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...

YSL Chyc - Be Mine

So, should I splurge on a handbag or travel else where? InsyaAllah the later, and buy the bag from where it came from... OMG, nafsu! This is pure dream written so it came true hopefully. If not now, soooooon one day ;)

I should put up that Balenciaga bag too. Let me browse for the picture and post it later. Happy Weekend!

Ultimate 2012 Project

Hey, I'm in Labuan. Hanging out at McDonald's for its internet. Zukry's has no internet connection so let's just kill time waiting while he's working here. Couldn't help from google-ing stuffs getaway related, of course.

This time, it's bigger than the previous ones. Our third (or is it fifth) getaway and definitely the biggest yet! Mutual agreement, no dare or anything like that :) This is the route we are taking this time. 100% confirm with all flight and ground arrangement made.

Looks like another 'planning' weekend ahead of us. This week, accommodations! I'm sorry for the lack of updates. Life is just getting a little bit wackier every day. Adulthood, challenging and sucks at times. Hartini's trying to cope with whatever it is that comes her way... Hopefully, with success.

March, and I'm looking forward for May!

We are jetting off for a getaway soon... Couldn't wait. A lot of planning to do. At least, the nights are fill with jotting down stuffs and learning about new country. Pick up different language to the native Hello, Thank You, How much is this (very important!)

February and Me, so far

Hey, sorry to have been leaving the blog for about a month now. Happy February – 10 days not-too-late! How’s the resolution for the year going? I didn’t really have mine; it was a bit of a relief not having the pressure to not succeed in anything but it kind of suck as well because you don’t know what you want for the year too. Well, I guess – same old, same old. What I want is just to be a better person in general – note to self: got to specify things to improve in my journal.

So, what I have been up to lately. At the moment, I’m missing KL and Zukry. It’s not a good combo as both are hundreds kilometres away, that made it suck-ier. Is there such word? SUCKIER. Heh! But we did enjoy our stay in KL for Chinese New Year late Jan. A little birthday celebration, a lot of helping out Kaklong for her wedding – whatever we were assigned with and just a 4 days-stay-at-home break.

We were assigned for the rosette or ‘buttonaire’ for the ‘penanggah’. The other assignment is the decorations for the cars of the 2 couples, which will be requiring Zukry’s service as one of the drivers. Aik, macam sket aje – but after 150 flower modified, berbangga jugaklah dengan hasilnya. You guys belum tengok what my Kak Ngah (that’s my cousin) made for Hantaran! Bravo!

I spent a good amount of money (justifying self!) on books at Kinokuniya. Who have better books selection if not Kinokuniya! What did I buy? Let’s see... 3 sewing books that comes with patterns including one from Cath Kidston with the necessities to create a Cath Kidston bag which I didn’t get to buy in London and another from Burdastyle. Yes, from the Burdastyle – the website which shares free patterns online! There are a lot of great pictures of simple projects in the book. Next, Julie and Julia the novel which assist the cooking fever I had immediately after (I haven’t finish reading it) and a couple of motivational stuffs (on handling stress & managing people)

In the process of clearing up debt from my London trip (which is all cleared by the way! Yeay...~) I actually bought 2 other things online. Boo, Teeny! I received it, and paid full – no debt whatsoever. Seriously... I just recently had a makan2 at my house – invited a few friends over and made Nasi Mandy / Mandi / Mandhi – whatever. It tasted OK. The rice and the chicken, the others were contribution from others. Desserts, Dhal from Visu, Muffins from Kak Adda, etc. It’s a different feeling to be home alone on weekdays, together with Zukry on weekends and a few more friends once in a while. Miri can be so fulfilling at times, and not-so at many other times... Let’s not go there, Alhamdulillah for EVERYTHING Ya Allah :)

Why We Went for a Getaway in London

Good evening readers.

I was fallen into sleep right after I came back from work... Awaken by an SMS from husband, now I feel like I can't sleep. Hopefully just for a little while longer. I need to get up early tomorrow! I must! Early means, maximum - at 0600 Hours. Thank you :)

OK, to let out of my system - I want to tell you how we ended up having a getaway to London (again). We were there for THE HONEYMOON in 2010, not that long ago - and at that time I remember agreeing with Zukry that we should do London again... if time and all other things permit. So, if I can stay sane for the next 20 minutes, I should be able to finish this write up. Oh, and I haven't been writing properly in my journal about this, so might as well...

It came about when Zukry received a notification email from Airasia regarding its change on London Airport from Stansted to Gatwick; where it came with promotion priced ticket! I think a what was offered was RM599++ (I think!) So, he calculated two tickets with food & luggage, it came about to RM 2400ish / pax. He got excited, PM-ed me about it. Well, I can't say NO when the husband had already suggested it, can I? :P

But the price increase a bit the next day, Zukry was then unsure. Taklah byk sgt... about RM100+. So he was contemplating. He was giving all sort of other reasons, we should not take up the "GOING" decision. It's too fast, we had our Kinabalu and Singapore trips, we had this, that... nak balik KL, kampung and macam2 others lah. So I provoked :P (The ticket we got for Gulf Air in 2010 was RM3300ish rasanya)

"Ha, tak berani lah tu nak take chances. Beli jelah... We'll sort out other stuffs. I dare you"

(Lebih kurang lah. Note that I called him at his office to say this!)

On the same day, he bought the tickets. Total of RM 2600/pax. He arranged the food so that one would get an international dish while the other a Malaysian ones. For return, twice servings per flight. Luggage, he brilliantly added 15 Kg for the return ticket. This happened with very minimal Teeny's advice :) A big lesson learnt from our 2010 trip :) He knows which means he too contributed in the shopping department. Hehehe...

OK, tu jelah. I may not have write this up so dramatically as it happened. But it happened. We bought the ticket in October. Had a big Excel File of our planning.

• A tab for schedule - down to what to wear daily, which I only filled up to 3rd day... the remaining days I was supposed to be wearing things that I bought on 1-2-3 day. Hihihi.
• A tab for things we have bought. Example: Train tickets like Gatwick Express (similar to our ERL), National rail tickets for our trip to Oxford & Bicester Town (for Bicester Village), Musicals ticket that we bought online too etc.
• A tab on things we should be consider like Ice Skating at Winter Wonderland Hyde Park...
• A tab for budget. What we have paid earlier, what we have to pay... and a little table for my shopping which include one luxury item that I finally decided not to use.

To make it all more exciting, Zukry won a trip to London exactly 2 weeks before our planned trip happen. So it was a good preparation where he get to advise on whether I could tolerate the weather, how long it takes from Gatwick to Victoria, getting around Bayswater cause that's where he stayed, etc.

Best, kan? I think so too ;)

Teeny's Facial Stuffs

I’m not such a girly girl when it comes ‘mendandan’ diri. Well, to start with; perfect complexion was never me. And as soon as puberty hits – pimples can be categorized as one of my close friends ;) I remember using all sort of products starting from; of course, Johnsons’ Clean & Clear, susu kambing ones lah... macam2. I guess, Mak lah ajar kot. Mak bought me a set from Shaklee – takingat dah ape ntah nama set product dia in 2006 and then continued with Clinique in 2007 (yes, masa tu i dah kerja. It was birthday present :D)

It comes like this in a box 'poslaju'-d to me in Miri complete with a shoulder bag - you know, the usual complimentary thing...

I also at one point of time used Lancome. I bought a whole set at Eraman, KLIA. But unfortunately, I lost its moisturizer. I don't know how that happened, but when I got home in Miri - I had that thought of missing something. Only realized it was the moisturizer a few days after... The thing is, the moisturizer is usually the most expensive compared to the cleanser & toner, together!

The missing moisturizer :(

No wonder, for a while I was super stressed (Yeah, right! :P)

And then, came Biotherm. If not mistaken I actually use the moisturizer twice. Once with the Lancome set and another time, a complete Biotherm set. I actually love the smell of Pore Reducer Moisturizer from Biotherm ni. I guess, since I brought it to London in 2010 - everytime i put in on here in Malaysia, brings back memory. Boleh gitu? :) The first trip in 2010, we knew to put extra moisturizer on all over our body because it was summer and the humidity kan low kat sana compared to here. It was a big deal applying body lotion, chapstick, face moisturizer...

After a few months (not long) trying on to things like Clean & Clear, Simple - over Giant, Watson's, Guardian product - now I’m using Clarins. Nak kata loyal, takdelah... but a repeat customer lah. Just a started last year, and bought another set just earlier this month.

The first set I bought at Parkson KLCC. RM500 + jugaklah... well as usual, it comes with a few miniature stuffs. (Read: Miniature ye) I was a satisfied customer. Nak describe feeling it brings tu - taklah significant sangat... But so far, OK. I like their moisturizer too. Sampai licin the whole bottle :) My problem with oily face tu probably lessen due to air-conditioned office. I didn't use the toner, cause Mak gave me Murad to use. So I kept Clarins toner for the next set.

The second set I bought at Harrods, London :) I feel satisfied buying product worth about RM370 for the cleanser, moisturizer and this time, additional scrub! I thought it was a bargain! Plus, I was given a few of other stuffs too and there are not miniatures! They includes a hydra-quench serum, travel sized scrub, body lotion, body scrub with a mascara and two make-up bags! (not in picture)

All that for less what I paid for the first time! BEST :) and it's a different feeling altogether when you walk around London with a Harrods plastic bag. Kan? :) (In my case, there were 2 plastic bags. One with Mak's Longchamp... Hehe) OKlah, tu je. Taktau kenapa semangat nak tulis pasal facial stuffs that I have been using :) Muka sama aje. Manis... Haha!