Life Is Just A Bowl of Cherries

Friday, August 7, 2009

I Am Homesick

Nashriq gave me this song, thanks dear :D
I told him how I miss everyone at home, I told him I miss him too hehe.
In Krabi I did island hopping, back in Malaysia I did hotel hopping. Back from Krabi, I went to the office for one day before the whole department went for team building in PD for 3 days. We stayed at Thistle Hotel which is used to be PD Guoman Hotel. Thistle is impressive, one of it was the food and its presentation. This one friend of mine who is a fussy eater (dan lain lain lagi) pon puji the food. As for me, tak kisah sangat food sedap ke tak, but the service preferably to be superb.
One of my basic need in every hotel I stay is an iron and the ironing board. In Krabi La Playa, they didn't provide hotel in every room or even iron for use. You need to send your cloth for pressing. Arghhh bosan gile. Same goes to Thistle. No iron in the room. But I did request for the set and got to keep the iron and the board for 3 days, which is okay and menyenangkan hati.
After Thistle, I am off to Cherating for a course and field trip to Kemaman Supply Base. This hotel I am staying in now is the lousiest hotel I've ever stayed (as far as I can remember lah). I dont want to elaborate more because at this point of time, I laying on the bed on this hotel and will only be checking out tomorrow. I was suppose to move to a nearby hotel today, but I am already sick and tired of moving in and out, living like a nomad so I extended my stay in the same hotel until tomorrow.
Maybe the fact that this hotel sucks contributed to my melancholy feeling. Apa perasaan korang kalau nampak lalat hinggap kat cake masa lunch? The lalat look dead, but it's not dead, die hinggap je kat cake tu then it fly away. This hotel memang sucks haha. The iron service in here macamana tau? Pinjam iron only for one hour then they will collect it back. Aiyor pening.
I am homesick. When I told people I am homesick, semuanye ingat that I miss my hubby, biasalahkan being newly wed blablabla. Yeah I do miss him (hi dear :>) but tak de problem sangat lah. He is reachable and I get to communicate or talk with him through the sms or over the phone and Facebook. I bought Maxis broadband before I left for PD because I know I will dearly need this service while I am away. Okay back to my point, sebenar benarnyer ialah I miss my home, my bed, my Meena :(, my mum,my dad, my friends. I am in a transition phase of moving out the house and living in a new life with a husband, the in-laws, his family and friends.
I do have ample of me time in here, which is really the good time to update my travel blog. Kalau balik KL jangan harap lah nak cerita panjang-panjang pasal my travelling ni. And I am in the Facebook a lot to haha. You guys must be sick of having me in every part of your Facebook page. At the same time I organized the thousands of photos from our Krabi trip. My hubby lagi rajin nak buat benda-benda camni lah but since I got nothing to do and both the Mac, Canon and Sony cameras are with me, so why not lah kan. For few days, I skipped dinner (dinner is not provided anyway), stayed in the room, only me and my lappy. But Aida bising I became anti-sosial (hehe hi Aida), so beberapa hari yang lepas we went out jalan-jalan at Cherating and Kemaman. To the beach, to the kedai keropok bla bla.
I wanna go home. I cant wait to see my Meena because I never had the chance to sms/talk to her over the phone. Mum selalu kata she is now less chatty than before, probably because she has no one to talk to right now. And the last time I went back home, which is before I left for Cherating, she became so clingy and needy to me. Meena will only come to stay with us in September. I cant wait for the day to come so I can be with her like before :)
My travelling kit - perfume, moisturizer and toner, panty liner semua nyer dah habis. I need new bra, more bra actually because I move alot now- my house, in-laws, our house, rumah hinggap bla bla. La Senza baru hantar sms, they are having sale. Yeah memang perfect timing! And I seriously need a mini travel iron and new pair of Crocs, sunglasses and many more lah.
To KL, I am coming home tomorrow!!! Hurrah!! And please dont be suprise to see me a bit darker than before hehe. Still suffering from Krabi + PD + Cherating sunburn.
p/s My BFF Ee Fei pon nak balik Norway kejap lagi, tak sempat pon jumpe die after the wedding. Sorry Ee Fei. Terima kasih datang wedding saya. I love u :)

Wednesday, August 5, 2009

Honeymoon in Krabi - Day 2

It rained heavily when we woke up. I've already had the feeling that our island hopping trip will be canceled due to the rain. But Hubby was very positive about things and invited me for breakfast, while waiting for the rain to stop, was really wishing and hoping.
It was our first day having breakfast in La Playa. I love breakfast because it is the only meal with so many varieties. Other than having fruits, it was save to opt for cereal, salad and breads :)
No more rain at that time and the sun was coming out. But unfortunately, the trip to Phi Phi was still cancelled due to the sea condition after the rain. Fine I said, and told Hubby to ask for other option to opt for on that day. We finally agreed to switch our Phi Phi Island Tour with Krabi Rainforest Tour. But we were unlucky again because the agent for Krabi Rainforest Tour had already left for the tour at 830AM. Sigh.
Seeing our dissapointment, Honey, the hotel receptionist, offered a private tour to Krabi Rainforest by hotel transportation. And they actually offered a cheaper price that the real Krabi Rainforest Tour. For only 1800 Baht, the driver will drove us to Emerald Pool and Hot Spring Waterfall and also Tiger Cave Temple. But we will need to pay for our own tix to Emerald Pool i.e 400 Baht for two person for Emerald Pool and 200 Baht for 2 person in Hot Spring Waterfall.
Hurrah!! I sing happily along our way to our first pit stop i.e Emerald Pool. A friend also went for Honeymoon in Krabi loves Emerald Pool so much and mention Emerald Pool is a must place to go. The trip to Emerald Pool took only about 30 minutes.
Emerald Pool is like hutan lipur in Malaysia. At the entrance you will need to pay the 200 Baht ticket per person and no outside food will be allowed. I actually packed some breads and tuna as our food for picnic, but then it was confiscated at the entrance. They keep the food and asked us to claim it on our way back. Hihihi.
From the entrance, it took about 10 minutes walk to reach Emerald Pool. There was another pool called Blue Pool, but it was way to far i.e almost 2km from the entrance. So kami pergi ke Emerald Pool saja. But then memang tak menghampakan lah. Emerald Pool memang cantik! The water is emerald in colour, very clear and tak dalam, only takat my leher.

It was the right place for us to test our waterproof casing for our Sony camera. The result was impressive.

After spending one hour in Emerald Pool, kami berangkat ke Hot Spring Waterfall. Sebelum tu kami tak lupa lah nak amik roti and tuna kami yang kena confiscate kat entrance tadi. Hot Spring Waterfall took only 10 minutes drive from Emerald Pool. There is no entrance fee but the 200 Baht we were paying was actually the parking fee for our hotel car.

Hot Spring Waterfall ini tak de lah panas sangat. Tapi seronok jugaklah. When we arrived, there were few Chinese whom look like Malaysian conquering the place. Airnyer agak keruh so tak dapat nak snap photos bawah air. Hubby actually like it more in Emerald Pool compared to this one. Same goes to me!

Lepas one hour berendam, kami berangkat pulang. The driver wanted to bring us to Tiger Cave Temple but Hubby was not very keen in visiting temples so the drive brought us to gifts shop to shop for goodie. Both of us grab few goodies for families and friends i.e cashew nuts, postcards, keychain and Krabi fridge magnet. A must thing for me to do each time I travel is getting the fridge magnet. Yang ada tulis nama country of course. After that we headed back home. On our way back jumpe banyak masjid. This is one of it.

Well people, the real Krabi Rainforest Tour ni selalunyer ambil masa satu hari, from 9AM till 4PM. They will bring you to Emerald Pool, Hot Spring Waterfall, Tiger Cave Temple and some even have Elephant Ride too. Whatever it is, if you happen to be in Krabi, Emerald Pool is a must place to go ok.
When we reached the hotel, it was already 2PM. For lunch, we had homemade tuna sandwiches (kami bawak roti Gardenia and Ayam Brand tuna mayonaise). We rested for a while before embarking another exciting journey to the Thai Night Market! We took tuk-tuk to the market, which was about 10 minutes from hotel and it costs us 200 Baht pergi dan balik i.e 5o Baht satu hala per person. Thai Night Market is like pasar malam ni Malaysia, so many food, fruits and even bahan basah like ikan, udang, sayur untuk di beli. I didn't buy anything sebab tak berani nak makan apa-apa from the pasar huhu. Hubby brought some kuih which look like apam balik and air kelapa. Lepas jalan-jalan amik gambar at the pasar malam, we headed back to Ao Nang. The tuk-tuk driver was such a nice person, die bawak kitaorang jalan-jalan around Ao Nang area. And then we requested for him to drop us at Ao Nang beaches so we can jalan-jalan kat kedai di situ. Masa tengah jalan-jalan, suddenly there was a heavy downpour. Nasib baik lah kitaroang bawak payung :)

Tudung kena angin

Thai Boxing

Thai Market/Pasar Malam

Nasi Apa Tah

Yong Tou Fu kot

Hubby sorang je yang makan ape yang die beli (/me tak berani sentuh pon) haha.

Even though it was raining heavily, kitaorang redah je hujan tu and walked back to our hotel, which was about 10 minutes from Ao Nang. Seronok jugak dapat main hujan once in a while. Malam tu stay kat hotel je sebab hujan lebat. Lagipun the TV was playing PS I Love You. Apa lagi, layan je lah kan :D

Our Wedding Video by CST Production

Thumbs up to CST Production! The video is fabulous!! In fact all videos from CST Production memang best. Kepada yang nak kawin tu, cepat-cepat lah book CST ok, you will never regret it :)

This is the Wedding Highlight video for our Reception in Seremban Country Club.

Enjoy~

Wedding Zul & Zal

Honeymoon in Krabi - Day 1

Honeymooning in Krabi was fun! For beach freaks like us, it's a recommended place to go! I would like to share our 5D4N holiday in Krabi so you guys can plan for your trip to Krabi *hello Aida* somewhere in future~

We departed at 11AM, my MIL droves us to LCCT. A week before that, Air Asia sent notification on the flight delay. It departed at 1305PM, instead of 1205PM and arrives at 1225PM, Krabi local time. The time difference is one hour (lagging from Malaysian time). Oh ya, Air Asia flies daily to Krabi you know.
When we arrived, there was already someone from the hotel came to fetch us. We've made earlier arrangement for this one, and the fee was way cheaper than the airport taxi, only 500 Baht. Airport taxi will charge you 600 Baht. The journey to our hotel, Krabi La Playa took about half and hour. It rained cats and dogs all the way. Well, some of you might have heard on the prediction that there will be tsunamis on 22 Jul. It was actually the date we departed to Krabi!! We were keeping our finger crossed and hoping for things to be ok in Krabi. If tsunamis does happen, we plan to stay indoor, or worse, schedule a ticket to fly back home. But Alhamdulillah, everything was ok, just heavy some heavy downpour on day 1.

Our hotel, Krabi La Playa is situated at Ao Nang area, near to the Ao Nang beach. It is very convenient to get around, that is why we choose to stay in Ao Nang. Shops and the beach are just within walking distance.
The check-in was fast, the welcoming drink was tantilizing. The receptionist was lemah lembut too, biasala orang Thai, cakap pon mendayu dayu. Their names are bit kinky lah, one is Pinkie and one is Honey haha. Well, welcome to Thailand people~ Anyway, Krabi La Playa is a small hotel (dalam gambar nampak besar ok ) and there were few other hotel near Krabi La Playa i.e The Small Hotel which is quite modern and unic in design. If you love having halal food in your hotel, go to Ao Nang Orchid hotel. The owner is a Muslim and they serve halal food. In Krabi La Playa ni kitaorang go vegeterian je. Hai buah-buahan~

I was so suprise to see two cute Ellie the Elephant which welcome us to the room. We unpack and rest while sipping hot tea, free from the minibar. After tea, we went down to the receptionist to book for our tours for the next 4 days. The hotel provides few pamphlet for us to choose for the tours and without hesitation we choose the 3 must-go tours if your are in Krabi which were Phi Phi Island Tour, 4 Island Tour and Krabi Rainforest Tour. The price is reasonable and affordable.
Phi Phi Island Tour by speed boat (830AM - 4PM) - 1800 Baht
4 Island Tour by speed boat (830AM - 230PM) - 1000 Baht
Krabi Rainforest Tour (830AM - 4PM) - 1200 Baht
It was almost dinner time when we were done with the booking. So the receptionist recommended us to go for Seafood Dinner at a restaurant downtown, near to the beach.
The restaurant is called Wang Sai restaurant, which is only 5 minutes walking distance from the hotel. We took our own sweet time to jalan to Wang Sai. You can also take the tuk-tuk and the fare is as cheap as 20 Baht.

My hubby doesnt eat much but I was so suprised when he ordered white snapper fish yang besar gedabak tu for me and him to eat. Penat jugak lah nak menghabiskan fish tu, but it was really nice and tasty. I've always love Thai food :D. Other than that we also had sayur and rice for hubby and orange juice yang sedap. The fish alone cost 360 Baht! But the dinner set was around 550 Baht je. Somesay it's quite expensive to dine in Wang Sai. So if you happen to be in Krabi and would like to go for more economical dinner, choose someother places okay. There is one Muslim restaurant in Ao Nang, nama nya Kedai Makan Aisha. They also have a lot of Italian restaurant in Krabi. Maybe you can go for Italian seafood pizza or pasta? Nyumnyum.

Stomach is happy so we headed back home. On the way back, sempat jalan-jalan and snap photos. Weather was fine, no rain. At that time, was keeping our finger crossed, really hoping for clear weather for tomorrow.

Tuesday, August 4, 2009

Solemnization, 17 July 2009, 5PM, Seremban 2 - Unofficial Photos

I found all these photos in my camera memory stick. Gambar-gambar ni mesti hasil kerja my anak-anak sedara. The last photo was photo just before kami dinikahkah. After that the photo taking stopped. Mesti anak anak sedara ni semua dah penat main dengan kamera tu. So this is my last photo as Cik Zalina. Theeheehee.

Nervous

Ehem Ehem

Good Luck to Him

Other than that, there were few other photos of my hantaran to Hubby. Those hantaran is totally DIY, hasil sentuhan my BFF, Shahida and my auntie who used to be a mak andam i.e Kak Ita. I helped along too. Oh ya, the white English tray and alas dulang are for sale. English tray ada 7 tray, alas dulang ada 11 alas. So sesiapa yang berminat can message me.