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My first release of Tie Rack scarves collection. More to come very soon as I sorted out the photos.

Let your scarves make the fashion statement ! Only RM49. Email me or leave comments if you are interested.

Say hello to a new me...

Hello readers,

This is to inform that this post will probably be my last one here as I have now officially moved to a new and improved weblog.

So ladies & gentlemen, let me introduce you to my new website..ready, set, click http://umi.abu-bakar.com/

And, dont forget to change your bookmark too ;-)

and also worth mentioning, my new website is BEST viewed in Firefox..who needs IE right..

Sad sad life...

It's Sunday evening..22:53 to be exact. Damn...have to go to work tomorrow I better go to bed early. But then I thought I'll just go on the Internet for a bit..I can spare a couple minutes.

So I turned on my laptop..check my email..check on Hotukdeals..let's check out the Bodyshop sale on their website, I really like the shimmering eye/cheek colour I saw in the store today..but then again I dont want to spend any money....ok, let's check MSE..and then to BBC news...Boring stuff. Oooh..let's see what's the latest on Facebook. Nothing much. Hmmm..wonder if anyone got new stuff on their blog today...Nope, no one updated their blogs except for **** (name censored for privacy). She shared a story about people who stick stuff up their arse..weird story but kinda interesting.

....

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and then it dawned to me that I'm just wasting my bloody time..I got so many important things to do and stuff to sort out but I keep on pending them because A) I'm too lazy and B) I just cant be bothered. I dont know why it's just hard to get on with things. Ok fair enough sometimes I just want to chill out and browse the www..but at least I could have done something a bit more useful...

23:19...Ok, I'm totally wasting my time here which truthfully could be better spend on my beauty sleep. I thought I can write something wise but sadly it's kinda crap story really. Shame on me. Oh well better story next time. Before I doze off tonight, I hope I can implant in my brain to stop wasting time doing crap shit.

Picture Perfect

I had the most wonderful time at home and such a shame my holiday ended so soon. To my dear superbabes out there, I had such a great time with you all...I am missing you girls la... Wish we could hang out gossiping and sipping teh tarik every night.


Don't have flowing ideas of what to write at the moment. I just simply want to share the pictures I've taken during my holiday. Friends, you can view, download, do whatever you want with the pictures from here -> PICTURES!

Till I have more interesting stories to share...tata for now.

HOW DO YOU KNOW WHAT YOU WANT IN LIFE?

These few months have been a mind-boggling, challenge-thinking and mind-opening time for me. I've been contemplating and walking back and forth to search for THE answer but to no avail, I still can't figure it out.

You must be wondering what the hell am i crapping about. Well my friends, I'm actually searching for some answer, hint and guidance... because right now I'm at a stage where I'M NOT REALLY HAPPY WITH WHAT I'M DOING NOW. I'M NOT SURE WHAT I WANT TO DO IN MY LIFE AND WHAT I WANT TO BE. These silly thoughts has caused me headaches and sleepless nights. You might think that I'm one of those women who think too much. But i've tried not to think about it. I've tried to go with the flow with my daily life routine but im just not happy with it. The aura of misery and feeling unfulfilled keep hovering my mind. I go to work everyday and feel that this is not what i want to do/be. I feel so lost and dont have a clue how to rectify it.

I worked hard to be where I am now. I achieved a lot and I lost a lot too but I never regret my life journey. However, I feel that my life is not really how I want it to be.

Dont get me wrong, i'm not entirely unhappy with my life. There are some areas where I feel blissfully happy and content. I'm thankful for that. It helps keeping me going and motivated.

So I thought I post my thoughts here hoping in return I will get some wise honest advice from you readers. Please share your stories..shed some light. I'm desperately waiting for my lightbulb switch to be triggered.

My main questions are: ARE YOU LIVING THE LIFE YOU WANT? HOW DO YOU KNOW WHAT YOU WANT IN LIFE?

Really appreciate your time for reading my post. Thank you fellas.

Justin Timberlake Futuresex/Lovesound Tour - The O2, London

Yesterday was my first experience watching a concert in the UK and it was totally rock...totally! No words can describe how I feel - I totally enjoyed it and it was one of the best night I ever had. But of course, this is just a Justin's fan saying.

I went there with Alex since I dont have any friend here who share the same passion for Justin's music. Alex is not a big fan..in fact he's not a fan at all. He even said, 'I wouldnt even recognise Justin Timberlake if I see him on the street'. Oh come on...

Anyway, we went to The O2 in Greenwich (which was previously known as the Millenium Dome). It was a nice, clean modern looking building. Inside, there have the O2 Arena where Justin's concert was held and they also have a few bars, restaurants and a really huge Vue cinema. There are still a lot of construction work going inside and there are more shops yet to open in the near future. I guess, once all the construction finished, maybe then I can judge how happening the place is. But for now, all I can say is there is not much in there.

We started the day by lunching at Spurr Bar & Grill - an American Indian cuisine. I felt sick after eating, I wouldnt go there again. period. Afer that, we went to watch the preview of Evan Almighty in the Vue cinema which was inside The O2 as well. I wasnt so keen on Bruce Almighty, so I wasnt moved to watch Evan Almighty. But I got the movie tickets for free - I wouldnt say no to that..hehe. The verdict, it wasnt that bad afterall. Not amazing but worth the free tickets.

It wasnt 2 hours before the concert started, so we just wandered around the O2. At that time, the concert merchandise booth just opened, so I rushed there to get some souvenirs. Got a t-shirt for £25 and a key chain for £3. I know...such a rip off isnt it. But oh well, at least it's a limited edition thing..After that, we wandered around a bit more, went into this O2 Lounge..and then decided it's time to go in.

In front of the merchandise booth

The whole arena was packed with people but surprisingly no pushing or pulling. The event was organised, controlled, and the crowd was well behaved too. It's quite cool actually because the last time I went to concert in KL, the crowd was horrible and people keep pushing to get in...what a nightmare. Moving on from that, we went in and got our seats. See..we bought seating tickets because it's more convinient for Alex since he's not really into JT and this whole concert thing. If it was me, I would rather buy the standing ticket. But I'm thankful to have Alex to accompany me. He was such a sport last night! The view from our seat was ok I guess..couldnt complain much. It wasnt that far from stage but yet still quite far..if you know what I mean.

At the O2 Lounge..check out my t-shirt ;-)

The opening act was Fergie. I dont really like her songs but her powerful voice managed to impress me. The group of dancers who performed alongside her were good as well. Damn..I wish I could do those moves. It wasnt until about 8pm when Justin's performance starts. The whole arena (and me as well) went mad with screaming when they saw the sight of JT on the stage! Oh my god..I' actually saw JT live in front of me. I was so excited! He started the show with Futuresex Lovesound. He is definitely a world class performer, entertainer, everything. I was astonished with his skills - he danced amazingly, jumping up & down the stage and yet still maintained his stunning voice. He also showed his skills on guitar, keyboard and piano. JT is so great! What I love most about JT's performance was the mix of various music genres - hip hop, rap, rock, ballad and jazzy all mixed together and worked very well. Plus, the stage was well designed even though one of the prop they use, the 'curtain' (i dunno wat it's called) sometimes blocked my view to the stage. But overall, the use of lighting, the laser lights, the graphics and animation were very cleverly planned. The accompanying band was oh-so fantastic too! I wouldnt mind watching JT's performance every night!

I just cant find enough words to describe the performance last night..even if I can, it will take ages for me to explain it. So, to see the wonders yourself, I', sharing with you some of the videos I took last night. Please mind the quality of the videos. I was quite distant from the stage and was only using the good ol' digital camera so you might find some blurred images because the camera was trying hard to find its focus point. Poor camera, it worked hard for me last night.

This is some snippet of My Love..amazing dance moves I tell you:


This is full length video of sexyback:


This is full legth video of All over again:


These are some other videos which I uploaded on youtube for you to enjoy:
Rock Your Body (snippet)
What goes around come around (snippet)
Futuresex Lovesound dance (snippet)
Damn girl (snippet)
Summer love


The memory of last night's performance is still lingering in my mind. I spend most of my time at work today thinking about it...and yep, I was at work when I wrote this post. What a slacker..

Money and More Money

About 3 weeks ago, me and my colleagues decided to play Robert Kiyosaki's Cash Flow 101 board game after work. As the title says, the board game is created by Robert Kiyosaki...you know, 'The rich dad, poor dad' dude. The aim of the game is basically to get out of the rat race as soon as possible and achieve the ultimate financial freedom or easier put as to become a millionaire. Forgive me, I'm not very good at expressing my thoughts and I might make this game sounds kinda boring..but trust me Monopoly is even more boring. If you are into investing and making money kinda thing, then I really recommend this game. It was really fun and educational too. It took me and my friends good 5 hours to finish it. In case you are wondering, I didnt win though. But heck, I did learn a lot from it.

Since after playing the game, I've become more eager to achieve my own definition of financial freedom. A simple silly board game and yet, it somehow inspired my financial mindset. It's almost like a wake up call. It hit me that my monthly pay cheque aint gonna make me rich. I have so many things that I want in life and I will need a hefty lot of money to fulfil all my needs and wants. So, I decided it's time to make a change.

From that moment onwards, every possible time I have, I read financial news, articles, whatever..whether from the Internet, books or newspapers. I have to say, amazing wealth of knowledge out there. I read just about anything; share dealing, property investment, financial planning, forex,etc. I also ordered investment books so I can read before bedtime. I even tried doing forex trading with this cool simulation software that allows you to trade with virtual money on real market data. I was really into this.

Let me tell you what I've learned. The biggest lesson I learned is that my knowledge in this area is really shallow. I have to humbly admit that. Before, I always thought I know a lot, but the more I learn, the more I realised that I dont know that much. It make me feel kinda low but hey, suck it up and learn from it.

So, now here I am..still far from my final destination, my own financial heaven. But at least I've started the journey. One step at a time.

The following are other things that I learned. Nothing technical just some thoughts:
1) There is no such thing as easy and quick money maker. If it sounds too good to be true, it usualy is too good to be true.
2) Dumping all your money in those common savings account wont make you rich. Make your money work harder for you. Invest it wisely.
3) Learn before you invest. Don't just simply take other people's word.
4) You dont need millions to start investing. It's ok to invest small. Compound interest and time will work its miracle. All you need is patience.
5) Make sure you have sufficient 'rainy days' fund before even thinking to risk your money.
6) Branded clothing and expensive gadgets doesnt define who I am and who you are as a person. Stop spending so much on it!
7) Money certainly wont buy me happiness but it is the tool to achieve happines ;-)
8) It's ok to discuss about personal financial especially with friends and family. Nothing to be ashamed of. The more you share, the more knowledge you get.


On the last note, my two friends, Azida and Ainul have passed their exam to become unit trust advisors (is that the right title?). I was so excited to know that because for me it means I can 'use' them as my learning tool. So girls, well done and hope you dont mind sharing your knowledge! I'm so proud of you ;-)