Broga Hill Experience and Some Suggestions

So I had this bucket list that I aim to fulfill. One of it is to attempt Mount Kinabalu in Sabah.

To realise the bucket list, my husband and I have made the arrangements to attempt Mount Kinabalu in early February 2015. So in less than a month to go, training is most definitely in the schedule to ensure that I will be able to complete my attempt. The trip will be with a group of friends who are a mixture of fit (jogs and runs for marathons regularly) definitely not me and unfit (definition of a good work out is brisk walking in shopping mall every weekend) people like me.

So with one of the fit people suggesting some training during a few weekends prior to the trip, the group decided to attempt the Broga Hill first. For me, the Broga Hill hike is an eye opener. Putting aside the fact that we were put to shame as some people carry their babies (crazy) like with Baby Bjorn kinda thing and some 3-4 year olds who can literally and figuratively run to the peak with abundance of energy to spare as if they are the offspring of Superman should he married Wonderwoman instead of Lois Lane. Fortunately, I made it to the peak with my husband after abundance of sweats and a bottle of 100 plus.

For a newbie hiker like me, I am listing down some suggestions to avoid errrr being put to shame by that 3-4 year olds mentioned above :p. The list are as follows:

1) Ensure that you start early (start hiking at 6:30 am or earlier preferably) to catch the sun rise (advisable even if you don't care two hoots about the view etc, do it for the sake that it will be scorching hot right after approximately 8:30);

2) The ascending hike will take about 45 (if u are fit) or more than that if you are not fit. I personally took about an hour and 10 minutes;

3) Make sure that you have a proper breakfast, but nasi lemak etc may not be best. Suggest to take muesli bars with Milo or something light but nutritious before the hike. This could be crucial as one of my friend had a hard time during the hike as he experienced light headed and unable to continue to the peak;

4) Make sure you have proper shoes or at least shoes with good grip, as the path is not even and some areas are quite slippery especially if it rains the night before;

5) Bring a glove. It helps as you may need to rely on rope on certain areas;

6) Bring a cap/hat because it will get hot as mentioned above;

7) Don't forget water, 100 Plus, Sneakers or energy bar, slippers in case you need them, small towel to wipe your sweat and a change of clothes (in case you need it);

8) Bring your own plastic bag to ensure that you manage your own rubbish. Don't litter the place;

9) There will a lot of people during the weekends, so expect human traffic on your way up and down.

10) Have fun! :)

These are some photos of the place and ahemmm ahemm the achievement marks ... haha...

As mentioned earlier human traffic! Actually it was more that was not captured properly in this photo. Ascend and descend early to avoid this.

The first peak, the hardest but it gets a lot easier after that.

The second peak, easy peasy lemon squeezy. :)

Breathtaking view.

The peak. Not the best pose but who cares right. haha...

See i told you more human traffic. :)

Anyhow, it is a Saturday well spent, even if you don't feel like attempting Mount Kinabalu anytime soon. It is literally a fresh option rather than the normal weekend shopping mall visit. :)

xoxo

From Young Thinkers to where?...

My 2 years 8 months daughter has been attending play school at Young Thinkers in Mutiara Damansara for a few months now. We have decided to send her to a playschool as her "bibik" has gone back to Indonesia for good since the last Hari Raya Aidilfitri and that this school is located nearby my in-laws place, which makes it convenient for them to help fetch Ayleia from school daily and stay with them until both of us come back from work. Ayleia seems to enjoy her time there and looks eager to go to school daily. Despite having problem to take a bath very early in the morning, she seems to be more up beat if I mention to her that I'm sending her to school so she needs to get ready.

She has been adjusting well at the school and we were quite impressed with her vocabulary now as compared to before enrolling her into the school. I'm quite glad with her development and that she is able to socialise a bit more than before (eventhough more improvement needed in this area hehe).

Nonetheless, most good things doesn't last and now my in-laws are moving to somewhere nearby Ara Damansara which conveniently coincide with my office relocating to Oasis, Ara Damansara, I know this sentence may seem to be a bit oxymoron as "good things doesn't last" and "convenient" is written together (will explain further in the following sentences). In terms of logistic planning, it is superb as now it is more convenient for us to fetch her as compared to travel all over the Klang Valley daily. To clarify further on my statement above, "good things that didn't last" mentioned above is the school, as now we need to scout for another school that can meet our expectation and a place that Ayleia would enjoy her time while her parents are away at work and not forgetting the convenient that we will be enjoying in terms of logistics.

I have scouted a few schools and have narrowed it down to the options as follow:

1) IOP Canopy Preschool, Ara Damansara (nearby office);
2) Real Kids, Bukit Jelutong (nearby house);
3) Brainy Bunch, TTDI Jaya (nearby house).

However, I have yet to decide on any as we are still open for better options (in terms of the quality of the syllabus and logistics from our house/work place and also I would try to avoid any school that has any bad comments (yup, I googled vigorously whenever I have the time, and also asked around... better be safe than sorry).

At the moment, I am inclined towards IOP and have called to set an assessment session (3 days session). Will update more should I have made a decision.

xoxo

Hello Kitty Town JB

Being a girly girl and having a little girl of my own, we truly enjoy this place!!

However "the daddy" finds this place a bit too girlish, pinkish, sweet and he needs a dose of action packed movie to bring back the manliness in him after our visit! Lol...

Being Malaysian we were given some privileges by having a lower rate charged as the entrance fee of RM55 per adult. This charge is applicable for entry to the Hello Kitty Town only, if you would like to have access to the Little Big Club (Barney, Thomas the train & Angelina Ballerina), Malaysian rate is RM85 for each adult. We decided only to go to the Hello Kitty Town as our little girl doesn't seem to have any affiliation to any of the characters figure there. It turns out quite well as our time there is quite limited because of some family matters that we need to attend to right after.

Also, I recommend for visitors to do their lunch at Lat's Place which is a few shops a way from the attraction, not only because they offered free drinks per entrance ticket but also because we enjoyed the ambience there. The set up is truly like you have jumped into one of the pages of Lat's cartoon magazine! And oh, there were some interaction between the cartoon character and the patrons. You have to experience it to believe it.

All in all, I find that this is a place where little girls and the little girl at heart to fulfil their Hello Kitty cutesy pie fantasies but may not be very entertaining of fulfilling in any way for boys, unless they are an avid Hello Kitty fans.

These are some of the photos taken at the place and during the performance. The show is performed on timely basis, therefore make sure that you don't missed it!

Xoxo

Why do I take MBA

Coming from a legal background, people keep asking me why do I take MBA?

My answer to the question differs everytime not because that I am clueless in living my life or that I have so much time that I just needed something to do to fill the glaring lacuna; but mainly because it depends on my mood at the time when the question was asked.

The main objective or main goal or main reason or you can say the crux of my intention in taking this course is simple; I want to gain more knowledge and enhance myself.

Once the main objective has been established, people rarely stop there, they will normally proceed to ask these questions below (or sometimes even more questions):

1) Why MBA and not LLM as it is quite a normal progression from LLB?
2) Will the MBA guarantees me a hefty pay raise and a promotion?
3) Why do I sacrifice my time, family in pursuing this course?

Again my answer will depend on my mood when the questions were asked.

But generally for question number one, I just feel that at this point in time in my life, I want to have an MBA and NO, I don't have any other brilliant reply apart from I just feel that way. Or when I really am not in the mood I will just answer, "I don't know"... hehehe

For question number 2, my answer will always be NO. Not wanting to sound geek-ish or nerd-ish but I really like studying new things for self development, always wanting to learn new language(s), new set of skills etc etc. After researching for courses from the internet, MBA seems to fit the bill to quench my thirst for general knowledge as the syllabus covers almost every aspect of running a corporation. I am quite certain that MBA will be able to fill what I needed to know, for now. After completing one semester of it, I have no doubt that this is what I need, now. Who knows, I may also consider to pursue LLM or even PhD after completing this course. Que sera, sera.

For question number 3, whether you agree or disagree or agree to disagree, most things in life doesn't come to you easily without some sort of challenges and sacrifices that need to be made along the way. This goes to taking MBA and my guess is, as well as other courses or any other challenges in life. I know that I need to make a lot of sacrifices and I do feel blessed that my husband is supportive of my dreams and because of that I know that this is something that I must do passionately and not take things for granted. In other words, I better work my butt's off for the exam!

Nonetheless, despite the solid support system that I have been receiving (ie. hubby), there are still one or two people out there who still think that if it doesn't have a guaranteed return of investment (ROI) then why do I even bother. Not to mention having a two-year old who needs attention plus a husband, a full time job, house chores, family commitments etc etc etc. For some, to my disappointment, I was deemed a selfish person. Yes, this sometimes make me feel down and alone when my initial bona fide intentions were misconstrued. However, as mentioned by some supportive friends out there; this is all a mind game. Challenges come in many forms. Therefore, whenever I am in doubt, I will always do a simple self psychoanalysis to convince myself that furthering studies not only in doing MBA, but in almost all disciplines will always have its advantages if your intention is pure. The more challenges you face, the sweeter the success will be.

I am not sure whether my boss will ever give me any increment or promotion that seem to be the measurement of a good ROI upon getting the MBA, but I do believe that at the very least I will be more knowledgeable today than I did before. Hey, I can even use ROI in my normal conversation now, see, I do know slightly more today. And for me, that is good enough, anything more than that is deemed as a bonus.

xoxo

About FB and IG postings...

Seriously sometimes I feel as though am I the only one who are having financial constraints ie have to calculate for each and every purchase and all luxury items need to come from months of savings or even years... etc etc etc...

But after thinking about it for a while, my perception on this issue may be derived from all the FB or IG postings of friends, families and acquaintances of all their European trips, or luxury island get aways, designer handbags purchases, luxury cars, designer luxury homes etc etc and the list goes on and on.

It leads to some questions, such as, do people really spend according to their means or do some of them overspend their money, do most people in my FB and IG are rich or do these people actually spend money that they don't have to buy things that they think they need and at the end of the day suffering in silence with debt but yet posting all these material happiness to entice others to do the same or even to have some kind of adrenaline rush knowing that people in their FB or IG are actually green in envy seeing all these?

The above questions and arguments are mostly the frustrated me kind of talk as here I am trying very hard to meet the monthly house mortgage, and car instalment, and utilities bills, and child care monthly expenses, and formula milk, and disposable diapers, and grocery shopping, and taxes and etc etc etc and the list again goes on and on and on. Nonetheless, on better days and a more positive side of me thinking, maybe people ARE really good in their financial and they are posting all these just to share their happiness with all of their friends, families, acquaintances and even stalkers???...

But then again, these are my friends, families, acquaintances, stalkers (Mental Note: damn I need to revisit the kind of people that have access to my private life again) so who am I to judge them as most of them are just sharing a piece of their happiness with me. I am also human, I have shared thousands pictures of my daughter from the first day that she was born and all the other pictures or news or ideas or ramblings that I personally think is interesting. I am sure there are a lot of people in my list of friends find it not as exciting as I do. To that, I am sincerely sorry for cluttering your newsfeed.

Trying to spread some positivity here, to all (especially to my self), try not to post too many stuffs on social network, or set a limit like once or twice a day for the hardcore or once a week for those who have stronger will power and try not to judge or take everything at face value. Maybe some of them have other problems that they don't have the courage to share and the only way for them to be happy is by sharing whatever that makes them happy and to make other people happy too. If that is your reason, I sincerely thank you.

Positive vibes all around!

xoxo

Life Choices

Have you personally feel that the "angel" and the "devil" inside of you are having a deadlock argument on what action should you take ie the "bad" or the "good"? I'm sure most of us will encounter this kind of situation if not always, at least one time or another.

When we are having this internal dilemma, it is always good to have a voice of reason giving us a third opinion; the good, the bad and the in between. It is not easy to make everyone happy, infact this is one of the most daunting task when you are at a cross road or having split thoughts on what is the best action to take to make this world or more specifically your life a happier place to be in. This is where the "voice of reason" plays a very vital role. Therefore, your "the voice of reason" should be someone who has an objective, positive and unbias opinions on things in general. Finding the best "voice of reason" is not an easy task, but I believe that we should trust our gut feeling as over the years we have or "should" have mastered the art of seeing a person beyond skin deep or evaluate a person. If you just do not have a gut feeling or any basic sense of evaluating a person, then I suggest the "voice of reason" should be a person that you have known your whole life, like your guardians, parents, grandparents, close and trusted family members or friends.

At the end of the day, as a normal human being we will be facing every types of challenges every day of our life. For someone who thinks that they have never had to evaluate anything or never had to face any difficulties in life, I shall say that good for you... but just be prepared as you may not be well equipped to handle the complexity of the world of the common people.

Nonetheless, whether you are well equipped or not, I believe that one has to choose wisely as you are what you choose to be.

Happy Friday!

xoxo :)

Reluctantly Skinny

Most people adhere to the code that it is very impolite for one to comment on a person's weight. But this would normally be referred to comments being made to people who are overweight. It would be deemed very cruel, discriminatory and inhumane to make a person feel that their excess weight is not an acceptable standard of aesthetic appearance a person who is deemed normal be perceived.

However, this is not an article of that sort. On the flip side, this is an article about common people who generally thinks that it is OK, acceptable, funny or some may think that their being nice and kind by commenting or trying to be blunt to an underweight person about their ermmm... lack of weight. The common people that I am referring to here is normally random person, person that you have never met before, person that you hardly know, person that don't know you, that don't care about you, people who is deemed a STRANGER. Yes, this type of person.

No, I am not trying to whine and complain about my weight here as I have learn to accept the fact that I have always been underweight since I can remember. It has never been a problem to me and I am quite happy and feel blessed as I know some people who are struggling with weight is having a really hard time trying to keep fit and keep their weight in control to avoid any diseases or health issues which is related to overweight.

Having said that, my main point in writing this article is that I an frowning upon people who freely give their unwarranted comments on one's lack of weight by saying such as "you will look prettier if you put on a few kilos" or "you must eat more, as you don't look good being skinny"etc. Commenting or I even dare call it criticising a person underweight-ness is as cruel as discriminatory and as unacceptable as doing the same to an overweight person. It is bad enough that being underweight has always been associated with overzealous dieting and exercising, self destructing, refusing good food, vain, selfish and all the other negative connotations that come along with it, people assume that all skinny people do this willingly. The fact is that, some people are just born skinny and have high metabolism which make their body process all the fat intake quickly than some other people.

This is just the reality of life that some people are skinny and some are overweight. I advocate that each one of us appreciate our own body shapes, sizes and weights and just concentrate on maintaining a healthy lifestyle instead of trying to be some one that we are not meant to be.

Yes, everyone has their own vision of a perfect body and the media is not helping by parading the blessed supermodels with the perfect face, body and skin as the ultimate beauty hence the ultimate goal that everyone must wish to replicate and dream for. I wish that all of us can digress from all that superficial portrayal of beauty. As I believe that everyone is beautiful in their own way no matter how much one weighs.

And I also advocate that if you have nothing good to say, you better say nothing at all.

Happy Friday everyone. When you feel content on the inside, your beauty will transcend in the outside. And yes, I will eat a bar of chocolate after this. :)

xoxo