Pickles n' Tickles by JJ

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The Nightmare That Is Job Hunting

In the midst of job applications, and I thought I'd detour since the laptop is already on my lap. It's just me procrastinating on the grownup things I should be doing like looking for jobs, making lunch, cleaning the balcony, combing my hair and decluttering the common shelf - yes, the dreaded hidden clutter and it's not even a year yet since we walked into this house with just three luggages. Do you know that I had applied for 155 jobs on LinkedIn alone in the past 6 years ? Yet the two roles I held during the period were not from those applications. A whopping 155 applications and none materialised. Most employers don't even send rejection email - I don't know if that's kind or cruel but it sure is nice to get some form of feedback for the effort put into the tedious applications. Section after section of information to fill in AFTER a resume upload along with a cover letter which already contains all of those info. Some applications even come with t...

Writing For Myself

Apart from my politically correct IG captions - it those count - and utterly grey SEO-compliant content at work, I haven't written anything much for my inner child in a millennia. Don't know what I've been busy with but since my last post I've lost people, lived through a pandemic, ran a bake shop, worked with my hands, dabbled in B2B writing, and moved to another continent. In between these, I might have lost that perky voice I thought I had on here. The inner kid has retracted deep into her Cancerian shell, and now will you help me smoke coax her out? Lately, specifically in the last 4 years, I've been feeling detached from that side of me that writes. Sure, I've been distracted by life, but writing for myself has been an escapade ever since I could read. It began with a diary. Her name was Amanda. She was a pretty hardcover in pink and pistachio with a golden lock on her. When unlocked with a matching golden key, her A5 pages came lined in pink. I'd ...

Take Me Back to Christmas

Can we go back in time and stay at Christmas, please? I did not step into 2020 thinking that I'd be returning to a financially troubled workplace after that long holiday, only to be offered a new position at a competitor's within the same month. I would then take that offer, watch all that drama unfold in the office while I serve my notice, hear about the emergence of the Wuhan virus, write about the first identified case in Malaysia, experience more shocking office drama; secretly relieved that I had a new workplace April onwards. Just for the record, there are a total of 5,532 confirmed cases in Malaysia as of today, with a total of 93 deaths. By mid March, the Malaysian government announced the Movement Control Order (MCO) - basically a lockdown, a law was drawn up and enforced to make sure that we stay at home, and flatten the Covid-19 curve, because by then, our numbers were driving up. A month from that, my new employer would cancel the legally-binding emplo...

Do You Feel The Same?

I noticed that I'm only propelled to write when I'm unhappy, sad or desolate - basically whenever my heart is burdened by some of what life has thrown at me. That's one of the main reasons why I haven't been writing on here often in the recent years. I want to be remembered as this fresh-spirited, witty and uncomplicated narrator. But it's so hard to write about the jolly things in life when my mind is tangled up so much in a web of worries. I don't want sappy tales of my life floating about in the world wide web long after I'm gone. And yet, I find myself most comfortable indulging in unhappiness. Or rather it's easier to relate to conflicts, physical pain and loss than to all the other things that I should be happy about. Does that make any sense to you? Or is this mid-life crisis? Turned a year older about a month ago, and got a visit from this old friend.

Malaysia On 10 May 2018

I felt it in the air on the morning of May 10, 2018, I swear. The air felt fresher, the sky looked calmer, trees greener, and people, nicer. It was like a spell had been broken, and the evil forces, banished and put in their places, and good prevailed. I could breathe better. I sensed the jubilation in the quiet, morning atmosphere. The heaviness I felt in my heart the night before had vanished. Never did I imagine that I would live to experience that day and moment in history in my lifetime. And, so did every Malaysian who were on their knees and toes, doing all they could for this change of government to happen through the 14th general election on May 9. Truth to be told, I never doubted for a second that the opposition could take over. But...it's the but that bothered us too much because electoral fraud was a threat greater than your mother-in-law during the period. I spoke to my family that morning. My mom was ecstatic on the phone. "Have you heard?". "Oh, I...

The Fenty Foundation

I'm breaking the silence for you, Blue Grumpster , with a foundation review, though I'm afraid that Fenty Beauty may not have that cool, sarky blue shade that you are. I can only hope that you're yellow - like me because, let me tell ya, there's a whole lot of delicious, warm shades in that collection of 40 colours. Shade 390 (warm) So, I've been wearing this stuff for a few days, presenting myself in various, albeit, tropical weather conditions. And, here's what I think. Light and non-greasy . Well, it's soft matte. In fact, I expected it to be dry, and flaking off of my skin by midday, but it doesn't. It's light enough for me to gradually build in the kind of coverage I'm looking for, and more importantly, the foundation stays - on my skin, at least. I don't even need to set it with powder, and I love how it refuses to dislodge from my skin, even after a massive sweat session. Truth is, this is probably why I think it...