I, Steve

This book is a compilation of the late Steve Jobs’ words from various interviews, conferences, etc etc.

Even it’s featured in Playboy, it doesn’t sound less smart 😜

He saw himself as both technologist and artist.

I always believe that among the greatest men in history are those with both science and art talent. Take Ibnu Sina, he mastered both Medicine and Philosophy & Poetry; Al-Kindi, a mathematician, physician, chemist and also a great poet and musician. And Al-Farabi, who was a scientist, cosmologist, mathematician and musician.

And we have Steve Jobs from our era.

And this was Steve Jobs' resignation letter, about two months before he died, 😭

A Cup of Comfort

I read this book in between of everything. So it took quite some time to finally finish this, hence, the wrinkly cover.  It consists of  short stories, ada yang betul-betul heart-warming, tapi ada jugak yang biasa-biasa, yang tak sampai ke hati sangat. 

Of all stories, I like "The Color of Prejudice" best. So, let me quote a few words from the story:

"Being hateful to someone who's been hateful to you just builds more hate. Hate leads to violence"

"I believe prejudice is fear and envy camouflaged as anger. And I believe fear and envy come from ignorance, from not really knowing or understanding the other person"

~M.A.Kosak

Overall, this book is a light read. 

Displaced & Forgotten

This is actually my latest purchase, but I cut the books queue and read it first.  There are true stories told by the refugees who seek asylum in Malaysia. Some are from conflicted countries like Palestine, Syria, Cambodia, Myanmar; and some are from the conflicted territory like Kashmir.

Honestly, I couldn't even imagine being in their shoes. Nauzubillah.

The fact that this modern holocaust is happening all around us, I think at some point, it's not news anymore. Isn't that scary? Bad and mean things happen so publicly and openly, yet the world just turns a blind eye.

This explains it exactly:

I keep on wondering how would this world get any better. But I don't know. Maybe it just won't.

Inflight Science

A tough read, this one!

Some of the chapters kind of brings me back to the struggle of physics classes in high school and Engineering Mechanics subject on those undergraduate days. Pheww.

Btw, here's some fun facts:

1. The risk of plane crash is 1 in 125 million passsenger journey, which is 3x safer than travelling by train. By car, it's 1 in 10 million = 12x as dangerous. Fakta ni mungkin boleh reduce sikit rasa gundah-gulana bila nak fly (hopefully)

2. Usually there's no gate 13 or flight 13 due to some superstitious belief in some culture, that number 13 is associated with bad luck. So some airports do this, not to create panic among the passengers. Kat KLIA ada ke tak gate 13? Kalau kat Senai ni gate memang tak sampai 13 hehe. 

Owh, amazingly, there's no house number 13 on my street! And this fact was actually pointed out to me by the pizza boy months ago, even before I read the book.

3. Trak yang tolak flight ke belakang tu is called tug or pushback tractor

4. Dulu-dulu masa kecik, kalau nampak garisan macam a line of awan halus dekat langit, ingatkan kesan asap roket. (Haha, kaya gila manusia kat bumi ni hari-hari nak launch roket kan). So actually, the name of it is - contrails and they are trails of water droplet left behind by a plane.

5. Relativity

I remember a few years ago, my niece used to ask me "Kenapa bila hari raya, masa tu rasa cepat je?". I wish I had read this book then so I could quote "relativity' from Albert Einstein to her, haha.

"When a man sits with a pretty girl for an hour, it seems like a minute. but let him sit on a hot stove for a minute - and it's longer than any hour"


6. Water boils at 90०C, instead of 100०C in a pressurized cabin.

What We Read

Someone once mocked the choice of books that I read. At that time, I didn’t know how to react. I didn’t know what was she thinking, to ridicule someone who’s already with low self-esteem like that. Maybe someone ‘strong’ like her doesn’t need those kind of books, because maybe she feels so content with herself. Although I think, a normal happy person doesn’t go around making other people miserable, right?

But today, after years of reading SELF-HELP books, it actually teaches and trains me on how to talk to myself. And most importantly, how to filter the thoughts that goes on my mind. Like when someone makes such hurtful and rude remark, in a way, there is a filtering system that won’t allow that to reside in me. The trick is, you need to let go of that as soon as you can, because once you indulge the bad feelings, sometimes it stays for years.

But of course, it’s an ongoing process because the filter is not automatically always there.

And The Mountains Echoed

My first time reading Khaled Hosseini’s. Needless to say much about his writing, the world already knows what a talented writer he is! Bought this book at Big Bad Wolf 2016 at only RM15.

The core story is about Abdullah, who had lost his sister when they were little. So the whole storyline revolves around people who is connected and related (direct and indirectly) to them both, in which some has played big role for their reunion. Although the reunion is not something that you would predict at all when you first reading it.

It jumps from one decade to another, and from one person to another. So full concentration is needed here, eheh. But of all stories, I like Markos Varvaris’ the most. I like his mother’s character who is courageous and bold to do what’s right and she has a heart of gold. And also Thalia, who’s super-smart and strong despite her misfortune.

Conclusion: Everyone has their own story. The good, the bad, the successful, the tormented ones. Every one. I believe this is what makes a co-incidence - when the stories of each of us  intersected each other. Whatever story that we are in now, somehow it shapes us - our way of thinking and our direction, which eventually leads us into someone else's story. That’s when we become a part of someone else’s life. 

If they make a movie out of this novel, it would be like Love Actually or New Year’s Eve or Valentine’s Day (haha, excuse my lame examples), only it’s going to be a heavy, conflicting and deep one. Nothing cheesy. At all.

Among the words that I love in this book:

"A thousand tragedies per square mile” *regarding Kabul, Afghanistan*

"The rope that pulls you from the flood can become a noose around your neck"

“Time is like charm. You never have as much as you think”

And this one touches me the most 😭:

“I should have been more kind. That is something a person will never regret. You will never say to yourself when you are old, Ah, I wish I was not good to that person. You will never think that”

Back To Life

Another old book which I just finished reading. Pun tak ingat bila dan di mana exactly beli si dia ni.

This book is divided into 3 main chapters:

• Changing How You Think
• Changing What You Do
• Changing How You Feel

Basically, it's for those who wants to overcome their traumatic experience. But trauma, according to the author (a psychiatrist), is not necessarily something big. It can be anything that, in a way. changes us. Changes who we are, changes the way we feel and the way we see this world. So this book is like a manual of how to feel better and how to be the best version of we are.

Since it’s not a normal thing for us here in Malaysia to go and see shrink, I think it’d be good to read this kind book once in a while to balance out our emotion. It's important to deal with whatever traumas that we feel or face. 

Let me share a few pages with some important and helpful notes:

Recommended Books

I havent read (nor bought) any of these yet. But this is the list that I gathered from a poll of ‘Books to read’. Ramai yang suggest buku-buku ni.

Semua ni available kat MPH Online jadi marilah buat peruntukan dana untuk mereka-mereka ni:

The Kite Runner, Khaled Hosseini

A Thousand Splendid Suns, Khaled Hosseini

Al-Chemist, Paulo Coelho

Nectar of Pain, Najwa Zebian

Happens Everyday

I managed to finish reading this book in less than 5 days. To me, it’s such an accomplishment 🙄

Aku tak ingat bila dan kat mana aku beli buku ni. But looking at the yellow-ish pages, I’m sure it was more than 3 years ago. And based on the price label (harga RM18 😏), it’s from AEON, which makes me wonder, sejak bila AEON ada book department ni?

This book is written by Isabel Gillies. She was a former actress, was in Law&Order TV series (tapi aku tak pernah tengok series tu). Her writing reminds me so much of Susan Mayer, the character of  Desperate Housewives - devastated and funny at the same time.

It's about phases in her marriage and divorce. Sebenarnya cerita dia sedih, tapi disebabkan cara dia selalu describe seseorang, sesuatu atau tempat tu yang membuatkan gaya penceritaan dia kelakar. So I think it balances out the sadness.

There's one part - she mentioned about her mother who likes to use certain French words because it's more descriptive. Well, I think so, too, about Bahasa Indonesia.

And one interesting info I learn is that how some of the tall women somehow envy and feels insecure over petite women. Which in our (petite women) perspective, all we want are those long legs. Haha. In this case, Isabel is a tall woman, while 'the other woman' is a petite-figured woman.

On a serious note, in her book she openly talked about 'the other woman', the reason why her husband left her. So, in a way, I 'understand' now why the other woman IS the other woman. Because they are cold and heartless. They only care about themselves, nothing can change their mind; not the idea of wrecking someone's family, not the brokenhearted little kids, and of course, not the tears of a wife. At one point, Isabel did kneel to that ‘other woman’ to stop stealing her husband, but still, it didn't stop the other woman from pursuing her mission 😡😡😡

She described the way she dealt with the calamity which she tried everything she could to save her marriage until there was nothing she can do anymore. And then she slowly accepted her fate that her husband was really leaving her, went back to her parent's house with her two kids, took her time to grieve, took every help that she can get and lived one day at a time. And like every other sad story, the tough times eventually passed.

And I love what she wrote about being sad versus being angry. I always think sad is such a soft feeling, while anger is the opposite. Anger is a strong and heavy feeling, so to me,  it’s more difficult and complicated to handle a situation with that feeling, compared to being sad.

For the last part of her book, she even provided questions and points to be discussed in the book clubs. Menarik betullah budaya book club ni. Kat Malaysia bila nak sampai trend tu ye? Ke dah ada, aku yang tak tahu?

Breathe

Entah macam mana boleh ternampak buku ni kat explore Instagram. Being a Grey's Anatomy fan, I straightaway felt like I must have this book. Lagipun aku nak jugak tahu gaya penulisan seorang doktor.

Bila selidik, rupanya dijual dekat MPH je. Aku tak tahu mana nak cari MPH terdekat selain dalam airport. Dan memandangkan dah tak kerja area airport maka tak adalah pergi berpeleseran dalam airport tu lagi. Maka order online saja.

It ranked No.1 on MPH'S Bestsellers ranking. And most importantly, is the cheapest among the 20 books *ehehe

Lepas 2 hari order, dia pun sampai. But it has to get in line for its turn to be read, queue tengah panjang. Yeah, I know, perasaan berkobar tu masa belum dapat je, bila dah dapat, terus drop, like 100%.

Gold Rush

Finally, habis jugak baca ni.

This book is by Micheal Johnson, athletics Olympic champion. It's about his journey of breaking the world's record for 200m and 400m and winning Olympic gold medals in 1996.

He also interviewed some other great athletes (from various sports) for their success story. So, every word in this book is inspiring and motivating.

Here's some of my favorites:

Kahlil Gibran's Treasured Writings

I am not much of a reader. But from time to time, I force myself to read so that my mind won't be so idle.

It took me 4 months to finish reading this book.  It was not an easy read for me.  With its heavy content and the limited vocab of mine - payah bebenor nak fokus.

And then it took me another months to write this so-called review ehehe, reviewlah sangat.

It's a compilation of Kahlil Gibran' many writings and there are also his letters to his friends. Memang hebatlah, tulis surat pun guna bahasa tinggi.

But there's something about it - when I found out that most of his original writings was actually in Arabic, I felt slightly upset because all these while I was reading his material in English.  Because to me, the translations normally will not do the original masterpiece justice, tu macam frust sikit terasa.

Take the Vitagen's tagline for an instance:

"Be good to your gut" but when it's translated to BM, it becomes "Sayangi sistem penghadaman anda"

Haha. Bagi contoh Vitagen pulak. Okaylah, ambik contoh yang acah deep sikit.

"A friend in need is a friend indeed" = "Kawan yang baik adalah kawan yang ada sewaktu kita memerlukan"

See? The translation wording is not as precise and on spot as the original one even though it carries out the same meaning. But anyhow, yes, even translated to English, his masterpiece is still beautifully conveyed. Imagine reading in its original version.. 

But all in all, aside from the artistic content, it's informative as well. There are some historical and geographical info in the book. Like how the opening of Suez Canal had affected the Middle East's economic in the 19th century that forced most of the people to migrate to other countries, including US for a better living. (or was this actually covered in Form 5's History subject? sorry, Sejeq's totally not my favorite subject back then)

*please excuse the blurriness of this pic since it was taken using phone yang kena tumpahan minyak*

Marriage Formula

This is from Yasmin Mogahed's Reclaim Your Heart (again).

The formula for a happy mariage is LOVE + RESPECT.

Naturally, the wife wants to be loved and the man wants to be respected.  So as for the wife, in order to be loved, you have to show respect.  And as for the husband, in order to be respected, you have to show love.

But the trick is - it has to be unconditional.

You cannot expect your wife to respect you first, then only you'll show her love. Or vice versa.  No, it won't work that way.  Because once the wife doesn't feel loved, she will respect you less. And vice versa.

So you have to give first.  After all, true love is UNCONDITIONAL, right?

Of Temporary Attachment

"There's something amazing about this life. The very same worldly attribute that causes us pain is also what gives us relief: Nothing here lasts. What does that mean? It means that the breathtakingly beautiful rose in my vase will wither tomorrow.  It means that my youth will neglect me. But it also means that the sadness I feel today will change tomorrow.  My pain will die.  My laughter won't last forever - but neither will my tears. We say this life isn't perfect.  And it isn't.  It isn't perfectly good.  But, it also isn't perfectly bad, either"

-Yasmin Mogahed, Reclaim Your Heart-

..Of Reading Stuff..

1. I love reading self-help books.

2. And magazines. Well, masa bujang dulu baca CLEO. Lepas kahwin, baca Women's Weekly and Her World. Despite the fact that I am no fashionista, I just couldn't miss a single issue. Tak tahu kenapa macam tu - maybe I just love the idea of having the idea - instead of applying them. Until lately, I've stopped buying those magazines. I guess I just have to be sensible, beli mana yang perlu jelah. So just proceed with home interior design and photography magazines.

3. And recently, there's a 'development' in my reading habit - I've started to purchase some novel (by some, I mean 2 novels dalam masa 8 bulan hahaha). I don't even know or care whether it's the best-selling ones by top authors and what-not, yang penting harga dia lebih murah compared to others on the shelf :p The main reason for me to start reading novel is that I think novels improve and enhance my vocabulary more compared to self-help books.

These two were my first two novels I purchased so far in my life (please don't laugh at me).

The Lucky One tu beli last month and baru baca the very first page (praises for the novels). Hmm..agak susah nak start baca novel.

..Get From Instead of Get Through..

I am now reading ''Five Major Pieces To The Life Puzzle'' by Jim Rohn.  I haven't finished reading it yet but there's one point that I think does really hit me in the face.

''Do not try to get through the day.  Try to get from the day''.

I realised that nowadays I kinda live my life (especially my working life) just to get through the day.  Which means I might have been missing so many things or details that I actually could learn from the day.

I need to be more observant, I need to learn more.  And this might help me not to take things for granted anymore.

*I need to finish reading all the books as well.

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..Don't Complain, Just Work Harder..

"Too many people go through life complaining about their problems. I've always believed that if you took one-tenth the energy you put into complaining and applied it to solving the problem, you'd be surprised by how well things can work out"

-Randy Pausch, author of The Last Lecture-

..SNDROM..

*semalam dah siap taip, siap publish lg, entah macam mana, entri tu tak muncul pun kat blog ni. Isk isk - terpaksa taip balik semula.

Nak cerita pasal buku ni sebenarnya - which is a very inspiring touch from Malaysia's photography legend.

Buku ni memang tak de sentuh on technical aspect langsung but I think RM80 is still very worth it since he shares most of his earliest experience, mostly of his struggle to begin and survive the photography world. He also emphasizes on marketing strategy which is very crucial in order to be very very well-known.

It's interesting to go through his challenging journey to make millions out of RM90 within two years. *mari berangan nak jadi macam dia hehe

All in all, i think this book is a must-have to pencinta fotografi yang nak buat duit :)

Owh, btw, buku ni hanya dijual online so boleh taip 'saifulnang wordpress' (lupa website link dia) to order. Hasil jualan buku ni ada disumbangkan ke Rumah Pengasih Warga Prihatin, so sambil menimba ilmu, sambil mendermalah.

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..The Last Lecture..

Dapat e-mail from a friend regarding the best-seller book so I want to share it out:

..POINTS ON HOW TO IMPROVE YOUR LIFE..

Personality:

1. Don't compare your life to others'. You have no idea what their journey is all about.
2. Don't have negative thoughts of things you cannot control. Instead invest your energy in the positive present moment
3. Don't over do; keep your limits
4. Don't take yourself so seriously; no one else does
5. Don't waste your precious energy on gossip
6. Dream more while you are awake
7. Envy is a waste of time. You already have all you need..
8. Forget issues of the past. Don't remind your partner of his/her mistakes of the past. That will ruin your present happiness.
9. Life is too short to waste time hating anyone. Don't hate others.
10. Make peace with your past so it won't spoil the present
11. No one is in charge of your happiness except you
12. Realize that life is a school and you are here to learn. Problems are simply part of the curriculum that appear and fade away like algebra class but the lessons you learn will last a lifetime.
13. Smile and laugh more
14. You don't have to win every argument. Agree to disagree.

Community:

15. Call your family often
16. Each day give something good to others
17. Forgive everyone for everything
18. Spend time with people over the age of 70 & under the age of 6
19. Try to make at least three people smile each day
20. What other people think of you is none of your business
21. Your job will not take care of you when you are sick. Your family and friends will. Stay in touch.


Life:

22. Put GOD first in anything and everything that you think, say and do.
23. GOD heals everything
24. Do the right things
25. However good or bad a situation is, it will change
26. No matter how you feel, get up, dress up and show up
27. The best is yet to come
28. Get rid of anything that isn't useful, beautiful or joyful
29. When you awake alive in the morning, thank GOD for it
30. If you know GOD you will always be happy. So, be happy.


A brief info about the author of the book:


On September 18, 2007, computer science professor Randy Pausch stepped in front of an audience of 400 people at Carnegie Mellon University to deliver a last lecture called “Really Achieving Your Childhood Dreams.” With slides of his CT scans beaming out to the audience, Randy told his audience about the cancer that is devouring his pancreas and that will claim his life in a matter of months. On the stage that day, Randy was youthful, energetic, handsome, often cheerfully, darkly funny. He seemed invincible. But this was a brief moment, as he himself acknowledged.

Randy’s lecture has become a phenomenon, as has the book he wrote based on the same principles, celebrating the dreams we all strive to make realities. Sadly, Randy lost his battle to pancreatic cancer on July 25th, 2008, but his legacy will continue to inspire us all, for generations to come.