First (and Hopefully Last) Car Accident Experience

 "Bang, saya langgar kereta saya, bagaimana claim insuran ya?"

"Huh, banyak cepatnya," 

That's my car sales agent's response to the news of me involving in car accident after getting my new car for merely one month. Same goes to my family members and friends. I consider myself lucky as it was a minor accident without injuries, and I was able to cope with the emotional trauma after the accident.

The accident happened in August, when I was heading home after attending an event. As a beginner driver, that was my first time driving in an area which I'm not familiar with. The leading cause of the accident was me driving into the incorrect lane. I was supposed to drive into the middle or left lane of a three-lane road as my intention was to go straight ahead after the traffic lights. However, I accidentally drove into the right lane which only serves for right turning purpose. I didn't realize my mistake as I thought we could either go straight or turn right in the right lane.

The correct lane usage

That misjudgement had led me to bang into a Mercedes Benz E-class. The luxury car was at my left hand side and the driver, who's a Malay uncle wanted to turn right after the traffic lights, without noticing a clumsy baby driver was trying to violate the rules and go straight ahead. Eventually, my tiny Axia's left front bumper "kissed" the Mercedes' driver side door. 

Red arrow - me (Axia);

Blue arrow - uncle (Mercedes).

"I'm going to be disowned by my parents," that was my instant reaction after I heard a bang (Signs of growing up with Asian Chinese parents). Fortunately, that was not a loud bang. I quickly got down from my car to check the condition of the Mercedes. Deep down inside, I was praying that the driver would neither yell nor blackmail me. The uncle was so frustrated, but his anger was slowly suppressed after me apologizing non-stop and promised that I would be liable for the damages. I bet he saw my P plate too. Upon checking, we noticed that his right front door's car painting had peeled off. I was relieved that there wasn't any serious damages caused to his car. A poor fresh graduate like me couldn't afford to pay the astronomical repair fees of a Mercedes.

Mercedes

However, my heart sank after examining my car's condition. The injuries were worse than expected.  My one-month old car's front bumper was damaged and my left front door was dented. But still, luckily my car's headlight was not busted and its ability to operate was not impeded.

Axia

I called my dad and he asked me to report to police instead of private settlement. (Let's not talk about his long angry speech.) Again, I would say I was very fortunate because the police station was just few minutes driving distance away. And also, my boyfriend happened to be driving behind my car when the accident happened. Having him by my side calmed me down as I heard of multiple road bully cases happened to female drivers. 

Besides, I was extremely grateful to receive timely assistance from my car sales agent to contact Perodua repair center and provide guidance. The car foreman reached out to me and sent his staff to drive my car to the repair centre. That was the best arrangement as I wasn't in a good condition to drive. I removed all my belongings from the car and passed my car keys to the foreman. They even helped me to settle my car insurance claims without me undergoing the troublesome procedures. 

Filing a police report wasn't difficult as I had experience in assisting my mum to file police report when she had a car accident last year. However, I made a mistake in misspelling my car plate number. As the details in the police report are crucial to claim car insurance, I had to travel to the police station in the subsequent week to file another police report to amend the mistakes.

Apart from my mistake, I didn't encounter any issue in the police reporting procedures. The police sergeant who dealt with my case was polite and handled my case efficiently. He even educated me on tips to drive properly and assured me that my parents will still love me even I hit a car. The Mercedes driver was kind too. He didn't scold me for my mistakes in hitting his beloved car which was just newly painted. 

As the car accident was my fault, I received my first ever saman trafik (Not a proud achievement) which caused me RM300. Then, I was fortunate enough to have my boyfriend sending me home after the exhausting incident.

It took me approximately 3 weeks to get my car back. I couldn't tell how much I miss my car after sending it to repair. I did concern about me traumatized after the traffic accident, but my urge to learn driving and be an independent adult had conquered my fear. I became more cautious in driving and spent more time practicing driving. There's neither shortcut nor theory to become a good driver. Learning to drive demand a lot of practice before reaching expert level. 

Keep calm and drive safely 

Best thing happening in 2020 - new job!

Job Offer

I received an unexpected job offer on a Friday evening, one week before the end of my probation period. I had made a daring decision - quit before I received the offer letter. Honestly I wouldn't recommend to quit without a written offer in hand, but I believed that was the best decision for me and the firm. I was required to serve only one week notice period during my probation period, but in the view that my probation would be ending soon, I would need to serve a longer notice period when the commencement date of new job offer was two weeks later. Besides, my unexpected resignation during peak periods would give my team a heart attack and an early notice would provide more time for resources allocation and smoother handover process, especially when I had 2 new upcoming jobs in hand. 

The job prospects of my new job had led me to be a risk taker with a backup plan - I received an invitation to interview with another Big 4 and the expected commencement date was the upcoming month. I felt bad for potentially wasting the time of HR and interviewer, especially when the HR was very nice to me and the firm was in fact my first choice. 

After weighing on both job offers, I made a painful decision to turn down the job offer from my first choice company. I do prefer to join the firm but not as an IT auditor, although I was assured that the job scope would beyond IT audit. I refused to sign myself up for another black hole, just for empty promises that there are chances to transfer internally to my preferred department.

The final decision was to stick with my current offer and entered into a new work environment with more uncertainties ahead.

Resignation

My resignation was not well received by the management. It was IT auditor's peak period and the team was facing tight manpower constraint. Thankfully the management accepted my job offer without making things hard for me.

Serving notice period was the beginning of suffocating experience. I wanted to maintain my reputation and serve my notice period professionally by completing my unfinished work and handover my jobs appropriately. Sadly, dramas happened even though I was the smallest potato in the team. There were gossips, bad mouthing, jealousy, backstabbing, colleagues maintaining distance (It's important to maintain social distancing btw! Let's flatten the curve together!) and difficult questions. It hurt me the most when my closest acquaintance accused me for being childish and naive because I wanted to look for a better work environment. 

My ICMS experience reminded me to maintain professionalism despite the horrible experience. I remained diplomatic with my ex colleagues, tried my best to provide assistance in handover, and most importantly, resisted the urge to complain. I diverted my attention to the life lesson I've learnt from this job and the started to look forward to a new life with these toxic people. I had informal chats with people who had helped me, including the department secretary and the janitor. I reached out to my performance manager for our first and very last lunch. I even smiled and waved goodbye to a senior who was rude and impolite to me - although she ignore me as usual. 

So what? It's all behind me now. Reading the messages from my ex colleagues complaining about the same issues again reassures me that quitting is the best decision I had made in 2020. There's a risk that my new job is not my ideal one, but it's definitely much better than me staying in the awfully negative environment.

Goodbye

I have taken a week break before starting my new job to slowly recover from the traumatized experience. I do appreciate all the precious life lessons and important workplace survival skills. Perhaps it's a training ground for transitioning me into the cruel working adult's world. I start to be more grateful with all the nice people I've met in my life. And also, words couldn't express my gratitude for successfully securing jobs in a 2 different Big 4 during this unprecedented time.

Time for a new chapter.

I quit my first job!

Same day of the previous month was my last day for my first job. Before this, I had quit some part time or temporary jobs. This was my first time quitting a full time job, which had only lasted for 3 months.

Quitting this job was a painful experience, yet a wise decision. My initial plan was to quit by end of the year or after getting bonus as I was informed that my first choice company planned to freeze hiring. Their earliest intake was targeted to be in Jan 2021, which I suspected might be postponed due to the third COVID-19 wave in Malaysia.

However, the thought of quitting came across my mind sooner than I expected, which was after my first few weeks in this job.

Not Right

I constantly felt like an outsider in my team, even after I was assigned to an engagement. The feeling of discomfort while getting along with my team was beyond the factor of me being new to the team. I had been observing the team dynamics and work style, which I noticed was extremely different from mine. 

My colleagues were extremely cold and distant. From my understanding of the nature of professional workplace culture, the appropriate expectation is neutral relationship with coworkers. My expectation was common courtesy from my colleagues, not expecting to become best friends with every single one of my work colleagues. The biggest turnoff was they neither smile nor greet when bumping into others in the hallway or toilet, except when you are their gang member. The horrible gang mentality had stopped me from putting effort into socializing.

Besides, the way my seniors delegated work to me was unprofessional and their instructions were always unclear. I couldn't feel the teamwork spirit to complete our engagement together, instead the team seemed like wanted to fulfill the minimum requirements and get paid without much effort. The team seemed to care about getting their work done more than our long term professional development. I had read through their work deliverables and documents, which were surprisingly disorganized. Witnessing frequent workplace bullying, gossip and terrible communication were the red flags that screamed "quit this job" to me.

I knew things were so wrong when I found people justifying all the shits happening in the workplace, while deep down all of us were aware of the toxic work environment was more than a job we hate. I thought of reaching out to the management to voice out my concerns or seek for advice, yet the pessimistic feedback from the experienced associates had put me off. 

I also considered to consult my performance manager on the challenges faced, but the management was unresponsive to the new joiners' request to assign us with a performance manager. Ridiculously, the admin manager only took action after I told him assigning performance manager is the first step of my employee confirmation process. However, it was too late as I had made up my mind to quit.

The Deal Breaker

I knew that it was actually the time to walk away when I realized I had signed myself up as an IT auditor without realizing it! When I applied to this job, I was expecting the nature of work to be a combination of  assurance and consulting. IT audit was merely one line of the entire job descriptions. However, after looking into the list of projects, I found out that IT audit was my ONLY job scope. I, someone who dislike audit, became an IT auditor without realizing it! Same goes to the other fresh graduates who joined the team at the same time with me.

I am concerned that the skills and knowledge learnt are not aligned with my career interest in automation or digital solution. As the world is embracing digital transformation, I reckon that tapping into these areas would be value adding for my future career and the job skills would allow me to stay relevant in the industry. Although becoming an IT auditor could gain knowledge about the application system and databases, I realized IT audit is very specialist and restrictive. Rather than providing insights into the system functionality, IT audit focuses on assessing the effectiveness of the IT controls and procedures, which the exit options do not fit my long term career pathway. 

The management has been putting effort into expanding the team's portfolio, but lack of expertise would be the major challenge. After reading their CV, I noticed the management and seniors' skills are limited to either financial statement audit or IT audit. I had witnessed them struggling with a new project for several months due to incompetencies, yet the income of project wasn't lucrative. It would take time for the team to develop new skills to attract more clients, whilst the signs of limited learning opportunities had pushed me to actively seek for exit opportunities.

Concerns

Quitting a job after a short period of time might damage my reputation in the industry, whilst one of the common advice is that it's better if I could stick to my first job for at least one year. I didn't want to be perceived as an unreliable job hopper at the initial stages of my career. At the same time, I was more concerned that spending time in a job which I hate would turn out to be even more terrible for my career growth and negatively impact my performance. 

I decided to quit only after saying yes to a job offer that matches with my career goal. It would be unwise to quit first and job hunt second due to the competitive job market and financial considerations. I'm an adult who should be financial independent and accountable to pay plenty of bills myself. Working a job that I don't passionate about but allows me to pay my bills is part of adulting, and I do acknowledge the learning opportunities: providing insights from the perspective of an IT auditor, dealing with difficult people, learning effective questioning techniques and picking up Microsoft Excel skills. Auditor's peak period provides the steepest learning curve and training ground for stronger mentality, which I sincerely appreciate regardless of the stressful work environment. 

Planning

I took a hard look at myself to understand the factors of unhappiness and find out the right fit for me. The short period of work experience provided me a clearer picture of what I really want in my life. I tried to avoid the habit of pointing the finger at other people because I knew I should be responsible for all my career decisions. It's time to cut losses and create a plan to quit professionally.

It was challenging to plan due to multiple uncertainties during the unprecedented time, yet I recognize the importance of being flexible and resilient. It's not about sticking to all the details in your plans. Planning provides directions as I could know in advance how to addresses multiple situations, such as job hunting with an extremely busy work and study schedule, following up with job application, preparation for job interviews, whether to accept the job offer, procedures for resignation and handover. A financial plan is crucial too in covering financial commitment and daily expenses, so financial considerations wouldn't be an obstacle when I decide to quit.

ACCA September 2020 Sitting Experience

Good news! I had passed both Advanced Audit and Assurance (AAA) and Advanced Taxation (ATX) during Sept 2020 sitting with 76 marks and 70 marks respectively! No more ACCA exam stress! It was totally unbelievable as I really thought I had failed my ATX after not receiving the "ACCA Affiliate" email (To understand more about ACCA message error prior to results day). Luckily, it was a mere false alarm! 

September 2020 exam session was the first ACCA sitting in Malaysia during the COVID-19 pandemic. My initial plan was to clear the remaining 2 professional papers during June 2020 sitting, which was unfortunately cancelled due to COVID-19. Although rescheduling my sitting from June 2020 to Sept 2020 indicates more time for exam preparation, I wasn't very happy with the cancellation as my career plan was disrupted. 

After successfully landing a job in one of the big 4 accounting firms, my ability to cope with studies while dealing with huge ton of workload concerned me greatly. Despite having experience in juggling between studies and extra curricular activities during December 2019 sitting, I had experienced severe burnt out issues, which had adversely affected my exam condition and results. Hence, I was facing the dilemma on whether to be a risk taker by taking 2 papers for 2 consecutive days or be risk adverse and only concentrate on 1 paper to increase the probability of successfully passing the papers in first attempt. I decided to register for the early entry to enjoy the cheaper fees first, subsequently evaluate my preparedness level before the deadline for standard entry. 

There was a major concern raised after I commenced my employment - I am not eligible to take any study leave or exam leave because I have not signed any contract with the firm. This means shorter preparation time! Even if I opt for annual leave, I am only allowed to take a maximum of 3 consecutive days leave (including weekend) due to peak period. After pro rating the number of annual leaves available based on the number of months I committed to the firm, I decided to apply for 4 days leave - 2 consecutive days to sit for my papers and 2 random days before the exam week. I was so excited when I found out National Day falls on the week before the exam week, so I could spend the long weekend to prepare for my exams (Please don't judge me for being lifeless). 

Getting leave approval from my manager had further strengthened my determination to proceed with 2 papers. Since I had just embarked on my career, I would prefer to clear my papers as soon as possible before I take on more job responsibilities. Besides, I am getting tired with exam pressure after dealing with work. Instead of blocking my calendar for study, I want to hang out with my friends after work or enjoy my weekend! The desire to get rid of exam pressure had pushed to take the risk! I believe that happiness always come after toughness. 

Taking professional papers during COVID-19 pandemic means embracing full of uncertainties. Any increase in the number of daily cases could trigger cancellation of Sept 2020 sitting. Once again, my luck plays its role and the situation of COVID-19 was well contained (in August 2020) due to effort from frontline and everyone who adheres to SOP. Hence, ACCA announced that Sept 2020 sitting would undergo subject to compliance with SOP!

After reflecting on the mistakes made during last sitting, I realized that concentrating on understanding the syllabus was insufficient. Apart from reading all the study material, I planned to work on my time and stress management skills by practising past year questions under exam condition. This method was highly recommended by ACCA, which turned out to be absolutely helpful! I was not only more well-prepared to cope with the stressful exam situation, but also gained a more accurate sense of the amount of time I should spend on elaborating my answers in order to get mark. I had also planned for the time breakdown between reading and writing answers for each session prior to the actual examination, which had contributed to better time management during exam. 

Another useful trick is to read the marking scheme to understand the key words that the examiners are looking for. I tend to spend excessive time over explaining 1 point, which ended up wasting precious time while failed to earn the maximum marks. Strict adherence to spending 1.95 minutes per point is absolutely significant yet difficult. The majority of candidates are inclined to write as much as possible due to our fear of omitting the key point. In that case, I monitored my time rigidly during the actual examination by using the timer function of my watch, and the positive effect was surprising and welcoming! 

In conclusion, I am more satisfied with my performance during this sitting. As compared to last sitting, I was more calmed during exam and did not suffer much post exam burnout or stress. I can even enjoy meals with my friends before exam, drive myself home after the long exam hours (I am a lousy baby driver) and immediately report to work on the next day (honestly not highly recommended)! 

Perhaps, these are signs of adulthood? Was so occupied and don't even have time to think about it. 

On a side note, I am happy that I only spent approximately RM10,000 (including registration fees, annual subscription fees, exam fees and EPSM module) on my ACCA professional qualification! Reason being, I had not attended any tuition classes, which saved me a significant amount of cost. Besides, I had chosen the payment method which offered me the cheapest exchange rate from GBP to MYR. I always tried to pay at times where I could enjoy a favourable exchange rate. Sounds like a cheapskate, but the accumulated amount that I had saved could be used to pay for my meals.

Now, time to accumulate (suffer) work experience to earn my title! Say hi to hectic big 4 life (no I don't have a life sorry). 

Hi, adulthood.

Three years of degree life has come to an end last month. After receiving my results for the final semester, I have experienced a tremendous transition from student life to adulthood. Desperate job seeking, preparation for job interview, anxious wait for interview results, pre-employment medical checkup, received offer letter from company, got my first car, refreshed my driving skills to buying my very first insurance plan. All happened in a short span of time.

And now, I have started my career for two weeks. My first job is not in my plan, regardless the company or the department. COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted everyone's plan for year 2020. My ACCA sitting in June was cancelled, and my job offers were put on hold until further notice. I was confronting with a dilemma, unsure whether to continue waiting endlessly for reply from my ideal company, or proceed to look for a temporary job so I could cope with part time ACCA studies. Although we have witnessed gradual economic recovery following the announcement of RMCO, numerous corporations have decided to freeze hiring on top of cost containment strategies.

Words couldn't articulate my feelings when the HR congratulated me for successfully passing the final interview stage. Finally, I can become financially independent from my parents. I am grateful to land a job in one of the big 4 accounting firms at this tough job market condition. 

However, anxiety hit me badly before I start to feel excited about the idea of getting a new job. On the bright side, being an IT auditor has opened many doors for me and I believe kick-starting my career in one of the prestigious firms would go too far wrong. On the other hand, I had totally no idea where my life will be headed with this job, as compared to my original plan to become a tax accountant. 

Uncertainty is unsettling, especially when watching my friends landing in companies with higher salary and seem better job prospect. I couldn't refrain myself from questioning my decision to not applying for management trainee program and follow the traditional pathway to start my career at big 4 instead. For the very first time in my life, I questioned my choice to study ACCA. I even started to be skeptical about the return on investment of taking professional papers.

That was the point that I realized I had lost myself in the endless cycle of comparing myself with others. I have forgot the fact that pursuing accounting profession is my passion! When my mind was busy comparing myself with others, I have failed to recall that my passion to study accounting is the reason that drives me throughout the ups and downs in my university life.

But now, I am second-guessing my decision because my friends are getting higher pay than me. I couldn't believe that I feel like a failure as I reckon them more successful than me! I am frightened by the idea that monetary compensation has become the only benchmark in defining success. Besides, all of us have just started our career, it would be to soon to assume success. Life is a marathon, we got a long life ahead! In fact, running a marathon takes perseverance and dedication. Early bird will get the worms for sure, but late birds could have amazing skills in catching worm too. Who knows eventually which bird will hunt the highest number of worms?

Upon reflection, I have realized the importance of resilience, which refers to the ability to handle hardship in life. Life can always throw us unexpected challenges, and resilience is the key that allows us to handle them properly rather than fall apart. Once, I had a misconception that someone who is mentally strong would not be emotionally affected by any problems. In fact, they will feel sad, depressed, frustrated or anxious, just like everyone else. Beyond feeling so many emotions, they are able to pick up pieces and move forward. Instead of giving up easily, they take these failures as growing experiences and come out stronger than they were before.

It has become my expectation that working hard and being constantly busy will get me everything I want. However, there are times that we would not get what we want when we want, no matter how much effort we have put in. This is where resilience comes in. I have to pick up and move on. When things do not go your way, who knows something better might come along? We could choose to see the good in every occasion. 

Adulthood begins now. Despite the fact that I thought I am well-prepared for it, the transition from student to employee still caught me off guard. There is nothing that I can do other than accept and enjoy it. The small small wish I have for the rest of my life is, I am able to follow my passion and be happy everyday.

"Cross the bridge when one comes to it"

Call me pretty ATM, would you?

Why is everyone asking me for money since morning... Even my sister... (Dad no please no I'm an unemployed poor kid 

My brother can do anything if you buy him drinks 😂

Work-Life Balance - Is It Possible?

Once we step into the corporate world, it is inevitable that a significant portion of our days is spent at work. Our paid employment is crucial in ensuring that we are able to make our ends meet and are financially prepared to pursue our life goals. Ironically, it could be the other way round - we are overwhelmed by our workload, and ended up facing trouble to make time for ourselves, not to mention time to achieve our goal. 

Therefore, working adults are in search of a healthy balance between career and personal life. Work-life balance carries different meanings for different people, and their common ground is the ability to fulfill the demands of their career without deteriorating the other important aspects in their life, such as family-related and personal interest. A harmonious work-life balance is less about devoting an equal time between work and personal life, instead it is more about having control over our life. We wish to have the flexibility to accomplish tasks in our professional life, whilst having the time and energy to live our life to the fullest. 

A poor work-life balance could be resulted from toxic work culture, where the workers are expected to work themselves to death but not being financially compensated for their sacrifice. Technology advancement has enhanced our social connectedness, on the other hand increased the accessibility of workers around the clock, making work-life balance more impossible. The current global recession and layoffs looms have exacerbated the job insecurity, thus the workers are forced to constantly plug in. 

Besides, there is a trade off between work and personal time. The opportunity cost of enjoying personal quality time rather than working is higher than one climbing up the corporate ladder. Consequently, the employees are burned out, which in turn suffer low productivity, deteriorate their physical and mental health, jeopardize their social life and escalate the company's workforce turnover rate.

As the workplace trends are transforming due to millennials' demand for work-life balance, numerous organizations have emphasized the organizational culture in supporting the goal of work-life balance. They have adopted remote working policies and valued their employees' integration of work and private life. Remote working has also become a key method for the organizations to stay ahead of disruption and boost employees' morale. The ongoing worldwide pandemic of coronavirus disease has accelerated the digital transformation of work, resulting in more companies embracing work from home arrangement. 

Sadly, remote working does not necessarily lead to an achievement of work-life balance. The boundaries between work and private life have been blurred, and the lack of performance visibility has resulted in an increase in either surveillance by superiors or expectation to boost productivity. The homebound employees are logging in longer working hours than in office. The never-ending workday compounds their stress. The underlying problem is, there is no legitimate excuse to escape from impromptu meetings or con-calls, with the expectation that people have no where to go and nothing to do except their job.

The hard truth is, work-life balance does not exist. There is just work, especially in the Asian countries which highly value the culture of long working hours. It would be awesome to achieve a balance but our lives do not exist in silos. Some suggest that workers should instead pursue work-life integration or harmony. They are advised to think about their work and the other aspects of life as a whole, rather than separating the compartments of their life. Balance tends to imply a strict trade-off, which is difficult to achieve. Nevertheless, there are counter arguments that work-life integration or harmony is merely an euphemism for working outside hours.

Attaining work-life balance is a never ending process, yet we should not stop fighting for it! If we are not the one who care about our well-being, who else will?  Hence, start treating yourself better today for working hard. It could be a small cup of coffee, a home-cooked delicious lunch, some good music, or a short break. Useful tips to achieve work-life balance are available at Forbes and The Guardian, provided by career experts. Do try the method that is suitable for you!

"Never get so busy making a living that you forget to make a life."

Year 3 Sem 3 | Final Sem!

Good news! My name is on the graduate list and I am graduating with distinction! Recalling the first day I started my university, I couldn't believe how far I have come!

Let's recap my final semester! This semester is supposed to be a heavy one because I am taking five subjects, which sums up a total of 19 credit hours. There are 2 elective subjects, and students are required to choose among 4 ACCA Strategic Professional Level option papers, namely Advanced Audit & Assurance (AAA), Advanced Taxation (ATX), Advanced Financial Management (AFM) and Advanced Performance Management (APM). 

My preferred subject combination is ATX + AFM, but my university's AFM lecturer is well-known (notorious) for her extremely strict (torturing) teaching method. Claiming that she is doing for her students' own good, she demands her students to fully concentrate on her subject and neglect other "unimportant" subjects. Such request seems unreasonable to me because I reckon other subjects carry the same weight (and credit hours) as her subject! Besides, my learning style leans towards self-studying over classroom learning. I prefer to learn at my own pace, hence I have decided to give up AFM as I could't tolerate the pressure to become her student. (She might hate me before I'm scared of her thou)

It took me some time to reach a conclusion on whether to choose AAA or APM, as none of them is my preferred subject. I was hesitating to select AAA as I do not have strong interest to kick start my career in auditing, and AAA is known to be the hardest exam.

I ended up went for AAA out of the consideration that the syllabus of APM is overlapping with SBL. Many students choose APM over AAA to maintain their CGPA, whilst me decided to take the challenge at the risk of affecting my CGPA adversely. Reason being, AAA is more practical aspect of profession than APM. I couldn't know if I am making the correct decision, until I pass my AAA in first attempt.

Advanced Audit & Assurance

As compared to the basic audit subjects in my previous years of study, the syllabus offers a higher level of relevant skills and knowledge in audit and assurance knowledge. I have learnt to analyze financial statements from the perspective of an auditor. Besides, this subject has refreshed my SBR knowledge, providing me more insights into practical application of accounting standards. I like how the questions provide many interesting real world scenario, but the questions are immensely challenging! I believe the reason students struggle with this subject is because we are used to rote learning without understanding the concept, whilst this subject is concerned with the application of knowledge.

The only reason I regretted in taking up AAA is the lecturer. The flow of her lecture isn't organized, as she fails to explain several significant links among different audit stages. Instead of delving deeper into the concepts or providing real life examples, she is inclined to repeat and rephrase some basic concepts. I strongly dislike her disorganized notes, which is messier than her lectures! 

Some students might perceive her as a good lecturer because she marks very leniently. However, surface knowledge is inadequate for students to pass our ACCA examination. Hence, I had to study the whole ACCA syllabus on my own to prepare for my September sitting.

In contrast, the APM lecturer is much better in delivering her content and prepares her students for ACCA examinations. She is the fatest lecturer who picks up e-learning during MCO, and I genuinely admire her dedication towards teaching. Her great teaching techniques have attracted students to attend her three hours lecture in the evening. Conclusion, good teachers do make a great difference.

Integrated Case Study

I was enthusiastically anticipating to attend classes for this subject before the semester started! After exposing to different workshops and competitions, I hope to receive proper coaching on cracking case study and presenting solutions. The bigger the expectation, the bigger the disappointment. Students were given few case studies to identify problems and suggest solutions, yet the course structure and scoring system has undermines the objective of case study. Every week, we were expected to prepare reports on issues identified before the class, which means no guidance was provided beforehand. We did present our solutions to our tutor biweekly, yet our tutor focused on allocating marks for each team's presentation, rather than providing us advice or feedback on improving our solutions or presentation skills. 

This subject irritated us more when the lecturer announced that our weekly reports and presentations only carry an insignificant percentage of our total marks. Our effort did not yield a corresponding results. He had allocated more weightage on group and individual assignment, but we were given an excessively short period of time for submission. His vague instructions had worsen the situation, which caused us repeatedly changing our content.

On the bright side, we got a tutor with deep knowledge for this subject matter. He had provided different perspective when evaluating the case study and shared his industry knowledge. I like the way he explained things whenever I requested for clarification. Most importantly, he gave us direction and guidance for assignments, and he even replied my email after office hours! Instead of spoon feeding the answers, he prompted me to think further by throwing me more questions. 

Advanced Presentation
This is another subject which I look forward to. I was expecting this subject would brush up my presentation skills, which is a sought-after skill which employers are looking for. Unexpectedly, this subject intends to teach us creating and designing a PowerPoint presentation slide. A large scope of the syllabus covers basic and common slides designing skills, which are expected from a final year undergraduate. Besides, time allocated for practical classes is unreasonably extreme. One practical class is expected to last 4 hours, while it only took us less than an hour to complete exercise for one chapter. 

I understand the intention of authority in designing this course, but it seems that they had over emphasized the "slides" than the "presentation". A well designed slide is merely part of an effective presentation. A good presentation comes from correctly addressing the audience's needs, interaction with audience, speaking tone and body language. There is a huge room for improvement for my presentation skills, and I hope that universities could design their course to equip students with excellent presentation skills, which would bridge the expectation gap between employers and students.

Nevertheless, this subject is an easy subject to score A, and it carries a significant 4 credit hours! It would be a favorite subject for students who desire to improve their grade with minimal efforts.

Hubungan Etnik

The last MPU subject in my university. I dislike MPU subjects because I neither pick up transferable skills nor enhance my knowledge. We were just repeating what we have learnt back in SPM Sejarah, which is a compulsory pass subject. The perk of the subject is the great memories created when our team worked together on our video assignment. We took the video shooting as the opportunity to increase bond and spend more awesome time together before we graduate. There wasn't script written for our scenes, and our acting was totally impromptu, which had made our video more hilarious. Until today, I couldn't refrain myself from laughing, regardless of how many times I have watched our video.

MPU subjects have been criticized for being useless, wasting time and burdening. There are students who like MPU subjects because it's an easy subject to score and pull up their CGPA, whilst students with poor Bahasa Malaysia language proficiency are traumatized with MPU subjects as they couldn't understand what their lecturer is saying! I understand the objective of MPU subjects in promoting nation building by broadening knowledge about Malaysia. However, the reality has proved that such method is ineffective as textbook knowledge isn't the best tool to instill nationalism and racial unity among youths. 

Advanced Taxation

Advanced Taxation is a huge leap from Basic Taxation and students really need to step up their game. Honestly, I am uncertain that my interest in tax is derived from the teaching method of my lecturer, relatively easier nature of examination or my genuine passion towards tax field. My lecturer for Basic Taxation is one of the best lecturers in my university. I remember him consistently reminding students on areas that require more attention in lecture class. Also, he always interacts with students and is very passionate in encouraging students to participate in tax competitions. He is the reason I set a higher expectation for my Advanced Taxation lecturer, which had turned my hope into disappointment. 

I do believe that my Advanced Taxation lecturer is equipped with ample knowledge related to tax, yet I seriously couldn't tolerate his voice and the method he conducted his lecture. While attending his first lecture, I was questioning my English language proficiency as I really couldn't understand his explanation or elaboration. His magical sentence structure had confused us and his tone in delivering lecture was loud yet monotonous, which made me fail to concentrate in his class. I believe same went to my coursemates, as I had noticed a sharp decline in the physical attendance. 

The funny part was, he was well aware that many students were helping their friends who absent from lecture to take attendance. Our university implements e-attendance, and students are required to connect to the university Wi-Fi to take attendance via university apps. The existing loophole is, students would ask their friends to sign in to their account and take attendance on behalf of them. The lecturer did not warn them from taking attendance unauthorizedly. Instead, he decided to give attendance code at the very last minute (literally 6.59pm when class ended at 7pm) of his lecture, so the students couldn't have ample time to log out from their own account and sign into their friends' account! We always joke that battle always happen when Advanced Taxation comes to its end, and this battle examines one's typing speed and ability to remember his friend's student ID and password! (Tip: set your student ID as your password hahaha!)

On the other hand, I sincerely appreciate the opportunity to be taught by my tutor, who is much better than my lecturer (I honestly feel sorry for my lecturer when I am writing my blog post). After our first mid-term exam, she had identified few weaker students and also the common areas that we lost marks. In subsequent tutorial classes, she consistently checked on these students to ensure that they truly understand the concepts behind the tax principles. Besides, she had guided us on more exam-styled questions, which encourages application of knowledge. I love how she actively interacted with us in class and maintain a positive relationship with us, which had in turn created a harmonious learning environment. I noticed such surroundings boost students' interest to pursue knowledge and eventually increase learning effectiveness.

In short, the beginning of final semester was roller coaster, and it ended very abruptly due to MCO. MCO happened when there were two more weeks till the end of semester, hence the disruption caused to our studies was minimized. I was quite disappointed with my lecturers for not conducting online lectures, yet I do understand that time is needed for them to transition to work from home, especially when most of them are less computer literate. 

The major disruption was delay in my final examinations, which means more time for preparation but I didn't spend my time productively. Online exam was an entirely new experience to me, but still I prefer physical examinations. Despite my fast typing speed, the exam pressure had resulted in many typing errors, and being an OCD, I spent too much time correcting these typos. Eventually, I couldn't manage to finish my examinations within stipulated time! Besides, I find it more exhausting to stare at the screen for long hours while experiencing high level of stress. On the bright side, candidates neither have to worry about traffic congestion nor unable to find the exam hall. And I find another amusing perk of sitting for online exam, YOU CAN EAT WHILE YOU ARE HAVING EXAM! (I have checked, eating isn't disallowed during online exam :P)

Despite MCO, I would conclude that my final semester was a memorable one. I had spent time having fun with my classmates, and we finally played volleyball together on the Friday before MCO! There were more plans that we promised to do together, but did not happen due to MCO. And we didn't manage to take photos with our lecturers and most importantly, our last class photo! Moral of the story, appreciate every moment, you never know when it is the last moment. Anyway, COVID-19 doesn't put a full stop to our friendship! 

It's time to move on to the next stage of our life as a working adult (a.k.a. corporate slave), but the memories would last for our life time.

家人

世上最亲的人 论血缘 应该算是我们的家人吧
因为所谓怀胎十月 血浓于水
也有可能是因为所谓缘分 或无法选择

可是有时明明是一家人 却异常地疏远 冷淡
很多人不明白 为何自己的家人可以和
没有血缘关系的陌生人相处得更好

也许是少了许多的“应该”和“理所当然”吧
太多的责任约束、道德绑架
把原本的心甘情愿、主动承担
变得很压力、很累

《天水围的日与夜》：明明是一家人，怎么就生分了？

時間

時間的確很可怕
可怕到可以改變很多曾以為是永恆的事情

與此同時
時間也很神奇

總有一些感情、事情
經過時間的淬煉
能夠被考驗以及被保存下來

是緣分？還是人為努力呢？

時間，總會沖淡一切的。

真的沒有想過還有機會聽到少時唱Complete
已經不再complete的他們 不再青澀的他們
竟然可以在唱這首逢唱必哭的歌時搞怪
Jessica（被逼）離開後到底多少年了？
我只記得是2014年9月30日 我考SPM那年
還記得那時我剛剛有電話 蔚祥WhatsApp告訴我們的
我怎麼也不相信 以為是假新聞
後來發生的事情大家也知道了
傷害造成了 我們都不知道發生了什麼事情
只能拼命地透過一些社交網站上的蛛絲馬跡來猜測
大家都想要證明自己的猜測是對的 尤其是陰謀論者

諷刺的是 事過境遷 到底有多少人記得？
韓國女團依舊是百花齊放 而我自己也從只聽少時
到喜歡Red Velvet，Mamamoo，G(I)-DLE
也總會在看這些女團的舞台的若有所失
回想起曾經的九腿 還有我已逝的青春

還是有很多人想要證明Jessica的離開是對的
到底那個決定是被逼還是自願的 都已經那麼多年了
我當然也希望大家都好好的
我也無從得悉到底她沒有離開的話 少時會怎樣
只希望那些曾經和我一樣為少時瘋狂過的人
可以像他們一樣 釋懷

時間 終究會撫平一切的愛恨痴嗔
誰能抵抗歲月這把刀？

明天大考

這幾天都在抱佛腳
才發現自己這個學期真的是太鬆懈了
自以為很容易的AAA
其實很多都沒有深入了解
幸好是線上考試 可以“參考”
不過為了正式的ACCA考試真的是需要一番努力
不喜歡這樣臨時抱佛腳的自己
不喜歡自己學習不認真的態度
考完大考後要認真地把練習題重新做一次
答應自己不再浪費寶貴的時間

今天不小心害死了一隻小鳥
那隻可憐的小鳥飛進了我的房間
因為房間太暗我沒有注意到
結果開了風扇聽到了風扇撞擊小鳥的聲音
親眼目睹了小鳥的羽毛在空中飄落
小鳥掉在了我的書架上 我的娃娃隔壁
我本想應該只是受傷了吧 真對不住
可是靠近一看 發現小鳥一動也不動了

好久沒有這樣被嚇到了 上次被嚇到是搬宿舍時被闖入房間的野貓嚇到
我也好久沒有軟弱到向我爸求助了
因為我叫我媽她也不敢 我弟妹更不用說了
我自己也害怕小鳥會不會有禽流感之類的
真的謝謝我爸 沖涼後圍著毛巾出來幫我看
小鳥真的死了 欸 真的是覺得自己做孽

爸說拿掃把把屍體掃進畚斗然後丟進溝渠吧
也是 對於人類來說 不就是畜生嘛
我把小鳥的屍體放在大樹下的草堆裡
真的是覺得對不起 誤闖我的房間還被我誤殺了
安慰自己 我是個肉食動物 每天都在切肉煮肉
要不是剛好明天考試 可能自己就會胡思亂想了

考試也是越讀越愧疚 覺得自己真的之前好懶惰
不過已經發生的事情 再愧疚也無濟於事
我只能希望小鳥下輩子投胎找個好人家
（如果佛教的投胎輪迴真的存在）
然後我把明天的考試考好好來

P. S.
最近的疫情逐漸受到控制
很感激那些冒著生命危險的醫護人員
也為那些不幸染上疫病過世的病人家屬默哀

我們無力控制生死 只能在活著時珍惜自己所有

学警狙击：黑白变奏

倒数两天就是大考，也就是学生最容易分心和懒惰读书的时候。在油管无意听到《学警狙击》的主题曲《黑白变奏》，忽然觉得好热血沸腾，好想重看这部我已经把剧情倒背如流的警匪片！糟糕的网速无阻我看戏的毅力，两天就看完啦！

主题曲好听！

警匪片，永远是港剧的标志；男人，永远是警匪片的看点。这部警匪片是学警系列的最后一部，也是最后一次看到文翘CP了（哭哭）。这部戏就是让我入了三哥苗侨伟的坑，他眼角皱纹真的是恰到好处地增加他身为黑帮老大江世孝的魅力。喜欢他对着女儿一脸慈父的微笑，对着自己喜欢的女人丧失理智的模样，也喜欢他后期演绎出黑帮老大对于身边人的不信任和心狠手辣。

就如主题曲名字，这部戏花了很大篇幅描绘白方警察和黑方黑社会的斗争，探讨“卧底”如何游走在黑白之间的灰色地带。戏中有两个卧底，一个是冲动热血的钟立文，一个是广受大家喜爱的Laughing Gor！Laughing Gor当年真的是红极一时，红到编剧必须硬生生在结局加入他复活加入警队的片段，才有了后期更多关于Laughing的影视作品。说真的，我觉得Laughing在《学警狙击》里的角色塑造已经很立体饱满，其它影视作品让人有审美疲惫和炒冷饭圈钱的感觉。身为一个更“资深”的卧底，Laughing比钟立文更完整地诠释出卧底的挣扎，对于被迫放弃的过往和伤害过的人的无奈与愧疚，为了达到目的的不择手段，到最后仍谨记自己作为一个警察的使命并为了保护钟立文而殉职。《学警狙击》的钟立文的冲动是多么地让人熟悉，毕竟他是冲动鲁莽角色的“御用演员”。不过，他在戏里和黑帮老大女儿江悠悠的爱情故事真的很浪漫，戏中最佳荧幕情侣啊！饰演悠悠的女演员把角色的挣扎和任性演得很自然，和钟立文CP感比柏翘和他老婆的CP感好太多了啊！

以前看时觉得这部戏结局很唐突，尤其是江世孝在大结局因为废话太多而错过逃跑机会，结果被车意外撞伤后入狱，颇有虎头蛇尾之感。但现在重看，觉得颇有讽刺的意味。江世孝和李柏翘持枪对峙时的对话，是因为他对于自己玩心理战术有信心，想要利用自己长得像李柏翘父亲（因为是同一个演员饰演啊哈哈哈）来影响柏翘，但柏翘已经当年不是那个软弱和容易被影响的他了，而是很坚定地指出江世孝如何越陷越深，由此突出两个主角的心理变化和成长。江世孝的女儿回头救他，但因为他对身边人极度的不信任，所以他选择不上车，转身逃跑而发生车祸；而撞伤他的人，是因为吃了他卖的药丸导致意识不清醒。这就是编剧要诠释的因果报应吧。

也许是这几年港剧素质下降，现在重温旧剧竟觉得好久没有看过如此充满港味、故事性算完整、演员演技在线（当年饰演花若葆的演员饱受批评，现在和其他女演员比起来真的好太多）、人物塑造得真实立体的警匪片了。就连剧中的小配角也很抢戏，例如靠老爸上位但后期因为中癌症而变得疯狂的左轮、忠心耿耿讲华语超级标准的阿忠、很爱教训人的超sir、看似讲义气但最后出卖阿文的喇叭等。我个人觉得它比后期TVB出名的警匪片更有港味，还有很多帅气的男人看！

P.S.

好啦，看完男人就要乖乖读书啦，大考要完蛋了

情与义 那像似黑白事情

Focus on yourself

人生就是这样的过程
你爬得越高就会有人希望你摔下来
你做得再好也会有人告诉你做得不好
也总会有人有办法让别人去相信你真的就是这么一文不值

可是
还是要坚持做对的事
并且学着相信自己

要花多久的时间才能明白
别人的看法不怎么重要
因为他们根本不在乎自己说了什么
但是我们却要为了这些恶意痛苦万分

只有当对这些外来的杂音越来越透彻的时候
才更能专注地做自己想做的事情

Lockdown Life

Few days ago, the government has decided to extend the MCO for another two weeks until 14th of April. This decision is expected because Hubei went into a nearly two-month long lockdown to stop the spread. Even after 14th of April, it is still unclear that whether the epidemic in Malaysia would be tamed successfully. The Malaysian Institute of Economic Research (MIER) has even recommended for the MCO to be extended until end of April to (hopefully) ensure a sustained zero COVID-19 cases in Malaysia.

Staying at home for few weeks isn't challenging for me because I'm really in need for a short break! Unlike working adults who need to work from home and attend numerous conference calls, I could just duduk diam-diam kat rumah and do whatever things I want! Taking time to unplug and recharge ourselves is essential, not to mention it would further boost my productivity. Hence, I view MCO as a chance to enjoy a slower pace of life. No more rushing to catch the bus or attend classes. (Valid reasons to skip classes!) No more spending hours to travel or stuck in traffic jam. 

So, how did this lazy girl spend her time during MCO, which makes her feel occupied?

1. Cooking

I am a good girl who follow our Prime Minister's recommendation to try out different recipes at home. My mother always views dining out as evil and unhealthy, and now she is prohibiting us from ordering any food delivery to minimize contact. My survival rule at home is never convince my parents on any issues. NEVER. So I gave up on talking to her about this. Assuming that we are going to cook ourselves for two weeks (now it's extended to four weeks), I can foresee my mother cooking porridge everyday as our lunch. To prevent myself from being phobia of porridge, I have decided to cook myself! I also want to take this chance to improve my bad cooking skills. 

Racking my brains to come up with different menus by using limited ingredients and cooking tools is my daily challenge during lockdown. It is difficult to satisfy my picky siblings' appetite and to ensure that we don't eat a boring lunch (lockdown lives are torturing these two kids whom one wants to go shopping and dine out; whilst one wants to play sports). I have faced numerous hiccups during the process of cooking, luckily I'm dating a chef! He has been complaining that I'm worse than his Bangladesh subordinates, but thankfully he is still willing to help me to resolve the cooking problems. Not burning down my kitchen would be my proudest achievement during the lockdown! I sincerely hope that my dishes would not traumatize my siblings. 

2. Home Workout

Shelter-in-place restrictions pose challenge to stay active and healthy. Staying at home makes it easier to sit for long periods of time, especially when you are so close to your bed! I insist to cook at least one meal daily so I could move around a bit in the kitchen. However, neither spring cleaning nor cooking could provide the adequate levels of physical activity needed. To stay physically healthy, I try out some home workout recommended by my sister. I find following the workout videos more exhausting than outdoor activities such as swimming or playing badminton! (I know I'm weak >.<) I prefer to follow the workout routines by a former TVB artist, Coffee Lam 林芊妤. Now, she has reinvented herself as a successful yoga instructor. Her workout videos are very intensive and difficult to handle at first attempt, but completing the full routine would give you a great sense of achievement! Hopefully I am disciplined enough to continue my home workout routine throughout the full lockdown period.

Be like Thor!

Source from: Facebook

3. Sleeping

Sleeping is life's greatest little pleasure after we grow up. Lockdown life has been so awesome for not having to set alarm for the next day and able to take a nap everyday without worrying much about deadlines (Perks of completing all assignments and presentations before lockdown?) I couldn't recall when was the last time I get 7 to 8 hours of high quality sleep on a regular schedule. Now it's time to repay my sleep debt! However, having too much sleep could be detrimental and draining, therefore I am trying to reset my body internal clock by fixing my sleeping schedule (apparently it's just an "attempt" because this girl is still awake at 1a.m. to write her blog post).

4. Playing Online Games with Friends

Despite unable to meet up with our friends, the Internet accessibility has offered us various alternatives to bond with each other, such as online games or Netflix party! I'm not a big fan of gaming because my parents are typical strict Asian parents that view gaming as a sin. After I grow up, I realize gaming could provide our brain with meaningful stimulation, but high degree of self-control is essential. I have been playing skribbl.io with my friends, which is a simple multiplayer drawing and guessing game. I like this game because it tests our English vocabulary and also flexes our creative imagination, which are something that I lack of. I am still exploring online games that are friendly to non-gamers like me. (I am too stupid for some games!) 

5. Social Media

Normally I would restrict my time spent on social media because I reckon social media is as addictive as gambling. However, MCO has got me to engage in social media for long hours and neglect my studies! I have been mindlessly scrolling Facebook and Instagram as these social medias' content has become so expansive that makes it very easy to get stuck in. 

Do we really need to be informed about so many things? Are all the info that we receive daily are coming from credible sources? I find it important to trim the Facebook/Instagram pages we are following. Reading a heavily clogged Facebook/Instagram feeds could take way too much time, yet we are just receiving worthless information. Now, it's time to STOP and focus on my utmost priority, which is STUDY! 

On a side note, I am impressed by the creative memes or marketing strategy during lockdown, especially the viral Makcik Kiah memes. And also all the bingo templates or creative (weird?) drawing/writing challenges at Instagram.

6. Studying

Shame on me because I have only studied for eight hours since the lockdown! MCO is definitely a great opportunity for me to catch up on my studies because I have been skipping all lecture classes (shame on me again) throughout the whole semester. After slacking for one whole week, I finally opened my AAA workbook to attempt few questions! My lecturers didn't conduct any online classes because they strongly believed that physical classes could be conducted in April before the announcement of MCO extension. Besides, communications between lecturers and university management are messy and there are a lot of changes happening but still many things are not confirmed. For example, we are not yet informed on how to sit for e-assessment. It's time for me to buck up and spend more time on studying instead!

7. Binge Watching Drama

As a drama lover, lockdown is the golden opportunity to binge watch dramas and clear my to watch list! When you would have a considerably large chunk of time to binge watching if not now? (Wait, isn't now the best chance to focus on my studies? Wrong priorities!) I have started to watch few Korean and Hong Kong dramas before the lockdown is announced HAHAHA. 

So far, the best drama that I have watched during the lockdown is Kingdom. It is Netflix's first original Korean series which consists of 3 seasons. Some finds the contagious zombie virus in the drama identical to the current pandemic COVID-19 outbreak, while I am attracted by the news that the famous South Korean actress Jun Ji-hyun is going to play central role in the upcoming season. With only six episodes per season, the story plot is exciting, dense and suspenseful. The zombie plague in "Kingdom" is more interesting than the movie "Train to Busan", and I am impressed by the acting skills of the "zombies". I like the comedic moments in the drama, which improves my watching experience. I prefer Season 1 over Season 2 because the Season 2 is less refreshing, but the ending of Season 2 is so dramatic and has gone viral at social media! Can't wait for the final season.

Conclusion

In short, I believe that staying at home could be as productive and fulfilling as non lockdown period. (Apologies to the extroverts who desperately want to hang out with their friends hahaha!) Anyway I feel we should be grateful for being able to stay at home safely, because the healthcare workers are risking their lives at the front line to fight the virus. Now staying at home could be the least thing we could do for the nation! I also hope that the lockdown could be eased as soon as possible so everything could be back to normal and I could meet up with the people I miss badly.

"You are not stuck at home. You are SAFE at home."

Best food in Setapak: Part 4

I have stopped blogging for two weeks because MCO has disrupted my plans to visit few more nice restaurants in Setapak. I was planning to take some pictures so I could share more at my blog, but now I can only duduk diam-diam kat rumah. Yesterday, I decided to clear my phone storage and deleted unwanted photos, then I discovered some photos taken previously which are suitable to be used for blogging!

Hence, the lazy girl is here to continue writing.

6. Uncle Stinky Tofu@Desa Setapak/Uncle 臭豆腐

Not a big fan of stinky tofu because I don't like the strong odor emitting from the fermented tofu, but this stall has changed my view of this "smelly" street food. Without a brick-and-mortar store, Uncle Stinky Tofu is merely a motor booth in Desa Setapak which have operated since 2002 (means around 18 years if I do the Maths correctly). I couldn't recall any signboard shown at his booth, so it is named "Uncle Stinky Tofu" because it is sold by an old uncle. 

The stall is located 5 to 10 minutes walking distance from LRT Wangsa Maju. Since it is a mobile stall, the exact location might change from time to time, but I believe the heavy smell of stinky tofu would draw you to the stall. Besides, there is always a long queue before uncle begins to fry the tofu. The queue could be a useful guide too. I have once visited the shop in a rainy day before 10 pm, but I am not the first customer! I heard that sometimes uncle would decide to not open his stall if it rains heavily, so you really need to try your luck sometimes! Besides, it is ridiculously difficult to find a parking at Wangsa Maju area. I'm gonna wish you luck here hehe.

Although you need to queue, the waiting time for the food to be served is reasonable. Uncle has an amazing memory power to remember who reach first and the amount of stinky food ordered. The stinky tofu sold is served hot and fresh, and the smell makes it appetizing after adding chili sauce on it. Uncle said the fermented source is natto and the chili sauce is imported from Taiwan, which explains the unique smell of his stinky tofu. It also comes with cabbage, which serves perfectly with the tofu! The cabbage might be sold out if you visit the stall at late midnight. 

The famous stinky tofu stall is just a motor booth

Best stinky tofu in town!

The stinky, watery and spicy stinky tofu would serve as the best supper if you stay around Setapak area. Can't wait to visit the stall again after MCO!

Address:

41, Jalan 1/27b,

Desa Setapak,

53300 Kuala Lumpur.

Business Hours:

2200 - 0000 everyday

Best food in Setapak: Part 3

I have been blogging about delicious food in Setapak that deserves more attention, here's Part 1 and Part 2 if you are keen to know more!

4. AIShiteru 爱芋冰
This is a must-go dessert shop if you visit Setapak! A bowl of refreshing Taiwanese dessert at only RM7! Apart from Yixi's Rice Yogurt, their dessert got the highest exposure at my Instagram story due to its affordable price.

The shop was newly opened last year when I was practicing my internship. I came across this shop through my friend's WeChat moments and I thought Snowflake has opened a new branch in Setapak. The location is difficult to find because the shop is just a small lot beside the market and their shop sign is not obvious. Until now my classmates still refer it as "dessert shop at Prima pasar".

The shop is very small and could only accommodate two tables. 

No fancy interiors but good food is enough!

The photos displayed in their menu are their signatures.

AIShiteru Grass Jelly (From the left) looks and tastes very similar to Snowflake's Bestseller. It comes with grass jelly ice, taro balls, sweet potato balls, grass jelly and milk. I personally feel their grass jelly is slightly bitter, warmer and smoother. My classmates reckon that it is more difficult to control the grass jelly than the basketball. Their milk tastes slightly less sweet, while their taro balls are fresher. The serving portion could be smaller than Snowflake's due to price difference but the portion is suitable to serve for two adults.

AIShiteru Wintermelon

Despite the similarities, they have different options available from the other famous franchise dessert shops, such as AIShiteru Wintermelon and AIShiteru Passion Fruit. AIShiteru Wintermelon is always my top choice because the sweetness of wintermelon ice is moderate, natural and refreshing! It comes with taro balls, tapioca pearls, sweet potato balls and grass jelly. I love their aloe vera the most! Having one bowl of AIShiteru Wintermelon always cheer me up after an exhausting day.

AIShiteru Passion Fruit

On the other hand, AIShiteru Passion Fruit would give you a sweet sensation alongside with a light sourish blend. My boyfriend finds it too sour but most of my female friends like it. Seems like it suits ladies more? Alongside with tangy passion fruit ice, it serves with taro balls, sweet potato balls, mango pudding, aloe vera and tapioca pearls. Having the mango pudding together with passion fruit ice would maximize the sourish taste if you have a sour tooth.

Gonna miss dessert food hunting with classmates badly.

Address:
No. 4
Jalan Prima Setapak 1
Setapak
53300 Kuala Lumpur

Business Hours:
13.00 - 22.30
Closed on Thursday

5. Wei Ji Claypot Chicken Rice 韋吉瓦煲雞飯
The most reasonably priced with hearty serving food in Setapak! The first time my friends and I visited this place, we were overwhelmed by the whole lot of rice because we were not big eaters. Their large claypot dish comes with an abundant amount of flavorful rice, lots of meaty chicken and a generous portion of Chinese sausage! We were expecting it to cost us around RM25, but turned out it is only RM15! In disbelief, I even double confirmed with the boss to ensure that he didn't calculate it wrongly.

The chicken pieces are big!

There is a decent mixture of boneless and boned chickens.

Can you believe this portion is one serving of vegetables?

Everything served in this shop is in large portion and tasty, which is probably the reason why the shop is always full house. I had visited the shop at 7pm and 8pm, ended up waiting one hour for my food because there are too many customers! Making a reservation through phone call is highly recommended to avoid crazily long waiting hours. Finding car park would be another pain and everyone just park by the roadside. As the road is very narrow, having cars parked at both sides would make the two way road to become one way road.

Empty tables are only spotted when I visited the shop at 6pm

Previously there was an open air area beside the shop, which is now covered.

The roof protects us from rain but it is very hot!

Not to forget their soup-of-the-day, which is another must-try in this restaurant! We called it "lou fo tong" （老火汤）in Cantonese. It refers to boiled soup, cooked with simmering meat and other ingredients over a low heat for numerous hours. It is known as a Chinese traditional method to keep body temperature warm and provide essential nutrients to our body. Another reason I like to order their soup is to have something to eat during the long waiting hours. 

Address:
74 Jalan Mawar
Taman P Ramlee
Setapak
53300 Kuala Lumpur

Phone Number for reservation:
016-2527368

Business Hours: 
Everyday 17.00 - 22.30

Best food in Setapak: Part 2

I'm back! Can't believe next week is week 12 of my final semester, which means few more weeks to finals but yet I am so unprepared for the last finals in my degree life. I wish I could stop procrastinating and concentrate more on my studies.

But before that, I need to update my blog! No matter how busy (or lazy) I am, the habit of blogging should not stop! My writing skills and memories are deteriorating sigh.

Let's continue on my foodie journey in Setapak area! You could have a look at Part 1 if you are interested!

3. Yixi's Rice Yogurt 壹席酸奶
Another hidden gem in Setapak! Unlike those beverage shops which invested heavily in advertising activities, I barely see any advertisement done by this shop. The yogurt shop has been there since I started my degree, and I discovered it through an insta story of my coursemate. Their cute smiling water droplets logo caught my eyes. But their location isn't strategic and their lack of advertisement have caused me postponing my plan to visit the shop. Until a point where I got fed up with the mushrooming bubble tea shops in Setapak, I finally recalled the existence of this shop and decided to drop a visit.

As a huge fan of yogurt, the natural taste of their yogurt drinks immediately stole my heart. Many yogurt drinks found in the market are nauseatingly sweet because they contain an excessive amount of added sugar to get rid of the sourness out of the yogurt. In fact, yogurt is not supposed to be sweet. Natural yogurt drink should have a tasty sour tang because yogurt is resulted from the bacterial fermentation of milk.  Unexpectedly, Yixi's Rice Yogurt manage to find a delicate balance of sourness and sweetness! I have visited to similar yogurt drink shop, such as Hey! I Am Yogost 我是酸奶君 and Yomie's Rice X Yogurt 有米酸奶. Both shops' yogurt drinks are disappointing due to their sickeningly sweet taste.

My boyfriend's and my favourite drink in their Yixi's Yogurt Smoothie series is the Organic Oat Yogurt! Both of us love the on point proportion of yogurt to oats. Their oats' texture are neither mush nor too hard but chewy! Every single bite of the oats would give you a rich taste of yogurt, probably because they soaked the oats in natural yogurt beforehand.

Organic Oat Yogurt is BABE

If you are a big fan of purple rice, their Purple Rice Yogurt is definitely your cup of tea! The difference of the purple rice yogurt sold by Yixi and Yomie is the ratio of purple rice to yogurt. My classmate who likes grains prefer Yomie's Purple Rice Yogurt because it contains a high proportion of purple rice.  I personally find the purple rice in Yomie's Purple Rice Yogurt is way too much which makes the yogurt drink tastes unpleasant.

(Purple Rice Yogurt & Banana Yogurt

Another recommended series is their Fresh Fruit X Yogurt Smoothie series. I have tried Banana Yogurt, Passionfruit Yogurt and Papaya Yogurt. This series taste sweeter than the Yomie's Rice X Yogurt Smoothie series because it contains the natural sweetness of the respective fruits added. My friend found Banana Yogurt too sweet because the sweetness of banana has covered the taste of yogurt. The Passionfruit Yogurt tastes surprisingly good but I guess it really depends on whether you like passionfruit. However, Papaya Yogurt is not recommended because my boyfriend suspect that they accidentally used overripe papaya to make the drink (advantage of having a chef boyfriend?).

My best friend Jia Qi and I have been actively promoting this shop to our friends because we know their refreshments deserve more love and attention. I have friend who even came all the way from OUG to Setapak to try it and she said it worths the effort! How we wish that they would listen to our feedback and collaborate with GrabFood or any food delivery companies so we could have it after we move out from Setapak area.

In short, I really love the pleasant, refreshing and healthy yogurt drink sold by them! The price of one cup of yogurt drink is same as one cup of bubble tea (approximately RM13) and it is definitely healthier to drink yogurt! So, why not take this chance to quit unhealthy bubble tea and join the healthy drink squad? :P

Address:
126-1-2
Metro Genting Klang
Jalan Genting Kelang
53300 Kuala Lumpur

Google Search/Waze Search:
Yixi's rice yogurt

Business Hours:
Tuesday & Sunday - 12PM to 10PM
Wednesday to Saturday - 12PM to 12AM
Closed on Monday

Oh no I didn't expect this post will be that long and I shall sleep because it's freaking 3.27AM now and I need to wake up early tomorrow for morning jog!

To be continued! Few more to share!

Best food in Setapak: Part 1

As a Tunku Abdul Rahman University College (TAR UC) student, I am blessed to have my campus located in Setapak which is known as food heaven! I have enjoyed exploring these hidden gems throughout my degree life. I couldn't name another place in KL that have scrumptios meal at such affordable price. In the view that I am going to graduate and move out from Setapak soon, I have visited several favourite food places of mine recently and wish to share these places at my blog.

1. Economy Rice @ Restaurant Wan Yee 唯一美食中心
This restaurant is a Chinese kopitiam that my friends and I visit frequently. It is only 5 minutes walking distance away from Prima Setapak Condominium, which is another preferred accommodation by TAR UC students apart from PV areas. You could find a variety of delicious food here and the restaurant is always crowded with locals at night time. Parking is easier to find here than PV areas, but you have to be mindful of the possibility of getting a parking fine in the afternoon if you forget to pay for your parking ticket!

Call me cheapskate but the economy rice a.k.a. "chap fan" is always my top choice! I couldn't name another stall that allows me to consume an optimal amount of my daily fibre intake at cheap price. The downside of having economy rice is the inconsistency in the economy rice pricing, especially in towns, you could easily encounter unreasonable high price charged for a simple plate of economy rice. However, it has never been the case throughout my three years experience in visiting this stall. The food is not only nice and home cook feeling (better than my mum's cooking honestly), but also the price is affordable! Normally I will take a handful of vegetable and some meat or steamed egg, which never cost me above RM5. My guy friends who are big eaters will take a much huger portion of meat than me, and it only costs them RM6 or RM6.50!

Their food is freshly served at around 9.00AM and 3.00PM everyday!

Vincent's favourite: Deep Fried Pork Belly 

Soon Weng's favourite: Pig's ear

Mun Sin's favourite: Crispy fish fillet 

Address:
2, Jalan Prima Setapak 3,
Off Jalan Genting Klang,
Kuala Lumpur, Setapak,
53300.

2. Thai Food Home Recipe 文良港中华路住家住家泰国小炒
This is a great place for delicious Thai Delights at cheap price. Operating from home, you might face difficulty finding this place as it is not located at a roadside but in a car porch. I suspect whether this restaurant has a proper name as I couldn't find any shop name board at the place. Despite that, its authentic Thai food flavour has successfully generated positive word of mouth and attracted students and workers from surrounding area during lunch time. It only operates during lunch hours, and once my friend visited the place at 1pm on a Friday, she was informed that the food are sold out! I never get a chance to share this hidden gem with my family as they normally visit Setapak area for dinner.

Into the unknown! Do you believe that we are heading to a restaurant?

How to not sweat easily when eating Tom Yam at a place without air conditioning?

The place could not accommodate huge crowd, hence it's difficult to grab a seat at peak hours!

The must-haves are Red Tom Yam Soup and White Tom Yam Soup (served with either pork or seafood). I tried the Red Tom Yam Soup first to slowly increase my spicy food tolerance. Now I am proud to say that I am able to take White Tom Yam Soup (which is spicier than Red Tom Yam Soup) without drinking a whole bottle of water! Personally, I prefer the spiciness of White Tom Yam Soup than Red Tom Yam Soup. I also love the taste of minced pork mixing with the soup.

Red Tom Yam Soup served with pork

My favourite: White Tom Yam soup served with pork @ RM8

For those who cannot handle spicy food, there are non spicy choices available, such as Fried Rice, or Green Curry Spaghetti which is much less spicier. I used to be someone who couldn't tolerate spicy food, therefore my friend recommended me to try green curry spaghetti during my first visit. It is a pleasant meal if you are not adventurous enough to go for some next level spicy food. Believe me, it takes time to build spicy food tolerance!

I went today and noticed there is a slight increase of 50sen per beverage, but the beverage is still sold at reasonable price. Its signature beverage is Iced Coffee with Cincau (RM4.00), which I find interestingly tasty. Their Iced Coffee might be too thick for non coffee lover. Normally I will opt for Iced Cincau or Iced Ribena which is extremely refreshing after taking spicy White Tom Yam Soup!

The packaging of Iced Coffee is interesting! It is convenient for us to take away if we couldn't finish it.

Address:
Lot 5909, Lorong Chong Hwa 2,
Batu 3 1/2, Gombak,
53000 Kuala Lumpur

(To be continued after I complete my last assignment in my degree life!)