day 3: under the open sky

this is the 3rd and last day on the island *sentimental kejap*.

since we woke up late yesterday morning and missed sunrise, we decided to make an early start to catch the sunrise this morning. so i set my alarm clock to ring at 6am. apparently it was still pitch black when i woke up so i snoozed for another 15 minutes when i realized there were signs of visible light in the sky. i hurriedly woke up Significant Other and we grabbed our things and headed out the door. supposedly Fahmi and Diyana wanted to catch the sunrise too. but they tido mati again and did not even stir, no matter how hard Significant Other banged on their room door. so off we headed to the beach, just the two of us.

the beach was really calm and peaceful in the morning =).

in the still of the morning

but we didn't get to see the sun rising on the horizon. probably because there were too many clouds? or we simply just missed it? O_o

morning!

waiting...

the morning skies

i thought we still had time to do a bit of swimming that morning (or any sort of activity for that matter), but apparently the rest of them jakuns got up late again, they stayed up playing cards in the bachelor's room after dinner, haiz. after hanging out at the beach and playing with sand (and me and him fighting over how the material of my outfit resembled the umbrellas scattered on the beach) we went back to our room, where Significant Other proceeded to continue his morning nap *slaps forehead*.

yep this is where i'm going back to sleep!

however it was deemed that we didn't have enough time to do much that morning. checkout was at 11.30am, so we rushed to get dressed and hurriedly packed our things. i had to think of a way to lighten the contents of the big fat luggage we brought with us. in the end i stuffed all of my clothings into my backpack (i utilized my Wahmies wetbag in the process, really useful i tell you, apart from stuffing soiled diapers, lol), stuffed all of Significant's soiled clothes into a DP plastic bag, and tossed the remainder of our things into the big luggage. seriously, we girls may lug around alot of stuff whenever we go on trips, but at least our stuff is wayyy lighter than the guy's stuff =P (plus, dear Significant Other, you ended up bringing alot of stuff you ended up not even using! blekkk).

while Significant Other headed off to the reception counter, i took a couple of photos before leaving our room.

our Room #5. they say Room #6 is haunted... T_T

mister katak decided to drop by just as i was about to leave

the bachelor three were already at the restaurant ordering brunch, by that time it was almost 12pm. the boat heading back to mainland left around 3pm+ so we still had three hours to kill. someone suggested going for the banana boat (we didn't get to do it yesterday! whyy????) but we were already checked out so i guess it was too much of a hassle to change back to normal clothing later due to lack of a proper changing room =(. next time, perhaps? Significant Other absolutely had to go online so those yg bersemangat waja to connect with the outside world sempat lagi update their profiles in Facebook =P (also not to forget the the main thing: uploading photos! talk about the power of technology! hahahahahah).

Husni's four glasses of orange juice =P

impatient to update his profile in Facebook, lol

Mohsin Special and iced lemon tea =)

to kill time,while Zahrul and Husni decided to snooze, the four of us: me, Bern, Diyana and Fahmi played a round of Jenga. Bern jokingly said that whoever loses would be declared 'Jengo'. hahahhaha. i have my own set of Uno Stacko but i haven't played this game in a long time. so what the heck.

contestant #1 and #2

contestant #3 and #4

Significant Other is of little help

fall seQuence #1: before

fall seQuence #2: jeng

fall seQuence #3: jeng

fall seQuence #4: Di-Jeng! lol

so you can obviously guess from the sequence of the photos who won the honor of the ultimate title =P. except, Bern adjusted it to 'Di-Jeng' to suit the title-holder better. hahahha. kejam betul si Bern ni.

since it was still early, we dropped by one of the stalls for a nice refreshing drink of Lassi! =D~~~~ and the rest of them played a few rounds of cards.

the final leap

another round of cards

final round of Banana lassi =D

Jali dropping by to say bye-bye

so around 3pm we gathered our things and headed to the smaller boat that would take us to the speedboat waiting for us further out at sea. we were not the only ones on the boat though. the lovely gentleman Bern decided to strike up a conversation with the two ladies on board.

waiting for blast off

Bern's new aquaintances =P

the speedboat took us to the other side of the island to pick up more passengers - ended up the boat was nearly crammed full. by that time the skies were getting darker, and the waters were getting choppier. and boy, what a ride it was. it was bad enough that we were sitting in the front section of the boat again =P. my butt hurt! imagine, the boat skimming / bumping / treading its way over the rolling waves, going bumpity bump. we all got drenched by the rain waist up halfway through the journey. Fahmi even got out his towel and tried to cower behind it, but i dunno if it did him any justice though. by the time we reached the jetty, it was drizzling, and everything and everyone was dampy. but that was the most awesomest boat rides ever! =D.

whee!

the dark skies and choppy seas

as usual Significant Other changed out of his island clothes to more warmer clothes (i didn't bother, i was too tired to rummage through our stuff). we took a van to get to Kota Bharu for rm15 each. we shared the ride with two other foreigners, so not bad a price eh? the ride took roughly over an hour. halfway there we encountered this narrow bridge on which due to some stupid idiot's decision, traffic came to a total standstill, each side stubborn and refused to give way. haiz.

el stuck-O

we were supposed to be heading for the airport, but we asked the driver to drop us by the roadside at a random restaurant because we wanted to have dinner first, mainly to try ayam percik. boy, the food was good. a little bit on the sweet side though. kelantan food is always sweet. i actually like it sweet, but somehow in Kelantan the food tastes a little bit sweeter than usual.

nom nom nom nom

thanks to these two, sata tidak laku that day

where we dropped by for dinner

everything all polished off... *burp*

our flight was to take off at 8.40pm, and since the locals informed us that taxis were scarce there (really?) Bern enlisted the help of two nice uncles to take us to the airport. we reached the airport at around 7ish. we were just about to check in when si Significant Other realized he left his most expensive pair of eyewear ever owned in the restroom of the restaurant we had dinner earlier. OMG. total mayhem. while he rushed off with one of the uncles who drove us to the airport to salvage the situation, i checked in our heavy luggage bag. air asia luggage weight limit was 15kg, and i was somehow shocked and relieved to know that our bag was 15.9kg (gila berat ok). was lucky that our bag weight was still acceptable.

expensive! don't pray pray~

Significant Other arrived back at the airport not long after, WITH his sunnies, ,thank God. i swear i wouldn't hear the end of it if it were to disappear forever. i might've cursed the dingo brain who stole it from the restroom then and there.

at this time, 1) Fahmi's camera batteries were dead, 2) my batteries were dead, and right after taking a couple of group photos, 3) Significant Other's SLR camera batteries went dead too. huwargh (note to digicam users, if you intend to scroll through all the photos you've taken and plan to ooh and ahh over them, DO remember to bring charger along. powering the display alone can drain your batteries out! wahahahah). so wouldn't there be any photo-taking at the airport? =(

luckily Zahrul came to the rescue by whipping out his camera, which he didn't even use throughout the whole duration of the trip. yay!. at least we managed to get a couple of airport photos =P. but his camera pulak, ran out of memory space, aiya... so we used my memory card instead. Bern, as usual became the honorable Malaysian citizen when he helped a mother (without her husband) to carry her baby stoller down a flight of steps to get to the aircraft parked some way away from the terminal. heh.

mulling over our flight tickets

Bern says, "you're supposed to sit on the wing of the plane la, Di"

inflight photo

we arrived at LCCT at 9.20pm. which was really quick. haha. waited for my Dad to come pick us up at the terminal, brought Dayana home with us and dropped Zahrul at KL Sentral before heading back home.

so... that's the end of my Perhentian story. i'd do this again if i could. twas the best getaway ever =D. now i'm currently on the mission to fairen my skin. i feel so kusam now! huwa huwa huwa...

terima kasih cinta

zal's main page kept blasting this song through my speakers each time i dropped by her blog... and i kinda got attached to it *hi zal, congratulations on your upcoming wedding! =D*.

Tersadar didalam sepiku

Setelah jauh melangkah

Cahaya kasihmu menuntunku

Kembali dalam dekap tanganmu

Terima kasih cinta untuk segalanya

Kau berikan lagi kesempatan itu

Tak akan terulang lagi

Semuaaa kesalahanku yang pernah menyakitimu

Tanpamu tiada berarti

Tak mampu lagi berdiri

Cahaya kasihmu menuntunku

Kembali dalam dekapan tanganmu

Terima kasih cinta untuk segalanya

Kau berikan lagi kesempatan itu

Tak akan terulang lagi

Semuaaa kesalahanku yang pernah menyakitimu

Ouuuuuu... Ouuuuuu...

Terima kasih cinta untuk segalanya

Kau berikan lagi kesempatan itu

Tak akan terulang lagi

Semuaaa kesalahanku oouuuuu

Kesalahanku yang pernah menyakitimu...

by: Afgan

the spree

CDs!

- Blueberry Deluxe H&L in Pink on Choc,
- Baby Beehinds Minkee Magic-All AIO in Orchid,
- IB D'lish Minkee SIO in Strawberry Fields Polka Dots, and
- Chinnee's Mama Patch Fitted in Yellow.

arrived last Friday. have yet to try them on Dayana as she's with my mom this whole week and i've been busy prewashing them before putting them to the test. anyway, i'm running low this month due to my impulse clicking (and also because i was afraid if i had waited any longer everything would one day POOF dikebas orang, lol), so no more going crazy this month. i'll leave buying the toys to Dayana's daddy instead =P.

so i guess i have to pass on purchasing this this month:

L’oreal White Perfect Transparent Rosy Double Essence

if i'm not mistaken one of the pharmacies in Malaysia is having some sort of contest regarding the above mentioned item. does anyone know about it? googleing is hopeless. and i can't seem to get my hand on the brochures either.

toodles!

(p/s. a particular somebody is soOoOo gonna kill me. but i'd like to ask, why do you smoke? it's the same as when you ask me, why do you shop?, no?)

day 2: into the deep blue ocean

so Day 2 starts with me awoken by my alarm clock at 8am. everyone was still asleep, which wasn't so surprising since people tend to stay up until the wee hours in the morning and wake up roughly around lunch time. in this case, everyone woke up just right after the electricity got cut. lol.

since there wasn't anything planned yet for the day (and since everyone was still snoring in their rooms), we decided to go down to the beach to check out the area and take some photos =P. the sun was out but it wasn't too hot, but we wore extra layers of sunblock just in case, lol. foreigners were lazily sunbathing on the beach. they're crazy. we're busy trying to make our skin fairer and they're busy trying to roast their skins, haha. Significant Other rented an umbrella for rm10 for the whole day, and i went off to one of the stalls at the beachfront in search of breakfast. funnily they didn't serve nasi lemak. the menu consisted mostly of local goreng dishes and western food, soups and sandwiches, more or less. i decided on chicken sandwiches to share between us, topped up with iced milo (in my head i was wondering if it was possible to takeaway a banana lassi, hahaha).

the sandwiches weren't enough for Significant Other so i went back again to the stalls, this time to a different one to order nasi goreng ayam, extra spicy, 100 plus and another round of iced milo =P. while waiting for the food to be prepared, i shared a table with a local who had really tanned skin and flyaway afro dreadlocks and so we chatted abit. i told him briefly about myself (you never know who to trust these days), and in turn he told me about himself and how he loved his job working on the island, mostly interacting with foreigners under the hot blistering sun, working for 8 months with a 4-month holiday (during the musim tengkujuh) in a year. i started to wonder if it would be possible to love my own job the way he loved his *grimace*. too bad i forgot to get his name. the food arrived not long after, and i bade him goodbye =P.

the lovely beach waters!

Significant Other under the umbrella

me at the beachfront =D

after makanning, me and Significant Other took a dip in the ocean. it was lovely! Long Beach was really sandy so you didn't have to worry about stepping on any foreign objects, the waters were so clear you could practically see the bottom (although not as clear as i last remembered it almost 9 years ago). oh, there's this little bit that i absolutely have to mention. while i was bobbing in the sea, i suddenly felt something sharp float past my face. i initially thought it was some piece of dried leaf but when i looked closer and realized it was this orange-colored ketam frantically swimming along the surface of the water like it was in a hurry to get to its destination. i called Significant Other over to have a look and he got this idea to chase after the crab.

wrong mistake i tell you. i guess the crab realized that it was being followed, because it immediately changed course and made a beeline for us instead. wth? and the best thing was, it ignored me and made a beeline for Significant Other instead. hahahahah. ape lagi, we cabut la back to shore, splashing like no tomorrow and screaming all the way. ade ke patut he left me behind for the crab to sink its pincers into? chis. at one point i thot the crab got caught in between the folds of my skirt (he grabbed on for a free ride, perhaps?). hahahhahahah. bengong. moral of the story is, don't go cari pasal with creatures in their territory. lure them back into yours first before attacking. lol. wish i had waterproof camera to catch the little critter. hehe.

i think it was around 11-ish by the time we got out of the waters, so by that time the rest were already awake and were headed to the other side of the beach, Coral Bay. we grabbed our things and followed suit. we met a little someone within the trees along the way, Geoff pointed it out to us. i think in one of my Facebook photos someone labelled it as "Geoff". haha. now isn't that sweet.

the biawak named after Geoff

anyway, i think we had to hike through the forest for about 10 minutes before we reached the other side of the island. the locals advised not to venture into the forest during the night because you never know what's lurking in the shadows after the sun goes down. we headed to one of the stalls for a drink first. Banana lassi for us again =D. they're really yummy! i think sipping them on an island adds more flavor to it, despite it being a whopping rm8 per glass.

the track to the other side of the island

insisting on posing with his ancestors

me!

the wacky bunch then decided to start a game of volleyball. a couple of French people joined in. i chose to sit this one out, since i know how achy my wrists can get after a few rounds of v-ball. so i took a couple of photos with Significant Other's camera. Diyana's camera batteries were dead so they borrowed mine, so my camera was out of commision for the second day. the view at Coral Bay wasn't so breathtaking, and the sands were more rockier and coarse in comparison with Long Beach. Significant Other was soo excited playing v-ball (harhar) sampai his baju terkoyak, i think he caught it on a nail or something trying to deck the ball. he ended up with swollen wrists, just as i predicted =P.

waiting for the games to begin

the handsome Nick & Geoff =P~~

the volleyball game

Diyana and Me

it was already 2pm by the time we headed back to Long Beach. we made plans to go for island hopping at only one spot for abit of snorkelling but somehow along the way Bern went to linger with the locals, and Fahmi and Diyana disappeared so that plan didn't materialize. Nick and Geoff were leaving the island at 3pm to catch the speedboat back to mainland, so the rest of us just hung out at Long Beach and just chilled in the ocean. Zahrul even took a little nap under the umbrella. he called the experience relaxing. hahahahha. i think it was already evening before we decided to grab a late lunch at one of the stalls. the guys played a few rounds of Bluff as well. i suck at playing cards. my face spells LIAR each time i make a bluff, haha. i remember how i always lost this game to Nedd. main tipu seh.

the signboard leading the way to Mohsin chalets

jejaka macho mandi laut

Long Beach

the late lunch

we decided to explore the beach further down instead since it was already too late to go for snorkelling. the guys played some football, where i got smacked by the ball at some occasions, then we took another dip into the ocean (today is really sea-day). i took a brief stroll to the other end of the beach, where Bubu resort stood. they were building a jetty at that end of the island so the beach there was quite stony and not as beautiful as our side. it was already dark by the time we headed back to our rooms for a shower.

Significant Other was already starting to feel a bit unwell for soaking in the sea too long i suspect. i was hungry so i told him we'd just go out for a quick dinner then head back to our room. but the night grew older and by 9.30pm the guys were still hanging out on their balconies having their usual smoking smoking with no indication of heading off to dinner. since i missed dinner yesterday, i had no intention of missing tonight's dinner =P. besides, all that swimming made me ravenous. so i decided to head off on my own to look for something to eat. i tried the restaurant at Mohsin, but it was already closed (wth?) and the guy there asked me to try the stalls at the beachfront. but he warned me that there were biawaks roaming about at night and it was better not to go out alone. erks.

i trudged through the sand to the very same restaurant i bought breakfast earlier that morning and ordered dinner for both of us. by the time i was about to leave i came across Bern and the rest of the gang looking around to see if there were any places that were still open. haiz. it was already 10.20pm by then. but i guess they did a bit of pleading and succeeded because they eventually managed to convince a stall to remain open a bit later than usual =P.

can you believe i missed having dinner outside twice in a row? how bad is that? sigh. tomorrow was my last day on the island, so i definitely had no chance to try ikan bakar or anything of the sort during this trip. maybe next time round then...

up next... Day 3!

how to decide who to sell it to

i'm pissed. and i don't think it's because i responded later than usual.

i'm really upset sometimes with the way a seller decides how and who to sell their items to. say for instance you've decided to sell an item you've only used for about 3 times only for 50% off the original price. naturally due to a women's best bargain instinct there will be many that will express their interest in the item right? so you'll find that your inbox will pile up with tons of email from potentially interested buyers. and you're thankful that there are responses to your item listing that you're trying so hard to let go of so that you can put the money that you receive from selling the item to better use elsewhere.

so you make the sale. the seller gets the $$ and is a couple of moolah richer, and the buyer walks away happily with their latest purchase. everybody's happy. you think?

anyway, what i'd like to know is, how do you determine who gets to buy the item? do you:

1. decide to sell the item to the person based on how he or she is related to you? i.e. your best friend or your cousin or someone personally close to you preceeds people who are total strangers, don't you think?

2. sell it to the first person who offers you the highest amount for the item that you can't refuse, regardless of who that person is or when they sent you email, merely because you wish to make a quick profit, or you just want to get the item off your hands, and the sooner the better?

3. be an ethical and fair seller by responding to the emails according to first in first out? regardless whether the first person to email you wanted to enquire more about the item first before deciding whether to buy or not, but the second email in your inbox is screaming I WILL BUY NOW and is willing to send payment soonest?

in my opinion, the seller should take the time to respond individually to every email received instead of just mass mailing the potential buyers more information about the item and using the 'siape cepat diye dapat method' to make a sale. i felt abit cheated recently because i sent mail to enquire about an item but the seller only got back to me a day later saying that the item was already sold. seriously. it's like my email went to the spam folder or something. and i KNOW at the time i emailed the item was still up for sale. how do i know? it all comes back to my opinion. it makes me feel unluckier than i already am (i was never a lucky person; some people say your luck depends on how you think, and i'm a real pessimist =P).

i'm suffering from PMS since yesterday. so please ignore my frustration. but really, it's so unfair!
bwahhhhhhhhhhhh...

my fresh grapes

i was surprised that this arrived earlier than expected. i had purchased something from the UK more than a month ago and it has yet to arrive safely. i guess the US postal service is more reliable, eh? =P~~

anyway, earlier this evening i got a msg from Sally telling me there's a parcel addressed to me on her desk. i was really hoping that it was the parcel from UK, i've already sent a mail to them asking whether it was possible to track down the parcel's wherabouts. however, i was even more delighted to know that the parcel awaiting me came all the way from the States when i took a look at the sender's address written on the bulky parcel. Sally took one look at me and asked, "online shopping again?". i just smiled and slinked out of her room.

just in time! i sold off my Littlepods today (hope you have a good home!)... so i'm at least i'm not left slingless =)

thanks for the lovely service Susan! =). i even got free shipping from her, isn't she a darl? =P. i haven't even have time to belek it yet, i've been too busy this week worrying about so many things. been going back home late recently and have no time for Dayana, poor thing. sent her to my mom's for easier convenience (and to avoid the nagging of you-know-who).

photos were taken with my lousy camera phone which i'm about to return in a months' time. would you like to take a guess as to what it is i've receieved? =P

the parcel which arrived for me on my desk

... from Sweet Pickles! =D

my favorite number 9

happy 9 months Dayana!

here's a short list of her monthly progress =D

1. she's confirmed bored with her toys already. bought her Lamaze stacking rings and her very first doll. haven't given them to her yet though. bought them when she wasn't around. is the Lamaze soft sorter worth buying?

2. likes to interact with Rusty. Rusty is quite okay with Dayana pulling his legs and tail sometimes. she likes to yell at Rusty, especially when he starts climbing walls. hahah. she hasn't mastered patting him yet.

3. has this little habit of patting you on the arm... learnt from watching Little Einsteins?

4. wakes up in the middle of the night when she wants to poop. she used wake up at 2am when Daddy was away. Daddy would Skype at 2am and automatically she'll wake up at that time. so i try to put her to sleep earlier... which sometimes works, sometimes does not.

5. sometimes it's difficult to get her to sleep early at night, even after having only short naps during the day. sometimes all it takes is to turn off all the lights and lie down beside her before she decides that she's actually sleepy. the maid has an even more difficult time putting her to sleep, even with the buai.

6. lompat lompat lompat! (yerp, still her fav).

7. doesn't wanna breastfeed as she used to when she was younger *sigh*. she practically struggles in my arms and arch her back and CRIES whenever i attempt to hold her in cradle position, as if she's about to be poisoned or something. i don't think farrahar's theory of teething is one of the reasons why she's behaving like this *sigh lagi*.

8. is more open to the relatives in the family and the occassional strangers, but if she sees Mommy or Daddy she will immediately reach out to grab her us and insisting we carry her instead =D.

9. ada gaya when attempting to drink from any kind of cup. but she hasn't mastered the sipping part yet. hehe.

10. shows signs of separation anxiety sometimes when Mommy leaves her for work in the morning. but is easily pujuked, so a sigh or relief for now.

11. on 19th may noticed signs of her two bottom tooth emerging. but until now they seem determined not to show face. oh well. as long as Dayana isn't uncomfortable...

12. we used to bribe her to move forward by placing things she's never played with in front of her out of her reach. apparently it worked, haha. in the last week of May she recently started crawling! even though she's a little bit unstable... lol. one evening when Mommy got home she abandoned her xylophone to clumsily attempt to crawl to Mommy! she will then try to 'climb' Mommy... meaning pillow barriers will no longer be applicable anymore...

13. am contemplating buying a walker to keep her occupied. what do you think?

my cutie pie in her Carter's dress