Summer, summer rain.

After a few weeks, I finally have the time to settle down and sit in front of this desktop and literally check everything. Less than a month after my travel to Kuala Lumpur, I was then set on another trip. A trip I've been looking forward to since I-don't-know-when. So, when I finally touched down and landed in Seoul, I went "Oh wow, I'm here, finally here".

Well, it actually took a few hours for that thought to sink in as I was mostly worried with luggage, immigration and all that. So, that thought finally sank in when I arrive in Myeongdong. Spending 8 days in Seoul, using the subway, walking around, rarely using taxi or private cars was definitely a rare experience. It was a good-rare experience because that was my main target, experiencing all the Seoul lifestyle. I didn't manage to enjoy the food as much as I can though as I was traveling during fasting month but it was indeed a different experience.

I'm back in Brunei though for now and I can't wait for a new set of adventures. Soon, Amin.

till then

wai

Well, talk about neglecting blogs.

Haha, What a title! We all have to admit though, I neglected this blog for too long. We now have a lot of different platforms, social networking sites we could use. Then we start to forget about the earlier sites we have, whether they be blogs, facebook, friendster or that sorts.

I never forgot about this blog, I sometimes like to read back all the posts I had typed in and usually end up cringing while reading and after reading. Haha. I used to be so expressive with words back then, now, I usually forget what I like to say, sometimes I find it hard to talk it out. I realized this after watching one of Mat Lutfhi's video, where he talked about teaching kids and it's definitely true. With kids, you need to really open up your mind and be prepared to answer very good question which adults would never ask. So, in a way, I feel lucky to be a teacher but at the same time, feel sad that I can't share the type of questions I have with my kids with my fellow friends, colleagues because we are too embarrassed to ask.

I love my kids, I really do, they sometimes make my day brighter even the naughty ones. They are amazing, they have so many comebacks to what you have to say but it makes you think and come up with very good but true and honest answers. So, whenever I have a bad day at work, I usually just remind myself and say, those kids are worth staying for. They are worth it. And, whenever I think about what had happened with the kids, they make me smile and forget all those negative things surrounding work.

Yes, I admit, being an educator has it's challenge and we usually face negative feedback instead. We are always the person who are blamed for what happens to a kid, or what happens in school. We also then have other admin related works which you wish could fly away instead of piling up. I usually just give up with hoping that it would be less because we know it will never be less. I now end up saying what now every now and then.

It also will not help a lot if you have conflicts at work, I'm not saying I have conflicts but when the community has conflicts, it affects everyone. It always end up to be, with the Bruneian phrase "Kau-kau, aku-aku" and "Kau tanya ia lah" which I usually just roll my eye on. I mean, would it kill us to be more professional during work and just let everything go once you vent it all out. Haha.

I think it's best to tackle your problems immediately, that's what I did and I feel so much better. No one likes to talk about it anymore because they know how pissed off I am with the matter. It's never good to talk about someone behind their back. Just no.

till then.

-swmy

K-pop Debuts 2011

My favourite K-pop debuts for the year 2011.

March 3rd, Song Ji Eun featuring Bang Yong Guk (Ji Eun's solo debut) - Going Crazy

Ji Eun's solo debut featuring Bang Yong Guk, who I personally love! First of all, the music video is amazing. So, TS Ent did an amazing job with the video and the concept they were going for. Personally, what I love so much about this song is the lyrics and knowing that Yong Guk wrote the rap himself, he earned a lot of plus points for that. When I then watch their live performances, it is just awesome. I mean, the chemistry, their voices together, their feelings, it was obvious how much they understood and know what the song meant. This song still remains as the Most Played song in my phone, so that will explain how much I love this song.

April 14th, Block B - Freeze

Block B consists of 7 members, namely Jaehyo, B-Bomb, U-Kwon, P.O, Zico, Kyung and Taeil. When I first saw them perform, I admire their passion. It was really sad though because they only perform the full song in Music Bank and that's it. They weren't given enough chance to showcase their selves. I personally think it was unfair considering how much potential they had shown. I mean, Zico and Kyung both produced / help produced their album. Their first single was really impressive, I especially love Wanna B. Sadly, They face tonnes of difficulty ever since their debuts, with the censorship issues, not being to perform as much as they could but still they worked hard and released two mini albums which I personally really like. If I could, I would recommend everyone to listen to Halo (First Mini Album) and 했어 안했어 (Second Mini Album)

October 25th, Most Incredible Busters (M.I.B) - G.D.M

Absolute favourite debut! M.I.B consists of 5zic, Kangnam, SIMS and Cream. Before they debuted with G.D.M, Each members released a solo. 5zic quickly caught my attention when Beautiful Day was released. I mean, just listen to that song and it's just too awesome for words then I continue watching SIMS, Cream and Kangnam and instantly I was hooked! However, I was quite disappointed when they decided to end their promotion with just G.D.M when there were tonnes of good songs in their albums. So, if you really want to check them out, you should listen to their albums instead of just this one song. I was so hooked with them that they are actually in my top 5 of Most Played artist. That is how good and awesome they are. Two of my favourites track from their album is Men Comin and 모두 다 뻔해. However I do suggest you listen to the whole album because if you don't, you are missing something. I mean, Who Am I is an amazing song especially when they performed it live. Who's Next is too awesome for words so is My Way! & With that I declare my most favourite debut of 2011 has to be Most Incredible Busters! Haha.

till then

swmy

Goodbye 2011, Hello 2012.

Alhamdulillah, 2011 was a good year for me and my family. Above picture shows things which happened throughout 2011. A lot of things had happened actually but those were the few highlights which had happened back in 2011. The first month, I was appointed to be a class teacher, it was definitely a huge responsibility. I took care of 26 students and was teaching 51 students overall. It was an interesting experience which I think I will never forget. This year, I will be taking care of them too, so hopefully it will be a much more amazing year with them kids. The second month, well, I finally granted myself two wish which I wanted for a very long time. My 42" and my own home theater set which I absolutely adore until now. By March, I finally re-did my room, yes, bought my own office set and re-paint / decorate my room. I also receive my very first order during March!

April, aww, our family's big month. My sister finally had her wedding! So, yes, we were absolutely busy for the whole two weeks but thankfully, everything went as plan. Oh, one of the things I absolutely enjoy was, Doa Selamat ceremony, a day after the Sanding, where my sister called up Dinshe as their special guest. :D The next month was full with visiting various government places as a part of our Staff Development. One of the places we went to was the Weather Station! That place had amazing view, I'm telling you! The next few month involved lots and lots of food! Haha. As you all know, I have a huge love for food so yeah. A week before my birthday, my dad, mum, brother and I went to Miri for our very first road trip after I don't know how many years. Yes, it was our first time to Miri after a very long time so obviously, we weren't familiar with the place at all but thankfully, we had a really good trip.

This year, I celebrated my 21st with my whole family at Buffalo Steakhouse and I have to say, I had an absolutely amazing birthday this year. I was actually invigilating O Levels on my birthday but I had an amazing day from morning till night. <3 The next month was a very busy month and as you know, I went to Kota Kinabalu during December so overall, my year was jam-packed with amazing activities. So, I will be here welcoming 2012 with a huge smile hoping it will be an amazing year too. Amin.

till then

-wai

[D-3 & 4] Kota Kinabalu Road Trip.

source : virtourist

So, here comes Day 3 and 4 of the Kota Kinabalu trip. We woke up quite early on the third day, at around 7.30am-ish. I think we finally recovered from the long road trip. We decided to go to the city for the third day and so off to Wisma Merdeka to get breakfast at KFC. Yes, we initially thought they had the a.m meal but turns out they only offer that at their 24 hour branches so we had a really simple KFC meal. After breakfast, we went to a souvenir shop to get some souvenirs for families and friends. One of the reason why we wanted to go to Wisma Merdeka was because it was right next to Suria Sabah.


Yes, we were planning on spending our day at Suria Sabah. So after shopping for souvenirs off to Suria Sabah! We only travel by foot cause it was really close, it was like next to Wisma Merdeka. From the outside, Suria Sabah looks so small but honestly, you shouldn't say that. It's big, no, it's huge. But most of the shops in Suria Sabah, you can also find them at 1Borneo so I took the chance to get things I wanted at 1Borneo but didn't get. Haha. At first, we entered the Cotton Place cause mum and I really like cotton clothes but we finally found the bag. After that, we went to Times Bookstore.

Can I just say, can we have this type of bookstore in Brunei? I mean, there is no pressure for you to buy at all! And there is a lot of variety of books. It's like book heaven, I'm telling you. One of the things which turn me off at local bookstore is that whenever we go in, they would be looking at you, like pressuring you to buy something and when we ask if we have this so-so book and they don't have that, they start recommending other books. At times I feel like shutting them down but yeah. Anyway, back to Times. Seriously, I love this book store! They have this little space where you can spend time reading a book cause there are times when you are not sure whether you really want the book, so you could spend some time looking through the book. Kids can also play at a space. So, it really is amazing. I also love how they had place and organise their books. Seriously! Bookstore is my thing. Haha. Yes, of course, bought lots of books from this place. Haha.



Next, we went to Brands Outlet, grab a few graphic tees here. There was a sale going on, so obviously a lot of people were there. Haha. We went to couple of other places but I can't quite remember what it was because all I can remember was that, we had lunch at Kenny Rogers again. Haha. I kinda miss Kenny Rogers right now cause you can't find them here. I think I prefer KR than BK. Haha. Anyway, after that, we went back to 1Borneo because Mum and Dad wanted to get foot massage. So yeah, while Mum and Dad had their massage at Zouk Spa, brother and I went around 1Borneo again to get some things before we leave tomorrow. We went to get some Famous Amos and Donuts from the Big Apple. After the massage, we also went to Karamell Almondo where we had ice-creams! Mine had almonds in it so I'm happy. Haha and it's vanilla too! That is definitely a plus!

source / courtesy of

Anyway, that night, we had dinner at Fish & Co who is famouse for having 'Seafood on a Pan'. So, we had seafood platter for two that night. Seriously, the portion was not for two. It was for four! Haha, because they had shrimps, calamari, fish, WAIT. Let a picture do the talking. Just replace the chips with rice. That is how it looks like. So yeah, was really full that night because we also ordered carbonara. Should not have cause we couldn't finished that cause we were busy eating the seafood platter. Haha.

So the next day, we woke up early and thankfully we had packed the day before so we weren't really in a rush. We checked out early from our apartment, at around 8.30am and had Breakfast at Alamesra which is situated right opposite 1Borneo. By 9.30am, the place where we had breakfast was surrounded with Bruneians and cars from Brunei was like bersusun. Haha. Anyway, at 10am, went to the city and grab some Burger Kings for the sister and brother in law. And by 10.30am, we took off from Kota Kinabalu.

Now this where, super-looooooong ride start. At 4.30pm, we were still waiting at Temburong for the ferry. Seriously, I think we stayed at a spot before moving front for like 30 minutes because when I woke up from my ONE HOUR nap, we weren't moving that much. Haha, we moved like 10m (approx) and that is it. So, imagine the long hours in the car. It was totally tiring. Kuala Lurah also had a really long line but thankfully we managed to arrive home at 7.30pm. Alhamdulillah.

As I walked in my house, received two different texts from Zimah and Mar asking where I was and if I was okay and that was when I knew about the accident. Obviously, we were very shocked and I couldn't even begin to imagine the incident, it was just scary and it really did made me speechless. All we could say,

Our deepest condolences to the families relating to the bus accident. Semoga roh mereka di cucuri rahmat and Hopefully everyone else is now okay. Amin.

So, that is it. End of trip. I'm glad I finished this post. So, see everyone real soon because I am planning on updating more because I realised I've been neglecting my blog for a while.

till then

-wai

[D-2] Kota Kinabalu Road Trip.

Hello again. Now, it's time for Day 2 of the Kota Kinabalu road trip. We mostly spent our day 2 at 1Borneo because it was such a large shopping mall. I mean, it was a lot of floors, atriums, wings so we pretty much had to spend one whole day at 1Borneo. For your information, going to 1Borneo from the city centre will take you at least 20-30 minutes because, it is away from the city. If you were to go from the city, just look for the University Malaysia Sabah sign and that is where you are going. Yes, 1Borneo is next to the UMS. During the first day, I admit we had difficulty trying to find 1Borneo but after a while, you actually kinda get where 1Borneo is.


Anyway, taking into account that it is only our second day and the day before were really tiring, of course we woke up late. Everyone woke up at around 8.30am which is kinda early-late. Haha. Made some hot Milo and ate some crackers before going down to 1Borneo at 9.45am. Stores at 1Borneo actually opens at 10-10.30am. So we were actually still early because we were hoping to eat breakfast early at Old Town. But before going for breakfast, we managed to take our 'tourist' picture without many distractions cause no one was around. Haha. So, at 10.00am, we went to Old Town to get breakfast. Unfortunately, they couldn't serve us any rice / noodle related food so we end up eating their Western breakfast meal and the toasts! But then come to think of it, Old Town IS famous for it's toast so yeah. Both me and Syahmi had OLDTOWN Enriched Chocolate Freezy which, can I just say, Totally refreshing and awesome.



After breakfast, we then started shopping from 11am till 1.30pm. One of the things I advice you to have / wear for a day shopping is definitely SLIPPERS. Yeah, well maybe you guys are fine with wearing heels or flats but seriously after three hours of shopping, it really gets to your feet. So everyone, pack up your slippers, use them to your advantage. Anyway, I did not forget to bring my slippers, I just left them at my workplace so the first thing I really needed that morning was to find a pair of good slippers! You can actually find slippers everywhere, Adidas, Nike, Hush Puppies, Bata, Crocs you name it, they have it in 1Borneo. But since one of the stores we went to were Factory Outlet Store (F.O.S), I managed to find a good pair of slippers there for both me and mum. I also managed to get some scribble tees, so I think F.O.S was a good place to find slippers! Syahmi also managed to find his favourite hat there so yeah. F.O.S was really a good place to start with.

After going to F.O.S, we decided to go to Optical 88 because I really needed new pair of glasses. They took around 30-45minutes to prescribe my degrees but I'm not complaining cause they really did take good care of me. I mean, usually stores would just ask you to recite the numbers, pick the right lens and that is right. But it turns out, my eyes are not at the same lens because I have this problem with the red-green / silau problem. WHICH explains why I can't see very well with my contacts lens. It also turns out after I wore those contacts, my degrees went up. *nods Not a good thing. Anyway, if you need new glasses, Optical 88 is a good place to go to. They finished mine in one hour, they have good service (They gave my mum, dad and brother, water when they were waiting for me), good and honest opinion, really good choice of glasses too. So I was very satisfied and happy.


After Optical 88, off to shopping again! Went to Doss, to buy new cute slippers for everyone. Managed to get two new slippers which I really adore at the moment. We also went to Adidas and a lot of shoe / sports store. Seriously! We also went to Harris bookstore where I managed to grab a few books, pencil case and school bag for my brother. Then it was 1.30pm. Our stomach was grumbling, I was hungry so we stopped at Kenny Rogers for lunch. Seriously, what happened to Kenny Rogers in Brunei? It's so healthy good-awesome food! Haha.

Anyway, after lunch we went up our apartment to refreshen ourselves and get like 20 minutes to rest before continuing our shopping spree at 1Borneo. The first place we went to after resting was Parkson, seriously, the only reason why we spend two hours there was, there was a lot of things to look at and a LOT of queuing going on. But after Parkson, I manage to fulfill one of my wishlist I had since I was 16! Alhamdulillah.


So that is it for Day 2, yes, we went to lots of other places and ate dinner but I think this much of writing is enough. So, next will be a combination of day three and four, I think and that will be it!

till then

-wai

[D-1] Kota Kinabalu Road Trip.

Hello everyone! Is everyone enjoying your holiday? Well, for those who are having their holiday, how is your holiday treating you? Alhamdulillah, mine have been. Well, mixed with all sorts of things. Holiday for me well, let's just say time is flying super fast. I mean look at the calendar now, it's only a few more days to go before work will start for me! Haha.

Anyway, so I'm here to write how my road trip to Kota Kinabalu with both my parents and little brother went. Alhamdulillah, we arrived safely at Kota Kinabalu on 17th December 2011 around 4pm. You have to know, it's our first looong-faaar road trip together. Remember, the last time I went to KK, I actually only went with my older sister and couple of my cousins. As for my parents, the last time my father and mother went to KK was probably in 1995-1997 with their two daughters using the airplane. So, it's officially our very first long and far road trip together. We were obviously very nervous with yes, a lot of worries. But Alhamdulillah, we went and came back safely.


So, the above picture is taken while we were queuing at Kuala Lurah. It was approximately 6.35am when this picture was taken. We actually spent one hour here before reaching Limbang. Yeah, we went through one hour of queuing at the Immigration office but you know, I don't think there is anything we can do about it. It is that time of year where everyone is going to KK. So yeah guys, the only way to overcome this is patience and if you went to Kota Kinabalu recently or during December 2011, I think everyone know how long it took for everyone to get on that ferry at Limbang to Temburong.

Well, to explain that in numbers, we checked out from the Immigration in Limbang and started queuing at 8.30am and finally got on the ferry at 10.48am. Yes, we took two hours just to get on the Deli Ferry at Puni (if I am right). It cost BND$ 4 or RM8. Pay them using any currency you like. Honestly the two (Kuala Lurah and the Ferry) is the only thing which took a while because the rest went smoothly including all the other immigration counters (e.g Merapok)

Oh yeah, since we had no experience at all, going to Kota Kinabalu by car, this map really came in handy. However there are a lot of things which had changed. For one, there's no more ferry at Trusan and no more immigration office at Lawas. Then there are tonnes of changes with the road, new round-a-bouts are build but, the map still get it's point and it did help us go to Kota Kinabalu safely. Anyway, after the long drive, we finally arrived in Kota Kinabalu City Centre at around 3.55pm. However the traffic was so bad, we finally checked-in our apartment at 4.30pm. But thankfully, the apartment staff and place welcomed us with smiles and we were really happy with the place we were staying at.

During the three nights trip, we stayed at Borneo Holiday Homes which was situated at 1Borneo Shopping Mall at Tower B. There is a lot of plus sides staying at this apartment. One of them is they provide safe parking space. Yes, you need to have an access / parking card to park at the designated park space. You also need the access card to enter Tower B. In other words, safety is a real concern with the owners / staff of Borneo Holiday Homes and Tower B itself. There is actually a lot of company providing services to stay at Tower B and Borneo Holiday Homes is one of them. However, I would recommend you to stay over with them because one, the safety reasons, two, if you need them or any help, you could just go to Room 21-16 and they are there. Yes, their office was right next door.


Another reason why you should stay over Tower B is because once you go down the elevator, you arrive at 1Borneo, well not exactly. You have to go out using the access card, go through the reception then yeah, shop! Haha. Yes, you go out and there is 1Borneo Shopping Mall and I believe you can find everything here from food, shoes, bags, books to obviously everything. My family and I spent almost two days trying to cover the whole mall and seriously, there was a lot of things to look at! Obviously.

However that night, around 7.10, we took a taxi over to the city centre because we wanted to go and look / shop at Pasar Malam. What do people usually say about Pasar Malam? Well, it goes something like this

"If you can find it at the shopping mall, you can definitely find them at a cheaper price at Pasar Malam!"

So, from 1Borneo to Pasar Malam, it will cost you, well it cost us RM30. We didn't want to drive around because it was night and we still didn't really quite figure out the roads from 1Borneo to the city centre. I think we all know it actually cost around RM25 if you were a local but we just were not in the mood to argue so, from 1Borneo and to 1Borneo back, it may cost you RM60. We didn't buy anything much at Pasar Malam because everyone was selling practically the same thing. Just a couple of souvenirs, cheap shoes and that was pretty much it.

We went back to 1Borneo for dinner at The Chicken Rice Shop. Thankfully service was good and fast even though there was a lot of people dining in. I recommend you to order the family set. Lots of thing to eat plus that one jug of revive seriously helped us with our thirst! It was a tiring day and night, so after dinner, we went off to the apartment. Basically, that was our first day! Anyway, will be writing more soon, Insya-Allah. Just pray that I will have the time and words to use for the next three days. Haha.

till then

-wai