Saturday, May 28, 2011

Kualiti atau kuantiti?


Persahabatan ni macam ada musim-musimnya. Mula-mula kita kenal, lama-lama jadi rapat gila. Lepak sama, makan sama, tidur pun kadang-kadang sama. Satu ketika, kita rasa macam dah kenal sangat lah dengan orang tu. Kamcing gila babeng, bak kata orang.

Lumrah hidup, setiap perkenalan, pasti berakhir dengan perpisahan. Masing-masing bawa haluan masing-masing. Bila sampai tempat baru, pusingan yang sama bermula. Kenal, rapat, bye-bye.

Dalam sepanjang perjalanan tu, pasti kita ada simpan satu, dua atau mungkin lebih, yang betul-betul dekat di hati. Orang sebut 'best friends'. Tapi apa jadi dengan yang lain? Yang dulunya pernah makan sama tidur sama gosip sama. 

Soalnya sekarang, perlukah ada 10 yang betul-betul dekat di hati, yang konon kawan sampai mati, atau perlu ada 100, yang kalau pergi mana pelosok negara pun, pasti akan jumpa sekurang-kurangnya satu, buat teman lepak sementara waktu.

Kualiti, atau kuantiti?

Saya tamak. Saya mahu kedua-duanya. Yang 10 itu, dan yang 100 itu. Tapi rasanya semua setuju, memang susah nak 'maintain' suatu persahabatan. Ya, yang 100 itu pun, takkan nak buat muka tak malu, tiba-tiba datang Melaka terus 'Eh aku dekat Melaka ni, boleh tumpang rumah kau tak?'. Pasti perlu buat kerja 'groundwork' dulu, iaitu 'maintaning the friendship'. 'I'm guilty!', itu yang saya boleh katakan. Cepat lupa diri, cepat sangat selesa dengan sesuatu, sampai terabai yang lain. Untuk itu, saya mohon maaf.

Bukan nak menuding jari, tapi persahabatan 'work two ways'. Ada persahabatan yang cuba diselamatkan, yang nampak macam nak kecundang. Tapi setakat manalah boleh berusaha, kalau sebelah pihak lagi hanya menunggu. Tunggu ditanya, tunggu diberitahu, tunggu diajak, tunggu tunggu tunggu. Komunikasi itu kan dua hala, kalau satu yang bercakap tot tet tot tet, satu lagi diam, yang bercakap tu lama-lama jadi penat, jadi bengang. Seolah-olah sebelah pihak lagi tiada minat nak selamatkan apa yang tinggal, macam tak kisah. Alasan sama diberi setiap kali, sampai bosan telinga mendengar. 'Macam busy je aku tengok ko, taknak la kacau' 'Oh nampak macam ko dah ada gang baru, siapalah kami ni' Arghhhh alasan alasan. 

Ada sebab kenapa 10 itu 10, dan 100 itu 100. Yang 10 itu sama-sama berusaha, bekerja. Yang 100 itu, mungkin hanya satu yang berusaha, atau dua-dua berusaha cukup makan. Memang perlu ada yang 100 itu, sebab kalau ada 100 'best friends' orang kata gila pulak. Tapi yang sedih, kalau yang dari 10, masuk ke 100.

Orang kata kita tak boleh dapat semua yang kita nak. Itu yang kita tak boleh kawal, tapi persahabatan? Semua ditangan kita. Kita boleh pilih siapa kita nak kenal, siapa kita nak rapat, siapa kita nak bye-bye.

Terpulanglah pada diri masing-masing. Nak seribu daya, tak nak seribu dalih.

Thursday, May 26, 2011

She is married!

Salam,

Woah, last weekend was really something. I was so excited I couldn't bring myself to post anything in the blogosphere. But since someone is requesting for an update, now here it's for you, my dearest colleague!

So one of my school BFFs is married! Oh the feeling - happy, excited, sedih, terharu, semua ada. We went to her solemnization at Seri Kembangan on Friday night. It was a simple, yet beautiful event. The tok kadi even made some jokes, all of us in the house were laughing to them. I want that kinda tok kadi for my wedding, to ease my future's husband so that he won't have to repeat the 'akad' twice. Tee hee hee (berangan mode). But really guys, you have your whole life to memorize the 'akad', just insert the bride's name and 'mas kahwin', then there's no reason to repeat it, right? *Matilah ramai yang marah*



Two of the 'hantaran' really caught my eyes. The bride gave a DSLR-shaped cake to the groom, and the groom gave her a laptop-shaped cake in return. Comel kan? *Now let's see what I would want for my hantaran. Shusshhh Dila, this is not about you. SIGH*




Guess who we met there? Adriani Adnan, the Scarflet's blogger. Oh my, she's so ayu and soft spoken. She's also getting married soon. Congrats Adriani! *it's not like she reads my blog pfftt*


Well, it wasn't only a wedding, it was also a reunion for many of us. Bee is the first one to get married in the batch, so a lot us looked forward to her wedding to reunite with old schoolmates. It was indeed a memorable moment, to see each other so grown up, and matured. It's been 5 years since we left high school, feel so 'kertu' already.




And and, it wasn't only a reunion for my batch, my schoolmates, but also with others, friends whom I met/got to know after school. My life after SPM was quite fun, I got to know a few people from another school just by 'lepaking' at Jusco Ipoh and also through Friendster and Myspace (kids these days might not know what Friendster is, they only know Facebook haha), and instantly knew each and everyone in the circle. It was a fun memory though, somehow someone in this circle was related to somebody else in another circle *wink wink* Kinda miss that time.

Met Liyana again after 4 years.

It was also the first time me and my BFFs talked about marriage seriously. We discussed who's next, what would be our tasks during one's wedding, should we coordinate colors, are you willing to be the dulang girl etc. Someone (shall not be named) even cried at the thought of 'melepaskan' her BFFs to their future husbands. True enough, memang sedih pun tengok best friend sendiri kahwin, macam rasa kehilangan sikit. Let's not discuss about that until the time comes okay? I'll make sure I make note to my future husband that my BFFs are my VIPs, and I need to attend to them immediately if they call for help, deal?


Oh oh, what a surprise, when Hanis Zalikha and her whole family walked into the hall. All eyes on them. We didn't manage to get a picture with her mom, but seriously, Auntie Nani Rostam sangat cantik :) Wedding ni dah jadi bloggers reunion la plak. 


All in all, I had a GREAT time last weekend. I was supposed to go for BTN course in Rembau, but I guess Allah had better plans for me :) He didn't want me to miss meeting and reuniting with all these beautiful people. Thank you Allah. Now I hope it's not too late to go for the course in June :P


Selamat pengatin baru, Bee and Danny.
Semoga berkekalan hingga hujung nyawa.
Remember what I said about supplying me and the girls with flower girls and boys for our weddings. Haha
xoxo

Wednesday, May 25, 2011

Great love vs right love.



Chuck: There's a difference between a great love and the right love. I left the Empire State Building last year after two minutes when you didn't show. Louis waited all night. This is your chance at happiness. You think you shouldn't want it 'cause you've never had it and it scares you. But you deserve your fairytale.

Blair: We make our own fairytales.


Chuck: Only when we have to.


**


Blair: I didn't want to let you go just yet.


Chuck: Don't let anyone tell you you're not powerful. You're the most powerful woman I know.










Me: :(((( 


Favorite scene of Gossip Girl, so far.

p/s: Photos from fanpop.com

Wednesday, May 18, 2011

Girly Weekend - Part 2

Salam,

As promised, here's the second part of my girly weekend. This time it was with another group of BFFs.

On Sunday, 8 of us gathered at Little White Cafe, Bangi to welcome Aisyah home, and also to celebrate her engagement yo! One of us is engaged, MasyaAllah! 

I reserved for the 10 of us, but only 9 could make it. Me, Tira, Pao, Hawa, Aimi and Aisyah's friends from PennState-Peyya, Resty, Yaya. Zawa couldn't make it to LWC, but we managed to meet her at PKNS afterwards.

You really don't want to put 9 girls together in a cute little cafe. We pretty much treated the cafe like our own, and we talked and talked like nobody's business. Initially, I was thinking of having a private gathering (Ecah I'm spilling the initial plan for you :)), maybe in somebody's house or something. Pao thought even bigger, to book a hotel room! Then I thought of having a tea party, with cupcakes, muffins, together with English-inspired tea set and everything lah. Hahaha me and my angan-angan. I know you would love that, but sorry girl, the plan fell through, next time maybe? I thought, the closest thing to a tea party was to have the gathering at LWC. Jadilah kan? Hehe

I got lost on my way there. First, I thought I wanted to avoid using MRR2 because you-know-why lah. I'd rather drive back to Putrajaya, and use the usual route. But then I said, just try my luck, and yes I was indeed lucky that day, no heavy traffic except for in front of Tesco Ampang. Then when I arrived in Bangi, I got lost! LWC is on Jalan Medan PB 4A, (oh here's their Facebook) but Jane doesn't have it registered! She only has up to Jalan 3A, so the stupid me pergi pusing sana sini cari-cari tak jumpa. To make things worst, my handphone died on the way! Like flat habis. Out of desperation, I stopped by at a burger stall and asked for direction. Too bad the guy had no idea where I was heading. Guess what I did next?

.
.
.
.

I asked if I could borrow his handphone and he said yes!!! Must be my desperate look lah, thanks Abang Burger. Now you kiddo, don't do this at home. It iz very dangerousszzzz!! Kalau dah desperate sangat nak buat macamana kan? Survival 101. Thing is, I'm useless when it comes to memorizing phone numbers. I don't know Pao's or Tira's number by heart. So I dialed my sis and asked for direction. 

'Ko turn dekat ^*&()hkjo**^&^_GJBmnjgk' 

My mind was everywhere, I didn't bother to listen carefully. After what seemed like a good 5 minutes of menghabiskan credit seorang stranger, I hung up and relied on Jane again. 

'3A pun 3A lah.' 

Suddenly, I turned at one corner and there it was 'LITTLE WHITE CAFE' right in front of my eyes. Thank God!

Got into the cafe, hugged Ecah super duper tight (oh I miss you now) and talked the evening out. It was a great time catching up with her and others. Tak cukup kt LWC, we then moved to PKNS Bangi to find a place to lepak, and we settled for its food court. Empty food court, just perfect! Talked, gossiped, talked, looked at Aisyah's engagement pictures, gossiped some more, and it was 8 by then! Resty had to rush home, so off we all went. 

Saying goodbye was the hardest. Aisyah will be going back to the States this Friday to continue with her internship, and she will only be back for good in December. I, on the other hand, insyALLAH will be leaving this September, and not sure if I'll be coming back during summer. So yeah, the feeling of not-sure-when-we'll-see-each-other-again, it's so sad! We had many rounds of hugging-letting go-hugging-letting go we almost cried! Seriously Ecah, if you dropped just one little tear that night, I would have drove back in tears, okay!

But it's okay, it's not a goodbye, it's just 'See you later' eh? (One bear hug for you)

Now, the review part. (Wah so long ah the post?)





I give A for ambiance. English-themed interior deco, I guess. 
All white, me likey :)
*I'm not an interior designer by profession*

I had Chef Salad and Berry Cooler. I was quite full since I just had lunch.
Food wise, I have to say I'm a little bit disappointed. The food is a bit pricey, for the quality. I didn't try what others had, but from they were saying, the food wasn't that great. I took home a piece of their Red Velvet cake. Erm let just say, I've tasted better. I think they could have increased the portion to match with price they are charging. Just my opinion.

The cafe is quite small. I would say they could accommodate about 20-25 people at one time. You can see the whole of the dining area in this picture. Despite the whole food and price thing, I'm totally in love with the deco. It's a personalized cafe, the cafe spells its owner.

Oh I must say, the waiters are nice too. One of them even waited outside and offered to take our picture in front of the cafe. Just that he didn't take it with the signboard -___- Bummer!

Here's some info about the cafe (taken from their Facebook);

Little White Cafe
13-G-1, Jalan Medan PB 4A, Pusat Bandar Baru Bangi, 43650 Selangor
Operation hours: Tue-Sun; 8 am to 10 pm



Till we meet again :)
Congratulations on your engagement my dear Aisyah.

Tuesday, May 17, 2011

Girly Weekend - Part 1

Salam,

By now you should how 'tak boleh duduk diam' I am comes weekend. Last Saturday, I went on a road trip with the girls to Melaka. Yes, again. And actually, the places we visited, the food we ate, were exactly the same the last road trip. EXACTLY. But it doesn't matter if you have to do the same thing again and again, when you are doing it with your best friends.

We drove out of KL at 1 pm, after my test in Damansara. I told them to just go without me, since this was a day trip, I thought it'd be too late to go after 1. Things you do for friends- they were willing to wait for me, though it'd drag the trip to 1-2 am in the morning (we had so many eating places to visit!).

We reached Melaka at 3-ish, and our first stop was Jonker Walk! Went to Jonker88 to eat the famous laksa and cendol. Only during this second trip I realized that there are many other laksa/cendol outlets along the stretch, but people are willing to wait in the long lines for this particular one. I guess I can say we made the right choice.

Taken after we went back to Jonker Walk at night.

Saved my stomach the whole morning for this. 
But I remember it being better the last time I had it.

Oh my, I'm salivating just by looking at this. 
Nak cendol lagi!!

The crews. 
Coincidently Cik Wana had to attend a wedding in Jasin.
 Found her in Dataran Pahlawan and kidnapped her right away!


After touring the historic sites (not!) and Dataran Pahlawan (it's a mall btw), 
we went back to Jonker to eat lah what else :P


Calanthe Art Cafe! The interior deco is so artsy.

Hot brownie with ice cream!!

Sweet sweet sago with ice cream 

On the way out, I saw this. 
Rugi plak tak try, with me being laksa lover of all time.

A huge stage in the middle of nowhere.

What is a trip to Melaka without going to Umbai? Hehe
Just FYI, in case you guys are heading to Melaka anytime soon, there are three medan ikan bakar at the Umbai area-Alai, Umbai-Pernu(Umbai Lama) and Umbai Baru.
Yang banyak orang pergi, sampai parking tak muat-muat tu is Umbai-Pernu. 
And kedai yang kitaorang pergi ni, D'Muara. The first kedai.
*Fuuh talk like an 'insider' already. Sorry kalau salah orang Melaka sekalian*


See, same exact orders like last time! *If you read my dead blog lah that is*
Sotong tepung, ikan siakap-1/2 bakar, 1/2 masak masam manis, kailan ikan masin.

So, 3 cafe/restaurants from 3 pm to 10 pm. Kami memang suka makan. There were two other eatery we wanted to go to. I wanted to eat the sushi at this one small stall on Jonker Walk. Cik Zaf wanted to have this Arabian pizza we had last time. Thought of just tapau-ing them and eat while driving back. Guess we were too full we could vomit at the sight of anymore food. Haha. It's actually quite a crazy idea to 'khatam' 5 eateries given our limited time. We may be food lovers, but our stomachs are not that big you know. 

If we were to go to Melaka again, I know we would repeat the same cycle. That's why, girls, we should plan for Penang next! But first we have to make friends with one 'insider' dulu, baru senang nak pergi. An 'insider' is someone who knows the place well, know where good eateries are, know where to park the car with the least charge, and so on. So, any takers?

We headed back at 10.30 pm, all with sleepy eyes and bloated stomach *very dangerous*. As usual, I was the first one to doze off, sorry girls! Arrived in KL at 1 am, safe and sound. Special thanks to our drivers, Cik Hana and Cik Zaf. *Kalau nak harap I drive, dah ke laut kot. Yelah, belum pape dah tidur dulu. Sungguh tak guna*

The end of Part 1.

To be continued...

Thursday, May 12, 2011

This ugly thing called cancer.

Salam,

(Reminder: This is a very long entry)

Today, I came across the third blog which the author has/had cancer. The first one was the late Wan Maisara Amira Aziz (better known as Sara Aziz); she died of lung cancer in 2008 at the age of 20 (Al-Fatihah). I read her blog after reading a tribute entry posted by dear friend NJ. She was a famous blogger and now if you searched for her in Google, her name is everywhere because many people posted a tribute entry for her. Even now if you visit her blog, people still drop comments on her shoutbox. People are just moved by how strong she was in fighting her illness. Second one is a lady who has breast cancer. I found her blog last year I think, but I didn't bookmark her and I can't recall her name. I hope she's doing okay. The third, she is a hijabi fashionista, one of the Scarflets. Seriously, by looking at her, the way she dress, the way she carry herself, her confidence, nobody could tell that she is suffering from an illness;she has AML (Acute Myeloid Leukemia). These people, these bloggers to be exact, are truly inspirational. The way they deal with their illness, that strength, is one of a kind. Not many people can stand tall, and share their illness with the world. For that, they have my respect. 

***

This morning I had doubts about my PhD supervisors. Dr A is very responsive to my emails (important indicator that he makes a good supervisor) but his project is in infection of the large intestine. Dr B's project is in cancer immunology, something I'm really fond of, but then she is not as responsive as Dr A. I have already said 'yes' to Dr B, but I thought maybe I should change to Dr A, because I don't want to have communication problem during the course of my research. Then I found an article in the web, about choosing a good supervisor. The first thing it says,

 '"Choosing a supervisor is tricky because you don't know much about them until you start working with them," says Lewis Wolpert, professor of biology at University College London. "Instead, start by choosing a problem that interests you - it's easier to do and just as important." "It might sound obvious," says Jim Hough, director of the Institute for Gravitational Research at the University of Glasgow, "but it's amazing how many students don't do that." John Cowpe, a second-year PhD student from the University of Salford, agrees. "To get the most from your supervisor, you have to be interested in what they do."

Then I realized, I have made the right decision. At one point or another, I will encounter problems with my supervisor. We are both humans; we'll surely have disagreements, but the thing that will keep me going is the project that I have interest in. 

So why cancer, you ask?

There's a chain of event that lead me to be fond of studying this ugly thing called cancer. It started off with me finding a lump in my body. It was in 2008, when I was home during my summer break. One day I did my routine check-up and felt something was wrong. I didn't tell many people about this, only close friends, but not in detail. This would be the first time I'm sharing it with everyone. 

During my first year in college, I lived in the residence hall. There is this sorority Zeta Tau Alpha (ZETA), they pasted information about the check-up in every shower stall. So from that, I started doing a routine check-up while having my shower, for that whole year. Back to my summer break, so I did the check-up and found something. I told my mom but she said 'It's nothing'. I trusted my gut feeling that it was not 'nothing'. I went for a check-up at a nearby clinic, all by myself the next day. The doctor confirmed it, that she felt something was wrong, and she referred me to the general hospital. 

A doctor did a CT scan and for the first time I saw the lump on the screen. The doctor advised me with two options, either I do a biopsy (removal of cells or tissues for examination) or just remove it completely. She said I had nothing to worry about, as a lot of girls under 30 would develop this benign lump at some point of time. She said I could just do the biopsy. I didn't want to risk it, at that time it was just a month away from my flight back to Rochester. I didn't want to be carrying this thing around and pretend to feel okay about it. So I opted for complete removal. I had to wait for 2 weeks before there was an opening in the surgery slot. They admitted me to a daycare ward, had the operation in the morning and was discharge later in the evening. They sent the thing for a test, and results came up 2 months  later, confirming that it was just benign. Alhamdulillah.

You might think I'm exaggerating, as it was just a benign lump. But when I first found out about it, a lot of different things came to my mind. The thought of that could be cancerous was the scariest of all. Is it cancer? What should I do? What did I do wrong? Will I die?

A piece of advice: Girls, please do your own check-up, routinely. And to everyone, if you feel like something is wrong with your body, don't just keep it and say 'It's nothing'. Be attentive and be responsive to your body.

That was the first event in the chain.

Second event.

When I got back to Rochester for my second year, I took Cell Biology class. Towards the end of the syllabus, we learned about cancer. Given my experience that summer, I was very keen in learning the subject. That was when I knew I want to pursue my study in cancer related subject. Later that year, I joined Dr Bochiwe's research group, which studied about cell transformation-early onset of cancer. 

Third event.

Sometime before my summer break in 2009, I received a news that my auntie was diagnosed with breast cancer. It was a devastating news, because she's like a mother to me. She named me when I was born, she was there when I had my minor surgery, she's pretty much my second mother. She was scheduled to have a major surgery to remove the cancerous cells in July, I was there with her. And Alhamdulillah, she is now cancer free.

Fourth event.

In December 2009, my research mentor (Dr Bochiwe) said she would take time off as she was going to California for some treatment. It was shocking to us, her research students because she never told us she had an illness, even though we kinda suspected because of a frame in her room; she was very chubby in that picture, but she was very skinny then. Sometime in January 2010, we received the news that she died, in California, from lung cancer.

***

These series of events that took place, really solidify my reason to study cancer. It feels wrong not to grab the chance to study this ugly thing, given everything that had happened. One day, if I felt unmotivated, got into an argument with my supervisor, or just so homesick that I feel like packing my bag and leave my study behind (God forbid), I shall remember these events, these people, to keep me going. 

I will constantly remind myself that I am making a difference, be it small or big, in the fight against this ugly thing called cancer.

Tuesday, May 10, 2011

Another teaching weekend.

Salam,

Are you ready for another weekend entry from me? *breathe in, breathe out*

Saturday

So I applied for MARA postgraduate scholarship last month. I was born with paranoia as a twin sister, so I always have Plan A and Plan B to almost everything I do. At that time, I hadn't received good news from either Manchester or Nottingham yet. The result was announced two weeks ago and they called me to sit in for this 'Psychometric Test' on May 7 (last Saturday). 

Since I got accepted to Nottingham already, and Alhamdulillah everything looks fine on the sponsor's side, I thought I am already in my comfort zone, that I should just pass the test. But the whole of last week I was contemplating hard, whether to go or not to go. Did I mention 'Paranoia' is my twin sister? Guess what, I went to the test. After all, I had nothing to lose, only to gain. The test was held at Kolej Mara Banting. It's just 20 minutes from my place, so yeah, really I got nothing to lose. Drove myself there, of course with Jane tagging along (obviously Jane had no other choice but to follow) I headed out at 10.15, because Google map told me it's going to take 30 minutes, and I added some in-case-I-got-lost minutes; I told myself I should be there at 11. Luckily no 'sesat' taking place, I arrived at 10.40 and waited under scorching sun. Took the 30 minutes test, which turned out to be just a 'Personality test' with questions like, 'I am a highly motivated person' 'I never gossip' and score yourself from 'Strongly disagree-Disagree-Agree-Strongly Agree'. I actually studied for the test last week, thought it would be something like the Khazanah's Stage 1 Assessment Test I sat in October, in which I failed. 

I wonder how they are going to score the test, let's just wait and see. For all I know, I could have failed this one too -___- *God forbid*

After the test, I went back home and prepared baked macaroni and cream puffs with my sister as potluck for our family gathering later that evening. We told each other 'This is how we honor Mama on Mother's Day, because if Mama was around, she would do all the cooking and we both would just lepak tengok tv' *apa punya anak*

At the end of the night, I had a bloated stomach and a great time catching up with extended family :))))

Sunday

Signed up for Jom Belajar Matematik 2. Athirah picked me up at my aunt's place and off to Shah Alam we went. Most of the kids were from JBM 1, with few new ones. We had additional 'teachers' thanks to Athirah for bringing her MGI colleagues.

I have to say, no matter what drove them to come to the program, I have to salute them for coming. Really, they didn't have to pay that RM2, and spent their Sunday on an educational program, but they did! Kudos to the kids. But I can tell that some of them went to the program, just for the fun of it. The fun of meeting friends, the fun of trying out office gadgets (some of them were really playful with the office telephones, you know how office telephone works with the extension number and all).

I can see improvements in some of them, in terms of Math skills and drive to learn more, but others 'masih di takuk lama'. It gets really frustrating when you expect them to know something, things you've thought them before, but when you ask them the same thing in the next meeting, they cannot give you the right answer. Honestly, I am not really a patient 'teacher'. I expect improvement and success in a short amount of time. But maybe I have to tone down my expectation, because not everyone is the same. O Allah, give me and the kids some light!



p/s: Can't wait for this weekend! Another test on Saturday, followed by Jalan-Jalan Cari Makan episode with the girls, and meeting Aisyah and the rest on Sunday!

Thursday, May 5, 2011

1 tona lebih gelap

Salam,

If you watched the Garnier TV ads, you would recognize the title of this entry. Just that I changed from 'lebih cerah' to 'lebih gelap', because first, I don't use Garnier, second, I spent four days in KK last week!! Haha 

Yes, I'm a tone darker y'all! Unexpectedly, KK was very hot! I forgot to pack my sunblock so yeah. Dah tau nak pergi pulau but forgot to bring sunblock. How clever!

My KK trip in 10:

1. Stayed at the navy base camp in Sepangar, about 15-20 mins from KK town. Had a look at the Malaysian submarines. Unfortunately they are not open for public tour :(

2. Quickly picked up the local slang. Thanks to AF for bringing all those local talents to the TV.

3. Learned a thing or two about the locals. Outskirts of the town, they don't have proper bus stops. People just wait along the road without any shelters, or even signboards to say that it's a BUS STOP. Oh and their 'bas mini' is actually a van. I notice that they are good in English. ASTRO is not a luxury item, it's a necessity, because many of the houses don't get regular TV signal (whatever they call it).

4. Outside the base camp, there is this one perkampungan rumah air (or something like that). Would love to visit it, but I don't think that particular perkampungan welcomes visitors. Zaf said the one in the movie 'Duyung' may be in Pulau Gaya. I wanna visit! It's so beautiful in the movie! Oh, here the sight of little kids mendayung sampan is typical. By little I mean very little! Kecik-kecik dah pandai mendayung sampai tengah laut.

5.  Visited Pulau Sapi and Manukan. The boat charge for visiting two islands are RM27, jetty fee RM3, island fee (once you enter each island you have to pay fee) RM3. RM27 for boat charge is quite cheap, no? 

6.  Snorkeled at Pulau Sapi. Crystal clear water, but not so many interesting things (coral reefs and fishes) to look at. A bit of disappointment. People say islands at the East Coast of Semenanjung are better in terms of snorkeling, I think they are right. But wait till you get to Sipadan or Mabul. They say it's heaven there. 

7.  Braved parasailing out. It was an AWESOME experience. Will do it again and again. In case you're wondering, it's RM90 per pax. Go try it!! Breathtaking view from up there worth your every penny.

8.  Didn't try a lot of the local food. First, afraid they are not halal. Second, don't know much about local delicacies. Should've done better homework :P But the wajib one, SEAFOOD DINNER can't be missed! Had ikan, ketam, udang, sotong, belut, siput, sharkfin everything! Oh Uncle Rosland made me eat the whole Kelapa Puding made inside the real kelapa. So huge okay! Kembung perut. Oh, I have different view to kelapa now. Used to hate it (I mean air kelapa and the isi), but now I can take it no problem.

9.  We took a road trip down (up? not sure. malas nak tgk map) to Beaufort and along the way I quickly picked up something. Every few kilometers, there will a signboard to a church. Each signboard is very similar (font color, size, background color, everything!) except for the name of the church. The sight of a mosque/surau is very rare. I'm not being racist or anything here okay. Just want to share a piece of information, that's all.

10.  Talk about sunset. Zaf's house is facing the sea on both sides. Sunrise sunset, we cover all. But of course I was still sleeping when the sun was rising! 6.30 pagi dah cerah macam 8.30 okayhh. Sunset view was, MasyALLAH, so breathtaking.

So I can cross KK out of my list. But I'm adding Mabul and Sipadan to it. Maybe for honeymoon? He he

Now enough of talking, let's enjoy the pictures.