The Love we Deserve

We accept the love we think we deserve.

That's a quote from a book, The Perks of Being a Wallflower (by Stephen Chbosky), which was really good. It's a beautiful story of a troubled boy who finds hope in a seamlessly hopeless world. I know the movie's coming out, but I recommend you to read the book first. This entry is not about the book by the way, since I've already wrote the review before. Instead, I'd like to talk about the quotes.

I was inspired to write this after having a "YOLO" conversation with a friend yesterday.  

Well, sometimes giving someone your everything doesn’t seem like enough. That's why there questions like, why hasn’t this been working? Why do some stay in unhealthy relationships? Why do some reject those who love them? Why are some so lucky? 

The truth is, we accept the love we think we deserve.

The way we're treated is dictated by ourselves, not others. If you don’t think you deserve to be treated the way you are, the only thing keeping you from walking away is yourself. We’re sad when we think we have the right to be sad. We’re angry when we think we have the right to be angry. So why don’t we love when we think we have the right to be loved?

There's no handcuff of silence. It’s okay to forgive and admit you're wrong. But it’s also okay to leave, walk away from the emotional abuse of that relationship, and don’t settle because you don’t think you can do better. We're imperfect beings. But our imperfections are neither reasons to stay nor leave. We can always do better for others and for ourselves. Your choice is whether the trials pave a road worth traveling.

Allow those around you to love you and love those who surround you. Don’t settle for less and don’t cut yourself short. Because at the end of the day, the love we accept is the love we think we deserve.

I love you. ;)

The Greatest Love of All

It’s not easy to let go. Or is it? We agree that there are things harder than letting go of what we love. Yet, sometimes that’s exactly what we have to do. Sometimes we love things that we can’t have. Sometimes we want things that are not good for us. And sometimes we love what's forbidden (specifically in Islam). To let go of these things is hard. Giving up something the heart adores is one of the hardest battles we ever have to fight.

But what if it didn't have to be such a battle? What if it didn't have to be so hard? Could there be an easy way to let go of an attachment? Of course there is. Find something better.

They say you don’t get over someone until you find someone better. As humans, we don’t deal well with emptiness. The pain of emptiness is too strong. A single moment with an empty spot causes excruciating pain. That’s why we run from distraction to distraction, and from attachment to attachment.

In the quest to heal the heart, people speak a lot about breaking the false dependencies. But then there’s always the question of ‘how?’ Once there's a false attachment, how to break free? It's often too hard. We get addicted to things and can’t seem to let them go. Even when they hurt us and damage our lives and our bond with God. We just can’t let them go because we're too dependent on them. And so, even when we struggle to give them up, we often abandon the struggle because it’s too hard.

I think it's because we haven’t found something we love more to replace it. So in letting go, the answer lies in love. Fall in love with something greater. As in Islam, it's best to love Allah more than anything. So even when trouble gets in the way, we go through it with patience, prayers and faith. The love of God is the greatest love of all. :)

Inspired by Yasmin Mogahed 

“Allah sometimes gives and sometimes takes. He is sometimes pleased and sometimes displeased with our deeds. Whether a thing is beneficial or harmful to me, I will remain firm in my belief and remain thankful to my Creator.”— Prophet Ayub (a.s)

Dear Bilbo Baggins

I must say that The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey was such an epic story! It told a story of Bilbo Baggins and his greatest adventures 60 years ago. The quest was recruited by Gandalf to help the Dwarfs reclaiming their kingdom from a dragon. They dealt with so many challenges during their journey like encountering Trolls, Orcs, Goblins, Giant Stone and Gollum. 

The riddle game between Bilbo and Gollum stood out as the best part in the film. I laughed so hard I almost fell off my seat. :p Gollum's one of the freakiest creatures I've ever seen, with his intense facial expression and creepy voice. Gosh, recalling the scene could still make me laugh. LOL! Andy Serkis did a very good job. 

The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey

And of course, Bilbo was my favorite character. Martin Freeman's portrayal of Bilbo was pitch perfect, right down to the small hand movements and facial gestures, capturing the self doubt, humor, and mannerisms of dear Bilbo. I love Bilbo as he's not only clever, but also ethical, even with his opponent. His performance was one of truly special elements (aside from the brilliant, haunting musical theme and beautiful scene) that make the film feel fresh. And there's the ring. The ring that would lead to far more gruesome adventure. I thought if only Bilbo didn't take the ring and returned it to Gollum instead, things would be different. Well, that's how LOTR started anyway. 

I'm really looking forward to watch the next sequels! ^^

RIP Young Lives

Can't believe what I was hearing about the school shooting in Connecticut that killed 28 people, including 20 innocent children. My heart shattered to pieces. I'm still so angry inside that someone would ever want to take life from any human at all, let alone human as innocent as those kids. It's even harder to be grasped when I read the profile of suspected killer, Adam Lanza. You can read it here:

Adam Lanza: Profile of suspected US school shooting gunman

He's a nerd! A smart boy with major issues. And he's also said to be an autistic. How could an autistic boy kill people? And out of everyone, why children? I mean, they're just kids, for God's sake. 

Adam Lanza was truly insane, or maybe he's hallucinating or didn't comprehend reality. Whatever. Kids were killed. We've been saddened enough by the dead children in Palestine, now another tragedy came up, it's just too much. If the world's going to end soon, then be it. Can you live in a world where humanity fades and even adults kill children? 

they're among the victims. RIP.

 Deepest condolences to the families of the victims.

When Hard Work is a Joy

Food Product Development (FPD) is one of the subjects that I take for this semester. As a part of assessments, we're divided into teams to establish companies and develop new innovative food products. My team, Yummy Kids World Sdn Bhd have developed soy pancakes, namely Yummy Tummy Pancake, and yes, we're targeting on children since we fell under category of food for 5 to 6 year-old kids. This is the reason I spent most times in labs and to be frank, it's the most challenging subject so far. All of us have worked so hard until the day of FPD Exhibition and Competition 2012, which was yesterday at our faculty (School of Food Science and Nutrition). 

The event was a collaboration between faculty and Adabi Consumer Industries Sdn Bhd. So the judges of competition consisted of our lecturers and Adabi team including the president of Adabi, Mr Abdul Hady. The products include soy pancakes (ours), instant cereal drink, sweet potato brown rice crackers (best booth), spinach biscuits, breakfast cereals, energy bars (2nd place), mix chicken cake (3rd place), chicken-filled croquette (best product - 1st place), ravioli with dhal paste, chicken balls, seaweed and hinava flavored pizza, and fish patties. I loved them all.

The judges went from booth to booth for product testing and judging, which was both nerve-wrecking and exciting. They gave us constructive feedback including comments and suggestions, and we're delighted when one of lecturers praised us saying "I've never tasted such a delicious pancake before. Your pancake is even better than the ones that are served in hotels. I love it and if I were you, I'll take the challenge to sell this product in future." Touché! ^^

Even though we only won the consolation prize, it's still a joyful day. Besides, we didn't expect to win at all because the bottom line is that we wanted to learn and have more experiences for future's sake. And yes, I've learned so many things and had fun in so many ways. I enjoyed working with my team and together we've made unforgettable memories. We've also had so much fun with other teams and been very supportive all this time. Congrats to my friends who won and I'm wishing the best for all of us in next chapters. 

our developed food products.

my team: Yummy Kids World Sdn Bhd

we made it!

they won The Best Booth.

me and Umi, my best friend and one of the team members that won The Best Product .

with my Chinese friends.

It's fun to be a food technologist. ^^