Cuti2 Malaysia - Melaka

Melaka is such a beautiful city I haven't been explored much until recently with my hubs.

It was a last minute plan. Hubs has always been singin "Jom la gi Melaka" all this while, so finally we got the chance to be there.

Actually we went to Johor coz dearest hub had a show on Sat. So we planned to stop by Melaka on the way back to KL , and put a night there. On Sunday morning we headed to Melaka and arrived there just in time for check in.

At about 3ish we went out the hotel to check out the historic Melaka city. We decided to go by foot. Luckily our hotel is situated nearby the tourist attractions and spots such as the Melaka river, Jonker Walk, Hard Rock etc. 

1st we headed to Jonker Walk but only the shops were open, but not the stalls (yet). We got to know from the people there that the stalls start to open at night. But anyhow I managed to grab a few stuffs :-)

Then not knowing where to go, we just follow our foot and found some cool cafes and artsy shops. The best thing is that most of the shops are at the old preserved + restored buildings. Below is 1 of the shops that we stopped by to get our lunch. Look how cool is the ambience. 

At the 13 state coffee sshop.

Random buildings, shops , houses

Then we stopped by Hard Rock cafe.

Then while searching for the famous red-building called Stadthuys we bumped into this cool yellow wall and decided to take some cool pictures, coz we're cool people. 

Stadthuys was under construction and it was closed. SIGH. Next time maybe.

Then we bumped into a London double decker bus. (Don't ask me, I'm not sure how it got in Melaka, maybe the driver was lost and ended up driving to Melaka). So we climbed up the bus of course to the top floor and feeling2 mcm naik bas kt London. It was drizzling so it was a bit cold that day. Mmg rs  la mcm kt London masa musim autumn, hehee..

And then we continue walking and found this lil coffee shop by the river called Halia Inc. The interior design was awesome. See it for yourself.

We were pretty tired with all the walking, so we walked back to our hotel but managed to stop by Jonker Walk 1 more time to see the stalls. :) and also Gee's the famous handmade-clog artist. He was a super duper friendly and nice guy and he immediately became hubby's idol :) 

At Gee's shop

Next Morning after breakfast and checkout, we did an "assam pedas" hunt. We asked some locals, and most of them answered "Kedai Tiga Lima". We managed to find the restaurant and had our lunch there. Hub said my asam pedas tastes better. Haha...tktau la ambik hati or seikhlas hati.

After that, we wanted to stop by at Hang Li Po's Well. We followed Waze instruction but all we found is just Chinese cemetery. Sigh. When I came back and ask my Malaccan friend, he told me that I was already there but did not look at the correct direction. Lain kali la kami p tengok hang punya perigi no hang li po....

Before headed back to KL, we also managed to stop by at Hang Tuah's tomb.

Basically we had fun and definitely wanna go there again. 

Who said we need to go outside of Malaysia for a holiday? Malaysia is such a beautiful country and we should be proud of it! I myself have not explored most of it yet... should probably plan for it soon....

Summary of my holiday cum work trip

I love to write in here so that I will not forget what I did on my trip. I'm not good at remembering stuff.. Say it's an AGE factor? Nahhh probably too much stuff in my head :D #bigdenial.

Anyway I would like to summarize what I did on my recent working cum jalan2caripasal trip to  the other side of the globe, the furthest I've been so far in my life - United States of Amarikkkaa.. and transit in Dubai.

Of couse the summary only includes fun stuff which does not include work..haha..

Week 1:
1st experience of left-handside driving and Mazda 3!
Went to IMAX theatre to watch Oz -It was Ohzem (awesome)
Went to Outlet Store in Allen. Went a biz crazee.
Weekend :- Dallas Art Gallery & Museum (not a recommended place..haha)

Week 2:
Went to Outlet Store
Weekend :- Dallas Arboretum, Grapevine Mills Outlet

Week3:
Went to Outlet Store
Weekend :- Drove to San Antonio (~5 hours from Dallas). Stop by at Roundrock Outlet (supposed to stop at San Marco tho!), Went to San Antonio Seaworld. Able to meet up with Shamu the killer whale, super-cute dolphins, sealions, many more.

Week4:
Final week in Dallas, got lotsa lunch invitations. Some free some are not. haha.
Sat fly to San Francisco

Week5:
Arrive San Francisco, fetched by my friend Sheilla and her family. They brought us to Stanford Uni, Silicon Valley where we were able to go to Facebook, Google HQ! So mind-blowing!
We pushed off back to their home at San Jose.

Next morning they brought us to SF again. We went to Pier39, TwinPeaks, GoldenGate, ArtGallery. This was the best experience in US so far I guess (besides the outlet..haha)

The next day we just hang around in San Jose, Sheilla brought us to a outlet store closeby.

Next day, we drove to Los Angeles, but we stopped by another outlet which is on the way to LA. It was a pretty big store.

We have prebooked our hotel via Agoda at the Mayfair Historical. We arrived LA at almost midnight.
The next morning, we went to Universal Studios Hollywood. It was super fun, we get to meet up with Mr Optimus Prime, bumblebee and Megatron too :)

The next day, we went to Hollywood again since we have purchased the Citypass to go to the most famous spots in LA. We managed to cover only these 3.

• Starline Tours of Hollywood: 6925 Hollywood Blvd.; Starline box office at Grauman's Chinese Theatre
We got to see celebtrities home and the iconic signs of Beverly Hills and the most famour "Los Angeles" sign on hill.

• Madame Tussauds Hollywood: 6933 Hollywood Blvd.; main box office
We get to take pics with  Hollywood celebs! (wax version tho)

• Dolby Guided Tour: 6801 Hollywood Blvd.; box office (located on level one)
It was the last session so we both get a private tour as no one else were there to join us.
We got to get inside the Academy Awards hall. It was osem.

Supposed to do another one which is :
• Hollywood Behind-the-Scenes Tour: 6708 Hollywood Blvd.; Red Line Tours Center adjacent to the Egyptian Theatre

....but we didn't have enough time. 

Of course we were able to walk on the Walk Of Fame too! :)

Our flight to Dubai was on the next day. We checked out around noon and straight to Staples Centre & Nokia theatre, actually it was pretty close to the hotel. 

There were a lot of people at LAX.

With the strict custom check and some idiots that cut the queue at the ticket counters, we were the last 2 person to board the plane to Dubai! 

We reached Dubai at night and straight away check in our bags foran the next day flight, yes Emirates do that. Thats the only good thing I find about this airline. Other tha that, it was quite a horrible flight experience by Emirates.

After checked in our bags, we bought the train ticket to go to our prebooked hotel.

It was about 20 mins from airport. 

Once we reached it was quite hard to find the hotel as it is not by the roadside, we had to go a few rounds and ask people around to find it. 

The next morning we checked out and went to the most happening place in Dubai - Dubai Mall where 1 of the tallest tower is located at too. - Burj Khalija. 

We didn't went up the tower tho, it was quite expensive and I find nothing interesting to look at around dubai from the top :P  I find Dubai a boring place to be at. It was dusty and hot. And the people are not friendly AT ALL.

We didn't buy anything except some fridge magnets and Starbucks coffee and our lunch (KFC) which was not delicious.

We went out from mall at around 5 pm and back to the hotel to pick our bags, then we went to airport to catch our flight back to Malaysia. I was so ready to go back to my home country at that time!

We reached Malaysia on Monday morning, and my cousin and husband was already waiting fr me since 8ish. :) 

I will put up the photos here soon..... 

Traveller Travel list

When I was young(er),I used to envy fortunate kids who were able to travel around the world with their parents, especially Disneylands (those time). I can't wait to grow up, become an adult who has a job and able to do that.

I'm a grown up now and my dream came true. :) And I have to thank the Almighty Most Merciful Allah for this life and rezeki. 

Been to the closest country till the other side of the globe, travelling has become my passion. I'm always thrileed to see new culture, new places, new faces and so on. So much things to learn, so many things to see, the experience of travelling to a new place is almost indescribebale by words until you experience it yourself, to be able to see it with your very own eyes so you could describe it with your own words and feel it with your own heart.

Here is a my travel list so far and I am looking forward to venture and 'conquer' more cities and countries in the world. :-) Semoga Allah panjangkan umur dan murahkan rezeki aku, Amin. 

Year	Country	Town / City / State
2007	*Singapore
2008	Thailand	Bangkok
2009	*Singapore
2009	China	Beijing
2009	Indonesia	Bandung
2010	Australia	Melbourne
2011	Thailand	Krabi
2012	Indonesia	Bali
2013	Japan	Osaka, Kyoto, Tokyo, Hokkaido
2013	USA (OJT trip)	TX (Dallas, Austin, San Antonio) CA (Santa Clara, San Jose, San Francisco, LA, Hollywood)
2013	UAE	Dubai
Upcoming (insyaallah, semoga murah rezeki :-) )
2014	UK	London (visit bro+SIL+kids) , Paris
2014	Saudi Arabia	Makkah al Mukarramah (Umrah), Istanbul (Ziarah)
2015	Italy	Venice
2016	New Zealand	Hobbiton

* I've been to Singapore countless times, it's just that those 2 were considered as a vacation :) Maybe my next trip I should go to USS :)

The BIG three zero

Some people say age is just a number. Bg aku itu adalah ayat menyedapkan hati. :) Today is the day where my age finally turns to the BIG three zero. Well, eventho it's not welcomed but it still come, of course if possible I would like to freeze the calendar on 8th Mar...but i don't have the super power. Another decade has passed, what have I achieved so far?

- The most recent occurrence or I could say achievement is that I'm finally married! :) And me and hubby managed to pay everything by ourselves :) not even help from the bank. alhamdulillah.

- Some 'few' years back I got my degree.. :)

- Got a job :)

- Bought my 1st car which I still use now :)

- Bought a house but it's still under construction.

Well, it looks like a short list.....erm.. tp bersyukur la dgn apa yg Allah dah kurniakan. It's never enough for us humans, but the truth is there are more ppl who a suffering on the other side of the world, example the ppl in africa and uganda. last nite i saw a video about kony2012 project in youtube, it really touched my heart and make me realize that I am actually a lucky woman, I live in a peaceful country, I have a husband, families and friends who love me, I have a job, a house to live in, enough money to buy food and sustain my life. Well, what more can I ask for. The rest is depend on our own selves, we have all the sources that we need and we just need to shape our life the way we want it to be. Either to sustain as it is , to be more successful in our career,  to be a better wife, to be a better daughter/son, to be a better sister/bro, to be a better friend and so on.. It all depends on us :)

Anyway, it happened to be International Women Day on 8th Mar, so it was double celebration for me this year. Hubby actually bought me a rose and gave my birthday present on the 8th March :)

In addition to that, he cooked us our dinner :) Macaroni! 

It turns out to be a long entry again. I suppose I should stop now :D

Anyway Happy 30th Birthday to me. I hope I could be a better wife / daughter / sis / friend / hamba Allah. Pray all the good things go my way :)

Here's the Kony 2012 vid

Our wedding reception video highlight

Azmal & Ana from Lambpose on Vimeo.

Funny nightmare

I'm writing this entry because I don't want to forget this 1 particular funny story that I've experienced last few nights.  I love and used to sleep alone at nights except when I sleep over at my friend's house or relative's and got no say to have my own private room / bed juz to myself. 

I just got married, 28 days to be exact. It means I now have a roomate and no longer sleeping alone on a bed at nights. My husband snores. Yup I know it's so common among guys, even some girls do have that habit or not too much if I say it's a disease. It's actually being called as medical problem alright, so I am not simply calling it that way. 

On Wednesday night, I tried so hard to go to sleep (because of the snoring sound) and when I was about to sleep soundly I heard my husband screamed out loud " Hahhh...engkauuu...kau...kau...kau..." sambil tunjuk2 jari telunjuk kt atas, and of course I was awaked by the loud screaming, I thought he was dreaming of having a fight with somebody when later on he screamed out loudly "Allahuakbar!!!" Then I thought he must be dreming about going to war. I right away pat him hardly and asked him to istighfar  byk kali "mengucap3x sayang....!" Then he woke up and told me he was dreaming about ghost that was coming down from the bedroom ceiling - in his house at Tmn Perling, Johor.  In that dream he was challenging the ghost to come down to him but when the ghost did, he screamed terrifyingly calling out for Allah. :)  I found it funny and scary at the same time.  (Kalau imagine ja muka dia tgh jerit tu sure nk gelak guling2) And when I looked at my iphone, it shows 3+am, and people always say that it is the time when "makhluk2 halus" ni suka mengacau. My husband kept on looking at our bedroom ceiling while hugging me tight - I dunno whether he got scared even more than me. haha. And I took the opportunity of that silent-snoring-free moment to get back to sleep. :) 

" A nightmare (night + mare) is an unpleasant dream that can cause a strong negative emotional response from the mind, typically fear or horror, but also despair, anxiety and great sadness. The dream may contain situations of danger, discomfort, psychological or physical terror. Sufferers usually awaken in a state of distress and may be unable to return to sleep for a prolonged period of time" (sumber dari Wikipedia)

Inai --> Nail polish?

It has been 11 days and the inai (henna) that I wore for my solemnization ceremony has faded and looks like nail polish. The design on both of my hands has totally faded, only left on the nails. I guess I better look for the real henna leaves next time - for my reception day, not a second marriage! haha..  :)

:: Now ::

:: 10 days ago ::

 :: Masa letak inai  ::

:: Awesome Krabi Trip ::

In 2011, I've started my travel with Krabi, a lovely place with lovely people :) As usual, at first plan mcm kelam kabut, transport and itineraries were all decided last minute, the only thing we prepared was hotel booking, luckily as most of the hotels were all fully booked due to long CNY holiday, in fact lotsa Malaysians were there at that time. Some of us pun tak jd join last min. So final grp was only 6 of us.

Day 1
730am - Push off from SP - Gurun, waited 15mins for Yus to bring us to Wang Kelian.
10ish - Pak Long arrived and we started our journey to Wang Kelian border, long queue at immigration. We found out that Pak Long haven't been to Krabi before so he doesn't know the road well. Hmm, 1st adventure!
6ish (local time) - Finally arrived in Haleeva Sunshine.
8pm - Went out searched for tour package and dinner at Thailandia. Me and Nurul performed 4 songs on stage. (sempat lg) :D Did some shopping too.
11pm - After most of the shopping places closed, thought of going back to hotel but after passing by some cafes we decided to stop at Coconut and chill with their local band playing. Awesome performance with well known numbers ! ;)

:: In front of the hotel ::

:: Dinner ::

:: Karaoke @ Live performance!! haha :: 

Day 2
730am - Woke up
830am - Had breakfast by the road side (toast bread, the hawker is Malaysian and his Thai wife)
905am - Barracudas tour van picked us up from hotel to the beach to catch the speed boat for our 4 islands+snorkeling tour package. We went to the famous Phi Phi island too and had lunch over there.
5+pm - Reached hotel then got ready for night activities pulak :)
8pm - Went out shopping and dinner at "my friend stall'. Delicious fish and chicken dish!
11pm - Went to Coconut again to see the same band playing. :)

:: Snorkeling time! ::

Day 3
7am - Woke up and pack up things to go back :(
830am - Barracudas tour van picked us up from hotel to the beach to catch the half day package tour by long tail boat. We snorkled (almost drowned when i was carried away by big wave) then kayaking around Hong Island on Andaman Sea! Woah, what an achievement ;) Had lunch on the beach - buffet.
330pm - Tour ends and went back to hotel to change and rush back to Malaysia before the border closes at 11pm.
1140pm - Reached bkt Kayu Hitam border. (Another 20min before they closed! Phew!)
1am - Reached Wang Kelian.
2ish - Reached SP.

:: Carried away by big wave ::

:: The famous Phi Phi island ::

1.1.11 New Year New Me? :)

It has been quite long since I update all the great things that hpn arround me. I guess I will be updating this entry since it is considered as 1 of the important milestone in my life ;)
So, last Saturday marks the first day of year 2011 (Happy New Year!) and it also marks my engagement day *wink* ;) We were lucky Friday was declared as public holiday due to Malaysia won the AFA cup (yay! my AL is saved) so we went back on Thurs night right aftr work, (well actually I was on MC due to a-few-days-dragged fever, I was worried I couldn't recover by Sat, but luckily I did, *relieved* alhamdulillah). So everything went well, thanks to a bunch of important people who has helped me A LOT to make it a smooth event, starting with my loving mom, Aunties (esp Aunty Wan n her kids), and my friends (esp my bestie Nurul Huda as my function planner, from checking on my hantaran preparation, preparing my lunch on that engagement day (she was worried I would be hungry and tak sempat makan, I 'm really thankful I have such a caring n loving friend, thanx a lot darl!) , till sponsoring on my cute cupcake-hantaran (tk sempat ambik gbr..sigh!) Thanks thanks thanks so much is all I can say :)
To those who attended, thanks fr coming and memeriahkan lg majlis hari tu :)

Movie Marathon

3 movies in a row - it's a marathon

1. Salt - not bad at all
2. Airbender - feel like wathcing Hindi movie :/ Anyone second with me? :P
3. Tekken - I love to play the game :)

Back then, movie marathon day used to be our quarell day as well.. now no more. We're finally becoming mature adults now :D

Weekend = bday Nurul + WC final

Nurul's bday falls on 12th Jul the same date as WC final, so it can be considered as 1 of her greatest bday gift of all (she said so...heheee). That night me, Lyn, Ksham, Abg Mad and Sunther brings her out for dinner at Chillis @ gurney. We had big posh dinner lah that night. ;) I had bacon burger, Nurul mushroom burger, Lyn 'i-forgot-what' burger and Ksham and Abg Mad shared a plate of fajita (nasib baik share coz it is a very big portion for 1 person) and Sunther had Chic grill (I think so...dh lupa). After dinner, photo and crazy jokes sessions we headed to Eastin Hotel which I had pre-book for our WC final show! hehee.. tkde la book apa pun just that I have a close friend's hubby working there - Syima's hubby - Najib, so senang la nk arrange ;) nasib baik la ada diorg, if not sure no place coz the lounge area mmg limited for the big crowd that went there on that night. Even tho none of the teams is my fav one, but I enjoyed the time I spent with all my friends watching and arguing over the games. :D