“Your face lights up and your eyes twinkle whenever you talk about him.” 

I have never heard these words from anyone about a guy before; well, not until this guy came along. Those words were murmured when both of us were still friends and it took me by surprise on how my face can light up talking about a friend. Ever since then I wondered, what’s so special about this guy?

I never really told anyone how I truly felt about him because I saw him first and foremost as a friend; a best friend in fact. He knows more about me than anyone else – we share things with each other; secrets, jokes, events that happened in our daily lives, everything. As I got to know him more, I genuinely feel that this guy is extraordinary. He has opened my eyes to a whole different world, he makes me realize things that I didn’t before and to put it in one sentence; he simply brought colors to my life.

I strongly denied my feelings but everyone could see the truth no matter how hard I tried concealing them. Everyone said it was obvious cause it showed the way I talked about him – it showed from my face, my voice, my eyes and I was honestly stunned by the fact that someone could actually make me feel that way. I kept rejecting my feelings, I said no to myself, I denied, denied, denied until the day I couldn’t anymore. I can now say, after 4 years, I am completely head over heels over my partner in crime.

He has always been there for me during my ups and downs even though I know he gets annoyed sometimes hearing all my girly problems. He always has my back for anything – I remembered that I had a point in my life where I thought everyone was against me and he sincerely said to me “I got your back, no matter what” and I knew those words were true.

I know that in life nothing is perfect and I know we both are not but despite all the flaws, I know that I would choose him over and over again. This guy really has earned a special place in my heart. I can’t wait to see what the future holds for us; I know it’ll be a good one.

I'm obsessed with flowers lately. Credits: WeHeartIt

• Laying down with glasses

• Smudging make up

• What's an eye make up?

• Glasses sliding down my nose

• Keeping the shawl in place

• Keeping them clean

Liyana - I hit a brick wall in public speaking and CrossFit. I felt stagnant and it just felt like I had no way out of it. My advice that people gave me was take it slow. There will always come a point in time where you feel like you are no longer progressing. That’s because you have exhausted yourself with the speed and rate you are climbing. Take it slow, take a small step back and try different approaches. Set goals and slowly check them off. Focus, breathe, try and try again.

Sabrina - Always be patient when life throws lemons at you.

I recently had a “crisis”, it might be nothing to some people but it was everything to me as I spent a lot of my time doing them and one day, they just vanished. I panicked at first but I didn’t break down, my mind was blown but I chose to stay patient. I tried not to think about it but instead, I told myself, fine, I did it once and I’m sure I can do it again. But that night when I finally accepted that everything was gone…. THEY appeared, just like that and I was so surprised and overwhelmed that I cried. I told myself, good things really do come to those who are patient. So guys, lesson learned, patience is key.  

12. What is your greatest fear?

Liyana - As cheeeeesy as this may sound, I fear of losing the ones I love and the things I love doing. I cannot imagine living without the people in my life. I cannot imagine living without Toastmasters and I cannot imagine living without CrossFit.

Sabrina - Death and the ocean. – Yep.

13. Which word describes your personality best?

Liyana - Unpredictable. I am a constant roller coaster of emotions. Sometimes, I am as calm as the waves. Other times, I’m a ticking time bomb waiting to explode. Like I said, I can be quite transparent with my emotions. Not my greatest trait.

Sabrina - I’m not so sure. Help me answer this one guys.

14. What inspires you?

Liyana - Quite a lot of things inspire me. Seeing people work hard, sacrifice and succeed. Seeing the purest of souls do good. Working with people who want nothing but the best for their peers. Things like those, they inspire me to no end. They inspire, to inspire.

Sabrina - Passionate people inspire me. All the things people do with passion makes it seem like everything’s possible.

15. What’s your life’s biggest achievement?

Liyana - Believe it or not, it’s having to hold a trophy again. A trophy that I won myself. Best of all, it’s a trophy for doing something I never thought I’d do. Deliver a speech. An inspirational speech. Another notable achievement, of course, how could I forget my very first CrossFit competition. That’s another thing I never thought I’d end up doing. Never in a million years.

Sabrina - Till this point, I have none that I would frame and put on my wall YET but there are some that made me proud of myself.

16. If you could choose any place, where would you live?

Liyana - Ah, I don’t think I have a straight answer for this. I don’t have one specific preference. I love a good space enough for me to call home, nothing specific for now. But maybe some place where the weather doesn’t make my pits sweat the moment I walk out of the house.

Sabrina - NEW YORK. Well I don’t know. Brunei is a peaceful country; I wouldn’t want to live anywhere else. I’d travel the world though, that’s for sure.

17. Forget your real age for a second – now tell yourself how old are you?

Liyana - 5 or 50. That depends on which side of the bed I wake up on. I can be the most annoying, childish brat and at the same time speak nothing but wise words. Especially when I do evaluations. Hah! You’d never guess I’m only 21.

Sabrina - I’m going to be very boring and tell you that I think I’d still be 20 – 21 years. I may get childish at times (on good days) but I tend to be mature about some things too. So, I guess.. Same age.

18. What is happiness for you?

Liyana - Happiness is sipping a good cup of coffee in the morning with my favourite mug. A book in hand while I look forward to a full day of plans doing the things I love, with the people I love. Happiness is nothing fancy. There is happiness in everyday.

Sabrina - Happiness is not living a life without worries and problems but rather, having all those things and being able to overcome them with the people you love right by your side, is the true meaning of happiness for me. (DEEEEEEEPPPP)

19. What will you never forget?

Liyana - This is a tough one. I’d say memorable things, but they’re way too many to list down. I’d say painful things, but again they’re way too many to list down. So I’ll go with my roots. I’ll never forget my roots. Who I was, how I grew up and how I was raised. Because no achievement feels worthwhile without looking back on how far I’ve come.

Sabrina - Yummy food. Heh. I kid. I’d say… people who were there during tough times.

20. How many times have you fallen in love?

Liyana - I’ve fallen in love the first time I took a bite on a bar of chocolate mint. I knew right then that milk chocolate was out of the question. I’ve fallen in love with public speaking. I knew right then I wanted to speak for an audience. I’ve fallen in love the first time I started competing. I knew right then I wanted to be better. I’ve fallen in love with the feeling of being understood. I knew right then who I want to surround myself with for the rest of my life.

Sabrina - A lot of times. I've fallen in love with so many things. People, cities I’ve never been to, music, make up, and the list goes on. But ok, I can say… maybe, twice. (Notice me pls)

21. How many times has your heart been broken?

Liyana - Every time someone tells me the speech I deliver could be better. When I was told that I did not get short listed for TEDx, an audition speech I worked 2 straight days for, chugging the strongest coffee I could find at night. When I had to forgo the last qualifier workout to qualify for a competition I so badly wanted to compete in, all because of an injury. I could list down so much more but hey, those make good stories.

Sabrina - A lot of times too. When they don’t sell the lipstick shade that I want, when they don’t have the dessert I was craving for at that time. IT’S JUST SO HEART BREAKING.

On a serious note, I'm always heart broken whenever I feel like I've hurt someone in anyway. I really don't like to disappoint people, especially my parents and whenever I feel like I did, my heart would break to million pieces. I think that heartbreak is far more painful than any.

22. What makes you keep motivated and carry on?

Liyana - Perseverance. Stubbornness. The hatred for losing.

Sabrina - My dream and the constant support from the people around me.

23. Do you give up too soon?

Liyana - I don’t think that exists in my vocabulary. I am painfully competitive, sometimes unfortunate.

Sabrina - I don’t. but I give up when I think it’s time.

24. Do you know how it feels to wake up with a smile?

Liyana - Of course. Definitely. Almost everyday.

Sabrina - YES. When you have no more exams to worry about. WOOHOO.

25. Usually do you listen to your heart or to your brain?

Liyana - Hahahahaha my heart, most of the times. Especially when it comes to deciding whether I wanna open up a bag of chips for a midnight snack.

Sabrina - My heart. I go with my feelings rather than my brain. Sorry brain.

I know that what I'm about to post is what I wrote on my Instagram caption but I felt the need to post it here too. I'm sorry that I haven't been posting anything here but I'll try to make it up to you guys soon! 


Someone asked me, "Do you actually like what you're doing now?" I stood there speechless because honestly, I didn't know what to answer.

I can say that I had mixed feelings on this when things first started. I had lots of questions running through my head and I got terrified. I wanted to back out and yet, I took the challenge. Since then, obstacles kept coming my way but so did opportunities. I dare to say that only a handful truly understand how it feels but I have nothing against the rest. Till this day, I still have my moments where I feel like it's better to just drop it, though, I've walked too far to just give it all up - all the opportunities handed to me, the sacrifices I made, I promised to not let it go to waste.

So if you ask me again about how I feel, my answer would still be I don't know. But all I know is that I'm grateful. Grateful for this opportunity, grateful to have met people who genuinely support me and I'm even more grateful for the hardships as they shaped me into the person I am today.

On a different note, here are some pictures of me as Azri was trying to find good lighting with a good angle for the MPP's group photo today. (We ended up going to a different location haha)