3 Reasons to Travel While You’re Young

Taken from/Credits to : http://goinswriter.com/travel-young/

The other night, I had a conversation with a young woman who had a number of decisions ahead of her, one of which is whether she would go to grad school or travel the world.

I told her to travel. Hands down. No excuse. Just go.

She sighed.

“Yeah, but…”

Never were more fatal words spoken.

Yeah, but… what about debt?

Yeah, but… what about my job?

Yeah, but… what about my boyfriend (or dog or car or whatever)?

“Yeah, but…” is pernicious. Because it makes it sound like we have the best of intentions when really we are just too scared to do what we should.

It allows us to be cowards, while sounding noble.

Most people I know who waited to travel the world never did. Conversely, plenty of people who waited for grad school or a steady job and traveled still did those things — eventually.

Be careful of the yeah-but. The yeah-but will kill your dreams.

I was so stirred by this conversation that I shared it with a group of about thirty young adults last night, many of which are asking these very questions.

The life you’ve always wanted.

When you get older, life seems to just sort of happen to you. Your youth is a time of total empowerment.

You get to do what you want. As you mature and gain new responsibilities, you have to be very intentional about making sure you don’t lose sight of what’s important.

So if you still have a reasonable amount of control over your circumstances, you should do what really matters.

Because life won’t always be just about you.

(the rest of the article is available on the link above)

You won’t always be young. And life won’t always be just about you. So travel. Experience the world for all it’s worth. Become a person of culture, adventure, and compassion.
“What if I’m not young?”
Travel, anyway. It may not be easy to do, but find a way to get out of your comfort zone. It’s really never too late.
But if you haven’t gotten sucked into the routine of life yet, I implore you — travel. It will never be easier than it is right now for you to do that which really matters.

i was reading the article above and it strikes me to be so true!

but to add my own two cents, it is certainly as easy to travel when yr single and young and when yr with a family - if you set your mind to it :)

my family has always been big on traveling, we try to made it a point to go somewhere together at least once a year...my parents have been almost everywhere and done everything, i think that's the travel gene from my late grand-grandfather who was sea captain :)

but being a HUGE family, with 9 adults and 6 kids, its certainly not easy!

i remember when i was getting information on my trip to new york last year and at this age and era on internet and google where everything is available on line and yet we three single girls still struggled to get info on where to stay what to do etc, and i marveled how my dad did it, almost 17 years ago, and he planned and took the entire family of 2 adults and 5 kids to los angeles and did it so flawlessly?? i mean that trip was still one the best trips we've ever had! 17 years ago! and there were no handphones and hardly any internet then!! amazing huh?

anyway, point of the post is..

ok, actually, the point of the above article is you must travel when you're young...

my point is, is you must travel. full stop.

young or old, go for it!

like one my best friend always said, when it comes to traveling;

money - you can always find and get more,
experiences and memories - once in a lifetime!

(^_^)

its been 3 years!

happy anniversary to us!

cant believe we survived the long distance relationship!

come to think of it, i dont think we've ever had any major problems about being long distance, kan kan kan?? :) :)

here's to many more years to come! Amin :)

kenapa nak menipu dalam berbusiness??

translating the title - why the need to lie/cheat in doing business????

ive had my share of being cheated when it comes to doing business with non corporation people, like for example, on line business (ordered a 5 hijabs but came only two and claimed will return the money but i never got it), friends who just started making cakes (like ordered an ice cream cake that supposedly uses haagen daaz but taste like nestle ice cream and smells funny) and all sorts of stories but nothing, nothing comes close to what happened this week...

i have a friend, lets call her Anne, who will be engaged this saturday, and we decided to sponsor one of her hantarans (dowries) and we decided to order macaroons tower from another friend, lets call her Fashi, whom we know makes macaroons and sells them. she just started this business, and we are pretty good friends too and so as to help a friend who just started a business, hence we order from her.

ok, so dats the background story.

yesterday we found out..

Fashi DID not make the macaroons, but ORDERED it instead from someone else, but CLAIMS that she makes it and MARKS UP the price to sell to us!!! so here we are thinking to help a friend's business and admire the effort for her to learn to make the macaroons and had the courage so open a business selling it, instead all these while she's been passing off other people's work as her own! and the original person is selling it at RM240 where as this Fashi, markes it up to RM280 to us!!

!!!!!!!!!

another friend of ours accidentally discovered it as its so happens she is ordering some macaroons for her daughter's party from the same person! when she told us, of course we were royally pissed and more importantly we felt CHEATED and have been LIED to by someone who we thought is our good friend but are willing to do this in the name of BUSINESS!!!

but of course, considering we have been friends for quite a while, the nice people that we are, we decided to not to confront her, to just let it go and just note it for future events, since to cancel its kinda late anyway, so despite being super angry, we kept quiet and continued on as if nothing is wrong, but we did one thing tho, we delayed the payment a bit to this Fashi, and little did we know, there's a silver lining or hikmah in doing what we did.

Fashi's fiance posted this on her FB today..

wah2 sedap nye mulut nak memaki orang mcm tu kan??

yes my dear readers, her fiance decided to BUTT IN and started cursing us on her fb!! obviously pissed about the fact that we have yet to pay her but doing it in such a lame cavemen type of method, simple in malay, mcm orang kampung tak pergi sekolah setakat tau those few words and thought habis hebat la tu!

on top of that, this Fashi actually called Anne (the girl getting engaged who has no idea what is going on as obviously we didnt tell her) and cried while whining that we did a background check on her, she's so oh-so-sad cos why people dont trust her and she is making the macaroons BUT she's making with that person together2!!

hello?? come on la;

first of all, that person clearly said Fashi "ordered" from her, not make together2

second of all, if you think we are wrong or watever, why do u call Anne instead of us? we are the ones who ordered, u shud explain to us, why should u go and get sympathy from Anne?

and lastly, if you are not wrong and guilty,why do you suddenly remove us from yr fb and block us? u didnt think that we have other friends who are also yr fb frends and able to tell us about your fiance's post??

so anyway, so now we know she knows we know..

to cut this long story short, ended up she cancelled the order with just a simple msg

"i ada hal esok.xdpt buat.sory.thx"

haihhh ni dah melampau la kannnnnnnnnnn

this message was sent today, thursday, at 4pm and the engagement ceremony is this saturday morning!! so last minute right??? we sent her a nasty message in return BUT luckily, we were able to find another baker to do the macaroons for us, so that is ok.

but on this thing, seriously what do you guys think??

is it really necessary to lie to people when u do business like this? of course i know not everyone does this but it seems like if u dont, yr business mcm slow and lambat nak maju and worse still, will kena tipu with orang pun ade jugak, like for example one of my best friends does baking business too and she's ever so honest and accomodating but her story pulak dia yang kena tipu sebab org curi recipe dia and pass it of their own, but dats another story all together huhu but that kinda like goes to show right, that person is willing to steal another person's recipe or use other people's creation and pass it of as their own and claim, hey, its not personal, its business!!

business my a**!!!

london - tip #1 air tickets

i love it when people ask me about travel advices! mcm terrer la sgt kan but i think ive travel quite extensively and i think boleh lah nak impart some wisdom or two hehe

so three people (totally random people pulak tu) have asked me about london, or UK, about tickets and where to go and stuff so i thought, i could write a series of tips here in this blog for people to refer to, actually been meaning to write this first post dah bape hari dah tapi tak tersempat, but since a friend asked quite desperately via email today, i wrote her a quick reply and posted on my fb to my another friend and might as well post here as the first post!

ok, gila panjang intro! hehe

allritey, tip no 1, air tickets..

if you are one of the unlucky peeps like me who does not travel anywhere under the company where u work where u can accumulate thousands of mileage points or your credit card expenditure is hardly enough to convert to get tickets from kl to putrajaya (not dat they hv flights but u get my meaning :p) fret not, here's another solution!

ok basically for me, i love air asia x :) say what u wanna say about air asia, i still love them simply because they have THE CHEAPEST tickets to london and for that reason alone, i will always defend them loyally whenever anyone diss about them :p they always have good bargains at all times, like last month, its was only 1.5k return! so you must always browse their site! i just bought my tickets last month for next march and i got it at 2k return and that is including (at the risk of sounding like an air asia advertisement);

1. most front seat with lots of leg room which is like rm100 per one way

2. 30kg luggage!! bear in mind all other airlines only give u up to 20kg only unless its 1st class/business class seats and you cant upgrade the luggage space but with air asia u can up to 30kg at much much cheaper cost! so if you are crazy about shopping like me, this is heaven sent!

3. food!

for other airlines, ive only bought them during matta fair. check out itihad air or qatar air or emirates which can pretty cheap. singapore airlines also can get pretty cheap (but i kinda hated it cos its full drunken people as the alcohol is free flow and somehow singa-pore-ans (no offense but personal experience) can get pretty kiasu about this and kept drinking during the entire 14 hours flight until the air stinks of alcohol yucks), but the cheapest ive got is still around 2.8 - 3 k return.

summer is pretty hot in london so even though the days are longer, nak jalan2 tu mcm panas la sikit. bear in mind they have olympics end of july and hari tu i tgk, tikets around dat time mahal gila sebab diorang tau ramai nak pi masa tu kan sebab nak tgk olympics, so if u can, try pegi masa sept or oct, the days are still long, its slightly cooler and end of olympics so tikets shud be cheaper AND plus tak ramai sgt org kat sana cos nanti london gila ramai org on normal time, imagine masa olympic, mesti sangat2 sesak nk buat ape pun tak boleh mesti line panjang gila kalau nk tgk tourist places ke kan.

i hope that helps for now, nanti ada masa i update more for the next tips ok!

and apologies for my english reading frends, i took this directly from my email so its mixed language and im too lazy to translate it sorry!

im loyal like that

im off to london (yes again! to those rolling your eyes haha) in march..

this time i need to divide my time between three peeps..

one is my sister, who will be nottingham as she followed her husband there who's doing his phd, not much plans to go anywhere when there, probably just spend a few days playing with my nieces and nephew, probably take them to blackpool if weather permits, or legoland! hmm we'll see about this later...

second is my bestie, olyn, who's doing her masters in liverpool, we plan to rent a car and drove around uk, covering as many places as possibly can in like, 4-5 days? originally planned to travel europe but i think road trips are fun-ner plus there's so many places in uk ive yet to cover, so i think this is a better idea..

thirdly, lastly and most importantly, is mr other half aka mr sun of course! although technically he's not even sure if he will still be in uk at dat time but if he is then we are planning to go somewhere too but this one can only be confirmed after dec :)

so dats the three peeps!

and then, places i wanna go to;
1. lake district
2. wales/cardiff
3. stratford upon avon
4. swindon - for shopping
5. bicester village and london - for more shopping!
6. plymouth - to take olyn around to see my uni and see my other besties there cos i miss them and the lovely plymouth!

dats the current list..

wonder if the minack theater is opened in march? it will be lovely to catch a play..

hmmm...

maximum laziness

lately ive been feeling so under the weather and blue..

which resulted in seriously ultimate laziness ever huhu

i used to wear pants and shirts or tops to work..now im super lazy and have started wearing baju kurung instead, no ironing required and its super comfy too as most of my baju kurungs are huge, way too big for me and yet im still super lazy to make new ones that would fit me better..

i used to buy those instant oats to have for breakfast so that at least my breakfast would be a healthy meal, but now i only drink coffee for breakfast, although lately now its just plain hot water cos im too lazy to go down to the cafeteria to buy my coffee, dont even start of trying to even attempt to make my own coffee, im too lazy..

i used to go out for lunch since the food around my office sucks big time, but now i actually do eat around my office area, its either ive gotten used to the taste and im just too plain lazy to care, anything beats getting out in the hot sun...

i have no motivation at work, so many things to do before year end closes but i just dont give a damn anymore, but this lack of motivation is probably due to the fact im waiting for the result of my new role interview and until that is out im simply do not have heart to put in any extra effort instead just meeting the target only...

i wanted to diligently start dieting and exercising so that i can lose some weight before the wedding (although no idea when dat's gonna be confirmed but at least im prepared right??) but after every stint on the treadmill or the cycle machine i cough so bad and my asthma got worse so i gave up and now hv only given up eating which is fine by me cos im too lazy to eat anyway.. so dat resulted in some weight loss but im soo tired and lethargic and yes, the ultimate result - ive becomed sooooooooo lazy...

sigh...

tis a nasty nasty cycle..

a packet of prawn cocktail crisps later...

discovery

found out that i hv english speaking only followers! one of whom also recently emailed to ask me to translate the things i said in malay to english :)

which means i hv to write mainly in english OR do the translation diligently!

but there's something "deeply satisfactory" in venting out in malay, which is hard explain :)

especially if you are venting out about the people around you! hehe

but ok ok, i will try my best, :)

ps : am also surprised on the increment of followers despite not writing for so long!

zumba

looks like fun!

anyone done it before?

wonder where to find the class here in KL..hmm...

anticipation

im extremely bored with things in my life now..

desperately need some changes...

but what?

i hv two things currently waiting to happened, and until these two 'happens' i cant make any major decisions..

im dying to go back to UK and pursue my PhD but i cant because of these two things..

have to reply to Mara on the scholarship acceptance/or not by end of the month and i want to ask for an extension to next year but even then i cant confirm if im able to make it :(

this sucks!

:(

im off to penang!

i will be at shangri la rasa sayang for the weekend :) :)

the secret life of nora

tiara was super hot!

and she can sing so well too! i was so amazed!

and ryan silverman was a dream...sigh..

its worth to watch but not a must watch, if u get what i mean :)

its extended to 22nd October!

im off to hong kong!!

will be there during the Christmas Holidays!

my first time yeah! :)

actually ikut kan, i dont really feel like going to those part of the world sangat. lots of reasons but mainly personal. but then again, i made a vow to self to try something new this year + its cool during xmas (and i wanted to get away from the hot weather here) + its only four hours flight!!

but after purchasing the tickets and book the hotels....im already regretting it!

1. the ticket cost the same as my ticket to london next march
2. the hotel is damn expensive and they charge you for everything!! a four nights trip is gonna cost me Rm1k!! ive spend 6 nights in various parts of europe with that amount!
3. halal food is crazy expensive and hard to get! my sis who went before me said a plate of simple nasi goreng will cost me RM50 per person!!

damn kan?

i know im kinda biased towards UK/Europe and US but i mean seriously, if this the cost to travel to that part of the world, then no thanks, I WILL STICK TO UK/EUROPE AND US.

but one good thing is, well, three actually, is THREE of my bestest friends will be my travel partners so i am looking forward to definete good times with them :) :)

i am looking forward to HK Disney tho and H&M..so there's another two things!

and xmas decorations in HK is said to be pretty gorgeous :)

so here's hoping! :)

this is it

feels weird updating blog after months of silence...

hmmm...

tadi idea mencurah2 but now im staring at the screen blankly..

another few more sentences of randomness like this and tadaaa, new post!

hahaha giler betul :p

how can someone who writes like a minah rempit and doesn't even know the difference of "there" and "their" can earn hundreds in nuffnang monthly? how?? how??

wonders will never cease!

and that ends my first post in months!

haha

and u guys actually read till the end.

ishk...

now, go, get a life!

introducing....

this is the latest addition to our clan..she's 4 months old and she looks japanese. i swear her parents are both muka melayu habis. so we dont know where her looks comes from. :p

wowee!!

lama tak update blog, tetiba update about birthday pulak hehe

just wanted to capture this moment so that i will remember it always...

its the first time he sent flowers delivery for my birthday!!!

was super surprised of course, and even more surprised when i got two flowers!!

(^_^)

happy birthday to me! (^_^)

barely breathing..

sangat sangat busy!

my lunch today was 3 sticks of choki choki eaten at my desk while crunching out refinery economics numbers huhu

so pathetic right!

on top of that, i miss my jogging partner aka one of BFF :(

she (the lucky woman!) is on holiday in Cape Town, SA and will be offshore for the next five weeks!!!! just in time of my birthday! she better bring me back something shiny and pretty for my birthday :p

so...

i dont have time for my daily jog at the Kiara Park..

i havent eaten a decent lunch in a proper restaurant or even at home in weeks....

i am double hatting 2.5 roles at the same time which means as of today my inbox mail is equal to 2043 unread emails...

my request to take just one freaking day off have been rejected 5 times!!! while other peeps happily take a week off!!argghhhh!!!!

i need a long break.................................................

preferably somewhere cold.

:(

sekian dan terima kasih kerana sudi membaca tentang kehidupan saya yang sangat sedih ini.

ps : the 30 day blog challenge will have to be postponed until further notice!

Day 9 – A photo of the item you last purchased

Walker's Crisps!! Prawn Cocktail!! found these in Cold Storage Subang Parade last night, check out the price for a packet of 6! looks like these have finally found their way to our shores! that's it, that's the last reason i could think of why i should go to UK! eh..forgot :p forgot about encik itu di sana hihihi :p :p

Day 8 – Your dream wedding

It is ironic and fate and karma..that i am writing this on my closest cousin's wedding day and i am literally putting the finishing touches to the decorations at the hall :)

i have a lot of ideas of how my dream wedding should be but i think, the biggest dream i have is to have my wedding here....



or here...im not picky :p :p

(^_^)

Day 7 – A photo of an animal you’d love to keep as a pet

arent they adorable! i would have to be super rich to have them as pets though but who knows, maybe one day!

wonder if they have like a "Adopt-A-Dolphin" programme or something, sign me up! :p

Day 6 – A song to match your mood

ok actually, i dont know how to post that you tube page straight away that u just click that play button here :p :p im so malas to learn also :p

anyway, this works as well, just click down here okey :) :)

Have a Nice Day - Stereophonics

tomorrow's Friday and im on leave ya'all, wuhoooo!!

gorgeous sunshiny day in Sidmouth, UK!

Day 5 – What makes you different from everyone else?

im not.

different from everyone else.

i think :p

everyone wants to be unique to the point its now normal to be different.

ok let's see....

i love to drive fast. like super super fast. my ex boss used to own a Ferrari and he used to let me drive from KL to Singapore when we have our meetings. and we get there in 1.5 hrs. yes i was dat crazy back then. now mcm dah insaf sikit but i still love to drive fast.

i am a perfectionist to the point of annoying, especially when it comes to work.

i LOVE organizing events. and im damn good at it too!

i am bagaholic - actually not dat different that most women i know :)

i love old movies especially from Jane Austen - i.e. like Pride and Prejudice, Emma, Mansfield Park. Others like Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, Casablanca and of course the whole of P Ramlee movies, all my favourites!

im crazy about traveling. i must MUST MUST travel to one location outside the country at least once a year. i try to cover places ive never been. my target is to be at least on every single continent before im 40 :p

ok lah, enough la nie :p

wa dulu ada gang racing..kereta bmw special edition!

Day 4 – Your favorite photograph of your best friend

i think im very lucky to have some of the funniest, craziest, nicest and most wonderful group of best friends anyone could ever wish for (^_^)

ours is a matured friendship that not only we are together at all the good and bad times, we can annoy each other, get on each others' nerves, fight and make up all in the same day and yet feel safe that we still love each other enough to know these are just the way we are, the way women are :)

i decided to put single pictures of them instead of all of us together in a group to show their unique individuality and i think these are the pictures that best capture them :) :)

love you guys loads! (^_^)

Day 3 – Your idea of the perfect first date

it started with a lovely breakfast at the local stalls shop, you know, where there are many different stalls inside one restaurant? that's my favourite kind of breakfast place as there's so many food to choose from and you get to try everything! :) over breakfast would be the initial conversations, work, family education and the kind of person he is dealing with crowd, lots of people, if he is adventurous with food, does he let you try his food :p

then it moved on to the one of the best bazaar in town or flea market, i absolutely adores flea markets, which is why i love going to car boots so much while in Plymouth :) the smell of salty french fries and malt vinegar greeting you when you walked in, books at 50p each, glasses and pots and pans at a quid each, weird and sometimes gorgeous lamps at bargain prices, new and used toys, and so many other things, rest assured you need only to spend 5 pounds and can happily walk home with a load of stuff, while munching on heavenly sugary doughnuts!

i digress :p anyway, in these kind of places, is where you can walk and talk and discover more about likes and dislikes and sharing of stories and experiences :) a bazaar is a wonderful place to gauge someone's attitude towards different things - like how he felt about buying second hand items or is he a snob and would never go near them, his bargaining skills, does he have the charms to get that discount or is he rude and huffingly walk away?

after this would be a crucial point of the date, if things went well, you might go to lunch together, if not, hey at least you got all those nice stuff from the bazaar hehe

i dont really like having first dates at night, the pressure is too much and you tend to have all these stigma of those dates in the movies on how its suppose to be and when it wasnt like that you get disappointed which is totally not the guy's fault, he obviously did not grow up watching romantic chick flick all his life :) plus, going to candlelight restaurants, driving around together at night with a guy you just met? not such a good idea :)

Day 2 - Your Favourite Movie

Ops, did this just last month!

no need to write it again la kan since its gonna be the same anyway hehe tak kira cheating kan kan sebab i still write this post kan kan kan :p :p

so please click HERE kay :) :)

Day 1 - Your Favourite Song

Terbang

its a tough one to choose, since i loved so many songs but this one i especially love because it reminds me of road trips and driving with your best friends with the window open and singing on top of your lungs. reminds me of a time where life was simpler and less complicated and we were so young and naive and ambitious, wanting to do everything and go "terbang" everywhere :)

The 30 Days Blog Post Challenge!

Thanks to Miss Zue Sarin for this :)

the 30 day challenge is a 30 day blog post challenge of the following...

Day 1 — Your favorite song
Day 2 — Your favorite movie
Day 3 – Your idea of the perfect first date.
Day 4 – Your favorite photograph of your best friend.
Day 5 – What makes you different from everyone else?
Day 6 – A song to match your mood.
Day 7 – A photo of an animal you’d love to keep as a pet.
Day 8 – Your dream wedding.
Day 9 – A photo of the item you last purchased.
Day 10 – A photo of your favorite place to eat.
Day 11 – A picture of your favorite memory
Day 12 – Your current relationship, if single discuss how single life is.
Day 13 – A picture of your favorite band or artist
Day 14 – A TV show you’re currently addicted to.
Day 15 – Something you don’t leave the house without.
Day 16 – Short term goals for this month and why
Day 17 – How you hope your future will be like.
Day 18 – 5 things that irritate ME about opposite/same sex
Day 19 – A picture of something you want to do before you die
Day 20 – The meaning behind your blog name.
Day 21 – A photo of something that makes you happy.
Day 22 – A letter to someone who has hurt you recently.
Day 23 – 15 facts about you.
Day 24 – A photo of something that means a lot to you.
Day 25 – Who are you?
Day 26 – A photo of somewhere you want to go.
Day 27 – What kind of person attracts you?
Day 28 – In this past month, what have you learned?
Day 29 – Something you could never get tired of doing.
Day 30 – A photograph of yourself today + three good things that have happened in the past 30 days

its gonna be interesting to do, especially since i have never ever ever ever blog for 30 days straight :p but why not, its looks like fun plus it will be a fantastic excuse to distract me from my misery :p

when one door closes....

i havent written anything serious in my blog for quite a while now.

there are many things i want to share, especially on the frustration of my phd journey.

however i have been postponing these serious posts. not really sure why but i feel if i avoid putting them in black and white, it wouldnt hurt so bad. or at least, it wouldnt make it so real.

when i started writing this post, i thought its time to share. especially since i received another dissapointing news today.

but again, i suddenly felt defeated and decided not too.

sigh..

Bicester Village yg berhantu!

two years i was studying there, never once i stepped foot on Bicester Village, mainly because people always say tempat tu berhantu! kenapa berhantu? sebab kalau pergi, macamana takde duit pun MESTI akan terbeli jugak sesuatu!! and then bila balik rumah, akan tertanya2 sendiri, eh betul ke beli nie?? what was i thinking?? i cant afford this gorgeous Gucci bag! mesti tadi kat Bicester kena rasuk and made me buy this!!

hehe...

ok lah, betul la berhantu tu, so dats why masa student tak pernah pergi, nanti terguna duit rent, jadi homeless pulak nanti :p :p

so when i went there last winter, baru la ada berani sikit nak pergi, itu pun credit card bawak satu jer, bahaya oooo!!

muka sangat sangat sangat excited untuk memula kan peng-shopping-an :p :p

this was on the 28th December, there were so many people there! even bumped into some "local politician and celebrities" there, shopping sebelah2 lagi :p

the pathways are super icy see! and it was freezing cold! but it certainly did not stopped anybody from shopping to their heart's content!

our loot! sikit jer :) and saja ambik gambar depan Gucci but didnt buy anything there, can u believe when we arrive just an hour after it opens, the shop is almost empty! the shelves are bare! they said almost all the sale items are already sold, we were late! tsk tsk...

but i got what i wanted and managed to shop for some cool stuff for everyone back home and they are all happy with their gifts, semua tu kira birthday present dua tahun hehe :p :p

Washington DC enroute (the train ride)

continue from the New York trip last year hehe i know i know sangat lama nak update kan! but better late than never :p :p

sebelum the main pictures of the town itself, here are some pics i took on the train :)






nak tunjuk skill amik gambar while in a moving train, not bad right?? hehe ok la puji diri sendiri hehe :p :p

next post - Washington DC

miracle monday #6

i am @ Avillion Admiral Cove, Port Dickson
checked in here today! staying for one night :)
will review more later k :p
have a good week ahead everyone!

jalan-jalan tepi marina di plymouth

missing plymouth so badly :(

i know i know, i have an obsession with that place :p

here are some pictures taken from my visit few months ago during New Year :)








where we are going?

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here!

beli kicap cap kipas udang manis :p owner dia M'sian and students dapat discount, so ok la jugak nak jalan jauh2 tu kan :)

miracle monday #5

i am grateful i have a friend who who tell me every single detail about her experience of giving birth naturally!no epidural for this amazing mother! it was scary and funny and poignant and she loved every moment of it!

and me, at first i didnt wanna hear any of it, was scared shit of course! was soooooooo not grateful at first hahaha but in the end, guess it was ok and we women, we need to hear these things eventually right? so im glad it was her who told me, cos i think, coming from anyone else, i would have run out of the room faster than you can say 'diaper'!

to Wawa, congratulations on the arrival of your baby girl, Zahra!

to Zahra, may you grow to be as pretty, as graceful, as kind, as gentle and as an amazing friend as your mother (^_^)

gold digger

remember my earlier post on the two handbags and which one im gonna purchase from the bonus im getting?

well anyway, in the end i did the grown up thing instead.

i bought gold.

(^_^)

yep.

gold man!

can you believe it!!

its an amazing investment and i was stupid not to have done it earlier when the price was lower.

anyway, better late than never :)

ask me privately if you wanna know more k :)

huk aloh weh lok!

Ingak nok blog dale klate se'tar. Buke gapo, ingak nok buat laing sikit dari oghe laing. Dok blog dale oghe putih jah, bose weh.

Pahtu, nok blog dale bahso melayu, kawe aku ghoyak baco blog aku mache oghe tulih skrip ko Kuasatek. Nate bewok, nasib baik dio kawe aku partner-in-crime. Doh mitok maah sapa tahung 2006 doh. Takpo bia demo nok kutuk, aku pung buleh kutuk demo.

Dulu aku ghoyak kawe aku: Mek, aku nok blaja kecek klate lah. Dia ghoyak kakku, buleh. Masa'alohnyo, aku buleh kiro so sapa sepulo jah. Hong laing aku fel. Kalu aku kecek klate, confirm sta lagi ado laa oghe hok gelok kakku. Nate bewok gletik glenyar. Demo dok ghoyak, aku kecek klate mace oghe sie kecek klate. Bughuk do'oh. Tapi kalu blog, takpo dok, takdok gapo-gapo denga doh takdok sogho hok tubik dih. Lagipung ni blog aku, suko ati aku la nok blog bahso gapo pung, dih?

Semangak do'oh nok blog dale bahso klate nih, sapa tok ingat pulok nok kecek pasa gapo.

Hmm..

Haa, ingak doh! Mung tau dok, aku suko betu make makane oghe2 klate nih. Actuallynya, aku suko make makane gapo2 pung, doh makane oghe klate sedap2 ke. Aku suko make nasi tupe, nasi dage, lakse (sedak nih!). Aku suka khopok segero hok pedah2 tu, Ferst time aku try makane klate ni maso aku 18 tahung, maso tuh kawe sekolej aku, Sheli jeput maghi ghumoh dio. Dia wi make lakse. Aku ingak aku sapa make dua pingge male tu hehe. Pahtu, maso Sheli tu kawing, (ni tahung 1999 kalu tok silak), aku gi koto baghu. Arwah mok Jeling (aku nupe ghumoh Jeling kat KB) bagi make mache-mache. Dale satu wikeng tuh, dio masok nasik dage, wi make nasi tupe, nasi khabu ike (oh sedak weh!), make khopok lekor, jepput dughuye.... aloh laaa, mache nok pecoh peghut male tu, make mache2. Doh pulok tu, maso bekwoh Sheli, ado nasik bghiyani pulok, ado kuih akok, cumo sedih skit, takdok lakse maso tuh. Tapi takpo... make mache-mache doh.

Cumo hok nok ghoyak nih, lakse sedak, tapi lakso Johor lagi sedak hehe. Tapi lakso Johor tok seghupo lakso Pehe. Ingak tuh.

blog author's note :

Disclaimer;

i did not write this, this amazingly funny makes-me-laugh-now-got-stomach-ache comes from this wonderful blogger Leen Ashburn, whom i found through Miss Pugs (or Pretty Ugly but she doesnt blog anymore). i hope she doesnt mind i copied pasted this post of hers into here but i just found it to be to so funny! ive always wanted to write in kelantanese but could never found the right spelling!!! hehehe so hope you enjoyed it, and ALL credits are due to Miss Leen Ashburn! Her blog and other posts and this particular post was taken from her blog - The Blog of the Not-So Little People in Leen Nation.

love will keep us together

CLICK ON THIS

Love, love will keep us together
Think of me babe whenever
Some sweet talkin' girl comes along, singin' a song
Don't mess around, you just gotta be strong

Just stop, 'cause I really love you
Stop, I been thinkin' of you
Look in my heart and let love keep us together

You (you, do do do) you belong to me now (do, do do do)
Ain't gonna set ya free now (do do do)
When those girls start hangin' around, talkin' me down
Hear with your heart and ya won't hear a sound

Just stop (stop, stop) cause I really love you (really love you)
Stop (stop, stop) I been thinkin' of you (been thinkin' of you)
Look in my heart and let love keep us together, whatever

Young and beautiful, but someday your looks'll be gone
When the others turn you off, who'll be turnin' you on
I will, I will, I will, I will be there to share forever
Love will keep us together
I said it before and I'll say it again
While others pretend
I need ya now and I need ya then

Just stop (stop) cause I really love you (really love you)
Stop (stop) I been thinkin' of you (been thinkin' of you)
Look in my heart and let love keep us together
Whatever (a-ba-da whatever)
I will (ever), I will (ever), I will (ever), I will (ahh)

miracle monday #4

today i am sick and on medical leave..

but i am grateful that its just normal sickness due to flu and fever, i am glad that generally im still healthy and happy :p

have a good week everyone!

miracle monday #3

i am grateful that i can afford to buy that 'gorgeous' bag yesterday (^_^)

weeee!

hihi

:p

perlu ke?

perlu ke..

kalau berjaya proof that you are right and i am wrong, nak email sampai ke level chairman that yes, you are right that the savings is actually RM1000, instead of RM995 as per my reporting?? takda masa nak kut nak calculate beria that small amount when i deal with 8.4million usd monthly!!

perlu ke...

kalau dah berjaya menguruskan badan dengan banyak nye terus pakai baju ketat gile and tudung pun berubah fashion kalau dulu tutup dada but now selagi boleh nak nampak kan tulang kat bahu yg baru timbul tu?

perlu ke...

kalau asal orang cakap bulan ni nak dapat bonus, terus terlompat2 gedik suruh belanja lah, buat ayat2 perli seperti "ala, bonus ribu riban takkan pakai beg vincci jer kut" atau lebih annoying terus sok sek sok sek paksa orang gi online shopping shawl terbaru kat kedai dia dan bila tak beli terus mengumpat ckp "hutang dia tu banyak keliling pinggang sebab tu duit bonus habis kat situ jer" like WTF??

perlu ke....

announce kat satu dunia yang duit ASN/ASB dia ada RM100,000 - siap tunjuk statement lagik tu!! tak kesah la duit banyak mane pung ape kes nak tunjuk statement kat orang pastu tanye how much do you have?

perlu ke...

sikit2 nak kecik hati ngan kawan sendiri, benda2 kecik pulak tu, setakat tak ajak makan sama or tak ajak keluar sama, takkan nak ajak SEMUA orang everysingle time setakat nak pi mamak jer kan, pastu yg dia buat the same kat orang lain tak sedar, kalau ajak pun tak pernah nye kata ok, kalau ok pun tetiba last minute cancel, nak gi rumah in law la, nak gi ikut husband main golf la, orang pun malas la nak ajak kalau dah selalu sangat buat perangai mcm ni kan...

perlu ke...

dalam meeting nak dengar suara dia jerrrr, sikit2 "this doesnt make sense" apa kes, lepas bila tanye apa yang make sense, tak jawab pulak, pastu dia ngan anak2 buah dia semua gi meeting jenis nak bully orang, asal org tak jawab sikit mula la "this doesnt make sense" dia tu, pegi meeting ngan dia mcm pegi berperang, ni tempat kerja ke battlefield ni? this kind of examination questions and bullying, baik masuk high school balik!

the host

whenever i want to read a book by a new author, i usually try to either borrow it from my office's library (yes we do have library, and its quite good and well stocked too!) or i rent it (the usual shop i go is in Ampang Point, very very well stocked and updated) mainly because i do not want to waste money to purchased it and the discovered that its horrible. especially since new books here is so expensive! which is why i loved loved big bad wolf book sales :) - free advert :p

anyway, i thoroughly enjoyed reading Stephanie Meyer's Twilight series, did not love it enough to purchase the set though, cos i usually only buy books that i know im going to read it over and over again, and the twilight series are the kind that i would only read once..

which is why i was so pleasantly surprised when this book, The Host was so damn good! when i took this book out to borrow the other day from the library i didnt expect much, well, i expected i would be entertained and that it will fulfill my must-read-something-before-sleeping routine, something light and simple..BUT it turns out to be so engrossing that i ended staying up the whole night finishing the book!

ok, quick synopsis of the book;

Our world has been invaded by an unseen enemy. Humans become hosts for these invaders, their minds taken over while their bodies remain intact and continue their lives apparently unchanged. Most of humanity has succumbed.

When Melanie, one of the few remaining "wild" humans is captured, she is certain it is her end. Wanderer, the invading "soul" who has been given Melanie's body, was warned about the challenges of living inside a human: the overwhelming emotions, the glut of senses, the too vivid memories. But there was one difficulty Wanderer didn't expect: the former tenant of her body refusing to relinquish possession of her mind.

Wanderer probes Melanie's thoughts, hoping to discover the whereabouts of the remaining human resistance. Instead, Melanie fills Wanderer's mind with visions of the man Melanie loves—Jared, a human who still lives in hiding. Unable to separate herself from her body's desires, Wanderer begins to yearn for a man she has been tasked with exposing. When outside forces make Wanderer and Melanie unwilling allies, they set off on a dangerous and uncertain search for the man they both love.

you can read more about this in here where this is taken from...

why i love this book? well, when i read the synopsis above, the first thing that came to my mind was, another book about aliens? i knew how that is going to end, right? but i decided to give her the benefit of the doubt because she made me read about vampires which is something i never ever would read about otherwise, same goes with books about aliens, so i thought its worth a shot. she's brilliant like that, writing from a different angle, a different perspective, and even though its about aliens invading earth, its also about love, friendship and family. the writing is simple and thoughtful and i really love the way the alien-Melanie tried to defend herself while surrounded by humans, which i think sometimes its battle for everyone even non-alien folks, trying to please others so that they like you, trying to fight others so that you can stand up to what you believe in, trying to find love, then fighting it because you didnt think you'd deserve it, simply, trying to survive in the world as best as you can.

well, anyway, do try read it if you can and hoped you enjoyed it as much as i did :)

happy reading!

12 friends every woman deserves...

Saw this article in a magazine a long time ago :)

12 friends every woman deserves;

1. The friend who won’t let you be less than your best, even if you sometimes want to kick her.

2. The friend who’s spent the holidays with your parents, gotten drunk with your brother and the dog-spaying incident of ‘92. She’s family. (okay, maybe not drunk and dog-spaying what? but note the family part :))

3. The personal comedian, so hilarious that you dare not call her while driving!

4. The friend who’s a little bit evil - so entertaining!

5. A rich friend who will always buy you dinner.

6. A poor friend who’ll let you buy hers.

7. The work friend - listener, knower of backstory, saver of sanity.

8. The friend you can’t wait to be Golden Girls with!

9. The neighbour who’ll lend you her drill - or a pair of red stilletos :p

10. The friend who drags out of you all the sexual details you’re secretly dying to share!

11. The friend who rafts the Amazon, gets a pet snake and does speed dating - so you don’t have to!

12. The friend who, instead of asking how she can help, just shows up and does.

except for no.10 - which havent happened yet *blush*blush* im so happy to note i do have all the above friends! weeeee!!

what a woman want..

*rummaging through old stuff and saw this and had to post it again! :p :p

What a woman want…in a boyfriend of course;

1. We want him to listen to our problems like a therapist-this just involves saying ’so how do you feel about that?’ every now and again, then offering us to cuddles/ice-creams/chocolates on the side. We don’t want opinions, and certainly don’t want sensible solutions.

2. He needs to have a dark childhood issues that only we can fix. Any past dark problem will do. Basically, behind his handsome, cool persona, he never really had a reason to live until he mets us.

3. Ideally, he’d have at least one really really beautiful ex-girlfriend. we like to think we’re batting in that leaque. But he has to say he hates her because she has NO personality whatsoever.

5. He has to ring us at least three times a day and reply to our texts like his life depends on it. But he also should go AWOL for a couple of days at least once every three months to keep us on our toes.

6. His bookshelf should make us think he’s deeper than we are, and the same goes for his music selection. If he doesn’t read Bukowski and listen to Radiohead, how the hell are we going to discover them?

7. He should be in a band. In fact, be lead singer in a band. Or at least be on drums. Go on then, percussions - as long as he’s on stage. Oh all right, as long as he can play that cheap acoustic guitar and we can pretend our boyfriend is a hot rock star.

8. He should make us feel delicate, like a little feminine butterfly fluttering in his life, one that he would protect his life with. And he should know at the same time that if he EVER cheats, we will beat the crap out of him.

9. He should have the words "I love you.You’re beautiful", as a default setting.

Now to my male friends out there, was that tooo much to ask? hehe

bagaholic anonymous

hi, my name is nique and im a bagaholic.

every woman has their vices and mine, mine is handbags..

i cant help it!

i love the smell of a brand new handbag with their lovely dustbag and crisp packaging and chic paperbag, and using it for the first time proudly just makes you feel like everything is going to be alright in this world and nothing can bring you down...sigh...

and so with that, which one do you think i should get to be purchased from the "bonus" i got for being "uninitiative" and "lack ownership" despite the 12 hours per day 25 days per month i put it in this "amazing" and "fantastic" company?

this one?

or this one?
both are so lovely right? i know, i cant choose either huhu

i might just get them both, haha!

note to mr bf : ye2 i know, save save save :p

the holiday

was reading Chic's blog on the her favourite movie, Love Actually and got me thinking of my current favourite movie..

so yeah ok, its a pretty old movie, i think it was released during Christmas 2007, cos i remembered walking through the cold winter night from our house to the cinema in plymouth which in itself is still an amazing experience for me, there you kinda can walk everywhere, cinemas, bowling, the bank, the post office, to my classes, the bookshop, the keysmith, to the shopping mall, to the beach, to the best halal fried chicken....everywhere is fantastically a walk away! and i love the weather there, its never too hot to walk, tho it does sometimes gets too cold, which i really dont mind, i prefer the cold compared to being hot, ive always thought I was been born in the wrong country hehe

anyway, i digress...

the movie was starring cameron diaz and kate winslet, with the ever so handsome jude law, and the ever so charmingly (sometimes weird) funny jack black, and its about two women who just got their hearts broken and wanted to get away from it all, you know, move to another country, get a makeover, shoot somebody, make a movie, any life changing event will do kind of get-away-from-it-all, but decided to go on a holiday instead, where they switched houses!

so amanda (cameron diaz) who lives in sunny L.A, switched with iris (kate winslet) who lives in cold snowy london the movie itself, was of course really great, i mean the line up itself makes it a guaranteed hit, but the best thing i like about the movie was the kate winslet character, who is in love with a man, who never actually loves her back, but cant live without her, thus not allowing her to let him go..which is selfish and unfair of him..

guess we all have been there, falling in love with someone whom you knew would never love you back, but at the same time you just seems never could let him go, and sometimes, well, actually most of the time, is because he does not let you..

anyway, the movie was beautiful, it seems natural to be nodding away in understanding at watever that iris or amanda did, gasping in amazement that someone understood you and made a movie out of your life! saying repeatedly over and over again ‘yes! that’s exactly how i feel!’ and ‘oh, i know, ive been there/done that before!’ and reaching for the tissue at the end of the movie feeling thoroughly satisfied that even someone as gorgeous as cameron diaz and kate winslet goes through the same problems as you do and restored your faith in men, and having hope that one day, maybe one day you’ll find a man with jude law’s devastating good looks and jack black’s charms :p

the movie Chic was talking about, Love Actually is also actually one of my absolutely favourite too. when days are particularly hard and you just wanna curl up with a good movie and watch it with a box of chocolates under your duvet, here are some of my personal recommendations;

1. Emma - the one with Gwyneth Paltrow in it

2. While You Were Sleeping - Sandra Bullock at her best!

3. French Kiss - Meg Ryan super cute in this..

4. Pride And Prejudice - the one with Colin Firth in it, BBC version..not the lame Keira Knightly one..

5. My Best Friend's Wedding

five enough for now :) :)

ps : i still havent found the kuch kuch hota kai dvd, will someone help please!

miracle monday #2

good morning folks!

i am SO GRATEFUL that i have a good maid that can cook yummilicous kuew tiaw goreng (okey i cant spell this, teaw? tuew?) and she cooked it early enough i could eat it for breakfast before going to work and its so good i actually ate two helpings of it!

yummy!

have a good week everyone :)

sometimes you have to say it twice...

recently i found myself being tangled in a spider web, walked right into the trap and getting more and more tangled everyday... what im rambling about, you may ask, its difficult to explain, partly because i do not want to hurt anyone’s feelings and partly because i hoped by not acknowledging it, eventually i would just untangle myself and be free..but it seems not to be the case…

there’s the good, the bad and the ugly when it comes to friendship, but here’s my lessons learned when it comes to the bad and the ugly..

its difficult to maintain true friendship if you are overly sensitive about everything, newsflash; not everyone is talking about you, and if we are not talking to you, it certainly doesnt mean that we are talking about you, the world does not revolve around you!

its tiring when your friendship is measured with that they have with one person and another, why cant we all just be friends without those measurement, without judgement and just be cool and honest about it?

its not friendship when you feel that you’re walking on eggshells all the time and have to always always be cautious of what you say and how you say it and when you say it..

its tiring when everything you do and everything you say is judged and measured and criticized and questioned and analyzed..

its extremely exhausting when you have to play referee when people you care about dont care about each other, its the worse feeling in the world being stuck in the middle..

i refuse to believe that people can be that selfish, and i refuse to not to believe that somewhere inside every person lies a quality that would that person a worthy friend to have in the end, given enough chance, so i think dats why i never learn..isnt the world crazy enough already without me going through life being suspicious of everyone..

one of my best friend said to me the other day that she's so glad she has us, our group have been the best of friends for almost a decade and she seriously thinks that's it, she does not need any more new friends, cos she kept getting hurt in the process. at first i did not agree with her, i thought hey, you meet new people everyday, one of them will surely be worth the effort, but now i think she's right..

friendship isnt suppose to be this hard..

where to eat in Plymouth?

i lived in a small little town called Plymouth when i was studying in UK few years back. not many people have heard about it and yet many people have been there. hehe confused yet?

xpe2 slow2 :p

plymouth is prounounced plee-meth...lebeh kurang gitu la, asal kan jgn pronounce plai-muth sudah like i did zaman tak tau bende dulu okey! :p

so aaanneewayyss, when i was back there for a quick visit last christmas, i tried TWO new restaurants that ive never been too! yep! ingat kan bandar kecik boleh tawaf and try semua benda dlm masa dua tahun? semesti nya tidak! so here are the two places :)

LA TASCA

la tasca ni franchise, so mmg ada banyak tempat kat all over uk, food is spanish tapas, and the best thing about this place is it has the all-you-can-eat deal, so for students like us, its totally worth it!! mula2 kena register dulu dlm website dia, and then bebila dia ada offer all you can eat tu, cepat2 print and call the place to make a reservation ok :) oh, the all-you-can-eat is ten pounds only! murah kan!

ni rupa coupon dia, everyone must have one, print it out and show to the waitress kay :) gambar seterusnye di bawah tidak mengikut turutan tapi tidak sesama sekali meng-effect kesedapan makanan di situ :p :p


salad ni serious sedap!! its slices of pears with spinach, basil, tomatoes and cucumber and i think the dressing ada olive oil, balsamic vinegar and lemon, simple jer tapi sedap sangat!

haha mmg tak ikut turutan, tetiba gambar dessert plak, this is black and white brownies, nampak tak gambar separuh tu, tangan rakan semeja tgh genggam garpu tak sabar nak dig in but i wanna take pictures first :p

mula2 tgk gambar pinggan yg dah licin...kemudian........

tada! of course we only ordered seafood la kan, so there's fried calamari, prawns and fish, vegetarian paella, garlic mushrooms, omellete and lots of salad!




the decorations in the restaurant, pretty spanish kan?

so anyway, the deal here is per order you can order up to three dishes per person per round, so kira if there's 4 of you, you can order up to 12 dishes per round, then dah habis yang tu, order the next round and the next and so on and so forth until you are so full you hardly can walk home :) :)

okey, next place :)

THE PLATTERS

ade orang kata, south west i.e. devon cornwall onwards is where you can get the most authentic real british style fish and chips! orang kata la, im not so sure myself, tapi emang nya fish and chips di plymouth mmg terbaik! just be careful to check the batter tu diorang tak letak beer cos traditional cooking diorang mmg letak beer nak bagi fish tu nice and crispy tapi kat platters nie, owner dia muslim orang morroco (eh owner ke sangkut paut gitu la) dia pun tau la halal haram kan, which is a good thing cos this place nye food is super yummy!

we ordered a few stuff to share but my favourite has got to be this fisherman's pie, sedap macam nak nangis okey! seriously!!!!!! we went there twice and also tried the grilled fish platter, the creamy seafood pasta and of course the fish and chips and all of it is super delish! im not sure if this restaurant ade franchise ke tak kat tempat lain BUT if not, if you are planning to come to plymouth, harus pegi kedai ni makan tau!

oh lupa nak cakap;

LA TASCA - is in town centre, walking distance from the main high street near the ice skating rink.

THE PLATTERS - is at the Barbican, near the marina, next to the Mayflower theater.

ps : im writing this based on memory, kalau ade tersilap (cos i know ade org plymouth baca my blog hehe) sila correct me okies :)