Celebrations and social stamina as an introvert

Posted in Everyday Life by Minci 先生

A lot of social events happened this week and they all revolve around the celebration of Eid and Teacher’s Day.

This year, my kids are giving their teachers a regular cup of instant coffee. I bought these instant drinks from Ninso for RM2.30 each. They taste great and looked decent too. Quite stylish I must say. I just had to stick some stickers on it to make it look presentable. Even the cashier at Ninso was curious about the purchases. I bought at least 30 cups of assorted flavours such as Cappucino, Hot chocolate and Milk Tea. The store was out of Matcha. I even explained the content and my ratings for the drinks to them. They seemed influenced. Ha ha.

My daughter prepared goodie bags for her friends in kindergarten. It has the usual candies, sweets and duit Raya. I somehow feel that the school did not have a lot of main food during the event because there were no pictures. Maybe I should consider prepping for it next year. For my son’s Eid celebration, I am buying chiffon cakes from Tesco and bottled juices.

In the clinic, we also have our very own Eid celebration. It was a great experience for me to know what the process is behind the scenes. It’s tough to initiate and pioneer things. But it is good to know that things will get better in time. The medical officers changed their minds a lot. We settled on sponsoring sate, a photo booth and an ice cream booth for the jamuan.

Indeed, all these social events are draining my social stamina. It is fulfilling as a human being but very stressful as an introvert. I had to take steps to allay my anxiety just so I wouldn’t get too overwhelmed and become demotivated to accomplish my task. There have been instances, many years ago, when I couldn’t be bothered with all the social obligations as a mom and an employee at the workplace. So I try to take heed and be more proactive in subsequent years.

Some of the steps I took to reduce my stress include;

Prepare early. Teacher’s Day comes every year on the same date. I can actually plan in advance in figuring out what my kids would like to give their teachers. We had the inspiration to get coffee because one of my son’s teachers loved coffee a lot. So I was able to stock up at least a week earlier on a non-pay day week and have that task crossed off my list.
Choose food or drinks that are easy to prep/share with the kids. something with a long shelf-life or expiry date. Which explains the bottled juices.
Pen it on paper. I am a paper person. If I don’t jot it down, I find it hard to commit. My son told me he needed some coloured paper for his art project. I just kept a mental note and ended up forgetting about it. So, if you’re a scatterbrain like me, jot it down. It is also a great way to go through the points again and clarify prn.
Take it one day at a time. Breath. Relax. The teachers are not going to penalize my son if he failed to make a food contribution to the jamuan. It will raise eyebrows but it will be OK.

5Oct2019

Hobonichi Weeks MEGA 2020. Making mine Malaysian-ish

Posted in Books, Good Things, Online Store, Reviews by Minci 先生

As mentioned before , my Hobonichi’s name is HoboMinci regardless of the type of planner I choose to use for the particular year. In 2020, I would be trying the Weeks Mega for the first time and see how it fares compared to my current Cousin Avec. I love that Cousin Avec has the kind of layout I need but in terms of portability, it can be quite a challenge to bring around especially when it’s bulking up. Perhaps Mega Weeks would bring out that more professional look to it as a so called organized person. Duh.

This video is also available on my Youtube channel

As usual, once I receive my hobonichi, I would need to make a few tweaks to it. Most importantly, the public holiday part of it.

I will need to update this calendar once the schedule for school holidays come out

Last year, I used this space to track and plan my blog post here on WordPress. It did not turn out so well. I was not consistent. This year I will be using it to track my studies, classes and courses since I am only getting 1 planner this year.

The monthly spread to jot down birthdays and important events. The space is small. I will have to write in an 8 sized font. LOL.

**My 100**. I am going to use it to list down my bucket list of various categories. Perhaps a new book, a vacay location, someone famous to meet, or a special event!

Hobonichi also has a few informational pages which looks interesting. Only, I haven’t learn the language. MAYBE just maybe I would try to pick up on it since my friends in school could read, write and speak it in just 2 years. I took Arabic instead of Japanese during that time. Those who chose the Japanese language had really fun lessons and sensei! We, the ‘Arabs’ and ‘French’ were terribly jealous. ~~Haih.. japanese boyfren come translate for me the pages and teach me..~~

I really hope I got this last page right. The biodata page..

Big Bad Wolf is coming to Melaka soon. It would be a good time to search for language books, coffee table books etc.. perhaps studying Japanese could be on my bucket list next year on top of Mandarin. Until that happens, sayonara for now.

24Aug2019

MT Washi tape pop up store at Kinokuniya KLCC

Posted in Everyday Life, Good Things, Hobby/Interest by Minci 先生

I’m a newbie in washi tape. I have only got to know about them since 2015. I bought my few first rolls from aliexpress. Many months later I discovered washi tape sellers in our local scene. My current favourite is Lootersbox. I really hope they would open a physical store in Melaka one day and conduct workshops and such. I would be their regular customer and buy something on a weekly basis even though they’re just sticker flakes.

Last Wednesday I went to Kinokuniya KLCC to check out the MT Washi Tape pop up store.

I salute Youtubers who could produce content on a regular basis on their channel. I think it requires courage and be a bit shameless on your part to actually hold out your camera in public to capture a moment. I am a bit shy on that part which is an obstacle, I think, if you intend to be a Youtuber or successful lifestyle blogger. But it’s ok, it is a learning curve for a jaded writer like myself. There is always a price to pay for being successful but let’s hope it is all worth it yahh..

I spent just below RM300 in Kinokuniya alone on the washi tapes and FLOW magazine. I figured since this is an annual event for MT, I should splurge within my means and save more money again for next year’s convention. After all, I did miss the ones they had in Pavillion last year.

If I were to include my petrol, toll and duit makan all… I’d say the trip to Kay Ell is about RM500. ~~Thank Allah for pay day the next day.~~ Regardless, I am a happy lady. A happy mom. A happy wife. Not so happy to get back to work the next day though.

8Jul2019

HoboMinci. Completed the 1st half, going into my second A5 Cousin Avec

Posted in Creative Writing, Hobby/Interest by Minci 先生

“Hobonichi means Almost Everyday”

I call mine my #HoboMinci. And so far the journaling game is still going on strong. I have a lot of reflections and activities to reminisce on, I guess. My choice of medium are similar to previous years – washi, stichers, colourful inks, instax photos… I tried to take up stamping but it’s too much effort for me. Although I do love to see people do it in Instagram.

My monthly page are usually very simple. My weekly pages are more detailed. I try to divide my weeks into a few categories.

Work.

Social Media.

Non-work daily To- Dos.

Weekends.

My daily pages are the most interesting. On certain days I have a lot to shout about. Or social meets to keep memories of.

Sometimes it is just quiet. No words. Just washi or die cuts to fill the page.

I ramble.

I reflect on religion or important stuff.

I write down memorable quotes.

Sometimes I give movie reviews.

Or extending a thought from a book I read.

Sometimes it a Pinky and The Brain moment as I elaborate on my plan. Like the iftar get together a few months ago.

In short, there is never just a single way on how you choose to fill up your Hobonichi. In Malaysia, there is only a handful of us using Hobonichi. Price is a major factor. Furthermore, journaling or diary keeping is just not everybody’s cup of tea. Despite that, we still find joy in our little group called Planner Addicts Malaysia on Facebook. We get to mingle with fellow planners using other brands of journals. And if I need a more international take to my #hoboMinci – I have the Rainbowholic FB group for inspiration.

I heard there’s a Jibun Techo out there. I am keen to explore that as well. We will see.

13Jun2019

Superpower of Du’a

Posted in Everyday Life, Ponderings by Minci 先生

We can only do so much when it comes to dealing with human behaviour. It ain’t easy changing Obstinance to being Obedient or Compliant. It can be crippling to ones self-esteem or motivation when good intentions to help someone is misconstrued or simply ignored.

Which is precisely whats happening between me and one of my brothers. It is very hard to find a balance between being supportive but also careful not to ruffle any feathers. Men can be so sensitive. hahaha.

Because of this minor conflict, I begin to think about other people whose problems could be worse than mine. What if they’ve exhausted every single effort, grit and sweat to initiate a change greatly needed for the benefit of all? What else can they do?

many nights we pray, with no proof anyone could hear, in our hearts a hopeful song, we barely understood, now we are not afraid.. although we know there’s much to fear, we were moving mountains long, before we know we could..

There can be miracles when you believe

hope for a miracle

…through prayers. through du’a.

I once went to a Quran TAgging workshop by AyeshaShahira and in our goodie file, we were each given this small , cute book that has Allah’s 99 names. I had thought to myself, ‘i know asmaul husna, why would they need to make a notebook out it’.

Ayesha somehow made us understand more about the names of Allah. About curating our du’a. To be in Allah’s good books.

We should strive to learn all 99 names of ALLAH. InsyaAllah, it will please Him and make our wishes underneath the great big sky sound so so beautiful. Indeed, ask from Allah for help, to help you help others. In my case, it would be me asking from Allah to give guidance to my brother in the best way possible so he could become a better person. Maybe give him a life changing dream or something to get him a head start in life. Allah knows best, for He shapes our Qadak dan Qadar. .

Finally, I’m not sure if you realize it or not, but for a muslim to make du’a for someone else’s well being is one of the most rewarding thing you could do for yourself too.

“…the dua of a muslim for his brother (in Islam) in his absence is readily accepted, and an angel is appointed to his side, whenever he makes a beneficial dua for his brother the appointed angel says “Ameen and may you also be blessed with the same”

[Muslim]

Minci Moss

A written monologue

Tag Archives: planner addict malaysia