Topeng Rambut Avocado Buatan Sendiri :Sesi DIY bersama Mad Maureen

"Avocado tak ada nama Melayu eh?"

Itulah pertanyaan pertama aku semasa menulis blog ini.

UPDATED: Sebenarnya, avocado ada nama Melayu --> Alpukat. Baru nak ingat nak guna google translate (-_-"). Tapi kurang glamour so kita tetap dengan penggunaan avocado dalam blog post ini. Sekian. 

Belakangan ini, masalah rambut aku semakin kritikal. Jika dulu, aku dapat menyelesaikan masalah rambut aku dengan hanya mencuci rambut menggunakan syampu biasa  dan selepas itu, voila, rambut menjadi lembut dan bersinar, kini tidak lagi semudah itu. Sebaliknya, kondisi rambut aku menjadi semakin teruk selepas pencucian. Aneh tetapi benar.

Kondisi rambut aku belakangan ini: Rambut sentiasa gugur, kalau tak pun patah. Kering. Hujung rambut bercabang (bukan bercabang dua je, bercabang tiga, empat pun ada!). Kulit kepala pula penuh dengan kelemumur. Ini yang bikin stress ni!

Untuk menyelesaikan masalah ini, jika berpandukan mentaliti aku sebelum ini - daripada aku menyelesaikan masalah rambut ini sendiri, aku hendak serahkan kerja penyelesaian masalah rambut ini kepada pakar rambut di salun. "Serahkan pada yang pakar." Begitulah slogan iklan Harpic yang begitu mempengaruhi mentaliti aku.

Iklan Harpic yang epic tu, masih ingat ke? Selalu kat tv time kita kecik-kecik dulu.

 Oleh itu, aku nekad untuk melawat salun rambut seberang rumah selepas aku habis exam. Nekad la katakan. Siap janji dengan kawan lagi dan membayangkan kepala kitorang sama-sama diurut oleh pekerja di situ. Aku mula nak kira-kira bajet; biasanya kalau kat salun hometown aku, harga nak buat rawatan kulit kepala tu biasanya dalam kira-kira RM30 - RM60.  Kalau kat Penang ni, tak pasti lah. Masa tu, aku dah memang nekad untuk membuat rawatan rambut di salun.

Tapi... syukurlah aku  fikir dua kali. 

Hendak dijadikan cerita, pada malam selepas exam tu, aku pun melayari youtube. Dah tak busy la katakan.

 Terdetik hati untuk mengeyoutube video berkaitan dengan penjagaan rambut. 

"Hmm, aku dah free ni, aku tak payah bergantung sangat dengan pekerja salun untuk menjaga rambut aku Biar aku cari sendiri penyelesaiannya." Begitulah monolog dalaman aku ketika sibuk mencari tips penjagaan rambut melalui youtube. Biarlah aku sendiri cari iktiar dulu. Takkan nak tunggu rambut tinggal sehelai dua helai kat kepala baru nak beriktiar kan? 

Cari punya cari, akhirnya aku terjumpa channel ni kat youtube.

Bubzbeauty

(your answer to your hair problem is just one click away wee hooo~!) 

Ada banyak tips dari para youtuber yang lain tapi aku pilih cara Bubzbeauty sebab cara yang dia ajar tu senang, jelas dan bahan-bahannya asian-friendly (maksudnya boleh didapati di negara-negara Asia) berbanding dengan beberapa tips youtubers dari Barat. 

Okay. Panjangnya aku bercerita. Long story short, aku pun ikuti tips dia dengan versi aku sendiri di bawah. Jika komputer anda tidak dapat log on to youtube (ahem!) dan jika anda punya line slow nak buffer youtube channel tu, jangan risau. Aku ada menyediakan langkah-langkah yang diajar oleh Bubzbeauty tapi versi Mad Maureen untuk anda!

Pertama, anda kena sediakan bahan-bahan ni semua. Tiga bahan je.Tak banyak. Buah avocado, telur dan minyak zaitun (olive oil).

Telur ayam, minyak zaitun (jenama apa tak kisahlah), dan yang penting sekali, avocado.

1) Avocado. Yang penting, avocado ada. Nak tau khasiat avocado dengan lebih mendalam, sila layari laman web ini. Ha... Bercakap tentang avocado, anda kena pandai memilih buah ini. Anda kena pilih avocado yang benar-benar masak... Kalau tak, anda terpaksa guna lesung batu untuk menumbuk avocado tu sehingga hancur. Merana tau. Avocado yang masak akan berwarna seperti ini.

contoh warna buah avocado yang sudah masak

 

Anda boleh terus gunakan garpu untuk menghancurkan isi avocado tersebut (jika avocado yang anda pilih betul-betul masak). Macam mana nak pilih avocado yang benar-benar masak? Ha... Macam ni. First, anda tengok warna kulit avocado tu. Kalau hijau gila, maksudnya masih muda la tu. Kalau ada warna perang (brown) sikit-sikit, ha... mungkin masaklah tu. Untuk lebih meyakinkan diri anda, cuba anda tekan avocado tu sikit. (Amaran: Jangan tekan sampai penyek). Kalau kulitnya tak keras, masak lettew. Harga avocado yang ada di Tesco ialah RM4.99 buat masa ini. Kiranya, masih lagi lebih murah berbanding rawatan rambut di salun. Lagipun untuk satu hair mask, anda hanya perlukan separuh avocado. Jadi separuh lagi boleh digunakan untuk bad hair day yang akan datang. Berbaloi kan.

2) Kuning telur. Kuning telur ni dapat membaiki cabang rambut selain mengilatkan rambut. Kuning telur kaya dengan protein dan dapat membaiki rambut anda yang rosak. Untuk keterangan lanjut tentang khasiat kuning telur (dalam bahasa Inggeris), anda boleh rujuk laman web ini -->  http://www.dailyglow.com/articles/43/hair-care-through-egg.html

Kuning telur. Telur ini dibeli dari Tesco dengan harga yang murah. Dalam RM6 je untuk satu set 36 biji, peeps!

3) Minyak zaitun (Olive oil) Minyak zaitun ni, seperti kuning telur, dapat mengilatkan rambut. Selain itu, ia baik untuk menghindarkan kutu rambut, kelemumur dan juga rambut gugur. Untuk keterangan yang lebih terperinci tentang khasiat minyak zaitun, sila klik laman web ini. http://www.iheartoliveoil.com/about-olive-oil/olive-oil-for-skin-body-hair

Minyak zaitun yang dibeli dari Kedai Maju Jaya setahun yang lalu. Sekian.

Setelah menyediakan ketiga-tiga bahan ini, marilah kita mulakan aktiviti menyediakan bahan untuk topeng rambut avocado weee hoo! Okay, mula-mula buah avocado yang dibeli itu dibelah dua dengan menggunakan pisau.

Ambil salah satu bahagian daripada buah avocado yang dibelah tersebut, dan bahagian yang satu lagi dibiarkan untuk kegunaan masa akan datang. Gunakan sudu untuk keluarkan isi avocado tersebut. Biji avocado yang besar tu buang tepi ya. Jangan nak campurkan bersama.

Setelah mengeluarkan semua isi avocado tu dan letak dalam mangkuk, next step, gunakan garpu untuk menghancurkan isi avocado tersebut. Penyekkan dan hancurkan sehingga semua isi halus dengan sekata.

Jika avocado cukup masak, memang senang untuk menghaluskannya menggunakan garpu. Kalau tidak, terpaksa gunakan lesung batu. (-_-")

Apabila sudah cukup halus, masukkan kuning telur ke dalam mangkuk berisi avocado tersebut dan kacau dengan sekata. Apabila dah sekata, masukkan dua sudu besar minyak zaitun ke dalam ramuan tersebut. Campurkan dan kacau sehingga sekata.

Masukkan kira-kira dua sudu besar minyak zaitun.

Begitulah sahaja caranya untuk menyediakan topeng rambut @ hair mask ini. Senang kan? Yang penting, anda kenalah sabar. Lepas tu, semasa membubuh ramuan tersebut pada rambut, jangan lupa sediakan tuala dan plastik ya. Aku telah menggunakan plastik biasa untuk menutup rambut setelah selesai menyadurkan topeng rambut avocado ini.

 Biarkan selama sekurang-kurangnya setengah jam atau berjam-jam. Lagi lama lagi bagus. Kalau dapat, biarkan semalaman. Tidur terus dengan topeng dan plastik pada rambut anda.

Jadi, kesimpulan di sini ialah, jangan serahkan semua kerja kepada pakar jika anda masih mampu melakukannya sendiri. Dengan usaha mengeyoutube, menggoogle, menyopping, dan membuatnya sendiri, anda dapat menjimatkan masa selain menambahkan pengetahuan. Lagipun bahan-bahan ni lebih organik dan lebih sihat. Jika anda pergi salun, anda ingat, sekali je dah cukup? Kena follow-up segala dan dengar pekerja salun bercerita tentang kebaikan produknya dan sehingga anda membeli produk itu, mereka takkan diam. Hah! Kalau anda tak nak lalui itu semua, apa lagi, cubalah tips ini sendiri! :D

Ingatlah bahawa kecantikan bermula dengan kesihatan. Jika anda sihat, anda bukan sahaja akan cantik dari segi luaran tetapi kesihatan yang membawa kepada kepositifan akan mencantikkan anda secara dalaman juga. Do try this at home (or hostel!) :D

Pemerhatian: Walaupun rambut aku tak berubah 180 darjah selepas menggunakan topeng rambut ini, namun kelemumur aku dah berkurangan secara drastik. Rambut lebih lembap sedikit berbanding dulu. Itu baru cuba tiga kali. Kalau dah dijadikan habit, moga-moga rambut akan jadi semakin sihat dan berkilat. Selain daripada topeng rambut, anda kerapkanlah memakan makanan berkhasiat untuk rambut seperti lobak merah, kacang, ikan (ikan salmon terutamanya) dan minum susu dengan kerap untuk menguatkan lagi struktur rambut anda. Sekian.


Nota tambahan: Hari ini, aku pertama kali melawat blog Joshua. Anda yang lain bolehlah melawat blog beliau. Cekidaut!

Oops I Did it Again! (Didn't I?)

Interframe part 1: The first pronoun "I" in the title above is referring to me (Maureen) and not her (Britney Spears).

I guess I have a mad habit of pretending that I do not understand Mandarin when consulting a stranger. I mean, Mandarin speaking stranger. There are reasons behind these actions.

1) I speak broken Mandarin.
2) I don't look like Chinese. (Before they speak Malay to me, I speak to Malay to them first so that both parties would not feel awkward.)
3) I am afraid people will speak to me in a jargon/deeper/fluent Mandarin. (Choose the correct adjective. Sorry my English sucks/is pathetic/needs emergency help)

Today, I went to Sungai Dua to print the pictures of my club's activities at the developing photos shop . Well, I had to rush to print out these photos because back in Sibu, the price to print one 4R size photo is 60 cents but at here, it is 50 cents and below. Yes, 10 cents count, my dear, especially when I want to print more than 10 photos (and also especially when I am a cheapskate).

When I arrived at the printing photo shop, I noticed the taukenio is a Chinese. So, spontaneously, I spoke Malay to her because I guess, if I speak Mandarin to her, she'll speak to me in a jargon/deeper/fluent Mandarin, and I may had a hard time pretending to understand though I just had a few clues about what she might say. So to be on the safe side, I did what I did --> I spoke Malay with her. It's easier to pretend that I do not understand something that I understand than pretend that I understand something that I do not understand, right?

She looked at me and smiled, and she said that she thought I am Chinese. I was speechless. In my 21 years on this earth, I could count with my one hand that only a few strangers who would thought that I looked Chinese when I do not walk with my Chinese friends. Yes, one hand. So, probably under five people.

Not that doesn't look like a Chinese is not a good thing, don't get me wrong. But when someone from a race thought that you are from the same race as them, you will feel honoured, right? You are indirectly being accepted into their clan, their clique, their family (okay, maybe I think too much) because you share something in common with them. I felt honoured too, last time when two Siamese girls thought that I am Siamese because they thought I looked like Siamese. I mean, when someone finds the similarities between him/her and you than finding the differences, you will feel that you belong to that similarities, right? You will feel welcomed right?

So, here, there was this mixed Chinese+Indian = Chindian girl working there and she is Mandarin speaking. I tried my best to cover my Hokkien slang when speaking in Malay with her. Yup, I had the typical lah, lo, etc, etc, at the end of my sentence when I speak Malay and this would make me terkantoi that I am actually Chinese. Thank God I can always say that I am a Bumiputra from Sarawak (which is half truth actually) if they asked me why I do not speak like Malay. After paying and promising her that I would come to get the printed photos around 6pm to 7 pm in the evening, I went out from the shop and went back to my sister's apartment.

Phew~! --> part 1. Mission half accomplished.

* * * * *

Around 6.45 p.m.

I went to the developing/printing photos shop and met the Chindian girl to take my photos. Now, it was another woman (not the taukenio) who was seated at the counter arranging photos with the Chindian girl and the taukenio was nowhere in sight. I asked for my photos from the Chindian girl by giving her my receipt. Then she gave me my photos complete with a photo album (just the simple plastic album which we always took for granted back in Sibu, fyi).

So, I thought photos with photo album was a common thing at any printing photos shop. I asked for my receipt from the Chindian girl and the woman (not the taukenio) said in Mandarin that "Actually hor, if she only wanted to print 19 photos, she has to pay RM1 for the photo album. Only those who printed 30 photos and above is eligible to have the photo album for free." and added " don't just simply give people photo album, it costs RM1 you know!" The way she said it, it was as if RM1 is the most valuable possession in the world. And the way she said it, was not as polite as the way I paraphrase it in here. She was mean to the Chindian girl for the sake of RM 1. RM 1! I know, I am a cheapskate too, and RM1 is big yeah, but scolding your employee [not sure if both of them are employees or the woman (not the taukenio) has a greater authority or not] in front of a customer is not appropriate, whether the customer understand the language or not. [I am glad I understood it.. ;) ]

I was quite surprised at the policy there, but since I pretended that I do not understand Mandarin, I had to hide my surprise and give my blur look (which is easy for me, and I can give a blur look as natural and natuREAL as possible since I am good at being blur). Don't believe? Ask me a Math or Geography question. Hah, add in History question too. You will get a blurrest look (trademark look of yours truly) from me ever!

But appropriate or not, I am glad that the woman (not the taukenio) did not demand RM1 from me though I took the photos with the photo album. Maybe if I gave them an impression that I knew how to speak Mandarin earlier, then I would have to give up my photo album since that is the appropriate thing to do because I know what they are talking about right? Oh, now I believe that some things do happen for a reason. I am glad I did it! :P

Phew~! -->part 2. Mission fully accomplished.

Interframe part 2: Actually, I don't know how to call a kedai cuci gambar in English. So, I just translate like in the post above. So bear with me.

Interframe part 3: Suddenly, I thought of learning Tamil so that I can do well in the English tongue twister challenge.

The New Look and Other Short Stories...

Today, I woke up early, but today, I had a hard time choosing my outfit so that it could go well with my new hairstyle. Well, yes, I cut my hair yesterday afternoon, accompanied by my friend, Susanna at "O Hair Saloon" (which was spelled salon at the billboard). And guess what, the hairstylist was quite laser-tongued. Waiseh~I know I had a funny-shaped head but what can I do about it? I know what I can do about it, go to the hair saloon (which I was doing) cut my hair with quite a round shape at the back to normalize my funny head. Though maybe my funny head shape was due to my wrong sleeping style when I was a baby, what, can a baby know what is the effect of wrong sleeping style? By the way, don't baby prefer comfort more to appearance?

Well, the thing about my experience at the hair saloon was that, the hairstylist was honest, which by the way is a good thing, but he was honest in a harsh way. I am a customer what, I am not here for a free haircut. When Susanna asked him to cut my hair nicely, he told her that since my hair was already not nice and messy, there is no worry about that, and he can simply cut my hair, and it will still be more beautiful than my hair that time. Wa lao eh~ Though I find it amusing, and I damn know that my hair was such a mess, I think that it was kind of inappropriate. If I had a beautiful hair that time, why the crap should I go to the hair saloon? Isn't hair saloon a place for hair makeover? And one more thing which I quite agree with him was that, my hair is very oily. I did not put the oil on purpose, but that was the natural oil coming out of my hair due to the conditioner I used on my hair. He asked me not to use the hair-conditioner anymore and that was the only positiveness that he was showing towards me. After that, that was the end of the episode on my new look from the saloon.

The other thing was that, which is another story, was that I am quite regretful that I did not really connect myself with my close friend. Yesterday, I just know from a friend that my close friend lost her father when she was younger, and I took for granted that both her parents still alive. How can I overlook this one. But the thing was that, my friend kept insisting that she already told me last semester and I was quite sure that she never tell me before, because this is something so sensitive, of course I would remember, don't I? Unless, I lose my memory, which in this case, so out of the way. So, that was not the point. The point here is that, how can I be so NOT observant. No wonder she always talk to her mother, but not her father. I was so busy mentioning about study stuff with her until I overlooked the personal side, which by the way, is so important. So, we kinda made pinkies that we would share our problems and personal stories with each other. :" I am so sorry, my friend, for neglecting the personal bond we should have.

The thing about today was that, it was my senior's ( senior in year, but peer in age,) birthday!! This senior (Stephanie) is a really happy-go-lucky and a person with a great joking skill. She can joke about anything and make you ROFL. The moment she saw my new haircut was that, she said I am wearing a helmet. :D Though being the subject of the joke, I couldn't help laughing. We surprised her at McDonald, and took some pictures there. Too bad I don't have the pictures with me, but I would upload it in the future if I go to the library or when I already get the pictures from my sis.. We were trying to surprise her, and it worked. Woo hoo! She actually thought that we were treating her birthday like any normal day because we did mention about her birthday, but we just buat selamba.. By the way, the movie we watched at the cinema today was kinda nice, "Race to Witch Mountain". Wow, the dialogues were funny.. I recommend this movie to be watched, and oh, the Shopaholic movie is coming soon on April, I can't wait.. I am already a number one fan of Isla Fisher.. ;)

Ah, I still have assignments to rush, so the end of the short-long stories.. ;)

My Looks Fooled Ya'll !! (Don't I look Malaysian enough?)

It's ironic when I did not have the intention to fool other people, they are fooled and when I had the intention to fool them, they are soooo not fooled.. I did not fool others verbally, but they were just fooled just by the way I looked. Let me describe the way I look. I have black short hair, dark skin, average-sized eyes, average height, and I am Chinese. (Refer to the side of the blog) But people tend to think I am Malay. And that's understandable. People tend to mistake my ethnicity, but recently, strangers that I just met had their own ideas of what my nationality is. I thought I looked so Malaysian, and then the comments and queries from strangers made me think twice.


The first incident was when I was at Prangin Mall with my sisters and her friends at a bra store. Suddenly the saleswoman approached me while I was scanning through the weird-looking bras and asked me "Are you Indonesian?" The moment I heard her question, I laughed out loud. I told her that I am a Sarawakian. And she just nodded. And she asked us if we came to Penang to work, and I answered her, "Urm, we come here to study.." I could not hide my amusement and I was clearly grinning that moment. The saleswoman was smiling sweetly and looked at the five of us and nodded "Good, good." Then I nodded along and wondered, if only we were really Indonesians and we came here to work, will the same comment come out of her mouth?

The second incident happened the day right after the first incident. This second incident took place at a bus stop near the Language Centre. Me and my friend, Hema, just came back from swimming practice and we were like, dead tired, man.. We talked and talked but not even one bus came that time. Then, suddenly, a Chinese guy appeared. Apparently, he just came back from jogging. He asked us, in English, with his Mainland China accent, how long have we been waiting there. I answered him "Half an hour." Then, out of the blue, he asked me "Are you from Thailand?" I was like, hehe, with an amused facial expression, corrected him and said that I am from Sarawak, Malaysia. I even told him that I am actually Chinese, but I am a mixed-blood of Chinese and Melanau.

The third incident, took place at the Language Centre's bus stop again. And the incident happened just yesterday. There were these two girls, one with tudung and one without tudung, waiting at the bus stop with me. They were conversing in a foreign language, which I finally detected as Thai language. Suddenly, the Thailand girl who wore the tudung eyed me with an interested look and asked me something. At first, I thought she was speaking in Thai language to me, but when I asked "huh?" she repeated her question -"Where are you from?" Inside my mind, I was like, not again, not this question. I've had enough of this questions for the past few days. No wonder I noticed both of them kept checking on me earlier. I thought they were laughing at my slippers, and thank God, no, they weren't. I answered them, with the same amusing feeling, telling them that I am from Sarawak, Malaysia. And she was like smiling, saying that she thought I was from Thailand too. She informed me that she and her friend were from Thailand and I was like, "Oh, i see.." And pretended that I just realized it though I knew it all along. ;)

Actually, I am not the only one in the family who faced this looks-fooling crisis. Both of my elder sisters were facing the same circumstances too. My eldest sister was mistaken by her best friend's family's friend as their Indonesian maid when she went shopping with her best friend's family, which I find amusing till now. My second sister, on the other hand, was mistaken as an international student from Japan during her first year in the university. It was not easy being mistaken as international student, she said, for the other students did not dare to approach her, thinking that they need to speak a really good English to interact with her. Lol.

Me, a Thailand girl? Maybe, I gotta do a research on my family background to see if I have ancestors from Thailand. Or else, why do people got fooled when we don't even try?