Nathan's 5th birthday celebrations

It was Nathan's 5th birthday!! His daddy, D threw him a birthday party and I was one of the invitees. =)

His daddy brought us to a seafood restaurant near Karawaci, about 45 minutes away from Jakarta city. I was surprised to find out that we could choose our seafood just like shopping in a wet market!!

See, there were baskets for us to grab whichever seafood we wanted from the glass tanks

There were a wide varieties of crabsSsss.. Owwwhhh.... I love crabs!!!

M was checking out the crab... She said 'This one goes well with Sos Padang'... LOL!!! Yum! (But the crab was struggling for its life)

I was checking out the fishes... F.R.E.S.H!! We asked the cook to cook 2 of them for us...

M was happily playing with 2 dead baby sharks... FYI, we did not eat sharks or shark fins... We were not that cruel...

When Mrs D finished chosen the fishes, crabs, prawns, cuttlefish and clams, she instructed the cook on the flavours and etc. About half an hour later, the waiters brought out the dishes. Yummm!!! The dishes were great!! The seafood were so fresh and juicy, especially the crab.

All of us ate so much and I was so full! After that, we brought out Nathan's birthday cake. It was an ice-cream chocolate cake. This cake was similar to Secret Recipe's Chocolate Indulgence. The chocolate flavour was so thick!

He was so happy *(^_^)*

Even the waiters and waitresses sang him birthday songs!! Happy birthday to you... :)

D sent us home after the celebrations. Nathan was exhausted and felt asleep in the car before we reached home.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, NATHANEL... =)

*Cheers*

Exhausted day 2 @ Pulau Tidung, Jakarta

On our second day in Pulau Tidung, we woke up and found lots of mosquitoes bites on our skin. Aww... We should have applied some insect repellent. =(

After clean-up, we had our breakfast near the beach. The beach area was quite a distance from our guest house. So, we could either cycle, ride a motorcycle or trishaw to the beach area. All 4 of my mates decided to ride a bicycle to the beach. However, I had refused to cycle as I had a bad experience on the evening before.

I was trying my best to cycle on the uneven and narrow road. Due to lack of experience and pressures from other bikers, I lost balance and felt from the bicycle (others honked me and tried to overtake me). First, I rammed into a tree. Then, I felt into the bushes for 2 times. :'( I was hurt and my slippers were torn. Anyway, I still rode slowly until I reached my destination on the previous day.

In order to avoid more scratches on my leg, I pleaded B to fetch me and he did! Hehe!! Thank god, he is pretty good in riding bicycle. According to him, he used to fetch people to school with bicycle during his school days.

The bicycles and us =)

After we parked our bicycles at the parking bays, we walked towards the beach. Although the sand was not as soft as those I touched in Andaman Langkawi, the view was actually very nice.

We posed at the relaxing beach side

There was a coral bridge, which gathered with a lot of rocks and dead corals. I am not sure if this bridge was formed naturally or built by human. As you can see from the picture, there were trees grown in between the coral bridge.

The coral bridge and 2 trees

The coral bridge was not connected. So, we had to cross the water too!

We managed to cross over

We walked to the end of the bridge and enjoyed the cold wind blew towards us. We could see some corals in the clear water too! Besides, we also checked out others who were riding on banana boats, and later got tossed into the sea.

After that, we dropped by a warong (food stall) and grabbed some drinks. I had a cup of Mocha for IDR3,000 (approximately RM1). The drinks was not bad but there were some residual mocha powder at the bottom. I found most of Indonesia's instant powder drinks do not dissolve properly in the hot water. So, I still prefer to import my own 3 in 1 Milo, Nescafe and cereal drinks from KL.

A picture of us resting

After we had our lunch, we packed our belongings and gathered at the jetty. We were supposed to catch the 12noon boat. However, our travel agent bought us the wrong tickets. We got to stay for another hour for our return boat to Jakarta.

Sadly, the boat was delayed!!! I thought only AirAsia will delay. =( We got no choice but to wait under the sun for a few hours before we can get onto our boat. On the way back, we couldn't get a place at the upper deck. 5 of us were cramped at the lower deck. It was stuffy and hot. That was one of the longest 2.5 hours I ever had!!

But I seem to be still energetic after a long day... :p

Photo Credits: BWK

*Cheers*

Wonderful snorkeling trip @ Tidung Island, Jakarta

Last month I traveled to one of the Thousand islands located approximately 60km from Jakarta -- Pulau Tidung. It is situated in the in the area of Kepulauan Seribu Selatan, in the bay of Jakarta. The island consists of two islands, namely Tidung Besar (Big Tidung) and Tidung Kecil (Small Tidung). Of course we took a boat there instead of swimming over to the island. XD

My colleagues and I took a Blue Bird (taxi) to the jetty very early in the morning. Actually I was still half asleep at that moment. However, I was awoke by the stinky smell while we were passing by the fish market. Then, we walked along the wet and uneven streets before reaching the jetty. We stood next to some boats while waited for W to confirm the correct boat to Tidung Island.

There were a lot of people at the jetty. Some of them were eating their favourite Pop Mie (instant noodles in cup) at the side

Ten minutes later, W found our double-decker boat and we boarded the boat. We were quite shocked that the boat was bench-less/ chair-less. OMG! We had to sit on the floor! We didn't see any life jacket around. Luckily B went hunted for 5 life jackets from the bottom deck of the boat. Even though none of the passengers bothered to get the life jacket and B said 'safety first'. Yea, he was right. We didn't care even others were laughing at us. Hahaha!

We were happily sitting on the floor and snapped a group picture

2 and a half hours later, we finally reached our destination - Pulau Tidung. By that time, we were so sweaty and our butts were painful (the floor was hard!!). But we were happy to see the beautiful island in front of us.

B snapped the bridge connecting the big island and small island

Look at the clear blue sea. Aren't it beautiful?

When we got onto the island, we check-in our hotel guest house. Goodness! We requested for a 2 bedrooms guest house, but we ended up with a 2-bedded room. The room has only 2 queen size beds. So, both guys shared a bed, while 3 girls shared the other bed. We had to bear with the run-down guess house.

After we settled down and had our lunch, we proceeded to our snorkeling activity! Wheee~~~ That was my very first snorkeling experience! I was seriously excited with it. We took a small boat to the middle of sea. The sound of waves were covered by the noises from the boat engine. However, I still enjoyed the cold breeze. =)

I was tieing up my hair and getting ready for our snorkeling activity!

For the first time I put myself into the water, I felt a little bit scared. I struggled for a while before I can get into the icy cold sea water! Later, when I saw the corals, they were so beautiful! It was worth it!!

We posed in the sea :)

Our boat operator gave us 3 stops altogether. There were small waves in the first stop, while the waves in the second stop were very strong. We even saw some baby jelly fishes!! One of them bit M and she was screaming for help in the middle of sea. For me, I had not enough strength to swim forward and the strong wave kept pushing me away. Every 3 inches I swam forward, I got pushed back for 1 inch. So, I was getting further and further away from my mates. In the end, I shouted.. "HELP!!!" Then, Mr C swam over and rescued me. Hahaha!!

In the third stop, the water current was much calmer and the corals were even more beautiful! We also saw the colourful fishes swimming freely in the sea. After the 3 stages of snorkeling experience, all of us were exhausted. We dropped by some food stalls located in Pulau Payung for a rest. We had some snacks and coconut drinks before heading back to our guest house.

Even though I suffered sun burnt after that event, I didn't regret that. This is definitely a great experience and I am looking forward for the next snorkeling trip. Hehehe! Pulau Redang/ Pulau Perhentian anyone??


Photo credits: BWK

*Cheers*

I spent HALF A MILLION on hair!!

I have not done anything to my hair for quite some time. The last time I cut my hair was about a year ago, which I chopped off my my hair from waist length to shoulder length.

This is how I looked like a year ago =)

Now, my hair has grown longer and it got messy and messier (You will agree with me if you have seen the pictures in my recent posts). So, I decided to restyle my hair a little. I went to a famous hair saloon, Johnny Andrean at a nearby shopping mall - Mal Ambassador. Although there were plenty of hair saloons in the mall, I thought this saloon should be more reliable as they have a few hundreds branches all over Indonesia.
 

Firstly, a shampoo girl washed my hair. Then, a hair stylist approached me and recommended a layer cut for me. I replied with my limited Bahasa Indonesian 'Bisa...' (Okay, can), followed with a wide smile. :) After the hair cut, I found it was so short! She quickly brought a mirror and showed me that my hair is still long at the back. It looked shorter at the side as that was a layered style. Well, I had accepted that.

Later, she applied some vitamins onto my hair, followed with some hair rebonding cream. The whole process of rebonding took about 4 hours. I felt bored while waiting for my hair to get done. In between the waiting time, I grabbed some magazines and flipped for the pictures. Sadly I am not so good in Bahasa Indonesia, but the pictures do tell a thousand words. Hahah! Other than that, I was playing with my phone and I snapped a picture of myself!

I looked stupid but I had nothing better to do. LOL!

Half an hour later, another shampoo guy washed off the cream and blown my hair dry. Then, my hair stylist came back with a rebonding tool and slowly ironed my hair straight. I was hoping that she won't burn my hair. LOL!

It wasn't done after the ironing. Right after that, she applied some cream onto my hair. I have no idea what cream was it. I supposed it was hair straightening cream. By the time she finished applying the cream, it was just in time for the Muslims to break fast. So, the crowded hair saloon had became empty and quiet in a sudden. Most of them had gone for dinner. While waiting for them to come back and continue to work on my hair, I started to eat the tidbits that M bought me. She was afraid that I might die of hunger. Hahhaha!!

About half an hour later, a shampoo guy washed my hair again. My hair was washed 3 times for the past 4 hours. *Phew* Lastly, the hair stylist ironed my hair for the second time. Voila!! Now, my hair becomes much straighter and smoother.

Is my hair look better now? :p

The bill came out to be.... closed to HALF A MILLION!! Of course it was in Rupiah. Hahaha! It was approximately RM 160 only. So, I thought it is quite worth it and I hope it will last long.

*Cheers*

20 Ways to Create More Time

I saw an interesting post by nimmy78, who is one of the Citizen Blog bloggers. She found 20 tips on how to create more time from a Christian publication magazine. I thought the tips are very useful, especially for those who are living in the fast pace and competitive city.

A print screen of Citizen blog by The Star Online

20 Ways to Create More Time

1. Keep a daily to-do-list
• I do keep my daily or sometimes weekly to-do-list (it depends on my workload)
  
2. Synchronise your calendar
• I don't think I have so many appointments to manage yet
  
3. Write an "Action Plan"
• This is one of my tasks at work
  
4. Generally schedule your most important tasks
5. Set goals over which you have a large degree of control
6. Acknowledge that you will not have time for everything
• Prioritisation is very important
  
7. Keep a time log
8. Schedule less
9. Minimise interruptions
• I have temporary stopped using my MSN for quite some times
  
10. Schedule the most challenging work for the time of day when you are most energetic and alert
11. Do the most unpleasant task as soon as possible
12. Allow time for the unexpected
13. Use transition time
• I do have lots of transition time every fortnightly when I am waiting for my flight (AirAsia always delay for at least 30 minutes!!) 
14. Apply the 80/20 rule of thumb
• One of the McKinsey ways, which I learned during work assignments 2.5 years ago
  
15. When you feel overwhelmed with work, write each task on an index card
16. Periodically, take time off to 'recharge' your batteries
• Holidays!! Cameron Highlands will be my next trip! =) 
  
17. Think on paper
• Scribble/ brainstorm your thoughts on paper 
  
18. Don't be a perfectionist
19. Work like a professional
20. Be flexible

Source: Citizen Blog, The Star 

Many of us find it difficult to manage our limited time. Very often we would wish to have more time in order to meet our project deadlines/ more free time for leisure/ relaxations, friends and family. However, if we successfully pick up some of the above 20 tips, we may be able to work more efficiently and effectively. Then, we will have more time for others! Let's start with keeping a daily to-do-list first. =)

*Cheers*

Company outing @ Pantai Anyer

Last month, I traveled to Pantai Anyer with my Indo colleagues. Pantai Anyer is located in the west coast of Java about 120km from Jakarta. That was the first time I traveled to an island in Indonesia. Although I was very excited before the trip, I was praying hard not to get sunburn again. LOL!!

A group of 50++ of us gathered near our office building early in the morning. Some of us were busy transferring the presents (for lucky draws) and other goods from the office to the bus, while others were busy distributing breakfast boxes. It was quite tiring as we had to carry down boxes of stuffs from the 12th floor to the bus, which was parked quite far away. *Sweat*...

When I got onto the bus, I was quite surprised that the bus has 5 seats in a row!! Altogether it can fit more than 50 passengers! If I am not wrong, Malaysia's express bus can fit a maximum of 48 passengers only. This is seriously something uncommon to us - Malaysian. On top of that, this air-conditioned bus was fitted with an LCD flat screen TV!! Its for our karaoke session. However, we forgot to bring some English CDs... So, there were Indonesian songs all the way. I enjoyed the songs but I can't sing along. How sad.

I snapped a picture of the bus (Actually the aisle was very narrow due to the extra seat)

On the way to Pantai Anyer, we passed by a lot of small and bumpy roads. We were like sitting on a rocky boat instead of a bus. I was quite dizzy at times *(>_<)* After a few hours (I cant remember exactly how long it took to reach our destination), we finally arrived at Caritas Resort. *Phew!!* 

After some group activities and lunch, we proceed to our respective chalets. It was an attap roof chalet (a house built with attap leaves) with 4 rooms. I shared the chalet with another 7 colleagues, while M was my room mate. We were lucky enough to get a room with an attached-bathroom (It was assigned to us, we didn't choose). Hahah!

While we were waiting for the next activity, we entertained ourselves with the camera. *snap snap snap* We kept snapping pictures like nobody business...

B is the thorn among the pretty roses XD

Later, all of us were grouped into 5 teams and the games had began. Firstly, it was just some light warm up exercises. Then, it follows by other games that required more energy.

I participated in a game where we tied up our legs as shown in the picture below. Then, we had to 'run' to the other end, picked up a ping pong and ran back to the starting point. Although my team ended to be the second last team to arrive the finishing line, we did not fall down like one of the groups. We were slow and steady. Hahaha!! After the game, my legs were hurt. Probably, the rope that tied our legs was tied too tight. =(

I was busy discussing our so called strategies with my team. Why do we still lose? Blame my short legs. LOL!

There were another game that required us to make the longest human-bridge. We tried our best to connect ourselves with everything we can find at that time. For example, I took out my slippers and hair band, while one of my team mates took out her shoe laces and belt! Some of them even took out their shirts and pants in order to win the game!! Awww... On top of that, we continued with this game even though it was drizzling. Therefore, all of us were dirty and stinky. Hehehee!

The longest human-bridge... Amazing...

On the following day, we carried out some in-door activities instead of the dirty outdoor games. Some of us didn't bring enough clothes for change! Hahah! In this game, everyone took turn to dance in front of the rest, while the rest followed the leader's movements. Emmm... I ran out of ideas so I was doing some stupid movements.

Waka waka ehh ehhh....

After the fun and tiring games, we proceeded to the seaside for banana boat!! When I was sitting on the banana boat, I couldn't see much as I wasn't wearing my spectacles. However, I did feel the cooling breeze and heard the loud sound from the speed-boat's engine. Few minutes later, we were tossed into the middle of the deep blue sea. Although it was not my first time got tossed out from a banana boat, I still felt panicky as I can't swim. Besides panicky, I immediately held my Finance Manager, S with all my strengths since he was the nearest to me. I thought I probably made him panicky too. Hahaha!

Then, for the second round when we got tossed into the sea, the banana boat operator immediately rushed towards me. LOL!! He knew that I will probably scream out loud, so he saved me before others. I felt quite embarrassed at that time. Kekekeek!

My colleagues were so happy after got tossed into the sea

I got a little sunburned and a bit tanned after the trip. However, my skin got less irritated after I applied almost half a bottle of the aloe vera gel recommended by M. The gel is working!! I could feel and see the difference after applying the gel generously on my burnt skin. I am going to standby more of the gel if I am planning for more outdoor outings in the future.

I bought this gel from Watson for around RM12 only. Do try it if you have sunburn problem too! =)

 *Cheers*