2 Simple Ideas to Show Support For Earth Day 2017
April 22, 2017
This post has been in my draft for quite some time but I decided to share with you guys today, on Earth Day. If you are not aware about it yet, Earth Day is celebrated on 22nd April every year. As how we can expect to know, Earth Day aims to encourage people (which is US) to be more environmentally friendly.
And of course, there are many ideas to help the Earth. Two simple ways that I have already practiced for few years will be described to you in few seconds. Actually, I believe some of you already apply them in everyday life. Anyway, keep reading :)
1. Use shopping bags.It was very mainstream when there was once upon a time, people complained about how expensive it is to pay 20 cent for a plastic bag. To be honest, I am a happy person when I read the news. Why? I am totally agree with this initiative!
Yes, I know it is already implemented in most states in Malaysia and mostly it is only for Saturday. But, I think Penang already took a step forward to implement it every single day. Good job! And congratulations to Selangor as well, it started early January this year I think.
After living abroad for 5 years and counting, I believe we can do this, actually. It is hard to adapt at the very beginning but trust me, every changes towards the better side of us are challenging. But this one, worth our sweats and struggles.
Haha, berpeluh la sangat.
Haha, berpeluh la sangat.
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| There were countless time I went home hugging this cauliflower because I went to Tesco empty handed. |
A thing I don't really understand about supermarkets in Malaysia is... we can not bring backpacks inside. There were so many times, no matter which supermarkets they are... the security guards always check my backpack and seal the zip. Hmmm. I always try to explain that I want to use my backpack to put all stuffs I will buy soon. But....
Nak seal tu okay lah tapi nak cari gunting nak bukak balik tu... T_T
Okay, maybe they want to avoid people cheating or stealing, but... how do you feel when there are few women walking passing you into Tesco with handbags as big as your backpack and nobody stop her?
2. Recycle.I understand this takes quite an effort to distribute our trash into different categories. Basically all you need are 3 compartments (for the beginning).
- A dustbin for any trash that cannot be recycled (like left over food).
- Next one is a plastic bag to put all trash made of plastics.
- The last one is a box to put any paper trash.
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| Something like this. |
For some towns, you can get money from recycling. That's way better to get extra money although seriously not that much. I am not sure which states already implement this idea, but so far in my neighborhood in Sungai Siput, there is none. But, my dad usually ask people from recycle center to come to our house and pick up all trashes.
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| These are boxes I found in Jabatan Pendaftaran Negara. |
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| Meanwhile, there are the recycle bins in Hradec Kralove. Red = textile. Blue = paper. Yellow = plastic. I am not sure about green and white but one of them is for glass. Oh yea, brown bin for agriculture materials (?) like leaves, branches of trees. You can recycle batteries as well (this one usually in the supermarket) |
I am sure many of us have watched this video featuring Mat Luthfi :) Enjoy!
When You Shine Brightly, But...
April 21, 2017
The weather is playing tricks lately.
I have experienced a beautiful sunny day, just right after heavy morning rain. There was once, the city's sky delivered us hail stones instead of snow in other cities.... in spring. Yes, it was snowing in few cities to the south of Czech! Haha.
It is sunny right now. It looks very warm outside from the position I am writing this post, sitting on the bed while looking out of my rooftop windows. But, when I try to open the window... ouch, the cold wind suddenly blows onto my bare face. Checking the forecast right after that, hahaha no wonder.
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| -2 but shiny and 70% chance of rain tonight... wow |
Seems like I need to postpone my morning run again. There were few times, I went out running without checking the weather... I don't think I want to repeat those days. :p
I have been eating too much sweets lately... cakes, pastries, cookies, brownies. T_T My bad for not being able to constrain myself. My tummy is full but I really want to chew something. Something is wrong with my satiety center, maybe....
But, the smell of these food in the cafe is sooooo tempting!
And the weather is cold enough to have more food inside of me. :p
Banyak betul alasan.
“It does’t matter how rich, how pretty, how clever or how bright you are, there will always always be someone bigger and better than you.” - her dad.
When you already shine brightly, but you don't feel that way.
When you already shine brightly, but you think other people outshone you.
When you already shine brightly, but you fear you are not special in every single thing.
Take few minutes of our life daily to think about how we have encountered that day. Think about good things we have done, not to forget bad attitudes that we can improve ourselves.
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| Beautiful! |
The writer said at the end of the article, it depends on us to value ourselves. Know that we are special, love ourselves in the best possible way. If we can't feel that way, maybe we need to do something to shine as bright as others - in our own ways, our own capabilities.
Well, I agree, human will never satisfy with what we have and we tend to keep comparing. From one point, it is good not to stay in the comfort zone as we will keep improving ourselves. But, from another point, I bet we will get tired to be deeply jealous with other people.
They have flaws, so are we.
They have specialties, trust me, we have them too!
Love ourselves, okay?
Love others as well :)
p/s - Salam Jumaat and have an awesome weekend, everyone!
HK, Czech
170421
A Strange But Interesting Easter Tradition in Czechia
April 18, 2017
Easter.
It was a long weekend recently where Czechs can enjoy 4 days of holiday from Friday till Monday. Even though Easter is more significant for its religious reason, Czechs still celebrate it as holidays and of course with few traditions despite majority of the people are not religious. Like I have mentioned before, most of them are atheist.
There is another tradition in Czech that is kind of interesting, but... you guys who are reading this, just try to know it simply as general knowledge yea? Ala, macam mitos orang-orang tua kita, ada yang bermanfaat ada yang tak nampak pun sebab disebaliknya.
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| Once upon a time, I learned how to make this during Czech language class. |
Handmade whip - pomlázka
This whip made with willow rods (I have no idea what is the name in Malay - but you can google it if you want). It feels a bit different than normal rattan that Malaysians use and I don't think both of these whip and rattan are made from the same material.
The whip is used on Easter Monday by men to spank women, with no intention to hurt. They believe by spanking women, the women's health, beauty and fertility will be good until next year. Some even said that this spanking action can be used to show men's attraction to women.
But trust me, not all Czech women love this. :p
In return, women can seek revenge by throwing a bucket of ice to men. Or, some said if women want to respond to spanks, women can give colored eggs to the men.
Awkward. But, this is their tradition. I watched the spanking few times already, even in the Tesco between the workers. They are having fun on Sunday as they will have holiday on Monday. Have I told you, no shops (hmm at least 98%) are open on Monday! So, buy the groceries the day before :p
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| otevreno = open, zavreno = close |
I think you can read on Wikipedia for more details on Easter itself, well no harm to learn a bit about another religions. But, for simple ideas... let me share something about it.
- Easter is a festival where Christians celebrate as belief of resurrection of Jesus from death.
- The celebration starts on Friday (Good Friday - the crucifixion and death of Jesus).
- Easter is always on Sunday, so most countries will have Monday as public holiday.
- In Czech, Easter is significant with decorated eggs (chicken eggs with some decorations with dyes on the shells). There can also be chocolates in the shape of eggs as well.
Last year, on Easter's holidays I was enjoying my solo-trip to Slovenia.
And this year, ehmmm hello books, hello notes. :D
p/s - Czechia is the new English name of the Czech Republic.
HK, Czech
170418
A Gift From A Homeless
April 15, 2017
"Our hearts are not ours."
This simple quote hits my heart well. There was a tiring incident happen these past few days that I have encountered. Now, when thinking back over it after trying to calm myself, I've ended up with, "Biarlah. Let it go."
I went to study in the cafe while trying to detach myself from it. So, with Bismillah I started doing my revision although my mind just could not focus well. But at least I tried.
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| Easter's chocolate |
There was an old lady, aged around 60 who sat at the table in front of me. From her appearance and her 'bags', I realized she is a homeless. She was in the cafe trying to warm herself with a cup of porridge I guess. Oh, it was corn soup yesterday. Another thing, yep it was a bit windy yesterday. I sat quite close to the door, I could feel the coldness every time the door was opened.
She even slept for a while there.
After 2 hours approximately, she came to me asking about the time. With my poor Czech, we talked a bit about life. She could see I am studying my 'course' and hope that younger generations love to study as well (I am not sure if I understand this right). And well, another expected question was "Are you planning to stay?" How I wish haha. But nope, my decision is going home, I told her.
She looked tired. With an old sleeping bag, a worn out trousers and shoes, she walked out of the cafe, slowly.
Suddenly, I realized I have not done my infaq this month so I decided to give some to her. It was a pity that I did not bring much money. She was quite shocked and it was a bit awkward when people kept staring at us. But, I seriously cannot forget how bright her face was that time.
Allah, it is actually easy to make someone smile.
I continued studying and few hours later I saw her again. She came back with something in her grip. Walking to me, suddenly she said 'Assalamualaikum'. I am not sure if she is a Muslim or she simply knew I am a Muslim, but she thanked me so much. It was getting hard to understand what she was trying to say. Suddenly a young girl next to my table translated her words to me.
"The Easter chocolate is for you, she said she really appreciate your kind deed."
I. Am. Just. Fragile.
"Our hearts are not ours. We cannot even control our hearts, how can we expect to control others. Keep on praying to the Owner of these hearts."
I will, thanks my little sister for your beautiful sharing.
I am going home sooooon (hopefully for Eid), fighting Nina fighting! Less than 2 months left!
Anablephobia - Fear of Looking Up
April 12, 2017
(removed / transferred from hanisnina.com)
HK, Czech
150325
Phobias can be various. And of course something may trigger that fear.  |
| Don't be scared to look high up. |
I was scrolling my YouTube and found this calm, sweet video of a guy, Sam who had fear of looking up. He was bullied by his friends as he was a short boy in school (and still is). Since then, he always wear a cap, with the fear to even turn his head upwards.
Watching the video make me realized how grateful I should be, for not having it. It is quite sad if I'm not able to see the sky (as this is what I love to do the most). There are so many things that people with anablephobia can't enjoy. T_T
- Sunset or sunrise
- Rain / snowfall
- Rainbow
- Firecrackers
- Aircraft's performances
- Birds flying
- Hot air balloon
- Etc......
And, an important thing while communicating with others; the faces of people. I love eye contact when talking to people.
The video is very long, to be honest. Watch if you want to :)
To escape fear, you have to go through it, not around
I learned this.
I think I shared that I have fear with the traffic lights turning red from green. It is not that I have fear with the red color, as I don't have problem with blood and I saw lots of surgery and bleeding so far. I just don't like the feeling of being in the middle of the road with traffic lights changing colors.
Yeah, it may be weird to some people. Even though I am just a passenger - like I'm taking the bus somewhere, wondering why I still have that fear.
Trying to change, I will breathe more every time I saw the traffic lights. I will try to keep calm and don't rush towards it. After few times using the same road, I managed to see the patterns of traffic. And even, I can roughly calculate how many seconds before the light changing colors. :)
Haha. Suddenly I miss traffic lights in Malaysia where there are countdown numbers.
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I read somewhere that people with this problem don't like to be in the middle of two things. Not sure to agree with it or not, but making a decision is quite hard for me nowadays. Especially decision where other people involved as well. I was firm with my decision before, but it didn't feel good when other people not satisfied with it. I know I can't fulfill other people's hope all the time, but still.....
There is no ideal decision made by all of us, all the time right?
:)
I think I shared that I have fear with the traffic lights turning red from green. It is not that I have fear with the red color, as I don't have problem with blood and I saw lots of surgery and bleeding so far. I just don't like the feeling of being in the middle of the road with traffic lights changing colors.
Yeah, it may be weird to some people. Even though I am just a passenger - like I'm taking the bus somewhere, wondering why I still have that fear.
Trying to change, I will breathe more every time I saw the traffic lights. I will try to keep calm and don't rush towards it. After few times using the same road, I managed to see the patterns of traffic. And even, I can roughly calculate how many seconds before the light changing colors. :)
Haha. Suddenly I miss traffic lights in Malaysia where there are countdown numbers.
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I read somewhere that people with this problem don't like to be in the middle of two things. Not sure to agree with it or not, but making a decision is quite hard for me nowadays. Especially decision where other people involved as well. I was firm with my decision before, but it didn't feel good when other people not satisfied with it. I know I can't fulfill other people's hope all the time, but still.....
Susah nak puaskan hati org. Buat cara A, yg ni terasa. Buat cara B, yg tu terasa. So?— Hanis Amanina (@HanisAmanina) April 10, 2017
Buat je ikut plan sendiri asalkan tak langgar syarak.
There is no ideal decision made by all of us, all the time right?
:)
(removed / transferred from hanisnina.com)
HK, Czech
170412
170412
I am currently in hibernation mode. Exam is coming soon, so if there will be any travel stories posted here, please be informed that they are from my previous journeys. :)
Another 7 hours journey to Poland, this time it was by train and alhamdulillah I was not alone. Oh yeah. It was a weekend trip and we actually had a halaqah, inter-locality.
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| I will always remember this scarf. :) read more to know why. |
The train arrived at Warszawa Zachodnia (a train station just before Warszawa Centralna) sharp on time although the train was a bit delayed in Czech. Upon exiting the station, we grabbed a taxi straight to our friends' flat. We can count how many times we took a taxi in Europe... maybe less than the number of fingers on one hand? Yes, walking and tram/metro/bus are our main transportation but this time we were simply too lazy to check the route. Haha.
Warsaw is pronounced as war-saw by foreigners.
If you want to pronounce like locals, it is Var-sha-va.
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| Warszawa Zachodnia |
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| This is how flats in Poland look like. You can expect similar buildings in Czech as well. One interesting fact is if you are living in a flat (at least in Czech) facing the city center like the main roads, main attractions etc, it is highly recommended NOT to hang clothes at the front balcony / windows. The city really takes care of its appearance. |
After having our breakfast (they served us with lots of fooood haha nasi goreng bubur chacha sandwiches yada yada), we spent some time together in the city center especially the Old Town.
Just for general knowledge, Warsaw is the capital city of Poland. Actually, I've been there 3 years ago (wow, 3 years already?). If you would like to know more about the city itself, you can check my previous posts on it.
After reading those posts again, haha wow I actually shared quite a lot of information and general history of Warsaw.
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| This is the tallest building in Poland named Palace of Culture and Science :) |
On our way back to Hradec Kralove, we shared a train's cabin with another 4 ladies. They look like around early to mid 40's. Our conversations started when they asked our permission to 'drink' in that cabin. Yes, I saw a bottle of liquor there. -_-'
We just nodded by letting them know not to mind us there and we continued eating our lunch. We were starving a bit and we already packed ourselves some food for lunch. It was a 5-hours train ride and we did not want to spend money to buy food on board.
They asked us where are we from etc and just like the responses we always received.. "you guys are brave enough to live abroad, far away from the family." Only if they know we were already living in boarding schools since 13 years old, I wonder how their reaction would be.
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| One of them gave each of us a scarf. Awwwww. |
They were actually on a trip back to Vienna, after having vacation together in Warsaw. 2 of them are Czechs, one is Polish and another one is from Switzerland. The main language they used to speak to each other is German.
1. It benefits you well to know more than 2 languages!
Well, I already know that Vienna was once the largest German-speaking city, but now it becomes the second after Berlin. The first impressive fact about them is they at least know 3 languages! For example, the Czechs with Czech, English, German languages. The lady from Switzerland wins the highest numbers of languages - at least 6 - well, she used to be a linguist and translator anyway.
A thing I kind of regret all this while is I did not use the opportunity to learn Tamil and Mandarin when I was younger. I have multiracial friends yet I do not even like to speak English with them. Tamil and Mandarin were beyond the imagination. Haih, I wonder why I was so patriotic with Malay language so much back then heeeee.
No harm though to master many languages. :)
2. Stay humble.
A thing I realized after living abroad is I can not simply judge a person from his appearance. What can I say when there was actually a maxillofacial surgeon among them and she has been in service for 30 years! So, she actually already pass mid 50's but she does not look that old, honestly!
Well, how can I imagine a lady who is approaching her 60's is now on a trip with her friends? Like, seriously?
When we tried to take our photo together, one of them asked a guy who was walking along the aisle. He really looked like a normal person, for me I imagined him to be a businessman. But I was wrong, he is actually a 15-years-in-service oncologist (a person who knows well about cancer) and he was on his way for a conference about radiation dose in Vienna.
We ended up with a small medical gathering in the cabin. Phew.
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| Old Town in Warsaw. |
3. You are never too old to learn new skills.
The linguist I mentioned earlier is now a psychologist and wow, how can people change their career as simple as that? She said she just want to learn something new through out her life and psychology is a subject she finds interesting. And well, the way she spoke to us really sounded like she could touch the inner part of our hearts. The way she advised us... really showed she has a big heart and she played well with our emotions and thoughts! Hahaha.
Like, how mothers will treat their children. :)
4. You can still enjoy your life even though you are married.
Yes, all four of them are married with at least two kids. On average, their first children are at least 13 years old now. During that trip, most of the kids were taken care by their fathers so that they could have girls' vacation or me-time anything you want to call it.
Impressive, right?
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I have not been in touch yet with them, although they gave us their contacts. I will, soon. :)
A verse that make me very happy to hear from them...
"You are already a gift, your parents must be proud of you."
Allah, please bless them with hidayah. <3
p/s - so many news regarding doctors and health workers. Please pray for us, the medical students here to pass the degree with flying colors and serve the country the best that we can. The future life is going to be hard, I know. I hope with all good memories and tough experiences while we study abroad will make us stronger, mentally. Doakan kitoranggggg :)
Mesti korang penat dah baca asyik suruh doakan je hehe but, I really believe in your prayers as well... ada doa seorang ibu, ada doa seorang pelajar, ada doa orang yang bermusafir, ada yang tempatnya tengah hujan sekarang. Mudah-mudahan. :)
Thanks for reading!
HK, Czech
170409
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