12 Hours in Paris

I guess, now I understand why they call Paris "The City of Lights".

I needed to get away from the FOD fuss and classes were piling up like crazy. I must admit, I'm more than tired this semester and it's only just begun. I needed a getaway and as always, a trip across the English Channel was a comforting one. On Saturday morning, we were randomly browsing through cities and somehow ended up boarding a bus to Paris two hours later. I told Naqib that my previous experience in the capital was not a memorable one. There were places I didn't go, and things which just made me not 'get the hype'. That, of course -- changed tremendously.

The day started with a quick climb to Sacre Coeur followed by gazing at the windows of shops in Champs-Elysee. I had fun risking my life to take a photo in the middle of Arc de Triomphe and we met Lady Eiffel with a cheeky Nutella crepe. He brought me to La Fayette's rooftop where I gazed upon the city lights of Paris. What a better way to end the night than with a midnight stroll as we waited to board our bus back to Lille.

-- oh and can I just add, the Indian food in Paris is amazing?!

Just A "Lille" Birthday Treat

A few days before my birthday, Naqib invited me over to celebrate. Of course, I was a bit sceptical. One, he is never nice to me - all throughout our little Iceland trip, we were basically on a sarcasm war with each other, and two, I was not sure what to expect. The last time I had met Naqib at that time, things were pretty awkward that we didn't even bid proper goodbyes. 

After consulting Erina and Hud and their firm persuasion that it may be a "once in a lifetime" opportunity, I bought a bus ticket dated for a day after my birthday. I boarded a bus with Salah at 3AM to London and endured another 5 hours, alone, conquering two seats to Lille, France. 

We spent the first day chilling, eating tacos and watching some movie I can't remember. The next day he brought me around the city. From having French cuisine for lunch, surprising me with my one and only birthday cake for the year, a lovely tour of the Art Museum and ending the night by seeing the beautiful night lights Lille had to offer - he made sure that the 5 hours (+ 1 hour claustrophobic EuroTunnel experience) journey was worth it. 

A weekend art flea market which sold magazine cover artworks and books mostly in French.

The funny story behind this surprise was he spoke French to waiter telling him to bring the cake with a candle on top. The waiter, of course was dumbfounded that since I was there listening to the conversation the whole time that was until Naqib told him I had no idea what they were speaking in French, lol. 

Being an avid lover of cheesecakes - of course, I was estatically over the moon when this arrived with a cute pink candle on top. Hands down, best cheesecake I've ever tasted.

Christmas decorations were still prominently displayed around the city - even on the 7th of January.

  

We ate a lot that weekend - definitely a huge difference than the dry tuna or shredded chicken and mayo sandwiches we gobbled just for the sake of being full while in Iceland. I learned a lot of French history and how its architecture varied from North to South. He even made me walk in the cold, with my high heeled boots to see a unique church with no windows (he legit made me guess for five minutes what made the church unique until I realised.. "oh yeah, no windows"..). Probably a city worth visiting again and definitely an amazing way to celebrate my 23rd birthday.

To another year of thrilling wanderlust, random adventures (+ decisions) and a heck load of ups and downs along the way. I'm looking forward to see how this year is going to be like! (winks)

#B4L Road Trip To Johor Bahru

Just for the sake of fulfilling Pau's cravings, we headed off to Johor Bahru on Friday night. We - meaning the five of us, Helena, Amalina, I'zaz, Pau (duh) and I. After pumping our petrol and filling the car tyres, we left Bandar Seri Putra around 9.45 PM and reached Pau's kampung near Larkin around 1 AM. On the way, we made a brief stop to rest and have supper at Pagoh. I had my favourite Mee Rebus while the rest had Nasi Lemak.

There weren't many cars on the road so it was a smooth journey. 

The next morning, we woke up early to have breakfast at a stall near Pau's kampung. They were known for having various types of lontongs and rendang. It was a buffet style restaurant. Helena and I'zaz both had lontong kering, I had lontong basah (my favourite!!), Pau had roti arab and Amalina.. well she had fried macaroni, hahaha. 

(R-L) Lontong Kering, Lontong Basah and Roti Arab.

I planned to meet my Aunt and Uncle to pass some stuff but by the time they reached the area, we were already on our way to Jusco Bukit Indah. Literally had a drugstore make up and skincare shopping spree in their Watsons before heading off to the Jakel in Angsana. Personally, the Jakel in Shah Alam is waaaaaay better. We were already hungry for lunch by then as well, so we headed off to Warong Siput Sedut which was in the area.

The fish was so, so fresh! 

According to Pau, the place is known for its variety of asam pedas dishes and of course, it's siput sedut masak cili api. It was indeed delicious! I thought their fish was fresh - both the fried and the one in the asam pedas. I'm not much of a fish fan but I helped to finish it clean, hehe. Next stop, Jalan Dhobby! 

Jalan Dhobby has so many hipster cafes! We passed by a few interesting ones. However, as recommended by my friend, Filzah, we went to Kone since the weather was blinking hot at that time and we needed something to chill our throats. 

Kone is a one and half storey yogurt cafe. They serve their yogurts with cornflakes in the cup and for extra presentation - dry ice to make it look cool (!!!). I ordered the Matcha Green Tea yogurt. At first I thought the white balls were longans but they were actually glutenous rice balls which I loooove. We had to chill longer than expected in the cafe since it was starting to pour outside. As it was getting heavier for us to walk to our car, we took pictures in front of another cafe two blocks away called The Replacement. Was too full to try their food though it seemed to be a hit since people were practically queuing to get a table.

We went to Kilang Batteri after Pau and I'zaz both managed to get the car. However I wasn't too satisfied. There were a lot of independent label stores and Instagram shops but some were pretty overpriced. However, I would say that some independent label stores had really, really nice tees but they were over my budget to purchase. There was also a cereal cafe at their food court but was too full to try it out. Headed back to Pau's kampung to rest for a bit before heading to the market to buy the so-called famous #1 murtabak cheese in Malaysia. 

When I wanted to take pictures, the Pak Cik asked me to help make them viral of Facebook, lol.

We packed our murtabak cheese to eat at the foodcourt near Bomba since we wanted to have it with our Ais Jelly Bandung Special..

.. & of course, Kacang Pol. 

After filling up our tummies yet again, we headed to a funfair near Danga Bay. Well.. we thought it was a lively funfair. The last funfair I went was in Port Dickson and it was so lively! This one.. was disappointing. However, we did spend RM 10 on a Pirate Ship ride which was hilarious since the four of them were afraid of heights and I was the only one who wasn't. I kept recording their faces and posted it on Snapchat, lol. But.. the Pirate Ship basically killed our heads since we were all dizzy and some of us felt like throwing up after that, hahaha.

I've always wanted a bow headband which would light up! Oh, and if you can see at the back there people were playing with hover boards. We saw two people tragically fall from them.. heeeh.

Finally, we had drinks at Sea&Saw while waiting for Pasar Karat to open. We played a few games to kill time (eg: Never Have I Ever using still water as 'shots' hahahah). While we were there a man also proposed to his girlfriend (!!!) Being typical joyahs we got to witness the whole thing - and I accidentally spilt I'zaz drink but fret not, I paid him back hahaha. I didn't try the food but.. please don't order the rosehip tea. I didn't like it, hehe.

The place is pretty chill and their playlist was my type of songs - so overall I loved the ambience!

An actual proposal, heee. At first, the girls inside gave her roses before he came in. She cried.. and almost everyone in the restaurant was recording it. 

Few appetizers available to order outside. However, this one is self-service. Meaning if you sit inside.. you go out and order. 

That was the end of the main agenda of our trip. After Sea&Saw, we headed to Pasar Karat. I was searching for cheap football jerseys but none of them caught my eye. I did, however, did henna! I wanted to do in white but the lady said white only lasts for a day so I did it in black instead. It was cheap, only RM 15 per hand. 

We went back to Pau's kampung, slept and left for Bangi around noon. Tok Mak (Pau's grandmother) made us Nasi Lemak which was so, so delicious. Did some shopping at Johor Premium Outlet and we stopped at Pagoh, again, for late lunch. It was such a fun road trip! I had fun singing in the car and testing out my new toy. I'm actually really, really tired right now but I decided to finish off this post tonight before properly resting. So till next time, goodnight! 

.. To The Beach?

Shot using Canon 700D, edited using Adobe Photoshop CS6.

I guess random plans make the best plans?

Saturday night, I texted Syaz telling her I felt like going to the beach - I needed a break, from my so-called boring daily routine. Thus, as usual.. she just went with the flow, lol. The next day, packed some food, picked Suraya and her up and off we went to the beach. Besides being disturbed by three men who gave us a bag of chips (The note that came with said that our beach tent was missing something - which was them, lol I hurled), we just sat and watched people enjoy the waves while eating food. Dipped our toes in the sea water and enjoyed mending our shawls as it was being swept gently by the sea breeze. Though the weather was hot, the breeze and smell of sea was pretty cooling. 

& I finally cured my years of yam wafer ice-cream craving. What a better way to end the week. 

Saying Hello To Big Ben

Shots before my camera died due to the weather, taken on the first day we came to London. 

Syaz and I had actually been planning about our trip since early 2015. However, I bought my tickets first before she joined a few months after that. I initially planned for the trip to be around 2 weeks, but my initial flight was rebooked all of a sudden, so it ended up being three weeks. We went through whirlwinds to plan it and miraculously, we did it! Lol.

The both of us arrived Heathrow on a gloomy Christmas Eve morning. Amir and Hazim picked us up (Amir had arrived the same day on an earlier flight), we then settled in our respective accommodations all in Bayswater area and were joined by Danial at Malaysian Hall. Immediately, he was elected as our so-called "tourguide" and brought us to Westminster area to see the Big Ben, London Eye, Westminster Abbey and other tourist spots around the area.

While we were along the pathways of Big Ben, we were bombarded by street artists and people giving out flowers which we were forced to pay for. That part, annoyed me. For myself, the weather was perfect. It wasn't too cold and skies were clear and blue, unlike the hazy weather Malaysia had been cursed with for the past few months. Unfortunately for my camera, the weather affected the battery and it died on me while we were at Westminster Abbey. Thank god for my GoPro. Or else, I would have cried right on the spot. 

That night, we had GBK for dinner. Honestly, the best truffle fries I've ever tasted. By then, Aziz had arrived from Bristol and my cousins, Maryam and Razman joined us as well. Walked around Queensway area, chilled at the boys' studio before going back to mine since my eyes were red and exhausted by then. 

Through The Year & Entering 2K16 In London

Thought it would be inappropriate if I posted a New Year's post a week after the initial date - therefore, I might as well post one before the week ends! And yikes, it's already Sunday?! Haha. I have +/- two more weeks here in England, and there's still so much for me to explore and buy (coughs) but I'm going with my initial intention of coming here - to just chill, relax, and have my deserved low time with great company.

Let's go through the months of 2015 together, shall we?

In January, I landed an internship with one of the companies I had been aiming since the start of my studies. I met awesome colleagues whom guided me, taught me so much about the working life and was inspired by them to strive, work hard and somehow be where they were in the future. Some of them were so career driven, it changed my perspective in life - to chase my dreams before I had no more time to chase them anymore, lol. I also left a lot behind in January. A group of friends whom I was accustomed to hanging out with for the past year, my social media networks - my Instagram account which I built to nearly 8K followers was deleted (I'd be lying if I told you I wasn't sad, but it was for the better). For a month or so, I used other people's social medias until they pestered me to get my own, lol.

I got back together with Amir in February after our brief yet much needed break-up. Hung out a lot with my Bangi friends - surprised the boys at a wedding. In March, I left Petronas, bid goodbye to the UK and went back to Taylor's for my final semester of studies. Surprised Amir with a box from home which costed me almost half of my allowance for his birthday. Had to handle unnecessary drama from people who simply just couldn't grow up and admit their faults despite me doing nothing. Had to face some of them in college which disgusted the shit out of me. Then all the other months were basically filled with studying, being trapped in a pile of assignments and contemplating life decisions after uni: to work/continue studies. Life was a bliss.

This year, I learned about independence of travelling alone without my family. In May, I went to Yogyakarta, Indonesia with my ex-collegues. Don't think the place is my cup of tea, but I loved seeing the temples with my very own eyes. Then, in December, after months of planning, Syaz and I boarded a flight to London. Despite this being my third time here, blessed to see the city with friends - or, juniors since Amir and I were the most senior ones while the rest were batch 95 and 97 (but Anis, who's a 93 joined us on New Year's but I'll talk about that later hehe).

I remembered end of 2014, I asked God if he could help me with a big favour. To help get rid of those who will hurt me, those who had nothing good to offer and to help preserve those who would one day mean the world to me. He definitely granted what I asked for. At the end of the day, I'm still with the same group of friends from high school, blessed for helpful friends since my foundation batch (Elisha, Lysha, Jen and Kim were my saviours for my last semester of degree).

And let's not forget, family. Family. What will I ever be without my family.

I learned that my sister really does love me and can be clingy, hehe. She demanded me for attention while I was exploring Betws-Y-Coed and despite the cold which made my hands almost numb, I still tried my best to reply her text messages and even Facetimed with her till my data went zero (blimming Lebara). People may belittle your family members demanding respect when they don't show the slightest one yet. They can give you 1001 excuses saying they don't fit in when they've been prancing around with someone else. They can even play victim: posting motivational quotes about finding themselves, moving on, just to beg for attention and sympathy but the solid truth still remains, when you're at fault, just admit it. When you're wrong, just say sorry. Just like when you steal something from someone else, you've still committed a crime. There was once a time when I vowed that I would never forgive those who hurt my sister to an extent which I hope to forget. But looking at her now, strong, smiling and most importantly back to her geeky self, made me realize that whatever happened to her made her stronger, and it inspired me. It also made me more overprotective towards her.

But most of all, looking back - I'm proud of myself. So, so proud. I came back on the right track - with my internship and my studies. Yes, it's normal to have flops along the way but I finished my degree after pushing myself, being somewhere I didn't want to be for years. I grew to love Taylor's during my last semester which I thoroughly tried to appreciate every piece of the uni-life. And I actually made my decision to do my Masters, and got accepted.

S O  H O W  D I D  I  S P E N D  M Y  N E W  Y E A R ?

Well, New Year's Eve was supposed to be exploring Camden Town in the morning and then following whatever plans the boys had in store for us at night. However, Syaz and I both woke up late, decided to chill at my apartment and ended up shopping in Oxford Street instead. We both bought matching - yet in different colours, bomber jackets at Topshop and went back to Queensway after that to drop off our stuff. Chilled at Anis' room to catch up and eventually managed to drag her out to join us for New Year celebrations. Met the boys; Amir, Danial, Hazim and Najwan at Malaysian Hall for dinner and Anis came after that. We went to Whiteley's since Amir wanted to go to Zara, but the shops closed early so we took the tube to Westminster and walked around to find a spot for fireworks.

For (some) years of age gap, we all look about the same age! Lol.

Why must you boys spoil a what's supposed to be nice photo?!

Once we found one, looked at our watches - we had four more hours to kill. So we walked to Trafalgar Square which, by then was flooded with a sea of people. Stopped by Petit-A-Manger to grab some snacks, and hurried back to our spot which was starting to fill up as well. What do you do to kill three hours in the cold? Well, Amir and I's hot chocolate cup was empty by then, so we ended up playing Truth or Dare - which, ended up to being just truth.

After, the skeletons in everyone's closet were almost all out - it was time for fireworks. It was spectacular. It was beautiful. It was worth our hours in the cold. Mere silence, just "ooh's" and "aah's". We hugged everyone Happy New Year in the end and 2016 started off perfect, the way I wanted it to be. I wanted to cry at Syaz because we had been planning this trip for months, and one of the things in our bucket list was to watch the fireworks. The amount of hassles we went through for this, was worth it since in the end - the both of us got what we wanted.

Ate before we each went back to our respective houses. Blessed for kebab stores which open late night (mind you, by the time we reached Queensway again, it was already almost 2AM). As soon as I got home, I showered, packed a bit and slept. That, was my New Year's Eve. That, was my idea of a perfect ending for 2015. 

The next day, everyone went back to their universities since it was the start of exams. I moved on to my friend's house and bid farewell to my aunt and cousins. No more walking in groups and janji Melayu talks of going out early and ending up leaving in the afternoon. No more Malaysian Hall which I would do anything, anything, to have their daging rendang right now. That was the end of London, as of now - off to explore somewhere else!