August 2017

..had been a month full of birthday celebrations!

First, my older brother’s birthday. Since he love Domino’s Pizza, we had ‘em for dinner!

Then, we had Ah Bi’s birthday celebration. We went for karaoke before we cut the cake.

Next was Yy’s birthday. The fiancé joined us too because he would be spending a few days with me before he went to Canada.

Okay, this may not be a birthday celebration but, it was a victory celebration! Though he could not make it to the finals, he still managed to get a trophy back to Malaysia. So proud of him.

Finally, we had a be-early birthday celebration for the fiancé! He was in KL for a day or two before heading back to Penang.

See..loads of birthday celebrations, right?

July 2017

..had been one of the most happening months for me.

Why?

Well, first of all, AIA’s townhall. Though the sessions were so-so, we had great food.

The best of all?

It’s free!

During the middle of the month, I witnessed a beautiful marriage of one of my girlfriends. Plus, it was a lovely gathering with friends.

Later, I had a short weekend in Penang to spend time with him.

And also a great catch-ups with them.

Then I ended the month with a registration of marriage.

And it was mine.

Plus my brother’s too.

Which I had posted earlier.

July 29th, 2017

..was the day we become husband and wife, officially!

He did not go alone. Mom, nani, Deep and Vila went as well so, I was really happy and grateful. All the important people in my life were there to witness this moment.

Not only that, my brother and his fiancé also had their ROM on the same day as us. Double happiness? Definitely.

This day was mostly arranged both by my lovely grandmother and a loving uncle. Without them, we do not know how to make all these arrangements as we are not in Sibu. Really blessed.

It was just a small ceremony followed by a simple luncheon at our favourite restaurant.

So when’s the big day?

Stay tuned!

June 2017

..was another great month.

It started off with MACC’s Now That’s What I Call Jokes Vol 8 and the husband purposely made the trip to Kuala Lumpur to join my friends and I for the show. Therefore, another lovely weekend with him. We did made the effort to meet at least once a month ever since I left Penang.

Later, my family came in the next weekend. Even my brother and his fiance came from Singapore to join us. We spent our weekend up in Genting Highlands. Though it was only a short trip, we had a great time together – explored the place, dinner at Din Tai Fung, GHPO expeditionS and bah kut teh the next day.

Another reason that June was a great month because we had arranged a simple hen’s night for one of our babes – the second person in our group to get married. It was a surprise for her because she did not know we had the guys to join us as well. We had fun with loads of drinking and challenges for her. Of course not forgetting our best wishes for her and her marriage.

How did I end the month?

The husband visited me again during the long holiday. I was really delighted that this time we were able to spend more time together.

Of course the worst feeling was to bid each other farewell again.

Therefore, I am really looking forward to us staying and living together in Kuala Lumpur.

First Month

One of the major reasons year 2017 being a busy year was because it is the year of me moving back to Kuala Lumpur. I left this place in 2011 and after 6 years, I am finally back.

Stronger. Tougher. And happier.

How was my first month here?

Well, I am glad that I was able to settle down within 2 days thanks to help of my family. Though it was just a small room, it was cozy enough and the owner was a nice lady.

How is my workplace?

Well, that is my workstation. Compared to the one I had in Penang, it is a lot smaller. However, the team that I will be working with is a lot bigger. A lot.

How was my first day at work?

I received a lunchbox from my colleague in Penang as a welcome gift. As the delivery was late, I saved it for dinner instead.

How about Toastmasters?

I do not plan to go clubbing for the time being as I need time to settle down. However, one of my Toastmasters friends had invited me to join him and his club members to celebrate his achievement – karaoke!

How about my husband?

He came to visit me, of course. It was only for the weekend but we had fun. We appreciated every moment we had together. And we bought our engagement rings too. Together.

How about my family?

Guess what? My mom was here over the weekend and it was Mother’s Day. Therefore, we took this chance to celebrate Mother’s Day by having durians! Yesh, we had durians to celebrate Mother’s Day. Unique and lovely way to celebrate.

Also, Mother’s Day was also chibicouple’s second anniversary but both of us totally forgot about it. I only remembered it after two days and when I told him about it, guess what he told me?

We appreciate every moment together. Hence, everyday is a special day for us.

Memang pandai cakap.

Grandpa’s Blessed Birthday

My brothers and I will go back Sibu at least twice a year – Chinese  New Year and our grandfather’s birthday.

This year was not an exception too. It was great to be home again. Short trip but lovely.

Not only I got to spend time with my family, my fiance was there with me too. He arrived much later as he had to work on Saturday morning. He made the effort to come to Sibu even though it was a really short trip for him.

Similarly, we were back to Sibu first flight in the morning on Saturday and had to leave on Sunday. As you can see, our family is growing – bigger and happier.  Most importantly, I still keep my own vow and will continue to do so..

Happy blessed 75th birthday to the greatest man in our family.

May 2017

..was the month that I started my life back in Kuala Lumpur and it’s good to be back.

I had a wonderful 6 years in Penang though there were many ups and downs. In the midst of these, I met great people and made lovely friends. Friends that I want to keep for the rest of my life.

Cucuks – established since 2015 thanks to our Langkawi trip. Most of our gatherings involved food. Hence, the Project-Make-Timi-Fat!

Private – established since 2014 thanks to our Sarawak trip. Yes, most of our gatherings involved food as well. Hence, “Makan-Makan 1.0” and counting.

Ex-AIA – the people that I had known since I moved to Penang. Yes, most of our gatherings involved food too.

I know it is not going to be easy to start a new life in another place but somehow, having my family close to me, I find it easier.

So, cheers to my new life in Kuala Lumpur!

Have You Ever

Have you ever been with a guy who controlled and checked on you all the time but ended up cheated on you, asked for your forgiveness and to give him a second chance?

Have you ever been with a guy who does not take you as his girlfriend and told you to give him more time but told the public that you two are the items?

Have you ever been with a guy who says he likes you a lot but still loses his temper on you, shouted at you?

Ditch them.

Yes, leave.

A guy who feels so insecure is not a man at all. If he has no confidence in himself, it is not your responsibility to make him feel secured. Plus, if he constantly controls and checks on you, he is a person who cannot be trusted. Yes, you may think these are sweet, that he is just being protective of you, afraid to lose you – puh-lease, wake up! This is not a fantasy. A man should know how to be responsible for themselves. IF you are being together with a man, you should not have any burden at all – to make him feel secured, to make him feel confident about himself. Those are not your responsibility – I repeat – not your responsibility – at all.

A guy who cannot decide whether he wants to be with you is definitely not a man at all. A man should be decisive. He must know how to make a decision. What sort of “more time” does he need? C’mon, ladies, do you honestly want to be with a man who cannot make a decision? Okay, maybe it is fine that he needs time to think about it because a relationship is a long term thing but, if he is showing and telling the public that the two of you are the items, leave! That is definitely a guy who clearly does not want to be with you but does not want to lose your attention full stop

Now, I do come across with a few girl friends of mine who told me that if a guy scolded or shouted at you, it means he really loves you. Does he? A man is a person who knows how to control himself and does not lose his cool when he knew scolding and shouting is not going to fix anything. If he really loves you, he will not hurt you, including verbally.

Yes, I had been with guys classified above. I had been a fool and learned my lesson the hard way.

I know my post is not going to change your mind because I had been there. There were family and friends who told me of such toxic relationship and I chose to ignore. Until the unfortunate events happened.

So why am I sharing this when I knew none of you will listen to me?

Just so you can come back to my post again to laugh about it and move on if any of the above happened to you.

Or, since miracles do happen, probably you can come back and tell me that I was just being unlucky.

January 29th, 2017

..was the day he proposed to me.

I was playing with the cat in the living room when my older brother told me that Gurmeet was looking for me, asked me to go up to the room.

I ignored him.

Later, my younger brother came into the living room and took the cat away. He also told me that Gurmeet was looking for me, asked me to go up to the room. I got up reluctantly but decided to give him a call until I saw his phone on the table in the living room.

Frustrated, I stopped at the bottom of the staircase and shouted, “What do you want?”

“I lost my angpow money. Help me to look for it.” was his reply.

I walked up to the room. Reluctantly.

I took out all the thrown angpow in the rubbish bin and searched one by one, in case I really threw them away with the money inside.

No, no sight of the money.

Frustrated, I told him to forgo that few hundreds since he has more angpow money.

Repeatedly, he told me to search properly. I took out all the thrown angpows and shoved them to him to prove that there was no money inside.

This went on for a few minutes until he pointed out there was a box inside the rubbish bin.

I held it and looked at it, thinking when did I ever throw this away.

His turn to be frustrated and took out the ring from his pocket and knelt on one knee.

*his speech*

*his tears*

There was a moment of silence.

Yes, I am do want to be stuck with you for the rest of my life.

Apparently, all my family members knew about his plan.

Except me.

Good done, well job!

 

PS: But I knew he bought the ring thanks to his brother…

Japan: Transportation Tips

I was asked by a few people in regards to transportation in Japan. To be honest, a research about it is a must before unless you are friggin’ rich and do not bother about the cost.

My fiance and I took cab in Japan ONCE.  It was less than 3km and cost us about 700 yen. Well, we had just arrived Kyoto Station from a long journey and our hotel is really close to Kyoto Station. However, we were really tired. Plus, it was drizzling.

Let’s move on to the public transportation in Japan. To be honest, you will find a lot of passes in Japan especially for tourists. You can easily get them at the airport.

We opted for Kintetsu Rail Pass Wide because we will be traveling from Osaka, Kyoto and Ise Shima. It provides five consecutive days of unlimited use of local, rapid and express trains with up to three rides on limited express trains on Kintetsu Railways. Additionally, it includes airport access with return whereby these trips can be made outside the 5-day period. Also, we can use this pass for unlimited bus rides in Ise. Though it cost us 5,860 yen each, it was really worth the purchase. For our trip, below are the suggestions to use the three rides on limited express trains:

1. Osaka-Namba to Kyoto

2. Kyoto to Ujiyamada (Ise)

3. Ujiyamada (Ise) to Osaka-Namba

For your information, there are a few types of trains in Japan but we took two types during our journey – local and limited express trains. Local trains will stop at every stop. Limited express trains have less stops compared to local trains as they only stop at the biggest or most often used stations. Hence, you will reach your destination faster. Another plus point is you will have a numbered seat. The conditions are you need to book earlier and to pay ad additional fee on top of your normal ticket.

However, effective October 2016, this pass is no longer sold so, oh well.

In Kyoto, we bought City Bus one-day pass which cost us 500 yen per person, unlimited rides on the same day. This pass is very useful and honestly, you are able to go to most places with buses in Kyoto. This tip was given by a friend of mine. Unless you are rich to pay 230 yen per trip. This pass can be purchased at Kyoto Station.

Another pass we bought was Koyasan World Heritage Ticket which cost us 2,860 yen per person. Buy this only if you are going to Mount Koyasan. This ticket includes round trip to Koyasan by Nankai train (local train) and cable car and unlimited usage of Nankai buses in Koyasan for two consecutive days. If you want to ride limited express train, you will have to pay 780 yen.

Last but not least – Osaka. We bought Osaka Amazing 2-day Pass when we were at Kansai Airpor which cost us 3,000 yen each. It provides unlimited use of subways and city buses within Osaka City for two consecutive days. Additionally, there are free admission to some tourist attractions (eg. Osaka Castle) which helped to save our expenditure.

My sharing may not be able to help you fully since we may have different plans or Japan may have come up with new passes so, please be sure to do a research before flying off to Japan ya!

Japan: Day 7 (Osaka)

It was our last full day in Osaka and we made full use of the day to visit main landmarks in Osaka. That morning, as we were walking towards the train station, we came across this bar. It looks dodgy but we decided to give it a try. The owner was very friendly though we had a hard time communicating ie. pointing pictures on the menu and made full use of body language to describe things.

Our first stop was Osaka Castle. It is surrounded by its huge park. This castle houses an informative museum about the castle's history and Toyotomi Hideyoshi. It was not difficult to find the place but to reach Osaka Castle, you need to walk some distance from the train station. There are a few stations to reach this place – we stopped at Tanimachi 4-chome Station.

Since we are sort of an anime fans and the boyfriend was excited to see some cosplays on the street, we went to Den Den Town which is located in the Nipponbashi area. Den Den Town is an electronics district, probably like Low Yat Plaza in Kuala Lumpur or Bukit Jambul Mall in Penang. It is also know to be an otaku paradise with numerous manga and anime retailers as well as a maid cafes.

We had Japanese curry rice for lunch and shockingly, the are delicious. Not spicy but, delicious. We did check out a few anime retail stores and geez, they are everywhere! We even entered an adult store just to check out the place. I was walking ahead, rows to rows, while the boyfriend was behind me – just to see the reactions of the Japanese guys who saw me. Fun experience. Highly recommended.

We did check out one of the maid cafes there. The food was not great but the place is interesting. Oh well, I don’t think people go to such cafe for its food. The men can take pleasure by using the bell to call out to the waitresses. Well, most of the customers are men when we were there.

Our last destination before we called it a night was Tsutenkaku Tower, located in Shinsekai. The tower is 103 meters high, with the main observatory at a height of 91 meters. In order to get up there, you need to take a lift which was located underground. Its open-air deck on the top of the main observatory was closed during our visit. Anyhow, we were still able to enjoy the night view of Osaka.

To be honest, we did not go to much places during this trip. Hence, we will definitely be back again…