Friday 25 November 2016

LHDN Interview [Updated]



So many people DM'ed me about this as invitation for online assessment has been sent out to thousands of candidates.

My experience however, was without the online assessment (SPA) as the recruitment activities previous year were done by LHDN. This year apparently, SPA is assisting LHDN with the process.


I've always wanted to join LHDN (IRB) for some reason. 

I've applied for a position last year (Dec 2015) and it's been forever so I thought it's a lost cause. 

Surprise, surprise I got an interview invitation early October. They reaalllyy took their time before calling in the candidates. Hehe

I went through the list of candidates and guess what. There's over 500 candidates including those from Sabah and Sarawak. That's a lot!

Before the interview naturally I googled for tips and even asked a junior who's a Pegawai Eksekutif at LHDN Cyberjaya. Their experience were horrifying. They got asked about nitty gritty technical things. 

Needless to say, I studied everything about LHDN.

I meant everything!

On the day itself, Nazli took the day off to drive me to Cyber. After briefing, they recorded our height and weight. That was weird.

There were several interview rooms. Each room had 2 interviewers. My turn was number 4. Which was lucky because some would have to wait until evening for their interview session.

Around 10am I got into the room. My interviewers were a man and a woman. They did not asked ANYTHING about LHDN to my dismay. Hahahaha

We had really nice and fun conversation. I requested to speak in English which the interviewer were more than happy to accommodate.

My interview ended in 20 minutes which I thought was really fast.

They only asked about me and everything that's in the application form eg current job scope, bonding with Khazanah, why I wanted to leave Sime, reasons for joining IRB and the only current issues they asked was about Budget 2017 which will happen in a few days time.

I really think any interview experience would depend on your panel. It can go both ways; either real easy or tough. 

Deep down in my heart, [waayyyy down] I know I aced the interview. 

By the way, they are looking for 120 officers, 80 for vacancies in Peninsular. That 18.5% acceptance rate.

Harap ada rezeki di LHDN.

Kadang-kadang we do our best, but still Allah nak bagi yang lebih baik untuk kita.


*Update - I got the job offer. But I declined em. Reasons being the base salary was RM2.9k (just got increased to RM3.3k recently) [that was not including the government servant allowance] and they only gave me 3 weeks notice. Such a short period of time !! And I don't want to spend my own money to pay for the 3-month notice period with Sime. 

**Plus, my boss counter offered + promotion. Alhamdulillah!!!!

Click here for update on this interview.
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Thursday 17 November 2016

#MakanReview : Sabrina Bakery / Mamasab

Mula kenal Sabrina Bakery masa nak cari kek for my engagement. Then I saw Sabrina's Bakery on my Explore tab in iG. She had a LOT of followers. That's a very good sign, right?

At the time (last year), she was famous for her brownies. And her house is soooo near to mine (Taman Medan, PJ)! Senang nak pick up. I bought her Brownies to sample her baked goods.  

[All pictures are taken from her iG unless specified otherwise]

Brownies with Drizzle. RM30
Sedap gila weyh the brownies. I can sincerely say, it's the best brownies I've tasted. And that's coming from a picky eater. Haha

I loved it so much that I ordered a second time. Time time, it was the Brownies with extra drizzle and the Devil's Food Chocolate Cake (DFCC). This one, not as good.


My mom with her DFCC

What provoked this post was the fact that earlier this week I had a massive cravings and bought 3 cakes in one go from Sabrina. [And I'm trying to lose weight thank you very much]

Hahaha The good thing is that you can always assume that she had her usual cakes on standby at any time (but you can always text her first to make sure). For special requests, you have to order it a couple of days earlier at least. 

Durian Cheese Cake
I. Love. Durian. But I never tried durian cheese cake before so it's kind of a gamble for me. It's RM10 a slice.  Sabrina used real D24 durian flesh for these babies. 

And oh my dear Lord, isn't this the best cheese cake I've tasted. I don't think I'm going back to regular cheese cake after this.  Please, please try this one!



RM20
I also tried her whoopie pie. Frankly, it's my first time tasting it so I have no benchmark to compare it against. But I know what good food tasted like. And this was it!

It's so nice and perfect. The chocolate cake was kind of soft cookie/brownie and sandwiched between them is a sweet, creamy goodness. Not too sweet that you'll get sugar rush. But just sweet enough. 

From her iG
You guys can check out her Instagram account here.



She also offers baking classes ; both onsite and online.

She has 16 agents that you can placed your order from if you can't physically come to her house cum bakery [all info available on her iG account]. 


2020 Update :  I've gotten reviews that her products are not as good nowadays, what with the aggressive marketing. Try at your own cost ya. To be honest, I've not bought her products for a long time now. 



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Movie Review - Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them

There's so much anticipation for this movie, being a Potterhead myself. 


Basically, 'Fantastic Beast and Where to Find Them' is a text book used by Harry Potter when he's in Hogwarts. It's written by Newt Scamander and this movie is about Newt's adventure before he actually wrote the text book. 

Interesting trivia. Did you know that in the wizarding world, they also have to sit for an exam before they finished high school (ie Hogwarts)? In Malaysia, we have SPM. But they have to sit for NEWT instead. NEWT - Nastily Exhausting Wizarding Test. True story  [This has nothing to do with the movie though]
I watched the movie last night with my husband at TGV's BeaniePlex, SetiaWalk *so comfortable*

And I LOVE IT SO MUCH!!

You know how Harry Potter movies have a 'dark feeling' around it due to Voldermort?

Unlike HP franchise, this movie is exciting with all the magic creatures, the special effects are what you would expect of a Harry Potter's spin-off and it felt very 'light'. Ya know what I mean?

The story goes ... Newt came to New York (by the way, the movie is set in the 1900s) with his magic briefcase which was loaded with magical creatures. One of the them, a Niffler (imagined a mini-hairy-black platipus) escaped the briefcase and ran into a bank. 

A Niffler is a sucker for shining things; coins, gold, bracelets etc. While chasing the Niffler, Newt accidentally dragged Jacob a Muggle or No-Maj (as Americans called it) into the mess as well. Then came an ex Auror, Tina which brought Newt to the MACUSA (American Ministry of Magic) because he was endangering the Wizarding community and not wiping off Jacob's memory.

The plot thickens thereoff. I don't want to give too much away. You definitely need to watch it for yourself.

They do incorporate many Harry Potter jargons but don't worry. They explains them in the movie which makes is very easy for non-Potterhead to follow the plot. 

My husband who don't read any HP series loved it too!

This movie is the first of a five-series franchise. 

Can't wait for the next one!
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Wednesday 16 November 2016

My Bungee Jump Experience in Chiang Mai

In the few years that I've been absent from this blog, I've visited Chiang Mai, Thailand a LOT of times.

Last year, when I was there alone I decided to go bungee jump. Why not, right?
The X-Centre is unfortunately located outside the main city (around 20+km). So I rented a bike and cheerfully rode my way there with the help of Waze. 


The place is famous for extreme activities like bungee jump, ATV, paintball, go-kart, zorb ball and the likes.

The bungee jump here rises 50m above landscaped garden overlooking the jungle (Sunway Lagoon's is 22m). You can choose to dip you head in the lake during the jump or stay completely dry. I chose the latter. 

I took the 2,300 Baht package (approximately RM250) which include the jump, insurance, certificate and a CD of pictures.

The staffs were very professional, I have to say.

Abang ni buat lawak bodoh. Terbahak-bahak aku gelak. Dia kata ada orang Arab lompat pakai jubah LOL

Jumping into the crane

Early in the morning when I did't bother to put any makeup on  LOL


 *tinggi ohoiii*

Before I jumped, I tucked in my blouse, pinned my hijab. I used at least 5 pins to make sure my hijab doesn't flip over or anything.

When I was up there, all of a sudden my courage was nowhere to be found. Hahahaha. 

 Tapi sebab dah bayar kan. If you decided to cancelled, no refund will be given. 
*good strategy*

It took a while. So in the end, the instructor pushed me.  
Hahahahahahaha

My favourite picture!

Guess what? Semua pin tercabut. Even my tucked in blouse was all over the place. Hahaha. You can see I desperately holding my blouse here. 
When you bungee jump, you somehow forgotten about the 'bounce'.
It kept bouncing so basically, it felt like you jumped for 3-4 times.

I screamed for a few seconds then I laughed all the way through. Hahahaha


Pulling me back to safety

Still laughing hysterically


I did it!!!
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Wednesday 9 November 2016

#MakanReview : Little Rara Noodle House [Jalan TAR]

Little Rara Noodle House is just around the corner of my office and I finally drop by to have a sample of  what my friends dubbed as 'Boat-Noodle-Only-Better'.

It's right opposite of Tune Hotel Chow Kit. By the way this is their third branch after Jalan Kia Peng and Hartamas. 

I had quite high standards for Thai food just because I'm raised with authentic Thai cuisine at home.

Little Rara offers limited menu which I totally dig because they are focused with what they do best (logically).



The ambiance of this particular branch is warn and inviting. 

So we ordered Speed Boat Beef Noodle Soup, Pad Kra Pau Beef and Kai Thod Patong (Pulut Ayam).


Speed Boat Beef Noodle Soup

Here's the normal size. With Jumbo, you'll get extra meatball and shredded meat. 
The soup tasted okay, just like the one at Boat Noodle. 

They do have the condiments like fish sauce, chili flakes, chili vinegar and sugar for you to add in yourself to enhance the flavor. 

There are significantly more noodles than Boat Noodle's version but that's to be expected looking at the price point.

Taste :7/10
Price : 8/10

Pad Kra Pau Beef
I really really love Pad Kra Pau so this dish is a must for me.

Sadly, it is not up to par with my expectation. The beef - quite dry, a bit salty and lack of the quintessential quality of a good Pad Kra Pau - the basil leaves.

Taste : 5/10
Price : 6/10 

[the best Pad Kra Pau I've tasted is at the Jaya One area]


Kai Tod Patong
Such high hopes for this one. 
The fried shallots are great.

The glutinous rice (pulut) were soft. I do hope they'll give more portion of the pulut though.

The chicken were big and scalding hot so you know they fried it upon order. 
That's great!

The taste, is quite okay.

For RM8, I think its over-priced.

Taste : 8/10
Price : 5/10




After all this I've got to say, I'm team Boat Noodle.
Sorry!

I do know that some of my friends swear by this place.
You should try it for yourself and decide.
You may prefer Little Rara after all.

But I'll try other menu in the future. People said their tom yam is to die for!

Bye!
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Tuesday 8 November 2016

#evanazli - Engagement

 I shared about my engagement on Instagram a day before Akad Nikah.
And now here's the full scoop.

My engagement was held on 28th May, a week before Ramadhan and my P2 exam. 

Knowing me, it was a very personal and intimate ordeal.
Nazli's family, my brothers, mom and Ika. That was it. 

My mom cooked a lot of delicious out-of-world food (being biased) for my engagement.

I bought inai celup from Sophea By Leahenna just because I'm intrigued. The inai looks freaking great. I even have some left-over which I used during majlis bertandang. 



I got a golden cake topper from Aku Dan Kraf  



Should have ordered a black cake topper instead


I decided to do my own hantaran. I rented the dulangs. Bought the water sponge at Floristika and the flowers at Weng Hoa, Petaling Street. 

I surveyed the price beforehand. Weng Hoa offered slightly cheaper flowers but Floristika (Bangsar) offered more variety. 

Tips : Put some panadol into the water before you soak the flowers. Also spray the flowers before you start to decorate. 

Ika helped me a lot on these babies.




Cupcakes were still in the fridge

His
Roscani Watch
Famos Amos Cookies
Baju Melayu
Brownies by Sabrina Bakery
Ritter Sport

Hers
Engagement Ring
Book - A Gift for A Muslim Bride
Cupcakes by Baked in Chealsea
Telekung by Siti Khadijah

Quick review on By the Dozen cupcakes by Baked in Chelsea. I often drool scrolling down their Instagram page. 

Their cakes looks ridiculously yummy.




They offered a cupcake version of their full-sized cakes. 
It's called By the Dozen, 12 pieces, 4 flavours (you can choose the mix of single/2/3/4 flavours), RM120


I had super high expectation for these.

Just bear in mind. What I'm about to write is my own opinion.

If I had to rate the cupcakes, I'll give em 3/10 just for their aesthetics.

The cakes were very dry and crumbly, massively overpriced.
I wonder what's the hype all about.
But I'm open to sample the full-size cakes. Maybe they're good.

Husband, belanja please..

But then, I do have a peculiar taste in cakes. I'm not a fan of the widely loved Kula's Mango Cheesecake. I felt it was nothing special. But that's just me.

And I'm engaged!

My small family
This girl here, is a treasure!

Suka sangat baju nieeeee! #lagikuruslagicantik

Cincin nikah + cincin tunang ❤
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#evanazli - OP

Orang kata kalau nak pilih photographer, jangan pilih kawan kita sendiri. Tapi kalau dah orang yang kita kenal tu pandai ambik gambar, why not.

[I'm in no way biased because the photographer was my university mate but his work speaks for itself]

My official photographer was Syafiq Azmi.

I chose him because of recommendations from friends, his competitive rate (I kid you not) and the fact that I knew him. Call me lame but I prefer to know the photographer for my big day instead of some strangers coming in. Chemistry is important; I learnt that from another bride. 

On the day itself, he brought along another photographer. 
That's crazy! For the price that we paid, we actually got 2 photographers. 

Outdoor session was done at Taman Tasik Perdana. 
Ika couldn't join us at the last minute because her car broke down. 

Syafiq and Erik bersemangat waja walaupun pengantin dah berpeluh macam lepas bersukan.

During our session, there were at least another 4 couples doing their outdoor photoshoot.
Meriah.
But the garden is hugeeeee so there's no problem. 

I got the pictures a week after the event and boy, I'm in love.














That's it peeps!





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