The Perks of Exploring Alone

May 28, 2014

As much as I enjoy the company of my friends, there are times when I crave some alone time. I travelled a good part of Laos alone, then later Bali, and both times I really enjoyed myself. Travelling alone to a foreign place for the first time is intimidating, exhilarating and the experiences make good stories to share.

Being alone enabled me to cover more grounds than if I were to be with someone else. Last week, while I was in Tokyo, a friend and I went into the enormous Forever 21 store and somehow we managed to lose each other. After 10 minutes of searching, I sent her a text and went out of the store and explored Shibuya on my own. ALL the things I saw, from desirable looking male models to the Disney store and a Kirin beer fest that was going on at a corner of the city. Almost 3 hours later when we rendezvoused, I saw her armed with a huge bag of shopping, stating that she spent almost 2 hours in that store itself. As much as I love her, thank God I lost her.

On my way from Chiang Mai to Laos, I met 3 awesome German dudes and 3 Swedish chicks, we ended up sticking together throughout the journey. Met more awesome people along the way, made plans to conquer Vang Vieng and Vientiane together.

In Nusa Lembongan, Bali, I met a local while lazing at the resort’s infinity pool and he took me to a secret cliff diving spot. A few days later in Kuta, while the night started out with four girls from the same bunk heading to Alleycats for some pre-gaming… we met a whole bunch of awesome people there who turned out to be our hostel mates. Which meant, Mcdonald’s fries after party at the hostel lounge.

Of course there are risks when you’re a girl and travelling alone. My advise is to take care of your own belongings, don’t do anything stupid stupid (fun harmless stupid with friends is fine), keep an open mind to the endless possibilities and mishaps you could get into, take a leap of faith and trust me, once you’ve travelled alone… you’d wanna do it again.

Monterey Beach

May 27, 2014

It was a chilly afternoon in Sydney when Fendi, Shermane and I decided to take a walk down Brighton and Monterey beach after our delicious Greek lunch. Armed with ice creams in our hands, we headed out to explore the beach we’ve been to many times before on separate occasions, but never got to actually see. We discovered a couple of interesting things during our stroll. We encountered ducks, two men waiting for their catch and chatting over beers, and even an abandoned sofa in the middle of nowhere. It was a simple yet fun-filled day. While we started the walk bloated from lunch, we ended it slightly peckish. Oops.

#23 things to do before turning 24

May 16, 2014

Life:
1. Donate old clothes/books/stuff (at least 75% of it)
2. Catch up with the people I’ve been meaning to see but never could find the time to.
3. Take up at least 3 fitness challenges and follow through till the end.
4. Eat a little healthier.

Travel:
5. Visit my best friend in Birmingham before she graduates.
6. Hoi An with the Aunt.
7. Philippines with the girlies.
8. Conquer ONE European city.
9. Travel to three new destinations before turning 24

Work:
10. Decide on next career move.. stay in the industry or leave.
11. Go back to school, or continue working.

Material wants:
12. That bag.
13. That arm candy.
14. That thing I don’t need but want because it’s so cool.

Movies to watch:
15. Don Jon
16. If I Stay
17. THE AVENGERS: AGE OF ULTRON
18. Re-watch all Harry Potter movies again… sequentially.

Syafinaz Says:
19. Be more active in the blogging scene, be it locally or internationally
20. Two weekly features
21. Make more friends in the blogging world
22. Collaborations with said friends.

What I want for ME:
23. To know myself, to love myself and someday, somehow, someone will love me as much too.

#23 ….. and a surprise

May 13, 2014

My friend, Mr Ummar Hasim was always extremely creative when it comes to my birthday presents. When he wished me that morning I had jokingly asked the guy, “We’ve been friends for 8 years, do I at least get a hug, a kiss or even a half eaten donut from you?” As you can probably tell from that half-eaten donut, I don’t really expect much from him. Then again, this man always had the tendency to surprise me… just when I thought nothing coming from him could surprise me anymore.

Why is he so significant? At the very end of my last post, I had mentioned about a very late guest? He showed up just when everyone was leaving. Ummar’s probably going to kill me for sharing this story, but it’s just too good not to be shared. I’ll spare him the awkward, embarrassing moments… let’s just say he came and left in under 5 minutes… even after my mum insisted repeatedly to come inside. He should be thankful that my dad saw how flustered he was and saved his ass. HAHA.

Mum suggested that I gave him a slice of my cake among other food we had and he didn’t get to eat because he was so late. I don’t blame him though. I didn’t think he’d show up too. He drove 4-ish hours from KL all the way to Singapore that day and was probably exhausted from the events of the weekend. He did suggest meeting me the next day and I said that it was really up to him. AND THEN, he showed up.

I took the goodies Mum packed and went downstairs where I found him sitting on the hood of his car. When we finally acknowledged each other’s presence, I burst out laughing. He knows that I will never let him forget what happened that night. But of all the things he’s done for me on my birthday, this was the best ever.

Ummar Hasim prepared a bento set for me. What’s special about this gift is all the effort that was put in. This guy came back from a long drive, cooked the food, hopped into the car and drove all the way to my place and got it to me while it was still PIPING HOT. And he looked EXHAUSTED.

An effort like that is gonna be hard to top. I asked for a half-eaten donut and I got a piping hot Japanese curry bento box and an N-shaped egg. If that ain’t love, honey, I don’t know what is. SUCH AN AWESOME FRIEND ISN’T HE?

#23 and Mother’s Day!

May 13, 2014

The actual day of my birthday happens to fall on Mother’s day too! This isn’t the first time that I’m sharing my special day with my mama. In the future when I have my own children, I may need to lay out some rules like.. If mum’s birthday falls on the same day as Mother’s day, she demands for double presents! :P

Every gathering with family is a special one. Lots of fun, laughter, screams (from watching horror movies or playing stupid games) and… all the juicy gossips we get to hear. This year though, I’ve had the privilege to invite some friends over for dinner too! I rarely have birthday celebrations at home, the last I remembered was when I was maybe 8? I had friends and neighbours over and we played games and had cake. This time, I had family, friends and a neighbour over too!

These group of friends were what Fadhullah (the neighbour) referred to as the ‘Unusual Suspects’. Well he’s right… we almost have NOTHING in common except for the love of travel. They are amazing people who have stuck through loads of picnics, overnight cycling, parties and travel adventures.

The best part was, most of them except for Fadhullah (pink t-shirt) and Arafath lives in the west side of Singapore, hence I was really grateful they were able to make it! Arafath (blue collared shirt) was the last to make his entrance, having arrived freshly from his weekend trip in KL, I thought it was awesome of him to show up, albeit late. HAHA.

Because I am away a lot of the time, I cherish all the time I get to spend with the people that I love. Even seeing them for a teeny while makes me happy. Just like I haven’t got to see Vada (turquoise shirt) and Ming (black polka dots) in a long, long time because their work schedules are so demanding, I was glad they were able to make it.

When my friends left at half past 10-ish, I thought the party was half over. While still waving them off at the door, I was distracted by something my aunt said and turned around. Suddenly there was a commotion outside. I turned just in time to see the lift door open and… Ummar Hasim got pushed out into the corridor. Before he could do anything, our friends in the lift pressed the door close button fast enough and truly, he looked like a deer caught in the headlights.

Now that’s one friend I hadn’t expected to see.

#23 With the family

May 13, 2014

Friday night was dinner night with the family! Dinner venue: Carousel @ Royal Plaza on Scotts. It’s not everyday we get to enjoy oysters and a widespread choice of buffet items. Yum! They had cupcakes for people celebrating their birthdays in the month of May too. Pretty awesome.

Just a short, sweet and very, very filling birthday dinner for myself and my baby sister who turned 17 on the 7th. I’ve gotten used to sharing birthdays with her since I was six. No complains, just extra cake maybe. :P

#23 The First Present

May 12, 2014

Well, everyone has THOSE moments where they are compelled to do something to ruin a good picture.

It’s my birthday weekend! And for some reasons, the people at work had been really kind as to schedule off days at the most perfect timing. THANK YOU CREWING! Anyway, since I am on a roll and in a good mood, I’ve decided to split my 23rd birthday celebrations into several posts that would be published throughout the week. So stay tuned!

The celebration began when I landed in Singapore on Thursday the 8th. Farhan texted me a few days before, saying to check my mail folder in the office as he left something for me there. Curious, and not wanting to wait till my next flight (which is like 5 days later), I risked bumping into people I didn’t want to bump into in the office and checked it out. There was an envelope, a white package and a Pandora paper bag in my folder. Uh oh.

I laughed at the ‘TAMPER PREVENTION INTEGRITY SEAL’ quirk. It’s a thing that only fellow colleagues would understand. Basically, if used in a real context, this seal protects a very important equipment in the aircraft. A manager who happened to notice the words written on package in my hands said, “No wonder, it’s a Pandora!” And he was right!

Farhan got me a fat aeroplane charm to add to my growing collection! Thankfully, he beat everyone to getting this particular charm for me, so the next person might need to do an exchange. Heh.

If you’re reading this, THANK YOU for the charm and the thoughtful card. I love it!

Is it May already?

May 1, 2014

Before I go on about the best parts of May, lemme do a recap of April. It was by far the most challenging month at work. Experienced the splashes of Cyclone Ita in Cairns… I fell sick just three days into my trip in Perth and had to wait three hours at the Emergency Room of Perth Royal Hospital just to be prescribed medication that I could get over the counter anywhere. Obviously I didn’t get better. Thankfully was sent home, and spent a whole week feeling shit before going for an Auckland trip.

This one is special because it’s Mazlan’s FIRST Auckland trip. After a good 9 months, he can finally say he’s stepped foot in New Zealand. Sad it was only for a night… but we made it COUNT because that’s what buddies are for!

May is my favourite month of the year because.. well, IT’S MY BIRTHDAY MONTH! #shameless
Plus, I get to share birthdays with some of my favourite people in my life. And I am super duper fortunate to be given a nice 5-day off that coincided with my birthday. Well, considering they made my life a living hell last month (and for some reason they haven’t rostered Mazlan and I our buddy flights even after months) they should give me my birthday off. THANKS.

This month is gonna be exciting, be it at home or at work. Gonna do more thorough exploring, meet people all over Aussie and have a bit of fun.

Hope you have a great month ahead! Till then.