Spaced-Out

The Descriptive Word

2018-10-04T06:51:00.000-07:00

The word “Description” is defined as

- a spoken or written account of a person, object, or event.

- a type or class of people or things.

From young, we are thought to describe what we see- what shape or color is a flower. What sounds a horse makes? And how does your friend look like? What color is her hair?

Young to old, I have been through it too. I am going to speak mostly for myself here, I have heard many a different descriptions about myself. I shall give you a little background, for example, of who I believe I am - I am an opinionated woman, and I don’t belief in being “adult and serious” all the time. I prefer getting into mischievous , quirky drama and having a good laugh as I watch life’s lemons miss me. Today is today, let tomorrow figure itself out. Hop on a horse and ride the wind!(unless..you don’t actually know how to ride)

I am not sure how, but these words(I swear on my horse) has been used to describe my character:

opinionated – “difficult”

Kidder – “childish”

Mischievous, quirky, creative or a little emotional as women sometimes are – “dramatic” (and not in the good way)

laughing at lemons – “mental distress”

Today is today, let tomorrow figure itself out – “indecisive”

Asking people to hop on a horse – “mad”

Though, I’ll probably agree with the last one..

I am not entirely certain why it is so difficult for some, but I think it is important to acknowledge someone’s positive traits and respect that we are all different . For example I have also been said to be creative, friendly, bubbly, and a confident person.

There, now that wasn’t so hard, was it?

Speaking on the 2^nd definition of description, recently, I have even heard of a man being described as Dark, with a class lower than another persons’. I do not think the definition should be taken so figuratively, and it’s downright rude to describe someone using their color, earning , race, religion or “caste”. In the eyes of THE HE, every person is created equal(maybe some with more brainpower), and nothing I have mentioned in the previous sentence can define a person’s behavior or good heart. Don’t believe me? Just look up Osama’s family background. His father came from a poor family but he worked hard to come up in his life and became one of the most rich non-royal in modern Saudi. Rich, fair, and almost Royal – is not the words the world would use to describe Bin Laden Junior.

So the next time someone describes to me something in such a negative manner, tell you what. I am turn to them and tell them to hop on a horse, and ride right into hell.

Age is but a number

2018-04-11T00:44:00.000-07:00

If I could put it in one word what my birthday this year made me feel, it would be Thankful. I keep hearing about people who didn’t have a single wish on their birthday and those who just spent their day playing games and eating whatsnots in the fridge.

I am not saying that’s a very bad way to spend your birthday, but I am going be honest with you here. My birthday has always been a time of reflection for me, and I would always remember the things I have gained and lost. And sometimes, what has been lost tends to take precedence over my emotions. I am firstly thankful for my sister who is the wind the pushes me out of such a low state when it happens.

I am also thankful for a couple of other things. I have a friend who wished me at exactly the time the clocked changed the days to April 3^{rd (}G- it was your thought that counts, and thanks for the Pijja) I have family, friends and colleagues who made it a point to go out there and not only buy me gifts but ensure that I have cake and lunch and cake and coffee and dinner and more cake..and well, just generally a nice day.

And I have a wonderful partner who allowed me to spend time by the beach with a wonderful new dress, and dinner and drinks, and not just that, had so many more surprises for me to the extent I was overwhelmed. (By the way- I won that Volleyball match!)

So I know guys, this one’s a short post. But I wanted to put it in writing as a THANK YOU for everyone that has been so wonderful and generous for my little day. They say friends are what makes the world go round, and the one’s I have makes my world Rock while rounding.( you get my meaning la)

And a big big big HUGE thank you to my Pbear. You are the best surprise that life could have ever given me.

8 acres Raub Pahang

2018-01-09T19:05:00.000-08:00

I think it’s important that every now and then we take a little time away and spend it with our besties, whether it’s just a meet up for lunch, or spa or bungee jumping.

It’s a time to reflect on one’s sanity with the person who knows one best.

So for this year, me besties and I decided on a trip to the outzone( out of mobile network zone). After much googling (who knew Bentong and Raub had SO many getaways) we all agreed on 8 acres in Raub Pahang. At a cost of RM250 per pax per night, we thought it was ok considering that breakfast, lunch and dinner is provided for and there is free flow of coffee, tea, biscuits and roselle juice. Also included are activities like board games, pony rides, petting zoo, chicken feeding, goose chasing(I might have made that one up, but you are welcome to try) and waterfall with tiny nibbling fish(if I am not mistaken, the fish are called garra rupa) which are all for free.

Getting there isn’t exactly a maze as long as you don’t turn off on the wrong road. After Bentong, head to Kampung Lebu. Go past the Felda land, turn left and then turn right into the Lembih Temir road. Here’s where you will start to loose phone coverage but worry not, there is plenty of signboards to 8 acres along the Kelapa Sawit and Getah road. The first part of the road was just tarred about 3 months ago, this will then open up to a more rustic-pothole- laden road and later to a road that can only fit one vehicle at a time.

First part of the road

2nd part of the road

The last part where only one vehicle goes through at a time

After about 6km, we reached the Lembih Temir resort entrance and less than a 1km further, we were driving into the gates of 8acres. The parking at the resort is limited, and everything is pretty much self service. There is a reception booth, but not exactly a receptionist, so there isn’t any formal “check in procedure”. Mr George, the friendly manager, happily greeted us, and showed us where our cabin is, then proceeded to give us a dos and donts briefing and off we went to lunch.

Our room entrance sign. Named after the Mulberry Bushes planted around the rooms

Recycle your stuff! Note the green bucket on the left, thats where guest need to drop their plates and cups after food

Unsure where to go? check out the map at the Brick House

There were a couple of other families there and lunch was served in a buffet style with about 5-7 dishes and fruits on the side. After we had our meal, we went up Mulberry Place, our little home for next 2 days, changed and happily trotted down to the waterfall which is about 200 meters from our room. It was a cloudy day and the minute the drizzle started , we left the waterfall and went over to the Tatami room to check out that we could play. Some people were asleep, some were playing caroms and mahjong, so we settled on the white board and played Win Lose or Draw. Who was the winner you ask? Heh heh heh. (sorry pekster and diplodocus, better luck next time)

Waterfall

These guys were the first to greet us when we arrived

Petting zoo area, see the rooster at the front? got into a "fight" with him early one morning as he wouldnt keep it down..

Around 7, we heard a gong ring 3 times and some people started jumping “dinner, dinner”(ok that explained it). We settled comfortably with our simple dinner at a table behind some kids watching cartoon on the common TV. After dinner we decided to have a few, and though alcohol is allowed in the resort, it is off limits in the Tatami room and the common dining area.

Brought back childhood memories


This guy rings 3 times a day

The resort's little store that sells tee shirts, insect repellent and home made soaps and oils

Mdm Pony

Mr Ram

We spend the next day, taking walks around resort. Some parts of the land have a steeper elevation and there are smaller huts on these higher ground. We also paid a happy visit to the local pony and ram. There’s an interesting story behind this pair. The resort had initially owned a Male and a Female pony. The male had passed on and the resort had taken in the ram. Both became the best of buddies and the ram had assigned itself as the pony’s bodyguard. He does not go anywhere without her and no one can get close to her without his permission. Even we got headbutted to move 5 feet away, one morning. Now if that isn’t a love story, nothing is.

nasi lemak on our second morning! Chicken and eggs from their own farms

Blue butterflypea drink. Supposedly good for memory

Rest of our 2nd day was spent eating, splashing about the waterfall, enjoying the serene-ness and in Pekster and Diplodocus case, enjoying the view of a “jalsaenggin oppa”.

nope, not a banana tree

The resort's Durian Trees didnt bear much fruit this year so they got us the seller from Raub to come in with some Musang Kings. At Rm45 per kilo, we bought 2 fruits and couldnt eat anything else until dinner. Surprisingly the same seller has a store at Sg Besi Indah, which is pretty near to my home.

We decided to take the complimentary walkabout on the last day with the very informative Uncle Kam whose son owns 8 acres. He informed us that the resort only sits on 2 acres of the land, and the rest are plantations and orchards. He gave a very detailed explanation on the types of trees that they have, both local and imported, and how to recognize the different durian trees. Uncle Kam also shared valuable information on the 900 trees planted about the resort and the history of the land. Makes one think of the bond we each have with our Mother.

Ok, I think I am a little more sane now.

who dat on the roof? Duckies!

The fly swatter- Port Dickson Aug17

2017-08-14T06:56:00.000-07:00

Man, I haven’t been to this space in AGES. What with a gazillion hospital visits ( I’m alive and well peeps!) and with the mounting pressure at work, it hasn’t been easy to get a breather to just let my thoughts flow here.

It’s during this downtime, I tend to appreciate a lot of things. Like the sea, for one. I think, with my super fear of all things aqua( looking at you Aquaman!) , I haven’t had the chance to be thankful for the body of water that surrounds our little haven in the world. So when my wound healing got more positive, I dragged Pbear out to PD.

Now , let’s be honest here. There are only a handful of people that actually APPRECIATE PD. I don’t think I did that much, but some of my most wonderful memories were carved at this little seaside town. See, I had the opportunity (if I may call it that) to see my tough-in-your -face best friend turn into a (shudder) meek “rabbit” , had tons of picnics with my extended family, here is also where I learnt how to steal a Mazda , how to swim in a pool like a turtle with a frog for a shell (thanks to my cousin), and I got to learn how to eat while flies buzz around your head. The trick is- look them in the eye(s)! If the flies see no fear in your eyes, they will leave you well alone.

So while I do like the tiny town, the mush in the sea always deterred me away. Though, speaking honestly, in my previous 2 visits, I noted that the sea seemed cleaner, and the beaches whiter. And I really actually enjoyed my stay.

If only they remained that way..

Unfortunately, things went a little awry from the time we arrived at Lukut. We had lunch at a chicken rice stall near the Jetty, and though I had the same food here last year, poor Pbear found something akin to a cicak poop on his plate. And It didn’t look delicious. Even the flies didn’t want to go near it. So we left the stall, disgruntled, and headed out to the waterfront.

It was a far cry from a year ago when the walkways were clean and there were plenty of tiny sampans docked nearby. It had just rained and though the wind was nice, there was a lot of rubbish on the sidewalk and cars were parked on WALKways. The cars didn’t have any feet, so I’m not sure why they were there. Disgruntled yet again, we stayed for less than half an hour before heading off to our hotel.

Managed a pitstop to have ABC with Pigeons. Only in PD!

This time I stayed next to The Grand Lexis. The glory beach resort is a “well-seasoned” hotel. It has its own beach, a small petting zoo(with mainly rabbits), lots of turtle hatchery and ponds, and there is almost always an ice cream man present somewhere. The hotel comes with a adult pool and a kids pool. And if one is up for it, there is also archery and rabbit feeding at certain times of the day. The beach is very useful, especially if you have kids. Plenty of sand to go around into their pants and hair (kidding, mommies), I saw the kids having the time of their lives making sandcastles and sandworms. I believe the Sandworms were attacking the sandcastles.

But the water. Not, let me rephrase that. But the muddy scented oily slick of liquid. Urgh. We thought maybe the neighboring beach would be better, but the water quality there was worse. One dip in, and your mother would not be able to differentiate between you and the swamp thing. Flies might mistake you for a lump of poop, no point with the eye contact then.

See the brown beach just north of the white sand? That one looked cleaner from afar, but its all a mirage

We had paid for a one bedroom apartment but were given the 3 bedroom. The master suite was upstairs with 2 rooms downstairs, and with only 2 of us, we barely went upstairs. Though I could swear that I had heard a man coughing and someone coming down the stairs, so maybe there was actually 3 of us staying there.

Being at the seaside and all, we decided to look for ikan bakar that night. Found this place by chance, were happy that our order of ikan kembongs turned out to be very fresh and yummy. Surprisingly no flies were at the shop. But fate is cruel. We were instead bombarded with ants and fat cats. Eye contact don’t work with this species. Trust me. I tried. More noteworthy though, was the drive to the Ikan Bakar restaurant - PD roads are mostly just 2 lanes and I wasn’t driving fast. And though I never expected it, I got run off the lanes a couple of times because some drivers( all with Wxx number plates!) just couldn’t wait to get to their tomyum and nasi goreng joints. I felt like I was back in SK with the honks, flashing and cucuk-king. Pbear is much calmer with all this and I think next time, I’ll just hand him the wheel. (I consider myself a suburban now: slow drive, empty roads, greet hello to my neighbours)

The meteor shower was happening that night, so we stayed up trying to catch that mystical streak in the skies. But the moon was happily shining and the clouds were happily rolling so though we didn’t catch sight of them, Pbear did manage to get beautiful shots of the lightning and the moon. At least me losing sleep wasn’t totally wasted. And our friendly neighbor said hello to us. Ok, to be fair he was actually shouting the hello out to the world from his balcony, but since we were the only 2 people awake at that hour, I guess it counts.

I may have visited the same town and the same shops, but I find that everytime I go again somewhere, I experience different things. But then again, maybe I, and the people around me, am different today too.

If only the flies were different too. Swat!

Dont be fooled at how pretty it looks, thats pretty mucky

The Waiting Game

2016-11-23T04:25:00.001-08:00

I know we are so attached to google these days, and that every little thing we don’t know, the answer is just at our fingertips. LITERALLY.

So it didn’t come as much of surprise to me, when I noticed that I was goggling “what to do while my friend arrives”.

It seems so far away today, but I did come from a generation that actually sat and waited for their friends with no FB,Twitter or Insta to check every 5 minutes. And it seemed like memories from another planet, while I tried to remember what was it that I did while waiting in those days. I tried to imagine myself 15 years ago, sitting on the roadside mamak while I wait for Geetu to show up…and…what did I do?? Come to think of it, I might have been doing a couple of things(some of which surprisingly were suggestions from google today):

1. People watched.
I admit I still do this till today, sometimes it gets interesting. Like this one time a mom and child were walking through a mall, and then out of the blues, the child turns to a T-rex and starts running amok and the poor mother starts chasing him. It was a short scene but the hilarity of it? Priceless. Or that girl waiting for her blind date, who keeps checking both her phone and her make up every minute until he finally arrives. Awfully shweet! But again, it’s not always the case as most times, people just have their heads downcast looking at their mobile FB or taking selfies.

2. Listened to others' conversation.
Ok, maybe this sounds a bit kepoh, but I admit I did this too. Sometimes you get to hear the darnest things, and if there was any positive note to it, you get a moral lesson on what not to do in your life/in your kitchen/in your office etc. Or in a restaurant, when someone remarks another shop has better food, can that be counted as eavesdropped advice?

3. Learn Patience.
This, is SO true. I learnt how not to murder someone who left me waiting for 2 hours. Should probably take up Yoga in that waiting time..

4. Read Road Signs.
I think It wasn’t just road signs. One instance, I had memorized the entire menu off a restaurant, read all their waiters names and even devised a master plan on how to get past the shop’s laser beams at night to rob their secret roti canai recipe, Oceans 11 style! All while waiting for my friends Ultimate arrival.

5. Talk to a stranger.
Well, my momma told me not to. But I did it anyway(yeah, I’m the rebel!). Talked to waiters at the restaurants, to cashiers at newspaper stands, to people at the bus stop, and sometimes, to the cats on the staircase of Kotaraya.

6. Read the newspaper.
The difference between the then and now would be that the paper has become electronic. I have always been someone who lugged their story book wherever they went, so I would sometimes just sit by with my tea and start reading. Sometimes, my books don’t fit my bag, so I hope e-books count in this category too.

7. Get Lost
Not in the literal sense. But I have this itch that I can’t sit in one place for too long, just waiting. Back then, I used to meet my college friends in Petaling Street, which to my young eyes was just a maze ( To my adult eyes, Hanoi’s 36 Streets surpasses that) and it was just wonderful being lost in that maze and finding small knickknack stores around the corner. I would just time myself to be back to my original spot in time to meet the Teh Tarik geng. I guess I still do it, when Pbear is late, I tend to drive around the area we are supposed to meet, checking out new stores or a new street. Only difference is that I don’t wear a watch now, so my curious-drive-away ends up with him waiting for me instead.

Though technology had made us almost inseparable from our mobile phones, I guess the waiting for my kawan has taken a new turn now. We don’t really do what we used to , but then again- somethings do stay the same. Like I am still here, with google open and my friend is still LATE. Another 5 minutes and I am going to have to re-learn Point 3..

How it feels..

The 7th Wonder

2016-08-24T02:21:00.000-07:00

I keep thinking of this gazillions of topics I want to write about, but always, I would forget to write them down. I find that without writing down stuff, sometimes, I cant remember a list. Its not just things of yesteryear that seems to be a bit of a muggle but also something simple like a grocery list. To be honest, When I was younger, I could remember any topic and any date without having to write it down somewhere( sometimes I do write down stuff, and then I forget just where I did write them). Back then I was proud to be able to remember meticulous details , sorta like that anne in the mamak when he takes our order for 16 people and gets it right down to the correct milo-ais-tanpa-susu-tambah-milo.

Speaking of Milo, my milo- monster nephew’s memory reminds me of that. One weekend, he hides his Hot Wheels behind the sofa, and 3 weeks later(how do you even remember such things?) , we see him digging around, and voila- there is a hidden car where we have been sitting everyday. Maybe I have some princess and the pea syndrome, or maybe the cushion is just too thick. Hey, at least I still remember where my keys are. Anyway, being an adult, I guess this forgetfulness needs some excuse story.

Speaking of stories, remember a time when we loved all those fairy tales? You can remember every line Ariel sang- and in Diplodocus’ case, every line Ariel said. Fairy tales being pushed aside, my nephew’s latest craze is Shah Rukh Khan. To the point that even his birthday cake had the movie Dilwale poster on it and he refused to allow anyone to cut out SRK face from the cake. I mean, I loved the Backstreet Boys in my hey-didley days but I don’t think I wanted to have their faces on my cake. Orrrrrrr maybe I might have, it’s hard to imagine yourself 15 and Howie-crazy again. Just like how I knew all the lyrics to “As Long as you love me” , my Nephew can remember all the songs+moves of his favourite movie. Even his hair is the exact replica of Mr. SRK . I don’t even recall the last movie SRK made, though while watching the subtitle-less Dilwale couple of weeks ago, I had to literally translate the entire movie for that milo chugging monster, and in some parts, I even needed to make background stories to what was happening on screen. Kids today, they need to know everything! At least, I still have my storytelling up to speed.

Speaking of speed, what is with kids and running? I am pretty sure Nancy Regan said “This Boots are made for Walking”. And if running wasn’t enough, lilmonster recently bought a pair of skates and that’s how he moves around now. He basically got the whole “how it works” within 2 hours of getting the skates(a much thank you to YouTube too) And here I was, trying my hand at making an origami crane for the last 10 hours. I mean, come on! You know what, deep down, I think I could have learnt those skates in 5 minutes . Yeah, I am pretty sure of it. Unfortunately, they could not fit my feet.

Speaking of feet, how is it that the smallest feet can make the most noise? I mean the monster-kid nephew is just 7..and you can hear him running from a mile away. He doesn’t seem to mind the noise even when you are sleeping. Like every Sunday, at exactly 8am, when birds are chirping gently and the world is still cradling in the off-day, there will be this sudden crash and tsunami like wave hitting my bed and the next thing I know there are these 2 feet stabbing into my back forcing me to wake up and face the Hot wheels, Lego and Shah Rukh Khan laden weekend. So I drag myself out of bed in my quiet feet, and the pitter patter of the monster would have reached the playpen long before you can say “where’s the coffee”.

But through it all, sometimes you just want to slow the time down and watch them play and sometimes you just wonder where is the time gone.

Speaking of gone time, I suppose this entry should have come in 2 months ago, and though it is a little bit late, I wish my little baby nephew (I have aunt rights to call him baby FOREVER) a happy 7^th birthday.

To Tote or not to Tote

2016-04-11T21:08:00.001-07:00

Half the time. I am quite happy to be known as a suburban. I take trains to the city and back(hell no, not the komuter!) and somehow I am still charmed by the chug-a-chug and squeals of the brakes on the tracks. Well, maybe not so much of a chug a chug from the ERL, but the squeals are definitely there.

Anyways, it was during one of these train rides I noticed something peculiar. Getting off the train, a man and woman, presumably a married couple, was walking about 10 steps ahead of me. The woman seemed unwell, she was swaying slightly and had on a thick jacket. The husband was walking next to her and asked her if she was tired. She said she was, and he offered to help her.

How would you help someone who was tired? Probably offer an arm for her to lean on? Direct her to the elevator instead of standing in the crowded escalator? Or maybe gently support her back on the escalator up(she seemed to almost double over anyway)

No, not this man. He instead, takes her 0.2kg handbag from her shoulder. Slings in on his shoulder and continues walking.

Correct me if I am mistaken in the scenario. How does carrying off a load of 200grams (it was a VERY tiny bag) help the poor woman?

It’s probably some sort of trend, but I did notice a lot of men carry their women’s handbags for them in the malls too. Imagine this, here is this tall, hunky man, in his levis and a Polo tee. With a mint green Furla bag on his arm.

Don’t get me wrong, I am all out for the gentleman who carries bags for ladies, but I mean grocery bags, shopping bags,or bags from Ikea. I just don’t think chivalry and coach tote go hand in hand.

Having said that, I still am of the opinion its socially acceptable for a man to carry a bag, but one designed with a man in mind. Maybe, just maybe, there should be more promotion from Radley For Men. I know some people would say its still a bag, but I suppose a manbag would look better than a C&K bowling bag.

Just my thought, no pun intended to any man or handbag.

Orlando Bloom looks hot with his man-o

Hanoi Winter- Feb 2016

2016-04-01T03:34:00.001-07:00

Hanoi has got to be one of those crazy amazing places where chaos rules the day.

The people are everywhere, the food is sold in every corner, hidden coffee shops just waiting to be found, and the best of all, the traffic.

There are no rules to the traffic in Hanoi. One has to just close eyes(ok, don’t do that literally), say a prayer, keep your fingers crossed, check your rabbits foot, and step off the curb. Keep a steady pace and you will get to the other side in one piece. Hanoi is 95% bikes and they will just zoom around the pedestrians. Does it make me wonder though, was the term “why did the chicken cross the road” created in Hanoi? Though I can imagine the chicken owner asking his wife this in bewilderment, no sane chicken would take that journey.

And PS. Don’t cross by this rules on Malaysian roads.

Food in Hanoi, is a plenty, every corner you turn, you can find a peddler or café. The first day we were there, we did get a bit lost with the food. I mean this literally, we went Into a restaurant, and they placed a plate of a few items and we had no idea that the items are supposed to be joined and rolled into a popiah and eaten with the sauce on the side. But as all good things go, once we learnt our way around the Vietnamese food, we were enjoying it massively. Fish with Dill (Cha ca thang long), Pho ga/bo(which we had in different shops, trick is to add extra lime and spicy chili, and then it’s better than our local kuey teow soup!), Bun Nem(basically popiah), Bun Cha(Bun Cha Ta), and my absolute favourite, Banh Mi. Fruits and Desserts are also all great, with peddlers all over Old Town. In fact the fruits seller outside our hotel (Gia Thinh) sold the best, RM5 for a cup of mixed fruits with yogurt, milk and coconut milk.. it should be called heaven in a cup.

Bun Cha

heaven in a Cup

Coffee cafes are in every corner. A specialty of Hanoi, we had to go into the maze of Old Quarter with our guide to try the EGG-celent Egg Coffee(Giang Café). First time in our lives did we have to sit on stall tiny stools(not very easy as I am a baby elephant as compared to an average viet lady). Hanoi people love to sit on this little stools , and they are placed very close to one another and the best part. All coffee drinkers eat kuaci with their coffee. I kid you not, it’s a cultural thing to do here. Anyway, the egg coffee is made by whisking the egg till its frothy and is poured over the coffee. Drink It hot if you don’t like the eggy smell in your coffee. There are loads of coffee cafes strewn all over Old Quarter and beyond, and we were excited when we found a hidden spot- a rooftop café overlooking the lake. We almost missed it and had to round the street few times before we found it..we needed to go through a fabric store, down a small alley which opens into a courtyard and up flights after flights of stairs until the rooftop(Café Pho Co)

Tired of Coffee? Try the Hot Choco

Crime in Hanoi is there, be it in any country. So do beware especially when leaving the bank or the money changer. The banks opposite the lake do change RM to VND, but it’s still best to carry USD and change it there. On Sundays the banks are closed, but you can exchange at most goldsmith shops in Old Quarter. I would recommend the Money Changer at No 9, Hang Bac(Gold Smith Shop), a stone throws away from Gia Thinh. Taxis tend to overcharge here, the Mai linh cabs are ok, but on our last day, we travelled by Uber which was pretty easy too.

The younger people in Hanoi do speak English, so trying to speak to an older person would just include finger pointing, sounds of monkeys and tons of head nods and shakes. We had taken a tour with Hanoi Free Tour Guides, we had one guide in the morning. He shared with us Vietnam’s culture and heritage and gave us his honest politically correct views of the “socialist party” leading the country today. He is an engineering student learning English and German with hopes of furthering his education in the west, and it was interesting to share and hear his young opinions. The second half of the day we had Dung, a medical student studying locally. Though a little more reserved, he was more than happy to talk and teach us about the Vietnamese cuisine and left us with a few much needed pointers on what to eat and where. I would definitely recommend this Guides for anyone visiting Hanoi, as there is no fee apart from a donation made to the organization.

Guardians to the One Pillar Pagoda

The truth is spending 5 days in Hanoi is just not enough. Some people were a little surprised that we would spend that many days there without visiting Ha Long Bay, but I found there was much to do and see around Hanoi without the rush of travelling to another place. Take a stroll around the Hoan Kiem lake, (though end of winter, the flowers were blooming)the weather is perfect for walking. I could have just sat there for hours with a book, the water is just peaceful. The women’s museum and the prison are both worth a visit, teaching us of the times and tirade this beautiful country went through during the war. Seep in the knowing and enlightening aura of the Temple of Literature, wonder at the actual size of the Old Citadel, where does it end? Say a prayer and the oldest Pagoda, Have a coffee on a ferry turned-café by Highway Coffee near the Pagoda.

Unique Bonsai Gardens of Hanoi

Ferry Coffee

Sit by the Cathedral, enjoy a coffee at La Place while the church bells ring during mass(btw, visit during Mass on Sunday, church is closed on other days).Get lost in the maze of the 36 streets that make up Old Quarter. Its always surprising where the next corner might take you. Buy a ticket, grab your seat and enjoy the unique water puppet show.

La Place Coffee and Toast

Shop,eat, relax, unwind and let the Turtle tell you it’s tale.

"do you trust me? " ~ Alladdin~

2015-10-07T04:30:00.001-07:00

I believe one of the hardest things to do is trust. But yet, it is the foundation of having a sound relationship, be it between parents, friends, or even with your ice cream man. And therefore it is the most crucial part of our everyday interactions.

But recently I learnt that trust is not something so straightforward. Its not just about trusting someone with an object, with your secrets, or trusting them to catch you when you fall. Its an interwoven piece into the streams of the rope that binds us, it is of you trusting that I will not make a decision that will hurt me.

Odd statement? Probably. But it didn’t come by, if not out of a situation. Since, you insist, I will share it with you.

Couple of years ago, I had met a man named Sloth. Everyone (and I mean EVERYONE) around me thought him to be a caring and wonderful person and I should be so lucky to have him. I followed through that thinking and after a lecture or two on giving him a chance, I decided to do it. I had a million doubts, but I took a chance, thinking maybe everyone else saw something I didn’t. Probably I’m partially blind. That man, ladies and gentlemen, turned out to be the biggest loser sloth I had ever laid eyes on. And that made me realize. I probably was not blind.

Now coming back to the present, I admit that I have been making decisions in the past 10 months without consideration of anyone’s opinion. After all, If I fall, you will be there to catch me, so what worry should I have? But one decision is lying in front of me. And your point of view, this time, is way off the line of trust.

Handle me a spatula, Ill bake you a cake. Hand me a knife, ill whip you a dinner with drinks, hand me a book, I will tell you its hidden messages. Trust me, I will find the truth hidden in every sentence, I will find the emotion hiding behind that heart, I will care and cherish my own feelings, but trust me to do it. Allow me to make that decision and tell me your opinion without treating me as a child. As I have treated you.

For only In that, can our rope stand.

6 and counting

2015-08-11T04:13:00.001-07:00

Silence is Golden. Unless you have kids. Then silence is suspicion

Quarter 1 Five year old.

It’s been a couple of month of School but everyday still feels like the first day. I don’t understand why I need to wake so early and I’m glad its always Nana waking me up..Didi just doesn’t cut it. Don't get me wrong, schools fun, but homework. Yucky. I try to get Bhua to do it for me, but she only does some help with my I-level homework. I got to think of some new tactics to go about this. There is a new girl in school.. Hellllloooo Jessica

Quarter 2 Five year and 4 months old.

I took a flight for the first time! Omg Omg. It was soo cool. Mama showed me what to do and I cgot some colour pencils and I could hear the pilot talking on the radio. It’s final everybody. I am going to be a pilot when I grow older, and I’ll buy mama some diamond earrings and papa some toys ..And Bhuas? Let’s get them some lizards. Yeah, I bet they love lizards.

Last week we had a final year party at Smart Readers. We had to practice the moves to Walla Walla song, I got to be dressed as a cowboy and we had so much fun. I hope I get to dance again next year. But maybe as a pirate.

Quarter 3. Five years and 7 months old

Eureka! I got it! I pretended to be a teacher and made Bhua sit down and imagine herself a student. She fell for it! She did my homework for me..looks like this is going to be my new favorite game now.

Oh and last week, parents and I went to Penang. I thought we would never reach! Its sooooo faaaarrrrr away. I kept asking them if we were there yet. I must have asked like 2000 million times before we reached the Penang. We had a Foam Party..It was the coolest ever. If only there were dinosaurs in the foam

Quarter 4.Five years and 10 months old.

Bhuas found some man who sells Bubbles in the park. This is my new favourite spot, I even get ice cream after playing with bubbles. Aunty Hema came over and brought Shipa and Sopea along too. I like Sopea, she is a cute baby.

Last week, Bapu and I went to Toys R Us in IOI City mall, I remember the malls names, cos it’s important to tell Bhuas later where to take me. I still think Alamanda has a better store, but here I got blue ice cream. I think I may actually be turning into the cookie monster.

Caca brought his rabbit from Johor to come live in Bapu house, I still like Shimbu a lot, but now I love rabbits too. Maybe I could ask papa for a puppy for my birthday this year?

Do you know Jimmy Fallon? You have to, he is my new friend because he can sing with all the sesame street monsters. I like cookie monster, not Dipi bhua ok.Dipi bhua likes Big Bird. And Elsa.

I think next year, I wanna be a dinosaur.

Happy birthday (though this post is a couple of weeks late) to my little little monsterface geng member! Our world would not be as bright without you in it.

Now do your own homework.

Of second steps and beyond.

2015-07-29T04:31:00.000-07:00

I am taking a break from my other blog today. That one can get to be a bit of a dark and dreary road, sometimes.

So hello! Here I am, as I have said in a posting some time ago, this year is going to be year of exploring and if not doing somethings’ for the first time, then, I am taking seconds steps on a road previously paved.

So lets wind back the clock

It was roughly 9 years ago, Pekster and I had a Treasure Hunt at the Zoo, back then we had an amazing time running around in our yellow tee-shirts, outdoing each others team in a treasure hunt and to think back, if only I knew then what I knew now, I would be able to beat her in that hunt in flat 30 minutes! Who knew the Giraffes tongue was black??

Fast forward: 2 years ago, I had volunteered for the clean-up effort at the zoo and I spent some amazing minutes with Appu the Rhino, feeding and learning about the giraffes(oh theres the black tongue) and getting up close and personal with the Ostriches(please dont peck me), Zebras, antelopes and tons of dung. But honestly, I had a wonderful time.

So when a couple of months ago, The Company offered for us to volunteer at the Zoo again, I jumped up and snatched the opportunity because the Pekster was going with me this time. We did have In-Tiara, Daveman and Bouncy join us and it was crazy fun seeing Bouncy trying to feed 'Do' the giant turtle as though he was a tiger; 4 feet away, stance ready to run..and hand outstretched with a little banana. I wonder how she would feed a baby.

Well, apart from sweeping and chasing down Galapagos Turtles(it’s said their eyes hold the secrets of the universe, so next time you come across one, be sure to make eye contact), I swept the cages around THE CROCODILES and was fortunate enough to spend 15 minutes with the kakak there, learning not only about the Crocs habits, but also of her own family and origins (North Java, with a daughter who is a doctor based in US. Still humbly sweeping cages of turtles, she was)

Our Keeper was a talker too, so we had a good chance to learn about the animals and some insight on how the zoo is run and (confidential infor ahead) the salaries of the staff between this zoo and an unnamed private zoo. He also showed us a special trick- how to clean shedding off Iguanas( I did not know that Iguanas shed so often and our keeper so comfortably peeled the dead skin off and the reptile didn’t move an inch. In fact he seemed to be rather enjoying it), how to see if a Turtle is sick (spotting, people!) and learning that monkeys on trees is never a safe bet, They are just waiting to pee on you.

I did wish the day would have gone longer. Not to compare to my previous visits, but this visit was crazy fun as it always is to spend time with animals (Hence the reason I love the weekly Monkey visits)

Here is another thing I did for the second time. I took a road trip to Penang. Nothing great I know but the things is, I last went to Penang about 7 years ago, it was the first time I had met The Slothman(not to confuse you, this is my ex whom I broke up with couple years back). I have not been to Penang on such a trip since. That trip was great, we had the best coconut water, walks on the beach and the best ever roti canai.

So when Momsie decided to have a trip to Penang couple of weeks ago, I jumped at the chance of it being a holiday( don’t get me wrong, I am not a fan of family holidays, but Diplodocus and I needed this break) So off we went to Georgetown and my oh my. Some places really do change in the midst of staying the same. We had an amazing time gazing at the street art that can be found at every nook of Georgetown. We found the café style of Kuala Lumpur had moved into the small heritage buildings near Gurney and surprisingly, enjoyed some amazing coffee set in a shop with unique chandeliers and antique phones and pictures. The morning adventure trip down Transfer Road brought us to the Best roti canai place(though the Bakery was closed, I would have loved to get some Roti Bengali) . The Roti is still good, though I sincerely hope the next generation who take over the business will do just an amazing job at it.

We travelled down Lebuh Keng Kwee for the Penang Famous Cendol, last I was here, there weren’t that many other stalls around it, but apart from that, not much has changed as we still had to stand around the stall in a small tiny street to enjoy the cendol.

Then we headed to Bukit Bendera for a visit to the temple atop the Hill, its really good that there is ample parking now near the foot of the hill and we were lucky that there weren’t many visitors on the island that weekend, we managed to get the tickets fairly easily. I did not need my talents of being a pushing KL-ite (heh, I can be pushy ok?). The train to Bukit Bendera reminded us of Putra LRT(next station, kampong orang asli), and though there weren’t many monkeys about, and maybe the lack of their presence is the one that pushed me and Diplodocus to walk down some tracks up on the hill to find some haunting spots. My favorite being of an old bungalow that has been taken over by vines and moss. Reminds me that at the end, we all belong to our Mother, the earth.

And a big no- no to Northam Food Court. I mean the view, fantastic! The food? Fantastically sucky. Next trip would definitely be a stop at Pulau Tikus, hopefully the food there is still awesome. By the end of the trip though, I barely remembered that visit 10 years ago

For both trips, we took steps in the same places I walked years ago, but as Ahern said, we can take the same steps down the memory lane. But with each new step, we are making new memories.

Tree Of Life

2015-05-05T04:14:00.000-07:00

I have seen many a things in my lifetime. Would you like to hear about them?

I have stood here for many a years. Come rain, shine, thunder or winds, I have never faltered, knowing this is where my roots will stay.

Everyday, I can feel the sun shining down on me, giving each nerve its life. A life that is part and parcel of what makes this earth. Each nerve connected to one another forming what is my hard body and my soft hair.

As the sun gives me life, the rain breathes new life to my being. From where I stand, I can see the children running in the rain. How odd, they love the rain when they are small, then as they grow and colorful umbrellas shields them from my view. I have seen them turn from little wild younglings to good young people and to wonderful parents themselves. I believe it is a part of what they call The circle of life.

I am tied to my mother, earth, and I can feel her moving each day. Changing, shaping into a different landscapes. From where I stand , I used to see hills and feel the dew from morning misty air on my hair. Today, the landscape I once knew is now growing into buildings and concrete, housing more life than I had seen in so long.

And yet, some things are left where they are. I can see the kids in the playground, and the boys practicing their football skills.

As the clouds change, I too change with the seasons. Some days I have more hair falling off, I can see the sweepers cleaning away my brown hair. Come sit by me, and I will provide you some shelter. Oh, I can see some of my being eaten a tiny guinea pig residing in a brown house. The earth gives what it makes I guess.

I love the evening winds. The birds chirp away, making their nests between my many hands. It gets ticklish but it gives me a sense of purpose and I enjoy their warmth as much as I love to provide coolness under my shades to anyone who would need it.

But what lives must die, it is so said in the circle of this life. Perhaps in my next life, I could be that little guinea pig.

Written in memory of the wonderful Tree that was with us growing up, but was taken down today.

Chiang Mai's Flowers, Jade, Coffee and Massage..need i say more?

2015-01-27T23:26:00.001-08:00

We woke a little later to the same breakfast but this time Pekster and I decided to share as the portion is rather large. The hotel arranged the taxi for us to visit the kings summer palace up the hill and Doi Suthep temple in the hills. We had to leave our dear deviljoe behind due as she wasn’t well, but from what I heard later, she seemed to have had a pretty relaxing day anyway. So I guess anyway you decide to spend your time, Chiang Mai is just the best wind-down place.

The 3 of us left around 11am. The temple and the palace is at the top of the hill and the road is something like going up Cameron’s on the old road. Winding and winding and winding like the pocket watch on the white rabbit.By the time we reached the summer place, there was no way I could stand straight without the nausea and after a painful spill-my-guts session, we thankfully found me a little Medicare at the palace. The nurse spoke perfect English and gave me some anti-nausea tablet and some sort of smelling salts-liquid. She warned me about getting sleepy but I just needed the spinning to stop.

Took me an hour and 5 chicken balls later to actually feel like the world wasn’t going to somehow collapse around me. Sigh.

The palace is a great place! It’s cold, its huge with flowers of all kinds of colours and shapes complete with a green house, log cabin, cottages, a singing water reservoir, formal and informal landscaping and the main palace(which sadly, was under renovation) and the highlight of the day- Giant bamboo trees about 20 feet tall. We took tons of pictures of the flowers, I plan to buy a suit with the color combinations, yeay! Pekster was mistaken as a Thai girl a gazillion times, it would have been cool if she was able to reply the people in their own language!

Dayang dayang sekalian

Beauty's true colors?

XXL Roses

Chilling Beneath Giant Bamboos

We will NOT climb this tree!

From the palace, we came down to the Doi Suthep temple, complete with an elevator. The temple has about 600 steps going up but you can choose to pay 20 baht for the “elevator” and 30 baht tourism fee for foreigners. The stupa is in the middle of the temple grounds, and is made of gold and there are statues of Buddha made with jade but apart from that, I would rather sit at Thean Hou any day.

Proud that these 2 stood fearlessly so high over the city

600 steps up Doi Suthep Temple

Jade and Gold

Took us only about an hour to linger about the temple and we then drove down to a small waterfall off the road back to the city. It was quiet at the waterfall, there were only a couple of local families and bunches of teenagers hanging about. Nothing much to shout about as have similar falls right here in Malaysia. There was ONE difference though. As you enter the waterfall area, there are stalls selling picnic foodstuff, stalls like ones selling our pisang goreng. But look closer! Its all roaches and maggots for sale –man, picnic is defined differently for me. Urgh.

Kids will be kids..

As we got back to the hotel, and paid our driver 900 baht for the day, diplodocus and pekster hopped onto the hotel bicycles and off they cycled to the café nearby for coffee. Unfortunately Deviljoe, who is expert ATV rider, doesn’t ride a bicycle, so we had a nice walk instead. We enjoyed the food at the Fern Forest Café, its one of the mushrooming coffee houses around the old city.

We then got another taxi to the Sompet market to try the local food there. Tom yum and omelet and then an (amazing!) Foot massage for 200 baht.--200 baht for an hour, I’m telling ya, it’s a steal!—

This last night we had the best sleep and rest. Time to head back to the Malaysian Weather tomorrow. Not sure which I miss more of home, Shimbu or Nasi Lemak..

Note: If you are travelling to CM, do try the Gac fruit if it’s in season. This fruit is only available in Laos, Vietnam and Myanmar and is supposed as the Fruit from Heaven..

Moat around the Old City

Chiang Mai's Tigers, Elephants, and the LongWalk

2015-01-27T19:30:00.001-08:00

We awoke this morning to a cooling temperature of about 18 degrees C. It gets hotter through the day up to 29 degrees by 4pm about this time of the year. Maybe the next trip, I could try to make it earlier in January to enjoy cooler weather.

Peaberry served us a wonderful breakfast of toast, omelet and orange juice. Coffee is available round the clock, so that’s a plus point too. We decided check out the Tiger Kingdom and the Elephant Park today and the staff were so helpful, they arranged a Red Taxi for us at a price of 800 Bhat for a round trip. The first stop was the Tiger Kingdom, entrance is at a minimal fee , and depends on the size of the tiger that you want to spend time with. We decided to take small tiger of about 6 months old as the cubs were not available. Couldn’t be certain if the tigers were sedated a little or they are so used to human touch ..we could just walk around them and take pictures while rubbing their bellies. It was the closest I have ever got to seeing a tiger in the eyes, and the blue of a Bengal Tigers eyes is not something one can ever forget.

The Bengal Tiger a.k.a Panthera. Male and female are kept separately so they dont fight.

They didnt have so tiny cubs available but the cubs are most expensive to hang around with

This small guy was kept near the nursery

We then headed up the Maesa Elephant Camp which had received numerous awards for their elephant care. We stopped at the entrance to enjoy coconut ice cream with bubur pulut hitam(40 baht well spent!) and got in just in time for the elephant bathing show. The elephants are trained to put their trunks around people for picture taking, then grabbing 20 Baht(thats fee for photo taking) and passing the monies to their Mahouts.

Coconut Icecream with pulut. super yums

The podium for the elephant show reminded me of a Roman Coliseum. The Romans had enjoyed sports with animals, and I remember reading one such sport being a fight between elephants and rhinos. Thank god, no such spectacle is played today, and the elephant show was a showcase of how intelligent these gentle beings are. To the Oohs and Aaahs of the crowd, the elephants went on stepping over their Mahouts, pulling logs, playing football and even painting a scenic picture.

This fellow is a better painter than i will ever be

Though it was wonderful show by the ever amazing elephants, I couldn’t help but cry at the thought that these magnificent giants are not in the wild instead. It is sad world we live in.

The fee to the camp is 40 bhat but there are souvenir shops inside the camp where the proceeds go to the upkeep of the camp. Diplodocus did a donation with her purchase of another stuffed Elephant, and deviljoe asked her where is the space for her to store more toys, so I guess a new apartment is much needed now.

From the camp we went down to the Orchid Farm and Butterfly house, the orchids were in arrays of colours and textures and I was lost in richness of these beautiful plants.We had decided to have our lunch here and though I would not normally eat at the parks around KL, the food here was really good.

Butterfly enclosure..I almost didnt get out alive after the Butterfly attacked

We got back to our hotel at 5, tired and beat , but just as we sat in the lounge, Mr Kishore walked in the front yard. He immediately came to us and told us to take a taxi to the night walk,that it would be a worth stroll. So as hurriedly as humanely possible, we raced to our rooms, washing up before catching a taxi to the walking street.

The traffic was starting to get heavier by 6pm. The driver dropped us across from the walking street and we right in the middle of km long road of food and more food. It reminded us of the old gurney drive, before it became the commercialized eatery it is today. We were sort of lost, not sure which way to go, so we decided to take a breather next to a stall selling sort of like lok lok. The smell of the grilled meat was amazing and were decided to place an order for a stick each, it cost us 10 Baht. When was our satay ever RM1? Seems a lifetime ago, sigh. The meat on a stick was good, the pepper sauce burning into our tummies. Finally pedas food!

Holy-lot-of-people

Anyway the crowd seemed to going one way, so we got into the mass of heads and followed along. That’s when we realized the nigh walk was just in front of us, excitedly we followed the throng of people. Food was everywhere we turned, Sausage with pulut? 2^nd stop for food it is! Mini donuts, black bean pau, mango sticky rice, waffles,sausages, avocado In a cup, u name it, they have it. Apart from a brief panic of attack of losing devil Joe, everything else was great. The only problem was, we did not realize the walk goes on for about 2-3 kms and there aren’t many shops to stop and sit at and there isn’t any small lorongs to get out of the street. Once you are in,you got to be in for all the way. We had to make one pit stop for a beer so that we don’t lose our knees and after that we were so happy to see the end of the road that we had to stop again for crepes. Not knowing how to order exactly, we decided to just order the same thing as the customer in front of us,though with minor changes(they had egg with chicken floss and chocolate sauce. Chicken and chocolate? I’ll pass)

Me and Pekster enjoying the sticky rice. somehow we couldnt find this in Krabi..

Tiru people and order crepe..but it was good tho

The things at the street walk are cheaper than the bazaar so haggling is not much of an option. There are many people so they tend to keep their prices at a certain rate. In pain and tired as hell, but with grins on our faces, we only got back to our hotel around 11pm. Phew.

Chiang Mai Old City in a Peaberry

2015-01-27T04:42:00.001-08:00

In this day and time, the world’s Economy isn’t going great, currencies are falling, inflation is going up and the unemployment in Europe hasn’t got any better. Like a tide, we can feel the slowdown back home too, so travelling is getting to be more of a privilege these days, and all but 4 of us wanted to do was to head out to Chiang Mai for a much needed relaxing break.

After saying a silent prayer for the tragically drowned flight QZ 8501, we got on board at 6++ am . As the airplane hit the Chiang Mai airspace, the view was breath taking.Rolling hills and greenery, clear skies and small streams running down the hills.

The small airport reminded me of the airport on Wroclaw but a little less busier. And the people were definitely much nicer.We got ourselves a taxi for only 160 Bhat and rode a short way to our hotel in the corner part of Chiang Mai’s Old City.

The peaberry Hotel is designed in the old Lanna Thailand style and just stepping into the quaint hotel made us relaxed immediately.

Though we were early, the owner informed us that our room could be ready within the hour.

His question of what we had planned out was met with glazed looks as we hadn’t thought much into it. So we were grateful that Mr Kishore gave us ideas on what to dos in Chiang Mai for the length that we were going to be there.

We started out on the first day by checking out the old city area. There are a lot of old temples and monuments just around the Old City.We decided to just walk about, taking in the sights and sounds of the small street ways and enjoying the food at the corner restaurant. We were very happy to see the number of coffee joints that Chiang Mai has. And 40 Bhat for a cup of latte that can give the large coffee chains a run for its money is definitely worth it.

From the Old City we took a Taxi to the Central Bazaar for some delicate French style and local pastries. The shopping mall offers free rides to the The Night Bazaar (Le Meridien stop is the nearest to the bazaar entrance).

It was just a 10 minute ride away and we thought to complete our souvenir shopping(better to get it out of the way first I say!) The traders at the bazaar were friendly and haggling was relatively easy. The only issue would be that Chiang Mai has many travelers from China and a lot of the food is adjusted to for the less spicy palette of the said travelers. I would have loved chili padi in my ginger pork rice, but alas! It was not to be.

The War of Wellness Day.

2014-10-15T22:18:00.001-07:00

Ever had that feeling that when you are in a fair and there are sales people around, especially the ones that want you to sign up for credit card, it becomes more of a war zone than a fair?

You have to have skills to say no and the skill to drift and zoom through the spaces between these sales warriors before you can breathe the normal, credit-less air again.

The M threw their annual Wellness Day again and invited a gazillion booths of people selling milk, yogurt and a bunch of healthy foodstuff. Didn’t join the walkathon this year, didn’t have the heart for it I guess, or maybe it was the PINK of the tee shirt that kind of made me skip leg day.

Still, in support of the Wellness Day, I went down to the fairgrounds to get Diplodocus some headsets (to make her ears more healthy?) and some yogurt drinks. And that’s when I saw them.

The warriors.

All cloaked in their red Insurance team tee shirts.Holding their swords and knifes up in the air ready to strike us down.

Ok it was just clipboards and pens but it might as well have been.

Anna and I stood in the corner, looking for the easiest route out. I looked left and saw Sabby and her friends talking animatedly. She is a loud person and the mousey warrior was on her left, squeaking ‘miss?’miss?’ . As she was running out of topics with her friends, I could see her eyes darting to the ceiling instead, I guess anything is more interesting than having to speak to the mouse-warrior. In defeat, he squandered away, back to his hole-booth. Hah! Take that mouse man!

Mr cute WS was stuck in a another corner. He looked like a well concentrated race horse and he hurried between the line of warriors, constantly repeating NO NO NO NO … until he was out of the door. It was amazing. I have never seen anyone look at the exit door with such determination.

It was then that Anna and I decided to make our move. As I scurried on behind my human shield(thank you Mrs Koch) the warriors tried to get her to sign up for some hospitalization card. Repeating that she has such a card from Poland , the warriors gave up and finally, we pushed the door and saw the light of the day.

Barely breathing the first sigh of relief, we noticed WS trapped in a sea of red warriors right outside the door, as they were just about to start their warrior cry.

Well. Here we go again.

The Late Lunchtime

2014-10-02T04:34:00.001-07:00

Due to one maternity and one bereavement leave, I have been down from 4 lunch buddies to 2.

And then yesterday I had to open my un-cursed mouth and told Siew ling that her car seems to be in a great condition despite it being 8 years old. I have no idea what emotionalness got into the car and it took offence against my words and the very same day, the car decided to bust its accelerator cable and hence, with curses from Siew Ling to my dear self, it ended up being only me and Liana in office looking for food in the godforsaken Twilight –zoned CBJ.

Though I am glad to have arranged the lunch for Mr LG and Diplodocus some 30 kms away with the power of the OC, I couldn’t arrange to meet Liana’s time(thank you financial close calendars) and that is how I ended up having spaghetti with KC Vios and Big-Z late in the evening. Note for CBJ folks eating out at Tokio Café: they don’t serve at Padi House even though they are a sister company. No idea why. I buggered and buggered them, I think to the point that that my waiter pretended not to speak English, but they wouldn’t give me an answer.

In the spirit on continuation of having discussions with strangers, which I started with Mr LG yesterday, it’s probably the other reason that prompted me to go out with these 2 macho souls.

Though I have known both men for some time, we weren’t always friends. In fact I think there was a time when KC Vios was pretty cold towards Big-Z and his team. But then the Plats of the organization moved and the M decided to bring the 2 departments together and that’s how we ended up working together. In a very short time, the 2 of them became almost inseparable.

So coming back to lunch today. Eating out with the ladies can be very different from being with just the boys. Though for some reason, they seem to have adopted me to their circle of Dudes and appreciatively shared their views on the anatomy of the ladies walking by. Don’t get me wrong, beauty is definitely to be admired..but from one straight woman’s point of view, I honestly am not intrigued by a lady’s sway nor her other ‘parts’. Show me the hunk making the Nasi biryani at Neo CBJ and you got me at ‘welcome”

But what I considered more interesting is how different these 2 men are and yet are so close friends. KC Vios is much younger, here at his first job and doesn’t think that anything is more important than money. Hot blooded and unique in his fashion, his opinions are of fresh young eyes. Big-Z on the other hand is a little more matured, married and loves songs that are probably sang by Big Tasty. He is more patient and cool and is simply crazy and fun. I guess friendship can always be made even in the most ying-and-yang of situations. Hmm.

I guess it works better if you have something in common. In this case, that thing has a beating heart and a job at the Org. And a name. Ms Emily. The prettiest girl they have ever(in their working lives) laid eyes on. The most sophisticated, and elegant woman both men have ever met. They would do anything to have a HELLO from her. Pretend to fall, pretend to visit a nonexistent friend around her cube, pretend to care about the weather outside her window, pretend to..well, you get the idea

But I got to admit, this office would be a much slower and boring place without the chitter chatter of KC Vios and Big-Z.

So cheers to you guys!

P.S Inthira- Big-Z misses all the fights you guys have..and Congratulations on the cutest cutest cutest baby boy~

Beware of false knowledge; it is more dangerous than ignorance. ~ George Bernard Shaw~

2014-10-01T06:37:00.002-07:00

In view of my recent inactivity here, let me first say I was in no form ignoring my readers..it has just simply been a time when its almost impossible to even find the time to finish my Moonstone novel, so much so, that I almost downloaded the movie version instead (gasp!)

And due to the strenous and stressfull and time consuming work I have had, I did indeed ignore a couple of other things. I ignored visiting some good friends(sorry Geets! I owe you tequila shots, big time!) and I ignored my HBO classes. Socialism is something I told myself to never forsake, since I knew someone once who would ignore my messages, only to contact me days later after I had finished running through the obituary column looking for his name. Hence my apologies to whomever I had to cancel out on..

So I made this list..10 things which I think are pretty easy and probably should be ignored and 10 things I think are hard to ignore, lets see:

Ignorable stuff

The consistent nag of someone who you don’t want to hear.
The sampah on the streets that have become such a norm for city living.
The email marked URGENT but it really isnt.
The ringing of the telephone, though that’s debatable looking at the number of people who would rather look at their phones than the people sitting across them
The people sitting across you
The bills
The vaccum cleaner running when you are sleeping in on a Saturday
The No-U Turn sign- when the road is empty laaa-
The Brain, before you bungee jump
Sales people

And my list of things least likely to be ignored:

The cute guy crossing the street
Johny Depp
Backstreet Boys songs
The smell of the food cooking in the kitchen
Lego on the floor
The cat meow-ing at 2am
The cute handbag crossing the street
Cupcakes
The coffee machine in the morning
Freebies..come on, we simply sign up for credit cards because of the freebies, otherwise we ignore the sales people completely

But these are mostly material things and one thing we probably should not ignore is people we barely know. Strangers even. As a Mr SS recently mentioned that the highest form of ignorance is to reject something before you had the chance to get to know it. (And boy. Am I glad for having taking that advice.)

Unless they are sales people, of course. Then sorry, you are in the wrong bucket my friend..

Law of Change

2014-07-20T21:35:00.000-07:00

With the world cup just over, and as the excitement simmers down, we can only start looking forward to the next round of world champions in 4 years time.

I remember chatting about this with a close friend of mine, of where we were and what we were doing 4 years ago.As days go by one by one, we hardly realize just how much has moved and changed in that little space of time.

Most of us has moved from a time when we were all working in the same O&G. 4 years ago, we all thought we would grow at the same firm, but as global views change(nice way to put it), it would seem that now everyone is in a different line.

And personally, there have a been a couple of major changes. One man, my partner in movies and the most honest friend anyone can wish for, had decided to venture on his own. Though it didn’t turn as expected, he is now, I’m happy to say, a man happily engaged to a wonderful girl.

My dear friend Yoda and Geets has both had babies and CHEERS women! To many many more tiny tots!

Someone almost got married. Someone did get married. Someone got a divorce. Lets not dwell on them.

Someone I thought I would never speak to again is now a good friend. That was a shocker. Ka-pow.

And me myself, I had lost a battle when I did not know I was even at war. But the loss has been a wonderful one, for without it, I would not have done all the other colorful things I did(ehem intended).

With the ever crazy bunch- Diplodocus, SIL, and Deviljoe, we have travelled to places we never thought we would set foot in. Adventures within adventures. The Inception of Travel. Good title for a new book.

p.s this is written with the thought of many lives lost in the recent plane crash. 4 years ago, you would have had the same dreams and travelled down those paths too. Rest In Peace.

5 years and counting

2014-07-20T20:55:00.001-07:00

When I was a 5 year old kid..gazillions of years ago..i was living with my grandparents in the hills. It was a good time, playing chase under and around cows, climbing trees(though I wasn’t allowed to) and eating ice cream in the cold. It was also the year I got my most treasured bear- Wise Old. He is still with me till today, though honestly, he could use fresh stuffing.

Times change and people evolve. Kids today have a different turn on their lives. For example Mr Tiny has weekends where he is so busy, he barely has the time to play hide-and-seek. Just a couple of weeks ago, we went out to watch HowToTrainYourDragon 2 with him and he stayed with us overnight. Though too young now, but If he had a twitter account, this would probably be his timeline:

Saturday

10.00 Think I shall wear the blue tee today for my class. Lets go counting! #Ilevel #Saturdaymorningroutine

12.00 McD for lunch, didn’t spill my milo #score!

1.30 Papa decided we head to mid valley to check out the mighty #transformers #dinobot. He is my hero

4.00 Off to Puchong for #HowToTrainYourDragon2 with the #minions.

7.00 The movie could have been better, like #Frozen. But the cinema is empty, so running around is cool.#cinema #empty

7.30 This place aint so bad, got lots of place to run. Cmon #minions, catch me #playplayplay #screammyheadoff

7.45 Dinner at Wong Kok #orangejuice #mee #scareyourparents

9.30 Off to Bapu House, yeay! #Serdang #grandparentshome #slowdriversontheroad

11.00 #ilovemytoys #dinotoys before bedtime. Grandma always tells great stories.

Sunday

7.30 Dang this aunties are still sleeping. How do I wake them up? Any ideas?

8.00 decided to go with the ‘jump-on-you’ approach. At ‘least they are awake. Off to breakfast!

10.00 Shimbu needs a shower. I manage to help carry him to the car. #lovepets

11.15 Stupid big black dog at the groomers scared me. #serioustears #dontlovepets

12.00 Drive around town looking for chicken rice. I saw a toystore. Wonder if I can make #minions stop there

12.45 I love #chicken rice!

1.30 so it seems shimbu is ready to go home. No way im gonna go back in that store. #bigblackdog

2.00 yeah, shimbu looks cleaner. I wish I was a guinea pig.

4.00 #minions bought me some cake. Waiting for mama and papa now..wish it wasn’t a school day tomoro.

Well, moved on from Mickey to Lion Dances to Dinosaurs to cars to Lego and now Transformers, it will be interesting to see where Mr Tiny’s interests go next

One thing is for sure, there is nothing that can beat these blessings that come in the smallest form..

Happy 5^th Birthday to our Cheeky Monkey! Chicken rice all around!

A Monday supposition

2014-02-23T21:37:00.000-08:00

Monday, 24^th February. 9.35am

I look up to the blue sky, the sun is out, blaring its brightness. I wonder if it would rain today or if we are going to go through another day of heat wave. I sent up a silent prayer for a drizzle.

Monday, 24^th February. 10.00am

Noticed there aren't many people at the Province. Probably a case of the Monday Blues. Seems to be more and more people being affected these days. Reks came by, her new green blouse swishing with each step she takes, she tells me she needs a coffee and something to eat before she could face the day. Another case of the blues, I thought to myself. I grab my pouch and go down the escalator. Isn't much left at the godforsaken-cafeteria, but hey, when you gotta eat. You gotta eat.

Monday, 24^th February. 10.40am

There is tense in the air as we walk in the Province. Even the AC seems to have slowed to keep pace with our heartbeats. I throw my pouch onto the table, swinging my chair around, as I screen my counterparts faces. The Minz looks terrified. She starts rambling on about a woman screaming on the other side of the Province. Giggles joins her, confirming her story that they all heard a woman screaming, like she had been possessed. This sounded too weird. Even on my standards.

Monday, 24^th February. 10.42am

I pick up my pen as I move about the clutter of head in the province. Woman 1 claims the scream was a long one. Woman 2 says it was short. Woman 3 says it emitted from the right of the building and Woman 4 says it was from the left. One person thinks it sounded like screeching tyres and another just thought it was the cleaner lady’s trolley grazing along the floor. I marvel at the human mind. The same sound, and yet everyone heard it differently.

Monday, 24^th February. 11.00am

I walk to the WC situated just outside the province. The probable scene of the crime. I stand by the walls for about 5 minutes and let Aunty Jo investigate inside the stalls. She comes out, head shaking. Nothing to report.Someone comes up to me and says they went out the doors when they heard the scream but found no person or persons at the scene.

I gaze out to the rolling clouds, a dead end. Whoever it was, she seems to have disappeared into thin air.

Jesselton Misty Tales Day 2

2014-02-20T07:27:00.000-08:00

Day 2

The skies had really opened up the next morning and we were advised against driving up to Kundasang in the weather. As we sat broodily looking out from the lodge pantry, the rain slowly reduced to a light drizzle.

We spotted a chicken rice shop nearby and having has our fill on steamed chicken( funnily we couldn’t find any restaurants that sold Roasted Chicken rice), we happily bertolak to Kundasang to stay closer to the majestic and very shy Mount KK. Along the way, we made a pit stop at the Puh Toh Tze temple in Tuaran, where they have a large statue of Kuan Yin greeting visitors.

We then proceeded to get some snacks and drinks at the Giant along Tuaran. This is very advisable, as Kundasang really doesn’t have much save for a couple of simple stores. Will probably need to drive all the way down to Ranau for a decent drink or a Guardian store..so we decided to get our stash before heading up

Mummy, how do i get to school, my cycle is stuck on the roof

Dorothy's house landed on a witch..and here?

We then made a pitstop at the Rumah Terbalik at Tamparuli. We Paid an entrance fee of RM5(for Mycard holders) and got to take some pictures outside the house and were told no photo taking inside the house. To be honest, the story the tour guide gave us of the background of the house made no sense and this visit was not really worth the time. Basically we were walking on the “ceiling”, with fans, lamp and even lizard toys next to our feet. All the furniture is arranged above our head, so it was sort of like we were ghost hovering along the celing like spidermen. Probably would have been cooler if someone got some motion sickness or something and everyone would have gone nuts trying to get out, but it was would have been too confusing, motion sick and all..and then..well you get the point, it just would have made the trip more interesting. But my companions are all made of steel and were happily skipping room to room terbalik-ly.

Rumah Tembikai also got

The road to Kundasang was winding and the rain and fog did not make the journey any easier but lucky for us, Tonti is a great driver and nothing could distract her from the long drive up. We missed the turning to our hotel, not our fault, the Kinabalu Mountain Lodge is situated away from the main road and if you miss the sign, you are pretty much screwed, like we were. GPS doesn’t really work way up here, so it was just us and our instincts, which just made matters worse cause everyone’s instincts was pointing to a different direction. So we drove up the Kinabalu Park which was actually 2km away from our lodge to ask for directions. The lady at the counter asked for entrance fee before realizing we were only asking directions. We then headed down and got lost again and went back to the Park for better instructions and the lady asked for entrance fees again!

This was actually taken at 6.30am on Day 3 when the mist cleared for like half an hour, but this is the view from our room at the lodge

Drive up to the lodge

After getting more accurate directions from the very helpful staff at the Park, we headed onto the road that leads to our lodge. The lodge is situated 1KM off from the main road. It’s a steep drive up to the lodge and can get quite muddy heading up and we had to drive on the lowest gear. It is advisable to get to the lodge before 6pm as it gets dark fairly quickly and there is no lights along the road heading up to the lodge.

The weather was very cold, and were all freezing, except for Deviljoe, whose shorts was still too warm for her. The rooms have no heater nor AC and trust me, none is needed. The bathrooms are shared and dinner is RM8 per pax, prepared upon request by the caretakers. We had brought some instant noodles and the warm soup was more than comforting.

Couldn’t see much of the view, which was all mist anyway, once it got darker and we got down and ready for a cold night

Jesselton Misty Tales Day 1

2014-02-20T06:58:00.000-08:00

The land under the breeze.Sabah…what started out as Jesselton town is now known as Kota Kinabalu and this is a place where history runs deep, and can be witnessed by the actions of the people here. Ask anyone and they will tell you their town is Jesselton and you can find many shops still using this name in their business signages.

This is my first trip to Sabah with the diplodocus, Deviljoe and Tonti Chee, to which I must say, the furthest state of Malaysia has proven to be one of the most interesting and beautiful places.

Day 1

We decided to spend our first night at KK Town before heading out to Kundasang the next day. Having our 90 day pass to Sabah and securing our Myvi for the drive around town, we headed to Gaya Street to find our accommodation at the Asian Adventure Lodge.

Part of the Gaya Street decorated for CNY 2014

The view from the Lodge Pantry

It wasn’t very hard to find our hotel, but the parking was a pain in the ass. As the street is pretty much as famous as KL’s Petaling Street, you can imagine the kind of parking space they had. Most of the shops entrances are actually behind the main street, so if you see a signboard for a restaurant along Gaya, don’t be surprised to find no entrance to the shop.

Though we reached 3 hours later than our check in time, we were a little surprised to find the room not ready. Hungry and excited, we decided to dump our bags at the reception and skipped off to the nearby restaurant Fong Ip for some chow.Whatever you do, do not ask for roti canai or nasi lemak around here. Pretty much sucks.

The shared pantry. Breakfast is provided but is a simple toast and jam

After jalan jalan for a bit, we headed back to the tiny lodge to shower and change. The owner, I found, was a little too talkative and wasn’t too subtle in hiding her political views. So if you decide to stay here, be prepared to hear her many interesting views and life stories + do not book on Agoda as she blatantly informed me that she does not check the bookings made on this site..sigh, no wonder la our room wasn’t ready when we arrived. But she is very helpful in giving ideas on the dos and donts around KK and offers good prices if one is interested on tours. But since we had rented a Myvi, its much cheaper to get around compared to taking tours to the sites.

The temperature dropped to about 21 deg at night and winds can get pretty chilly. It was a cool welcome from the heatwave that is Kuala Lumpur. This first night, we decided to have some local Chinese food and coconut pudding from Restoran masakan sedap@ Hilltop, Jalan Lintas, Luyang. The pudding is served in the coconut itself and looks like tau foo fa but it’s very cooling and fresh.

The Pudding comes in the coconut, 1 coconut is plenty to be shared by 4 pax

One dish down on my list of to-eats..45 more to go. Some how I have doubt that I can completely try everything that’s on my list..but hey, when on holiday, whats reasonable right?

Whats say now Mayan?

2013-12-31T07:30:00.001-08:00

I remember the end of 2012 and everyone was wondering how the Mayan prediction would affect them. A cycle had ended and new one was beginning. But new cycles does not only mean good beginnings, sometimes they bring good endings too

So for this post I would like to dedicate my writing to those whom I have had the privilege of seeing or hearing their new cycle stories of 2013

To the man who thought that he had found an undying and eternal love in his marriage, but who instead is faced with separation and singledom this new year’s eve, okey, I know that sounds kind of rough, but what I want to say is that life doesn’t always turn out the way we expect it to. But it’s always the darkest before the dawn, so keep the spirit up!

To the man who got married this year after many battles with his traditional minded parents, I wish you all the best and happiness with your new wife. Count your blessings everyday.

To the lady who after hanging on to many different arms of men, (okey that’s rough too, but hey who said life was smooth anyway?)Am honestly grateful that you have landed one(arm?) for good. May you have that (arm?) to hold for many many years to come.

To the lady who is pregnant this New Year’s eve (Yeay!!! Woo HOOO!), there is no greater joy in having a little one. I don’t have one of my own, but one dino-nephew is enough to bring the joy of the planet to my home. Anyway, May you be blessed with gazillion more children and I shall always be around to be the coolest aunt they have.

To the lady who is celebrating her tiny tot’s first New Year, may he always be blessed with friends who have the bond and love as we do.

To the one who lost her love this year, I know just how hard it gets. But stay on that road, and remember you have so much love all around you. Especially from your sisters and family members( probably I should eat this advice myself)

To the one who lost a friend this year. You should have known better, but friends will forgive and forget. Do not give up if you think they are worth your time.

To the one who had found a new friend this year, friendship is something that can stay with you your whole life. They will love you for who you are, always be that shoulder to cry on, to play pranks on and friends are the one who will let you eat as many cupcakes as you want without reminding you about damn calories. Cherish it as it is a good friend that makes the world go round.

Every year comes with different stories and different surprises. Bring it on 2014!

Tana Aina Farrah Soraya

2013-11-25T08:07:00.001-08:00

Wow. Hasn’t it been awhile. Tons going on in the month of October, and I just missed posting stuff. The loss of a 13 year friendship, and an 8 month friendship, and the seemed failure at building a working relationship with someones. And all within a few weeks, phew, it really can take an emotional toll on a person.

Anyway, every day is a new day, and with it comes new stories and new people. So here’s me hoping for sunnier days ahead.

Speaking of sunny days, I think we all need to get out into the sun once in a while. Go to the seaside…go to the playground… or Maybe a jungle?

I had heard from people at work and the beloved Pabi that there was a retreat getaway into the wilderness about an hour’s drive from KL. The Tana Aina resort is located in Bentong, Pahang and is definitely a place built for city dwellers to take a weekend away from all electronic gadgetry and just lounge around a river like an iguana. Tana Aina is actually 88 acres and is owned by a Puan Sri Sabrina, whom we had the grace of meeting on our stay at the resort. A robust lady, she has divided the land into 5 different areas and each of the area is named after one of her 5 daughters. The resort is named Tana Aina Fara Soraya. The resort comes with a camping ground, chalets and dorms so guest can choose their accommodation style and price is at per person per night.

Campsite

Day 1

Thinking that the camping would be more of a challenge, diplodocus, chooz, pekster and I decided to try it out. The journey to Bentong took us about an hour’s drive to the 808 exit off the PLUS. Now be sure to call the driver and inform them of your exit as the phone line gets pretty bad after this. We then drove on a smaller road, bypassing small towns..be sure to look out for Kampong Sang Lee, the Durian King Kampong as the turn off to the resort is about 2 km after this kampong.

Kg Sang Lee

Fofi had to go onto a gravel road of about 400 meters before we reached the parking lot of the resort. From here we had to take a 4 wheel drive into the resort itself. If there are many guests, some of them will be ‘placed’ on a small lorry for the ride into the resort. Don’t get me wrong here, am sure its loads of fun, but in my personal opinion, it’s Like chickens going into the market.

Anyways, the minute we got down from the 4 wheeler, we were greeted with welcome drinks(lime and mint, my favourite!) and cool towels. There was only one other family there, who was checking out, and after signing our indemnity forms, we were informed that for today, we would be the only guests in the entire resort. Couldn’t get any better than this…

Toilets are very close the camp..but pls keep clean folks

Our bags were brought down into the tent. So much for roughing it, we didn’t even need to carry our own bags! The tent had power supply in it, so we had a fan and a socket to charge our phones. Looked like the best tent in the house as it faced the river and had the best way to get down to the river and laze on the rocks. As we sat (jumping for joy) at the being the favored guests, we got the call for lunch( boleh pergi makan sekarang ye kak, music to our ears) The communal dining hall is about 50m from our camp and is situated next to the river. Our plates and cutlery were laid out on the table just next to the river and there was the most amount of food we have seen in a while. 5 different dishes, rice, fruits and 2 types of dessert. For a second, it did feel like we were chickens to be taken to the market. But the food was amazing and something about eating outdoors just makes one more hungrier.

Our tent

Free Durians!

Our lunch- fit for a king

Durian Pudding

The first afternoon is meant for trekking to a nearby waterfall. We had to forgo this activity, as some of us were not very well, but the trek goes through 2 rivers, the first is about knee deep and the 2^nd is about 6 feet of water. Guest are provided with life jackets and even pelampungs to get across the 2^nd waterfall and is quite safe. Though we only lounged about the river in front of the camp, and ate durians by the riverside, it was more than relaxing to just soak up the sights and sounds so its okay even if you miss any of the activities.

Diplodocus did manage to get a real Iguana’s attention and though the chooz tried to get closer to the guy (maybe she thought she could make a new friend), one of the staff managed to shoo him off the rock that was near our tent. Plenty of frogs (many princes’ for Pekster) and watch out for the colorful butterflies and dragonflies. Lucky enough, you might catch some blue birds on the trees in front of your tent.

This is followed by tea break at 4.30(more food). We had doughnuts and curry puffs with Mee Hoon and more fruits. After which we decided to explore the resort. There is a TV right after the communal dining and guests can watch astro here or spend the time reading. There is a bookcase with some magazines, so if you don’t bring your own, just borrow one from the cupboard.

The Y would have loved this tea break

A bridge across the river will bring you to the dorms, communal hall and the chalets. Tons of fish in the river, you can ask the staff the there for fish food(RM2 a pack) and just stand around hours on end, feeding fish. There are swings and seating areas a plenty for guests to just sit back and enjoy the view. As we headed back to our tent, we pit stopped at the dining and had our dose of misai kucing tea. Oh, did I mention? We get tea, coffee and misai kucing tea, which is an excellent antioxidant, free round the clock.

Biscuits are also free 24/7

Dinner is served at 7.30 and we had so much of barbequed meats, fries, garlic bread, spaghetti and nasi goring, and the yummiest dessert of fruits and cream and kuih koci…whoosh, I really didn’t think I could eat any more. Come to think of it now, I seriously miss that food. This is then followed by a night walk up a hill, its kind of steep to go up the hill and it takes roughly 20 minutes for a fit person to reach the top. From what I hear, the sight of a sky full of stars is worth the hike.

But then again, we for-went this activity too, as we were too beat to do anything. So instead, they put on MIB3 for us at the Dewan and we played scrabble while watching the movie. Still unsure if FIFA is acceptable, but congrats to our first time winner, Pekster. We went back to our tent around 11, after another dose of misai kucing, and I would advise to bring along your own blankets as the ones provided were pretty thin. There is no hot water at the resort and having showered with ICY cold water, the night air does not get warmer, so either bring along your blankets, or thicker nightwear.

Day 2

The morning walk is at 7am, guest will need to go up manmade steep stairs to reach the top of the hill to enjoy the sunrise. Pekster and I decided to take the walk later as we just wanted a slow day. We woke to cool morning air and the sound of the water rushing by. Then headed out to the communal for our breakfast of nasi lemak, bathura, roti bom, toast and jam, cereal and fruits. One could really get use to this, trust me.

Part of the breakfast

Start of the trek. There is a tougher track for advanced hikers that go along the route of abt 5km into the jungle

jambu air! unfortunately, not ripe

While the chooz and diplodocus decided to get their noses into their books, pekster and I went round to check out the dorms. Being the only guests, we were allowed to go anywhere in the resort and to even go into the other empty rooms and chalets. The dorms are situated on the first floor above the communal hall, so if you want somewhere more cleaner and further from iguanas and frogs, you can lodge here. The Toilets are situated just outside the dorms and are very clean.

From the dorms, we headed up the hill. The resort has plenty of fruit trees, so we tried to guess which tree is for which fruit, and some of the fruits were only just growing. Along the way up, the bends are pretty steep, and having my knee issue, we took our time to go up. Try not to go alone as in some of the bends, there are also straight tracks that go around the hill, so always have someone with you to avoid getting lost. The view from the top of the hill is cool, and the overall trek is fairly easy..makes Broga hill look like mount Everest. Took us an hour(plus lepak time) to go up and make the journey down.

Stairs for the morning walkers

View of the top. Jangan sesat ye

More misai kucing tea, and we could see by then that the days guest was starting to stream in. The resort gets about 100 visitors per weekend on average and we had a really good time being the only guests, as we had the priority on every corner. After a shower and saying our goodbyes to the animals of the resort, Chooz had her goodbyes for her friend, the bees, pekster to her husband, the frog prince and diplodocus to her beloved iguana king. You will all be sorely missed..we headed back to the city, relaxed and happy.