11 of 12 Months of 2017

Assalammu'alaikum family, friends, readers and followers of this blog. My favourite month of the year.. November - A month filled with birthday of special people inclusive of mine!

So the first begin with me going to work as usual. Oh yesterday was a rainy day, and I used the wet weather shoe my husband bought us from Decathlon and it was superb!! Great grips - so no fear of slipping off the slippery road surface, it was covered so it was comfortable to change gear! Waterproof, so my socks are not 100% soaked by the time I reach my destination, just a little wet because duh! It doesn't wrap my whole leg. LOL!

The waterproof pants is also superb! It felt light, and breezy and kept me dry crotch and all. I cant say for sure, so I will re-review this in 3months' time. The top of my raincoat is a 3month old waterproof jacket, also from Decathlon. I tell you these stuff seems to be of better quality than any other raincoat I have tried. It cost $27.90 for the jacket, I think it cost $15 for the pants and $8 for the shoes. Cheaper than Rev-it whatever version it may be.

Birthdays.... 2nd is mine... We just went to have a private dinner out, three of us.

4th is Baby M's mama and my Mama H's birthday... It is also Baby M's graduation concert. She is so adorable up on stage!

5th is my husband's - we went to the Zoo with Mama H, Abg & Hamtaro! And as Mama H was queuing up to get tickets, a lady approached us and asked if we need 4 tickets and well, yea! And she went like come along with me, i had free tickets and short of 4 adults.. What a birthday treat eh!! I was just teasing Mama H to psyco the staff to let her in as a bday girl, and look what greeted us! Alhamdulillah! Thank you stranger! You will be remembered and your gesture is very much appreciated!

Aprila, Gambi & Jati!

3 little ducks went out one day, over the hill and faraway....

6th - I had an appointment at NUH to hear all the results from both of us. Results were not fantastic, but it is not the end of the world. We were given some options that we can take, and we took the whole day thinking about it. We brought her out to the airport after school, her pleas to bring her on the aeroplane... one day baby, one day.. One day, you will travel with us on an aeroplane all around the world.

Of late, I keep imagining a scenario that would not let me care for Baby M and I cried.. And I think I stressed out a little and developed fever after sending her to school on Tuesday. As usual, she didnt make it to school on Wednesday and Thursday, apparently, she too ran a fever.. We seem to have locked a connection there since forever. I miss you Baby.. Even for that one day I go without you, I miss you. I don't know how to live without you. The thought itself kills me. How baby, how?

As much as I dread it, it was probably for the betterment, her mom said I don't need to fetch her until Wednesday when I return from my holiday. Looks like the fever will stay.. I hope you will be better soon, baby!

10th - Off we go for our post birthday celebration - just me and him
We returned to Langkawi. Our plan really is just to chill out. Like disconnect and rejoice what we have. I didn't plan a real itenary.. Just maybe revisit Telaga Tujuh, in hope we can hike to the top.. Enjoy the beaches and pasar malam. We may be renting a car.. but not entirely sure. Maybe we can make do with a bike. I don't know..

So we packed at the eleventh hour, right on Thursday night. And off we go!

The day FINALLY came and... I've posted my whole itenary here.

We were totally having post holiday lagged and lazed the rest of our Monday. We were very tempted to fly again for a short trip to KL and back that night, but decided we need the $ more than to drain our energy in KL, so we grab some lunch slot at Andes and head right back to home.

I had another day of leave, and I refused to move until almost noon. Managed to cook though. I just wish I could spend my whole life doing just this. At least I accomplished buying groceries and cook for the husband and my stomach of course, and I get to watch shows after shows.. If I had another day, I'd be sewing a storm, I promise! But I got bills to pay, so I need to head back into the office.

Wednesday cheered me on with the hopes to fetch Baby M home! Oh how we missed her!!

Guess what she said to me the moment she woke up at my house? Hmm.. no I love yous or I miss yous.. but "Mak, have you packed my panties for school tomorrow?" I had to laugh at her face. haha. Of all the things she could ask me, all she is concern abt are her panties for school! For one, I know she had her priorities right, she knows school is important and it is good to remind me of the important things. And no worries, she did say her I miss yous after that. Oh how I love her so much!  I don't know how to deal with next year's plan.. But I know I have to.

We went to my mom's the next day after school because both my mom and her is missing each other. She was excited to end school to go my mom's place, really. My darling husband sent her to school that day, because he was on leave, and I was running late.

You know, my biggest pet peeves in the office is those colleagues who come into the office all so sick to spread them germs to me. Nothing is more soothing than a cup of warm tumeric milk to loosen all my phlegm and tame the cough. Hopefully it does its magic in increasing my immune as well.

I cant rotate the picture, annoying, but oh wells, we make do! 

For the recipe, you can ask google, and adjust to your tastebuds, if necessary.

For mine (I am not going to pin myself responsible if you body reject this)
- a cup of milk of your choice (or more if you want more than a cup)
- a teaspoon of tumeric
- 1-2 spoons of honey
- tea bag (optional - I had too much tumeric and added a teabag if taste wonderful!)

Put the cup of milk to low heat saucepan, once it is warm, add tumeric and the other ingredients to boil, then strain it all into a cup, and drink it up. I felt horrible the first 2 minutes, coughing like mad (I guess it is trying to expel the phlegm) but after that, it is soothing to my throat, and I felt great.

My BFF should be in Chennai now. I hope all her plans goes very smoothly. It is a little sad that I didnt get to send her off.

I received a blog review request, one after a long while! I cant wait to do it! So exciting!

We had a parent-teacher meeting scheduled on Saturday 25th November at 9.30am. Don't ask. ;) It was all good though. Except she cried because she fell asleep, and arrived at school a little lost to be greeted by Teacher Nina and Ustazah Liyana. shocked I guess. It felt like it was her first day of school all over again. We had a good chat with Teacher Lin and Ustazah Liyana. Generallly same comments, abt her natural self being more of a leader who helps and shows her friends the hows.

That Saturday, was very long.. We visited both our parents and spent some time with them. So after the parent teacher meeting at her school, we head to Clementi for quick breakfast before crashing my mom's. I spend a good portion of it sleeping my menstrual cramps away.

We then went to have late lunch at Seoul Garden at Jurong Point, then treat the little girl to some seedplay, before we head down to my in-law's. And then home sweet home.

We planned a day out for Sunday just walk off and make memories kindda day...

We walked through the Helix Bridge, I was involved in some of the drafting and 3D modelling in this one, although a small part, I felt proud... Until I felt vibrations and start being paranoia. Hahaha!

I enjoy watching her run, play and pose.

The following Monday, I felt crappy and felt like I should quit my job and just not work, or if I need to, I rather do part time, or temporary work like 6 months job, 1 mth break, 2 months job, 1 mth break, 6 months job kindda thing. But what is out there which is like this? I don't know. And having been working in a special 4 day work week arrangement, returning to a fixed 5-day work week will drain me in many ways. A lot of my appointments are on Fridays and Mondays. taking leaves like that will give me a null in less than a year, or exceed the MC quota in no time.

I felt like I am in a midlife crisis being on this cross junction all over again, I just suddenly don't know where to head, where to go, what I want. I don't seem to know anymore.

29th is my Ummi Yam's birthday, and it is also today that my Brother In Law is off for Umrah.

Today Baby M will also be back in my arms - hopefully. And also the start of all adjustments to happen in preparation for a break off work - to try live off a single income, maybe. I don't know what lies in the future. It will have strains, mood swings, and tough days, but I am sure more good will come out of it. At the most, it backfires, and I am back at work before the one year target, but at least I can say, I have tried doing it. Or maybe one year will drag on to three years, and we all live happily ever after. I mean who knows, right? I know it is only a para away when I mentioned this, but I guess that is because I wanted it so much for far too long already. I am just not living the way I want to live. I felt terrible hanging on to something that doesn't give me back some happiness or satisfaction. It is really horrible inside...

I don't think tomorrow with be much of a difference, so I shall just post this up with lots of hope for better things to write about next month.

Lots of love,
Jun

Wassalam.

Post Birthday Trip!

Assalammu'alaikum family, friends, readers and followers of this blog. This is the only thing that had me excited to head back home whilst I was there on the trip, really! 

But before all that... let's indulge in the transit area where massages are free...

I hogged this OSIM for at least an hour! I wish I didnt have to get up! 

We flew via scoot (not in pic - obviously!) this time, just to try it out...

Clearly, I enjoy the window view looking at the clouds!

1hr 10 mins later, we landed safe and sound!

So yes, we head back to Langkawi for our post birthday trip. Yes, the 4th for me, and 2nd for my darling husband. It was suppose to be his B'day surprise, but things happen and we went ahead for a post birthday.

I used booking dot com as usual, to book my stay! I have a code for you guys! If you used this link to book any stay, you will receive a 10% cashback refund upon check-out - so you need to check in and stay before you get the moolah but hey! Worth it anyway!

So yes, I booked the Sea Village Private Unit @ Langkawi Lagoon Resort. I lost the video I took of the room and balcony, but I managed to salvage the very little ones I remembered to take. I mean these kindda scenic views are all only magical when you are there to embrace it, you know.. Pictures dont always do justice to its beauty.

Yes! Above the sea!

we are on the 2nd storey :)

The view from our kitchen!

God's art is always always so gorgeous, isn't it?

I love the above-the-sea concept of this resort, very near to nature - the sea and gorgeous sunset and sunrise.. I love it! It is air-conditioned (so no worries about getting too warm in there). Free Wi-Fi. Buggy Service is available with just a phone call away. The TV channels are limited, but hey we are not planning to stay in the resort all day. We had quite a list to strike, so.. Ready for some actions?

And this is what greeted us if we get back just before or near sunset, aint it beautiful?

We arrived the airport at almost 2pm, someone was there to send us over to the Langkawi Lagoon Resort, got to the lagoon before 2.15pm, yes, it was nearby. Check in is at 3pm, so we walked around the resort to check out what is near us if we get bored. We walked to a minimart at Melaka Inn, just 5min walk away, and further up, we saw a Middle East Restaurant and Laundry Hut. We bought little munches and walked back to the resort just in time for the rain to pour down heavily and to check in. The stay here got a little under $400 for our 4D3N, check in at 3pm, check out at 12nn. Not too bad for a stay with a good view, balcony, kitchen and all. :)

We have a private beach too, but nothing much there, really.. 

Swimming Pool

And Children's Pool! And to be honest, I was missing baby M tremendously when I see this.

So we took the buggy ride safe from the rain to our place. We rest for awhile, waiting for the rain to subside a little so we can grab proper lunch. It finally did subside enough for us to walk to the Middle East Restaurant (the Rock) to get some Briyani (which cost us rm35!), then we head to the airport because husband forgot to get his Prepaid. We then walked to Padang Matsirat from the airport to find that place we had the best ikan bakar. We walked and we walked! We found the place, but it was closed and it is just 5pm! So we decide to walk further and just walk in some random place to grab something to eat - again! We stopped at Najjah Restaurant and grabbed a burger each. Not bad..

Oh! Wait, we didnt rent a car nor motorbike.. We simply grabbed everywhere we needed to go. Pretty good, fast and cheap! Our grab fare is ranging from rm5 to rm17, mostly rm5 really. The one exception was rm36 because we wanted to go Kuah (the town of Langkawi).

So, yes, our Friday is pretty relaxing. Nothing much but eat and rest. We start planning out our Saturday. We intended to go for the Skytrex, hit some beach, go Telaga Tujuh, and yes! We wanna go all out with great adventure and activity this time round, so yep.

Saturday came, and we head right to Skytrex like a little before their official operating hours, we arrived at 8.45am. Oh yes, early risers for holidays are norm for us! haha! We were saw a group of staff who immediately stood up when we arrived and were greeted by Azmir who explained to us the different packages available. He recommended us to try the extreme package first, which we obliged with confidence and excitement.

He did the briefing clearly and with patience. And we proceeded. We didn't have our phones or cameras with us that day so no pictures in action, but we had so much fun, we started planning to come back for the intermediate package! That is how hype we are about it! On a serious note, please do regular exercises prior to attempting this. It requires a lot of muscle work and stamina, especially the vertical challenge. Had I not return to running and cycling I doubt I would make it. Or at least not able to do it in 1hr 20minutes.

We strolled out to Kok Beach which is just a stone throw away. I dont know what was wrong with my phone, some pictures taken just cant be found.. Oh wells.

We grabbed lunch at our favourite place called Jom Ikan Bakar at Padang Matsirat, then head home for a quick nap before going up to the Telaga Tujuh. Husband didnt even make it to halfway mark 4yrs ago, so we are keen to get to the top this time round. And that we did, I am soooo proud of my husband, really!

It was fine, i swear.. and then all the lost pictures became like this.. Oh what happen... oh wells...

There are two monitor lizards that went out just as the rain was about to subside.. 

We reward ourselves with Cocounut IceCream and a full young Coconut drink, before we decide to hit back home and then to the night market at Kuah. It was to be the biggest Night Market in Langkawi which is there on Saturday Nights. We grabbed the usual yummies like Keropok Lekor, Ayam Percik, Nasi Kandar, etc which becomes our dinner. And any lack of, will be supplemented by the instant noodles we had on standby. :p

Night Market at Kuah

Sunday came, and we went right back to Skytrex for the intermediate package, and because we are a little late, it wont be just the two of us. 4 others joined in and will be doing it with us. We were like Azmir's pride of example and he kept going on like "these two came yesterday for the extreme and came back to do the intermediate" to the other 4.

The new friends we made! 

And after he was done briefing he made us go first to show the rest. It was indeed very fun, but the intermediate was more challenging than the extreme - that is for sure. The extreme one had the tough stuff going on in the first 3 obstacles and the rest are a breeze.. This intermediate one had multiple tough stuff going on right till halfway! So I reckon, if you really want to, go do the extreme first then return for the intermediate - like us. Had we did the intermediate first, I doubt we will return to do the extreme (at least not back to back like this). We complete this one in 2hrs flat with waiting and cheering the rest!

We got our certificates! 

We discovered the other 2 Singaporeans who were with us are staying just a lobby away! They stayed at the Ombak Villa and had no idea where to head out for lunch, so we suggested sharing a grabcar for lunch and back home. They are colleagues, with similar names, the Malay lady is Lina and the Chinese girl is Lena. How cool! This is their 2nd travel together. It does feel great to make friends while travelling!

Until we cross path again, Lina & Lena! Nice meeting you both!

We ended our last night here with a trip to the night market at Padang Matsirat and then head off to a good massage at Alun-Alun Spa. It was nice ambience and great relaxation hour there.

And with that.. we had to bid Langkawi goodbye..

To make me feel better, we grab lunch at Andes

Until we travel again...

Wassalam.
Jun