Goodbye 2016

Today is 31.12.2016, the last day of the year.

Time flies so fast, it feels like it was just yesterday I celebrated the new year.

Since today is the last day of 2016, I sat down for a while and reflected on the year. What had I done or achieved and did I achieve my 2016 resolution.

In 2016, I took up hiking and I enjoyed it. It started off with hiking Bukit Klebang, a small hill in Menglembu, Ipoh. Then my buddies, boyfriend and I hiked up Mount Irau, Cameron Highlands. That was the real deal. It was muddy and tough and exhausting but we made it to the peak and down again. I was so proud and happy. I fell in love with the forest and mountain just as I had fall in love with the deep blue sea. After Irau, we hiked up Bukit Jasar in Cameron Highlands. That was such a memorable hike, took us half a day as we got lost. We ended the hike at a tea plantation. The view was breathtaking. Next year we plan to hike Mount Kinabalu.

Look at the beautiful tea plantation in the background

On top of Bukit Jasar

At the peak of Mount Irau

As for my scuba diving journey, I went for my advanced open water course in January along with my dive buddies Hidayah and Thiru. In March we went diving in Tenggol Island. Luck was not on our side as on that day, the sea was very choppy so our boat could not bring us to the famous, world class dive sites. So I am still not satisfied and I plan to dive in Tenggol again some other time. In May I went diving in Tunku Abdul Rahman Park, Kota Kinabalu with my boyfriend Azhar. That was fun. It felt so safe diving with Azhar. I knew he would take care of me, so I didn't worry much. In September, Hidayah, Thiru and I joined Bubbles of Hope, a diving trip organized by Project Vacation. I had so much fun. I love meeting new people and getting to know people outside medical field. We have a Whatsapp group and it brought us closer. 

Some of the new people I met during Bubbles of Hope

Perfect shot captured by Azhar. Love this photo so much. 

I tried white water rafting and went caving in August 2016 with colleagues from the hospital. White water rafting was fun but caving was not my thing. 

One of my 2016 resolution was to go back home to Mentakab, Pahang more frequent. I am glad I fulfilled the resolution. I made an effort to take leave and go home every 2 to 3 months. I think my parents and my sister Ati like it very much when I came home. It makes me feel more keen to go home more in future. 

My yellow house in the background

Another very interesting thing that I got my hands on this year is coffee. I appreciate coffee a lot more nowadays. I went for a latte art class in Penang with Hidayah recently. Now I wish I have an espresso machine so I can practice at home. Making latte art is difficult! I now have so much respect for baristas and latte art artists. 

Latte art class - steaming milk 

My very own cup of latte with a crooked heart, lol

In January, I listed what I want to be/do and sticked it on my mirror. I believe that by reading it over and over again, I will subconsciously work towards that. Here is my list -

Well, lets see.. 

1. Be humble, be kind -- I can't be judging myself on this right, lol

2. Be patient -- I nailed this definitely. At work, even when housemen and nurses annoyed the crap out of me, I didn't scold them as much as I would have previously

3. Smile a lot - Checked. I smile to strangers. But weirdly I find it hard to smile at the hospital, to hospital staffs especially. They all seem so cold and arrogant. 

4. Read more -- I failed this badly *sigh*

5. Try new things. Travel -- Checked. 

6. Save money -- Checked. This is for travelling and wedding. Going to work on this more next year.

7. Eat healthy, exercise more --  It is very hard to eat healthy. I am renting a room, need to share the kitchen with the landlord but I am not comfortable to do so. In the end, I eat outside almost everyday. As for exercise, I tried to make it as a habit. I love jogging in the park but now since it is rainy season, I don't get to do so. Sometimes I exercise in my room, but it does take a lot of effort to do so (oh boy there I go giving excuses again. LOL)

I'm going to continue doing all this for 2017 and strive harder to achieve them. I want to try something new next year, thinking about joining Pilates class or maybe Yoga. 

I wonder how has 2016 been for other people. I would love to read about it. 

See you again in 2017~~

what is in your travel bag?

2016 almost came to an end. It is December. Oh how time flies.

I travelled quite a lot this year. Mostly to Kota Kinabalu, went there 3 times this year.

January - AOW course in Kota Kinabalu
March - Kuantan for Syazni's wedding and Diving in Tenggol Island
May - Solo trip to Kota Kinabalu
July - Mentakab for a week of hari raya holiday
September - Bubble of Hope in Tioman Island
October - @Butang trip here so we went to Penang, Cameron Highlands and Kuala Lumpur
November - Kota Kinabalu for Corie's (Hidayah's friend) wedding
December - Adan's wedding in Port Dickson and Penang for latte art class

In between those, I went to Penang a few times but I can't really remember the date. I also travelled back to my home town in Mentakab, Pahang every now and then.

One thing I learn from all those travelling is that it is very convenient to have a handbag/a small tote/backpack that I can carry around daily that contains all my essentials. Currently I am in love with sling bags and backpacks so I use that most of the time.

This is my favorite bag at the moment, small anello sling back in wine red. Despite the small size, I can actually put a lot of things inside. It also has a small handle and the long strap is detachable. 

The photos of my bag with the cats were taken during my recent trip to Kota Kinabalu. I visited a cat cafe "The Purrfect Place" in Inanam. For some reason that I couldn't figure out, the cats loved my bag.

I often wonder what people carry around in their bag when they go travel. I read a lot of blogs to find out and to get some ideas that may be useful for me. 

So here are the things in my carry-around-everyday bag : 

1. Small purse - Perfect for my small sling bag

2. Hand sanitizer - An australian brand. organic hand sanitizer that smells good and not drying for the skin

3. Young essential peppermint essential oil - Good for headache, neck pain, nausea, dizziness

4. Sephora mineral powder in compact - Light coverage. I use it for touch up also

5. Lipstick - This one is from Etude House, a korean brand. I like the packaging because it is pink and cute

6. Pocket tissue

7. Wet wipes - Very useful for wiping hands, table top, a dirty bench ect

8. Earphones - Long flight or bus trip gets pretty boring and sometimes they are rude people who talk loudly as if they own the place. So i stuff this earphones on and entertain myself with music

9. Pen - Always handy to have one. Sometimes I need to fill up a form/card prior to custom check at an airport 

10. Handphone - This is the most important thing in my bag (after my purse). Everything is in here - flights booking, tickets, hotel reservation number, important contact number, trip itinerary and everything else that will get me crippled without them. This is also my source of entertainment

11. Hand lotion - I have very dry hands maybe because I wash/sanitise them frequently. So this one from Watson, mango and papaya hand cream smells great and moisturise well.

12. Sunglasses - Malaysia is a hot country and the sun shines brightly everyday, this is a must

13. Power bank and charging cable - I keep my cable in an old sunglasses casing to prevent it from bending or get tangled up in the bag

Now it is rainy season in Malaysia, so I have included a small folded umbrella into my bag as well. 

What do you all carry around when you go travel? I would love to know.

Hiking Mount Irau

Mount Irau which is located in Cameron Highlands Malaysia stands at 2110 metres. It is famously known as the Mossy Forest - because all the trees are covered with moss.

On 18th October 2016, my-everything buddies (Hidayah and Thiru), Azhar and I went on an expedition to conquer Mount Irau. This is the first mountain hike for Thiru, Hidayah and I. Azhar has hiked Mount Kinabalu some time ago.

We applied for the hiking permit from Jabatan Perhutanan Cameron Highlands. The permit needed to be applied at least 2 weeks before the planned date.

The hiking permit

We took a package with Tebing Tinggi Backpackers. They could actually applied for the permit for us  but we didn't know so we had applied for it ourselves. The package includes a 4WD to the hiking starting point, walkie talkie, first aid kit and a mountain guide.

It was an 8 hours hike. We brought drinking water and packed some lunch to eat up on the mountain. There was no water point anywhere during the entire hike. So if you are planning to hike Mount Irau, please pack enough water for drinking and bring along some wet wipes, they were very useful to us that day. 

Before the hike. From left : Epul the guide, Azhar, Wani, Hidayah, Thiru

It was a tough hike, especially for newbie like us. It rained during the hike making it more challenging than it already was. I remembered shivering as it got too cold and I was not wearing a wind breaker that day. Everywhere was muddy, our shoes and socks were totally soaked.

The forest does live up to its name. It was beautiful. Some area made us feel like we were in an enchanted forest. 

Mini Irau - the 1st peak of Mount Irau

Look at the rigth side of the photo, we had to climb up those slippery rocks to get to this spot

This is a famous spot for taking photos as the background is so mesmerizing. Some even says that it looks like a scene from the Lord of The Ring

After about 3.5 hours of hiking, slipping and falling, eating with muddy hands, we made it to the summit of Mount Irau. We did it! Woaaaaaa!! So proud of ourselves. 

It was a tough hike but the satisfaction was so rewarding. Now I understand how Hikers feel and what makes them keep going for more.

After the hike. We were covered in mud.

If you are planning to hike Mount Irau, here are some tips :

1. Wear a wind breaker and good comfortable shoes that has a good grip and preferably water proof

2. There is no leech on the mountain or along the way, so there is no need for long socks. 

3. Wear old clothes/socks that you don't mind disposing afterwards. It was so difficult to wash away the dirt and mud, would have been easier to just dispose everything after the hike

4. Bring a poncho because it may rain any time

5. Put your valuable ie purse/phones/camera in a waterproof bag

6. Cut you nails short before embarking on this expedition. It took me a few hours to clean my nails.

7. Bring enough drinking water - I brought 1.2L of water, some wet wipes to clean the hands before eating, sandwiches and chocolates for lunch and to provide energy along the hike

8. If you are not going with a guide, bring along first aid kit. I cut my hands and bruised my legs here and there. 

I have fallen in love with hiking. Next big hike - Mount Kinabalu!

Bubble of Hope

Bubble of Hope is a charity dive event in which a group of young divers did what they love most - scuba diving while donating for charity at the same time. This event was organised by Project Vacation and this time they collaborated with Small Changes, a NGO whose current project is to provide english education for underprivileged children. The diving trip took place in Tioman Island.

I am so proud and happy to be part of the event. 

The diving trip took place from 16th to 18th September 2016,  during the Malaysia day weekend. I joined the trip along with my dive buddies, Hidayah and Thiru. It was also our anniversary trip as we became certified divers about a year ago in August 2015. 

We stayed at Bayu Tioman Challet, Kampung Genting (http://www.bayutioman.com) and was pleased with the cleanliness of the place. The food provided was also good. What was more impressive was that they tried to cater to Thiru's vegetarian needs despite such short notice (we told them during lunch and at dinner they prepared special vegetarian food for Thiru). 

The challet

We have been to a few dive centres and for this dive, we went to Bayu Dive Centre. So far, they are one of the most organized, professional and comfortable dive centre that we have been to, almost like Dive Downbelow in Kota Kinabalu where we took my open water and advanced open water courses (we had such good experience with Dive Downbelow that they have become our gold standard for dive centres). 

The chill-out place

Platform overlooking the sea where we setup our gears prior to a dive

Bayu Dive Center is managed by a young guy, named Najat. Guess what..he is only 24 years old! From what I heard, the dive centre was set up by his father initially and he took over the management probably about a year ago. I have to say that he did a great job. No doubt if I were going to dive in Tioman again, I will head to Bayu Dive Center without much thought. 

We dived for 4 times at 4 different dive sites; Pulau Renggis, Tomok, Batu Malang and Teluk Gaduk.

The dives were great. Thiru and I were placed in Group B along with another 6 divers. Hidayah was in Group C. They had to separate us into groups as there were quite a number of us hence, the easiest and safest way to handle us would be to place us into groups. 

My dive master, Irfa. Small but strong. Kecil-kecil cili padi. 

I had good dives at all 4 sites. The corals were pretty and extensive still, unlike certain islands where the corals are sadly dying. There was a lot of marine lives that never failed to impress me as well. 

At one of the dive sites, Renggis if I am not mistaken, there was this 'playground' as they called it -  artificial reeves which made good photo-taking spots. All camera-holder problem - I took people's photo but none of mine. 

Another diver, Hafizi struck a nice pose on the treadmill

Apart from the dives, the organiser had also prepared other activities. We had ice breaking session where each of us had to tell stuff about ourselves. It was so interesting to listen to people's travel adventures and experiences. We also had sharing sessions in which they had invited 2 speakers; one of them was Apat who shared about his UW photography interest and his experiences over the years. Another was a very experienced master instructor who has been in this field for more than 10 years, oh it is a shame that I could not recall his name now. 

On the last night, we had Acoustic Night and the theme was Hawaiian/floral. All of us were such a sport that we all dressed accordingly. We had performances by most of the DM/instructors in Bayu Dive Centre. My DM Irfa, she sang very well. She sang while her fiancé Haris played the guitar and sing along with her. They were such a cute couple. Late that night, we had photography and firework session to end the day. 

The ladies in Hawaiian/floral themed outfits

The firework

Overall, I had a good time during this trip. I'm sure Thiru and Hidayah did too. We met new people and made new friends. At the moment of writing, we are already planning our next adventure together. 

To my buddies, Thiru and Hidayah, where should we celebrate our anniversary next year? *wink*

The whole gang of Bubble of Hope 

Birthday!

I turned 30 on September 5th 2016. Happy birthday to me!

Since a lot of my girlfriends would be on call on 5th, so I made them celebrate my birthday a day earlier. We went to Konda Kondi for dinner and Yammini bought me this superbly delicious mango delight cake.

I love the wish on the cake, not the usual Happy Birthday. Instead she wrote "be happy forever Wani"
That was so sweet Yammini, thank you so much. It meant a lot to me.

Thank you girls for celebrating my birthday =)

At midnight, @Butang wished happy birthday while holding a candle in a dark room. That was so sweet of him. How I wish he is nearby and we get to celebrate together. 

I thought that would be the end of my birthday celebration. But guess what, I was wrong! I am so glad that I was wrong. LOL.

4 days later, my darling girlfriends secretly planned a surprise birthday picnic for me. I have always wanted to have a picnic. I have been ranting about it for so long but we could never find a suitable time for that. 

So last Friday, while at work, Hidayah texted and invited me for tea along with Thiru. HJ said she would be coming too. I actually planned to go jogging that day as I have missed jogging for a few days but then, tea always wins in this tea-jog battle. So I said yes. HJ said she would pick me up but then I decided that it would be easier to take my car instead. 

HJ said she needed to go to the bank first, so we did. It was passed 5pm and I still had no idea where we were going for tea as Hidayah and Thiru did not reply my texts. So I just drove around until HJ received a phone call from Hidayah, telling us that her car broke down at Taman Dr and we had to pick her up. 

So we drove to Taman Dr. I saw Hidayah's car parked nicely in a parking lot but she was nowhere to be seen. I parked closed to her car and HJ literally dragged me out of the car towards an open space. 

Then I saw a lovely picnic setup. Hidayah and Thiru were there and Hidayah was filming with her Gopro. There was the birthday song in the background. I realised it was a surprise birthday picnic for me. I was utterly happy and was beaming away at the sight. I got the picnic that I have always wanted =).

My second birthday cake this year - matcha tiramisu

The backbone of the whole event

Thank you Haslinda for the lovely roses

Thank you for coming everyone!

I am so thankful for having such good friends who went the extra mile to make my birthday special. Birthday means so much more when it is celebrated with people who love and care for us. 

Thank you girlfriends!

#ilovemygirlfriends

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