Psikologi dan perbelanjaan

perasan tak barisan gula-gula yang berwarna-warni di rak-rak berdekatan dengan kaunter pembayaran di supermarket? skittles la, M&Ms la kinder bueno la. memang geram sangat rasanya, apatah lagi kalau perlu beratur lama-lama tunggu giliran. memang geram rasanya nak ambil sebungkus gula-gula. 

ya, itulah gunanya kenapa gula-gula diletakkan di rak berdekatan dengan kaunter. sangat mudah untuk terus capai sahaja kinder bueno dan bayar. ataupun skittles. itulah hasil daripada psikologi. sudalah mudah dicapai, dalam saiz yang cukup sedap untuk digenggam pula. 

inilah cerita saya yang baru sahaja menggenggam sebekas nutella kecil dari kaunter buat kali kedua dalam seminggu. 

"Seronok ke dah habis belajar/ kerja?"

Seronok? Adalah seronok dan tak seronoknya.

Pertama yang paling seronok sekali adalah saya dapat guna apa yang saya belajar. Mungkin ramai yang selalu kata hanya guna 20% daripada apa yang kita belajar tetapi alhamdulillah, saya guna banyak ilmu saya sebagai seorang business consultant untuk software system. banyak sangat ilmu yang saya dapat dari Computer Science yang dapat saya guna sewaktu kerja. mungkin itu yang membuatkan saya seronok bekerja.

Kedua, dapat pegang duit. Bila dah bekerja ni, insyaAllah adalah sedikit duit di tangan, maklumlah, dah dewasa.

Bagi saya, yang seronoknya bila dah kerja, dapat tolong-tolong keluarga sedikit-sebanyak. Kalau dulu, selalu tengok emak duduk dalam bilik, asing-asingkan duit dalam sampul surat untuk bayar bil telefon, bil eletrik, dan bil air, contohnya. bila dah pegang duit sendiri, dah boleh cakap dengan mak, ' mak, bulan ini orang bayar semua bil mak.' rasa puas hati pula dapat bayarkan bil mak bila setelah sekian lama mak tanggung hidup kita.

Kami sudah kehilangan ayah. Jadi, yang dapat kami lakukan adalah membantu mak sebanyak yang mungkin. tidaklah banyak, yang mana boleh, kami lakukan. mak masih suka main masak-masak (saya panggil main masak-masak sebab mak suka sangat cuba-cuba resepi yang dia tonton di TLC). resepi antarabangsa pun mak suka cuba. jadi, sangatlah seronok kalau dapat belikan mak bahan-bahan yang dia nak untuk dia cuba-cuba masak. balik-balik pun, kami juga yang makan. jadi, tak perlulah berkira.

hobi mak yang lain pun boleh kami sokong. mak suka buat roti. kalau boleh nak belikan mesin pengadun tetapi sekarang sedang kumpul duit. yang ada buat masa ini, oven. seronok juga bila tiap-tiap minggu ada saja yang mak masak.

bila dah ada oven ni pula, mak sudah mula jual kek sikit-sikit. inilah yang buat saya sendiri makin berazam untuk simpan wang buat beli oven yang lebih besar.

jalan-jalan? tidaklah jauh sangat lagipun kaki mak dah tak kuat sangat. tapi kalau teringat mcm mana kecik-kecik dulu arwah apak hantar ambik kami seorang pada satu masa dengan menaiki motor untuk pergi dari rumah ke perhentian bas, rasa nak dapat sesuatu yang lebih dari itu. kalau tidak selalu pun, sekali-sekala. masa duit masih belum ada di tangan, mestilah tak boleh sangat nak bawak mak jalan-jalan dengan kerap dan selesa. tetapi alhamdulillah, sekarang dah boleh sikit-sikit.

memanglah kalau nak diikutkan, bekerja ini tekanannya lebih dari masa belajar dulu. dulu, boleh lagi malas-malas buat kerja, atau buat kerja saat akhir. sekarang, dah kerja, mana boleh macam dulu. sekarang pun dah rasa nilai duit tu macam mana, maklumlah, dah tau susahnya cari duit. itulah yang jadi berkira bila berbelanja, kadang-kadang.

kena fikir macam mana nak uruskan duit. tapi yelah, yang dapat faedahnya nanti pun diri sendiri. apa salahnya belajar sekali-sekala. tak begitu?

Kedewasaan

Definisi dewasa, bagi saya, bukan semestinya tentang beg tangan, mobile phone harga beribu-ribu atau kedai makan yang mana paling mahal untuk dikunjungi. tetapi, tabiat-tabiat yang dulu biasa dilihat di kalangan emak dan makcik, sudah saya warisi.

usia saya antara pertengahan dua puluh tahun.

sekarang, semakin kerap saya dan kawan-kawan berbual tentang cara-cara terbaik membersihkan barangan dapur samada menggunakan sabun atau pun soda bicarbonate. kalau dulu, perbualan lebih berkisar tentang penggunaan bicarbonate soda sebagai rawatan muka tetapi sekarang bagaimana bahan itu boleh digunakan untuk membersihkan oven di dapur. perbualan ini bukan dengan emak semata-mata, malah dengan kawan-kawan. kadang-kala berjela-jela jadinya.

beberapa kali juga saya terlajak mengajak teman-teman pusing-pusing cold storage. kalau mereka jenis yang suka masak kek, memang boleh dekat sejam pusing-pusing tengok cake, dan bekas bakar kek. itu belum masuk cheese lagi. memang boleh duduk di depan kaunter keju hampir setengah jam untuk tengok keju sahaja.

di social media yang lain pun lebih kurang sama. kalau ada yang ghairah berbual tentang baju dan beg tangan, kami sudah mula fikirkan untuk tulis buku tentang resepi makanan tengahari yang ringkas dan boleh disiapkan dalam masa sepuluh minit.

entahlah. rasanya berlainan sungguh kalau dapat rasa excited bila tengok mop lantai. rasa lain sangat bila gigih cari jenis detergent yang paling berkesan untuk kotoran di baju.

tetapi, tengok kartun pasti akan diteruskan. mak tengok, atuk pun masih tengok kartun. jadi, mengapa saya tidak teruskan?

Antara waktu kita

Antara jeda waktu yang terlopong,
Ada kita yang terpelongo menunggu takdir mimpi
Sedangkan nasib kita sudah jadi permainan
Di tangan.

Adakah kita betah untuk pegun dengan mata penuh rayuan?
Sedangkan tulang empat kerat masih mampu menduga cabaran
Jika pun dicatu emosi celaru, ditunggang nafsu.

Kita..kenapa tidak diisi jeda waktu tanpa terpelongo meraih laba tidak kunjung tiba?

Take control of our dreams and aspirations

I was once told by a friend to not pursue in my studies for languages. It was because she said that studying languages doesn't come with certs while studying for courses will give us an opportunity to work.

I was a bit disheartened and I let her comments affect me. I know I love learning languages, I can grasp it quite fast. But at that point of time (about five years ago), I just thought about working. I put a stop to my language learning and let her comment into my head. I shouldn't have done that.

I travel, sometimes. And having a grasp of languages can give us a certain edge. For example, knowing how to read mandarin can give a certain edge when we are in Japan. Let's not get to being in Japan; it helped tremendously. I only had three months to prepare for Japan when I was there during winter for a week. I couldn't get everything but at least when I went to the rural areas, I can understand instructions. That is more than enough to help me move in Kanagawa.

I have been travelling to Indonesia for quite a bit. It does help to greet them in their language and because of that, I have been commissioned quite often by a local company to translate Indonesian materials to English.

I learnt a bit of French. Although I don't use it much since I haven't been to Europe, it helped a bit when we bumped into French tourists and those from some French-speaking countries.

Not too bad huh?

Currently, I'm working on Japanese. Yes, there's a lot of ground to cover but what makes it different is I love doing it. I enjoy discovering and learning new vocabulary. To this point, I can read hiragana and katakana. It will only be a matter of time before I can read kanji; I truly believe in that. The reason why I don't enrol in Japanese classes yet is because I want to learn as much as possible on my own, at my own pace.

I have always dreamt of wanting to travel. And with my penchant for languages, I plan to open more opportunities for myself. Although someone commented that languages are not as important as a certificate in ITIL (although, of course, we can also enrol in that), I beg to differ.

So there you go. If you like drawing, don't let anyone stop you. Practice with pencil or colours and don't skimp on papers. One day, when you have money, invest in your hobbies. Believe me, you will be needing your hobby. Working is not all fun. An outlet to let all the stress go is very much needed. And turn the hobbies into income, I mean why not? Do you know that you can sell your designs with Society6?

In conclusion, take charge of your dream. If anyone tells us our love to doodle is going to be a waste of time, it's fine. They are entitled to their opinion but you must take charge of your life.

" It's like the instructions given by steward/ stewardess: Help yourself before helping others."

A bit on Touch and Go cards

Since I work, Touch N Go (TnG) card has become such an important part of my life for both train and RapidKL  bus service.

However, I notice most of the riders opt to use cash instead of TnG when they go on the bus when they can still save using the card. The 20% discount is actually still applicable until now. Although it does not look much, over the course of a month, the savings can actually add up. It is one of the ways for me to save money, not much but still fine.

Apart from using it for public t, I also use TnG when paying tolls. It is not as fast as Smart Tag but still, can save time by not having to carry a lot of cash; whether notes or coins. Of course, most people don't mind it but I'd rather have my coins put in my safe. Not a big safe but still a safe.

I also use my TnG card for other uses. Once, when the train fare has not been increased, I used my card to pay a meal in Chicken Rice Shop. Of course, you can say I can use my debit card but I like the act of having another card that I can use to pay for my bill. There's a discount for that but I cannot remember how much.

Now, I can remember the discount for Dunkin' Donuts. It was 10%. There's no minimum purchase with Dunkin' Donuts to pay with TnG, which I like. Yes, just a few ringgit or cents savings but savings are still savings. What I really like about my purchase then was no minimum purchase.

On top of that, I can use my TnG card at MyNewsPlus. I usually disembark at stations with MyNewsPlus early in the morning so I tend to get breakfast from them too. It's early in the morning and sometimes I'm too lazy to fish out my purse out of my bag. As a solution, I just use my TnG to pay for my purchase. It takes only a few minutes and I don't have to struggle with my coins in my purse.

These are some of the things I can do with TnG card. I am sure there are other uses for this card. So, anyone wants to share?

Checkout the benefits at the Touch And Go Personal page for more information.

P/S: Not a promotion but more on sharing.

A bit on online etiquette

have you ever felt that every single situation that you have gone through has made the person you are today?

like the sales job that you hated so much which made you lost your hair and only stayed for two months? or the customer service job (which you took up for four months) that caused you to cry on at least two occasions?

have you?

for some reason, i feel it now. just a musing.

the sales/ customer service job has helped me a lot in dealing with emails. it looked small but communication is always the key in the corporate world. yes, qualifications are important but we work with people too. good communication skill (whether on paper or verbally) makes a difference.

tip: always try to ask how the other person is doing in an email and end it with thank you. it actually creates a better atmosphere.

with us communicating using the computer, online etiquette is becoming more and more important. if we want to email people about asking for jobs, pay attention to the header. i've heard so many complaints on people applying for jobs without any manners. start the heading with 'Application for..'. In the email body, say hi, introduce  ourselves and tell them what we are applying for before proceeding to inform we have attached our cover letter and resume. it sounds trivial but believe it or not, these are the things that most applicants forget or think not important.

Those people working in HR are people too. it will be such a nice change to have someone email them and ask for their wellbeing once in a while, don't you think so?

chop chop! it's Friday. are you ready for the long weekend?