Kuala Lumpur - Doha - Rome :)

Packing makes me nervous.

A little guilt of leaving behind work.

A jolt of excitement of seeing yet another part of the world with Zukry.

3 in 1 of Nescafe... is it really necessary? I want to be able to drink real coffee. I bet they are many likes of Starbucks, CBTL cafes, etc. there. So, really - do i need these 10 sachets of Nescafe? Milo on the other hand - despite the many hot chocolate i could be indulging too, I feel it is somewhat necessary :)

Serkup - Is 3 enough? Well, plus another; the one I'll be wearing back from my trip Miri - KL. I'll be wearing it all day long EVERY DAY! So how many is enough?Don't you suggest I won't be needing it! Believe me, I NEED them... Important to avoid hijab fashion mishaps! (I boleh buat satu dedicated post pasal serkup sahaja... How they have evolved, NOT!)

Bring it on!

10 more days and I am just so swarmed with responsibilities, bloom to a another level of "growing up" - tell about this, much later insyaAllah... and many moments of slight guilt about oh-so-many-other things; I can't even taste the excitement! (Well, now I can. Writing about it helps!) That 10 more days is towards our getaway. This time even bigger, even riskier, even more adventurous. But is it? I'm glad most of the big expenses are already made.

• Flight tickets - We are going by Qatar Airways. This is my second time, the first one was way back when we went to Jakarta. Longer hours, so I have little expectation but not much. After 5 years of working with enough HLPs and business travels, I've managed to redeem my Enrich Miles for a one-way ticket for two (2)! Afterwards, I was left with only about 51 points. Hehe...

• Eurail tickets - Many thanks to my ex-housemate, Izza who studied them hard last year to get on which trains, what time and where. Ours arrived safely at Zukry's workplace. Some groundwork on reservation of seats and bunk beds for the night train can only be done once we reach Euroland; so that's KIV-ed for now...

• Accommodations. Well, only one requires cash upon check out but the rest insyaAllah taken care of. The guesthouse Izza recommended in Venice - that's one unsettle - Remember to have enough cash!

• Currency exchanged. Had them changed in April. That week that I go back for 'sesaje'...

I have been to most of the places we planned this time. I was in Milan & Venice twice in 2006, been to Pisa to see the 'menara condong' and see a little of Florence - I think it was only the Duomo and I walked around a bit but at night, so I didn't get to really enjoy it.

In the middle of Milan Piazza del Duomo

Pisa Leaning Tower at dawn

(Notice the same blouse, I was from Geneva - singgah Milan - then straight to find this tower in Pisa. We drove... Well, I didn't but I was in the car :P)

San Marco Piazza, Venice

So hopefully, with that little experience - I could make things a little bit easier for us (Sekali I yang confuse over2 kang! huhu)

Proud 10 KM Finisher

Feeling kinda Urgh!

I have come to that time, to finally deciding to own a house. I have been toying with the idea since forever, and the fact that I am actually opening up that new decade of life in 6 months or so got me worried about starting too late...

It's frustrating to find that you can't afford most of the new properties near my housing area in KL. But that's no surprise, just that it's an anticipated bad news that you just don't want to accept but just got to. Boo! Last year, when I look at RM500,000 worth of house - I feel like "don't worry, you can..." Now, terketar-ketar rasanya...

Everytime I open my monthly budget excel file, together with Zukry's, I feel like "What am doing here alone in Miri?" i could have save minimum of RM2000 just on the usual bills and house rent if we were to stay together... It's our favourite topic nowadays. Well, probably not ours but mine specifically. Blergh!

Did you know that I was offered to join Sabah team in Kote Kinabalu? Nothing is cast on stone yet but I saw an email about it. I saw the request email shared by a colleague. I don't know what to expect from it but I just hope whatever comes next is the very best; there is. But that's pasrah right...? I gotta put effort!

Anyways, plan to wake up early tomorrow. A better start!

Balik Kampung

Hey, how you guys been? Hope all is well.I was in Peninsular for about 6 days and heading to Labuan now. I like it when the flight is not full. I have the whole 3 seats to myself on row 16 today. I think this is a rare case for flight bound to Miri. So, I'm comfy with a slight stomachache probably from whatever I have shoved in my mouth these past few days... I was a little nervous about going back to Bagan Serai. Nothing new to bring - read: Baby, luckily nobody actually bring up the issue but I think all would want to especially my parents... Sorry, Mak. No news yet. But somehow with hectic schedule to fulfill, I was just glad that the whole siblings decided to gather in the same non-raya weekend. So, that's nice.

The driving back was alright, I didn't sleep much, although there were times I was caught dozing off while Zukry was actually trying to make conversation. After arriving, the little ones was in amazement with Zukry's New IPad playing games, I had like 30 mins sleep - only after much persistent of my MIL. Boleh tak? huhuhu...

That night, we went to Kuala Gula for their famous soft crab. Menu of the night was obviously seafood. We were on a floating restaurant where the waves of the river actually got me a little dizzy - seasick like. Zukry's nephew had the same problem, but his headache somewhat disturbed his appetite while another was just afraid of the fact the restaurant moves almost like the time he experienced the earth quake last month! Despite all that, the food was lovely. I could have enjoyed more if I didn't eat that much the whole day and was not affected with the seasick-thing.

On Sunday, we went to The Lost World of Tambun! Most unfortunate, I didn't get to use my new gadget, the Lumix GX1 since the battery drained off and I forgot to bring its charger (left it in KL, silly me!) Plus, Zukry and I was busy bonding in the water. Can arr, like that? hehehe... We tried their slides, but not the longest swirly one. But the one we tried was really fun. The long queue and wait wasn't that fun though. The little ones were seen at the kids area playing with all sorts of water slides. Awish - I've mentioned about him before, was really just having a blast throwing himself in the water while his brother was busy worrying in case he drowned! Well, I was scared too but he was like "Hey look, I'm OK" - huhuhu...

All in all, it was indeed a time well spent with everyone! It has been a while since my last trip to a water park. I think the last one was during my University days in Malacca with my girlfriends! Way back when... ;) great time.

I think the conclusion of this entry is that to me, Family is my life. I wouldn't have lived as well without them. My own, and Zukry's. Being away from them, makes being together an effort. With that, I appreciate the time spent even more. I hope though, with more money earn away - I will never ever forgot my dues. (please don't take me for granted too yeah...) But yeah, I believe in Karma. If I don't do it to others inshaAllah adalah balasannya.

Sekian...