Sunday, July 27, 2014

Happy Eid Holidays

Currently updating this post when I am supposed to sleep. I need to catch a flight in the morning tomorrow. Balik kampung jumpa laki. Hahaha. Kampung la mangkali.

I will be away in KL for a week. Yes, when everyone is leaving the city capital, I will be there. Life is kinda different now when you actually have your life revolving at several places. So, I am packing up my stuff and some kuih raya for the mister in KL. Maklum la, the rumah terbuka concept isn't widely accepted in the west as compared to Borneo.

Here it's all open for all when it comes to Hari Raya but there uhmmmm...according to the mister, it's like a rare thing to be invited to a Raya open house.

Bah bikin open house sendiri saja lah ni.

Wednesday, July 23, 2014

Hey what's up

Some updates of yours truly. I have not been very busy but to sit down actually blog properly is like uhmmm.. not really a priority. Damn you smartphone and all the distractions.

So, here's my latest update

1) Zumba everyday



more stories here joanmoo.zumba.com

2) Bored at home

I am all alone at home in the morning because I work in the afternoon. Sister No.2 is working office hours. Sister No.3 is in KL doing her internship. Sister No.4 is studying in KK. Parents are working office hours too and the mister is working in KL. So, it's just me and the cats, the dogs and the fishes at home.

Monday, July 21, 2014

Numb


The air felt heavy with the scent of tragedy. It seems like a bad curse hurting the country. Everyone's mood is kinda solemn and with the half mast flag flying, it sealed the emotions.

We mourn for the tragedy. Raya is coming this weekend and with the incident it really set the mood differently this year. 

"Pain is real, so is hope"

Hoping that Malaysia, the people, will rise above these tragedies. We will stand united until the smiles shine again.

And I actually cried reading this... see below
-------------------------------
Before It Departed: The Haunting Final Moments of MH17 at Amsterdam Airport, As Remembered By One Of Its Gate Agents
A smile, a greeting, a happy face ..
By Renuka Manisha Virangna Birbal
At the transfer desk, I get two football fanatics, one is checked in and the other not, "can you check me in Love". They were not seated next to each other in the business compartment , "would you like to sit together sir?" Any doubt,, I want a few hours of rest joked the other one. ‘’cheers’’
A loving family of six with their 10 pieces luggage that I had to put in the system. "After long time we're returning home"
It was busy at the check in desk, so I went there to help my colleagues.
A child smiling and waving at me.
They thank me for my help so she could sit together. excited children "mom when do we see our luggage again?"
The crew running towards me waving and signaling. They were ready to drop their luggage at the baggage belt.
A man who is about to start a new life in Malaysia.
A family get dropped off by their grandparents, kids first holiday far away.
Grandma makes photos of how her children and grand children check in. This time I do not mind that I am in the picture.
Arriving at the gate G03 a young man asked if he has time to buy something quickly. "Of course, sir, if you only ensures that you are back here at 1130."
My colleague helps an elderly woman inside, all the way to her seat in row 21, she had difficulty walking and traveling alone. The lady had the same name (one letter difference) as the son of my colleague and said that she would remembered the name.
I appeal to everyone to go to the toilet before they enter the gate because there are no toilet facilities at gate G03. A few passengers went back out of the line.
A woman traveling with her husband and her mother still asks her mother a few times if she had to go to the toilet, the elderly lady has a bladder problem. I allowed them to wait outside and they can come inside the priority line when their ready.
A newly married couple, on the way to their honeymoon.
A beautiful little girl hold by her mother, her father behind them pushing the stroller. What is she beautiful, a half Dutch half Malaysian with beautiful big eyes. She kindly smiled at me.
A man who could still join the flight to be on time for the funeral of his mother.
Grandchildren traveling with their grandparents.
Suddenly I see a familiar face, it is our colleague from the MH ticket counter
He proudly shows me his son, wife and daughter. With a big smile he waved "See you soon"
A woman wants to go out of the gate to use the toilet, unfortunately, we have already begun boarding and nobody can go out. "May I board first then?" of course.
I walk quickly along with the last two passengers who may eventually join the flight, and what are they happy ...
A final farewell to the crew, till next time!
And then we removed the bridge.
Passengers traveling for business, on the way home, on the way to family, on the way to their holiday, on the way to a new beginning ...
Group travel, families, couples, individuals, infants, children, grandmothers, grandfathers, mothers, fathers, sons, daughters, partners, uncles, aunts, colleagues, friends, neighbors, acquaintances.
The last time I saw them, talked to them and wish them a pleasant flight the passengers of flight MH017 on the 17th of Jul 2014.
One last smile, one last salute, a happy face ...
+ Rest in peace dear passengers & crew +
On behalf of the ground handling agents of flight MH017 on Thursday 17-07-2014

Wednesday, July 16, 2014

Fragile life

Smartphones and social medias. This two things that can make you famous and infamous. It all depends in what kind of mishaps/situations that you are in. Whatever it is, if you need some instant fame, you don't ever need to hire a publicist anymore. Just do something weird and you will get famous. Or for some reason if you are lacking in anger managemnt issues you can be famous too!


Anyway, one of my students pass away today. It's aweful to know that this thalassemia kids really don't live long. Thank God for Facebook we did keep in touch after she left form 5 but God loves her more. I can see her posting about having bouts of fever since the beginning of Puasa but I didn't expect it to escalate to losing the battle with the sickness that she is having. Rest in peace my dear student, you are now no longer in pain.

Korea Trip ( the final 3 days delayed update )

The last 3 days in Korea went like this.

We went to the Jagalchi Wet Market in Busan. Since our hostel is quite near to that place, so we just walked. We stayed at Sum Hostel Nampo btw. Awesome place!

Went around the wet market. Huge and massive with fresh and live seafood. Awesome experience! We are supposed to have a decent warm breakfast. But no, we opted to have some Sashimi instead. Hahaha. How's that for breakfast eh?


And also this slug for breakfast. Hahahaha. Because we are weird like this.

So on the same day itself we travelled back to Seoul via KTX. Always a pleasant ride with KTX. Slept most of the way. So comfy!

Our lodging place for the final two days is Ari Guesthouse in Seoul. Very very near to Myeongdong. Awesome location. It's just that if you have heavy luggages be prepared to carry up the stairs because there is no lift for this guesthouse. Ooh, and the nearest subway don't have elevator too. They only have wheelchair lift for the disabled.


Cute kitchen. Me likey!

So, it's a day of exploring and such. Went to Gangnam to be a fangirl looking for all office and production house of the KPOP industry. Man! it is not easy to find these places. You better do some homework before you start exploring because the places is not near some main/big roads. Look it up before you start hunting for one. There's a lot of fan girls blog site which is dedicated to find these places. Google it! We didn't really do our homework since it was an impromptu decision, jadi banyak la sesat. Haha


Then it is a must to go to Namsan tower. Hehehe


The final day is dedicated for shopping only... and exploring more street food!


Jjangmyeon !!!



It rained like cats and dogs during the shopping days. Benci betul! Anyway, it was a good trip.

All in all if you are wondering how much did we spend for the trip, for a week,

Approximately....
Accomodation : RM450

Makan : to your discretion la. Kalau cheapskate style RM10 per day pun cukup. But all I can say if you makan restaurant, one dish is around RM15-25

T-Money for subway and buses enough to jalan-jalan a few times in a day for a week: RM80

Tours and entrance fees: at your discretion too, if you really cheapskate then just go for free places lah. Hehe. But I really recommend the DMZ tour lah. It's really something different.

Airplane tickets: Buy when it is on offer. I prefer MAS because of the bigger leg room and baggage and meals are included. And it was only RM1800 return. ( BKI-KUL-ICN-KUL-BKI)

Somehow, if you are from KK and there's a direct flight using other airlines, by all means, take it! it's nearer to Seoul from Kota Kinabalu.