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MacRitchie Trails Part 3 – MacRitchie Reservoir

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Natural beauty -  MacRitchie Reservoir, Singapore

Last Sunday we were blessed with a very nice weather! Seemed like it was just raining the night before. The soil was still wet and leaves were dotted with dew :) Like usual, we all met at Bishan bus interchange at 7.15 am. Since my friend and I reached early, we managed to have our coffee at the staff cafeteria located just above it before we took bus 52 and stopped at Blk 454.

MacRitchie Trails Map (Photo Courtesy: Singapore National Parks)

This time, we walked along the MacRitchie Reservoir, but through passing by the Jelutong tower and walked all the way down to the south from our usual Venus car park entrance – see the map above for clearer picture.

Panorama view from Jelutong tower - MacRitchie trails, Singapore

Beautiful nature surrounding the Jelutong tower - MacRitchie trails, Singapore

It’s my first time walking through this route and again, I was amazed with the view it offered from the Jelutong tower. The jungle or forest view that I never thought that Singapore still had and preserved - pardon me as I was not born here so my impression towards Singapore was actually filled with man made things (including river, waterfall, etc), and high rise buildings.

Beauty of the flora - MacRitchie trails, Singapore

MacRitchie Reservoir, Singapore

Lovely view! - MacRitchie Reservoir, Singapore

Pristine nature - MacRitchie Reservoir, Singapore

The view of the reservoir and its surrounding calmed my heart and mind too...

Walking trail at MacRitchie Reservoir - Singapore

The path that we took, simply mesmerizing :) I would never get bored to walk through it over and over again. I wish Singapore had many more places like this. I wish Singapore had mountains too so that we could refresh and fill our mind with more such pristine nature...

Great walk accompany!!! :)

With morning walk khaki together, it wrapped up my weekend beautifully!!!

Our workout details :)

And as the above was the workout details, the journey we'd been through together!!! If you started feeling bored with shopping mall, never too late to start this habit and keep your health at bay!!! ;) Wish you all had a wonderful long weekend and beautiful week ahead!! Thank you for reading! Catch up the MacRitchie trails part 1and part 2, and decide your journey!!! :)

Morning journal - GRATITUDE :)

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Writing morning journal inside this comfortable public bus, on my way to work, gives me a sense of privacy, a "me-time", a moment, where I can speak to my heart of what I feel every morning, everyday, with a fresh mind, fresh brain.

Morning journal :)

Most often or not, gratitude feeling is what I conveyed as a fresh beginning, as I fold a new and mysterious day. It constitutes "living in the present moment", awareness of gratitude that most of us are blessed with great health, have enough sleep every night, have sufficient food and drink to sustain our physical body, have a job as chance to earn sufficient earning, for the presence of our loved ones everywhere in this world, for the love I'm able to give and receive, and so on.

Gratitude - The Magic by Rhonda Byrne 

The list is too long and it's a never ending feeling I have. There are always things to be grateful with.

Gratitude - The Magic by Rhonda Byrne 

Just like the above quote said, gratitude feeling can easily alter your mood. That grouchy feeling you encounter the day before due to many unhappiness or unfairness things in life, the unlovable feeling you have when someone break your heart, can't get what you want or make your dream come true, all that can change in a second, even millisecond, at the moment you think of gratitude.

Blessed with beautiful sunrise every morning! :)

It allows you to think positive instead. With the believe that everything happens for a reason - only for a good reason - you'll be able to start your day happier and live it fuller. So, find your"me-time" and empty notebook with a pen (if you don't have one, message me your name and address and I'll send you one). Start having this habit and see if your life changes tremendously for the better :)

But you're just a boy...

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Beautiful night life

It was a cooling and breezy Friday night. People gathered around the round tables in an alfresco pub, shielded by transparent glass with white ceiling fans on top running in full blast. Many small potted plants with colorful summer flowers occupied the wooden barriers that held the area closed. 

Seemed like the rain had just poured for a while that caused the stony floor outside looked so glazy and shimmering. The small lamp in each table changed its color every five seconds - from red to yellow, yellow to green, green to blue, blue to purple, and back to red again - illuminating the dark night. The place was pretty crowded. People chatter and laughter occupied the area. Clinking sound from the beer bottles and whiskey glasses made it a complete combination to get rid the stresses from the long week's away.

From where I stood, I saw you standing so close with another girl, wearing the smart pants and jacket with tie that I bought for you on your Birthday. She looked so young, pretty, curvy, with fresh bosoms appeared  from the sexy red tight-fit dress that she was wearing. Her lip was full and shining red, with rows of white teeth appeared when she was laughing. It was when you whispered some words to her ears so close that it almost touched. 

And then you saw me. 

Your reaction changed almost immediately. You left her right away and walked towards me. You were smiling and said hi. You tried to hug and kiss me but instead, I walked away. We ended up going back home with no conversation made inside the taxi. 

As I removed my make up in front of the dressing table, I said this to you, "You know, when you act like that..., I don't think you realize that how it makes me look..., or feel." 

You  laughed and replied, "Act like what?? Why are you so jealous? 'Cos it's not like I'm sleeping with the girl..." 

It was exactly like a scene in Beyoncé's song!!! What??? Is this for real??? You're kidding me!!!

But you’re just a boy
You don’t understand
Yeah, you don’t understand, oh...
How it feels to love a girl someday
You wish you were a better man
You don’t listen to her
You don’t care how it hurts
Until you lose the one you wanted
'Cause you’ve taken her for granted
And everything you had got destroyed

But you’re just a boy...

Queue for San Bu Yi Bai Ticket at Kwang Meng San Temple

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Today my alarm rang at 3.30 am. I saw my bestie greeting me'Good morning'from the what's app. I got up from the bed, went to the kitchen, boiled the water, prepared two set of cheese sandwich, then went to toilet to wash my face, brush my teeth, and change my clothes. At 3.50 am, she arrived with the Taxi at the bus stop nearby my house. I got in and we directly headed to the temple.

I had my firstSan Bu Yi Bai  (三步一拜) seven years ago together with my ex-colleague. She was the one who introduced me this. San Bu Yi Bai meaning - "Devotees usually line up to meditatively circumambulate the perimeter of the temple, bowing once every three steps, while chanting mantras or the name of the Buddha in praise of Him. This practice helps to purify the Mind, humble the ego and lessen obstacles along the spiritual Path."Some said that this practice would help to lessen our bad karma from previous life. 

That time both of us did not have ticket at all but tried our luck by going there and see if there was anyone who could not make it at the last minute and gave their spare tickets to us, A year later, I went together with my son (second attempt). It was when my son was still a Saturday/Sunday school's student and we were having privileged to have this procession - not on actual day - in a quieter environment and held early in the morning, instead of evening time.

Year after year I attended it again together with my bestie and dear son at the same temple, except last year, when we could not get our tickets and we ended up having the San Bu Yi Bai at Fo Guang Shan Temple at Punggol.

Dragon-long-like-queue for San Bu Yi Bai tickets at Kwang Meng San Temple

Due to our last year's experience - we reached KMSPKS before 8 am and found the dragon-long-like-queue and no chance in getting the ticket - so this year, we were determined to reach the temple, as early as 4 am!!! It was my first time queuing this early. In fact, other than getting into the airport for early flight departure, I would never go out so early like this.

Sat down, slept, brought your own chair, whatever....

However, we were not the only one who came that early. When we reached, there had already been more than 200 people queuing there, in front of us. And it was only around 4.15 am! OMG!!! Heard that those queued in front line were there since last night, after the lighting the Lantern activities held. And some came as early as 2 or 3 am. Hahaha.... Well, it was not a big surprise for Singaporeans to queue this way. Just likeHello Kitty crazeor queuing for the new iPhone, or even queuing for their superstar, and so on. But for religious event, this was one of the most wanted tickets that worth queuing.

Queued on wee hours - San Bu Yi Bai - Kwang Meng San 

I thought it was going to be boring to wait until the ticket collection time arrived. I brought coffee and book. My bestie brought newspaper and books to read. However, we were totally wrong!!! The people who queued in front of us, and at the back of us, we ended up making a lengthy conversation throughout the waiting time.

Time flew so fast and new friendship was made. Gan en :)

The shimmering face Aunty who was sitting in front of us was an old timer who usually queued at the first batch - that started at 5pm. She came with her husband and son, and a group of old timers. She was 62 years old this year and had been doing the San Bu Yi Bai for the past 20 years. She didn't look that old though and had a beautiful skin on her face that many people asked her for the secret cream that she applied. She too, did the voluntary work at the Kwan Im Temple in Bugis, the temple that I usually went to pray. No wonder I found her face so familiar, like I'd seen her before.

She told us many stories relating to her belief and devotion to the Goddess of Mercy or Avalokiteshvara. She kept saying '感 恩' read - gan en' - which means grateful, almost in every of her sentence, which made me believe the power of gratitude from whatever religion that you hold. She also told us the benefit of chanting any Buddhist mantra - in any language that you are familiar with. The easiest one that she recommended was 'Om mani padme hum'.

Om Mani Padme Hum (Soure: Google.com)

This six syllables invoked a very powerful benevolent attention and blessings of Chenrezig or Avalokiteshvara - as the embodiment of compassion. She truly believed with the compassion given by the Goddess of Mercy into her life, which reminded me a lot of my own mother. The love given by her to her children, her spouse, it was so much as great as my mom. I could imagine well how worried my mom when I studied overseas for few years, in a place so faraway. How she worried towards my other siblings who also went overseas to study for years. Her faith towards the God's above, towards the Goddess of Mercy was there and running down to us now.

I felt deeply grateful for everything that happened into my life, that shaped me into who I am now. I believed so much with the karma and past life. I believed with the connection, fate, for whoever I met in this life and for every situation that we lived in. I thanked my parents who had brought me up so well, infused us with a taste of education, into our well-being, ensured us to have enough food, clothing, and happiness in life. And above all, I conveyed my heartfelt gratitude to Buddha, Dhamma, and Sangha, who had always been with me, guiding me through in this current life's journey. I was lost before but I knew my fate would always be with you. Thank you, thank you, and thank you.

Thank you for the vegetarian meal you prepared and offered to us :)

The time passed so fast. The sky turned brighter unknowingly. The sun rose without we realized it. Then, it was time that we finally collected our tickets, and had a blessed simple vegetarian meal from the temple. Thank you for all the staffs who prepared it for us.

The queue still went on from inside the eating place

We went to pray before going back home, to express our gratitude once again. We finally had been given a chance to do this again, on the Vesak day, that would fall next week. I planned to bring my son with me. I hope his fate with Buddha, Dhamma, and Sangha, would continuously be there all through his life. I might not be able to be a good mom, nor a good teacher to him. But I hope I could lead and connect him into the Buddhahood. Let him find his way later on in his life.

Mission accomplished!!! :)

Thank you SB for the good karma, for the privilege and opportunity we would have. May all sentient beings benefit from it. Sabbe Satta Bhavantu Sukhitatta. May all sentient beings be happy. Sadhu Sadhu Sadhu. Svathi Hothu. Nammo Buddhaya. Amituofo.

When Breath Becomes Air - Paul Kalanithi

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No one is able to escape the death. The newborn babies, the successful and riches, the beautiful and young, the poor, the oldies, in fact, anyone, eventually one day we will all go to the same destination.

Paul Kalanithi  (Pic source: Google.com)

Death and life in the eye of Paul Kalanithi, a 36 years old man. Graduated from Standford University with a BA and MA in English literature, and BA in human biology. He too had MPhil in history and philosophy of science and medicine from the University of Cambridge and graduated cum laude from the Yale School of Medicine. He returned to Standford to complete his residency training in neurological surgery and a postdoctoral fellowship in neuroscience as it was his calling and passion to become a neurologist.

Birth and death - Samuel Beckett

He felt pain on his body and later on found out that he was diagnosed with stage IV of lung cancer. One day he was a doctor treating the dying, and the next he was a patient struggling to live.

What makes life worth living in the face of death? He had been asking this throughout his life. Through his experience he shared what agony he faced through the living, dying, and already dead body from his medical and philosophical point of view.

When breath becomes air- Paul Kalanithi 

Finally I managed to borrow and read this book. It's his dream to use his love and passion in literature to write the book before he disappeared from this world. Although he couldn't manage to finish writing it, he tried as best as he could to convey what he felt, his experience towards the upcoming dying, the unknowing time, which was later than what he expected and earlier than what he desired.

His wife, Lucy, continued the chapter at the last part, vividly expressed their feelings towards that final day and her gratitude towards the man that she loved deeply. It made me crying my heart out as I could feel their loss and pain. He had chosen his way on how to spend the rest of his life. Thank you Paul and Lucy to share your life with us. Rest in peace Paul...

Around India in 80 Trains by Monisha Rajesh

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Indian Railways - New Delhi, India

Sonam Tenzin has gifted me this book since last year when I visited Bhutan, but only recently I took it out from my shelf and read it. We knew each other from blogging and he knew that aside from writing blog, I loved traveling so much!!! That was why he chose this particular book for me. Well, that's what I thought as the reason why he gave me this, as the content of this book had inspired me to travel more, especially towards the Incredible India, the vast land with rich and diverse cultures that had so much things to offer.

However, I was wrong!!!

Around India in 80 Trains - Monisha Rajesh

"Good luck with your reading of the book. I wish to read this kind of books written by you someday. Travelling girl."

The above was what he commented upon seeing the book's photo in my Instagram page. Oh momo... He was actually inspiring me to write a book, instead of to travel!!! Hehehe... :) Name same kadinche la Nuchu! Thank you for your kind wishes and inspiring thought for me. I appreciate it very much la!

- Reading is like a travel quote -
This book, was a travelogue written by Indian who was born in Norfolk, UK, and grew up all over England. She read French and taught English before studying postgraduate journalism in London. It was her first book describing her full 4-months journey in India hopping in and out of 80 trains together with Jean Passepartout, a part-time wedding photographer who would like to expand his portfolio with travel photography, her travel companion throughout the journey.

It was based on her true traveling experience and she tried to consolidate all of her thoughts and experience from the journey into a compact 241-pages book. So everything was really written straight to the point and depicted the Indian cultures in her humorous ways.

Hazrat Nizamuddin Railway Station in New Delhi, India

I didn't know before that someone would want to experience such thing in India. I mean, I just never thought that someone would deliberately travel this way as the way of traveling around India. Not only to reach the destination - sightseeing to beautiful scenery and historical temples and buildings, but also to actually enjoy their life within the train itself. I mean, many took train simply as mode of transport to reach a destination, but not as experience that they were really working on and looking for.

From there, it opened up my eyes towards the locomotive industry in India that I never knew before. From the most luxurious Indian Maharaja Express - like the Deccan Odyssey that they both took as part of their train journey. I found out more about what the package offered on Youtube videoas I was wondering what made the fare sooo.... terribly expensive!!! Want to know how expensive it was???

Indian Maharaja - Deccan Odyssey (Pic source: Google.com)

As tariff for 2016-2017 - for International travelers 8 Days/7 Nights trip - a Deluxe cabin (for twin/double occupancy) cost USD$8,386 and Presidential Suite cost USD$12,579 and for Indian nationals, the Deluxe cabin cost them INR 5,36,710 and Presidential Suit cost INR 8,05,100. Wasn't it surprising you?? Well, it was, at least for me. So it was more like a five-star cruise on wheels. And from the video, you could observe that most of the guests were retirees, rich grannies, professors, and so on. Well, perhaps, it's different now as the author mentioned that she saw a young Swiss couple, Japanese ladies, newly weds were on board too.

The train would stop and park each day. The guests would continue their journey in bus for a day trip, visiting the magnificent places that each stop offered, plus high class meal in luxurious restaurant. Red carpet was spread upon embarking and disembarking the train with welcome dance and garland of flowers put on the guest' neck by the beautiful Indian ladies. All this explained the ridiculous high price it offered.

From there, Monisha too shared her encountered taking the Mumbai local train during peak hours. I watched another Youtube videoto see how interesting (horrible) it was. The below picture might give you an idea on how crowded the train station during the rush hour. Even ladies pushed with all their might in order to get in to the train in the ladies compartment.



On my visit to India last year,  I only took one train trip from Delhi to Agra, to visit one of the wonders of the world, the beauty white marbled mausoleum built by the order of Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan in memory of his favorite wife, Mumtaz Mahal. That too was only one-way trip there as we took bus to return back to Delhi.

This book was for you, if you loved to travel, if you loved to know what's out there outside your own home ground; what's out there in India, yeah, especially in India!!! The food, the people, the culture, the places, the religions, the beliefs, and so on!

All I really want - Quote by Rima Reyka :)

It was definitely for me!!! Thank you again Sonam for gifting me this beautiful travelogue. I couldn't promise that I would fulfill your wish - to read this kind of book written by me. However I believed that you had read lots of my traveling stories here, on this very blog of mine; from many different countries that I'd visited before. I might not capable in writing delicate and rich words like Monisha did in her book, but hope with my simple English, you could feel as if you were in my journey too, with pictures tagged all over, full of memories with everyone I ever met during my trips. One day, I will definitely meet you in person, and write the story here, as part of my travel blog post :) Shall we wish on that instead??? :)                                    

Sunday with Sangay

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"So, what's your plan for tomorrow?" my friend was asking me last night.

"Plan to wake up early and go for a walk. But I'll be alone. Most of my friends are not in Singapore. So let's see if I can make it. Otherwise I will sleep, eat, read, sleep, eat, read, and sleep," replied me.

And this morning, when the alarm was ringing, I turned it off and continued sleeping. Lol!

I felt hungry after waking up and asked my son to get ready so we both could have good local food for breakfast. And then I remembered that I supposed to meet someone who was coming from Bhutan. But I didn't have her number. All I had was only her email and I hadn't received her reply yet about the meeting today. I immediately sent message to Luzee and Uden asking them if they had her number. Uden didn't have while Luzee wasn't online. Haiz... so I just kept it cool and went out for late breakfast.

Baobei and I - while waiting for Sangay at her hotel's lobby :)

I checked my email again and suddenly I saw the reply from her saying about her arrival this afternoon. Oh, the timing was just nice! After had our meal, both of us went to the hotel where Sangay stayed. I added her phone no into my contact list, sent her message at What's App but she wasn't online. My son and I kept waiting at the lobby hoping to see her. I went to concierge too and asked the staff to connect me to her room but no one picked up the phone.

I walked around the huge lobby and suddenly I saw a familiar face, which was Uden's face! Lol! She told me she was going to collect something from Sangay but couldn't go out with her as she had appointments. And yes, I finally met Sangay for the very first time! :)

She came alone from Bhutan but she would meet her colleague and together they would attend the conference. She asked me to follow her to her room as the things from Luzee was there.

It was her first time visiting Singapore and she had free time that afternoon. I offered her to bring her to places she wanted to visit if she had no plan at all and she agreed to it immediately. I asked my son to go back first and brought the fresh ema and datshi back home while I accompanied Sangay around. She said, she wanted to visit the place where Merlion was! :)

Sangay with Merlion under a burning sun ^^

It was just at the opposite of where she stayed so we walked there. The weather was too hot that afternoon! She was thirsty and hungry! Hahaha... We went there and took few clicks then she hurried me out of the place. We entered the Esplanade (the 'durian' shape building - world class theater) and walked through underpass towards the City Hall MRT. We stopped at few shops and she browsed around before we decided to go to Chinatown!

Early dinner at Chinatown Hawker Center :)

We had early dinner there. She wanted spicy noodle soup so we ordered the hot and sour Chinese pulled noodles while I ordered Xiao Long Bao - steamed pork dumplings. From pineapple juice, we ended up ordering a bottle of Tiger beer :P While eating we chit chatted about the new Thunder 15000 beer and Zumzin peach wine. She said she preferred having Druk 11000 as Thunder 15000 tasted bitter and stronger, not so suitable for her taste while she regretted me not to ask her bringing Zumzin from Bhutan :D I told her that I didn't know her before. How could I ask her such a favour la! ^^ We were having good times and she finally relieved that her stomach had been filled with food hahaha... :P

Visiting the Buddha Tooth Relic Temple - Singapore 

After that we walked to the Buddha Tooth Relic Temple. I showed her the place where the tooth relic was stored. Once done, we walked all the way to the Chinatown Point to browse some shops and to buy mineral water. She returned to her hotel herself by taking MRT while I was heading home.

I went into the kitchen, opened the fridge. My son had not yet had his dinner so I decided to cook ema datshi (the Bhutanese chili with cheese dish) for dinner with the ingredients gifted from Luzee and brought by Sangay (thank you both of you!)

Home cooked ema datshi from Bhutan!!! :)


Hmmm... it tasted really delicious! Both my son and I finished it. Although my fingers felt burn, my heart was filled with happiness!!! My Sunday became full of activities instead of sleep, eat, read, as I planned initially!

And Sangay, yes, this post is for you! :D It was nice meeting you! Wish you have a wonderful stay here in Singapore and enjoy your conference! Take care and see you again! Perhaps soon! ^^

Our favorite place and food - Indian vegetarian Bhatura

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"Hey Vina, later I'll take your bus today, Ok?" I greeted her as we entered the office building this morning.

"My bus? It's not my bus lah!" replied her.

"Hahaha... For me, that's YOUR bus!" I assured her with a big smile ;)

"Going to eat the Indian food again?"guessed her, as the company bus that she usually took was heading to Little India area.

"Yup!!!" and we separated to our own tables.

There were bus or small vans heading to different directions from the office where I worked. And this"Vina's bus"that I'd take, were heading to city area, connecting to the purple line MRT (metro) line. And usually, I could request Uncle (the driver) to stop me just opposite of my favourite Indian vegetarian restaurant, the connecting place between me and few of my best friends.

Our abundant happiness from the giant Bhatura ^^

Bhatura (or I often referred as'Big Balloon') was our favorite dishes as it's hard to find such a delicious dish around the town with better hygienic standard. The restaurant was equipped with air-conditioner and they served a tasty Masala tea, another favourite thing I usually ordered.

Once we were seated with Bhatura and tea in front of us, we would both look into each other, smiled, and the conversation would start without any command :)

Hot steamed air came into sight as we tore the Bhatura with our bare hands and this gesture would flatten the 'Big Balloon' into tissue-paper-like form almost immediately. We dipped it into a cup of delicious curry Chana or chick peas with a dollop of lime juice. I bit the tip of the small green chilli and raw onion that were spread together into the plate.

Our favorite dish :)

"Do you eat your chili?"I asked Tien, my Myanmar friend after seeing her green chilli abandoned for quite some time.

"No no. You want? Take it!"replied her.

That additional chilli made my heart glowing of happiness as I'd been eating raw chilli since young back in Indonesia. Be it with fried tahu isi (tofu filled with vegetables), fried tempeh (fermented soybeans), it always something missing when the raw green chilli wasn't there. As a rule of thumb, one small chilli for one tofu or tempeh. Sometimes we took more though ^^

Bhutanese loved this place too!! :D

Anyway, the chat would usually continue even after our plates were cleaned. The staff would come and cleared the trays and it left us with the styrofoam or sometimes paper tea cups.

With these two simple order for each of us, we would sit down and chit chat heartily for hours. Usually we talked about what's going on in our lives, the recently past experience, the future plans, and so on. We chatted as if the world was ours. We didn't even realize how the restaurant had suddenly become very crowded occupied mostly by Indians.

Obviously - Uden and my favorite place to eat!!! ^^

When there was enough to talk, it was time for us to bid goodbye. I hope this place would stay for a long time. It's been my favourite hangout place to eat, drink, and chit chatting. And to find someone who had similar taste or craving, wasn't easy either, as not everyone here in Singapore could appreciate the Indian delicacy.

"Hey Rima, where are you? Are you taking the bus?" I saw Vina's message on my What's App. "I'm coming! In toilet now! Please wait for me!!!" replied me and I faster kept my phone inside my pocket and run to the bus.

Lonely 14th Wedding Anniversary

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"Dear, take leave come here then we go back together lah :)" My hubby sent me this message on second day he reached my hometown together with both my parents. "You plan lah. Come few days then we go back together. I pay for your flight. I walk up and down the house alone. Very lonely. That's how your papa feel when mama not around,"continued his message.

"Sorry, I cannot go. Month end closing. Very busy. Need to handover my job. Next time ok?" replied me and sent him my office schedule calendar. "See June calendar? Closing at first week,"continued my message.

"Icic... nvm then," replied him sadly.

That was more than three weeks ago. And when my mom asked him when he would fly back home, he was asking me whether to go back on 3rd or 6th June, but at the end, he chose another later date than both his dates offered above. Ckckck... 

I think he didn't remember on our Anniversary date. Haiz... And I would be very busy anyway... After working late last night, this morning I had to reach office before 8.30am (our usual working hour). And today was Saturday!!!

Sunrise from Jakarta on our Anniversary day :)

On my way to office, I received his message on my phone, "Morning my dear. Happy 14th wedding anniversary! I love u too! For you my dear :) Waiting for boat. At the jetty now." 

Clear bluish water perfect with coffee and cigarette!!!

He, my mom, and relatives were heading for a 2-day 1-night trip at one of thousands islands not far from my hometown. A small island with a beautiful view, good for diving and snorkeling.

My 'spy' mom took his photo while sunbathing :P

While he enjoyed sunbathing, nice lunch and tea break in the evening, my son too was enjoying great lunch and dinner with my brother and his families. And left me struggling in my office with reports and training new staff who would replace me when I'm gone.

Gratitude treat from Ms Millioneoil ^^

Luckily my dear colleague, Ms Millioneoil, treated me a big packet of delicious local dish, Nasi Lemak, together with a bowl of dessert (3-in-1 bean curd rice balls), bought from Mr Bean. She didn't know how much it meant for me and she felt shy as I kept thanking her for the simple yet meaningful treats for me.

Sunset from Pulau Seribu - Indonesia

I finally finished my work at 5.30pm. And on my way back home, I received another photo from hubby. This time, he sent me the sunset photo from the island ^^" And while I was having a bowl of instant noodle with egg alone at home, my brother sent me their photos (including my son's) having delicious Thai food at the restaurant near their house. 

Here I'm alone tonight, lying on my bed, enjoying a cool breeze seeping from my window panes, trying to jot down this special day with an extraordinary feelings that I have ^^ 

Be it alone or together, I just want to convey my gratitude for the chance, time and fate we all have since a very first time of our meeting in this life. Fourteen years have passed but our feelings remain the same, as loving as before. Here, let me put my feeling that I expressed before here on my blog, towards my other half. Dear, wherever you are, let me wish you Happy 14th Anniversary to you too... Hope many more years to come, to be spent and to grow old with you!!!

Love, me :)

Happy Dragon Boat Festival!!!

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This festival was originally coming from China. It fell on the fifth month and fifth day of lunar calendar date each year, which was sometimes also called as Double Fifth Festival. It's called Dragon Boat Festival as usually the day was celebrated with dragon boats racing. You could find more the history of it here.

Let's eat Bakcang! ^^

There was also another name called Dumpling Festival. Why? Because we usually ate the steamed triangle dumpling (called Bakcang or zong zi), filled with meat (usually pork meat), glutinous rice, with other variety of fillings depending on the regions, liking and preference.

Source: Google.com 

Nowadays people seldom made it themselves and resorted to buy (fast, easy, and convenient way), but of course, with such a high price, especially approaching the day itself. The normal bakcang cost SGD $3 per piece, sold at usual hawker center. And those sold in famous Chinese restaurant could charge the same thing at SGD $14.80 per piece, not yet those that offered a unique filings variety. E.g Chili crab dumpling from Golden Peony sold at SGD $28 per piece; Duck, fish maw, abalone dumpling from Xin Cuisine sold at SGD $38 per piece, and so on.

Dad was busy trying to make the eggs standing up this afternoon ^^

My mom told me to try to make the egg stand in vertical position at 12pm this afternoon (btw, today - 9th June- is the day for year 2016). So those who read this before 12pm, please try it at home and see if it works!) ^^

Duan Wu Jie Kuai Le!

And this year I'm very lucky as my Mom and aunts gave me the dumplings all the way from my hometown (as hubby finally came back home). I had tasted few different varieties as it was made by different people :) Thank you Ma for preparing it for us. Love you! Happy Dumpling Festival everyone!!! ^^

It's just a glass...

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Screwdriver (Photo source: Google.com)

"It's just a glass." Tini took few ice cubes from her freezer and dropped it into a tall glass. She opened one of the drawers where she put her spare vodka collections, poured a half glass full (made it almost two pegs), opened the fridge taking out an opened bottle of orange juice, and filled the glass full. Finally she took a transparent straw out, and voila! A glass of so called Screwdriver or Vodka orange was ready to go!!!

She brought the glass into her room and put it on top of her light table beside her bed. She opened the book, read it quietly, and sipped the drink occasionally and finished it in less than 15 minutes.

"Hmmm... another glass. Last one! This time, I swear it would be the last... for tonight."

She put her opened book upside down on her bed, went to the kitchen, and repeated the whole same process thing once again, except that she used the same straw as the first one she took.

Happiness is drinking a cocktail in my pyjamas (Picture source: Google.com)

She was back sitting on her bed. The music was heard softly from the stereo set inside her bedroom. The chill air blown from her air conditioner wasn't affecting her as she felt warm from the inside. She even removed the blanket to the other side of the bed.

She took the book up and continued reading.  Occasionally she would sip the drink, but this time was slower. Half an hour later, she felt heavy on her head. But funnily, she enjoyed it. The feeling she had was unexplainable. At times she was smiling herself. Her mind started to think out from the book's content. She was remembering the good times she had with her ex-boyfriend.

After sometime, her expression changed. She started to cry. This time, she remembered when her ex-boyfriend started ignoring her call and messages, saying that he was busy preparing for his important exam as he wanted to apply for a Master degree scholarship abroad, which later on, she found out from her friends that he was actually starting a new relationship with his childhood friend.

Happiness is drinking cocktails (Picture source: Google.com)

And this drinking habit, repeated almost everyday, since the break-up day. Alone in her room, she closed both her book and herself with blanket. The music was still played and the bedside lamp was still turned on.

"I'm giving you up
I've forgiven it all
You set me free-ee

Send my love to your new lover
Treat her better
We've gotta let go of all of our ghosts
We both know we ain't kids no more
Send my love to your new lover
Treat her better
We gotta let go of all of our ghosts
We both know we ain't kids no more..."


Another night passed by and she just let the darkness swallowed upon her, let her forget all her temporary pain in her heart, until the new day restarted again. Would it turn into a better day??? Only she knew the best what the answer would be...

Please protect my heart...

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"Hey dude, it's been a while! It's nice to see you back! So you finally graduated huh?"said Edward upon meeting his junior, Kenneth, at the Ang Mo Kio hawker centre. They were hugging each other before they both settled in the yellow plastic chairs.

"Wow wow, is this celebration or what?"said Edward upon looking at the ice bucket filled with five big bottles of Heineken, where one had been opened and almost empty.

"Serve yourself dude," replied Kenneth while passing a froze empty glass to Edward.

While Edward filled his glass, Kenneth finished the almost full glass at one shot.

"Hey hey, easy dude! What's been going on? Anything going wrong?"asked Kenneth.

"She is absurd!!! How could she get jealous over nothing just because I told her I'd meet up with her friend." He banged his empty glass onto the table and refilled it fully.

"Who? Your girlfriend? Not bad ah, you even have a girlfriend now. Where is she from?" asked Edward.

"It's her own friend you know! How could she get jealous over it???"continued Kenneth while ignoring his friend's question.

"Well, maybe something happened to her before, before you knew her. Just like what happened to my sister,"explained Edward.

"What happened to your sister?"asked Kenneth curiously.

Edward gulped his cold beer before continuing his story.

"Well, it was happened after she and her boyfriend graduated. Instead of settling down here, she went overseas trying her luck to find a job, which meant she had to have long distance relation with her boyfriend. 

When she returned, just two months later, she found out that her boyfriend ended up having another relationship. What made it worse, the girl was her own friend. 

My heart is fragile. Handle with care (Picture source: Google.com)

It started with a meeting, you know, borrow books, as they both shared the same passion, reading and writing. Then more meetings discussing the books they both read. You know, when two single and lonely people got together, anything would happen." Edward stopped for a while and drank from his glass.

"But we are just friend. It's her friend some more!!! I will never do anything cross the line!" Kenneth replied him, still feeling agitated.

"It never crossed in her boyfriend's mind too before. Of course, as it would be ridiculous to fall in love with his girlfriend's friend. But, you know, thing happened."Edward explained.

"What kind of thing happened?" 

"They ended up falling in love with each other. Well, when they both realized, it's been too late. The worst thing was, my sister found out about their relationship with her own eyes." Edward stopped and drank.

"How?"asked Kenneth curiously.

"She came back earlier as to surprise his boyfriend. It was on their three year Anniversary. She went to his house, only to find him and her own friend sleeping naked below the blanket."

"Oh Gosh!!! That's horrible!!!"

"Yeah, it was! She was utterly devastated with the whole thing. She cried endlessly and almost fell into depression," continued Edward.

"I.. I'm sorry to hear that. Which sister that you have? Sorry, you have four sisters in the family right?" asked Kenneth.

"Oh, it's not one of my sisters. She is my god sister. You might know her too! She is our senior, from the same Uni that we attended. Leyla. You know her?" 

"Leyla? I heard she got married not long after she graduated. I thought with the same guy she dated during college days"replied Kenneth.

"No no. It wasn't. Not only that,"Edward continued."Just for your own record, please keep this only to yourself. She told me she married with her husband not because she loved him."

"What??? Why???" 

"She had lost trust with any man. She said, she would never be able to love someone as much as she was before, anymore. And it was due to that incident. It had created deep scar into her heart."

"So, you mean, she settled with her husband without love?"

"To be exact, it's her husband that loved her so much. After knowing what happened to her, he loved her even more. He wanted to protect her, defend her - her fragile heart - from being hurt again. And for her, being loved is much much much better than loving someone." 


Loving and being loved quote (Picture source: Google.com)


"Oh.... my... I didn't know this thing happened to her,"claimed Kenneth.

"Ya, poor Leyla. But she wasn't poor anymore. At least she had someone who loved her deeply. It's even better that her husband would never betray her,"said Edward.

"Ya, but marrying someone she didn't love, wasn't it like putting herself to life sentence jail?"Kenneth asked

"Well, who knows his love might change her heart. It might make her capable to love again,"replied Edward. "Anyway, cheers man! Just treasure what you have now! Don't waste the love that you both have for each other. As life is short. We will never know what will happen tomorrow. A day more fill with happiness is better than sorrow, isn't it?"

They both clinked their glasses."Cheers!!!"

"Hey, btw, let me call my girlfriend. I miss her. I'll tell her I won't meet up with her friend. You are right Edward, I should protect her heart, instead of hurting it. I think, you can finish the rest of the bottles by yourself dude! I've had enough. I gotta go. See you again dude and thanks for the conversation!"Kenneth left the table hastily with its remaining bottles still in the bucket.


Be your own hero quote (Picture source: Google.com)

Slowly from a far, the melodious song became clearer...

"Baby, you should know that
I've been afraid to try
I'm healing from some things and
My tears are pale and dry

I said, "I'm through with love"
You made it all a lie
You turned my never ever
Into one more time

If I happen to fall
(I feel it coming on)
In love
(Think I could fall in love)
Please protect my heart

Happen to fall
(Been through so many things)
In love
(I'm turnin' fragile, baby)
Please protect my heart


Deep in my heart I believe
That you really care for me
I pray that this time
Love lasts eternally..."

Grateful - The Restful Mind

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Restful mind by HE Gyalwa Dokhampa 

The morning journal plus breathing in and out session inside the both public and company buses had refreshed my mind this morning. Few reading pages of Restful Mind by HE Gyalwa Dokhampa had again given me a good reminder how to take in charge of our restless mind.

“The three essence of the teaching that we can apply to our daily lives and thinking:
1. Our happiness or suffering comes from within
2. We can’t control the things or people that are external to us; that happen to us, but we can control our own reactions or way of looking at things, so we need never be completely helpless.
3. Nothing is set in stone, especially our minds.”
– The Restful Mind by HE Gyalwa Dokhampa


Breakfast with love ^^

As I reached office, my colleague, KH, had bought a special breakfast for me from McDonalds. “It’s once in a while’s treat,” she told me. She concerned about my gastric pain that I had lately, so she fed me with this big portion so that it could last ‘til afternoon time. Thank you KH for all your love and concern! :)

In less than 6 weeks, I would leave this establishment. She had already projected the image when I wasn’t around. “Next time, even I bought this delicious meal, you won’t be there sitting next to me,” said her sadly. I tried cajoling her, “Don’t feel sad. Someone else would sit here next to you and accompany you.” But she didn’t buy my words.

“Happiness is something for which we can sow the seed ourselves, and that we can nurture, grow and share with others through our love, kindness and generosity. It’s easy with the busyness and pressures of life to fall out of the habit of happiness – to begin to feel out of sorts or to let negative thoughts and emotions take hold – but with just a little understanding and practice we can get back into the happiness habit, whatever situations life may bring us.”
– The Restful Mind by Gyalwa Dokhampa

Celebrating KH Birthday :)

That’s because, we both had shared many happy and sad things together, in this short course of time. Our struggle and fights – ‘never-give-up’ spirit – in the first few days, weeks, and months of working; our stupidity (mostly mine though) since the first days until now (still strongly going on :P); our happiness and woes encounter that came from family members at home; our traveling and many plans in life; and so on.

We both were famous for our laughter, again, since first few days after we first joined in. It could be heard from everyone’s seat. Sometimes they scold us for being too noisy :P Many were wondering on why we both laughed and shook until our stomach paining and tears coming out. One encounter and another, it created good memories in our brain.

“Laughter lightens your load and lighten your step, bringing you right back into the moment. And it’s the same with a smile. It’s good to see the funny side of things, and not take yourself too seriously. After all, we’re all just human beings, doing our best.”
– The Restful Mind by Gyalwa Dokhampa


One of our get-together lunch with dear colleagues and bosses :)


Thank you for your friendship KH and everyone in the office! Without your presence, life would be dull for these past six months. To my partner-in-crime in office, thank you! :)

Ego...

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I used to believe I was such a selfish people (think mostly about myself only and have a high level of ego) and even accepted myself for being one. I still remembered telling my potential husband about my weakness when we tried to describe of who we were, before getting into further relationship.

Love me the way I am. Take it or leave it (Pic source: Google.com)

It's perhaps because I was born as the youngest in the family, where everyone else had grown up, I didn't and still lived in a comfortable and protected shell of my parent's love.

It's perhaps because I'd been staying at other people's countries for years especially during my adolescent period that compelled me to equip myself with a very high level of independent trait and defending measures against anything that came into my life (be it good or bad), high degree of freedom (where to go, what to do, with who), high level of adaptive traits (as I had to move out every six months, to pack and unpack, to stay at different places, flats, rooms, cities, villages), and so on.

So it was really no doubt that I even adapted some human traits and characteristics from where I lived during that period of time. And having a high level of ego and being selfish were simply inevitable.

Ego quote (Pic source: Google.com)

But this ego of mine, changed over time. Perhaps with my return to Asia countries, with a settling down process being home again, the ego was slowly melted by the heat of the sun rays, although it wasn't completely gone. Sometimes, it stick with me, following me. Haizzzz.... 

Recently I was allured by my own ego, a very big business indeed, at least for me. To follow my ego, desire, to choose over something, above everyone else thought and plight. Because of it, it gave trouble to others. Their love, their protected nature, all was pointed to me. But I insisted otherwise at the first place.

No matter what, my heart couldn't accept it. My heart couldn't stand see them suffer. My heart couldn't accept happiness over other people's suffering. So what if I chose it? What if I won it over? It wouldn't give true happiness for everyone. Couldn't even call that happiness at the first place. It'd be just the proud ego laughed enormously from the above, over my stupidity, my selfishness, my betrayal towards what my heart was saying.

What we need to do is to skip the e and let it go (Pic source: Google.com)

And again, I was glad that I overcame it. I chose middle way instead, something good for all of us, considering other's needs, capability, and most importantly, their joy and happiness. I was very sorry to try to win my ego eagerly, and created confuse feeling and trouble, at the very first place.

Hey ego, please stay far away from me. I still had a long way to go to live with them. You must have been tired too for working so much in most of my life's journey. You could take a good rest now and just sit there, enjoy your time alone, be free from me. Let me follow my heart with base of love towards others. Tub? ;)

Books read for the first half of the year 2016

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Sunrise 30 June 2016

Another half year passed by. It seemed just like yesterday when my brother told me about the job vacancy for me. I went back joining the workforce starting from the beginning of the year. It brought me to one of my difficult times of my life where I had to adapt to a new environment and new job scope, something I’d never worked on before. 

Despite being busy and stressful, it did not stop me to do things I loved doing, which included reading and writing. The number might have decreased, but the spirit would never die :) 

Below please find the list of books read for the first half of year 2016:

January 2016

January 2016:                
1. Landline - Rainbow Rowell
3. What I Know For Sure - Oprah Winfrey
               
February 2016

February 2016:             
1. Wind/Pinball - Haruki Murakami
2. To Kill A Mockingbird - Harper Lee
3. Go Set A Watchman - Harper Lee
               
March 2016

March 2016:  
1. The Sun Also Rises - Ernest Hemingway
2. The Old Man and The Sea - Ernest Hemingway
               
April 2016

April 2016:    
1. Games at Twilight - Anita Desai
2. Dance Dance Dance - Haruki Murakami
3. On the Road - Jack Kerouac
4. The Book of Hope - Cayden Chang
5. A Little Life - Hanya Yanagihara
               
May 2016

May 2016:      
3. Sputnik Sweetheart - Haruki Murakami
               
June 2016

June 2016:      
1. Unaccustomed Earth - Jhumpa Lahiri
2. Interpreter of Maladies - Jhumpa Lahiri
4. Breakfast at Tiffany's - Truman Capote

Reading quote (Picture source: Google.com)

Wish everyone a wonderful time ahead!!! Live your life to the fullest as always!!! :)

Have you felt gratitude for nature today?

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Sunset at Punggol :)

"Have you felt gratitude for nature today?

You would not be alive today or any day if it were not for nature giving to you unceasingly. Nature is giving you an unlimited source of air so you can breathe, it is producing enough water for an entire planet's needs to keep you alive, and without the life-producing forces that the sun gives, none of us could exist. 

Now that is pure giving! How could anyone believe that they are not loved?"

-- Rhonda Byrne day 327 --
Taken this evening at Punggol :)

Life is but a dream

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My motto in life :)

Hi hi.. It's been some time since my last post. Work has been one reason as it occupied lots of my time for the past two weeks. Although my role was to supervise her, it wasn't a relaxing job. I had to make sure that I guided her well and she could do the job by herself for months to come.

Btw, I decided to extend for another month as my Boss requested. She just wanted to make sure the back up was there if anything happened. My dear colleagues had also supported my continuation there, even for just a month. Better than nothing at all, isn't it? :P

Life is all about balance :)
(Photo source: Positive Vibes)

I can't extend further as I've already made some plans on what to do next. Well, since I've been working hard since the beginning of the year, I think I deserve to have time to relax and play hard. In this case, it goes not far from following my passion, which is to travel :) I may not visit new place, but it may be. But the long break is something that not everyone can do, as our view and priority in life may be different, and our choice in life is again, definitely different!

Our grandparent's generation is believed to have longer span of life mainly due to the food they ate, the lifestyle they had, and so on. Therefore, they could live as long as they could. But these days, in the life where uncertainty is obvious, I'd chosen to live my life fully. I couldn't believe that I'd be that kind of person who live one day at a time.

My college used to teach us otherwise. We were trained to make short and long term goals related to personal and professional life, which I didn't follow. "Let nature takes its flow" has instead, been my guide.

Life is but a dream (Photo courtesy: Che Dorji)

At the end, I feel that life is but a dream.Whatever we have is all temporary. Good thing will end, so will the bad one. What we need is a peace of mind. That we have no regret for there won't be tomorrow, to have done what we had dreamt of, to fulfill the wish that our heart was saying and whispering all through our life. And happiness is something that comes within, the feel of being content and grateful with every little thing we had, with every good and bad thing that we encounter in life, and the faith that everything happens only for good reasons. 

Contemplate (Photo source: Google.com)

So, have you contemplated enough about your inner self these days? Are you grateful and content enough with everything that happens to your life? Lets give it a thought and wish you a smooth journey in life with all your positive mindset in life. Have a wonderful week ahead and keep doing what you love doing!!! Take care and have fun! :)

What to do in Penang??

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I booked the flight tickets to Penang just a week ago after my mom bought theirs. Four of us met up at the rented residential home that provide a clean fully air-conditioned room with outdoor bathroom in a very convenient area within walking distance to Penang Times Square, New Lane hawker center, Komtar bus station, and so on. With RM50 per night, it was really great place to stay!

We reached quite late in the evening and we were welcomed with heavy rain on our arrival. According to the taxi driver - the Chinese uncle in his 60s who called his son to ask about our location instead of punching on GPS like what Singaporean taxi driver's doing - it'd been long time since it rained. Obviously, the rain season fell  right on the day we reached.

Four of us started our beautiful Sunday with hearty breakfast at De Happy Dim Sum. It's big and crowded. Round tables filled up the places. People walked towards a corner where the food were steamed and fried, while the other corner was a place to fill your tea pot with boiling hot water.

Breakfast at De Happy Dim Sum Restaurant - Penang, Malaysia 

My hubby was very exciting with varieties of food they offered. The taste was delicious too. Most importantly, the price was definitely much cheaper compared with what we paid back here in Singapore.

Penang Adventist Hospital 

After that we took a cab to Penang Adventist Hospital. My parents had their usual check up at this place. I often heard about it but this was my first time stepping into it.

Fyi, there were few things that made Penang a famous place to visit. This was purely based on my observation though. First, they had a good range of hospitals with many experienced doctors in house. The nurses and hospital staffs were helpful and friendly. They were able to speak many languages, such as: English, Malay, Chinese, dialects like Hokkian, some Thai, etc.

I tried their wellness screening package gold there. Check here for detailed information. It was quite complete and made you knowing your health and inner organs better. You should book in advance though as they limited the number of people screening the health each day. And when they knew my stay time was limited, they produced my check up result within the same day. Excellent service!!! :)

Delicious food in Penang

Famous Asam Laksa from Air Itam Market

Second, it's a food paradise!!! You could find any kind of food here from hawker center to restaurant. There were famous local dish like Asam Laksa, curry mee, char Kway Teow, fried oyster, prawn noodles, lo mie, etc. Among the famous hawker to go were New Lane, Gurney Drive, Chulia St night market, and so on.

Pastry from Ming Xiang Tai Confectionery- 26 Lebuh Victoria

There were many local pastry too that you could buy for friends and families back home. Many different brands were available. Instant coffee and teh tarik could be great gifts too.

Mao Shan Wang durian RM75 per kg (including shell)

They had many varieties of durian too! My father had eaten Mao Shan Wang almost everyday there. The seller was even providing vacuum packed bag if you wanted to take it away as the smell was so strong and many places had banned it, including public transport.

Wat Chaiya Mangkalaram (recliningBuddha statue) - Penang, Malaysia 

Dhammikarama (Burmese Buddhist Temple) - Penang, Malaysia 

Third, if you were Buddhist, you'd love to visit their varieties of temples available. From Wat Chaiya Mangkalaram (reclining Buddha statue), Dhammikarama - the Burmese Buddhist temple, the oldest temple in Penang - Kwan Yin temple - built in 1728, to the largest temple in Malaysia - Kek Lok Si Temple. 

Kwan Yin temple - the oldest temple in Penang, Malaysia 

Kek Lok Si Temple - the largest temple in Malaysia 

I first visited Penang back in October 2009 and managed to visit these 4 temples. And this time, I was very grateful for being able to visit four of them again. Thank Buddha for the good karma!

Hubby and I with its iconic street art murals - Little children on a bicycle

Fourth, it's famous for the street art murals. For complete information, click here.

Street art murals - George Town - Penang, Malaysia 

Apart from these four, there were other things too for Penang worth to visit. Just get yourself free maps before you exited from airport door where you could find valuable information there. The city was clean and arranged well. If you were not Buddhist, worry not, they also had variety of churches (one of the eldest Anglican church in southeast Asia - St George's Church), Hindus temples, and mosques. 

Nasi Kandar at Tajuddin Hussain- Penang, Malaysia 

Like Singapore, they also had Little India. We ate the famous Nasi Kandar (rice with curry) at one of the restaurants there. As a fans of Mark Weins, my hubby went through one of his videos, which you could find in YouTube  (migrationology.com), and both of us tried the famous Nasi Kandar located at 51 Lebuh Queen, called Tajuddin Hussain. We ordered Ayam Ros (red chicken), fish curry, sotong or cuttlefish curry, Ayam Gulai (curry chicken), tomato rice, cabbage, roti canai (prata), complete with two cups of teh tarik. All that for only RM29.25 (after adding 6% GST) - if converted, less than SGD10 for two!!!

Free hop-on bus in Penang

Penang offered a good and affordable public transport, in this case, public bus. They even provided free hop-on bus for tourists (those Rapid Transit bus labelled CAT), which stopped at many places, mostly touristic areas. 

Taxi were everywhere too. They went by meter although many were not. Fare from Hotel Sunway area to Penang Adventist hotel was around RM18, while from the hospital to Kek Lok Si was RM30. From airport to Hotel Sunway was about RM46 - got the ticket fare at the counter and paid it in advance while returning back to airport was slightly cheaper at RM40.

Public bus fares were around RM1.40 to 2 per pax (you just had to tell your destination to the driver and he would tell you the fare. But prepare coins as they wouldn't provide change). You could just ask local who were waiting for the bus for which bus number you should take as there weren't clear bus numbers or routes available from each bus number. Anyway the people there were friendly and helpful so don't worry, you won't get lost!

Padang Kota Lama and Fort Cornwallis - Penang, Malaysia 

At our last day, it was again a heavy rain morning. After fulfilling dim sum breakfast both of us took the bus to pray at Kwan Yin temple and had a morning walk to St George's Church, sightseeing along Padang Kota Lama area to see the Penang city hall, Fort Cornwallis, walked along the seaside and inhaled the sea breeze. We took the free CAT bus back to Komtar and got ready to the PIA - Penang International Airport. 

Penang International Airport 

We reached there 3 hours earlier than departure timing as friend warned us about flooding at the airport the day earlier. Luckily no traffic jam and no sign of flooding or flight delay and cancellation due to the incident. The airport had changed since the last time I went and it had become much better now as there were lots of restaurants and cafés available. So three hours waiting were no sweat anymore! You could enjoy the last sip of good Penang coffee, enjoyed their noodles or western deli or junk food like McDonalds and KFC, opened and read your book, sat down on the massage chairs, and waited for your flight.

Overall it has been a wonderful short trip - 4 days 3 nights in Penang. We got our tickets at less than SGD160 per pax from Singapore using Airasia and you could move your butt in about one and half an hour time!!! If you never visit this place before, then there was no reason on why you shouldn't! With SGD1 equivalent to almost RM3, what else are you waiting for??

I am determined to be happy!!! :)

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I'm determined to be cheerful and happy quote :)

"Oh no! It's raining again!"

I flipped the book down and hurried myself to the balcony. It's where I hang my clothes dried. One by one I picked the hanger up from the rail into the point finger of my left hand.

"Hurry up!!!" speaking to myself.

Once all was taken, I moved them to where it's supposed to be hung up, on top of my washing machine, at the back of the kitchen.

"Phewwww...." I was released.

It'd been raining almost everyday and I had difficulty to get my clothes dried. The air was just too humid.

With white woven slippers taken from the hotel free of charge, I walked towards the kitchen. I took the empty kettle, filled it up with water, put it into its base, turned the electricity on, and pressed the button down. In a while, the heating sound filled up the whole kitchen area.

I took the coffee mug from the cupboard with a small spoon, tore a packet of Indonesia coffee - Kapal Api special mix - poured it into the empty mug, and placed them on top of the transparent tray.

"Takkk!!!" It's the sign that water had been boiled. Still with the smoke coming up from the edge of the kettle, I poured them into the mug until it was almost full. I stirred the coffee well to ensure the powder mixed equally. I brought the tray to the dining table and chose the bread that I wanted to eat. Only then, I took the book from my room and placed it next to the tray.

Book, coffee and bread - that's perfect! :P

Cool air pierced through the opened balcony door. The hiss rainy sound with some lightnings added the gloomy day. Nevertheless, it was a perfect time to read my favourite novel, drink the steamy hot black sweet coffee (the best one from my hometown), and bite the savory bread slowly. Hhmmmmm..... there was always a perfect day, if we created them to be... 

One of my favourite quotes :) (Pic source: Google.com)

And just like what the above quote was saying, "We can't control what happens on the outside, but we can control what happens on the inside. Don't lose your joy!" That exactly how our approach towards life had to be! Don't you agree?? ;)

Quote by Heather Stillufsen :)

When the weather was the other way around, such as the unbearable hot weather, the above quote would then fit perfectly into the place -"When life gives you pineapple, just add Rum!"Yeah, add on Malibu in it and it's puurrrrffeeccttttttt......!!! Cheers.... ;)

It will never end, my feelings of love for you...

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Bhutan

Time flies… It’s been a year since the last time I visited Bhutan. As I browsed the history posting from my Facebook page, I ended up rereading many of my blog posts that I wrote related to my trip there.

Last few days in Bhutan- July 2015

The five-day Bumthang trip, challenging journey to Samcholing Secondary School, pilgrimage trip to the eastern Bhutan, village stay at Uma - Wangdue, journey and my stay at Phuentsholing and across Indian border, hiking towards the sacred Tiger Nest across the mountain back in Paro, visit to the Madman Drukpa Kunley Buddhistmonastery Chimi Lhakhang in Punakha, up to the rest of my stay back in Thimphu meeting up with my various Bhutanese friends, soaking ourselves in wooden tub(Bhutanese style hot stone bath), visiting various holy Buddhist temples, and so on.

The memory was still vivid at the back of my mind. It’s as fresh as piping hot coffee that I had this morning. Reading the blog post reminded me of every detail event I went through before, the memories that I would never forget all through my life.

Last few days in Bhutan- July 2015

Their warmth welcome, their hospitality, their delicious home cooking food(ema datshi, Indian curry chicken, kewa datshi, various veg curries, etc.), their fresh boiled tea with milk (suja and ngaja), their fresh milk, curd, etc. (pressed from the cow), their welcome alcoholic drink (wines, whiskey, Druk 11, ara, etc.), their fresh handmade Puta and Khuley (Bumthang noodles and pancake) and Sel Roti (Nepali traditional sweet deep fried dough), their providing warmth shelter and comfortable bed, their accompanies, their precious time, and so on. I would never ever forget them.

Even after a year gone by, occasionally I still received many gifts from them. Fresh ema (chilli), datshi (local Bhutanese cheese), red rice, Happy chips – it made me smile upon seeing it! – bottles of wines (Zumzin, Vintria, etc.), local produced whiskey (1907, Misty Peak, etc.), ezzay, dried chillies, and so on.

Blessings from dear friends

I felt very thankful and grateful each time receiving their sincere love and heart to send me all those. It’s their remembrance and heartfelt thought towards me. I appreciated it very much la!!! Not forgetting everyone who had been so helpful transporting them all the way from Bhutan to where I live. Name same kadinche la all of you!!! I sincerely express my thank and gratitude towards everything all of you have done for me, especially for your love and friendships :)

Last few days in Bhutan- July 2015

Choe lu ta dhi dhey bi say, 
Nge Gi sem ya Jang dha yi 
(Staring at you, I lost my mind)
Choe lu gu dhi dhey bi say, 
Nge gi me tsay zo ya si 
(Waiting for you, didnt realise all my life’s years have gone by)

Bum choe no wai bu su dhi, 
Bu nga ghi choe lu bay jin gay 
(Your dream boy, your prince charming, let me be the one for you)
Nam so khai dha ma, ma bew lay, 
Che nge ghi in say lab na may 
(Before the autumn’s tree leaves fall,  Please say that you are mine.)

Choe lu ga wai sem dhi mo, nam yang zo ne mindu sa 
(It will never end, my feelings of love for you.)
Choe dha dhey bi rewa dhi, Nam yang zo ne mindu sa 
(The depth of my love for you, it looks like it will never end)

Choe ga gi mo, Nga ma shey 
(Can you belong to anyone? I never know)
Nam ya zo ne mey, choe lu ga wai sem 
(It will never end, my feelings of love for you.)

(Lyrics and meaning are from Misty Terrace blogKadinche la! It’s a beautiful song!!! :)) 
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