In between start and end

I feel like I've legit killed myself. Not literally... though I felt like I'm slowly dying by my own actions.

I fucked up my FYP. There I've said it. 

I feel like I haven't expressed HOW EXACTLY BAD I DID. I've been telling everyone it just wasn't good but deep down... I've never meant smtg as much as literal like this. As much as it breaks my hope and as much as I've tried, I just couldn't bring myself to deliver my best.

Honestly, lately I feel like my emotions are at its worst. Everyday I feel myself hating myself for hating someone I shouldn't. I feel like I'm being too ungrateful BUT I can't help but feeling wronged. It became worse when people are having it better. I think this is one toughest issue for me to overcome - being genuinely happy for others. 

FYP was just another episode of my performance for 'Korean Speech Competition'. I practiced every single night, memorised, recorded myself, understand what I wanted to say... but I just wasn't meant to win. Not even win, in fact to even perform my best. Ok fine, I've accepted that. But I still can't bring myself to watch my own performance. It still didn't feel like it was worth watching. Even if I could learn and improve from it. I HATED EVERY MOMENT OF ME BEING ON STAGE.

I admitted I've procrastinated my FYP. I envisioned how I wanted it to happen and it felt like it was coming together smoothly as I was picturing things. Then once I've started, I couldn't believe how much I dreaded the process. I wanted to avoid meeting with my supervisor because I felt very much forced. It's not like I hated coding, I genuinely don't. I don't know why (I wished I knew) but I just wasn't feeling my best. Felt like shit even before presenting - the same feeling I had with the speech competition. I love what I'm doing... but that's the thing, I don't know WHAT'S WRONG????

I feel like I'm losing hope. Hope for myself to be any better. 

For now, I don't wanna hear any of these two things - happy stories and complains. Oh and one more thing, still can't bring myself to tell anyone because I feel like unhappiness is the least thing people wanna hear amongst all of the happy ones.

On the bright side, I learnt new things. I learnt new vocabs during the speech and new codings too. So I guess I did gain some but not so sure about the losing part. 

A fun blog post coming thru! This time will be about DIY... yes, time to get a lil crafty.

So, during the recent iKON CONTINUE Tour in KL I made a little "찬빈" (read: Chanbin) banner to support my ultimate ship in iKON a.k.a my biases - Hanbin and Chanwoo. Lowkey hoped I would get noticed hoho.

So if that was what you wanted too, you are in for a treat cos Imma show you exactly how to do so.

First up, basic supplies. For this DIY you would need;

1. A board

2. Battery-operated LED lights

3. Hole puncher

4. Pen

5. Paper

6. Paint & brushes

7. Hot glue gun

8. Tape

9. AA batteries

For the board, I personally just use a cardboard. Another option you could try is to find a foam board (that was my initial plan before I decided to be extra frugal). Basically find something that can easily poke through but also firm enough to hold the batteries that will later be attached to the board. 

You can get the LED lights for around RM20 online (including shipping). I got mine from Shopee here. Placed an order on Friday and received it by Tuesday, so expect at least 3 working days if you are buying online. However, I later found out that Daiso is also selling it. They have white, yellow and colourful light that comes in sets of 10 LEDs.

The one I use:

- 50 LEDs to make up 6 characters

- white light

2 Things I Couldn't Give Up My Time For & 2 Things I Love To Do

Out of my 24 hours in a day, I just can't give up on 2 things - sleep and eat. I love my bed too much that I NEED my 8 hours of sleep. Or else, I will either be grumpy or don't have the mood to do much thing. Plus, unless I sleep early, it's hard for me to wake up early. For my meal time, I don't and cannot eat fast. I don't know how people do. And I don't know how to eat less. I'm okay with skipping meals though, but when I do eat, I eat a good amount... sometimes, even I find it too much but I always ended up finishing them lol. Except when I am full, it would take me ages to finish my food. Cos once I start eating, I HAVE to finish them... kalau tak, bazir and that would make me feel even worse.

One of the 2 things I love doing is writing. I write stuff I love to read. That is why I made this blog. It's like my own time travelling machine, cos I reread my posts again and again (don't tell me you don't). And I am glad I could improve my English writing this way. Imagine if I had no where to channel my thoughts and views, I don't think I would still be speaking English like I do today. I might have gotten worse grammar wise for the lack of usage in my daily life. Although, I have not learn any vocabulary over the years due to the lack of reading ( I write but I don't read lol... that is why I write rubbish that only I read haha). 

The other thing is making videos. I don't see myself as good bcos I only know how to use minimal editing. But this year, I was given more opportunities for it. This stuff needs practice and I need a subject, a theme, something to be based on before I could proceed with filming. I am both a planner and a winger. I prefer planning, but I also practically wing it most of the time. But bottom line is I feel like I am improving and I love it. Maybe I shall share my noob tips on how I make videos (not sit and talk ones, I'm bad at that) and ways I've improved them later on in life insyaAllah.

So those are all I have to say for now. Nothing much. I just wanted to write something while it is still November.

That day it was someone's birthday. As a friend, I bought la a present. And I have never felt so taken aback by the reaction.

I have a rule of thumb when it comes to buying someone a gift. Firstly, I would spend money on you. I won't dig out all my harta karun and give an unused item of mine. I invest my time and money on new item, so that you could feel my sincerity. Secondly, if I have no clue on what to get for you (bcos I suck at taking hints and I'm a cheapskate, so what my friends would really want would be out of my budget fosho), I would buy you something that I personally want to own. 

I have been keeping those rules of thumb ever since my primary school days. Every time I do that, I no longer have an attachment for those things and I hoped that my friends would like it just as much as I personally would (if I did get it).

I have heard someone telling me that people won't like the gift if I were to do that since it is what I like, not what they like. My honest opinion? Be grateful someone even had the consideration to give something to you on your birthday.

Honestly, I wasn't raised to accept gifts on birthdays. I couldn't even recall the last time my parents bought me a birthday present. Let alone my brothers. I could only remember the one time they bought me a birthday card and gave it to me one day earlier because my dad mistook my birth date to be 10/10 instead of 11/10. Still touches my heart just by the fact it was something the 6 year-old me least expected.

All I could remember from them was birthday treats. Now that is an annual thing, on every one of our birthdays. That's how my family celebrates it. With buffets and steamboats and sometimes, steaks and fine dining. Though I enjoyed them a lot... deep down in my heart, I really wanted them to surprise me with a present one day. It doesn't have to be fancy, just enough to be something I never once had.

It was always me earning it for myself. Sometimes, I do get jealous at people. Like the dreamy girl that I am. That is why I always like to give presents to those who least expected them, it made me feel like a godmother. Also, lowkey hoped it happens to me too.

I actually have a digital post-it on my laptop screen of my family and close friends' birthdays. I wanted to get eveeeryone on the list something, but unfortunately it's hard enough getting one person something. If only I have the money, I would!

So, I was actually very terasa when that person pointed out how "cheap" my gift was compared to what I was given. Siap check harga Lazada tu. Berkira tahap dewa kot. Padahal hadiah dia pun takde la bernilai mana. One sentence that really made me annoyed and had some sort of regret was "Lain kali aku belikan yang sama bagi kau". I said boleh je, but janganlah beli sama. Just bcos... where's the surprise?? But he said "Haa tahu pun kau pun taknak", as if what I gave was so... meaningless(?)

Oh how I wish, people could just be a liiitle more thoughtful.

UPDATE (29/11): Yesterday, I was hanging out with my friends including the person I bought the present for. Turns out, he never had such thing before. This is the first time he is owning one.  I don't know if he wanted to show his gratefulness or he just wanted to let me know... but that kinda made me feel slightly better than the reaction I got earlier. Cos I've always wanted to give someone something they never had before even if it was just something small and simple.

Dropping by,

The second speech contest I've tried out this year.

Compared to the Indonesian Speech Contest (read here) I had, I wasn't feeling good about this one. I was feeling less excited about it as the contest day approaches, but I tried telling myself "whatever happens, happens". I won't go into detail bcos I wasn't satisfied with my performance AT ALL. Nevertheless, it was a great learning experience. 

I always ask myself, why am I learning Korean? I didn't even want to work in Korea or be an interpreter. Is it really worth it all? 

Now that I have an answer Imma just say it. Because learning opens up a new opportunity. Whatever that may be. I actually did enjoy practicing for the speech. It didn't take me that long to go through everything because I knew what I wanted to say and it felt good. I learnt more about word structure as I was writing the script (and got corrected by it). I guess the prize wasn't meant to be mine in the first place, but I'm glad I participated.

I thank Ida for telling me about this and made it possible for me to join huhu. 너무 너무 감사! And Mun for believing in me 끝까지. I'm sorry I couldn't do my best after all your guidance and hardwork. I promise I shall learn more diligently and not depend on you alone when we go Korea hehe.

Speaking of which, I FINALLY BOUGHT THE PLANE TICKETS TO SEOUL!!!

I'm flying next year October during autumn. One of the outcome for this contest is whether or not I got the scholarship to study in Korea and will I be able to make it for our trip... Looks like we can now since I flopped the contest in the end hahah. 

However if I won the speech contest, it would give me another headache on how could I've afford living abroad with the financial state I am in. And I couldn't start my degree in February as I wanted to (not that it is confirmed already but still). So, the concern for it would multiple and I know I won't like it myself. As for the Korea trip, I already had a budget allocation (though it would be great if I could have more for shopping) but I'd worry less and only look forward to the fun part - planning!

I won't complain. I have no intention on quitting anyway. I need to understand what my oppadeul is saying without having to wait for the subs lol.

P.S. Thanks Shaza, Nadhirah and Ilham for coming to support. I was never available to support you guys and I feel so bad, but I would try my best in the future. Sorry yall couldn't understand a single thing on what's happening. Most of it... I didn't too lmao.

In case you didn't get it, the ambassador for this year's event is none other than uri WINNER oppas omo!!

So first of all, how did I enter this contest?

I've heard about this contest on Instagram. You know the ads we all hate that creeps in our igstory and on our feeds... That's exactly how!

When I first heard of it being a video contest, I was thrilled. Because it means that I can have fun making videos again. It didn't have to be good... I just wanted to produce something for that matter. I always tell myself "there's no harm trying" and though I kept procrastinating, I ended up submitting a video. A cringe-worthy one. Tengok la if you wish to.

The idea behind that video is simple. I knew I wanted to do a dance cover, but I didn't want to do just that, since I knew most people would go for dance covers as well (that's what Korea is famous for after all). 

This year's Talk! Talk! Korea consists of 5 categories - "K-Food", "K-Music & Drama", "K-Beauty & Style", "ETC" and a special topic for this year; "Peace on the Korean peninsula". So you are allowed to submit your videos based on these categories (can apply for more than one, but they will decide which category if yours are chosen). I submitted mine for "ETC" (bcos my video had elements of Hangeul and Taekwondo) and also for "K-Music & Drama" (which I know damn well I won't a have chance in but #siscuba).

Long story short, I made it to the final 75... fighting for the grand prize, 2nd, 3rd, 4th and 5th place. Since there are 75 finalists and 5 categories, there are 15 finalists for each category. Out of the 15 people, the rankings will be determined through online voting that happens weekly and as much as 4 times. Yes, brace yourselves if you are chosen as the finalists. Simplest way to phrase it is for each category, 5 people who lost the first voting are the 5th place winners, 4 people who lost the second voting are the 4th place winner, 3 people who lost the third voting are the 3rd place winners and the last voting determines the 2nd and grand prize winners. Hope that made sense. 

How voting works? Anyone with a Facebook or Google account can vote by logging in. Vote can be cast daily (by daily I mean after 24 hours since the previous voting). So, y'all can use all your different accounts to vote for one person or even everyone. Vote counts are renewed after every voting stage. So, you must work hard to survive again and again. However, voting only results to 40% of the scores, while the other 60% is based on internal judging.

I won 3rd place meaning I competed for 3 out of 4 online votings. Honestly speaking, on the second round, my votes aren't even that high compared to others and I was really surprised for the fact that I managed to surpass that stage. It was really unexpected to go that far considering how mediocre my video was. It's either the judges liked my work more. or that the other finalists who got more votes, were illegally buying them... God knows.

My personal thoughts on this? I hate when I have to bother people and beg them to vote for me or do me any sort of favour, and this contest requires me to do just that. To my surprise, my friends (especially my uni friends) were all so supportive and I'm glad I don't have to be so secretive about that part of me during these desperate times. But on the other hand, I can't help but feel like I'm being judged and that kinda made me feel a little insecure and slightly embarrassed.

Now, is the prize worth it? This part of the story is the one you don't see upfront. Yeah the prize they are giving are cool gadgets and a trip to Korea and whatnot. But of course, the struggle to receive that prize is real as well. 

In my case, I won a PC tablet. The receiving process actually took a long time. The contest ended officially on the end of August after the final voting. I received the email saying the prize will be shipped on September and received early October. But that didn't happen because Koreans have long holidays (Chuseok a.k.a Korean Thanksgiving) in September and it's hard to ship them(?) A month later, they emailed again saying they had to postpone the shipment due to few holidays during the first and second week of October and will deliver by the end of October instead. No doubt that it's a pretty long wait but though they did not update frequently, I still appreciate them for updating us through those emails.

Once my item reaches custom on the 25th of October, I was contacted by the courier company saying I needed a permit. So one thing I wasn't aware was that electronic goods in Malaysia requires SIRIM permit and there's a lot of procedures in applying for them. Also, these extra costs aren't supported by the sender which is the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Republic of Korea and had been clarified (though was too late since I settled myself) via email as I've prompted. 

It took me a week to settle the SIRIM permit and custom clearance for it to ship to my house. The main problem is the fact that I wasn't informed on the product brand and model beforehand. In order to apply for the permit, SIRIM insisted on knowing the exact product brand and model which I didn't know. As I've mentioned the sender replied to my email quite late and as the custom clearance would charge extra for longer storage time, I knew I needed to settle it soonest. In the end, I requested the courier to open the package and get the product details for me, as how my annoyed dad suggested. 

For SIRIM permit, once I told them the required details, they sent me an email of the application procedure stating they will process the application within 24 hours for walk-in but 2-3 days through email. I don't get how the system supposed to be any different but haihh. I asked my dad to do walk-in since I was still in Melaka and SIRIM is based in Shah Alam, Selangor, just so that I could get the courier to ship the product to me soonest. The courier literally called me everyday for an update on the permit. The permit was settled within the same day (walk-in at noon and received permit via email in the evening). The courier shipped the next day or so.

Additional cost on receiving the prize? RM100 for the permit and RM116 for the custom clearance (including the handling fee by the courier company). Now was it all really worth it? The tablet costed USD250 and it's LG, so wasn't the most hyped brand for a tablet. I would probably appreciate it more if it was an iPad, but sadly it wasn't. I personally don't find a tablet to be that useful since I spend most time either on my phone or laptop to do work. I don't know if I would be able to sell it off for a good price as well. 

I guess the experience was all that mattered. I love the fact I represented my country since no other Malaysian ended up being a finalist and also, my video received so many views lol. For me to be part of a global contest, made it so honorable since it doesn't happen everyday. So I'm still grateful nevertheless, but not gonna lie this contest did gave me good amount of stress ever since the constant voting until the shipment process... I'm glad it ended well, is all I can say.

Here is a video compilation of the winners for the "ETC" category;

Thank you so much for your interest if you ended up reading all that. Sorry if I wasn't being that helpful. If you are thinking of joining next year, GOOD LUCK!! I know the struggle and am truly wishing you the best! Just believe in yourself, hwaiting!

I think the best part in life is figuring things out. Everything and anything can be so damn mysterious (including yourself!).

I am always watching vlogs or filming/editing tutorials solely for inspirations. Problem is I still don't know my own style. My editing, my filming, my video style... I am truly still a newbie. I hate first times. I wish I could just fast-forward in time to see the outcome. Like once I am already the pro (will I ever be?). However, ain't this blog's title just answered that?

I guess, I've always hated first times hahaha. And this blog just reminded me once again how the best part of life is of course, the journey. The fun and misery, the laugh and tears, the regrets and hopes.

I hope I could discover that part of me soon. And also I wish to style myself a bit. I find myself to be so left out when it comes to dressing up. I dress down basically my entire teen life huhu. This one gonna be slowly but surely, insyaAllah. MARK MY WORDS.

I've came to the realisation that I don't really open myself up to muslimah fashion like how people wear their hijab or the type of clothes people wear. Now that I've found someone with my taste in fashion, I feel like seeing a new world lol. A fashion icon I can actually learn something from. I wouldn't be a copycat (cos bukan can afford pon) but I wanna upgrade at least this part of me sikit-sikit. So that can look pretty in pictures and bukan macam potato je sbb semua gambar looks ugly. I won't expose who though cos #expectation #pressure hehe. But she is a local influencer.

Ok done putting my concerns out there. October is like my concern-filled month /sweat

Dropping by,

Melynn.

Greetings from my work station. 

I decided to fill-up my time with a part-time job to earn some extra money. Everyday I'd found myself either sleeping or wasting my time in my room watching videos/ kdramas. I don't even study guys. I still am struggling with the whole study part of life even as a 3rd Year student in uni fml. 

This decision comes in pretty sudden to me. Well, I've been considering and mentally-telling myself I should get a part-time somewhere. But tbh, I didn't wanna do it in campus cos I'm scared I'll be meeting many of the people I know. I contemplated all this while thinking I could be free and do more things like take up more competitions to earn better money/prizes. Or upload contents on YouTube or work on my class more. In the end, I never did any of those things ever since the sem started. I've been much more productive while I was an intern to compare things with.

For one and a half semester now, my uni opened up this new business area which is currently only occupied by a few tenants. And one of them posted a job opening on FB. I decided to go for it. They pay me RM3/hour. Based on the other jobs in-campus, that is actually pretty decent. I mean I still have time typing this right now. That's how calm it can be.

Note: After this part, I had a few things to settle regarding the 'Talk Talk Korea 2018' prize shipped from Korea! (Will update about it soon.) Therefore, I ended up continue writing this post during the weekend instead.

Working in-campus does actually have its benefits. Everything is walking distance (only if your campus aren't that big). It probably takes me about 5 mins to reach the shop by feet. The only struggle is walking up and down the hill between my residential college and my workplace.

If you're asking me why am I working for such a small wage and when I don't really have to pay rent for staying in-campus, I'd say because I have big desires. I am always saving money but I always feel too scared to be spending them. It's such a huge guilt when I have a long list of the things I want to have and all of them cost me a bomb. 

It's not like I'm broke, I do take up loan and I do still have them. But it's barely enough. Let me just tell you a bit of what I am trying to achieve within the next couple of months.

1) Exchange programme

As a diploma student, this wasn't an offer I could even consider. Exchange programme are only meant for degree students and they can cost a lot. However, after this sem I am planning to continue my degree in the same university. Therefore, I will be eligible for this programme but my only and biggest concern right now is obviously the money. I am still not financially ready. RM10k? RM15k? RM100k? I don't even know how to budget exactly.

2) Camera

For now, my phone is actually more than enough to capture videos and pictures. But I always wanted a dedicated camera that can easily point and shoot. I did bought myself one when I was Form 1, I think. I spent RM400 on it and I thought it was what I wanted. But it wasn't. After finish collecting the money, I had the budget ready but I didn't know what are the specs I'm supposed to look at, and so I randomly picked up a camera that the salesperson recommended. It wasn't the best brand nor was it the best model. It was a big mistake.

The camera couldn't even shoot 1080p videos (phone cameras do it better). By now, the lens is already broken so the quality became worse. It is already time to find another one. Listing down the specs I'm now looking at;

i. Not a DSLR (portability reasons)

ii. Flip-screen

iii. Near-field Communication (NFC) for device sharing (kinda like using bluetooth but you transfer it by tapping your phone that has NFC with a camera that has it too)

Actually I already have the exact model in mind hehe. The camera budget is already as big as the budget for the phone I recently bought. You see the onion in my wallet now?

3) Emergency Fund savings

So I've been advised by many of the financial gurus I binge on YouTube, who made it seems like everybody NEEDS to have an Emergency Fund. It's for times you are forced to live without any financial support.

Basically, it's a step towards financial freedom too. When you want to leave a certain situation but the only thing that is stopping you is your finance, then this fund lets you have that escape option because you could basically survive without an income for a few months. That's why it is recommended that your Emergency Fund sums up to at least 6-months worth of living cost so you don't have to worry about it while you try to reorganize your life.

My aim for now is RM1k. I'm already half way there. Hopefully will reach my short-term goal soon, so I can set a new one lol.

4) Gold for mum

Hahaha this is so cringy to say... but it's one of my ultimate dream. Something I promised my mum too.

One day I wanted to buy her something gold with the thought that if one day she needed some extra money, she could just gadai it. I mean it can be an asset and it would increase in value (hopefully). However, it's not as easy as I thought. Because gold stuff actually involves zakat and all of this might burden her instead. I am still figuring out and considering what could be the ultimate gift for my mum if gold was not gonna be it. What else could increase in value? House? Hahaha lagi berzaman kot if this were to be it.

But I am dedicating my coins collection on this. I still don't know how much I have now, but both of my 50-cents coin box are more than half already and I hope it can at least be RM100 soon.

5) Masters

To just put it out there, I have the dream to continue my graduate studies oversea. So if for degree I could do exchange programme, I would have like a sneak peek before I fully include this in my consideration. However, degree would be the last stage of education where my parents are willing to support me for. So I have to start saving up for real if I want to continue Masters, especially if I want to do it somewhere oversea. Maybe start considering all the available scholarships too?

-------------------

That's about it for my wishes. Actually those are the ones that seemed "impossible" to me and more dream-like. Something that would come out of a bucket-list instead of a to-do list. But since I have a good amount of faith on myself, I will try my luck and pray for everything I wished for to come true. InsyaAllah. 

Dropping by,

Melynn.

I've always been different. And I've always known that.

People would tell me that I never seem to care about what others think. I've noticed that when puberty hits me... like having pimples all, what people say hardly comes at me. I've always been that person who takes things slow within my own pace. I don't do drastic changes. I have little to no care of the people around me (one of my concerns tbh). It's hard faking it when you really don't feel the slightest care for something. It's not that I didn't notice, it's that I don't care. I couldn't bring myself to care.

I don't care if you do things that won't concern me. And I don't wish everyone to be like me... but I kinda wish people weren't so busybody all the time. 

I let people go fairly easily. I never find myself too attached on anything. Not people, not idols, not items... they come and go so I've always anticipated it to disappear from  my life.

Actually penat tau when I don't want to care about smtg but people around me are constantly making me "worry" about it. Like if I wanna do smtg, I don't want to be asking permissions from friends. Telling them, yes. But getting approval is like a major friendship red light to me. Unless I ask you for it cos #indecisive.

I nak pergi concert, spend all my allowances on it... let me have my moments. I don't need a toxic person telling me I shouldn't. I don't force anyone to come with me. I don't menyusahkan orang by telling them at the last minute. I always plan early sbb I don't want people to think I am taking advantage on them. 

I don't get people who kecam others on this. I mean diff people value diff things. Like me, I don't care bout games, books or makeup like many people do, so I most likely won't be considering spending money on them as to me it is "membazir". But I'd pay more on things that I love like concerts and stationery. 

There was this one time, my younger brother bought a RM80 headphones. Before that, he would ask my dad to buy and he would use the RM10 ones from Gadget World. Then it would rosak not long after, and the cycle repeats lol. So when I saw him with his new expensive headphones, I questioned his decision. My elder brother did too. I told him that you can already get decent one if you only added RM10. Why would he spend so much when he can get a similar item that could be half times cheaper??

Then my mum said, "Biarlah dia nak beli headphone mahal pon. Duit dia. Dia tak persoalkan korg pon bila korg beli barang-barang mahal lain, kenapa korg nak persoalkan dia?".

That is all I needed to hear to drag me back to my senses. I didn't even ask him how long it took him to collect his money to afford that. It must've been hard bcos I was once I broke kid with lots of desire to buy unnecessary stuff too (still am!). But that's how we were taught to manage our own money.

I nak beli smtg that I like for someone else using my own money, let me be. I don't care if the person would like it or hate it. That's my least concern though kalau they suka, I would love them more lol. If I give someone a gift, most times I'll give you smtg I LOVE and that I wanna HAVE it for myself (stuff I don't usually have). So for someone to question my taste, what would you know.

Off-topic sikit.

Lately, I've been liking dusty pink. Don't get me wrong, my all time fav is still blue. But maybe bcos it has the slightly feminine feel to it and looks aesthetically pleasing. So I bought a new phone case... something I have been needing. My old case already had battlescars. 

So the new one is the 'rose gold' kinda pink. Actually kan, I lowkey liked the colour (and the tough design) but since pink wouldn't suit me I've always stayed away from it. The reason I bought this was only bcos it was selling for RM20 and I needed a new one. So hard to find a phone cover for my phone's model haih.

Dropping by,

Melynn.

For the past few months I was having a love-hate relationship with my new Samsung phone. I bought it in May 2018 so technically, it hasn't even been that long. I upgraded from a mid-range Asus phone to a Note series Samsung phone - which supposedly be a more high-end range. The reason of me purchasing this expensive phone (to me, it is) is because I wanted it to be long lasting... damage-proof, if possible. I not only wanted a pretty camera or a big enough storage or the latest version of OS with the biggest RAM and powerful processor... I wanted them all PLUS a stress-free usage. My old phone was stressful enough cos 1) it had extremely little storage space and 2) the battery dies too fast.

So when I bought the Samsung Galaxy Note FE. I had pretty high expectations. For those of you who don't know, Note FE is the refurbished version of the explosive Note 7 which had been discontinued. They used the unused parts of the phone and sell it under a different name. Therefore, it is one of the best phones by Samsung spec-wise but they are reselling it under a different name - Fan Edition (FE) with a much lower price point. 

Being from a good and well-known phone series, I didn't expect to face any issue within just few months of usage. Until one day, I found myself struggling to even reply my WhatsApp messages. The screen suddenly couldn't detect my taps like it used to. It kept on missing my touches and lead to inaccurate overall detection. I can't even slide my edge screen from the side - which I find to be one of the phone's handy feature!

I didn't have time (or the ability) to go to a Samsung store so soon. So I did like what most IT people are good at - troubleshoot. I searched up the problem and ways to solve them. I couldn't deny that there were solutions online but they still didn't do me justice. I only could think of it being a software issue since I didn't even drop my phone or caused any physical damage to it. The phone looked pretty unharmed. In the end, nothing succeeds. So onto the last resort!

Most websites mentioned at the end, if it still can't be fix even after all those formatting and app checking procedure... just send it for repair. I thought since it was still under warranty, I could get Samsung to fix it for free. 

Initially, I went to the Samsung store but I was told to go to the Service Center instead. That was last week back at home. Then yesterday, I went to the only Authorised Service Center available in Melaka which is at Aeon Bandaraya Melaka. Nasib dekat la jugak and I am already familiar with that mall.

They told me they could fix and return it within 3 hours. Same day?!? I was expecting a week worth of wait though. I even had my friend prepare her backup phone in case they are keeping mine for repair. They didn't ask for any proofs or documents like warranty card or anything like that. They just needed my phone. 

So when I came back to collect it, they replaced my LCD screen with a new one. Still wrapped in plastic. It felt new. They told me they'd formatted my phone, but I'm not sure if they did since all my apps like the placement and all are exactly how I left it. The only thing I needed to redo was the biometrics and passwords. The phone repair didn't cost me any money (bless warranty). But the financial damage of being in a mall was inevitable.

I was interested on extending my warranty since I've seen someone getting out of trouble because he purchased the extended warranty. 

I am highly considering it, in case things like this happen again without warning. I'm only allowed to extend it while my current warranty is still valid so that makes the deadline be before May 2019. Just putting it out there for future Amelynn.

The lady behind the counter did mention that if you are sending in for repair, make sure the inside seal have not yet been broken by an unauthorised third party since doing that may void the whole warranty coverage. So, only go to Samsung's Authorised Service Center! The service was indeed very pleasant for me but I hope to never have this kind of problem with my device again huhu.

Dropping by,

Melynn.