Sup3rnality

I wouldn't call myself a fashionista. I love clothes, that's a definite 'yes'; and anyone who has known me long enough would notice that my supply of clothes is so that you could hardly see me wearing the same combo in a month (although I am guilty of overwearing non-iron t-shirts or blouses every now and again). But fashion savvy I am not.

I just love how clothes make me feel. I know beauty is skin-deep, but there's nothing shallow about feeling good on the outside other than just on the inside. When I feel good in both ways, I feel I can take over the world.

But a plus-size girl like me can't enjoy just anything sold in shops. Often I would need to hunt down the sizes I want, or even hunt down a shop that sells decent enough clothing in my size that doesn't look grandma.

But see, that adds to the allure. The fact that I have to work extra hard to look for something I could wear and on top of that, look for something that my salary could accommodate, adds fun to the chase of buying clothes. It makes it all the more precious. And when you've zero-ed in on that perfect outfit, you wanna hold on and never let go.

Nowadays, blogshops have been a saving grace. Clothes are now cheaper, prettier and less run-of-the-mill. Some shop is always offering something different from the rest. And you can just go ga-ga over the choices. The problem with sizes has also been minimized with so many plus-sized boutiques out there. Us gals are spoilt for choice, really.

I admit I feel out of place during times I've been into places like TopShop or Forever21 when friends wanna go there to shop. Aside from the lack of size, the prices there are especially a deterrent. If my salary could speak, it would outrightly say "Hell, no". But even if money wasn't that much of an issue, and even though their prices are not that bad, paying for just clothing at that price is like being robbed blind. Well, in my opinion anyway.

So here's me, not concerned and not up to date about the fashion world, but loves fashion nonetheless. And with my tight budget, finding affordable clothes also needs to be factored in. So I'm proud to call myself the thrifty plussize shopper; hell, I ain't afraid to say it.

Love,
Linzy

I guess I haven't mentioned this yet since I haven't been writing for a while, but I have a blogshop now. Yes, I've finally submitted to the temptation, the calling was too great, as Ash says I am the typical Kelantanese, eager to start a business :p

By the way, before I forget, the URL for my blogshop is:
http://heartwear-vintage.blogspot.com
(I have to remember that I haven't updated in the longest time and there are many things that are missing from this blog regarding what's been happening...sigh)(and oh, this blog is only the first in many. I plan to start with vintage first, and I'll soon expand to other types).

But yeah, I've started since July and it's been fun. Business is good and I love choosing the clothes and then taking pictures of them and posting them up. Oh, I neglect to mention, I sell vintage clothes; old-fashioned dresses that can't grow old cos they already are. But since my laptop got stolen (yes, something else that has lessened my entries and something I have yet to tell), I haven't been able to upload more dresses to sell. So I decided to take part in the Enspired Events Bazaar at Subang Square@SS15 on the 5th of September last week.

Despite the messiness, which I do not want to discuss here, it was fun. I got to experience having a store in a bazaar, I got to know new people and I had fun with Ash, who was with me throughout the day. For that, thank you Sayang for putting up with whatever fuss and problems that occurred, you know what they are. Thank you for being patient and for being with me. I love you..

Here are the pics!




Love,
Linzy

After having worked here in Wolters Kluwer Enterprise Services Partners (WKESP) for three months, now, I thought it is time I gave you all a glimpse into my daily life here. Yep, my everyday in WKESP, Cyberjaya. A little tour, if you will; since I can't actually take you around. Well, okay, fine, it's not like you asked to be shown around to begin with but humour me, would you? I enjoy the mundane aspects of life and always find they are worth a little story-telling. So I shall now be giving anyone with the time to read a (hopefully) short written/visual tour of my quaint office on the fourth level of FSBM Plaza.

So we begin at the lobby of WKESP, as can be seen in the picture on the right hand side. This is where I've sat anxiously waiting to sit for the test the first time around, and for the interview the next day. Now I pass it daily without a quiver of uncertainty as I enter and leave the office. Fatimah, who sits at the reception desk is the friendly face who meets and greets all that come through WK's glass doors. And besides that, she also receives my parcels for me... Always wondering what exactly I am doing with the Poslaju deliveries I get almost weekly.

And if you wals down the path from this reception, you shall be going deeper into the inner sanctum of the green-themed office. You'll pass by Jason's office on your left, and then you'll come to a juncture at which you'll see the multi-purpose room, mainly used for big meetings and gatherings, Mount Fuji, which, true to its name, is super-cold. If you turn a left, you'll pass by Sunita, who is the GM, and Raymond's offices on your left, and the Training Room on your right. Then straight on, you'll enter one side of the office, where the Asia Teams and the NZ Team reside, as you can see from the picture on the left.

If you were to go straight past the Mount Fuji room earlier instead of turning left, you would pass the emergency exit, Ladies' Room, Cleaner's Room and the Men's Room on the right. And you will have to turn left and arrive on the other side of the office, where all the Australian Teams reside. But first, you'd pass the board room on your left, where I have weekly meetings with my team, Australia B - Tax and Accounting.

Standing at the point with the Boardroom on your left, you'd see the view as in the picture <----. You'd see this aisle that seems to go on and on, acting as a great divide between Australia C, which is the group of desks on your left side, and Australia B which is on the right side of the picture. If you look closely, about three desks away from the viewfinder of the pic, there is a woman intently looking at her monitor whose table is the one next to the pillar; that is Carol, and I sit at the desk just before hers, the second desk. Yep, that is my humble abode in the WK office. But it is also the most non-strategic place, cos it's situated at the aisle where people walk back and forth and see what in the world you're doing on your PC. In my case, it's my online shopping which is my eye-candy between tasks, when I need some relax time. Not to mention it is un-strategic cos it's near the boardroom. So when we have visitors and the like, they can pass by and have a peek at what I'm doing. I was particularly worried when they had the head honchos from Netherlands here and taking pictures. I thought they'd surely be taking pics of my non-work. But instead, on that day, they took pics of me stressing out at Zul's desk, worrying about Denise's blunder with ABAG 145 ;p

So here's my work station... It's still a little bare from my not having put up much besides some notes and reminders. But it's now definitely more of a Hazlin-like place with my literature books on one corner and my organized clutter here and there. Charmander was sitting on my keyboard while waiting to be brought back to my sister as you can see... Other than him, my usual necessities line up in the picture. My mug of tea, a tumbler of water, my Victoria's Secret body butter, a box of tissues and my tracking sheet for each product I'm doing. Also, if you can spot it, my headphones lie behind my mug, from which I listen to Tori/Jewel on constant replay, and just behind my yellow tumbler, you'd see a square piece of paper pinned to the green divider. That's an acrostic poem that my Sayang wrote to me early in the year when I was feeling sad at not being able to see him often. I put it up next to my monitor so that when I look up at it, it serves as a reminder to me to keep smiling even when the going gets tough, because it reminds me that out there I have someone who loves me nonetheless and is willing to wait for me :)

Anyway, let me digress abit and introduce you to my teammates. There are currently 16 of us on the team: Arvind (TL), Aravind (SE), Tham (SE), Saiful (SE), Maryann (PE), Helen (Senior PE), Caroljit (SE), Zul (PE), Alan (SE), Sharina (PE), Ling Ling (PE), Adrian (Senior SE), Siew Choo (PE), Nubly (SE), David (PE), and myself (SE). When I started at WK, Lin was our TL; but as of April, due to Lin's promotion, Arvind who was and SE from Aust C previously, moved up and became our TL. And if rumours are true, we will soon have a new addition, a PE maybe, next month. We don't have a complete team picture cos so many people come and go, so the last team picture I found is the one above. But even then, some of those in the pic has either left, or changed positions. So if you look closely, the ones with the red dots above their heads are the ones still with us. Lemme introduce the ones with the dots: Top row (L-R) - Helen, Tham, Siew Choo aka Cheese Terrorist, Ling Ling, and Carol. The girl in the middle who wear glasses and has her hair tied is our former TL, Lin. Bottom row (L-R): Adrian, Alan, David and Nubly. The guy next to Adrian, the one is checkered shirt is Charles, who is now a trainer. Since this team, there has been many additions and changes. For example, these two on the right: Maryann and Zul who joined WK about 6 months before I started... So they are still relatively new. But they're PEs and our team haven't had a new SE in the longest time. So myself was the first SE in almost a year, and then Saiful was added to the team. And now we are all a bunch of laugh riots who, despite being one of the busiest team in WK, are the friendliest, funniest bunch ever. Which is why I love my team so much. We have a nice intimacy, and teamwork spirit going on which makes working very pleasant. I remember when I just started, everyone was so eager to make me feel welcomed.

Speaking of newbies, us newbies had our picture taken for the purpose of putting it up on our eCLS (employees come loose) message board. And of all the days they wanted to take the picture, it was the day when I was in malas mode and just grabbed a baju kurung to wear to work. So unglamorous. It wasn't a day when I was up and about in my dresses, so I ended up looking extremely comot and frumpy at that.

But anyhow, I didn't really care but I just hope they take down the picture soon since newer newbies have come in since the four of us (Ann, Juliana, Saiful, and myself). In the picture above, from left to right is Ashwin and Malar (I think), who are both on the IT team, and then Xiou Ann, Juliana and myself, the trio who is always up to no good with our online shopping and daily fashion shows. The three of us have made WK into our personal runway with either one of us having a new top or dress to put on each day :p And finally we have Saiful who is happily sitting down with women surrounding him. But Saiful's married, so Charles' comment on the pose went unheard.

But the three of us production newbies; Ann, Juliana and I now form a little group of people who congregate daily for laughs and blogshopping finds and gripes. We have bonded over our love for clothes and our rapport with one another that we will always be seen together. It's nice, to have your own crowd to get together with a few minutes during work just to take the stress off every now and then.

Anyway, back to the tour, we end it with the very heart of WKESP, the ePub. This is where the life of the WK is. The ePub is at the very center, and is the centre for mass gatherings and monthly general meetings. This is also where eat and socialize, because it works as a sorta lounge and/or dining area.We have our sink dish/mug rack on one side, the water and beverage dispenser on another. There are fridges, microwaves, a multitude of teas and coffees and sugar and creamer for us to brew our drinks to our liking and 2 tins of biscuits for us to chow on. We meet here for team lunches/gatherings/parties or to enjoy lunch together or do our work (especially for PEs) or read the paper or magazines. This where all the watercooler talk goes on.

And so we end the tour. But wait, what exactly does my work here entails, you ask? Well, I know you're not asking, but hey, humour me futher, I'll be done soon.

I managed to dig up this info in the shared folders drive:

"The sub-editor is responsible for project managing product updates and ensuring that the sub-editing and content tagging of publication data is of the highest possible quality. This means that they liaise with the editor and the indexer over the content that is to be included in the product update. The sub-editor is also responsible for providing a detailed handover to the production editor after the content of the update has been released for publication. They work closely with the production editor to ensure that the electronic and print components of an update and cleared to schedule".

General responsibilities:
· sub-edit for sense, grammar and literals by inserting queries in comment tags
· changing quotation marks to the curly quotes
· checking structure of the content, ie heading levels
· check tagging if text is converted by the PE
· insert tagging and check tagging where content is authored within Sigmalink by the editor
· spell checks
· resolve links
· check for broken links and redo links that have failed
· check graphics
· check tagging of tables
· insert queries where required
· remove all comment tags
· clean-up content before dragging the content to the editor for feedback on queries once external reviewer has made comments
· clean-up content based on comments
· accept/reject changes
· preparation of job tracking sheets
· general communication with production editor, editor and indexer on update
· insertion of CCH citation

So, that's it. That's what it is to work as a sub-editor here in WKESP, Cyberjaya. I am so far enjoying the work I do. It has its ups and downs, but the atmosphere, the people, the team, the friends, the kinda work I do all makes it a great place to be in. I'm happy here. I think this is a good place that will definitely help me in going further in my career, I'm earning a good sum, am surrounded by good people and overall happy. There are the downs like being too far away from my Sayang, my family and my friends, but hopefully soon, with a car, it wouldn't be that hard. So I don't regret my decision to pursue this place like crazy. It's definitely worth it.

Love,
Haminudin

It started with Juliana turning to me in the lift as we were leaving the office and asking "You nak balik cepat ke?", and I told her there was nothing I was rushing to, cos it was not like I had anything in particular to do at home. Other than a bunch of laundry, there is nothing that needs my immediate attention. So she pointed to her wrist, where her watch was loosely hanging. She wanted to go to Seri Kembangan, to the Taman Equine Jusco to get her watch to fit better. I asked her why not we go to Alamanda, Putrajaya; since it was closer? She said she had these coupons for Jusco which will expire this weekend, so she wanted to use them. But then, she forgot them, so she had to go pick them up at home first.

So after that, off we went to Jusco. We were talking about lingerie sets all the way in the car, and I mentioned that Jusco has nice sets that I usually get. So we thought with the coupons in hand, we probably could get more for less, since I too, have been wanting a few. And I also said that I wanted to get meself some versatile pair of heels that I can pair with anything; and also perhaps I should get a handbag for my Mum's (my aunt, for those who do not know) belated birthday present. Yes, going to Jusco proved to be potential trouble.

So we got there, and yes, it was trouble indeed. I first zeroed in on the heels that I wanted in red...and I got those. But after second thoughts, I'll be giving it to my mother since she likes the bronze ones I've already got and she loves red. Then I browsed through the clothing section...and as much I would have loved to buy many clothes, but for the same price, I could get dresses online, so I should best be keeping that cash for my online splurges. Besides, I already am waiting for my dress from House of Allure, so I shouldn't be getting any more clothes for the moment. Although I did end up picking up a cropped denim jacket :P Only after having my fill of eye candy in the shape of clothes, I went to the lingerie section and picked up four sets. Yes, 4 sets. They were all so pretty... But I later managed to get myself to pick only 2...sigh. I was contemplating tha handbags for Mum, but found none that were nice, so decided to browse shoes again instead. I found that Cleef shoes were going for RM10 each, and with the coupons, they were only RM8... so I got myself two pairs. Yup, and the original intention was just to go adjust the watch strap :P

It didn't help that Juliana wanted to stop by the Vintage dress shop on the way back... Thankfully I started at a different rack first and didn't find anything that I fancied. Otherwise, I woulda picked the same one that Juliana picked and ended up with alot. I took one black one on an impulse, cos I didn't have anything that I liked, but wanted one anyway...and cos I did want a black dress. It turned out to be super nice... no regrets at all.

So I went back with my hands full. I fell asleep happy at having so many stuff :)

The funny thing is that I was never the shopper. I've always had very little allowance and I was very calculative with what I bought. Bajus, yes, cos I am a clothes addict. But even then, I never did buy much. And if I did, they were the uber non-expensive ones cos I a) like to buy new ones all the time, b) didn't see the point in paying so much, and c) preferred the non-branded ones. And for stuff like shoes and bags, it was only rarely that I buy them...

So to turn to this crazed shopper, albeit with inexpensive buys, is quite a wonder for me. What have I transformed into? I find it funny how fast a person can change. Half a year ago I was dependent on what my parents gave me, and I could hardly ever spend. But now, I feel liberated...and I think that is what that is triggering my sudden urge to fulfill the need to spend. But not to fret, I am not the type of person who'd not eat or cut corners just to be able to shop. I have savings put aside. And I pay all my bills on time. And I have money for food allocated. It's just that the extra cash I have to use to my liking dwindled faster comparatively to other months, and I used substantially more...

Ah well, I hope for better care this coming paycheck as I have to pay for many things now. Sigh, I should go on a clothes diet :p

Love,
Hazlin

My little blogshopaholic trio here in WKESP is a bunch of laughriots. They are frickin' hilarious. The make me feel like I am dealing in some illegal drug smuggling :p

I'm in that dilemma again when I have things I want to pen down, but cannot seem to find the words that could say it in the way I want them to sound. There are a whole bunch of drafts in my "Edit Posts" tab and I cannot find it in me to finish them. I find it annoying. They are a pain as they make me feel like there's a mosquito flying near my ear and breaking my focus and peace; like it just needs to be executed.

Anyway, this will be just a quick update to fill these much empty spaces:

• I....mmmmuuuussstttt.....ssstttoppp.....bbblllogggssshhoppiiinnnggg... Ann, Juliana and I are very bad influences on each other. Eversince we've been hanging, we've been buying more, and sharing postage costs when it's from the same shop, and discussing clothes over brekkie and lunch, and I should really stop. For the month at least. I know I've been on this quest to revamp my wardrobe, but this month I have went overboard. Well, not to the extent that I can't go out or buy food or anything, but I say it is bad because relatively, compared to months before, I would span my spendings throughout the month. This month looks a little bleak because I have run on low by just the second week; so yeah, I should slow down. Otherwise it isn't so bad.
• But yeah, nevertheless, I am hellbent on giving my wardrobe (or in my case, box) a make-over. I want to lessen my looking like a 16 year old girl and getting questions like; Result SPM hari tu macam mana? or Apply kat U mana hari tu?. And despite my company allowing casual wear which I am thankful for, I want to lose the freshgrad look that shouts inexperience!. Reputation needs building again in this new place, and I need to feel secure again. I may have found a place among their ranks but they have yet to know the person I am, how I work, how I deal, how I think. And my looking like a Uni student doesn't help with their talking to me in a simplified way.
  
• Did I mention before that I love my team? If I haven't, well, I love Team Australia B; they rock! :) I feel very comfortable in their cosiness.
• I need to find a new house to move into soon... From my conversations with my housemates, my landlord is looking to move into this house pretty soon. Possibly in June. So I have about a month to look for a place; preferably a master bedroom so that I can have my own bathroom with a price range of RM400-500. But since MMU is still in it's current semester, no one is moving out just yet. And yes, if Ayus doesn't give me confirmation by middle of May about moving in together, either I find myself my own place or I move in with my housemate Juliana.
• I am too far gone in my work that I sub-edit things even when I'm reading random signages, notices, articles and the like. I would see a word and think, "Oh no, that should be in ’ or that should be in curly quotes, or hmm...that should be lawrefed". And yes, I do occasionally dream of commblocks, green/red/black text, and also resolving links :p I need help.
  
• This is more of a Note-to-self rather than an entry, but nevermind; I need to breakaway from my family's Maxis Family Plan and get my own personal line and pay my bills. And I need to pay the instalments for my car. And I need to register for parking soon...urgh, 60 bucks a month. And I need to pay for clearance from IIUM.
• Oh, speaking of car, yes, I've already gotten my silver Perodua Viva. My plate number starts with WSM and I was thinking of what acronym could it possibly be for; and all I could think of is Whedon'S Minion :P I hope to get the car in my clutches by middle of May at least. Here's to hoping... Well, I do have one carkey with me here...
• Good luck, Sayang on your first day of your part-time job. I know you will do great. Not I hope, but I know. You have my support all the way. Go get 'em :) I love you~
  
• Oh yes, and I miss you, Sayang. Rendezvous sometime? ;)