Kuching - Aug 2011

A trip with my colleagues that has been in the planning for more than a year finally came to pass. N wanted to go somewhere for her birthday so in less than 3 weeks we made arrangements for our holiday. Why Kuching? Hmm cos I was on a budget and it was the cheapest ticket at that time. Going overseas would have cost way too much for me, although my colleagues wouldn't have minded that but they were sweet enough to stick to my budget.

Sadly, what started out to be a trip with 3 adults + 2 kids turned out to be only 2 adults as one of them fell terribly ill and decided to stay back and rest in KL.

The journey started with a really early flight from KLIA. Thank God the flight was delayed by 1 hour and we were informed earlier, had an extra hour to snooze.

Found me a Cafe Barbera in KLIA! My airport waits won't be so boring after this.. Nothing to start of your morning like an affogato..

We stayed at Damai Beach Resort which is about a 45 minute drive away from Kuching City. On the spur of the moment, we decided to be adventurous and rent a car. It served us well for the 3 days there and turned out to be an excellent idea because we save a lot on cab fees. It's much cheaper renting a car there than to take a cab which would be a minimum of RM70 per way from the hotel to town.

Our supersized room in DBR. Could have easily fit 4 people in the rooms. The beds were humoungous! Pillows were not too great though, gave me a neckache. 

We were looking for good seafood for our first night there.. and the lady at the front desk told us of this restaurant in Kg. Buntal to go to. It's about a 15 minute drive from our resort. This restaurant is a must-try when in Kuching. They were kind enough to cook smaller portions of variety for us, which most restaurants may not do. *Oh this reminds me to write in a compliment for that lovely lady*

Eagerly waiting for our food.. Thank God it's a picture and not a video or you would have heard our tummy's rumbling..

Kangkung Belacan.. Somehow tasted way better there.

Butter prawns

Sweet and sour fish

Chilli crabs.. These were the bomb-diggidee..

We experienced thunderest rain both nights we were there.. On the first night, it was so bad that I wanted to crawl into bed with N but I knew she would have killed me if I did so lol. Saw this fallen tree on one of the mornings on our way out.. 

Semenggoh Wildlife Centre.. What an experience! We hardly got lost getting there except from reading one of the signs wrong and ended up taking a longer route. It was great that we got slightly lost because we saw some amazing buildings in one of the tiny trunk roads. Sorry no pics cos we too focused on finding our way.

Feeding time is at 3pm but we reached around 130pm. Initially we thought of driving out and coming back at 3pm just in time for the feeding but around 150pm, the ranger said that there was one Orang Utan.. In about 20 minutes, there were 4 of them.. They came early for their supplements..

This picture reminds me of J

Meet Delima and her youngest of 2 years old. She has 3 kids so far, and we met 2 of them in total. She made our experience there totally worthwile. After having their snacks, she decided to take a walk to where we were, slowly making her way from the feeding area, to the bench where we were sitting and finally to the carpark area.. The rangers were very cautious and kept asking us to move back but you can see from the picture below, she came pretty close up to us.. Eventually the rangers led her further up and into the jungle.. The rehabilitation centre houses 26 Orang Utans and we had the privilege of meeting 10 of them..

Mount Santubong.. This was the sight that we saw everyday as we drove back and forth from the hotel.. There's a hike that you can choose to do up the mountain, either a 2 or 6 hour hike but we decided not to because the weather was really bad.. Probably on our next trip.. there are some really beautiful waterfalls up there.. 

The first evening we were there, the sunset was exceptionally beautiful! It was breathtaking but unfortunately, N and I were in the waters with no camera in our hands.. The second evening we tried to capture the sunset but it was not as pretty as the day before.. I love sunsets though, so I thought this was just beautiful as well.

Jojo came to visit us at our resort.. She looks so gorgeous in this picture..

The resort had it's own Cat Feeding Area.. Numerous cats running around in the resort.. Well it is 'Kuching' afterall.. lol

 I did up some research on places to visit and eat at while we're there.. But missed out on this one. Kuching Festival Fair 2011 - Jojo told us about it and took us there on our last night. This was definitely a treat!

With literally hundreds of stalls like this lined up row after row, we were lost and didn't know which we should try first..

Fried Durian! This was apparently a must-try but we didn't get to try it. 

Because the line was just too long. We didn't feel like lining up for over an hour for it..

 We opted instead for the local favourites.. Sarawak Laksa.

Kolo Mee

Got me some durian pancakes. They were costly! RM10 for 4 pancakes but the pancakes were too thick and not too tasty. At least the durian made up for it.

This is like my only picture of N and me... She's a great travelling buddy.. We had rough plans of what we wanted to do, but it changed everyday.

We also went to the Cultural Village in Damai. It's my 2nd time there. The first time was during the Rainforest Music Festival in 2006. The village is very different when not during a music fest but I think it's overpriced. RM65 per entry. We managed to catch the cultural show of 45 minutes - showcasing performances by the different tribes in Sarawak. Then we walked through the village a bit to see the different homes by the tribes live in. We didn't get to explore the whole village because we were rushing for time as we needed to check out and catch our flight. 

I love Kuching and I definitely want to return. There were so many places I wanted to visit but due to constraint of time and the fact that we were staying too far from town and most of those places are nearer to town, we didn't to see as much as we wanted to.

Next trip will definitely include a 1 night stay at Bako Forest Reserve.

This weekend getaway was surely a fun, adventurous and memorable one.

First parents meet-up

Ok well not so 'first' since both sides know of each other and were even once seated on the same table at L&J's wedding. But last weekend my parents went over to J's house to visit the family, and it's the first time both sides have met since we got together, with the exception of course that our dads have met up a couple of times for business meetings.

I was not at all nervous about last Sunday.. I'm not sure how J felt about it. My parents have been wanting to go over for sometime and last week we finally made a date and stuck to it.

Dads went into politics and mums were having a get-to-know-you session and had exchanges of their Ipoh experiences. Both our mums are from Ipoh or Perak rather. It's always a joke that KL men find women from Ipoh more appealing, and I've got me some Ipoh blood yo!

All in all I thought last Sunday went by rather well..

The first of many more.. and looking forward to it..

It's back!

Ahhh so the drama last week was short lived. My account on Facebook is back ON, turns out it was going through some maintenance testing or something of that sort.

It's amazing what Facebook has done! I felt lost, that I couldn't be up-to-date with what's going on..

Somewhat unhealthy..

Gone, all gone!

I've been barred from Facebook.. by Facebook.

No reason given, no email sent to notify me just the same error message that keeps popping up everything I try to login, be it from my pc or phone.. used different browsers but it still won't let me in.

The silliest thing is that I'm not able to logged a report, because I keep getting that same error!

R logged a report for me and they replied him within minutes with a standard email, asking me to log my own report and click on a particular link to check for solution to similar problems. But guess what, the moment I click on it, I get the same error!

It's really sad because I have so many photos stored there that I cannot retrieve again, if they decide not to reactivate my account.My pc got corrupted and I lost all my pictures and FB was my only backup.

The idea of losing all my contacts saddens me too, as I communicate with most of them who are overseas via Facebook, as I don't have their email address or telephone numbers. Gone, all gone!

It's quite amazing how this silly thing of losing my account has affected me, but it does. It's been showing me that same error message since after lunch and I just assumed everyone received the same error till I found out it was only my case. 

O Lord, please get them to reactivate my account. 

I can't let him beat me to it

Even Obama wants to climb Mount Kinabalu. Read more here

Owner found

Remember my post of me being RM430 richer? Turns out that my best friend had transferred money into my account for my mum for her wedding cake order in September. But she only informed me after she saw my post on FB of me bragging that I landed extra cash.

Oh well, the cash still stays in the family. Maybe I'll get a pinch of it? Hahaha..

Mt. Kinabalu on hold

Image taken from here

I was supposed to climb this magnificent mountain in early October. But after returning from my presentation to my big boss on the progress update, we now have to defer this last Expedition to next year. There are 4 batches of climbers scheduled for this year, of which 2 have already completed. The 3rd one is to go in Sept and I was put in the 4th batch.

I've been training for many months now, quite inconsistent at times but still try to put it a once a week hike, swim or run. 

Thank God I've not bought my shoes yet, cos that was going to cost me somewhere between RM300-500 for a solid pair. 

Oh well, there's always next time I guess with friends. The advantage of this excursion by the company was that all the cost was taken care of. If I were to go on my own, it would cost me somewhere between RM1200 - 1800 depending on flight prices.

New season

Image taken from here

My new pot.. Where art thou? When will this new season take place? Awaiting patiently..

I’m RM430 richer!

Checked my account this morning and was pleasantly surprise to see extra cash in one of my accounts. So I called up the bank and they informed me that their site is going through some maintenance however only the credit card portion is affected. The lady on the phone confirmed that the amount was credited into my account this morning at 6.42am. I then messaged my parents and J to see if they had banked in any money for me, they didn’t. I still thought that it may have been due to the upgrading of their system, so I went to the ATM and checked my account. The extra RM430 is there!

So where did this money come from?

The code was CDM, which mean Cash Deposit Machine and I’m not able to track the person who transferred the cash to me unless I go to the bank and go through their cctv footages. The person however will be able to locate me if he/she still kept the receipt of the transaction. Won’t touch the money for a couple of weeks in case the rightful owner of this money does contact me.

But still, it was an awesome start of the day!

Not to mention.. it’s also FRIDAY!

Bittersweet Goodbyes

It's been an emotional 1.5 weeks. I've never been good at goodbyes, and that's just exactly what I've been needing to do. Just last week, 3 batches of graduates returned to their homeland, Botswana. I was not able to send any of them of last week. They've been here for 4 years now and by the grace of God, have all completed their Bachelors degree and returning to bless their home country.

I've known most of them for more than 3 years now and it's been a great time with them. Sad that I was not able to send any of them off last week but I'm not going to miss the next batch that's leaving tomorrow.

Onneil came over to the house last Friday night to say goodbye to my mum. She invited him over for lunch on Saturday as well, and he had generous helpings of her awesome Indian food.

Last trek @ Gasing with Moriti. We'll see him again on our 'big day'.

Another painful goodbye is going to come in September.. This one I'm not looking forward to at all..

Clean bill of health

So after a 1.5 year break, I finally went for my medical check up. The routine blood and urine work up. Got my results a couple of days back..

Doc : So do you want the good news or the bad news?
Me : Yikes, my cholesterol is still high right?
Doc : Good news or bad news first?
Me : Sigh, let's go with the bad news.
Doc : There's none!
Me : Whattttt?
Doc : Yups, everything's looking really good for you.

Praise God! Compared to my previous check up, my cholesterol is now back to normal (5.0), calsium is up and no more ketones.

Mum took a look at my results and carefully studied it and her comment was "Although all's within the range, some of it are still on the low side. Must still boost up your immunity. Take more half boiled eggs and chicken essence." Mum knows best. So I've been diligently taking my half boiled egg and vitamins.

Now to just keep it up..

Larry Crowne

Watched Larry Crowne last night. Intended to initially watch Transformers 3 (Yes I've not watched it yet..) but tickets were sold out. Can you believe it? Even till now the cinemas are jam packed for that movie.

Larry Crowne was a good alternative.

It was a feel good show. Romance + comedy, my favourite kind. Definitely worth the watch if you're looking for a movie to chill back, relax and have a good laugh.

If I ever learn how to ride a bike, I wanna get me a scooter just like this one.

I think I would look really chic in it. Don't you?

Koh Tao

A holiday that was much planned a year back and awaited for has finally come and gone. It was an awesome week away by the sea. What initially started off to be a hardcore diving trip for me turned into a really chillax time.

So much was heard of Koh Tao and we even saw some really great videos of our friends there with whale sharks, but somehow we saw none cos apparently the whale shark season is from Dec - Feb. However, someone did just see whale sharks at Koh Phangan about 3 weeks back, so it's really hard to say. Whale sharks are now being sighted in so many different locations in Malaysia itself  (Tioman in March, Redang in Sept).

The dives were not spectacular in Koh Tao. I preferred my dives in Redang to some extent. But we did see some really cool stuff like a 1.5m Garoupa, over 1m turtle which was nestled so calmly in a cave (I nearly missed this fella if it wasn't for my friends who pointed out to it), the cutest juvenile Harlequin Sweetlips, a huge hermit crab. And I certainly will never forget some of the underwater 'stunts' performed by some of the buddies, of in the case of Ms Siow, the double out-of-water performance she gave us.

I went for my 2nd night dive in Koh Tao as well. The first night dive that I did during my Advance course was a huge flop. We had a horrible instructor who didn't give clear instructions and I got stung big time by a sea urchin - not fun! So you can imagine my 'eagerness' to go on another night dive. But since all my other buddies were heading out, I didn't wanna miss it. We had a she-male as our Dive Master. She was a lot of talk but no action! My buddies were quite disappointed with her but I was oblivious to it all. I was busy trying to calm myself in the dark of the night. They say that it's so bright underwater with all the other torches and the light from the boat, but I still think it's freakin dark. This was the only dive that I held J's hand throughout the entire dive, especially during our descend and ascend. It's really dangerous to be holding your buddy's hand underwater but I was fearful of being lost, cos it was really dark for me and my rented torch wasn't all that great.

I only did 7 dives in total of my 5 night stay in Koh Tao. We were supposed to do a minimum of 10 dives but since the dives were so-so, some of us decided we'd ease up on the dives.

There were 12 of us on this trip, met some cool new friends and caught up with a few that I've not seen in over a year. 4 of them took their Open Water license, 2 got their Advance license while 6 of us did fun dives.

We rented bikes and explored the island of Koh Tao, found some really cool spots. We also managed to trek up to Two-View. It's called Two-View because it's about 610m above sea level (if I'm not mistaken, or was it 310m? hmm) and both sides of the hill overlooks this amazing view of the sea. One of which was the Sairee stretch where we traveled frequently and you could also see NangYuen Island, a really small island with a long white patch of sand.


I think I spent the most on food during this trip, apart from the dives. Each meal was a minimum of RM10 and we were having 3 to 4 meals a day. Some of them were pretty yummy meals, not to mention the regular chocolate-banana pancake dessert that we had every night. They call it pancake but it's actually roti canai.

One of the best meals was on our last night in Koh Tao, the rest had gone for their 2nd night dive but J and I decided to stay back and chill. We decided to try one of the restaurants that we pass by every night. Each time we pass it by, their BBQ smelled so good. We paid a good RM46 for 2 huge sticks of chicken kebabs complete with veg and fruits on it, roasted potato salad, coleslaw, Thai fried rice, huge portion of chicken with chilli and basil, a plate of white rice, mango juice and chocolate-banana pancake (this time the real pancake batter). I must say that that was one of the cheapest meal we had there for the portions we ordered.

I managed to not get so tanned during the trip but all failed on our 2nd last day there. We had to take a boat from Koh Tao to Koh Samui and the fumes in the air-cond rooms were really bad that we decided to sit out on the deck. It was a 4 hour boat ride of which 3 hours was spent on the deck. I covered my arms and legs with my jacket but a bit difficult to cover the whole face la :P So I came back tanned! I tan so fast but yet it takes months for it to disappear. Even my lips became so dark, which is so weird cos that has not happened before.

The only thing I liked about Koh Samui was their airport. It's gorgeous! Feels like you're walking into another resort. The people in Koh Samui were very cocky, simply because they know that they can squeeze the white folks dry so they don't really bother much with us Asians. Only managed to do some shopping on our last day there in Koh Samui, bought some goodies for the family members. We rushed through it all though cos we only had about 1.5 hours to finish our shopping before we had to wash up and leave for the airport.

Oh the massages.. How could I forget that! They're so cheap in Thailand, like a good RM20-30 for an hour, depending on where you massage. The prices vary from island to island. I was tempted to go for one everyday but managed to refrain myself to just 3 session throughout the entire trip.

Unfortunately, I didn't take any shots during this trip, so you and I'll both have to wait for the pics to be posted by the rest on Facebook :p Don't think I would return to Koh Tao or Koh Samui anytime again soon. Although we didn't get to explore the beach at Koh Samui, so may return for that.

Sigh I already miss the breeze, the taste of salt in my mouth, the waves, the reggae music by the sea as we munch away on our breakfast.. and definitely the company. So of which I know I won't see again till probably another trip next year. Holidays by the sea are one of my favourites! Can't wait for my next - which will probably only be next year, sadly.

Random

My hair feels longer today. It's random I know, but as I was washing and drying my hair this morning, it feels as if it's grown 3 inches last night. I have a mirror in front of me at work and I keep 'checking' myself out to admire how pretty I look with my long hair. lol (sssshhhhh having a perasan moment now, don't tell anyone)

For someone who was born botak and has such little hair all the years growing up, to have hair this long is a big deal to me.

People used to think I was a boy growing up because I didn't have hair long enough to tie or make those little 'coconut trees' you make for small children, well at least I used to do that with my nieces. I don't see parents do that anymore.

I know many people who have thicker and longer hair than mine probably won't think this is a big deal, but it is to me :P

Cheers to long hair.

Hassle

Today's the 3rd day I'm filing up the US Visa form online. It's such a hassle. They require so many different information and you're not able to go to the next page or save unless you fill up all the required fields.

All's done now except for the picture. Been having so much of difficulty with it. Either the quality's too good and size is too big or the picture quality is too poor.

And deadline is today!

New pair in, still hoping for the old

Lost my glasses last Sunday. I've only had it for about less than 6 months I think. Left it in a certain spot but for some reason am not able to find it. Mum's been asking me to make a spare for sometime now so since I couldn't find my other pair, and was already getting a slight headache from staring at the PC for a whole 10 hours yesterday at work, I decided to go make one. The lady was kind enough to get it ready for me on the same day. They didn't have the same frame as the previous so went for this lighter titanium frame.

What do you think?

Wore it and asked the lady at the shop how I looked. She just stared at me for a good 30 seconds and I asked her "Not nice ah?".. She went on to say that I look very studious and people may think I'm underage.Oh well I guess I'll take that as a compliment.

This pair cost me RM320. RM20 more than my previous pair. Things are just so expensive nowadays. I remember when I had to make one during my high school days, it didn't cost me more than RM200. The hike in price is just ridiculous. And mind you, I got one of the cheapest frames.

Made quite a big hole in my pocket as I'm trying really hard to save. But still praying that I'll find my old pair, still prefer that one compared to this.

Checked my eyes as well yesterday and to my horror, my astig has on my left side has increased by 50! Sigh I guess my glasses will be one with my face more often now.

5 days!

5 days and counting to Koh Tao..
4 work days this week..

Yikes and there's lotsa to finish up at work before I can leave!!

This calls for super efficiency and effectiveness at work for the next 4 days.. There are many project meetings lined up and a trip to LCCT for our first Mount Kinabalu Expedition this week as well so it may call for later working hours this week but I've gotto do what I gotto do.. Can't miss those deadlines..

Had a list of things to buy for Koh Tao and managed to get them ALL and run some 'errands' last weekend.. Bought a load of things at MIDE dive fair, will post more on that tomorrow..

Macaroon Class

I love macaroons..

Been looking for a recipe to make it, and even asked around but no one seems to have the 'right' recipes.. Those who do have it will not share as they make it for business, so that's fair.

Macaroon classes are really expensive, ranging from RM190 to RM250. I tasted one particular lady's macaroon, and it was the bestest ever! But her class was RM250 for 3 hours and I did not want to pay so much. So the hunt continued.

And finally Groupon decided to have a promo on it.. RM98 for a 3 hour hand-ons class to learn how to make macaroon from scratch.. I nearly missed but thank God I managed to buy it within minutes of the promo ending..

The chef, Nicholas Pillai is somewhat a renowed chef in the local arena.. Just called him up yesterday to make my appointment for the class.. It's on for the 30th of July 2011 @ 10am.. Maybe Roger will get some in time for his birthday if they turn out good.. *wink*

I'm so tired..

..of falling sick. It's not funny anymore..
I've been having slight fever from last night..
I've been eating well..
Taking my dose of vitamins..
Resting well (Slept loads the whole of Monday and Tuesday)..
Yet I'm still down with fever now..

Arrrggghhh.....

I still possess wisdom

My wisdom teeth on my right side have been giving me trouble for month nows and it was badly infected twice. I've been meaning to remove it but the thought of having to go through all the pain and the word 'surgery' just made me delay the process.

Finally decided to get it done last Monday, thought it'd be best I remove them before I head to Koh Tao for my dives.

Then began the process of scouting for a new dentist. My regular dentist quoted me RM900 to remove both of them (RM800 for the bottom as it required minor surgery and RM100 for normal extraction of the top). My dental entitlement per year is RM1k and this alone would take up 90% of it. So I asked around, and finally narrowed down to KL Dental Surgery in Hartamas and Menara Dental Surgery in PJ State. But since I've not known anyone who's visited the Hartamas clinic, I decided to head to the PJ State, since S and her mum frequent that dentist and had only good things to say about her.

S was right!
Removing both of it only cost me RM350!
Dr Carmel was this small petite lady who was really kind and friendly. Most importantly, she was gentle. I won't lie, the initial stages of injections were painful and mum said I almost broke her hand by squeezing it. Dr Carmel had to inject me twice on the bottom to numb the area as the first round didn't quite numb the area fully. After that I could only feel pressure and different sounds, and after a minute the bottom tooth was out. Immediately after that, she injected the top area and pulled out that tooth. That one hurt a little bit more than the bottom because I think the area was not completely numb yet, but it only took about 30 seconds so nothing I couldn't handle.

Recovery has been really good so far. Doc gave me 2 days medical leave and I've been at home resting lots. Gargling frequently and keeping the area clean. Hopefully it'll heal well and fast before my trip.

Now I've got all 4 of my wisdom tooth out - no more worries!

My Weekend

Last weekend was quite eventful. L gave us tickets to catch Shelah : Life's a drag at PJLA. So 4 of us caught the show together, however the man and D had no idea what show they were watching and just tagged along.. I think D was quite taken aback in the beginning.. Lol

It was all about drag queens, got that pretty much from the title.. But what surprised me was that it was Edwin Sumun! I didn't know he rolled that way now. The show was alright overall, there were some dull moments when this drag queen from Penang came on to sing.. She sang like 5 songs! Highlight of the night for me was definitely when drag queen Arisha did a bolly number.. She/he/it could move! I couldn't get my eyes of she/he/it.. Hmm, sounds a bit wrong but it's true.. tassles all the way!

On Sunday, the man and I went to watch Bravo Broadway at MPO.

Siow and D were supposed to join along but they were not able to get tickets cos it was selling off like hot cakes! It was my first time at MPO, definitely not my last! They played and sang numbers from famous broadway shows like Cabaret, My Fair Lady, Les Miserables, Mama Mia, Wizard of Oz, Phantom of the Opera and many more..

The vocals were some of those who have been performing in famous broadway shows as well and one was even the voice for Anna in the animated 'Anna and the King'..

It was a classy event, and I enjoyed every moment of it..

After the show, we went to catch Fast 5. Been wanting to watch it for weeks now but timing just didn't seem right. They'll be playing till this Wednesday and thankfully we managed to get pretty good seats 5 minutes before the show started.

Like my cousin said - They should have put a steering wheel in front of every seat at the cinema so we can 'ride' along..

It's only the 6th.. There's so much more happening this month and I'm looking forward to it.

And her name is...

JUDEA MALAIKA JOHNSON

Seeing her tonight!

Can't wait to meet her.

3.3kg @ 6.11am on the 31st of May 2011 - A new addition to the family today..

The father just sent me this picture and she's lovely! She has so much hair and looks so peaceful in her mother's arms..

Change

Why is it that some people don't change?

It's been years and there are only brief periods with change then it goes back to normal..

Must I continue to love and accept eventhough they only run to me when they're in need?

Must I continue to follow-up and call to just say 'hi' if all I get are unanswered calls and messages?

Ding dong bell

A hairstylist friend of mine yesterday hinted that she would like to be the one to do my hair when my big day comes..

Then today, just like a couple of minutes ago.. My cousin drops me a message saying that she dreamt of me getting married..

I wonder if she saw my future husband's face..

Sun.Sand.Sea

The past two weeks have been hectic.. Work’s been ridiculously busy and every after-work day is just filled with things to do, people to meet.. My weekends are busier than my weekdays.. The whole month of April, every weekend was taken up.. I’m looking at my calendar for the month of May and June and every weekend has already been filled up.. Weeknights in May are also being blocked really quickly with just different items..

Much needed rest awaits.. 1 day to go…

Mask - Checked!
Fins – Checked!
Booties – Checked!
Snorkel – Checked! (Just bought mine yesterday – RM30 – low profile)
Sunblock – Checked!
Monopoly Deal – Checked!
Boat Transfer - Checked! (Phew!)

We nearly didn’t make it for the weekend though cos we forgot to book out boat transfers.. Plan was to just head to the jetty and buy our tickets as we always do.. Forgetting that it’s peak period and not knowing that Blue Water Ferry operator has monopolized the entire operations at Mersing and Tanjung Gemuk jetties.. I called them up yesterday to just check out timings of the boats and to my horror they told me that ALL boat are FULLY BOOKED! There is no possible chance to get a transfer for Saturday… That’s not acceptable.. Tried all other possible avenues including hiring a private boat (which is priced at RM2.5k per way – no way we’re using this route), calling up dive owner friends at different island to see if they had any ‘kaki’ in Tioman who could help us out but all these failed..

So after much negotiation with the operator, managed to secure a 230pm boat from Mersing jetty to Tioman on Saturday.. We’ll only probably reach the island at 430-5pm depending on conditions.. Whole day is lost! But I’m thankful that we even managed to get the 230pm boat.. Of course I had to pay up front the full amount.. Now we just got to pray that the weather conditions will be good and the boat won’t be cancelled or delayed.. We just have to now make the most of our Sunday and Monday there.. Managed to secure the last boat out from the island on Monday which is at 430pm so at least we have quite a bit of the last day to be spent on the island..

Best part of this weekend’s break – Free accommodation at Berjaya! I’ve not been to any Berjaya resort before but have only heard great news about it so am really looking forward to it..

Yes it's PD I'm talking about

When you think of clear blue waters, corals and colorful fishes - the one place that never comes to mind is Port Dickson..

I've always remembered PD to be muddy, teh tarik colored waters..

So when the man and a few other cellies went for a trip together the last time and said that the water in PD was now clear and they could even see corals and butterfly fishes when they snorkeled, I knew I had to go and explore it..

And explore I did..

They surely were right.. The moment we drove up to Blue Lagoon, the view was breathtaking.. Yea this is PD I'm talking about.. I love the ocean and anything to do with it.. And it's so great to know now we don't need to drive a good 5 hours before we reach crystal clear waters.. PD is just 1.5 hours away.. I really do hope that it stays this way..

We saw 4 full boats of snorkelers go out as well as a bunch of divers.. And we can only hope and pray that these peeps will not destroy the corals that have just begun to bloom..

I forgot to take pics but will surely take some on my next trip there..

Jump.. Higher

Easter is in 2 weeks... After a couple of years of break, I'm involved this year again.. Missed the first 3 practices and last night was my first.. To top that, I was the oldest in the dance group! These young ones are so energetic, agile and they pick up fast.. They're pretty awesome choreographers too I must say..

Was pretty nervous before practice cause I've not danced or stretched for sometime... It was difficult having to pick up the entire 2 verses and 2 choruses last night and learn up the flagging routine as well, not to mention a 'ballet' jump.. PKL does it so so gracefully! I'm still trying.. Look so retarded at times lol..

But all in all I'm thankful to be given this opportunity to serve Him.. To not take the giftings and talents He has placed in my life for granted..

The Easter 'production' this year is fairly simple compared to previous years, but I can see it all coming together.. It's going to be power-packed with the costumes, lighting and media..

But for now, I got to practice practice practice..

I'm a convert

That was the message I whatsapp-ed one of my cellie.. He immediate called me back.. He somehow thought I had converted out of Christianity.. lol.. We were previously having a discussion on F1 as yesterday was my first experience as was his.. So figured we were still on the same page.. Obviously not haha. What a relief it was for him to find out that I was talking about the F1 race..

Previously the mention of F1 would not excite me.. I even had a friend few years back who offered me tickets, pretty good seats but I declined, simply because I didn't understand what was so great about it..

But yesterday, I was blessed with some really really good box seats.. and so decided to go for it, plus the company was good.. :P

That was certainly not a decision I regret!

The adrenalin rush you feel, Oh boy, it’s exhilarating. We were treated very well, and I don’t think I’ve ever been treated that way before..

Went to the race without a team to support, ended up supporting Hamilton only cos he was such a hottie. He dropped from 3rd to 7th placing, but his teammate Button won 2nd place..

Stayed on for the night concert – Rain from Korea performed. He’s a good dancer, but umm that’s about it. Thought he was so full of himself. His songs were either titled “Rainism” or they had lyrics which read “oh rain, go rain, it’s raining, it’s raining” or he would have a backdrop of raindrops while he’s singing a slow number. Hmm many were actually jumping and dancing to his tune, including guys. I just enjoyed his moves but that’s about it..

Although we got stuck in the jam for hours and barely moved, or the fact that we had to walk quite a distance to the circuit from our carpark, the whole experience of yesterday was truly fun fun fun!

Next year, it’s ONZ! Maybe Singapore to check out the night race?

It's come, it's nearly gone

I had my first taste of receiving a bonus payout end of last month. I was pretty pleased with the figure I received and immediately did up some calculations on how I would spend and save it. Thought of the many things I’d like to buy for myself.

Surprisingly, I’ve not used any of it to pamper myself, neither have I bought anything for myself.

It went straight to tithes, paying up my credit card bills, taking parents out for a nice meal and buying them something, bought a gift for someone, Missions trip to Sri Lanka in May and the rest I put into savings.

It’s amazing how that sum has just dispersed so fast. It’s not disappeared entirely because a chunk of it has gone into savings.

I’ve been thinking a lot about building my savings again and have been working really hard towards it. Was talking to a certain someone this morning, and he said to try to put aside at least 10-20% monthly from my salary, that’s doable. Just need to budget well monthly and cut down on the usage of my credit card.

But as much as we may plan and budget, at the end of the day our priorities also has to be set right. Tithing has been a part of me since young. My parents taught me at a very young age to tithe. Even when they used to give me RM10, I’d put aside RM1 for tithing. So much so now that when I received my bonus, I could give the 10% and more to the Lord with a cheerful heart.

Everything I have and own at the end of the day still belongs to God.

Finally!

Got my OWD in 2006 and finally after 5 years.. *drumroll please* I'm an Advanced Open Water Diver!

Secured a really good deal during the last MIDE fair for my AOW course. However the catch was that I needed to do it by 31 Mar 2011, and since I was still recovering from pneumonia last year, I was only able to do it this year and decided the last weekend of Mar - which is also the tail end of the monsoon season.

Kin aka Mr Sotong said that visibility would sometimes be as clear as 10-20m and that weather will be spectacular.. On the contrary, visibility was an average of 1-2m on our dives and weather was bad!

But God was good as he gave us clear weather on the 2nd day there where we had to complete our last 3 dives.. That night however it rained so so heavily that it woke all of us up..

My buddy was battling a fever, nose block, ear block during the entire course.. I'm so proud that she managed to pull through and finish it..

Can you believe that we went to Perhentian Kecil but didn't head to Long Beach or eat our ikan bakar at Amelia's! That was just unacceptable la.. For those who've been there with us before, you know what we mean.. The last day on the island was supposed to be a chillax day at Long Beach but our 4pm boat got cancelled due to the bad storm, so we had to take the 12pm boat out.. Decided then to rent a motel room on mainland to shower, rest and eat before our 830pm bus..

We didn't see much on our dives and didn't really have a good instructor - Nothing beats Toby or Simon, so I hear.. Honestly I'm quite tired of Perhentian Kecil..

Time to explore other islands.. starting with Tioman end of April - but doubt I'd do any diving on that trip.. need to save up $ plus the crowd going are mostly non-divers.. So we'd probably just snorkel and chill by the beach.. Nevertheless, still a relaxing holiday to look forward to..

What's Happening?

I’ve been procrastinating lots recently. Don’t know why but just don’t really have the motivation to work as efficiently before. This is bad!! I've got to change.

I'm looking forward to the "Lat Kampung Boy' musical tonight with mum and colleague.

I grew up reading Lat comic books, only because mum loved them so it grew on me as well. Their comics were unlike others, rectangle in shape. I think I still have the collection at home.

Will be interesting to see how the musical will play out: Casted by Awie, Atilia, Douglas Lim, Omar bin Haji Abdullah, Jalil Hamid and Sandra Soghy, directed by Hans Isaac and Harith Iskandar.

To join or not to join

Should I or should I not? I've been waiting 2 years for it..

Your last dance, or your first ice-cream?

Just went crazy and ordered 8 tubs of ice-cream from The Last Polka. It's their 1st year anniversary and they're having a buy 1 tub of any flavour and get 1 tub of Horlicks ice-cream absolutely free. Why Horlicks? That's because it was the first flavour of ice-cream that they started out with long time ago and it was a hit! Since then they've experimented with all sorts of exciting new flavors including Teh Tarik.

Thanks Sarah for introducing me to this delicious ice-cream and all those calories haha. I wish they still had the mango flavor though. That was just heavenly!

I'm reminded

of His love for me this V-day..

I'm reminded that despite all the nonsense going on in our country and the accusations thrown around re Christianity and V-day.. My God is the same yesterday, today and tomorrow..

I'm reminded that He loves me despite my shortcomings..

I'm reminded that eventhough at times when I may be unfaithful, He is faithful till the end..

I'm reminded that though my future may seem uncertain at times, I have a God who is certain..

I'm reminded that His grace and mercies are new every morning..

I'm reminded that I'm valuable, significant and secure in Christ...

I'm reminded that I'm loved!

Piano Lessons

Had my 1st piano lesson in a long long time yesterday.. When I was younger, I learnt piano up to the 4th grade however my syllabus was not so great in my opinion because at the end of four grades, I still didn't know how to play chords.. Can you believe it?

Then when I went on to learning guitar in my high school days, Vincent taught me the theory in a different way.. So one day I sat in front of the piano and decided to 'play' around with the theory that I learnt and voila.. a 'C' chord!

Of course my theory is rusty now as it's been so so long so yesterday LE came over to teach how to play 'church' piano.. I must say that the little background I did have really helped lots.. Hopefully in time to come, I'll be able to play a song or two beautifully..

*wink*

You can be his friend too..

Was driving to work this morning to the tunes of Israel Houghton's 'I am a friend of God'...
Such an amazing fact to know that I, Michelle Melissa Foo can be called a friend of God.. It's surreal..

You can be his friend too..
If you would only let him..

First of many

It's been a long time since I went camping. I think the last I went was probably in primary school.. Unable to secure a chalet for our stay at Pangkor last weekend, we decided that we'll camp by the beach.. It was a last minute decision and all the hotels on the island were already booked up.. God blessed us with good weather.. There was not a single drop of rain while we were on our trip there, that was really remarkable since it was raining everywhere else.. I must say that we had the coolest looking tent on the bay..

Saw beautiful sunsets on all our 3 days there.. Each sunset was different.. All breathtaking in its own special way..

 Saw my first ever shooting star.. First of many more I hope..



We slept under the stars on the 2nd night.. The boys built us a fire that kept us warm throughout the night.. Had the dogs and bats sing us lullabies to sleep.. not forgetting the karaoke down the bay or the 'entertainment' from our neighbouring tents.. If you can't beat those karaoke peeps, you join em.. Just not at 2am in the morning though..

Only downside to the trip was that the waters were really murky, although I must say that where we camp, we had the cleanest waters.. The locals there were so laid back that they were so disinterested in selling or serving us our meals..

I'm glad though that our campsite had toilets and a shower area.. Not the best or cleanest but thankful that we did not have to dig a hole in the jungle somewhere lol..

Camping.. was not the first, definitely won't be the last..

I'm a Joseph in the making..

All that I've gone through in life.. I've learnt to not question 'why'.. cos I believe that every experience, every tear that was shed, every heartache will be turned into something that I will use to bless His name..

It's so comforting to know that God sees the bigger picture of my life and that I need not worry what's in store for tomorrow.. Only to know that my life in His hands.. That whatever trials He may put for me, I will be able to surpass it as He will lead me through.. Just as He did with Joseph..

May my life be used for your glory!

He's Back!

It's been 2 weeks.. good to have him back at home..
He's been away for exactly 2 years.. and that time away has really drawn the family closer somewhat.. I'm glad to not need to say goodbyes on Monday mornings again knowing that I'll only see him on Friday nights..

Believe that this will a year of great changes in the workplace for him.. Lord let your favor flow...

Just like before

Last night it was amazing to see the 4 different zones come together.. Just like the old times in State.. with the addition of the International zone of course..

I believe it's only the start of something greater.. truly the Year of Transformation..

Lotsa prophectic words were shared yesterday with certain lives.. Exciting happenings and fulfillments of God's promises ahead..

Transformers!

It's been 11 days into 2011.. How time flies!

Just realised that this would be my first post for this year..

The thrust at GTPJ for 2011 is the 'Year of Transformation'. It was the Year of Favour last year and God certainly granted me favour in every aspect of my life.. Praying that His favour will continue to flow this year, and that I will be cautious not to take it for granted.

I'm excited about this year - excited about cell, ministry, work, family.. I'm looking forward to see transformation in all these areas but also realise that it has to start with me..

Been following the Daily Bible Walk plan with the church and it's day 11 now.. It's the NLT version and it's amazing to know that you can read the same verse a hundred times but how each time you read it, God just enlightens you with new insights and promises of His Word.. Hopefully I will have the discipline to continue reading the Word daily.. and finish the bible together with the church in 1 year..

Heart of Christmas

Date: 25 Dec
Time: 8.30am & 11.00am
Venue: Glad Tidings AOG (No.6, Jalan 13/4, 46200 PJ)

To celebrate this joyous season, GTPJ brings you a vibrant and original presentation. The Heart of Christmas welcomes you into a world of colour, laughter and love, revealing the true joy for the season.

As the year draws to a close, we invite you to join us in celebration for a heartfelt and meaningful Christmas!

You are invited to join us for our other services at the same venue too!

Christmas Weekend Service
26 Dec 2010 @ 8.30am

Watchnight Service
31 Dec 2010 @ 8.30pm – 12.30am (1 Jan 2010)