There are many websites and blogs — and books, of course — out there that guide you and give you tips on improving your writing, but as a writer myself, I think the core of it all — minus the technicalities of language and grammar — is that one needs to write more, keep writing and even when you don’t feel like it and the thought of writing makes you want to shit red hot bricks, just write, write and write. Even if you’re merely crafting tweets.

And read. Read lots of novels of all genres, autobiographies, magazines, websites, and my favorite, cereal boxes. I frankly — and sadly — haven’t had the time to read many books for the past year although I keep buying them with the intention of finishing them all; I’ve at least 7 unread books just collecting dust in the study. But think of reading as research — learning the styles of your favorite authors, studying the methodology and formulation of riveting plots, and educating yourself on anything and everything.

But most importantly, LIVE. Live your life and experience the world. It keeps the jar of ideas in your head replete, your passion ablaze and the stories or angles compelling. Buddy, no one wants to read stuff from someone who has tried so little. Which is why I want to make a point to do as much as possible outside of work this year.

So, make a jump on it and just do it. Because even as I write this average post, I learnt a little something myself.


P.S. That friend sort of started blogging but I haven’t seen new posts since, ahem.


P.P.S. If you’re a writer who’s interested to fill in the shoes of an interactive copywriter — who, from time to time, get opportunities to write for other mediums as well — at FutureLab Asia, hit me up at sayanoraismail[at]gmail.com. The job scope ranges from conceptualizing campaigns, throwing crazy ideas (that might just work) at unsuspecting victims, writing good, effective copy, being obsessed about the internet, posting memes and interesting web finds on colleagues’ Facebook Walls, and accompanying me on my coffee runs. Oh yes, you know you want it.

Yes, Sephora is my Achilles’ heel. I’m the sort who manages my money well, rarely splurges — unless on investments, like a good designer wallet, suitcases and FitFlop, and is always hot on the trails of good bargains. But at any one time I walk into Sephora, I’m breathing out money instead of carbon dioxide. And the worst part? Half the things I chuck into the basket are items I don’t instantaneously need and wind up in my dressing drawer for a whole year. Here’s my stash I never used or barely touched from last year. As a dear friend, Craig, puts it, it turns out, I’m a “cosmetic-whore”.

But Superman has friends to help him out once in a while, and thankfully, so do I. As I begin chucking stuff into my basket last Saturday, Craig and Kel Li both quickly chucked some stuff out. My fixation with the need to buy stuff from Sephora got so dire that while Craig was distracted by men’s skincare, I sneaked off and ran to another shelf for lip exfoliator (what as I thinking?) until he realised and ran after me. At the end of the highly stressful session — for my friends, mostly — I ended up with only the things I need. Tadaa!





Yes, I needed the Instant Depuffing Roll-on Gel. Have you seen my eyebags? I have natural eyebags owing to the structure of my face but they got worse last year with the horrid working and sleeping habits. It has worked wonders so far but I’ll let you know more in a couple of days.

P.S. If Sephora is your cash vacuum, as it is mine, you’d want to know that you get an RM75 voucher for every RM500 spent in Sephora Malaysia till 31 March. Of course Kel Li insisted it’s a scam so I’d spend more and she might be right, but for those who already spend that amount, might as well, eh?

They were 6 weeks when they first arrived, and now they’re 3 months and 2 weeks old. I really need to find more time to spend with the mischievous duo. If I had a New Year’s resolution this year, that would be it.

The WordPress.com stats helper monkeys prepared a 2011 annual report for this blog.

Here’s an excerpt:

The concert hall at the Syndey Opera House holds 2,700 people. This blog was viewed about 14,000 times in 2011. If it were a concert at Sydney Opera House, it would take about 5 sold-out performances for that many people to see it.

Click here to see the complete report.

• I had a list of New Year’s resolutions for the year, of which I only managed to strike out 5 items off of it. The list was, basically, a halfway failure, so no list this year.

• Had my own web show for a very short while and hosted 2 of the episodes. It was fun but work got too busy.
• Planned for and went through one of the most important day and event of my life.
• Went on a road trip to Penang in a sexy red Mitsubishi ASX for the weekend. I had lots of fun at Hard Rock Hotel and meeting up with John and his lovely family. And oh my, all that glorious food! If you’ve never had Nasi Kandar in Penang, then you’ve never had Nasi Kandar, period.
• Visited beautiful Bali for the first time, and fell in love after 6 days. Well, even by the 1st day. Stayed at an amazing boutique resort called Uma Sapna in Seminyak and had a whole private villa with a pool to ourselves. Watched the mesmerizing kecak dance at sunset in Uluwatu, shopped in Kuta, chilled at Dreamland beach … aah, it was paradise on earth.
• Had a bigger family to celebrate Eid-ul-Fitr with this year, so I’m blessed and grateful.
• Went to Spikes Asia advertising festival in Singapore for 5 days. I had a good time, learning and sourcing inspiration. The highlight of the festival was definitely hearing Joel Cohen, one of the Simpsons’ writers, and Todd Sampson, CEO of Leo Burnett Sydney, speak. In the same amount of time, I fell in love with Singapore. I’m fascinated in how well they practice the art of preservation, especially for a country as developed as Singapore, and I was also charmed by Ann Siang Hill and Duxton Hill the one time I went out to dinner and drinks with Khairul.
• Celebrated my 26th birthday with my close friends. I’m glad to still be alive.
• My team at FutureLab Asia won a Bronze award and 7 Merits for our work at the local Kancil Awards. It was a good start for a new and small agency.
• Had my first experience being involved behind the scenes of a production for a web drama series, instead of being a talent. My official title was Assistant Director but I had a hand in planning wardrobe, packing props, preparing shoot schedule, playing driver to Nilai, buying breakfasts, steaming outfits and being an extra. My newfound good friend, Kel Li, who was the Production Manager, and I survived 8 days with 3 hours of sleep a night, whilst Mr. Director and Director of Photography, Nigel, went with almost no sleep. However, it was a truly fun learning experience for me, making new friends and rediscovering old ones. It was an honour to work with a talented bunch of young, first-time amateur actors, guiding them through their characters and lines. More on this in another post but watch out for its launch in February!
• Established lovely new friendships in people and places I would never expect to.

I have a lot of be happy about in 2011 but I also encountered a few tragic mishaps along the way. It was a strange balance and some of the occurrences have changed me. But that can only mean working harder to make 2012 an even better year.

And now, sayaNORA bids sayonara to 2011 with the yearly Year in Review video from JibJab. Happy New Year, everyone!

I don’t know if it’s age or recent experiences, or the sentiment or preoccupation of having to be wise, but the last two — rational thoughts and a sensible disposition — are precisely what’s keeping me from granting myself that satisfaction and refusing my own endorsement on such absurd notions. I can’t justify thus I can’t do. And it unnerves me a little to discover how well I’ve trained myself to such a manner of conduct after all these years.

The way I am, stays. But the way I feel? Certainly not like myself. I’ve been having an escalating amount of terrible mood swings, just swaying erratically — one minute I’m ecstatic, the next I’m a tad sad, then the next I’m hot with fury. Before you know it, I want to shove things — and at times, people — just to hear the loud clangs and slams against hard surfaces. And I’m finding incredibly difficult to make any decision. Yes, I’m fickle, but never quite to this extent.

A friend on Twitter figured it could be an end-of-the-year transition. Based on this alone, it could be many things — an act of rebellion against change, a method of internal reflection, fear of the uncertainties, inability to let go … like I said, many things. But I sure hope she’s right — that this is just a momentary feeling that will gradually (or abruptly) phase out once I’ve settled into the next year. Which is just 2 days away.

Oh boy, how the year have flown.

And I was glad I went. The flick was all kinds of cool. Sure, the story’s not its strongest attribute but this is no Christopher Nolan anyway. What it is, is a stylish, big-budget tech/engineering eyecandy with all sorts of cool, state-of-the-art gadgets and fancy action tricks. And if you’re into men’s rears, there’s always Jeremy Renner.

But what really impressed me is the man himself, Ethan Hunt aka Tom Cruise. How is it even possible that he’s forty-frickin-nine years old? The dude looks 35 in the film — the same way he looked in his older films. And I have utmost respect that he took his stunts into his own hands, like hanging off Dubai’s Burj Khalifa, over 100 floors above ground, supported only by a harness. I would’ve died, just from the fear alone.





If you haven’t seen it, well, what are you doing still reading this?

P.S. I want that BMW i8 concept car. Kthxbai.

Idiots aside, I met up with my Vietnamese Tai Tai who’s in town for a couple of days, along with the Princess and the Craig. We didn’t have a lot of time to catch up, so I’m really looking forward to the Princess’ hen night + birthday combo getaway in 3 weeks with the rest of the gang (happiness number two!).

Someone‘s birthday present was way overdue so I took the liberty to do a little bit of shopping after work tonight. Of course I ended up buying more stuff than I had planned but in my defense, there were pretty Christmas lights and songs and a lightness in the air that makes you whip out your wallet without talking to the squishy fella in your head first. And the Calvin Klein counter guy had amazing skills — I succumbed to another perfume for myself, even when I already have 4 at home. Below are the actual presents (insert sheepish grin); the brown leather envelope at the top left corner is the cutest little card holder from Topman. I got one for myself as well, ahem.

Here’s to more days like this. Minus the shopping.