Travel: Semporna Day 1

Assalamualaikum...

Hi guys! It has been what..? A year? Haha that was freaking loooong. I know :P hehe I had just been caught up with works, family, friends aaaand a lot of cafe hunting. But no worries, I have never forgotten you guys. No fret ;) hehe. So back to the topic, I decided to share my travel experience with you guys since I missed this place a lot!! Semporna is like the lost heaven in Sabah, even Malaysia I think! So please bear with all the awesome eye torturing picturesss because I kid you not, it is like literally having sex with your eyes, feasting all the good view and the sea flavoured air. Haha that was too much information. Sorry! Hehe

So it was kind of a short get away with le hubs. We decided to go to Semporna, because well we just had a thing with sea and its kind. Hehe. So since I'm already in Sabah, only le hubs are flying from KL-KK and we went to Tawau the earliest flight the next day. Tawau is the adjacent district beside Semporna and the nearest airport to Semporna. You can opt to either land in Sandakan or Tawau, but Sandakan is waaaay farther to Semporna compared to Tawau. It's a little too much geography, I know.. haha. But just in case guys. Who knows when u accidentally bought a ticket to Sandakan and didn't know where to go kan? haha

The flight was early morning guys, excuse our panda eyes :P

We took MasWings flight to Tawau from KK and you can also choose to fly with Air Asia, no worries. The flight time is roughly 45 mins? I think? or lesser than that. Tips 1: You get to view the majestic Mount Kinabalu if your seat is on the left side of the plane. This was my first time flying to the east coast of Sabah so I am a little jakun. Haha. Anyway, a few naps after that, we safely landed in Tawau. From KK we have already arranged a designated driver (that sounds too fancy it seems wrong) haha. We booked like a chartered car la that comes along with the driver for about RM 100 from the airport to Semporna town. We have been conned actually but I will tell you about it later. You can get cheaper rate, if you bargain enough. Just don't take a taxi there because it will obviously gonna make a very big hole on your wallet. Don't say I didn't remind you :P The journey from Tawau Airport to Semporna town took us about 2 hours and 30 mins. Tips 2: Just sleep all you want because there is nothing much to see along the way. There were acres of oil palm plantation along the journey since Tawau is known for that. People down here are rich because of it, so don't underestimate them..hehe

Cheesy, I know :P

Tawau Airport

The designated driver *ahem* took us straight to the company that we book our trips with. I had made a booking earlier to stay in Mabul Island for 2 nights with an agent thorugh a Facebook page and thought that everything had settled and, boy was I wrong! Tips 3: Boat trips to the islands in Semporna leaves early in the morning (around 8-9am). We arrived in Semporna around noon-ish so obviously we didn't make it for the early boat! If we really want to go to Mabul that day, we have to pay charges for the boat which will cost us around RM100. So we discussed and decided to just stay in Semporna town and went for a day trip instead to Mataking Island and Timba-timba Island. The owner was really dissapointed with the agent because she didn't really tell us the truth about it. Luckily I just paid a little amount to her (about RM50) as a deposit, but hey money is still money, kan? huhu. But anyhow, the day trip cost us RM150/pax inclusive of return boat trip, halal lunch, snorkeling gear and insurance. 

Sipadan Mabul Lodge & Tours

Then we search for a place to stay, together with the owner for the island trip, and oh yes, Sabah people are kind like that :) Finally, decided to stay in Ocean Inn and it cost us RM 68/night. The room was spacious, bathroom was clean with hot shower and hair dryer, there were instant coffee and tea, and also water heater. We just rest in our room for the day and decided to explore the town during the evening. 

Semporna town is just a small town with enough facility to accommodate the town's people needs. There is one Giant hypermarket and also one Guardian Pharmacy to buy your necessary medications. We went to Giant to buy some bread for the fish tomorrow. Tips 4: Place small bits of bread inside a mineral bottle container so that you can feed the fish easily a.k.a many fishes will some to you..hehe. We had our late lunch+dinner just behind our hotel where you can choose from the many stalls there. We had our dinner in a steamboat buffet restaurant cost about RM35/person (if I'm not mistaken. Sorry, lupa!) If you preferred fine dining and wanting some exclusive feel to it, I would suggest to dine in the restaurant inside the famous Dragon Inn. Price wise: $$$. 

Semporna Mosque

Kids playing beside the mosque

The famous Dragon Inn. This is taken from our hotel. Underneath on the left is the many eating place you can choose from

For the trip tomorrow, I will continue in another post because I think this post seems like an essay already :P hehe. The total cost and itinerary will be posted in another post, so stay tuned guys..good things comes with patience :P :P :P Until then, bye!

Thank you for reading!

Home stuff: Living room deco 101

Assalamu'alaikum

Hi there guys! How are you guys doing? It's school holiday season now and I hope many of you had great times with the kids. As kids, we always look forward to the holidays, me and the sibs...well, who doesn't, right?hehe. Mom and dad would send us back to the village or we say kampung in Malay, to visit our grandparents and cousins. It never bothered us if dad and mom were not around because we get to play day and night with the cuzzies, and eat such lovingly made food by Uwan :) 

I remembered the most epic game that we played was the treasure hunt game. The older cousins would sneak the clues in the most dumbest/weirdest place ever! Haha. They even shove it down a dead banana tree trunk and made us dig it up. Sooo nasty! haha. We bathe in the kolah (small pool in the bathroom used to contained water) and pretended as if we were in a swimming pool. Haven! Hahaha :D Those were the days. I'm old now though *sigh*

Sooo...back to the topic! I have a Pinterest account with sooo many inspiring pins that I adore! You can check them out here. So as I have many free weekends now, I thought I should give some of the easy ones a try :) I have been falling in love with geometric decorations I guess. I recently bought small pillows to put on the couch with chevron lines and previously had bought a small carpet with geometric design..annddd now, I want to try and paint something artsy for the wall *on a canvas, of course* with geometric inspired design too! hehe :D 

I love the geometric pattern on the wall and also the various designed pillows!
Source: Here

I personally think it complements the yellowish carpet and also the curtains. I am thinking to buy/made another simple pillow but longer in size to put in between. It seems nice to be in odd number, right? But I didn't know what shades of color should I go for. Should I go with blue-ish tone, or grey-ish tone? I think those two would be nice. Or should I go with a lighter shade like white, peach or pink? Hmm...

Looove the combinations of turquoise+red+grey!
Source: Here

Another thing I would like to add is more sitting spaces. Since I have a small living room, I think buying more bulky sofas is not such a good idea. I want to have a reading nook besides the window but I'm worried though because when it rains water will dissipates through the cements. I don't want that to ruin my pretty nook..cewahh..hahaha v(n_n)v But anyhow, I couldn't erase the idea of having a comfy nook in the living room. Here's some inspiration for you guys to check it out :D 

Love the led lights and the colorful pillows :D
Source: Here

The plant pots, rattan basket and how simple this looks!
Source: Here

Simple and functional. The copper bronze tone added umpph to the area :)
Source: Here

White pillows and natural light
Source: Here

Another tips I've learned to make a small space looks and feels roomier is by adding mirror in the room. I want to buy these Ikea mirrors since they can be 'glued' to the wall using only double tape but I will try to look for a more cheap version of it if I can though :) Since I only rent this house, I am not allowed to 'punctured' the walls with nails, so tapes are my last resort on trying to hang something on the wall :') These are some of the inspirations I get from Pinterest.

I would omit the lamp and the vase though :)
Source: Here

The different sizes mirror give different dimensions to the room
Source: Here

Would be nice to add to the wall facing the windows
Source: Here

I know it is ambitious to do all of these deco stuff but I think I'm going to start small first, then slowly build my way up :) Moreover I have to think about my budget for this project and also my time allocation for it. Hee :D I would love to start from making the cushion cover myself and a sewing machine would definitely be a good idea to have now! Heheheh I am soo excited and thrilled to see the outcome :) I hope it is not only saying though. I think this will be it for now. I have something on my mind for this weekend project and will be sharing it with you if I really did it. Hihihi I think that is all for now. Thank you for reading! :)


~Husna S

Should I, shouldn't I?

Assalamu'alaikum

Hi guys! How is everyone? I hope no one is catching a cold due to the weather conditions lately. I am good here. Just recovering from cough, but am still having it though it is not as bad as last week :) 

So I have a friend, a new one actually. We were good at first and suddenly I don't know what happened, that person suddenly shows hatred towards me. Not directly though. Like for example, he/she will emails everyone in our group whenever he/she got something good, but not me. I don't know where did it all went wrong. Sometimes I felt like that person was just jealous of me, which I myself is still trying to figure out what is the one thing that I have, that he/she didn't. I am totally clueless ??? 

That person always asked for my help back in the days when we were good. I am glad to help, because we are friends, right? That is what friends should do to each other. And now, out of the blue, that person started to kick me out of his/her life. Started to ignore me whenever he/she feels like so, and talk to me whenever he/she feels like so. I am a little mad, of course; because I didn't like people used me like that. Being kind to me when he/she wanted to ask for a help from me. Friends share their laughs and sorrows together. Not just happy times. So when he/she decided to ignore me, I started wondering, should I do the same to him/her too? 

There are times when I am hurt with what he/she said, but then, as time passes by, I recovered and just let it go. Never would have crossed my mind to like totally ignore him/her. Because true friends just don't quit on each other :( So now, things has elevated to another stage. He/she will not even respond to me in our group. Whenever I ask a question, no respond. But when everyone else is talking, he/she would suddenly appear and continues chit chatting like nothing is wrong. I am sad, seriously. Because I didn't know what I did wrong and made me deserve this. I helped him/her a lot though but never have I asked for any help in return because that is my principal. I just don't like to ask for help. I am so sad because I never thought he/she could be this cruel.

I don't want to hate him/her, because we used to be good to each other. But I don't like the way he/she treated me now, too. What should I do? Should I just pretend like nothing is wrong? Should I just refrain myself from getting mad? Should I just continue to give him/her a helping hand whenever he/she ask for one? Of course deep down inside of me, the devil is suggesting just to get out of the group and forget about him/her. Forget that we have been friends before. Treat him/her back like what he/she did to me. But I can't do that. I am not the kind of person that simply just be mean to someone that I used to be good with. I am in a dilemma. I need opinions and advises. Please help me! :(

Love,

~Husna S

Love gets older, but stronger

Assalamua'alaikum

Hello again there strangers! It has been a while, hasn't it? I have been quite suffocated with work and meetings and couldn't cope with writing another post. Guess I just gave you a reason to miss me! HAHA :p 

So last two weeks was my one year wedding anniversary that falls on 16th November. Exactly on that date last year, I was being blessed by Allah by granting my wish to marry such a wonderful man I have ever met (sorry dad, you are wonderful too XD) my soulmate of forever and after, my bestest-bestest friend *if that is even a word* and my loving companion for the rest of my life; Mr. Khairul Amri :)

So the night before we had a chat on the phone since he was occupied with his study due to the mid term paper he is having on the next day. Obviously I didn't have any planned surprise for him. October was the most travelled month of this year. I didn't have a chance to prepare anything..sori sayang :( So we ended the call with zillions of smooches and kisses. Hehe *pardon the newlyweds* :p 

Eventually on 'the day', which is on Sunday; I had some friends over for lunch. Me and Nad cooked ayam masak kicap and some stir fried vegetables. Aina came over too with her most famous sambal udang and Syamil was bringing over some fruits. Nad had a slept over in my house the night before, so while we were waiting for Aina and Syamil, someone knocked on the door. I thought it was one of them, but dude was I wrong! It was actually someone from the florist sending me a bouquet of roses and a box of Ferrero Rocher! It was from him!! I'm so touched because I had never received such surprises and I never thought he would gave me one..thank you sayang :') 

See how excited+touched I am :')

I called him right away even though he was answering his test at that time. Hehe. Sorry dear I am just too excited to tell you :p He had already gave me a present before I fly back to KK which is a photobook of us with all the photos we took together this 12 months. It was a very touching moment for me. I can't forget how the presents gave me goosebumps *in a good way* because I am so touched for his affections and willingness to spend time to create the photobook, to order them, to call the florist and make an arrangement. It was so thoughtful of you sayang :') Aaaand to make the story even more romantic and cheesy, I even got a package delivered to the office. It was actually a card sent by him. Those beautiful words you wrote makes me falling in love with you over and over again :* Thank you dear for everything :)

 

:)

To my loving hubby:

There is no word that could describe how wonderful you are, my love; and how many times I thanked Allah for letting me be your Halal wife :) I (still) couldn't believe that we are married to each other despite all the challenges we faced before that. Do you remember how we first met? Well, I don't :p I just remembered how you made me fall in love with you. Your silly jokes and unconditional care for me made me realized that I have more than enough already. You made me realize the fact that man and woman can never be just best friends ;) You bring out the best of me. How you make me realized that I could love someone so much and so strong and yet not being bored about it is truly magical. I am always grateful for your presence in my life, for everything that you have ever done for us, for me, and everything that you tried to do to make me happy. Thank you sayang :* I know thank you would not be enough to repay and portrait everything that you have done and sacrificed. I promised you that my love for you will never fade, InsyaAllah. I know there are many obstacles will be coming through our way in the future; but I'm sure as long as we have each other, we can get through it together, biiznillah :) Love you forever and always <3!!

Endless love,

Your wife :*

The moment he gave me mas kahwin

Malu2 kucing..hihihi

And I would like to dedicate this post to you sayang, cause I am telling the world how lucky I am to be married to you :* Alhamdulillah :) 



Thank you for reading!

~Husna S

Lonely in a whole new chapter

Assalamu'alaikum

Hi there dear readers. It has been a while since I last posted something here. How has things been going for all of you? I've been busy lately. Couldn't even catch my breath. Things have been hectic these couple of weeks. Works are just a never ending story. And I'm here again in the ever so beautiful land; Sabah. I'm falling in love with this place every time I came here. Cannot lie to you on that  (insert angel face here) :P 

However, there was always something that would bothers me when I'm here. The fact that my dear is on the other land. The fact that I couldn't be beside him whenever he needs me the most. The fact that I couldn't portrait or even try my best shot on being the perfect wife. It's heart breaking for me to know that I couldn't even make breakfast for him, ironing his work clothes, do the laundry and many other things that is related to the job of a wife. It saddens me whenever the thought came to me. Sometimes I wonder what's the good I got from all of these. I know there is always a silver lining behind the grey clouds but the uncertainty will forever haunts me. I know I have to be positive with all of this, but you know how women and all their strange hormones works. Everytime you try to persuade your brain from overthinking stuff, you will ended up crying in your pillows thirty minutes later. Silly hormones. Haha

Anyhow things will past by even if you don't feel like it. Time will just leave you without warning and I can't forever be sadden about this. I MUST find something to do, somethings that could distract my brain and my silly hormones from over thinking about things; especially during the weekends..huhu. So far, I have developed interests towards beneficial things/hobby but it didn't lasts due to insufficient materials (I will update on it later). Do you guys have any idea on how to make yourself feel busy and distracted? Maybe I could try it out somehow. :) 

I'm out of the house today. Trying to mingle around strangers with the silent approach. You know, just walk past them and feel their presence even though I don't see any positive outcome from it. Hahaha.. I'm just kidding guys. I'm not a lunatic :P I'm just doing some window shopping in the mall. Hehehe. They say shopping could heal you. Well I guess it is partly true because when you go shopping without money, that would definitely add in the sadness in yourself. Hahaha : D So as I was having a lonely lunch, the boy besides me asked why am I eating on my own? Such a cheeky one! Hehe. So I told him, my family is not at home :') Suprisingly he is satisfied with the answer and kept coming back to check whether I ate my veges or not! Hahah! I couldn't help but have my dessert as well, because I missed my husband. We used to have a romantic dinner here, along with the dessert :')

So the sugar rush has helped me thinking positive. Has helped me reflecting on my behavior lately. And do helped drugging the silly hormones to a controllable state :D I guess this will be it for now. I'm going to find something nice for me today. I've been doing a lot for others instead of me. So I guess some shopping wouldn't hurt the bank :) I'm off for now. Thank you for reading this entry! 

~Husna S