37!

 OK to be honest, this is the year that I'm finally admitting that I'm growing old. No more denying.

Firstly because this year 100% ppl will call me kak already, and the lowest age I can tell people without they second guessing is 29.

I mean my Enercon US boss did thought I was 26 (when I said 36) but then again he's American.

And Opah Anjang did ask if I'm still in school(uni) but she's almost 90 and in poor health. (God bless her.)

So both doesn't count.   

And then there's the grey hair. 

The amount of grey hair I see this year is alarming. Chaoi literally have to sit for 20mins to pluck those obvious ones protruding on the top of my head. Not accounting those at the side of my forhead.

And then there's climbing, While strength wise I thought getting better, fitness wise, I can silently admit I'm getting breathless when I do endurance.

I used to refused to admit that I cant climb better bcos I'm old cos obviously I climb better than most ppl in their 20s.

Also I cant say that cos I literally started climbing at 29. Actively training at 33. 

Unless I have been climbing since Im 16, I'm not gonna say I'm too old for this shit.

BUT, 

this year, I think I can say that, (though I still will not) because I have been climbing hard for 4-5 years now. There is some if not a lot of differences I can feel in my fitness level. 

But I'm still hopeful. and I wanna see how far I can go still.

If those Korean aunties can still climb 7c at 40-50yrs why cant I?

So HB to me!

Revisited : Things to do before you reach 30

I wrote this post back on 2008 and kinda funny to look back of what I planned to do before I get to the big three-oh.

Some I've achieved, some I don't want to pursue any longer, some is still ongoing and some of them are ridiculous and doesn't even make sense at all.

So lets recap and see what I can add (what I still hope to achieve) before I turned 30. Hehe

1. Get a degree of course. Checked
2. Grow taller. I still can. I'm optimist. :P Haha No. I've been 163-164cm for 10 years now.:D
3. My own goddammit BMW One of the things I no longer have interest to pursue.Cars.
4. Go to Emirates Stadium Yeah still pursuing!
5. Speaks 5 languages - Malay, English, Mandarin, French, Arabic. I can probably cross off Mandarin now. 
6. Buy a house for my family. I really wanna stay with my family before i got married because I've been away from them since i was 10..=( My family already got a house. So I'll change it to just buy a house for me now. And that - Checked
7. Own an LV handbag *just one is enough* ;);) Nooooooo longer interested.
8. Working with Petronas or Malaysian National Space Agency. No longer pursuing. Current job is also my dream job since the last year of my degree. So sort of Checked.
9. Go Bungee Jumping Checked
10. Bawak my maktok and abahtok jalan2 and make them happy cos they've raised me and for being the coolest grandparents in the world! :P Maybe I have not exactly bawa them jalan2 but so far I've not forgotten to give some pocket money to them or treat them for dinner if I had the  chance. I know its not enough but i will always remind myself on this.
11. Live in another country for few months Yea still pursuing but I don't put it under before 30, just one of my life wishes now.
12. Pay for my brothers education or their cars or clothes anyhing. Supercool sister in the making.=P=P Not gonna pay for their car, but the rest is on schedule.:D
13. Bring my family to oversea for a vacation. If they up for it. So far they always declined all my travel idea. but yeah still pursuing.
14. Lasic Eye surgery Still considering. Not a priority though.
15. Go to MUSE concert If they still playing yeah why not.
16. Date Farid Kamil T__T I guess 2008 me was wayy into Farid Kamil. 
17. Talk to Mr.F This is also the time I have major crush at my Control Theory lecturer who's like  6 feet tall and 6 years older. And NO I did not get to talk to him. Haha

Well obviously most of it were not a real wishlist. And obviously my thinking is a bit different back then. I read these and I was like 'what the hell were you thinking man?'

So this year 2015 version wish. I might want to alter some of these wish. The big three-oh is less than 2 years time.
So mostly its just things to do in my life. Will no longer put a limit on what age i should get it all done. 

1. I probably wont be pursuing masters. Kinda already made up my mind on this.
2. I still get my fascination on being tall. Though I'm already considered tall among the women in my country, but I still dream of having long legs like Coco Rocha or Gigi Hadid, all those runway models. I believe a lot of girls do. (At the time I probably stalked Miranda Kerr and Alessandra Ambrosio on a daily basis)
But since growing taller is no longer an option, I can always count on high heels. (Wait this is not a wish)
3. I probably would buy a decent car incase my 20 year old Kancil decided that it have reached its time. But defo not BMW or that sort. Just as long as it is 4 wheeled and could bring me to point A to point B.
4. Go to Emirates.(plus watch a match there but I know its kinda impossible due to all of the season pass and everything)

5. After Mandarin, i'll probably go back to my Arabic learning. Brush up whatever I've forgotten and continue to master it.
6. Buy another house.
7.What bag now?
8. I wish I could be working on something i have a passion for. Haven't figure out what it is yet. At the moment I just wish to do my best at my current job. Maybe Lead Engineer in 5 years time? Maybe, I dont know if that's what I really want yet. Lead Engineer means more time = more headache = less life, where i dont really have that much life as it is. So ok, probably not. I don't know.
9.Go to a bungee jump that are more than 22m drop. Probably in New Zealand.
10. Will still try to remind myself on this whenever I visited them.
11. Live in another country for few months.
12. More to keep an eye on them to not make a lot of debt at early age. And force them to follow me travelling when they have their own money soon.
13.Back to point no 12 second phrase. If parents not agreeing to this, I'll drag my brothers.
14. Lasic Eye surgery, InsyaAllah.(In God's will)
15.Go to Muse concert haha yeah whatevs.
16 & 17 - obsolete.
New 16. I wanna go to Mekah for Umrah
New 17. I want to make sure I read (and understand) the Quran's content.

I'm gonna add another 3 to make it 20. I'm sure its gonna be all travel related.

18. I wanna go to Greece
19. I wanna go Istanbul
20. I wanna teach something. To primary schoolers, high schoolers, to uni students. I dunno what but yeah. Teaching.


So done all 20.
Will revisited this from time to time.

It's my birthday month!

I have few other drafts that are waiting but I'm gonna jump ahead and write this instead.

So I turned 28 this month.
I traveled solo to few places this year, got my dream job, meet new people and towards the end of my 27th year, own a house. It's not much, but it will be home.
Everything is to be grateful for.
To be honest, after I graduated my undergrad studies, there's not much to complain about.

It's been a while since I make any resolution for new year and new age. So next year I will,

1. ProbablyDefinitely manage my money wisely.
2. Involve in any charity related stuff

I have few projects in mind, more places to go and more and more cash needed lolz

What I look forward to in 2015,
1. Involve in designing large scale projects in my current company.
2. Experience the pain of house owners, what need to be done i.e.installing door/window grills, lighting/electricity, furniture and mostly: the monthly installment!
3. My travel in April. I'm scared but excited at the same time.

I don't have any fixed plan on the second half of the year but, roughly I have some plans and hope I can go there. I mean,  achieve it. Hehehe

The best thing about being an adult is that you don't have to depend on other people to achieve your dreams. It's all on you.

We'll see how thing pans out. InsyaAllah.

Grumpy me on my birthday eve waiting for my burger that never arrives.

Picture thanks to my dad lol.

With colleague Jaron.

I wanna compile all the pictures of things I've done this year, but I'm lazy now so probably next time.Have a great year ahead people. (^_^)

Koh Lipe adventure Part 2 : Koh Lipe - Koh Adang

Sunday, 21st Sept.

Our van arrived at Pak Bara terminal around 11am and I met 2 couples from Malaysia and 1 Singaporean guy who I spent time with on the island. One of the guy turned out to be my senior in MMU. (the purple shirt guy in the picture with his girlfriend) what a small world. 

Inside the speedboat

The boat depart from Pak Bara at 11.30am and we arrived on the island 1.30pm and it was raining the whole way to Koh Lipe. 

Upon arrival

Sunrise Beach, Koh Lipe on a rainy day

I checked in at a place called Harmony Bed and Bakery. My first choice was Mountain Resort when I was planning to go with my family. But since I ended up going alone and I have 3 trips on September and need to monitor the expenses, I chose this one. It cost me RM74 per night, have aircond and wifi and looks nice on Agoda. It was not by the beach but near enough and its near the walking street which I love.

Turns out, I really love the place. It was like, my own personal crib on the island.
The TV have HBO channel and most importantly it shows EPL matches, with Thai commentary. Hehe. Since i've already missed Arsenal game the night before, I'm glad that i could still watch Man Utd got thumped by Leicester City and after that City and Chelsea draw. All during my holiday time. Haha. What a bliss.

Ok back to the hotel. It was very neat. Staffs were friendly, I got complementary drinks upon arriving, they have pipes to watch your sandy feet before going up to your rooms and most importantly wifi.
Good wifi connections.

 Hot shower!

They also have this bakery downstairs that sell good muffins and coffee. I had the blueberry muffin and hazelnut coffee on my second day. Love them.

I know I always think myself as adventurous but when it comes to accommodation, I still need civilized necessities like air-cond, hot shower and wifi (bonus if they have sports channel on their television) So 5 stars to Harmony Bed and Bakery!:D

But if you want to enjoy holiday that is closer to nature you can still get a lot of that bamboo made huts with fans, mosquito net and hammock. Like, Castaway Resort. This particular room is directly facing the sunrise beach so when you take off the blinds, you will naturally be woken up by sunrise. 

One of the huts.

Oh after arriving on the island, I settle down all my stuffs. Go online for a little bit. I didnt get internet connection for a day, so I was like a fish finding water at the time. 

Nothing we can do that day cos its still raining and its already like 3pm by the time I'm done with my checkins, foursquare, swarmed and everything. So I met Eugene and the two couples, we just walk around the Walking Street find something to eat and chatted until about 6pm.

A lot of bars and other shops in the Walking Street are closed during this time for upgrading and reconstruction.

 Our plan to go to Sunset beach got cancelled because I'm afraid of dogs. Heh.
Hard to believe I'm scared of something, but no I'm not telling the story about dogs here, that could be another post of its own later. hehe.

Monday, 22nd Sept.

Finally, the day I've been waiting for, after all I've been through in the past 2 days, I finally got my rewards, island hopping + tour + snorkelling trip.
And thank to God, the day was bright and shiny.

No we didn't follow this package. This are package for high-season. 

For ours, we skip all the  eastern parts due to high tides. Went to 5 spots around Koh Lipe and Koh Adang and for 6 person its only cost 2400THB including lunch. Damn cheap.:D

Unlike Perhentian, where we go island hopping using speedboats, here they use the longtail boats. 

A bit slow and steady but, we got all the time in the world so who cares.:D

Koh Hin Ngam, the island of stones.

This is our first destination, it literally made up of stones, no sand whatsoever.

The Island also comes with curses. So beware:D

All of the stack of stones done by previous tourists.

My 12 tier masterpiece.

That is actually Koh Lipe, seen from Koh Hin Ngam

Why is all these pictures looks nice on my phone but not on my computer? T_T

Koh Adang.


Koh Adang is kind of a biggest brother of all the island there, hovering above little Koh Lipe.
Where all the developments and parties are everywhere in Lipe, Adang is more laid back, low profile and serene.

Not only it have white beach and clear water, it also have waterfalls.

Pirate's fall, Koh Adang

After Koh Adang we went to this small island near Koh Lipe called Koh Kra, we didn't go to the island but the boat man said the underwater is nice for snorkelling.

And ya it was damn nice.

Actually they got a lot of sea urchins here. I mean A LOT a lot.

They also have jellyfish here, but luckily I managed to not get stung.:D

I swear the clam was moving but its not when I try to take a video of it.:(

Tuesday, 23rd Sept.

So last day. I couldn't actually sleep well during all the nights I'm here. I will wake up every one or two hours. But I don't know why I couldn't think of waking up to watch the sunrise the day before.

After waking up few times, at almost 6 only I realize that I should go watch the sunrise. Since I already blow my chance of sunsets. So I run as fast as I could to the shore and able to witness this.(^_^)

Sunrise Beach, Koh Lipe

Then I went back to my room and pack up my stuffs. Boats will leave the island at 9am.

Saying goodbye.

My company on this trip,

Tommy, Tong, (look how obvious my sunburn is standing next to the leng luis) Ruby, Loon, and Eugene.

From, floating jetty, Koh Lipe on the background.

On the return trip, these longtail boats brought us to the floating jetty further up the shore because the speedboats couldn't go near the beach for the risk of damaging the corals.

Pak Bara Terminal

The return ticket from Lipe to Pak Bara include van ride from Pak Bara to Tammalang Jetty. Cost 600THB. Still cheap considering during peak season the PakBara-Lipe boats itself already cost 650THB excluding the van or whatever.

Tammalang Jetty

The King of all crabs - Tammalang Jetty, Satun, Thailand.

So I took a ferry back from Tammalang back Langkawi and I'm in Malaysia again.

My suggestion, if anybody wants to go there from Langkawi, please go on November onwards, when there's direct speedboats available from Langkawi to Koh Lipe itself. 

Other way is to take a flight to Hatyai.

Or just drive there by car. But if you're driving, you have to study the roads first.

So in short, it was a trip full of unexpected events for me, but still it was worth it. Somewhat unsatisfactory but worth it. I might want to return back there to visit Koh Rawi and Koh Khai, to see the archway and maybe just, enjoy the island a little more. We'll see about that. 

My next island trip will be next year. If God's will. Based on this trip, there's a lot I have to prepare and expect.

I can't wait.:)