because this is my one and only life.

I can count with my fingers the number of times I have gone out for lunch with my colleagues here. I usually walk back home to pray and/or take a short nap and/or surf the web during lunch time. And I have been doing so for the past 1 year for a couple of reasons. Reason number 1 being that, I don't eat lunch on most days (of my life, hehe). Another reason is because I have always considered me being here in Terengganu as something ephemeral, and the only purpose I'm here is to work and work and work. And the only thing I look forward to everyday is to go back home to Gombak.

This afternoon my boss had this to say to me when I refused to go along with her and my colleagues for lunch, "Awak kena keluar lah kadang-kadang, baru ceria sikit. Ini asyik fikir nak balik je, mana tak sedih."
Of course I had a rebuttal to that, but only now it occurred to me that she could be right.
I realized that I have been going through my days, not really appreciating them. Instead, I pass my days by looking to the future, constantly looking at the calendar, thinking of the next time I would be able to go home and be with my family and friends, or when will I finally get to transfer out of here.
I keep thinking that life would be better when I'm out of here. But I forgot to notice that my life is now, it's happening now, whether I am loving it or not.
I really need to start living in the present. Enjoy now.
I should neither dwell in the past, nor overthink what's ahead.

This might sound a tad ambitious coming from someone like me.
But I plan to try my very best. :)

"This is my one and only life, And its a great and terrible and short and endless thing, and none of us come out of it alive." Holly Kennedy (P.S I Love You, 2007).

xoxo

of sacrifices.

I have to work tomorrow but I am still awake, forcing myself to blog about how my Raya Haji/Korban went.
When we talk about Raya Korban, the thought about slaughtering an animal to commemorate and remember Prophet Ibrahim's trials comes to mind. It is also sometimes associated with making sacrifices in our lives, either big or small.
I have to say that this year's Eid-ul-Adha saw me making a big sacrifice which was agreeing to spend only ONE night in Gombak. :(
These past few days were kinda bumpy for both Mr Sunshine and I.
We left Kuala Berang at about 0620 hours on Tuesday morning, hoping to reach Gombak by lunch time. About 15 minutes into our drive, our car hit a hole and two of our left tyres were punctured ! We initially thought we lost only the front tyre, but while replacing it Mr Sunshine realized that the rear one was losing air too !

Sweater's on.

Sweater's off.

Poor Mr Sunshine. :(

So we drove very, very, very slowly with our hazard lights on, looking for a tyre shop. Luckily enough there was one about half an hour from where we hit the hole. Alhamdulillah. But it opened at 0900 hours, and it was only 0730 hours. We decided to have breakfast at a stall nearby and wait for the shop to open.
Mr Sunshine had to fork out almost RM500 for both tyres. We're fortunate he had extra cash on him, but the cash was actually meant for paying Mak for the kerepek orders we had asked her to help get.
The sport rims were also dented, so we knew we were gonna have to fork out more money to get them fixed.
Dugaan betul. :'(

Oh well, enough of all the sad news, I was really happy to get to be back in Gombak even it was only for a night.
Mr Sunshine drove Daddy, Lene and I to Empire Shopping Gallery Subang where I treated them to dinner at Serai Empire. :)
We chose to go there as Marc's office was just around the corner so he would not have any trouble joining us after work. Dinner was good. Mr Sunshine, Marc and I ordered the Serai Platter, Lene had the Nasi Kerabu and Daddy had the Middle Eastern Medley. To top all of that, we shared a Berry Pavlova ! Oh nyums !

The guys engaging in a serious conversation about, hm, cars.

Daddy, Lene and I. :)

The Serai Platter. 

The Nasi Kerabu. 

The Middle Eastern Medley. The lamb shank was so delicious !

This is Daddy trying to take a bit from the Berry Pavlova before I got to take a photo of it. Lene and I screamed, "Noooo !" Hahaha.

If we didn't scream, I would not have gotten to show you this. *drools*

My brother, fresh from his first day as a Marketing Executive ! ;)

On the morning of Eid, after Mr Sunshine repaired his rims (and was more than RM100 poorer), he drove us to Shah Alam for lunch.

:)

Daddy had his hands full entertaining his grandkids.

Daddy had his hands REALLY full entertaining his grandkids. Hehe.

The ever adorable Alya. :)

We left for Batu Pahat after dinner at around 2030 hours that same day and reached just before midnight. All of Mr Sunshine's siblings were around this time. :)
Since yesterday and today were not holidays in Johor, my parents in-law had to work, so we had less time to spend with them. :(

One big happy family, at dinner. :)

And today we're back here in Kuala Berang.
Although I wish I had more time to spend in our hometowns, but I have work commitments, and I shouldn't be complaining because this is my rezeki. :)

My eyes are tearing and my back hurts, my body is sending me signals to tell me that it's exhausted.
Goodnight everyone ! ;)

aidiladha 1431H

I was supposed to go to bed at 2100 hours just now but the 1 hour I put aside for packing turned into more than a 2-hour thingy because Marc & Lene called me every 5 minutes to check on how to set up the new wireless router they just bought.
They called me on the house phone so every time it rang I had to run from my bedroom to the living room to pick it up. I think I got enough exercise by just doing that. :p
Managed to help them through it and now I feel like an IT expert. Hahaha.
Kak Siti, Kak Liza, Abang Atan, Marc & I chipped in to get Daddy a new Acer notebook, I can imagine him being so excited about it especially after not being able to go online for so long because his PC had gone kaput.
Lene told me that Daddy had asked her, "Kalau wifi boleh wireless ke dik ?" Hehehe so cute lah my Daddy !
I'd be seeing all of them tomorrow ! InshaAllah. It has been two months since we've last been home. :(
Mr Sunshine and I plan to leave as early as possible, so I gotta get enough sleep because I get really cranky when I don't.
Goodnight everyone !
Salam Aidiladha. :)
xoxo

a terengganu getaway.

Annisa spent the Deepavali weekend here in Terengganu. It was something that we had planned since June, but due to work and our conflicting schedules, she was only able to make a trip here this month.
I have Mr Sunshine to thank for giving me permission to stay and spend time with her while she was around. :)
I drove to pick her up from the airport on Thursday night and it was my first time driving there on my own from where I stay. I was obviously excited about seeing her but I was also very nervous about driving her around since I am not really familiar with the roads in KT.
I am so used to being driven around KT. Hehe.
I was also worried about the weather as the monsoon season had just started.

But it did not turn out that bad, as a matter of fact I think I did a pretty good job being a tour guide. Hehe.
We checked in at Primula Parkroyal Beach Resort, Batu Burok. After checking in and freshening up, we headed to A&W Batu Burok to have waffles. It suddenly started raining heavily. And I will never forget what happened after that. We were sitting opposite each other, we had already finished eating and were talking when I noticed water flowing towards us. Ann saw the look on my face, turned her head back and looked at me."BANJIR !
Ok, so actually the first thought that came to my head was TSUNAMI ! since we were by the beach and faces of my loved ones started flashing in front of me one by one. Haha talk about overreacting !
I freaked out, and we jumped off our seats. The staff there were pretty relaxed about the whole thing, even when we saw a little snake in the flowing water, the manager just stepped on it to kill it ! That must be something they go through on a regular basis ?
We ran out of the place, the water outside was up until our calves ! Ann was calm enough to drive us back to hotel and luckily enough we managed to find a parking spot which was not in the basement level. Alhamdulillah, we were back safe in our hotel room, on higher ground. :)

The beautiful Sultan Mahmud Airport. :)

On Friday morning after a hearty breakfast, I drove us to Mesra Mall, Kerteh which was about two hours away from KT. We had initially planned to watch a movie but decided it would be a waste of time (we wanted to talk more rather than sit in a cinema for a couple of hours). So, we just walked and lazed around the mall.
We spent most of our time in Starbucks exchanging updates on our lives.

The view as soon as we step out of our hotel floor lift.

The view from where we had breakfast.

Sleepy me at breakfast. 

Focus, Melissa, focus.

Mesra Mall !

The lovely Annisa ! :D

My Starbucks Ad. :p

In the evening, on our way back to KT, it rained again. Allah was so kind to us that day because when we stopped by Teluk Bidara, Dungun, the rain stopped !
Ann's face was lit up the whole time we were by the beautiful beach. Me, on the other hand was acting like an old grumpy lady, giving her disapproving stares whenever she wanted to go nearer to the water. Haha.
FYI (for those who don't already know), I absolutely love beaches but I am petrified of the sea especially at this time of the year. And I can't swim. :)

I was not lying when I said I loved beaches.

I would not go near that rock with those huge waves hitting it. 

:)

After an enjoyable time at the beach, we headed to drop by the picturesque Tanjong Jara Resort, Dungun to snap photos and use their ladies room. Hehe. The place was so divine, we were hesitant to leave. We made ourselves at home, really wished we could have spent a night there, but that would burn a gigantic hole through our pockets. Hehe.

The entrance.

We reached KT just after Isya', we walked around Dataran Shahbandar and Bukit Puteri before having a late dinner at the Waterfront.

The night market had just ended when we arrived.

The Tengku Zaharah Mosque a.k.a Masjid Terapung.

A replica of the historical Batu Bersurat.

The following morning, we skipped the hotel's buffet breakfast and stayed in our room to talk and listen to oldies on Ann's notebook. We checked out just before 1100 hours and headed straight to a shoe shop to find myself a comfortable pair of sandals as the ones I brought were a pain in my huge a***. I got myself a pair of comfy and pretty Fuschia coloured Scholl sandals ! Then we had brunch at Pizza Hut and gave the delicious Extreme Cheesy Pizza a try.
We walked around Chinatown and Pulau Warisan where they were having a fishing contest. We were annoyed at the men who were staring at us as though they've just seen ghosts and making weird sounds while they were at it to attract our attention. Ergh.
The people here stare. A lot. 

Chinatown !

How pretty is this building ?

Notice the dark clouds above ?

Ann having a blast !

Me feeling rather unstable on this thing. Please take note of my pretty fuschia sandals. Haha.

Well, we got over that and I drove us to Taman Tamadun Islam, then Masjid Kristal and then State Museum.

 Yes, my a*** is that huge, thanks. :)

 Ann with her Taman Tamadun Islam passport. 

The Crystal Mosque.

There was an exhibition on venomous animals at the museum but it was nothing fantastic.

Terengganu state museum. 

Ann loves snakes !

We made a stop at Losong for some keropok lekor.

I drove us back to Kuala Berang to pick Mr Sunshine up so that I won't have to drive home alone at night after dropping off Annisa at the airport.
The three of us then headed to Riyaz Heritage Resort, Marina and Spa, Pulau Duyong for dinner at The Verandah. That was the third time Mr Sunshine and I dined there, but we never actually got beautiful shots like these:

Cantik takkkk ?

My chaperon for the night. Hehe.

After two days of being excited tourists, we sent Ann off at about 2100 hours that night. :(
All in all we had a superb time ! It was a much needed break for Ann and myself. Alhamdulillah.

All photos credits to Annisa's super camera. :)

But that's not it, I have more great news to share !
Marc will start working at Sime Darby Foods effective November 16 ! Alhamdulillah. :)
I know I will be sounding like a broken record but I am super proud of him !!! :D

Ok, I've gotta get ready for bed. Gotta work tomorrow.
Enjoy your Sunday, people !

xoxo