Perhentian Dinanti

Note: A re-post as the last post was a lil screwed.

 

So today I'm back in office after a great, no, super duper awesome weekend in Perhentian. The ending to the island escapde only dawned upon me when I arrived at KL Sentral from the airport. The place is buzzing and the rush of people dashing everywhere. It is back to the crazy, fast paced, traffic inducing lifestyle.
 
Oh, how wonderful it was in Perhentian. It felt like time stood still. I did so little and yet so much; I slept, ate, had a lil too much of sun, drank lots of carbonated drink, snorkeled and truly immersed into taking my own sweet time to do things.
 
Perhentian is absolutely breath taking. The lush green treens, the wooden beach chairs, the white sand, the many blue shades of clean clear water, the breeze that sways the pretty coconut tree leaves, the friendly people I met on our trip, the very hospitable chalet staff, yummy food, the bubbly lady at the mini mart who simple refuses to believe that I'm Malaysian coz I apparently look very Eurasian, the beautiful corals and oh so pretty little colourful fishes, the turtles that swam so fast I only saw its tail, the stingrays which took a day off on Saturday, the sharks which were scared of us humans… It had all the ingredients to a beautiful memorable holiday.
 
I have no complains of my tan and would readily get another if I could get one more day in Perhentian. And guess what, I get to check one more item of my list. Weee~

 

Post Script: I know it seems like I have vanished - the last post being about a month ago. But I've been really tied up with work and when I do get to chill, I come back being a lil lazy to load up the pics. They will come up soon enough.

‘I’m Going Silent this Halloween with Nokia XpressMusic‘

When I saw the word Halloween, my mind was already racing. And to put Halloween with Nokia XpressMusic, I wanted jump up and down like a naughty monkey from excitement. The most interesting bit is that Halloween would be silent this party around.

How can you have a party with no music or sound or dancing? Now, that’s not called a party, it’s a bunch of people overdressed for the library you say. But fear not coz the Nokia XpressMusic comes to the rescue. What has a handphone got to do with a Halloween party – everything!


The Nokia XpressMusic has tons of radio with one supporting European and Asian 3G networks, and another supporting North American 3G networks. Both versions also include Bluetooth 2.0 with stereo support, Wi-Fi, and a GPS. The mobile phone also allows media playback superbly. It comes along with a full 3.5-mm headset jack so it can be used with most stereo headphones. The high-quality stereo speakers can play quite loud which suits me really well coz I believe music (well, at least the genres I love) are best appreciated when heard loudly. I would be going "Please Don't Stop the Music!!" Yippee!


Not enough with the music, you can capture all your happy moments via the 3.2 megapixel camera which includes a Carl Zeiss lens, autofocus, and dual-LED flash. If you find still pictures boring, try catching a candid video which can be recorded at 30 frames per second. So we camwhores can bob to music while saying *cheese*.

I can’t wait for the silent Halloween party because with Nokia’s XpressMusic, nothing is really silent afterall. For more information, mousey *here*

The Raya Weekend

My only complaint about raya weekend was that 5 days wasn’t enough to be called a break. Before heading back to home sweet home, I figured 5 days in office seem to pass rather slowly so 5 days home is more than enough time to do much. Oh, how wrong was I.

In fact, I felt I should have forfeited my 1.5 days of sleeping and headed out to catch up with my friends instead. In trying to meet everyone I can, family to spend time with and also my beauty sleep which is a luxury I no longer have since starting work, I rushed in the last 2 days between people and places. I do feel awful about it, it is really unfair to meet up with a friend for 1.5 hours and then having to dash off somewhere else.

Raya is a quiet affair for me. I went to one open house and was helping myself to all the yummylicious cookies. I miss just having such delicacies to munch on when I’m bored or just itching to eat something. Seriously, if my skin was any thicker, I probably could have summoned enough courage to ask the aunty if I could tapau some for myself. Every single kuih raya was delightful to my taste buds which didn’t discriminate between the butter, chocolate, peanut butter and the myriad of flavours of each cookie. I’m already getting hungry typing this out.

With promises to meet up in KL and Melaka, I do hope on catching up with my friends soon. I do think we may eventually hang out more in KL since quite a number of us are based all over the Klang Valley save Ah Ken and Sakura whose presence will be missed dearly. I didn’t realize how dependent I have become to Sakura for all her food recommendations, I miss having her around.

Till the next cookie filled Raya, hope everyone had a fantabulous weekend.

My First Pay Cheque

When I was studying and looking for a job, I had many ideals of how was I going to utilize my first pay cheque. I say utilize because the word spend sounds a tad negative. It sort of implies I’m going to spend the entire salary away in one go.

i always had the impression that when my first salary is in, I would be leaping for joy, jumping straight into the atm queue to get my hands on my moolah. And I would be off utitilizing it fully. Firstly, to give some to my parents and of course to take the family out for dinner. Treat my close friends. Give some to temple, that’s the least I can do because I’ve been really blessed and am very thankful. To get a new handphone, a really good, expensive, out of this world ridiculously fabulous handphone because I deserve one. Shopping! And the rest would be for savings.

The reality of the situation turned out so differently. When I heard that my pay was in, it felt like any ordinary day with the exception that my bank balance has increased somewhat. I did not rush to the atm to withdraw money to buy anything I had always thought I would. I did go to the atm machine 4 days later, but just to make sure the money was indeed banked in. And it was not till I inserted my card in that I realized I could do my banking online. I felt so silly!

The new handphone; I decided I didn’t need one. The current one functions just fine after a battery change. In fact, I think the idea of a new super duper canggih handphone where I would only use say 5 of its gazzilion features is nothing but an ego booster, a feel good material item so show off because the phone looks sophisticated when I take it out to answer a call or text message. But really, isn’t a phone’s main function is to make and receive calls and sms? My phone does that excellently. I won’t deny I would like a new phone but perhaps when the current one goes completely bonkers on me, then I know it would not be an impulse buy.

The shopping was minimized to the absolute essentials as I have almost everything I need. I’m really proud of myself to be able to hold so still with all the sales going on. The treats will proceed as I intended, so would all the rest. And instead of a handphone, I’m thinking of taking up a life insurance policy instead.

So what’s so exciting about my first pay cheque? The fact that I’m actually an independent person, that I’ve earned my dues, I’m a working adult, not a mere child anymore. It makes me feel more matured, like I’m grown up so much in just 2 months. That feeling is one of the best feelings I’ve had so far and no amount of shopping or a sophisticated phone can ever replace that.

I Got A Nose Job

And you reading this right now have absolutely no right to judge me. Hah. I got the plastic surgery done simply because I can do it, I felt like it and well, I hated my original nose of course.

Well, I wanted to write about this earlier but I was in quite a lot of pain and my face really swelled up so I literally cooped myself up at home. But the bandages have been removed, the swell has completely gone and now I feel *much* better, I can write what happened.

I have always never quite liked how my nose looks like. There is a slight bump on it and that bump seem to be magnified over the years as I grew more and more conscious of it. I personally felt the bump was a scar to my confidence. I have always find it hard to believe people when they tell me I look just fine and that I should be thankful that I’m still perfect in every other way, I have all my limbs perfection functional, the mental capacity of a person my age, independence, a good education. But when put on a weighing scale, the bump weighs a tonne in the con over all my pros.

If you believed a word of the above, you have been conned! Oh, but the bump on my nose is completely true. Kiss of Cupid and not swear to die.

I did not have a nose job! Siow ah.

Instead, I had a surgery to remove a wisdom tooth. I wish I had a picture of my X-Ray to show you the angle and position of my tooth. It was so awkwardly positioned because of the lack of space and the tooth had to force its way up to grow.

See the crooked wisdom tooth in the pic? Now imagine my teeth was lying 90 degrees flat and part of tooth peeking through the gums!

The dentist noted this problem about a year ago but I was really not up to the idea of a surgery. Like come on, it’s a tooth for crying out loud! And since I didn’t feel any pain, I basically left it alone somehow hoping the problem would vanish. But I’m too smart to know that it wouldn’t but the thought of going under the knife is scary. As a teenager, I endured 2 years of torturing braces treatment followed by a year of wearing retainers that made me talk funny and now this??! Sigh

Well, the dentist used reverse psychology to scare me into the surgery which I’m afraid didn’t work because I knew exactly what was he doing. These were factual no doubt but I swept them to the darkest, furthest corner of my mind so that I will not be affected by it.

a) When you are stressed especially during exams, naturally your immune system will be more vulnerable. And it is in times like these you will experience agonising pain but by then it will be too late. Swelling is also common and mere painkiller will not do the trick.

b) If I stubbornly leave the bad wisdom tooth to naughtily have its way of things, it will pressure and move the adjacent teeth. The long term effects is that I will start to lose my teeth 10 years before my peers. *Eekss*

So while I’m home, I told myself, let’s solve this teething problem and voila, I went for my surgery. Incisions had to be made on my cheek flesh and there was a huge risk on this procedure because there is a muscle running right through it. If not properly done and the muscle gets cut, I will lose all sensation on my right side and will no longer be able to fully control my mouth movement and speech. Phew…. So I gulped down my fear of all these and put in faith in my dearest dentist hoping for the best.

I was put under local anaesthesia but the dentist insisted I closed my eyes so I cant tell you what when on except that there were weird sounds of the suction and a drill – yes a drill to break my apparently very monstrous wisdom tooth into smaller pieces to remove it more easily.

The stitches have been removed and the wound is recovering very well. I had a day of porridge and when the anaesthesia wore out, the pain was !@#%^& painful. Oh, guess what I was told, I may have to undergo the same surgery for the wisdom tooth on my left. Ggrrr….

Let me ask you this, I’ve lost both my wisdom teeth on my right side (top and lower jaw each) and will be removing the two on my left side. Does that mean I will be less wise?

Rainforest World Music Festival Part 3

RWMF Day 3 & 4: Saturday 12^th & Sunday 13th July 2008

You can read Part 1 *here* and Part 2 *here*

This time around, i'll let the pictures do all the talking.


I call this the Fish Bone.



Myself walking through the "Bones"

Ah Nee sempat berposing some more :P

I love the backdrop of the place. It's actually a bar which opens at night with the cutest plush pillows thrown all over the place. It has a very welcoming, cozy ambience with really simple decor. I guess Less is More.

Being Miss Paris Hiltons with Ah Hua



Check out the dude's hair! I bet he used an entire bottle of gel to get that look!



Thank god i had a fan with me, comes in really handy with the sweltering heat!



With the Hair Dude and the musicians from Kasai Masai



With Duggy!! That's the amazing part about Rainforest, it brings people together. I've known Duggy for almost 2 years coz Mr G-5 talked about her quite a fair bit. We're on each other's Friendster and Facebooks but have never seen each other face-to-face until here in Santubong! How cool is that?!



Right before getting my tattoo! Oh and the tattoo artist was really friendly and we were chatting away. Pity Ah Hua coz her artist was literally mute!



Ah Hua getting her henna tattoo done


How her tattoo looks like

I'm in love with a VJ - with Dominic!! Aiyoh, this woman ah took forever to go up to him to ask for his picture. But its totally worth it. Ah Hua couldnt stop smilling for the rest of the night!

Booking seats. We get to the field area about one hour before the show starts to get fantastic Gold Class Seats :)



The Rainforest Balloon. Doesnt it look like a moon? I want one for my room too!



Ah Ren and Ah Hua



This dude was actually sleeping while waiting for his turn to perform during the Accoustic Guitar Heroes workshop. It was so funny seeing him nodding off while in full view of everyone in Dewan Lagenda!



Oooh, the so very sinful Coffee Bean Mocha Frappucinno. It kept me pumping till the wee hours of the morning. I dont know whether it was just me (coz i havent had coffee in forever) but the coffee there tasted extra EXTRA good.

Audiences were invited on stage to learn the Kelabit Dance during the Drums and Dancing Workshop. It was the most happening and super packed workshop i attended. Even i couldn't resist from thumping my feet and eventually joining the rest on stage to dance :)

With Su Ann of Pink Pau.



With Kenny Sia. I tell you this fellow, he was so freaking shy to dance when we were near the stage dancing that night. Dancing not his thing he claims. Hehehe. I pulak dance like crazy!!



With our new friends Esther and Sabena



Near the stage where all the action was taking place



The whole entire big gang!



The Dancing Kaki.

Right as the music was getting more groovy, it started to rain so the whole gang quickly rushed up to Dewan Lagenda for shelter. But after awhile, i got really agitated just sitting there. I spent good money coming here (ok la, technically my parents paid, but still!) and I dont plan on going back without dedicating a decent amount of time to dance. So i kicked off my shoes, and passed all my valuable belongings to dearest Ah Nee for keepsake while i joined the crowd in the World Festival of Mud. Here were the bunch of people i went with while the rest were squirming about the rain and mud. But guess what, i think i must have been superly lucky coz within minutes of being out, the rain completely stopped! Yippee!!!

The rest joined the dancing but at a different corner from Sabena, Yazid, Superman and myself. While dancing, we made more friends and guess what, i had no idea we all stayed in Singgahsana until the next morning when they were checking out. Small world indeed! Yazid squeezed and squirred his way through all the way to the front with me following him close behind. We were right in FRONT of the stage during the last dance. The adrenaline rush was exhilarating!


Verdict: The music played got better over the days with the best night being Sunday. I think if i were to come back again, i'll probably skip Friday's show.

Ultimately, i had an amazing time in Kuching and Santubong. Meeting up with my friends, the yummylicious food and the addictive Teh C Peng Special which i totally miss, the company of new friends i made everywhere i went, the atmosphere people share over beautifool music, all these add ingredients to a very savoury holiday.

Like the dude from Kasai Masai says, "I love this beautifool place, with its beautifool people and beautifool music." (yes, he says beautiful sounding like fool at the end of the word). Aawwww

Rainforest World Music Festival Part 2

RWMF Day 1: Friday 11^th July 2008

You can read Part 1 *here*

I was woken up by a cheery voice on the phone, it was Ah Hua who just landed in Kuching. We met up for breakfast at Choon Hui Cafe, voted the best place to eat Sarawak laksa by Kenny himself. I had no idea about this until I came back and saw his post on this year’s Food Awards of Kuching!

Choon Hui Café, next to Grand Continental Hotel, or a cab ride worth RM7 from my lodge.

The famous Sarawak laksa which left me wanting more.

Kolo Mee

Trying to be cool with Ah Hua

Waiting for the shuttle bus. There are certain spots along the designated route to pick up passengers from all major hotels. Singgahsana Lodge is located directly opposite Harbour View Hotel, it was practically 10 steps away from our doorstep. The shuttle bus are hourly of RM10 per way to Sarawak Cultural Village. The services were excellent, the busses comfortable with their reclining seats and punctual.

Some know how to get real comfy in the bus.

The entrance of Sarawak Cultural Village (SCV)

Road signs in SCV.

Rumah Orang Ulu, one of the many houses in SCV. This house can only accommodate 50 people at one go as a safety feature.

I was so excited seeing the gamelan set (a jawanese orchestra, I learnt to play all the instruments of the gamelan in uni) at the Craft Centre as it is very uncommon. The difference is this set is made of bamboo instead of brass. Here’s a guy playing the gambang while I sang the original version of Rasa Sayang. Did you know the song originated from Indonesia?

The stage from where I sat

Just as it started raining. I stubbornly wanted to stay out but in the battle between the Rain versus Ohkulala, the rain won when my entire butt was soaking wet.

People seeking shelter at Dewan Lagenda from the rain

Children do know how to make themselves happy in all situations. This girl was contentedly playing with her crayons and colouring book in all the hoo ha of the rain and hundreds of people around her.

Couples all lovey dovey listening to the instrumentals of Rose Daly.

Rain or shine, superman is always the hero on the phone. Lol

It was so “hot” during the rain, a girl decided her bra was sufficient.

Verdict: The rain did a lot of damage to the field, it eventually became nothing but a huge pool of mud. I was rather disappointed with the performances as most were rather boring. The only one which did justice and deserved a big pat on their bag is Akasha from Malaysia. In superman’s words, they were the rock band of Indian classical music and I completely agree.