Latest Invention

Wah! I must have so much of free times these past few days since I have so many entries posted lately. I guess that means good - finally I have adapted to my latest version of life routine, hehe!

Anyway, sometimes, when I felt so tired on work, I'd walk around Isetan, Mark & Spencer and Parkson during lunch for `sight seeing'. It does (sometimes) give me a sense of relief and it endures my stress level; I mean looking at beautiful stuff, kan, mestilah fun! Beautiful blouses, pants, dresses, heels, the list goes on.

But, sometimes, it gives me stress feeling too, because I can't buy them. First, yes, because they are expensive. Second was because I can't wear them! Since I was small, my parents had strict guidelines to our siblings' attire. We don't wear short sleeve shirt when we left our house, no skinny and low fit jeans, we don't `selempang' our scarf, legging is only wear as sleeping attire, you know, by meaning to bid the Islamic guidelines of wearing attire. As the result, when I went shopping for my wardrobe, I must ensure that the blouse is not fit and the length must pass at least the buttock area, the pants are not tight, no three quarter sleeve etc, etc. The concept is aurat ditutup, bukan dibalut. 

                                              

                                            

On very recent, I find my latest interest in these chiffon blouses, especially those with laces. They seem so comfy and very stylish. I think that they can wear both as formal attire and also as casual. However, most blouses that I like at Isetan must be :   i- see through; ii- above the buttock area, iii-fitted to my body and the list goes on. So, of course I will never able to wear them; regardless their very much adorable and sophisticated look. 

So, to counter this, I have decided that I must come up with my own creation. Nothing like Radzuan Radzwill or Tom Abg Saufi, but something wearable yet meet its purpose; to cover my aurat. Aside to that, I want to stop depending to Baju Kurung to work. I have enough of GMs calling me -adik, or Manager asking me when will I finish my internship. At first, they were flattery but after 3 months, it gets annoying.

So, last weekend, I accompanied Ibu to Gulatis, Wangsa Maju to buy some material for Zharif's wedding attire. And to my surprise, chiffon was put on sale at RM 8.50/meter. Wah!!! Bulat mataku!  Suddenly, the assistant starts to cut a few meters of the color of my choices, hehehe!

Next, what shall I do with this material? I started to sketch and Google for image of chiffon blouses with laces. The great thing about chiffon that it is very soft and it fells right into place when you wear it, you know, so flow-ish. But, of course, you must wear lining for it too, and I get the best price for its lining - RM 10/meter (60 inches breadth). And I have also find some laces which is quite affordable.

Ok, I found several examples of blouses as below:

                                                                 

                                                            

                                                            

                                                               

*pictures are from Google

So, the idea is something like that. I am not really good with detailing (neither I am with drawing  hehee!) , but I know, I want every blouse to have different design and detail. Not every blouse required lace, but I will design that it will be long to my above knee area and the breadth must be as wide as the material can be. So blouses with details at the sleeve area, lace along the end and once it is done, maybe I'll sew my own beads on top of it (if time permits, hehe!) So far, I have design five different blouses, I hope it turns out well, haha!

So, I sketched, hehe!

To incorporate the blouse to appropriate look, the next step is to find the right pants. I have realized that I am too dependent to jeans since I was young, and now, next year I'll be 28 years old, so it is about time to shift to more matured style. I think I will opt for Palazzo pants. The greatest thing about Palazzo is that it has wide leg cut. So, it does not `flaunt' your leg's shape. 

This one is from Pop Look. But, the waist measurement does not fit me.

                                                          

                                                          

This one if from Chic Yamada @ Fashion Valet. Chiffon lining material. I have tried once at Isetan, damn it feels good, but way,way, way expensive. I am so saving money for this one piece.

I have one by Munawarah Design, it is made of cotton jersey, slightly  heavy  yet comfortable.

This one is from Bhaju @ Wangsa Walk. Lycra material, so cheap 3 pieces @ RM 100. (Please ignore the Philea Resort complimentary slippers, hehehe!)

I have sent the material to the tailor. But, I am still very much looking for better design (while I know she will not do anything with my kain for the next 2-3 weeks). So, why don't you guys give me input to better enhance my latest creation? Hehehe! I owe you guys a lot, and thank you in advance! ;p

Hanie Adzman

                                                     

                                                         

                                                    

Philea Spa and Resort, Malacca

So, yes, I was super excited as I was invited to attend our division enablers away day. I talked about it everyday since last week, until Hajar (my office colleague) thought that I was crazy.

Anyway, we left slightly later than the rest of participants. We had last minute meeting that we had to attend, as the rest of enabler division left KLCC at 10 am. Hazeman was on annual leave and we had to go to Shah Alam first to run some laundry errands. Sharp at 10 pm, we left for Malacca.

We arrived at Philea nearly at 12 pm. Half closed eyes, we missed the entrance as it was right after Ayer Keroh tol. Arrived at the lobby, the committee left my door key at the receptionist. So, they brought a buggy to drive us to our room and we parked our car right at the parking area.

Once we arrived at our door, the buggy driver left us and our room was on the second floor. We both were so tired and I was so excited to get inside our room.So, we tried to open the door with the magnetic door key, unfortunately, it could not open. Wah! Such an awful way to start our much anticipated stay. I called the receptionist, requesting for an assistant on this matter.

5 minutes later, an assistance came with his master key, yet the door could not open. Hazeman was very cool (yalah, nak marah-marah pun, not the door will be magically open). The assistance requested for a new room since after his repeatedly effort, the door is yet to open. So, we got into the buggy again, and he sent us to out new room. Alhamdulillah, this time, the door successfully open, yay!

Ok, I was impressed with the interior. The special thing about Philea is it is the biggest resort made out of pine log. So, the rest of its interior was made of wood. The bath room, it consist of both bath tub and also shower. Along our ride to our room, we saw swimming pool and a short man made river. So yes, the design was very phenomenal. Two sleepy heads slept like no body's business until morning.       

                                     

                                     

                                        

                                      
                                   
The next morning, after we performed our Subuh, I had my bath, some one knocked on our door. We thought it was the bed maker or someone is sending the newspaper, to our surprise, it was our `neighbor' from downstairs. She complained that the moment we moved in, we made significant noise which intolerable to them. I was shocked as there were just two of us, and if it was too noisy, it must be our footstep noise. But, being civilized neighbor, we apologized for the mishaps and I basically tiptoed when I wanted to move around the room. Later, Hazeman discovered that they had provided us with slippers to be worn in the room to minimize the sound which effecting the other neighbors.  

So, I had already felt uneasy about our stay, at the same time, I was glad that we had stayed on the second floor. We left for breakfast at 8.30am, as my first break up session is at 9.00 am. I am not a picky eater, as long as ada pancake (read : lempeng), I am generously fine. On the other hand, Hazeman was not impressed with the food. He kept saying the food was plain, nothing extra ordinary and not appetizing. I guess, he had a high expectation as he was wow-ed with Philea interior and design.

Our first enabler session is basically to align every enable department of our division's mission and goal. I am so glad that I attended this session because it provides me with better understanding of how we the enablers had to work hand in hand to reach our divisional target and KPI. One thing that I adore about my current company is how we had always discuss, plan and execute on how to enrich the rest of the internal equity. And that is the reason why our internal equities are marketable. We finished the whole session at 6.00 pm with a feeling that by next year, I will be able to be the next engineer,hahaha!

Once we finished, I walked around the resort. True, it was astonishing! I visited the Spa, which was right in front of my cottage door. I didn't get to visit for any treatment because we had to prepare for out BBQ dinner.

That night, we had our BBQ dinner. Habis diet ku! Ruined! And I won a lucky draw, hahah! A Parkson's voucher! (so you know where will you find me this Friday during my lunch hour ;p). Hazeman still felt the food was plain and he does not seemed to enjoy his food.

Saturday came, it is our last day in Philea. We walked around the area, admiring on how much was spent to build this place. We were sure that the investors were anticipating a fast turn over as we seriously thought that they were spending lavishly both on the exterior and interior.

Overall, I had a wonderful stay in Philea (Hazeman said it was average). Despite some of the unexpected shortcomings, I thought they deserve credits on trying to facilitate the guest to feel at home. They arrived 5 minutes after we called them, they offered us to get on their buggy when they saw us walking around the resort area, they booked table for you when they saw you wondering for tables during meal time; I mean, to me that is already the best hospitality a resort can offer. I even saw a couple of bride and groom getting married in the resort. So, I guess we shall appreciate the beauty of the resort too.

On the other hand, they can improved on the food. I guess, it is true. A pleasant stay must be accompanied with good food (you know la, this Malaysian people,kan? Makan, makan, makanan ;p). I would also appreciate if they can counter the lalat attendance in the Nusantara dining area. I even smell some funny staff  around the pond area but I can tell that the same smell comes from pond yang dah lama tak dicuci. And yes, I saw two frogs yang mati katak along the way (which represent how near we are to the nature once you are in Philea, hehe!)

Anyway, Philea resort is a good gateway for the weekends. But make sure, you wear the provided slippers if you stay on the second floor! ;D

Hanie Adzman 

What's in store?

Yes, 2012 has come to its end. Looking back to what I have personally achieved, I must said I am pretty satisfied with it.

                                                  

2012 marked my second year of marriage with Hazeman. It has been wonderful, of course with some ups and downs. But if I may conclude, I couldn't asked for a better man to share this life with. He is not perfect, but completes me and sometimes he can read my mind, hehehe!

             

 

In getting pregnant, we are yet to conceive. Disappointed but that's Allah's grace. He gave us so many other wonderful things, but one this matter, He still put it uphold. Never mind, He knows the best.

Other than that, Mak (Hazeman's mother) left us in March. It was very fast and unexpected. Upon her leaving, we realized her lost was affecting many people. Some stuff better left unsaid.

The biggest step that I did in 2012 was making my way out of ISN to my current company. I was shocked with my own decision, of course but knowing myself, I really need to move as my time in ISN was nearing to 5 years and I am a person who does not appreciate establishment, doing the same thing for too long. It just does not work for me. So, here I am in Petronas for the fifth months.

Lavender Launderette mark its first year under our supervision and management. I couldn't believe myself that from only grumbling on the load of cloth that I have to wash and iron every weekend to Hazeman, it turned out to be our first step in establishing our own service business. I learnt a lot through out the way, and I am glad that we started this at a young age. 

So, what's in store for 2013? MANY!

I always looking forward for new challenge in life everyday. As January will be my confirmation month in Petronas, the long list of work definitely will double. Thank God my good Manager had successfully secured us a new admin clerk, which will be working with me closely. During our confirmation discussion,  she discussed on wanting me to her second hand (I guess that means, I am her third hand la,kan? ;p), as the eldest exec in our dept is leaving to another dept. So, yes, that's a new challenge for me. She specifically instructed that I have to know not only what's in my plate, but I must also know what's happening in others. So exciting!!! I will also be doing talent sourcing next year, so I guess it means my business trip and traveling episode will begin. Good luck, Hanie!

                                         

February will  be the month of our next step to expand our business. Being married to Hazeman, he always see opportunities. While we are on this page, he is already having something else in his head. The great thing about him is he always looking forward to share these opportunities with someone else. I am glad that he is surrounded with colleagues who have thought as his. You never know, one find day when he comes back from work, he might say that he already bought some cows to expand our business opportunities (not that he never mentioned this to me,ok?).  

March is Zharif's wedding month (we actually have two weddings this month, as my other cousin will also get married). So, we are handful with its preparation now and of course I am sort of the wedding planner. At this point of time, we have basically bought a few important stuff i.e. the wedding attires, hantaran stuff, bottle for the wedding favor (which we are yet to decide what shall be in it ;p) etc. We had already booked the dais, wedding card, catering and the wedding tent. And of course, the attire for the whole family members (including the aunties and cousins) are all sorted. Next, I must look for the decoration in front of the house, the favor - maybe cookies, tart nenas or I don't know, sweets? And not to forget, MUA for the brides. Checklist, checklist, checklist.

Ibu wants the same deco for Zharif's wedding, but yet I can find one..

We both decided 2013 must be the year that we buy our first property. Like I kept telling to ibu, we must own a property, either we will live in it or not, is another story. We have surveyed a few (obviously la,kan??), so April will be, inshaAllah, the month for our first big step in owning our own property. Why April? Mestilah sbb nak tunggu bonus, hahahah! InshaAllah, if everything goes well, our second dream will come true (first dream is to get pregnant, of course!)


Have you guys dream of going to Umrah at this young age? We have. Both Hazeman and I had talked about it since September. We think it is about time. Allah had granted so many of our wishes and what other form of appreciation should we show Him? Ibu and Ayah had booked their flight to Mecca on late May (during school holidays) and maybe we shall follow them too. InshaAllah...please pray for us.

The rest of the year, I have plan that:

i) We must go back to Kelantan every month. This is a must. We must plan our trip properly so that we don't end up driving back from Kelantan on Sunday night, and then we have to work the next morning (which happened to us last week; we reached KL at 6.00am and i went to office at 7.00 am. Thank God Hazeman was on leave). Beside, I love going back to Kelantan, going back to see the families and of course, the good food.

ii) We must plan when to visit Kuching. I missed Kuching so much! I miss the food, the people that I know from there, I miss Pasar Satok and Green House Cafe in Satok, I miss shopping at Serikin too. Kuching is the place where I learn so many things about Hazeman. We got to spend so much time together.  Remember, I traveled back and forth Kuching as soon as we got married in 2010? I will definitely keep looking for cheap tickets at Air Asia to Kuching. Let's hope for the best!

iii) I must at least get rating 2 for my overall performance of 2013. Hahaha! Gile tak? Nah, this is just something that Hazeman and I talked about when we had our morning jog (when time permits). He basically challenged me on what will I do (aside to my normal KPI) differently at my work, within my capability and eventually achieve rating 2. Hehehe! Well, everything starts with a dream! ;p

And of course, ultimately, we want to be pregnant by 2013. We will be 28 years old  and it is really the time. We both have discussed what's in plan, what are the choices and when and how to execute them one by one. InshaAllah, we just got to keep putting effort and never stop the prayer and don't lose faith towards each other. I see Hazeman putting every effort for this, and I will do the same as what are we working for today is basically for our children and of course for the rest of our family.

So,there you go, 2013's plan. May everyone have another fruitful year of 2013. Both Hazeman and I wish everyone a good yeah ahead! =)

Hanie Adzman

  

My generation

Have you guys heard on this Gen-X, Gen-Y and Baby Boomers' theory? Well, here in my current company, they acknowledge this theory while the management is trying to adapt and accommodate with these differences between the three groups/ generation. We have flexible working hour and smart casual Friday outwear, just to name a few initiative by the company.

Base on my reading on Wikipedia:

" The phrase Generation Y first appeared in an August 1993 Ad Age editorial to describe teenagers of the day, which they defined as different from Generation X, and then aged 12 or younger as well as the teenagers of the upcoming ten years.^[1] Since then, the company has sometimes used 1982 as the starting birth year for this generation.^[2] "Generation Y" alludes to a succession from "Generation X."

Millennials are sometimes called Echo Boomers, due to the significant increase in birth rates during the 1980s and into the 1990s. In America, the birth rate of the Echo Boom peaked in 1990. ^[3] Millennials are mostly the children of baby boomers or Gen Xers.^[4][5][6][7] The 20th century trend toward smaller families in developed countries continued,^[8][9]however, so the relative impact of the "baby boom echo" was generally less pronounced than the original boom."

Even the UN acknowledge the theory:

So, yes, most of us, (if you are about my age), we are the Gen-Y. We have different traits then the other two, and the traits are distinctively different. If you really look around you,  we are actually dealing with so many different traits. Even, now as an Human Resource personnel, I came to be sensitive towards this matter. If the same question posted to me by different generations, the way to answer the questions are not the same (even though, the answer is actually the same). And the hardest group of people to deal with is my group - the Gen Y.

Sometimes, my group of gen are too confident. They asked too many questions, sometimes are not related (sometimes I felt that they wanted to go against the policy too). I met with some people of my gen who resigned just because they don't like working office hour, or when they can't be working from the Starbucks during office hour. I have encounter some people who met the Senior General Manager just because they don't have their own desktop and working cubicle, 1 week after they reported duty. 

I also met some of my friends who quit their stable job to pursue their dreams. I have one friend who `temporary' quit working in one of the best attorney firm to do online business (and I heard he has started to received orders from other part of the countries, travelling overseas to find materials for his cloth). If you know Vivy and her husband from Fashion Valet, they are graduates from UK, and look what are doing now, selling cloth! (literally, hehe!). I knew another friend one mine, she quit her job at the most appealing pay, just to be with her kids and home school them. And if you are aware, there are so many people are doing online business, running part time wedding consultant business (be it preparing DIY pelamin, chocolate booth, sewing beads on wedding dresses, you name it!) etc. I guess, our generation focus on personal life (family, own dreams, own flexibility) that we aren't afraid to do something different from the rest. 

The same goes when we decided to operate our first laundry shop. My parent (as in ayah), he couldn't understand why do we have to open a laundry shop. He thought it is yet the time for us to do two things at one time, there will be too many responsible comes with it and all. But, now after 1 year, he has started to be more supportive and especially that we are moving to our second plan on this business next year and looking at how well the business now, alhamdulillah.

So, yes, we are different people and we work together despite the differences. But, I would like to highlight that no matter how different we are from any other people around us, practice respect to the rest. This is very important. It is a waste that you graduated with CGPA 4.0 in Oxford, but you do not know how to say thank you to other people who facilitate your daily work ( I met a lot of these people. Selagi tak dpt apa yang diaorg nak, they will called, emailed you every other day. Once dah dpt, thank you email pun tak nampak. So much for a good engineer). Or, you don't bang into you Senior General  Manager because you are not satisfied with what you are assigned to (SGM is the highest man in a division, ok, just right after the Vice President, ok?). There are many tactful ways to handle your daily hiccups, you know; which I think most of my gen people are still very lack in.

The materials are from Executive Office, Talent Management Team, United Nations Joint Staff Pension Fund

New York Secretariat Headquarters

So, are you the multitasking Gen-Y? ;D

Hanie Adzman

p/s- Those chiffon lovers, Gulatis are having crazy sale tau. They are selling chiffon at RM 8.50/meter (usually it was RM 20.00++ per meter). So, go get them! This shall be my next project! ;p

                                                             

pictures are all from Google Image

Spa Reviews

I love spending (read : wasting) time at the spa. It has all started when muka dulu banyak sgt pimples. So I was trying all sorts of facial products, but none worked. Ibu suggested me to visit this one salon in Taman Melawati for facial treatment, and the rest is history.

Ok the very first spa I visited was Salinas Salon. Ok, it shouldn't be classified as a spa, but the treatment that Aunty Salina gave was great. She is the only spa owner who remembers my name (yes, because I visited her salon every other month, weeee.. ;p). Her salon might not have the best interior with all this Javanese music to calm ke apa ke, but she is very experienced that when she massaged, memang habis keluar semua angin dalam badan ni, hehe! Sometimes, I felt sorry to orang yang massage my body because diaorg asyik sendawa as if there is a big baloon in body which will explode,haha! Yang lagi best, her body scrub product is so wangiiii (see extra `i' to show the extra wangi-ness ;p). So, if I went there to do scrub, Aunty will asked me to jump in into her sauna box, then she'll do the scrub and habislah riwayat kulit-kulit mati, yay! Aunty Salina used a lot of product from plant based, so yes, that was an extra umph!

The second spa I visited was Serenity Spa in Setiawangsa. Happened to go there because Aunty Salina was booked up. So, as usual, I entered the spa, requesting for facial treatment, 1 hour massage and scrub. So, the beautician started to do her magic work while trying to make conversation with me (while I always prefer a silent during treatment because I want to sleep), and suddenly she was introducing products and saying different price for different product. At that very moment, I knew this will be my first and last visit. I believe that this sort of conversation should be carried out during our discussion prior the treatment, not while I was on the treatment bed, berkemban and trying to sleep. That's a no-no rule for me. But, to do justice, the spa's interior is nice and I guess the surrounding which slightly secluded from the road were an additional point, so sunyi je while the treatment goes. The price was average, so, yes, I never visit them again. They used one of this Malaysian brand, if I am not mistaken was...ala, yang botol purple tu..hem..ok, I don't remember.

Next was Dewi Day Spa in D' Wangsa area (behind Wangsa Walk, the same row of Tutti Frutti). The beautician was an Indonesian and I was impressed with the interior of the treatment room. I believe that the quality of the treatment was average and they didn't mention what product that they were using. I only came for massage and scrub, and as usual, of course after any scrub session, your skin will be as smooth as the babies' ;p.
                                                        

Since I was not really impressed with both of the spas, I went back to Aunty Salina. I still love her magic hand, and how she performed her treatment, bersungguh-sungguh sangat! And yes, she is just way experience and I even visited her for my pre-wedding spa treatment (and she came to my wedding day, bagi some home spa product as my wedding give,hehehe!)

Tanamera is the spa that I visited with Fafa last year. It was a last minute arrangement and both us need some relaxation time and we wanted to try something new. So, we google for some spa and stumbled upon Tanamera in Sooka Sentral, next to KL Central. Called them and booked for 2-3 hours treatment (we just finish our morning jog, dengan tak mandinya, terus headed to the spa bringing extra cloth). Ok, the interior was average but the treatment was wow! The manager, Ms. ___, came in and say hello to both of us. They thought we were university student ;p We opted for hair treatment, massage and body scrub. Not only the therapist was experience, but they let us choose our scrub type (i.e salt, some herbal stuff), they explained the benefits of each type and siap bau-bau lagi each type, hehe! My therapist was very nice, inquiring on what is my concern of my body that she can help with massage, she shared some related petua and stuff and I know I will come back to visit them. The scrub was properly done and we were 2 happy customers of Tanamera Spa, hehe!

Now that I kept going to Shah Alam, I thought I should try any spa in the nearby area of my laundry. So, I visited Amdamai Spa, located in the shop lots next to PTPL, the same row of AmBank. My first beautician was Ira, young girl from Kedah. So, she allowed me to choose my scrub type, and I opted for Mango scrub. Damn it was amazing, the smell and how it soothes my skin was absurd! Slightly expensive than other range but I have visited Andamai for 3 times, and I still choose Mango scrub. Interior was average but the Mango scrub hooked me up, haha!

Yesterday, I discover a new spa in front of Hospital Asunta- Khareyana Spa. This is the spa which the interior is to wow for! A bungalow house turns into a spa, with a big pond surrounding the area, open up area and the treatment room! Something that only pictures can justify (sebenarnya malas nak fikir ayat,hehe!). The therapist seems very experience, and I appreciate the fact that she left me to sleep with minimal chit chat. And she treats me with `dignity'. It means, she only see what she should and when she should see. The rest of my body was covered during the treatment which I felt so `secured'. As usual, the treatment started with me choosing the oinment (I chosed Green Tea for the refreshing smell) and ends with lulur treatment. In every treatment room, there are bath tup and shower, so, I don't need to berkemban, getting out from the treatment room to the shower, hehe! While waiting for the receipt done, they served me ginger tea and cuts of watermelon. I am so malas to google for their pic, but check them out at FB,ok?

Overal, I only visited spa when I had nothing to do on weekends, or I felt so tired that I need some me time. And defenitely, I will re-visit Khareyna Spa. I just love it. Maybe next week? Who knows!

Hanie Adzman