Hi Funkyrifficers! Thank you again for visiting my blog. Here is where I answer most of your questions about things posted in this blog or just about anything. I am still compiling questions and if you have any feel free to ask as I will update this page from time to time 🙂 yeay!

What does Nawal means? It means ‘gift’ in Arabic.

Where are you from and what is it like in your country?  I am from a country called Malaysia. It is located at the South East part of Asia and share borders with Singapore, Thailand, Brunei and Indonesia. Malaysia is very diverse in terms of people and culture. Awesome food, sunny weather, beautiful islands and rainforest. Simply epic.

How tall are you? I am a proud 5ft 2.

What languages do you speak? My mother tongue is Bahasa Melayu or Malay language. English is my 2nd language. I can speak and write Thai and Japanese which I’ve picked up when I was studying in the university. It’s a bit rusty though as I don’t speak much of the languages nowadays. I know minimal French and would love to learn Arabic and Spanish. My 950 things aim : to be fluent in 10 languages! (Thanks to the internet, I can learn languages for free. I normally go to about.com for awesome daily newsletters)

What are your favorite colors? Colors of a rainbow!! Neon!! Pastels!!

What and who is Nadewas? Nadewas is a nickname I created when I was 16 and have used it since then. It’s a combination of Nawal DEWA Shahril. I was a big fan of the band DEWA and you know back in those days we do silly things..well till now!

Where did you get the term FUNKYRIFFIC? I was driving back from class and the thought of revamping my blog was cooking up in my brain. I love all things funky and would like to project that love to my blog, so I combined the word funky with terrific hence the name FUNKYRIFFIC! 

How long have you been blogging? Since 2007. 

How it all started? FUNKYRIFFIC was originally created for me to motivate myself in reaching all my goals (which is now called 950 things). Formerly known as Nawal’s Goal-icious, the blog has evolved bit by bit with DIY and lifestyle inputs. I’ve changed the name 3 times from Goal-icious, Nawal’s Life in a Suitcase to The Eccentrico Funky Muslimah and finally landed on FUNKYRIFFIC!

Where did you go to school? I was schooling in Petaling Jaya, a city and satellite township for Kuala Lumpur. My primary was in SRK Kampung Tunku in the morning and Madrasah Manarul Islam in the evening. So I had both public and Islamic education. Later, went to Sri Aman Girls School right up till Form 6. I spent 5 years in University Sains Malaysia in Penang where I majored in Film and minored in Japanese Language. Participated in a student exchange program to NUS, Singapore for a semester and had a blast!

What else did you study? I took a Tourist Guide course at Perfect Tourism, KL (I am a certified Malaysian Tourist Guide now), studied fashion design via Blackford Insitute and creative writing via The Writer’s Bureau. In 2012, I graduated from Giatmara Lembah Pantai in Fashion and Dressmaking.

Your opinion about education? I’m a strong believer in education. I believe that education is not just something that is taught in schools. Every single opportunities and adversities are education in disguise. Internet, books, interacting with people, clubs and societies are mediums to explore and experiment. Having said that, I kept myself regularly active in readings, communicating and learning. Taking up courses and seminars. Life is an open university and you just got to make full use of it.

What is 950 things to do and why is it 950? 950 things are the things that I’ve compiled and wanted to do before I die. It started in 2007 where I jot down whatever things people do like skydiving, horseback riding, write a novel, buy a car, anything really! and challenge myself to do it within a period of time. In future, I’ll be able to tell my grandchildren “OH BEEN THERE DONE THAT!” As the year progresses, my list became longer and became over 950 things. You can do whatever you want to do as long as you put your mind to it. Why the number 950? I don’t know. 

Have you achieved all 950 things? Heck not yet! Every year I target to do at least 40 things. Although you can never predict the future and things sometime didn’t go as planned, you still go on. To date I’ve done 47 things from my list 🙂

What’s your current project? I’m currently working on my new clothing line called Jubah Dreams by Nawal Shahril which focuses on muslimah fashion and Islamic needs. Besides that, I’m  setting up my tailoring service which is called KASTEM KURUNG (KK) all due early 2013! My online sewing school – SKOLAH JAHIT NAWAL is in the pipeline too! 

**updated: 28th December 2012.