A beautiful day in KL...

My besties & I joined The Fabulous KL foodhunt last Saturday. It was fun to run around Kuala Lumpur, finding food to eat. I was lucky enough to get to eat a delicious Nasi Kukus Ayam Dara at Taman Melati. The dish was so yummy, I was sad that I had to eat it during a competition *sigh*.

Anyway, I actually want to share some beautiful photos of Kuala Lumpur that I captured on that day. KL was really beautiful since the early light until the late evening. I'm so glad that I was outside enjoying the beauty of it all...

Haze has subsided & the rain has become a frequent visitor this time of year... The sky is now cleared, the colour so blue not grey, it's mesmerizing. The sun can be stinging hot just before the cooling rain... 

My favorite view has always been the morning sky after the rainy night... 

All photos by me! Taken using Asus Zenfon2 with a bit of Instagram tweaking :)

From my garden...

Hi Guys,

I've started gardening since the last AidilFitri. My first plant, a pomegranate plant. Mainly because there are so many advantages of pomegranates and they are so expensive in the market. So, I figured why not try to grow one. So I bought a small plant when I was back at my Grandma's house. And I checked yesterday, there is already one bud. I'm so psyched! I hope it will grow into a big healthy fruit.

Since I started gardening, I've started to realize things that I never realized before.
Have you ever seen the fruit or the flower of a curry plant? If you haven't, they look like pictures below.

In the spirit of becoming the true nature lover, I started to plant a few more flower & decorative plants. Now my lawn looks much greener, lovelier and prettier!

I've also planted a few more plants that my mother can use in her cooking. I have turmeric plant, Daun Kesum (the ones that we usually put in laksa) and kaffir lime. We already have lemongrass & pandan leaves growing healthily at home even before my gardening madness started.

I've failed a few times at planting ginger from it's root (or rhizome) so I paid no attention to last root that I planted. But almost after a month of ignoring it, I finally saw a leave coming out from it! I'm so happy!

All these while, I thought I don't have the green fingers. I mean, why should I think that because all the plants that I tried planting before ended up dead... even cactus! But now, seeing all the plants striving despite the hazy season, I finally realized something...

You don't really need green fingers to become good at gardening. I don't think it depends on 'luck'. It requires some work, consistency, persistency, caring and love... About the same with other things in life, wouldn't you agree?

I do talk to my plants & kiss them after I came home from work. Hehehehee... If you can see how beautiful they are, you'll kiss them too!

Next project, trying to grow some parsley... I have failed a few times at this. *sigh*

Ayo ke Jogja - Etc

Hi Guys,

I have really put off my trip to Jogja's stories & photos. So I'm going to put a summary here. If you want to know anything, you can leave a comment. I'll reply (if you want me to email you, please leave your email address). I definitely recommend our tour guide (Dwi - he's so funny!) & driver (Dayu - such a careful driver). Dwi's phone number is on the photo.

It's always the people we travels with or met who made our trip a memorable one.

If you're looking for another option, one travel agent (Jati Wijaya) did leave his contact details at my Merapi post. You can contact them to find out further.

What I can tell you is, our trip to Jogja was amazing. I went to Jogja to see BOROBUDUR but really Dieng was the place that I like most. I wish to go there again someday. It's on the highland, it's very cold and it's filled with potato plantations. If you went to Sikidang, do try the boiled eggs. I think the eggs were delicious! The Keraton Palace felt so peaceful and Indrayanti beach really made me regret not bringing extra clothes. The clear cold water, the open sea... amazing! But the waves were high! I'm not used to it :)

Enjoy the photos!

Ayolah ke Jogja!

Would I Survive a Bear Attack?

I watched this program on NatGeo last week, 'So You Think You'd Survive?' What would you do when faced with a certain situation & they provided 3 options for you to choose.

Its fun, like taking a personality quiz, testing my knowledge on life. So, I happily played along.
Then, one situation was presented.

What would you do when you're confronted by a black bear?

Looking at the options given, I know I had to go with C. Not because I'm a well trained black belt karate master or a kungfu shifu, but because I'm the worst at both running and climbing a tree. I run for like 100m and that's it. Climbing trees? Forget it... NO, thank you!

Therefore, I can only go with C... because I do have skills in making a lot of noises and I always imagined myself fighting like Bruce Lee with his one inch punch.. heheh...

With my unfit physical, I have to stand my ground and prepare to fight if I'm confronted by a black bear...

But, look at the correct answer!

 

Looks like my physical weakness is working to my advantage this time.. yeee haaaaa... Maybe I won't hurt the bear much, but the bear definitely will have sore ears.

So now you know what to do when confronted by a bear. 

Enough rambling for today...

Hopefully this will be a good enough warm up for me after not writing for so long.

Take care y'alls. 

Selamat Hari Raya AidilFitri! Maaf Zahir & Batin!

 

Lunar Eclipse 04/04/2015

I caught it at the late stage.
This is one of the moments when you wished that you had a very good camera and lens.
Until that time, this is the best that I could capture.
Enjoy!

Ayo ke Jogja ~ 4WD at Merapi



Well, it was my first time riding along in a 4WD. Fortunately, it was such an awesome experience!

 

Our driver was a very polite and friendly young man. I didn't catch his name, but based on his name tag, it's IBENK. I hope I got that correctly and hopefully that's not his company's name or something... eiks!

 

I also didn't know for sure what is the cost of this activity because the price was already inclusive in our package and I never asked for an itemized bill. But, it was roughly IDR350,000 for a 2 hours ride.

 

I don't know all that for sure but what I do know is, you cannot miss this experience if you're ever in Jogja. They'll take you around in a 4WD around Mount Merapi (not to the top) and you'll get to see the after effect of Mount Merapi eruption in 2010. Lives were taken during the eruption, homes and possession lost, human endurance tested. After 5 years, the lands have started to flourish again.

 

You will also be taken on a ride full with 'free massages'. Heheheeee...

 



Our cool and friendly driver with the 4WD. He's so good at taking photos with 'Harry Potter flying on a broomstick' effect. I'm just saying in case you're interested in that kind of pose :) Find him... heheheee...

'Pesan Merapi', a message from Mount Merapi to the people who will be affected by its rage. To me, this shows how the people here are in understanding and at peace with the nature around them. And, there are always lessons to be learned from everything that happened.

Pesan Merapi:

Aku tidak suka mengalah  juga tidak ingin mengalahkan. Tetapi pasti sampai janjinya.

Cuma mohon maaf, kalau ada yang tertabrak, terseret dan terbawa hanyut, kebanjiran

atau tenggelam, karena menghalang-halangi yang akan kulewati.

How small we are when challenged by nature. Nothing much we can do when nature runs amok. We can just watch it passed by, be patient, pray and save enough love, courage and strength to face the aftermath.



A watch that shows the exact time of Mount Merapi eruption and everything that remains.

Whatttttt????!!!

 

Top: The lava path during the eruption. The gorges are deep.

Bottom: There are 3 houses buried under this area.

 

The peak of Mount Merapi hidden behind the mist.

Who can imagined something so beautiful can cause such catastrophe. When it erupted, it brought agony with it. But, after it has calm down, the lands are fertile and the landscapes are breathtaking.

It takes, then it gives.

What choice that we have other than be at peace with and respect it?



A sticker on the jeep that captured my attention straightaway.

Right on!

 

Ayo ke Jogja

'Third time's the charm' is the most accurate expression of our trip this time. We had planned and cancelled our trip to Jogja twice before. But this time, we were determined to make it happen.

 

So, with the charm of the third time, last minute's decisions and bookings, plus a new member to my usual travel gang, we had successfully arrived and had wonderful moments in Jogja. We travelled quite leisurely this time. Not a backpacker's style. I wonder whether it's age, or time constraint or low energy but we hired our own driver, guide and private van. Which saved us a lot of time and energy, and gave us the privileged of knowing two very friendly, kind and funny locals.

 

Main reason of going to Jogjakarta... BOROBUDUR.

 

 

But, Jogja has so many other amazing places that you can visit. Just go with the right gang and the right spirit (plus enough money on hand), you'll be surprised at how much fun you can have in such a simple place.

I wish our trip was a bit longer than 3 days and I wish we brought a bit more money (ngeee...) so that we can go to visit a lot of other places. But for now, I am very happy to have a chance to finally visit Jogjakarta and cross one more UNESCO site off my list.

Wait for more entries on my Jogja trip.

See y'all soon!



What do I get from Travelling?

A few years back, somebody made a remark to me about travelling, which I couldn't really comprehend at that time.

'There's nothing special about travelling. You visit the place, do some sightseeing, shopping, spend a lot of your money, it's tiring and then you come back home which you feel really happy to do.'

I really couldn't understand that.

Although my home is my favourite place in this whole wide world, I always felt happy to leave it for a while and go explore some other places.

But, since last year, I've been thinking about this... What do I get from all the travelling that I've done other than some temporary excitement and happiness? Have all my travelling made me a better person than I was before?

That's a very tough question to answer because if I'm the judge of myself, the answer to that question is 'not so much'. Maybe I'm being too hard on myself, but that's how I feel.

So maybe after this, I should plan things to do on my travel carefully and start evaluating whether I have learned something from my travelling and whether it has positively changed me.

Wish me luck!

Not all those who wander are lost...

Although, that was where she had been. Lost, not wandering...

2014 had been quite a testing year for her. She thought what happened last year did not have that much effect on her. But, losing a much beloved Father will leave a deep unexplained feeling inside anyone.

An independent, strong and adult daughter, is still a daughter. As much as she thinks that she's handling losing her father well, she apparently did not. Subliminally, without her knowledge, it did affect her.

Somehow, it left her struggling & wondering what is going wrong with her. Nothing interests her anymore. Her moods kept on plunging. She finally reached for help worrying that it will hit rock bottom. Aren't she glad that she did that?

So glad :)

She's back now. She thinks so... She can feel the energy and the excitement coming back into her. Bit by bit.

2015 has a new set of challenges for her. The big one served to her at the very early of the year. Even though the light at the end of the tunnel is still so very dim, she stays optimistic and hopeful.

She has little to worry about knowing that she has all the support and love from her incredible family and friends.

And for that, she is forever grateful.

"Be not sad (or afraid), surely Allah is with us."

Al-Fatihah - To my beloved Father, my Grandmother and the whole crews & passengers of flight MH370 who had all left us on the first week of March, 2014 (although I am still hopeful for MH370).

Al-Fatihah.