Ramadhan's here again..

Today is the first day of Ramadhan.. most of the people in the world knows that Ramadhan is a month for the muslim, like me, to fast.. we don't eat and drinks for the whole day.. from dawn till dusk.. the good thing about living in Malaysia during fasting month, the time is always around 6.30 am till 7.30pm.. it might change a few minutes earlier or later, but always in that range of time.. in other country, it really depends on the season.. and for this year, Ramadhan fall on Summer Season.. hmmmmmm longer day time .. so be strong my friends in other European or American countries .. i'm sure you can do it!!! :D  remember the Eid in Syawal, and you'll be ok..

Photo from Google Search

Ramadhan is a holy month for Muslim.. as were told by Quran,  a guidance for mankind, and clear proofs of the guidance, and the criterion (of right and wrong). And whosoever of you is present, let him fast the month, and whosoever of you is sick or on a journey, a number of other days. Allah desires for you ease; He desires not hardship for you; and that you should complete the period, and that you should magnify Allah for having guided you, and that perhaps you may be thankful (Wikipedia).

I'm really blessed to be in a family that still have religious value .. we were trained to fasting since I was 9yrs old.. and nowadays, I traveled around the world, meet lots of people, being around people (muslim and non muslim).. most of the time, I feel so blessed that although i'm not really a religious person, but my family always guide me if they think i'm a little bit lost in my daily journey.. i'm pretty sure if i don't have them in my life, i wouldn't be able to feel the beautiful of ramadhan and eid and tarawikh and many others.. i probably drag to the other way of life.. Islam is about the beauty in your heart.. if you don't have that, you'll feel that all the directions given by Allah and the Prophets sounds hard to do.. 5 times prayers, fasting and others.. but once you find the love, you know why you're doing it and you'll embrace it.. so i can give all my credit to my family for whom i become today (the good in me) .. and the bad in me, is all my bad judgement and decision in life.. ;)

AND

Today is also the first day i stayed at my apartment.. my new apartment .. it's a small place, and i always look at it as a big room, rather than small apartment.. so as a room, i don't have a kitchen.. not enough place to put my stuff .. and very limited area for any activities.. but deep inside me, i'm happy with the place.. it's mine!!!!!! my own place!!!! at the age of 35 (ahhhh now you know my age), i just got a place that can be call mine.. hahahaha ..

View from my apartment.. nice isn't it?? :D

Snow White and the Huntsman - Review

Review:
Storyline: 5 star (LOVE It!!!!)

Comments:

I love fairy tale movies as it always have a happy ending.. we need that in our life, or at least for me..  to feel that everything will be ok in the end.. i once heard a say:

"If it still not ok, it still not the end yet"

Or something like that.. hahahha you know what I mean.. you get it, right?

Taken from Google Image search

Anyway, last night I had a chance to watch the movie with office friends and it was not disapointing at all .. love every part in the movie, none of the time I felt bored.. 

However, the only thing that came into my mind during the whole movie, Kirsten is too "Bella" in twilight .. her acting as Bella in Twilight series was perfect.. someone fragile, sweet, clumsy, prone to accident... but in this movie, she was suppose to be someone sweet but strong.. and for me, she failed as Snow White.. she's pretty like snow white, no doubt about that, but she doesn't have the strong will inside her.. and the way she breath, OMG.. so "BELLA!!!!" .. not suitable for this movie at all ...

Snow White character is too heavy for her... (Taken from Google Image search)

 

 

 

 

Taken from Google Search Image

The rest were superb.. love Charlize Theron and her evil, yet sad eyes .. it makes me wonder why she has those sad eyes, and the question answered when they showed her child's flashback..but Revenge will never be a good option Revenna.. remember that.. :D

Taken from Google Search Image

 and who can deny the macho man, Mr Chris Hemsworth himself ... he's worth it.. hahahaa

Summary:

It's a PG13 movie in Malaysia, meaning, Parents Guide 13 and below.. above 13, hope they can think for themselves already.. but kids below 13 might ask lots of questions because this movie is nothing like they read in their Snow White and the 7 Dwarfs.. but the main characters were there, Snow White, the evil Step Mother (the Queen), the Dwarfs and of course, the mirror ... only this mirror had a 3D effect.. hahahahaa

Taken from google search

If I'm a parent, I might want my kids to remember Snow White as in the kids book.. less complicated.. hahahaa

Overall, love the movie, enjoyed the night.. thanks to my friends for the company.. :)O

My Family.. My Pride..

It's June already, and looking back at my blog, huh, only a few write ups in a month!!! Oh my english.. hahahhaa so bad.. but thank you to those that leave your comments in here because it does means a lot.. and to my sister too, who always support me in blogging.. I do love to write, but it does took lots of time to really think what to write..

 Ok, if you read my previous post, you know that I love Perhentian Island a lot .. yup, this place is like a second hometown for me .. i could just pack my bag and live there for a month or two, being jobless (provided i have enough money to go for diving and place rental though).. ahhahaaa

So, my family decided to go to the place I always went to experience the joy that I always, always talk about everytime I went to Perhentian.. the decision was made in February, and I booked 6 rooms at Fauna Beach Resort during my trip in February, for end of May .. and finally the date arrived and all of us convoyed to the location by cars from Gerik, Perak.

Just arrived .. Greens Attack!!!

The journey start from my hometown to Alor Setar, Kedah for my cousin's wedding. Then, all 4 cars straight to Gerik, Perak and spent the night there. Early morning the next day (really early like 2am), we starts our car and straight to Kuala Besut, Terengganu (the Jetty). The journey is about 4 hours in the total darkness .. but it was not bad provided that we talked all the way during the journey, thanks to the walkie-talkie technology.. so in total participants joined this trip are - 12 adults, 6 kids and 3 babies (below 3 yrs old). It was such a fun experience.. i'm so glad my family loved the place as much as I do .. although Fauna Beach Resort is not really a place for me and my friends to hang out, but it's a great place for family!!! I still prefer Perhentian Kecil or Seahorse at Perhentian Besar for my diving activities, but Fauna gave us a really good deal for family vacation due to its private beach and friendly staff .. and furthermore, we cooked all the meals ourselves due to cost saving.. breakfast: bread and canned sardine, lunch: rice and canned sardine, dinner: maggi mee (instant noodle) .. hahahaa ... simple but enough to feed the whole family.. only once in a while we ate at the small shops by the beach for tea or late supper, while the kids busy playing with water, or busy sleeping..

Good Bye time.. sob sob sob

Sincerely, I would encourage family to do family trip at least once a year, to take you out from your busy schedule and get to know your family.. for our family, we lived in different state, like myself and 2 of my sisters live nearby, so I'm closed to their kids, but others who lived in different state, sometimes I felt guilty not to know them close enough.. they will grow up not being closed to me.. but in the end, nothing much I can do .. so I used this time to get to know them, and to let them know that I love them as much as the others.. although I only saw them once or twice a year..

the Kids really enjoying the boat ride to snorkeling area

Hello Mr Turtle..

Cooking Session

They always at the beach or in the water .. the only time they are not in the water was during sleeping time

Heaven on Earth continue...

I promise in my previous blog  to continue about my previous journey to the place that I like to call "Heaven on Earth" ..

Before I start, I just want to keep my memory in this blog, about my recent update..   I just got my Master Degree in Computer Science.. another life KPI checked.. did the study just to fill up my time and learn new things.. now I start thinking of taking certification in Law, as my current work requires me to look into Malaysian Law from time to time..  

Wuhuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu... done it!!!

Ok.. back to my journey to Semporna Islands... after we left Mabul Island, we stayed at Semporna Town for another 2 days.. we then went for Islands Hopping.. visit one island to another.. the first island was Bohey Dulang... derived from bohi (bohey) meaning water and dulong or dulang meaning plate-like water vessel. This refers either to the series of pools on the slopes of the island, or to the main saltwater lagoon (Piper, 1981; Guntavid & Galaip, 1998).

There's a legend about a beautiful Princess named Salamia who occupied the place until now.. but luckily when we went there, we didn't find her.. but the place is breathtaking.. if you get the chance to go there, please take the 30 mins climb to the hill to view the beautiful islands around it.. your agent should arrange the permit to get into the island.. there will be a guide to bring you to the top of the hill.. it's for your safety as there's no one live on the island..

breathtaking view...

Next, we stopped at another island - Mantabuan Island.. again, I'm in heavennnnn (^_^) ... no one live on this island either.. but there were few sea Bajau people live around the island.. they live on  boat and move around from island to island.. because of the islands are really close to each other, the ocean is shallow with lots of corals .. you need a permit to come here as it's a preserve area.. it's so clean and the water is so clear.. we take our time to adore the beautiful scenery in front of us, and enjoying the time snorkelling and taking photos.. no one else were there, we got the whole island to ourselves... lovely!!!!

I wrote this quote when I'm in the boat to another island:

"Life is awesome.. if you stop running , everything around you will start to look and feel beautiful .. so stop.. take a moment, look around you.. the people around you .. the lovely sun rise.. feel the joy .. and you'll agree with what I said" ..

Magai Island is the next destination .. this small island has around 50-100 population of Bajau people (sea people) .. some of them build their house on the water, and some on the beach.. we brought some food, clothes and cookies for the people, and they were so excited to get it.

Magai Island

My camera is out of battery at this time... arghhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh .. it was such a wasteeeee.. so I have to kidnap some photos from my friend's camera..

Distributing donations on a boat.. a wonderful experience (Picture credit to Padil Othman - a professional photographer)

"They might not have what we have .. but they must not forget, they are gifted with this beautiful life given by the sea .. They might not have any gadget, not even electricity, but the heavenly ocean view with lots of heavenly islands .. is the greatest gift of all" ..

I wish I can do more...


The place was also shown in this video clip by Stacy:

Heaven on Earth..

I took a medical leave today because my body has this itchy rashes .. not sure what allergy, or reason, but it sure made my hand busy scracthing.. took a medicine this morning, and been sleeping for few hours ..

So, where my journey this month??

I went to the most beautiful place I ever been .. the islands in Semporna.. it was so superb, I don't have to do anything but just admiring the beautiful beaches and scenary..

I love the beach, ocean and the creatures inside it.. by this time, you must've realized the journey i've been mostly to the island.. Perhentian Island, Redang, Lang Tengah are located in Terengganu (been to all of it) .. thinking to visit Tioman Island (will be there one day) .. and Sabah Islands..This time, the journey was more towards spending time with friends ... only did one dive this time, but the snorkeling and hanging out with friends were enough to keep me smiling until now ..

Semporna is located about one hour journey from Tawau (where your flight will land if you come from KL) .. it's a small town but busy with lots of sea activities.. it's more likely a fisherman town, so do expect smelly environment of fish.. but once you're on the boat to any of its island, you'll be amazed on how blue the skies is, white clouds and clear ocean .. it's really really clear it makes lots of colors, light blue, dark blue, turqoise .. beautiful ..

Ok, let's talk a bit about  the journey .. we went in a big group, but just enough to fit in 1 boat to travel with the kids .. really nice and funny people to be around, I would go anywhere with this group over and over again .. they are also one of the reason why the journey was such a memorable one ..

We took the 7am flight from LCCT (Air Asia) straight to Tawau .. reached Tawau around 9.30am, transportation was arranged earlier to take us to Semporna .. oh ya, forgot to mention, this journey was arranged by Rina (local people and friend of us) and Padil Othman (another friend who always traveled to Semporna for work) ... so THANK YOU so MUCH to them for the arrangement.. back to the journey .. about 1 hour in the car, we reached Semporna, and straight away had our lunch at the local restaurant..

We were surprised by a group of kids asking for food .. asking for my left-over fried fish that I'm about to throw away .. I don't know how to feel, and so does my friends.. so we end up buying them food, giving them what ever food we can provide and we can see from their face how happy they are.. they are just small kids and hungry..

Bajau kids eating our left-over lunch

But then we move on.. sad that we couldn't do much for them.. I did wish I can take one and bring back home with me .. put him/her in to school and give proper life.. but again, who am I to say that my life is better than them?? who am I to say that I'm happier than them.. these innocent children probably happier in their own way.. they smile and run everywhere without any problem.. They will be ok as long as they stay here in this small town .. don't go out in this crazy world.. sometimes simple life is better than our hectic life.. I'm not complaining about my current life, i love how my life is set by Allah.. What I'm trying to say is that, happiness is in your heart, not your pocket, your car, your bank etc.. you have to be happy, because life is too complicated not too.. ;) anyway .. i don't expect you to think like me though.. hehehheee..

After few arrangements with the travel agency.. signing few papers, money exchange hands .. we took a boat to Mabul Island, the first island we going to stay for the day..

Mabul Island

The place that we stayed more like a squatters area where local Bajau people stayed.. Mabul is widely known for its expensive places to stay .. they have few beautiful places to stay that were built on the water that can cost up to RM1000 per night per head.. we stayed at Seahorse Sipadan, like a backpackers lodge that probably cost us around RM100 per night.. it includes breakfast , lunch and dinner.. not bad, and I don't mind staying like a backpacker .. I slept in worst places, so this is ok.. :)

The water is so clear although there's lots of trash in it.. you'll feel like staying in someone else backyard, so what do you expect.. trashes all over the place.. I didn't go to the toilet in the morning to do my ritual business due to that.. hahahahaaa .. but again, I'm not complaining because I used to it.. and the people here are local people .. they don't have TV, hardly have electricity ... so if you didn't pay RM1000 per night, don't expect too much from the place .. BUT .. I can assure you that the snorkelling was worth it.. they'll bring you to nice places where you can see turtle and other creatures.. it was awesome!!!!

First Snorkeling - Kapalai Resort

2nd Snorkeling - Lobster Wall

Mabul and Semporna Islands also known as divers' heaven .. the climax place of course Sipadan Island.. didn't go there this time.. maybe next diver's trip .. this trip is more like an introduction to the place.. getting to know the people and fishes.. ;)

I did one dive with friends taking the Discovery Dive (for beginners) .. and one dive with other divers.. not really the best experience but it was lots of fun to see my friends trying this sport .. they probably will be a real diver soon.. hopefully :D

That's it.. our short journey to Mabul.. but the whole journey didn't end yet.. this is only the first 2 days.. 2 more beautiful days to continue.. will write again in the next blog..

Good Bye Mabul.. We'll meet again!!!!!