What a Year, 2020

I'm never one to celebrate New Years. Cliche, but to me it's just another day to another year. But 2020 was different. The world was literally put on halt and as much as the we tried to live our normal lives, there were restrictions. Many, many, restrictions - that Yana and I were literally on a dead end trying to convince the boys to plan a trip.

& we're super glad we managed to do so - because it was exactly what we needed. 3 days out of the hustle and bustle of virtual e-mails and video conferences and in foreign yet local cities to just chill.

We brought chairs out to the lawn before the downpour started - chilly weather, despite smoke from the BBQ.

The boys did a wonderful job planning the food and AJ's marinade was creme de le crem.

The gang surprised me with a double unicorn cake - did not expect this at all, I got all teary eyed lol.

We played games, laughed and twerked. At midnight, while we counted down the seconds to a New Year - Ipoh was suddenly lit with a firework performance. The eight of us ran to the lawn to see sprinkles of red, white, blue and green decorate the sky - as we hugged and wished each other Happy New Year, we bid adieu to 2020 and for a moment, the world seemed normal again. 

The next few hours were us, reflecting what a year it has been. We laughed and cried at the happiness and sufferings we've been through and what stuck in the my mind through out the session was how the boys reiterated to us, many times - that regardless, we are family. 

With some feeling feverish and suffering mild headaches, we cleaned the lawn the very next morning and headed to Hollywood for breakfast. After a few smokes, we headed to Tasik Cermin for a short hike and off to Penang for another round of food.

Short fuel and toilet break - we took many breaks through out this trip.

In Penang, we checked in to our AirBnB - rested and feasted. A windy afternoon was spent eating Pasemboq, Grilled Clams and Laksa by the beach in Padang Kota. Followed by a short trip to Jelutong to meet Hassan and his choice of Nasi Kandar. We then headed to Love Lane for a Mexican fiesta - with new aliases and back to the AirBnB to finish our leftovers.

Gave the boys new names.

I bonded so much more with the girls during this trip.

I woke up early the next morning to make sure everyone had a good, wholesome Penang breakfast. Ordered Apom, Thosai Rawa and Roti Canai and decided to surprise them once they woke up - of course, I couldn't have done it with Yana who helped wait for the Grab driver for me. 

15 minutes before check out - yet everyone still gobbling food.

In the mood for a coffee fix, Kadir and I brought them to Lunabar - since it was early, we had the place all to ourselves.

After a hearty meal at Kapitan, last stop was Teo Chew cendol.

Escaped the New Year traffic by going home a day earlier - the route back to KL was smooth. Managed to be home before midnight despite the many toilet and snack breaks. Though there were three in my car, I drove accompanied by the sounds of French Kiwi Juice while pondering what's next in life. 

I hope to cherish each and every moment and to keep only those who are near.

And I hope, for the bonds I've grown attached to - to grow closer, and may the year bless us all. 

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)

The Story of Angus

Iceland, was a series of events on its own - mostly unfortunate, but we managed to pull through, alhamdulillah. On the 26th of December, we checked out early in morning. The weather was again, about the detrimental but we were used to it. Sunrise was late in Iceland, so even at 8AM, the city was dead, pitch black. Only the lights of Christmas decorations brightened the roads - heck, even some of the street lamps were dead. Our ETA was in about 12 hours, from Fáskrúðsfjörður to Reykjavík and the slippery roads almost caused our car to skid off a cliff, but we managed to pull through seeing a scenic sunrise from the highway, surrounded by snowy mountains, lakes and eventually the sea.

About 3 hours in, that was when we met Angus.

Angus was a beauty of its own. Angus was a compilation of every terrain on Earth. Angus, was load as it crashed its waves on it black pebbled sand beach. Angus - was everything more than I imagined any beauty of Earth would be. The best part was, Angus was ours and only ours. There was not a single other human being at sight. As soon as we got out of the car, we ran on Angus's rocky mini-cliffs, we crossed its fresh mountain water river, and we caught sight to its frozen ice lake which reflected the surrounding mountains beautiful. I was speechless, and a part of me was left teary eyed. Erina, was bawling at its beauty. Even the boys, were astounded by the beauty of Angus.

That vivid feeling,

of what I want, what I need, what I deserve.

I am more than what I had limit myself to,

and in the brief moment of contentment - I let go.

I finally felt free.

A part of me felt like the Almighty opened the secret doors of Angus just for us - and I was, truly, deeply blessed. It was surreal, it was.. magical. I sat on its black sand terrain, and I began to reflect. How life was before Angus, and how much I've missed out on life - on how much, I've missed myself. 

I bid farewell, to you my old friend - 2016.

And I welcome you, 2017. 

With an open heart, with open arms. 

#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!