The last seven days was a torture as my WiFi connection went lost. We had miscommunication with UniFi on the bill as we didn't receive any visual of it so it was overdue more than RM300. Ain't nobody got the money to pay right away so my mom had to wait for her payday which led me to seven days of going offline from the internet.

Though I didn't have WiFi, it's a relieve that I have few draft posts in my blog so I just had to open my blog on my phone and click the publish button so my blog won't go a week without a new post. But, it was stressful as I didn't get to do blogwalking, playing online games and updating my K-drama episodes. So these are what I did for the week.

Went Out 
Having no WiFi made me finally came out of my bedroom and seeing the world. I went window shopping and spent some evenings enjoying the sea breeze at Lumut. Didn't realize that there's a lot to see rather than staring on my laptop screen, tsk.

Exercise
I have an exercise bike at home and finally rode it after almost a month just staring at it. But my butt hurt as hell as the seat is hard and small, may be a sign for me to start going out and jogging instead.


Update Portfolio
I'm planning on applying for a new job and master study so I have to update my portfolio but I never got the chance to do it (read : too lazy and too focus on the internet). Since WiFi was gone, my portfolio finally showing progress and I think I could finish it by next few days, yeay!


Read Books
I seriously am not that rajin to read books as I love reading blogs more. So the past week I got the chance to grab and read some of the books untouched in my bookshelf when there was no WiFi (finally started reading the fourth book of The Maze Runner series, The Kill Order).

Organized Things
My bedroom was a resemblance to a jungle, the closet and bookshelf was messy. My dad told me to organize my bedroom hundred times a day but I ignored it as the internet took my attention. Finally did it while nothing distracted me.

I never realized how productive my days would've been if I didn't be on my laptop for 24hours a day. I really should spend some time off the internet. Soz.

What you do when you have no WiFi?

Till then,
Lya.

This post is inspired from Erin (go check hers out) so here we go.

1. http://diarialiazmi.blogspot.my/ is my first URL, I never changed it as changing it means losing my traffic.

2. The blog started off with the title 'Diari Cik Gadis' - euw, I know. I plan to create a new title but I guess I'm not creative enough to come up with one at the moment.

3. I've never spend money on my blog but I will soon as I want to change my domain to (dot)com and it requires payment.

4. As I never spend money on my blog, I never purchase a premium template. I don't know what's the differences between the premium and free template but for me, most of the free one are more than okay.

5. I've never join any giveaway because I believe luck isn't with me as I never win any lucky draw before for the past 24 years of my life. But I think it won't hurt to try so if I find any giveaway that I'm interested in, I might join it.

6. Though it's been 6 years since I started blogging, I've never met any blogger friends before. I'd love to hang out with you guys sometime so hit me up if you have a plan to!

7. I always spend time to visit each blogger who left their footprint in my blog and do my very best to read their posts as they've read mine. I appreciate my readers, I mean, who doesn't?

8. I'll create a new draft post whenever I got a blog post idea as my brain couldn't save them. I'll jot down my blog post ideas in my notebook if the laptop isn't in front of me (I carry my notebook around all the time).

9. I blogged in Malay before decided to change the language in English in mid November 2016, just because. (but I occasionally use rojak Malay-English)

10. I don't have a certain niche, let's just say that I write whatever I feel like to. But I sort my posts in categories so it's easier for my readers to find what they seek for.

11. I don't have a blog schedule which I find is unorganized for my blog so I plan to make one.

12. I use justify mode for the paragraph of my blog posts as I think it's neat and more appealing to the eyes.

13. I always listen to music while writing a blog post because somehow the soothing melody acts as ideas generator for me.

14. I read my draft post 4-5 times to check any spelling or grammar errors before hitting the publish button. But I don't think my posts are completely free from these errors since English is not my forte.

15. As Mayy Jie said, I'm a fan of my own blog too, teehee.

Now, you should share yours!

Till then,
Lya.

While doing blogwalking and scrolling down Zety's blog archive, I stumbled upon her post about what she missed out for not taking the chance she had for once in her lifetime. So I thought to write about mine. 

This would take me back when I was 18, a high schooler graduate. As long as I remembered, my ambitions I wrote in the three sections in my report card had never change in this sequences : 1. Architect, 2. Teacher/Lecturer, 3. Policewoman. 

I wanted to be an architect because I love drawing so much and I knew I have talent in that area but my parents wanted me to be a language teacher/lecturer. I mean, I'd love to be a teacher/lecturer but instead of majoring in language, I preferred mathematics or art. So my parents agreed to let me apply for a mathematics teacher in Institut Pendidikan Guru (IPG). For UPU application, I applied for architecture-related course for the first 5 rows and language-related course for the last rows (upon my mom's request).

I was called in for an interview for both in IPG and UiTM (architecture). Unfortunately I failed IPG's interview (till this day I'm so disappointed that I failed) so I waited the result for UiTM's. I was more than ecstatic when I was offered a place in UiTM for architecture course that I applied so I accepted it without hesitation.

I can't remember when was the result but I had to wait for nine months until the semester started. So one day, I stayed at my uncle's house in Ipoh, accompanied my brother who had a squash tournament. I went out to see my brother and left my phone at home that day and when I returned, I found three miscalls from an unknown number. I'm not someone who's eager to know who the hell called me so I ignored it. 

Exactly at 4pm, that unknown number called me again and turned out it was from IPG! They're offering me a full sponsorship program to be studying in Beijing, China and will be offered a job as a teacher when I return back home in Malaysia. I was so happy I got the offer to study abroad but the major I got offered was Chinese language (I swear if it was Korean, I wouldn't hesitate to accept the offer, hiks). Also, I had to give them the answer by 5pm and my parents were nowhere near me to give their opinion at that time so I made the decision to decline the offer. Besides, I already had accepted UiTM's so I think it's not much of a regret to decline it.

I think the offer was made to me because nobody wanted it. I mean, it made no sense that they offered me the place since I applied for mathematics, not Chinese language but I'm glad I was offered anyway since it'll forever be an unforgettable offer I got.

Now that I've gone through the hardship in architecture course and how bad our economy is currently in (I even lost my job due to lacking of projects) I sometimes regretted that I declined the offer. I even have a wishlist to learn Chinese and if I accepted the offer, I'll be fluent in Chinese by now already.

But every choice happened for a reason and mine turned out not that bad after all. I'm doing what I love and I've met really good people, Anarchive, my batchmate whom I know will always be there for me if I ever need them. I also got to brush up my sketching skills and I believe, having knowledge in building-politic-related things is a gift from studying architecture itself. 

The good turn out actually could overshadow the regret I feel so I still am happy with my life. Who knows what the future hold for me, I might have the chance to study abroad again, hope so.

Do you have any once-in-a-lifetime chance that you missed?

Till then,

Lya.

These are my everyday essentials which I can't go a day without except when I'm away from home for travelling.

Handphone

My Oppo N1 Mini is three years old already and still functioning so well. It's my first ever smartphone which was a present from my dad so it has sentimental value for me. The most important thing there is in my phone is my contact lists as I never jotted them down in a notebook. But I do remember my parents' number, thanks to their unchanging phone number for the past 24 years.

Laptop

Asus Republic Of Gamer is my first ever laptop that I bought using my own money so I treasure it a lot, like I never let any dust reside on it. I never miss to be on my laptop every night especially for my freelance works. I also do blogging only on my laptop as the phone screen isn't big enough to have a satisfying blogging experience. Other than that, of course, watching my favourite K-drama and online gaming, I can't survive without these two.

Earphone, headphone and power bank

As music is my sugar dose, I can't live without these two. I use headphone when I'm using laptop while earphone when I'm using phone. I have a bad habit of listening to music while sleeping and I use earphone for that purpose. On top of that, I charge my phone using my power bank at night as my phone's battery went drained for the day. Charging my phone using power bank + listening to music using earphone while sleeping is a bad combination, I know.

Notebook and pens
Though I have lots of notebook but I usually use only one, the British flag notebook in the photo above which was given by my brother. I jotted important notes such as account details, work-related notes, blogging ideas, simple sketches and even wrote diary in it so I'll be miserable without this notebook. The pens I use for writing and sketching are Artline 220 Super Fine 0.2mm tip in black and blue colour. I always carry the notebook and the two pens in my bag.

Contact lenses and glasses

As I mentioned before here, I couldn't live without contact lenses as I think that I'm hideous wearing glasses. I wear contact lenses even if I just want to go to a nearby market. Though I wear contact lenses the most, glasses is still an essential to me as I wear them when I'm staying home.

My everyday simple make up and my favourite bracelet

Just like contact lenses, I wouldn't step out of my house without applying my simple make up routine, except when I went for sport activities such as jogging or hiking. Along with the make up, I'll wear a bracelet too as I'd feel incomplete without something on my wrist. Though I have tons of bracelets, I always wear the one in the photo above as it's my favourite.

What's your everyday essentials?

Till then,

Lya.

I remembered that I was 12 when I last went hiking, on a school trip for camping at that time so I might as well say that this is my very first time hiking as a grown up. I went hiking at Peak 300 in Teluk Batik, Perak with my family yesterday. We got nothing to do after lunch so my dad made the suggestion. We started trekking the hill at 2.30pm.

Fun fact : The hill is called Peak 300 because the peak is 300m above sea level. The trek to reach the peak is about 2km long and has 9 checkpoints marked for hiker's reference.

We first met a Chinese mother and her son before going uphill but heck yea, they overpass us and even returned before we reach the peak.

I was so excited the moment I saw the first checkpoint.

We went hiking without doing any research on the hill, so we got excited when we discovered a river stream along the way as we thought there'll be waterfall at the peak.

And there, we made it to the peak after an hour and 20 minutes but no sight of the waterfall, not even a beautiful scenery of the sea from afar like how I imagined it would've been. But the hiking was worth it nonetheless, maybe a road to achieve my losing weight resolution. We spent quite some time at the peak to regain our energy and descended the hill for about 50 minutes. We reached the entrance at 6.00pm and went home feeling exhausted.

I researched a bit about the hill before I write this post and it turns out there is a waterfall but you'll have to go downhill on another trek for about an hour. I believe not many people know about this waterfall as I can't find any photo of it in google. 

Click here for Mr. Ching Neng Bin's story of the trekking journey.

For a newbie like me, the trek would drain you but it's bearable as it's not steep slope all the time so go and check it out if you happen to be in Manjung.

I wish to get to the waterfall someday, very curious of the view.

Do you guys have any hiking experience?

Till then,

Lya.

I thought of posting an entry on January wrap up but I definitely didn't realize it has passed two weeks ago already. Might because of my hectic schedule since I had to move out of my rented house in Perlis as I've resigned and be back in Perak, also my cousin's wedding ceremony which took two weeks of my weekend occupied.

So I didn't get a chance to buy a planner on January, but I got it a few days back at Mr.DIY in Ipoh Parade. Actually, I hadn't own a planner for years as I usually abandoned it after a few months but I want to be more organize this year so I decided to buy one, aside from the inspiration I got whenever I see a blogger posts about his/her planner collections.

So this is how the front cover looks like and it is a hard cover which I preferred. I actually don't like green colour but this one is exceptional as the colour combination with the flowers pattern below is so adorable! I bought it at RM8.90 which to me is very cheap since most ugly planner I found in various bookstores costs up to RM19.90. 

The other half of the pages has lines like normal notebook, I might just use this section as a diary whenever I feel like to and of course, jotting down blog post ideas in here.

I'm satisfied with my new planner, though I don't know whether it'll be put to a good use for the year or I might left it untouched starting in the middle of June like I usually did before? Let's hope I won't do that sheesh and hopefully this good habit I'm planning to do will continue for years to come.

I hope you think that I made a good choice of buying this cute planner.

Did the January section of your planner full of notes already?

Till then,

Lya.

*source

The last time I went to Genting Highland was when I was 17, followed a school trip. I can barely remembered the feeling being on a roller coaster. To my delight, the family decided to spend one night in Genting, while on the journey to Johor for my cousin's wedding.

We spent our night in The First World Hotel since the price at that time wasn't expensive as it was off-peak season. One Standard Room which would cost up to RM500 during peak season was offered RM50 at that time, when booked with Booking.com. We chose two rooms which connect together, one of the rooms comes with two single beds while the other comes with one queen size bed. The room was so cozy and cold even without an air-cond since the temperature was below 20 Celsius.



Actually, I went to Genting with the mind of going on rides in the indoor theme park since the outdoor one is under construction but to my disappointment, the indoor theme park was under construction too so it was closed! We had no choice but just to look around and went to Sky Avenue.


After a while, we decided to go to the Ripley's Believe It Or Not museum where they display over 500 exhibitions regarding the show. The ticket costs RM25 for one adult, can't remember the price for a child though. Right after we're done with the museum, we went on the ride that go around the area which was so slow, you could've fall asleep if you're sleepy. It costs RM10 per person for one round but the kind staff gave us another round after we pleaded with our puppy eyes.

On the ground floor, right downstairs of Ripley's Believe It Or Not museum, there was a haunted house and my brothers and cousins decided to test their bravery by entering it. I must admit that I don't have the courage to enter any haunted house ever since I was a child, so I declined their persuasion to go in. Cameras weren't allowed in there but as far as my brothers told me, the haunted house was one of the most scary haunted house they've ever went to so the RM25 per person entry fee was worth it.

Finally at 6pm, we went to the Snow World which was located at the near end of the mall on the first floor. Before entering, we were given a sweater, gloves and boots to help us overcome the cold in there. I must say that the Snow World was the highlight of Genting while the theme park is still closed as it was the most fun thing to enjoy. The ticket is quite pricey, RM38 per person but it was totally worth it.




And that's the end of our time in Genting Highlands. The next morning, we took a walk outside the hotel and shortly after, continuing our journey to Johor. Though we didn't get to enjoy the theme park, I still love the short escape as the weather is so nice and the time spent with my family which I longed for.


I definitely will come back to Genting when the theme park is open again, I want to ride the roller coaster!

Till then,
Lya

If you read my 'About' section, you'll know that I'm a fan of Harry Potter (HP) and any HP fan would love Hogwarts. I had the idea to draw Hogwarts since forever but was afraid it will not turn out as good as I imagined since the school setting is huge. I thought I wouldn't dare to take the risk of getting my drawing ruined and tore up countless paper of efforts but I glad I did it anyway.

This final masterpiece is actually my third attempt, hope it turns out well enough to your eyes (it's embarrassing to call this drawing as a 'masterpiece' myself but bear with me hiks).

Till then,

Lya

I've encountered so many new bloggers lately, even some of my friends started their own blog. I personally love new bloggers as I know they are at the peak of their passion of writing, thus the start of their blog. So as a six years senior blogger of yours, I would like to share a few tips on blogging with you.

Don't wait to be better

I know there are people who want to start blogging but don't have the courage to do so as they think that their writing skill is still lacking. Well, even though I started blogging six years ago, I still think of myself as an amateur as I keep learning new things on blogging even to this day. In life, you'll never stop making mistakes, thus you'll never stop learning. So it's okay to start bad because through practices, you will improve.

Read and read

Prior to the first tip, reading is the most basic thing to do to improve your writing skills. I believe that most of us had the urge to start a blog because of certain bloggers we admired and these bloggers are good at writing. All you have to do is to hit the blog archive and read everything in there to get the inspiration to write. Other than blogs, reading novels or non fiction books would be a help too. Just get your lazy eyes onto those pages and start reading.

Write What You Love

When you write about things you enjoy writing, you would naturally write with passion which would help you making good contents. So it's okay to not have a blog niche because as long as you write about what you love, with passion, people will be attracted to read your blog.

Make Your Blog Known

Ain't nobody gonna magically stumbled upon your blog without your effort of making it known to others. The easiest thing to do to make your blog known is by blogwalking and leave your mark either in their Cbox or leave comments in their posts, or better yet, both. A nature of a blogger would visit your blog in return, trust me. Also, I know you have tons of social medias such as Facebook and Twitter so just share your blog link in there.

So that's my tips for you new bloggers, I hope these could help you in any ways.

Do you guys have any extra tips to share?

Till then,
Lya.