Hiking at Bukit Tabur from Amalia on Vimeo.
This was my 6th visit to Bukit Tabur. I still can’t believe that this beautiful hill is just less than 30 minutes from the center of KL. It is definitely a challenging hill to hike, as you need to climb the rocks and walk along some dangerous vertical cliffs. But it’s so worth it and I love it.
These words are written by my colleagues during our 2-days team building event in Kampar, Perak. Each person had a paper sticked on his/her back, which can be written by others. It was a fun event full of craziness & adventure. I wish it could be much more adventurous though 🙂 I enjoyed it so much. For the first time of my life, I didn’t feel lonely.
But unfortunately, loneliness struck so easily as soon as I reached KL. Oh I wish I could be surrounded by loving people all the time…
After going through some rough times that I would even categorize them as depression, I am trying to get back up again and walk with my head straight to the future. It’s hard. I know it is. I will definitely face another roadblocks. Another challenge that can bring myself down to my knee. Especially when I have so few friends. But this time, I am determined to do this. I really want to get out from this dark room that I’ve been living for so long.
If Rumi and Hafez can depend on no one but the Beloved, why can’t I do it? I need to discipline my desire to have many friends that I can relate to inside out. I need to get used to the fact that I don’t have anyone to spend with during the weekends. I wanna stay at home, do nothing, and be OK with it. It’s definitely hard to do it, knowing that I’m a very social person. But its been 6 months and the situation is not getting any better. It was getting worst at one point. I need to start living with no social life. I need to stop having the urge to talk to people. I need to keep my emotion to myself. My stories to myself. My happiness and sadness to myself. I just need to change everything that I was known of.
This is not the nicest way to make me feel better. But I am running out of ideas. Each idea and each step that I did led me to another breakdown. It was not working at all, unless I have close friends that I can rely to and family friends that I feel so attached to. I miss teh Rita and mas Umar. I really do. They are my second family.
There is a hole inside my heart and no one can covers it at the moment. It’s getting bigger and it hurts so damn bad. I can’t cover the hole, but I can make it frozen so that the pain is temporarily gone. So that I will feel numb and eventually, I hope that I will realize that it’s OK to have no one. Because Allah is always with me and never leaves me.
And that’s what I am trying to do. I hope it’s working. InsyaAllah. Please keep me in your prayers.
When you have lived in Malaysia for few months, you know what I am talking about.
Yes, Malaysia is a multi-racial and multicultural country. Everyone knows that. But I find it intimidating that countless forms, both online or paper versions, belonging not only to government organizations but also commercial companies, contain the question of ethnicity. What does it have to do with anything? Tell me, why does a telecommunication company want to know your ethnicity? How about an internet company? What’s their purpose, really?
Yes, I proudly say I have 🙂
*Photo taken at the Islamic Arts Museum Malaysia
About 5 weeks ago, I was invited for an interview in an IT company in KL. A friend of mine who had been working there (and *loved* it) told me to apply. I was quite nervous about the interview, because I really wanted this consultancy job that I applied. The interview itself was surprisingly relaxing and it’s so different than other companies. It was not a one-to-one nervous racking question and answer sessions. It was more about group-based activity and how well you work as a team — which is definitely one of my strengths as I really love working in teams. During lunch, the candidates got to meet the “bosses” — again it was very relaxing and they were very friendly. As I love meeting new people, I took this opportunity as a way to engage conversation with them and to show them how BADLY I wanted to work at this company.
Alhamdulillah, few days later, I got a news that they wanted to hire me. I couldn’t imagine how happy and grateful I was. I couldn’t believe it!!! But I didn’t want to tell a lot of people about it as I still had to apply for the employment visa. What if my visa application was rejected?! I kept on praying that this wouldn’t happen.
Finally, my visa was accepted within two weeks of applying! This was soooo fast! I was told that normally it would take more than a month to complete. I was lucky indeed. Alhamdulillah.
So officially, today was my second day. It has been great so far. My boss and colleagues have been very nice and friendly. They always help me out whenever I have some problems. They are very casual (including my boss) — which is great! They would also make sure I wouldn’t go alone for lunch. The team that I have joined in is also a crazy, outgoing, and friendly team. Although there are only two girls (including me), I really enjoy talking to my team buddies. This is the reason why I try to have dinner with them after work so I can get to know them a little bit better.
InsyaAllah everything will run smoothly for the next few months and I hope I can learn, contribute, and grow in this company 🙂 Looking forward to it!
Today I was invited for a BBQ at a friend’s private orchard. We stayed there from 9am to 5pm, busying ourselves with eating, eating, and eating. LOL. Well, we did cut some bamboos for BBQ-ing and find some woods for fire. It was one of the best things I’ve done so far in Malaysia. I really loved to be here, away from the noisy city life. It was such a nice escape.
— is its parks and a small forest in the city. I love to be here. Sitting there under the sun while reading a book — it’s so soothing.
 
Once I’m done with my reading or people-watching, I’d go to a nearby cafe to have a hot chocolate or cappuccino 🙂
Life is good. I just wish that I can share this happiness with a close friend 🙂
Happiness is only real when shared
— Into The Wild movie
One day, my friend Nabilah asked me if I would like to join the aqiqah of her niece. This would be a great opportunity to meet locals and it would definitely be my first exposure to a Malay culture. So with no hesitations, I immediately said yes.
We drove to the nearby state, Selangor. Her sister’s house is located near the city of Klang. The house was in the middle of nowhere. It was in a village (or a kampung, as Malaysians say it). This was my first time going into a traditional Malay house. It was interesting. The house is two-storey. The living room and bedrooms are located in the upper part of the house. There is another living room in the bottom part of the house, with a slightly lower ceiling. At the back of the house, there’s a big kitchen and a bathroom. Just like in Iran, the toilet is located outside of the house.
When we arrived there, we were welcomed with lots of foods, as usual. It was a buffet. They put a tent outside where guests can sit and eat. Apparently, we missed out the actual aqiqah, so we were only there to eat and mingle with Nabilah’s extended families. Interestingly, Nabilah’s brother-in-law is a Malaysian of Javanese origin. Long time ago, many Javanese people came to Malaysia. Since I can’t speak Javanese, I can’t really figure out whether their Javanese language is the same as ours — but they can speak Javanese. Nabilah also said that their Malay accent is a bit different, perhaps more medok than the standard one :P.
I really enjoyed being in a kampung. It was very quiet, peaceful, and green. It was a nice escape from the noisy KL. I also forced myself to speak more Malay with Nabilah’s family. I really want to master it hahaha. It’s easier to mingle with the locals if you can speak their language — even though, yes, Malaysians generally understand Indonesian language just because they watch a lot of our sinetrons.
The next cultural experience for me would be the traditional Malay wedding. I was already invited to Nabilah’s friend’s wedding in September. I’m looking forward to it 🙂
Alhamdulillah for everything 🙂
