds causing our house to have double beds only. The single set was from both of our ‘single’ years.

I am into house chores again this time of the year. I believe there will be a time when I’d enjoy photography suddenly or journaling and all that jazz. It’s a cyclical process.

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Book worm – ulat buku

Posted in Books, Good Things, Reviews by

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

Merdeka shopping spree

Posted in Beauty Products, Books, Gadgets, Good Things, Reviews by

Mini head towels & face mask

I thought I should make the trip worthy by ordering both face mask sheets and hair caps. . I have tried the Bioaqua Ice Mask but have yet to try the Vitamin C type. The caps were cute and I got them in 3 colours which are purple, deep pink and pink. My daughter loved her pink one.

Price: RM2.89/ea for caps and RM0.50/ea for masks

Psychology books

I bought two Islamic psychology books from IIUMPRESS. I thought that I’d like to bring them to the conference and get Dr Alizi’s autograph. It did not happen. I did enjoy his topic though. It was very enlightening. The total purchase was RM71.40

GUMASH

For Gumash, I got a different colour this time. This is one of the henna-based hair dyes for women. Going for a dark brown instead of a copper head. This one was priced at RM54.80.

Whizzfizz

This local product exceeded my expectation. It is a bubble bath essence. It produced a lot of bubbles in the tub. The type where it will stay above your boobs for a long time when you’re soaking. I bought it with me during my trip to Kuching the other day. Each bottle costs RM29.35 and I bought all 3 variants.

My bathroom is like a spa.. yeay

Foot bucket spa

I also bought a foot bucket spa for RM209.90 and it was so worth it. I even received a lot of free herbal powder. Basically, you fill up the collapsible bucket with normal temp water, the machine will heat it up to the desired temperature and just put whatever herbal powder of your choice inside. At the bottom of the bucket, there are rollers to massage your tired feet. You can put on the timer as well. I usually do one for about 20 minutes.

This concludes my Shopee haul for Merdeka day !

Why do we eat (so much) – A refreshing perspective

Posted in Books, Reviews by

As health practitioners, the common advice we give to patients who want to lose weight is to eat a balanced meal, sleep well and exercise. The endpoint of this book is still the same, that is to eat well to keep the pounds off.

Bought this digital copy from Google Playbook

However, what makes this book refreshing is that it puts forth the understanding behind the advice above so that we could manage our weight better to ensure a healthier lifestyle. This book talks about weight set-point and how it helps us to understand why you regain weight after you lose those kilos. It made me understand why some obese people ‘have it in their genes’. Most importantly, it gives you that glimmer of hope that we can reset the set-point by manipulating the variables in our environment.

The science is easy to grasp. Everything just makes sense from fat, cholesterol, insulin and leptin.

This book will give anybody that sense of empowerment to turn their life around and get back to their normal BMI. This is not a miracle diet book but once you understand the concept of why obesity happens, it will make you more consistent to shed off those extra kilos.

BangtanS , the review book

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Previously when people mention the word ‘rap songs’, I would imagine young people spitting out many many syllables in one minute in their song. And that they are always angry at something. In a way, always loud and swearing. This is until I listened to Lessang. Specifically Kang Gary’s rap. I took an interest in him because he was my favourite in Running Man. Turns out rap can be soft-spoken? If you know what I mean… it’s like you can rap fast but you don’t have to sound very angry. You can be calm, like Kang Gary and Min Yoongi. *grin*

Many years later, BTS came into my life and I became intrigued by the rap line. I thought it was interesting that each rapper has their own style. It never crossed my mind that they could have different lenggok on how they rap their verse. That there is a technique to rap! At least that is what I heard through the BTS rap subunit – their Cyphers. I couldn’t help loving the non cypher rap-ish song Tear right now. We must also mention Agust D’s Daechwita. There was a comment on Instagram saying that the beats are the same throughout the song and that it was AgustD’s rap and change of tone is what makes the verse seems different. I really need to check it out again although to be honest, I wouldn’t really know the difference.

I bought a book a few months ago entitled BTS : The Review by Youngdae Kim. I am still halfway through the book and for someone who reads mostly science, self help and management books, this is a good change of genre. I highly appreciate the translation work as it allows international fans to understand better Hallyu wave, the rap scene and how BTS is integral to this. I am taking my time to read this book because I am also listening to the tracks awhile appreciating the highlights (mentioned in the book) at the same time. In fact, I have a list on Spotify that I am building up from time to time called Minci’s BTS.

I bought the book from Shopee Malaysia for RM85 and now I am hoping that someone would also sell Suga’s The Merchandise there soon.