Hello!! Selamat Hari Raya to those celebrating! We are in week 2 of the month of Eid. Crazy how time flies. My family came to visit a couple weeks ago for Eid. This was our first Eid away from home. I have to say, I do miss celebrating it back home with my friends & family. I miss the food, the open houses and of course, the duit raya! I only received duit raya from my parents this year but hey, can't complain. Some duit raya is better than none, am I right? Plus, I am turning 21 soon. So I may have to start thinking about giving out duit raya instead of actually receiving them soon!

My family's visit was pretty chill. We went to all the typical tourist spots – Hosier Lane, Brighton Bathing Boxes and St. Kilda. I showed them around my campus and we also explored around my cousin's uni, University of Melbourne. I thought of vlogging... I do have some clips but I can't seem to bring myself to edit them. So in the meantime, here are some photos instead:

My expression vs. my mom's in the reflection lmao

Part of my campus.

These photos are from a lake on campus. Love coming here to unwind.

A perfect day would involve me lying on the grass in the background. Did that once with Sarah last year during a warm Spring day.

smol azn

State Library in the background.

unimelb

I LOVEEE UNIMELB'S CAMPUS. So pretty!

Had our Iga Bakar's at Blok M

Album dropping soon LOL

Album dropping soon part II

And that's how I spent my first week of Eid! Also, photos are shot and edited by my dad. So I can't take credit for them!

Selamat Hari Raya again to those celebrating! I hope everyone stuffed their faces with Lemang, Rendang & Ketupat! Wish I was home because it's apparently durian season right now... and I loveee durians!

I also turn 21 in two weeks! This will be my second birthday abroad, first without the family. No idea what I'm gonna do to ring in my 21st. Never been one to have big celebrations for my birthday. I do really, really wanna go hiking for my birthday though.

'Til next time!

I have been feeling a little down lately. Being away from home and being exposed to a different way of life can be so overwhelming. One thing that bothers me is having to deal with peer pressure. I grew up in somewhat of a conservative environment. I don't ever go out partying or clubbing. It's just not something I'm into. Despite that, I'd try almost anything once though. But anyway, my kind of Friday night – though it's not Friday right now – involves curling up in bed and catching up on YouTube videos I've missed or TV shows.

When I first moved here, I was so worried that I might not be able to fit in because I had this image painted in my head that people here would think I'm boring or uptight if I don't go out and party 'til dawn, or that I don't drink. I chose to study abroad because I want to be exposed to a 'new world'. I want to be open to new perspectives and ideas. I want to meet new people. I want to figure myself out.

I realised that I don't exactly put myself out there. I mean, I've always known that but it just hit me harder recently. I am in Australia for god's sake!! I should be making new friends!! Not sitting at home every weekend and be on my computer. Ok don't get me wrong, I have made a lot of new friends especially this past semester. I am honestly so thankful for Hafiq. I swear, if it weren't for this guy, I would have never met new people. Sarah also introduced me to some of her friends, whom I hangout with every now and then. I've also been spending time with Nazurah. I definitely am spending more time with people this semester compared to the previous one.

What I'm trying to say is that I hope by the end of my degree, I can say that I did not just hangout with one group of people throughout the two and a half years I have here. I hope I can say that I put myself out there & meet hundreds of interesting others. Ok after writing that sentence, I feel like I should swipe right more often HAHAHA. If my parents are reading this, I hope you guys don't figure out what I mean by swiping right.

Basically, what I'm trying to articulate in this post is how I'm afraid that I might do certain things only because I've been pressured to do it and that I'd feel like a loser if I say no.

Also, I'm officially done with the sem! I had my paper today and it was alright. Definitely will not ace that though. As for job hunting, yeah... that's still going on. I did go for an induction at this Malay place though. Couldn't justify the cost of commuting from where I live so I quit the next day lmao. I'm trying to go for retail jobs though. Or Woolies. I don't know about you but I'm obsessed with Woolworths HAHA. It just feels like home.

Thought I'd end this post by talking about SZA's new album. AMAZING!! Love Galore, Supermodel, Prom and 20 Something are so good! Also currently obsessed with Bryson Tiller's Run Me Dry!

My family's coming here next week!! I can't believe how fast time has gone by! So excited!!

Hi!! My second semester here just ended. I handed in my last assignment just yesterday, which I managed to finish 10 minutes before the deadline hahaha. It was a 1200-word essay that I started on Saturday and it was due 5pm yesterday. I have never started on an assignment that last minute guys. I'm pretty sure what I wrote was garbage but I'm glad that's over. I've got one final, which is in 2 weeks. Not gonna lie, I do not have the motivation to study for this. The fact that I only have one final makes it feel like I don't have any at all. All I want is to do movie marathons on Netflix.

It's the third day of Ramadan today and my first one away from home. It felt bittersweet waking up on the first day and realising I'm not eating with my family. It also made me realise that I'm going to be eating the same thing for sahur every morning – oatmeal and berries. Back home, my mom would always come up with something different everyday. Me being the lazy person that I am, I just couldn't be bothered putting in that much effort. I don't know how mothers do it man! It makes me appreciate my mom even more!! Ahh can't wait til my family gets here!! Missed them so much. Less than 4 weeks til I see them!

Remember in one of my last posts I mentioned that I was obsessed with Sam Kolder? Yup, still not over him. I also came across Ollie Ritchie (@ritchiollie) on YouTube. His New York and London videos are my favourite! I fell in love with his work within 10 seconds of watching those two videos. His work feels so intimate. I like how he doesn't use any fancy editing. It's simple. It's clean. It works.




I recently started using Final Cut Pro and I must say, it's a bit more complicated than iMovie. You can do SO much more with FCP! I am obsessed with it. I do have a problem with plugins though. I've been downloading them but they don't show up on FCP even after installing it. I have no idea if I'm not installing it right or if it's just not working on the software. Help please?

Breakfast:
I was craving for pancakes but I knew I wanted to go for something oat-based because oats fill me up so much. Ya know how I always eat oatmeal every morning? Yeah, it's usually because it fills me up til lunch time. I can't do 2 slices of toast for breakfast. I'll just get hungry within the next hour.

So I browsed through Pinterest and found a Banana Oat Blender pancake recipe. I'll link it here if you wanna check it out. It turned out so so good! Definitely doing this again!



 Dinner:
I bet at this point in my post, you're thinking "Apa ni orang Melayu makan makanan mat salleh je??"

Look, it's not that I don't wanna cook a traditional Malay/Malaysian meal. It just involves a loooot of time and ingredients. Ingredients = money, something I don't have hahahah. But I did make a super simple chicken soup with carrots and potatoes AND okra with sambal belacan (my love) for dinner. I don't know bout you but I love having ulam with sambal belacan or budu. Sambal belacan is easy to find in Asian supermarkets but not budu :(

The one thing that bugs me about making Malaysian meals (or at least, meals that my mom makes for the family) is that I can never get it to look good for photos!

Talking about sambal belacan is making me crave Ayam Masak Merah... I know, sambal belacan isn't even an ingredient in the dish but good god, I miss Malaysian food so much. On the bright side, Fiesta Malaysia is happening this weekend. Maybe I can get my Malaysian food then? 'Til then!