Hong Kong Trip 2012 - Disneyland

Day 2 - Disneyland

One thing that you never wanna missed when you're in Hong Kong is of course Disneyland. This is the main purpose why I travel 0345 hours on the flight for. Sometimes you don't want to admit that you want to, but there is this 5 years old in you who still believe in the magic of fairy tale. (wink).

Well for the start, to go to Disneyland from Tsim Tsa Tsui was quite easy. First you must not panic when you used the touch screen monitor to purchase your train ticket. I know this because I did. Unlike here in Malaysia, where you must purchase a new ticket where you drops off at the interchange, in Hong Kong it's quite convenient whereby you may purchase one way ticket to your destination though there are few interchanges and different train lines. Only that you must take note of the interchange and know where you need to drop off and hitch the next ride.

From East Tsim Tsa Tsui (Tseung Kwan Line) --> Nam Cheong (Tung Chung Line) --> Sunny Bay (Disneyland Resort Line) --> Disneyland. As shown in below map. The total price for one way ticket is roughly HK$18 (RM7.20). The train are quite fast and always on time.

(Click on the map for larger scale. Follow the black stars)

Once you get into the Disneyland line, you'll fell in love with the cuteness of the train with all Disney themed things. You know your life going to be different after you come back from Disneyland. Lol.

Hong Kong Disneyland is divided into few main areas, as listed below (also highlight on the attraction based on my experience):

1) Tomorrow Land
--> You don't want to miss the Space Mountain ride, it's pretty scary but worth the thrill!
--> Do catch Buzz Lightyear for a character greeting! And don't missed the Astro Blasters ride. It's hell of a fun!
2) Fantasy Land
--> Don't missed all the stage performance, they are spectacular!
--> Lotsa characters for greetings : Mickey mouse, Donald Duck, Winnie the Pooh, Pluto, Goofy, etc.
--> Do catch the parade show which is somewhere around 3.30pm on the main street.
3) Toy Story Land
--> Don't missed the chance to hop on the thrill rides they have to offer here. They have the most exciting rides in Disneyland.
4) Adventure Land
--> The Lion King show is never to be missed! I fell in love with the show. The team performed very well, I almost felt like crying for watching such a beautiful show.

Also never ever to be missed, don't plan to leave Disneyland before 8pm since that is the time where all people are waiting for. The Magical firework show at Sleeping Beauty's Castle. It was the most magical firework show I've ever seen in my life. Lol. Too much of hype ha? But indeed it was beautiful.

At the Disneyland main entrance.

 View of Sleeping Beauty's castle from Main street USA

Main Street, USA

Tomorrow Land

Dancing with Buzz Lightyear

In front of Sleeping Beauty's castle, marked the entrance to Fantasy Land

The adorable Winnie the Pooh, always for a warm hug

The cute Donald Duck

Mr. Mickey Mouse

The night view of Sleeping Beauty's castle just before the fireworks.

To sum them all up, here's few tips on Disneyland based on my experience there.
 - Arrive early, 10am
 - Don't waste time queing for children rides, unless you have kids with you
 - Mark the stage shows and plan your time to attend it
 - Bring extra money for food/souvenirs, it's quite pricy in there

Hong Kong Trip 2012 - The Avenue of Stars

On February 2012, that is all where it happens. Finally we made our marks in Hong Kong.

Travel itineraries:

Flight : Airasia
Length of visit : 25th February - 1st March 2012
Accomodation : Golden Maple Leaf Guesthouse, Kowloon
Weather : End of winter, early of spring (14-17 degree Celcius with lotsa wind nearby the shores)

Day 1 : Touch-down
Day 2 : Avenue of Stars, Museum of Art, Star Ferry, Hong Kong Island
Day 3 : Disneyland
Day 4 : Ladies Market, Temple Street (night market), stroll along Kowloon street
Day 5 : Ocean Park
Day 6 : Journey home

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Day 1 : The Avenue of Stars

I'm pretty much impressed on how the guesthouse we booked is situated at the Kowloon city itself, whereby public transport, food and all are very convenient to locate. Though the place is nothing to be rated of any stars but overall (small but good enough, afterall you only need a place to sleep and clean). ChungKing Mansion provided the safe feeling of having a bunch of other foreign visitors living under one building and is always busy. Though on your way to the guesthouse you will be bugged by those Indian Muslims sellers who would tried to sell you simcards, money exchange and all, just smile politely saying no is enough for them to understand, but nevertheless they are very helpful in terms of giving you directions and where to go around in Hong Kong.

(Click the above map for better view)

Our guesthouse situated in Tsim Tsa Tsui, which is only 100m away from East Tsim Tsui train station (connecting train to Disneyland) and 200m away from Tsim Tsa Tsui Station (connecting train to Ocean park), 250m away from the Star Ferry Terminal, 200m from Avenue of Stars and Museum of Art, which are all walking distance. Very convenient indeed.

Avenue of stars was abit crowded with Tourist that day, since it was a Sunday. Most tourist came from mainland China, I only met one or two Malaysian and Indonesian family tourist throughout the whole visit. Though it's not as glamour as Hollywood's Walk of Fame, but it does provide familiar names such as Dato' Michelle Yoeh, Jackie Chan, Chow Yun Fatt, Leon Lie, Jacky Cheung etc. I didn't missed the chance to mark my presence there too!

Not to forget the wonderful view of the Hong Kong harbour of the Hong Kong Island. It was just spectacular! You just want to pushed away through the crowd and make sure you had all the opportunities to take your photo for memories there.

Just a distance away from Avenue of Stars is the Museum of Art. On that month, they have a new exhibition going on called, Fantastic Creatures from the British Museum. Though I'm not really a big fan of art or any museum, but I decided to join in. It's only HK$20 (RM8). There we huge collections of mystical antiques dating back from few centuries ago on several civilizations for e.g Greek, Egyptian, Persian, Hindu, etc. The theme of exhibition is about those mystical creatures like Medusa, unicorns, mermaids, etc were being mentioned in history and have their sculpture made. I wished I could share some pictures here but photography/video recording was not allowed in the museum. Bommer. But they do have astonishing antiques and collections. If you appreciate art and antiques, this is the place for you. Also on Sundays, just outside the museum, they have small stalls set up which sells various interesting items, which you may bring home as souvenirs for e.g fashion accessories, musical instruments, decorations, etc.

The Museum of Art, Hong Kong

From Museum of Art, just another 100m or so, is the Star Ferry Terminal. We decide to catch a ferry ride to Hong Kong Island and make our way to the Peak Tram. One ferry ride only cost you HK$6 (RM1.50), and they will make a stop at Central terminal. From there, you will walk across a bridge which you may stroll pass along huge shopping malls and business offices, more like a pedestarian bridge, covered, which is so convenient. I wished our country had something like this. The walk from Central to the Peak Tram took us around 45 minutes, which was quite a journey. Luckily there are signboards leading towards the Peak Tram, you don't really need a map to go around there. (Just make sure you have one in hand, in case of emergency). Arriving at the Peak Tram, as soon as I saw the crowd cramming in to get the tickets, I decided to drop the idea of hitching the ride to the peak and even abandon Madame Tussauds from our list. We made our way back to Central terminal while stopping here and there at the street markets to check out stuffs.

The Peak Tram Building

View from the pedestarian bridge

We made it to the Central Terminal just after sunset and the view at night was very spectacular.
You'll get whisked away with the splashes of neon lights and can just sit there forever to enjoy the view. If you don't own a fancy camera, not to worry, the hawkers there provide professional photography and printing services for you to capture the memory of you and Hong Kong harbour view with only HK$20 each.

Hong Kong Island night view

Spectacular ain't it?

The Second Chance

Have you ever survived a near-death experience and woke up from the event as if you have been reborn, realizing that you had been given a second chance?

I have.

It happened on the 1st of April.

April Fool.

Yes.

I believe God is trying to play a prank on me.

I merely survived a freak car accident, whereby I was hit by a car speeding at roughly 80-100km per hour, slamming my Jenny from behind and few seconds later hit me, who was standing beside Jenny.

I fell to the ground, on my butt, after the impact.

I can't remember clearly what happened.

All I can remember was my Jenny skidded on a turn and I slammed the brakes, I moved out from Jenny, suspecting the tyres burst. Few seconds later, I heard screeching tyres behind me and the sound of bang then something hit my back and I fell.

At that moment, I just touched my face and closed my eyes.

At that moment, I said to myself, "This is it!" - Final destination

As I opened my eyes, I can hardly believe that I'm still alive with just few scratches and bruises on my left arm and back. I turned to my left and saw the hood of the car just less than an inch direct to my head. Lucky. I stood up and walked to the car that hit me. Went to the driver and asked her, "Are you okay?"

She looked shocked, I believe she must have thought she had killed me.

Most of people would have blamed me, even if they didn't say it out loud, I know they do.
The husband of the lady shouted at me when we met at the police station, another car driver also shouted and asked for reimbursement for her car's damage as she explains she was trying to avoid the car which hit me first.

I don't mind putting the blame on myself. I admit that I'm 100% guilty. I don't care about the money. I'll pay no matter how much it takes.

Both of them had actually tried their best at saving my life.

Imagine if the first lady didn't brake on time? Imagine if the second car couldn't manage to avoid the first car?

I would not be here updating this.

Second Chance does not come very often.

Dear God, I got Your Message. I am grateful for this second chance. I believe there's alot of unfinished business that I need to settle before leaving this world.

XOXO

Marriage : love, culture, or obligation?

I must admit that a girl's greatest goal and dream of her life is all about marriage. All of her younger life has been spent on preparing her for one, like learning the house chores, learning how to cook, how to treat the husband and kids by observing their mothers, aunts and other married women's life.

Somehow this has become the life cycle of a women, it's not a written law that this cycle has to be followed, but most of people will expect us to continue this cycle, if not, you'll be charged as not normal or people might accuse that there must be something wrong with you. I know this cause I've been there.

I used to believe in true love, I used to believe in marriage, I used to believe in sharing life with the Beloved one and produce cute youngsters to protect and to love them. But as grow older, as I watched the married life of others around me, as I tried to imagine how my perfect married life would be, I started to realize that my reality is just too different from others or probably I'm hoping for something far more unrealistic than others.

Sometimes I asked myself, is it a must to get married?
Why people get married?
What is a marriage?
Is it as simple as finding a partner and vow to stay loyal to that person for the rest of your life, through thick and thin forever?

From Islamic point of view:
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Nikah is an Arabic term used for marriage. It means "contract". ("Aqd in Arabic). The Quran specifically refers to marriage as "mithaqun Ghalithun,". Which means "a strong covenant".

As a meaningful institution, marriage has two main purposes:
 1. To ensure preservation of the human species and continuation of the human race
 2. To provide spiritual and legal foundation of the family

Through Marriage, the conjugal relationship between a man and a woman becomes lawful. It provides a legitimate outlet for recreation as well as procreation. Islam regards sex as natural and good, but restricts it to the partners of marriage so as to ensure the responsibility for its consequences.

Marriage provides spiritual, physical, emotional and psychological companionship. This companionship generates and sustains love, kindness, compassion, mutual confidence, solace and succor. It lays a spiritual and legal foundation for raising a family. The children born of the matrimonial union become legitimate and mutual rights of inheritance are established.

--> so summed up marriage is about having companionship, legitimating sex, producing legal breeds and expanding generations.

Still not a strong reason why I should get married ~though I wanted babies of my own and a partner for life. But I'm sure there's a bigger objective about marriage not only what is stated above.
Let's dig a little deeper, what marriage is about? What do we have to compromise in a marriage? Are we ready for a commitment? This is what you have to ask yourself before you tie up your wedding vows with another person.

==============================================

I loved an article from Abdul Baha which explains on Marriage and Love. It's a bit too long but it's worth a read --> Marriage and Love by Abdul Baha;

According to Abdul Baha, in marriage, love needs to be manifested in a cooperative and sharing manner and it is directly related to the maturity level of the husband and wife.

The love in marriage is not straight forward, it's a feeling developed after undergoing few levels of maturity, explained below;

Level 1: Finding Mutual Point of Attraction
The first dimension of love between a man and a woman is attraction. The beauty of an individual attracts the attention of another, encourages an approach, and prepares the way for a response on the part of the attractive individual. If there is considerable mutual attraction a love relationship begins.
Physical attraction, however, is only the first dimension of love in any marriage. Once an individual falls in love, the beloved becomes a constant companion in the lover's mind and heart.
Gradually other attractive aspects of the person, such as thoughts, feelings, hopes, and aspirations assume greater significance. This process leads to a higher level of closeness and intimacy between the husband and wife and results, not infrequently, in each choosing the other as the point of attraction. Here, "point of attraction" refers to a state in which all of the interest, attention, and yearning, in short, all of a person's love, is directed towards one object, person, or idea.

Level 2: From Mutual Need Gratification to Mutual Purpose
Next to mutual attraction, the first common dimension of what couples usually call love is mutual need gratification. Every human being has diverse needs which can best be fulfilled in the context of an intimate relationship. Some of these needs may be due to a deprived or troubled life history of either or both persons involved in the relationship, while other needs are basic requirements for the overall growth and quality of life of any individual.
The second category of needs relating to the direction and quality of life are also of considerable importance with respect to individual growth. Human conditions and functions such as intimacy, sharing, giving and receiving, encouraging and being encouraged, desiring and being desirable, helping and being helped, as well as caring and being cared for, all require the existence of a meaningful, trusting relationship which is best achieved in the context of a healthy marriage.
Many couples marry as a direct response to one or both of these categories of needs. The combination of mutual attraction and mutual need gratification creates an overcharged emotional bond and fosters an illusion of eternal, romantic, and unconditional love.

According to Abdul Baha too, it is very important that couple understands and respects each own's personal plans. It is natural for human beings to pursue goals and make plans. In fact, when a person is without plans and goals, he becomes disheartened, depressed, and disinterested in life and all that it entails. Due to this fundamental need, there must be opportunities in the context of marriage for both husband and wife to pursue plans and goals both individually and as a couple.

Individual goals and projects shape our life processes, giving direction and meaning, as well as creating motivation for further achievement with a consequent sense of satisfaction and pride. Every human being needs such experiences on an ongoing basis. Through these experiences, the individual gains a sense of identity and worth and contributes to his own and society's progress and growth.

Returning to the theme of personal goals and plans, it is obvious that both husband and wife must create opportunities in their marriage for the achievement of their personal objectives and projects. In a healthy marriage, these objectives and projects need to be in harmony and coordination with the goals and plans of the marriage. Some of the most obvious prevalent goals in contemporary marriage are: the accumulation of wealth, social advancement, bearing and educating children, and finally providing for retirement. Many couples spend all their efforts and time in the pursuit of these goals.

Hence Marriage is a natural, extremely effective milieu for the development of love, provided that the husband and wife are aware of the dynamics of the development of love in human relationships and make conscious, enlightened efforts to facilitate the development and refinement of their love. Such a process requires willingness on the part of the husband and wife to assist each other in their attempts at growth, to choose meaningful mutual purpose and direction, to be willing to suffer the pain of love and growth, and to sacrifice, whenever necessary, their material pursuits for spiritual objectives.

~ From my opinion, Marriage is never a culture, never an obligation. It is what is nurtured from pure love and willingness to share your life, goals and dreams with someone and help them to grow. It strengthened the relationship, develop loyalness to one another and it creates a sense of belonging.

In the world of existence there is indeed no greater power than the power of love. It's the nature of human to love and wants to be loved.

The objective to get married --> strongly because of LOVE.
For those happily married couples, I envy you cause you are blessed with someone who will love you until the end of time. Love them back unconditionally and appreciate their presence as for some of us we are still searching and waiting.

I fight for what I believe in. And I believe in LOVE & MONEY. :)

Mid-life crisis : isn't it too early for me?

First of all, what is midlife crisis? I'm sure you're all wondering what it means.





Have you watched Julia Robert in Eat-Pray-Love? That is how a midlife crisis would look like (that's my ideal way of midlife crisis, most women would undergo this kinda process, don't worry).
It happens during the stage of life where people would assume that you have already settled down and reached your highest peak or the best time of your life, but instead of continuing the good thing you have been doing for years, you suddenly turned your back on it and start fresh of a completely new thing.

I'm surrounded with lotsa middle aged people around me, and from my observation, midlife crisis is not something which is not expected. One day this one person is the hottest women in office who loves her job, and next thing we know she resigned and planned to join a missionary (volunteery) work in Africa. When I asked, why? She's having a great life now, why quit? And people told me, She's just having her midlife crisis. So I said to myself, Oh this midlife crisis is so cool. Or probably it's just a cooler way of saying that we're quitting our current life and wanna start over.

Should I have my midlife crisis too? (ignore the fact that I just reached my quarter life par, if I lived up to 100 years that is :p)

Let's try to understand, what is a midlife crisis?

Nothing is so cliche about a midlife crisis. If you talk to middle-aged men and women who have experienced divorce, you will find that many of them will tell you their spouse changed overnight and became someone who discarded all that was once important to him for a new life that was all about what he wanted.

A midlife crisis is experienced between the ages of 40 and 60. It was first identified by the psychologist Carl Jung and is a normal part of the maturing process. Most people will experience some form of emotional transition during that time of life. A transition that might cause you to take stock in where you are in life and make some needed adjustments to the way you live your life. Most seem to come through the process smoothly without making major life changes.

For some, a midlife crisis is more complicated. It can be an uncomfortable time emotionally which can lead to depression and the need for psychotherapy. Those who have a hard time with this transitional stage might experience a range of feelings such as:
- Unhappiness with life and the lifestyle that may have provided them with happiness for many years.
- Boredom with people and things that may have been of interest to them before.
- Feeling a need for adventure and change.
- Questioning the choices, they have made in their lives and the validity of decisions they made years before.
- Confusion about who they are and where they are going.
- Anger at their spouse and blame for feeling tied down.
- Unable to make decisions about where they want to go with their life.
- Doubt that they ever loved their spouse and resentment over the marriage.
- A desire for a new and passionate, intimate relationship.

Most people who have a difficult time during midlife and go into crisis mode do so because of external factors. They may be experiencing stress in their life that makes the transition more difficult or they may have childhood issue that were never dealt with that come to the surface during this time. Some external factors that may cause this time in life to be problematic are:

• Debt: It is easier to accumulate debt due to the availability of credit cards and loans. We are bombarded by credit card companies and it is easy to find yourself with large balances owed. We live in a society where it is commonplace to be living above our means. Finding yourself middle aged, in debt and facing retirement can add stress to an already stressful time in life. A normal reaction would be to seek help from a debt management company or consolidate your loans. A person who is finding it difficult emotionally during midlife might find it easier to walk away from their family in order to rid himself of what he feels is the cause of all the debt.
  
• Significant Loss: The death of a parent or family member can cause grief, which is difficult enough to come to terms with, without having to also cope with the feelings of a midlife transition. Put the loss of a loved one with the feelings that accompany midlife and the whole process becomes bewildering and overwhelming.
  
• Avoidant Personality: If a person has a tendency to avoid conflict in their personal relationships, suffers from feelings of inadequacy, are emotionally distant and has low self – esteem they will find midlife transition harder to navigate. This personality type has a deep fear of feeling shame and rejection. Such feelings will keep them from seeking help should their emotions become overwhelming. More than likely, they will run from their problems instead of trying to find solutions to them. It’s this personality type that normal ends up in divorce court during midlife.

Whether there are external factors that make the process more difficult or not, there is an internal process that is gone through. If a person lacks understanding of the process, she may find himself making irrational decisions she may later regret such as leaving a job, getting a divorce and throwing away the security that she built during the first part of her life.

However some people manage to navigate a midlife crisis, learn from it and move on to a more rewarding life. I hope when my midlife crisis finally came, I would be able to lift myself further up and get as much support as I can from my loved ones.

The Secret - The Law of Attraction

We've learnt about the Law of Attraction in Physics class, whereby Positive attracts negative and vise versa, like a magnet. However when it comes to life, this law of attraction also applies the same theory accept the opposite attraction. Have you ever heard of a quote mentioning that "Positive things will always come to positive people"? - this is literally what the Secret (the law of attraction) is trying to make us understand.

Watch this inspiring video, your mind is a powerful tool, use it wisely;




Whether you realise it or not, right now you are attracting people, jobs, health, wealth and relationships into your life – not all of them good! You get what you think about, whether wanted or unwanted. You are in fact a living magnet. This means that what you are focused on, you bring to yourself. Here's how it works. When you are focused on what you want, you are attracting to yourself what you want. When you are focused on what you do not want, you are attracting to yourself what you do not want. We humans are enormously powerful attractors and we can use this wonderful power or law to attract more of what we want in life – simply by paying attention to where we place our thoughts and desires.

Well I think this theory is practical and relevant. People has always says "Be careful of what you wish for cause you might just get it"- oops that was a phrase from Pussycat Doll's song. I believe that when your heart desires something, the brain will subconsciously program yourself to approach what you want, bit by bit, one step at a time, closer to your goal. Though it might not come true within a split of a second, but it will come to you one day.

Take this quick simple example; You wanted to buy a DSLR which costs RM3000. (Yes, it is expensive). Below cases may happen:
Act 1: As the heart desires, the brain will program yourself to save some amount monthly and in the end you'll buy it.
OR
Act 2: You pass by the Camera Shop every other day and glance at the DSLR, with your loved one beside you. Go to the counter, touch it, feel it, use it. Next thing you know, you get it as a present for your birthday!

You'll get it either way. Your brain will find the way for you as long as you keep wanting it.

So, how do you reach your goals and dreams using this law of attraction?
1. Be very clear about what you desire
2. Visualize your goal
3. Allow yourself to receive - act like already have it
-- Practice this everyday and you are one step closer to your dreams.

Bear in mind that the law of attraction doesn't only applies on things, it also applies on relationships, work, life, etc.
Always expect your desires. Expect miracles. All this takes is a little practice.
Easy saying, don't be scared of dreaming big!

I, Thank You

Last night just before I closed my eyes to sleep, few scenes of the afternoon's flashbacks emerged on my mind. I don't know why suddenly the image of the blind man and the handicapped man who came to our table to beg for money during lunch, re-appeared.

Remembering the scene where people just shoo them off and ignoring them, actually disturbed me.
I'm sure there's a lot of us who behave the exact same way. I can't help it but to feel very ashamed of myself as I happened to be one of those inconsiderate and selfish person who usually ignored them. I don't even have the courage to look in their eye and say "No".

Instead of looking away or ignoring them, why can't I just give at least few dollars to this poor being? Instead of saying "No", why can't I just say "Sorry I don't have much to give you but may God bless you with your life"?

Sometimes people do argue that we don't need to give to beggars, as it will only provoke them to beg for more as it's an easy way to get money. Some people even say that it is the government's job to help this people as they have billions of welfare to support disabled people.

And I don't know how I agreed to the idea as well. Where is my responsible as a human being?

I know probably it's not the right thing to do to give money, it is not the correct way to help them but that is the least thing that I can do. Though probably the money wouldn't even being used for their own good, for at least it was a token/gift from me as a way of saying thank you to them for reminding me how lucky or grateful I am for being born with a pair of eyes which can see perfectly, pair of hands which can touch and hold the people I love, pair of legs that can take me to places that I want to be, pair of ears to listen to birds' chirping and sound of waterfalls, and a functioning brain to think and to judge.

Everytime when we complain of how hard our life is, think about how harder their life is.
Everytime when we complain of how unfair life is to us, think about how unfair the life is to them.
Everytime when we complain of how bad other people might treat us, think of all the looks people have given them.

Sometimes we were given alot of opportunities to repent and be grateful to God. This was probably one of His way of reminding us of Him, it's just the matter whether or not we are able to see the signs.

For that I give my word that I'm gonna change this ugly behavior of mine for good.
Each of us were being born to this world with purposes.
Find your purpose and live it.

xoxo

150 Things To Do Before You Turn Thirty

I have seen this tag on so many blogs and why not, it’s a wonderful tag! The name is ’150 Things To Do Before You Turn Thirty’.
The rules are,
1. The things you have already done – make them bold.
2. Italics is for things that you are dying to do!

Here I go!!

01. Bought everyone in the place a drink
02. Swam with dolphins
03. Climbed a mountain
04. Taken a Ferrari for a test drive
05. Been inside the Great Pyramid
06. Held a tarantula
07. Taken a candlelit bath with someone
08. Said “I love you” and meant it
09. Hugged a tree
10. Bungee jumped
11. Visited Paris (did once when I was small, wanna go there again!)
12. Watched a lightning storm at sea
13. Stayed up all night long and saw the sun rise
14. Seen the Northern Lights
15. Gone to a huge sports game
16. Walked the stairs to the top of the leaning Tower of Pisa
17. Grown and eaten your own vegetables
18. Touched an iceberg
19. Slept under the stars
20. Changed a baby’s diaper
21. Taken a trip in a hot air balloon
22. Watched a meteor shower
23. Gotten drunk on champagne
24. Given more than you can afford to charity
25. Looked up at the night sky through a telescope
26. Had an uncontrollable giggling fit at the worst possible moment
27. Had a food fight
28. Bet on a winning horse
29. Asked out a stranger
30. Had a snowball fight
31. Screamed as loudly as you possibly can
32. Held a lamb
33. Seen a total eclipse
34. Ridden a roller coaster
35. Hit a home run
36. Danced like a fool and didn’t care who was looking
37. Adopted an accent for an entire day
38. Actually felt happy about your life, even for just a moment
39. Had two hard drives for your computer
40. Visited all 50 states
41. Taken care of someone who was drunk
42. Had amazing friends
43. Danced with a stranger in a foreign country
44. Watched whales
45. Stolen a sign
46. Backpacked in Europe
47. Taken a road-trip
48. Gone rock climbing
49. Taken a midnight walk on the beach
50. Gone sky diving
51. Visited Ireland
52. Been heartbroken longer than you were actually in love
53. In a restaurant, sat at a stranger’s table and had a meal with them
54. Visited Japan
55. Milked a cow
56. Alphabetized your CDs
57. Pretended to be a superhero
58. Sung karaoke
59. Lounged around in bed all day
60. Played touch football
61. Gone scuba diving
62. Kissed in the rain
63. Played in the mud
64. Played in the rain
65. Gone to a drive-in theatre
66. Visited the Great Wall of China
67. Started a business
68. Fallen in love and not had your heart broken
69. Toured ancient sites
70. Taken a martial arts class
71. Played D&D for more than 6 hours straight
72. Gotten married (if possible that is LOL)
73. Been in a movie
74. Crashed a party
75. Gotten divorced
76. Gone without food for 5 days
77. Made cookies from scratch
78. Won first prize in a costume contest
79. Ridden a gondola in Venice
80. Gotten a tattoo (does henna tattoo counts?)
81. White river rafting
82. Been on a television news program as an “expert”
83. Gotten flowers for no reason
84. Performed on stage
85. Been to Las Vegas
86. Recorded music
87. Eaten shark
88. Kissed on the first date
89. Gone to Thailand
90. Bought a house
91. Been in a combat zone
92. Buried one/both of your parents
93. Been on a cruise ship
94. Spoken more than one language fluently
95. Performed in Rocky Horror
96. Raised children
97. Followed your favourite band/singer on tour
98. Passed out cold
99. Taken an exotic bicycle tour in a foreign country
100. Picked up and moved to another city to just start over
101. Walked the Golden Gate Bridge
102. Sang loudly in the car, and didn’t stop when you knew someone was looking with the windows open
103. Had plastic surgery
104. Survived an accident that you shouldn’t have survived
105. Wrote articles for a large publication
106. Lost over 100 pounds
107. Held someone while they were having a flashback
108. Piloted an airplane
109. Touched a stingray
110. Broken someone’s heart
111. Helped an animal give birth
112. Won money on a TV game show
113. Broken a bone
114. Gone on an African photo safari
115. Had a facial part pierced other than your ears
116. Fired a rifle, shotgun, or pistol
117. Eaten mushrooms that were gathered in the wild
118. Ridden a horse
119. Had major surgery
120. Had a snake as a pet
121. Hiked to the bottom of the Grand Canyon
122. Slept for 30 hours in a 48 hour period
123. Visited more foreign countries than U.S. States
124. Visited all 7 continents
125. Taken a canoe trip that lasted more than 2 days
126. Eaten kangaroo meat
127. Eaten sushi
128. Had your picture in the newspaper
129. Changed someone’s mind about something you care deeply about
130. Gone back to school
131. Parasailed
132. Touched a cockroach
133. Eaten fried green tomatoes
134. Read The Iliad and The Odyssey
135. Selected one “important” author who you missed in school, and read
136. Killed and prepared an animal for eating
137. Skipped all your school reunions
138. Communicated with someone without sharing a common spoken language
139. Been elected to public office
140. Written your own computer language
141. Thought to yourself that you’re living your dream
142. Had to put someone you love into hospice care
143. Built your own PC from parts
144. Sold your own artwork to someone who didn’t know you
145. Had a booth at a street fair (school fair counts?)
146. Dyed your hair
147. Been a DJ
148. Shaved your head
149. Caused a car accident
150. Saved someone’s life

This list is gonna get updated should there is anything get's done or should my goal have changed.
I realized that there are alot of things that I still haven't done in my past quarter century life.
Some things in the list may appear small and unimportant, but these small things will added up to bigger things. Start small, dream big, live with no limits...
So, do you have your own list?

Mount Kinabalu Adventurous Climb

I had always wished I could climb the highest mountain of Malaysia, from my opinion conquering something as high and extreme like Mount Kinabalu would be one of the unforgettable achievements/highlights of my life, which is something to tell to my children when I'm old and rotting, how interesting and adventurous my life has been when I'm younger and hyperer.

So as I marked this date 20 Oct 2010, (20102010 - nice date huh?), accompanied by my new Deuter hiking bag and my most favourite partner in crime, MHB, I left two small-sized-5 foot prints from the base to the top of Mount Kinabalu.

The journey started at around 10am, we actually reached the base starting point quite late. I admitted that I underestimated Mount Kinabalu. I thought it's gonna be an easy climb, I mean hey, what so hard about climbing a mountain anyway? Any other mountain would be easy I must say, but Kinabalu really put me in an extreme both physical and mental test.









With continuous climbing up the stairs and paths to the peak of 8km distance, it was one of the most HELL-NO thing I ever did in my life. I did think of turning back couple of times during the climb, but since I already paid for it (and apparently NOT CHEAP!), I pushed myself again and again to take one foot at a time up the neverending stairs.



There were few times that I actually fell down to my butt, exhausted and mentally drained, crying out loud, "I'm gonna die, I really gonna die!!" but thanks to MHB who constantly encouraged me and physically pushed me from behind to move up and up and up until we reached the top. (Kheili mamnun, kheili kheili ziad)

Finally after almost 8 painful hours, we reached Laban Rata, which is the resting area before we head again to the peak of the mountain.



We had our dinner there as the weather turned extremely cold I had to cover myself like those eskimos in the north pole. There's no hot shower or any hot water back at the cabin, so imagine how me and MHB is cursing everytime we get our hands touched the water to wash our face and do our business there.

After getting ourselves a two hours not-so-good sleep, we gotta get up and geared ourselves up for the next mission, which is the peak! My body is so painful and the weather is so extremely cold, this is where I lost to Mount Kinabalu --> the scorching coldness. This second climb though is shorter distance than the previous but it's tougher. With barely any trees around to shield us from the unmerciless cold heavy wind, I hugged myself climbing up to the peak.

We managed to reach the Donkey Ears Peak, when at last I blurted to MHB;

Me: Do you wanna carry on? (cause I know I had enough already)
MHB: NO
Me: ~laughing~ seriously?
MHB: Yeah, I had enough, this is so crazy, not worth it.
Me: ~continue laughing~ oh thanks God

So we just sat there, enjoying the sunrise and I sang,

"If I die here, if I just die here, would you die here with me and just forget the world..."
~adapted from Snow Patrol's Chasing Cars





At last we made it on Mount Kinabalu, though not reaching to the peak, but it was close enough. Both of us think it was the best we can do and we're proud of it still.
Then down the mountain we go.



Mind you, going down is not as easy as you think.
We got our asses beaten by a group of old grandma and grandpas from China, how embarassing is that? VERY...

Mount Kinabalu --> CHECKED

Beautiful Sunset at Tanjung Aru Beach

It was just another beautiful day in Kota Kinabalu, Sabah.
After being deserted by the crew for our river cruise (they left out our name from the list, sob sob), for apologizing, they sent another crew to take us on a ride around Kota Kinabalu Town.

First stop is Bukit Bendera (I know Penang has one too, but this one don't have any tram going up the hill).









We took few shots then went to the next destination which is Tanjung Aru Beach.
We were lucky that we managed to reach the beach just before sunset and the weather was just awesome. Enjoy the pictures peeps!



















Dancing at beach during sunset --> CHECKED!