The Cliche Post - Good Bye 2014

Before I type this entry, I read all the posts for 2014. A mixture of happiness, sadness, emo-ness, esctaticness. But mostly negativities.

I gotta admit. I'm a negative person this year. At least my personal life. I had a deep thought. Ransacking my drawers of memories trying to recall what had I done this year.

And one conclusion arrives.

I did everything.

- Mommyhood

- Wifeyhood

- Career

And I put myself at the bottom of my priority. So I guess that's why I was so negative.

In 2014, I was so busy raising a human being. Diligently pumping every 3 hours and if I missed one session, I would be so stress for the rest of the day. I was tired. I was moody. And the commitment in school. and I also my husband was not around. I was constantly under stress.

It's emotional roller coaster for me, trying to adapt to a new change, from a person to a mother. I think I posted somewhere in my blog that motherhood didnt come naturally to me. Though I thought it would but it didnt. Unfortunately. I didnt get to experience the moment when you got to see your baby for the first time all is well again. For a record, it wasnt my baby's face i saw first but his genital.hahahha I was so high with drugs but I remembered the nurse showed me Minmin's genital and asked me to guess his gender. Duh!

Then when I tried to feed him he rejected me. I think somebody needs to do a research that breastfeeding does not only affect the baby. It affects the mommy too. It affected me so bad that I hated myself for failing to do so. And because I failed, I was punished to become an EP mom. No matter how much I tried to comfort myself that I still did the best, honestly I couldnt. To these days. 

So much emotions riding inside me that my year was so negative. It affects me as a person. My marriage. It affects my physical too. My skin conditioned worsened with acne, uneven skin tone, eye bags and I gained weight. My BMI now is 24.2 which is so near to being overweight. 

So...that's me in 2014

But in 2015, I want to change. As cliched as it sounds, I really want to be ME again.

 Let's see what will happen next.

I hope I will get the chance to travel next year.

Bye 2014!

The Peak, Hong Kong

We arrived from Macau around 5.30pm (Maghrib was 5.18pm) the day was getting darker but still early according to my Malaysia time.ahhaa Since we arrived at Hong Kong Island Terminal instead of Tsim Tsa Shui, we decided to go to The Peak. We were already tired so we got lost.again.haha we couldnt find the way to The Peak.

Tried looking for a bus, we didnt understand the system. We had no clue. Tired, we chose to go by taxi. Hired a taxi... then it was the ride of our lives for the 2nd time that day. hahaa

I think Macau and Hong Kong taxi drivers share the same trait, i.e. driving dangerously. I think I have started to believe those driving stunts in Hong Kong movies/ dramas they were true. Because that's what we experienced ourselves!

It was a peak hour, people going home from work/ school. So the traffic was slow, congested. and this impatient driver (just like Macau driver) started to raise his voice screaming at the traffic. He drove dangerously fast and stepped on the brake frequently. It is as if that was our fault that the traffic was congested. I definitely DID NOT feel welcome.hahaha

We started getting worried so B turned on Waze and tried to locate our location. Turned out from the ferry terminal to the peak was about 3-4km but because of the traffic, it took almost 1/2 hour. In the midst of tension in the taxi, the driver suggested we took a different route to avoid the traffic. I didnt want him to get anymore annoyed so we just said yes.

And after a seeminggggglllyyyy long period, we finally arrived at the tram station to The Peak. And the bill.... about HKD70+++++. I swore to B that I will never ride any taxi there, ever.

While queuing to take the tram. Again, there were people cutting the lines  i just didnt bother to use profanities in my language.. geram ok, dahla penat ahahaha

 

The view, was totally worth it. But it was drizzling and the fog kinda covered the view a lit bit. Not to forget, the temperature was 11'C and windy.  pergghhh sejukkk

,,

 

 

HKD5 to use this

 

There was a photo service (look at the hugging couple). We wanted to have the service but the queue was quite long. Plus the temperature was so cold (to a Malaysian skin like me...haha) so we had to pass it.

 

A big bear balloon stuffed with more balloon, or balls? not sure.

From The Peak station we walked (following a group of people who seemed to be heading to MTR station..hehe) to the station. It was drizzlng.

 

A tall building that you have to strain your neck to look at the top. A famous building that I dont bother to remember the name. Haish...

We arrived at Central Station. Took a train to Tsim Tsa Shui...

Since it was still early, we headed to Avenue of Stars.

It was still drizzling.. we couldnt stick around so we headed back

Had dinner, rest then kroohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

In Macau

So we arrived at Macau Terminal around...erm...10.30 am... I think.haha forgot the detail. In Macau there are just so many big Casinos and and these Casinos provide free shuttle bus to go to their places. And as a smart budget traveller, you can use this to go to tourists' attractions nearby the casinos.hehehe

Our first target was of course THE VENETIAN!! HEHEHE

When we got out from the immigration door, we went to the toilet. Little did we know there was a pair of eyes watching us. I think because I wore hijab, it couldnt hide the fact that we were tourists. So this lady approached us and offered to bring us around Macau for a day. Her fees stunned us so we said no. I think it's around HKD2000 = RM900 per pax. We kindly refused.

It didnt stop there. She followed us around so we rushed out of the terminal building had no time to survey the surrounding. We wanted to get rid of her. We arrived at a taxi station and wanted to take a taxi, just to escape from her. hahah Unfortunately, the taxi driver refused Hong Kong dollar so we stood at the side trying to figure out the next step. and to our surprised, the scary lady emerged from behind the wall where we were standing!!!! aaaaaaaaaaa

We said no and quickly returned to the terminal building and saw a sign to the shuttle bus station. Phewwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww. Then we just hopped into The Venetian bus and was super relieved to finally escaped.hahaha

THE VENETIAN IS GORGEOUS YOU CANT MISS IT!!!!!!!!!!!

 KO RASA KO KACHHAAKKK?!

We ate at the food court, only I shop selling Arab food.huhu

If you go to this place dont forget to visit another 2 attractions here... erm.... I couldnt recall what but got Hard Rock Cafe and erm.... screw me. tak ingat. ish.. We were not interested to go so we went back to the shuttle bus station and returned to the ferry terminal to catch another shuttle to Senado Square. - told you we just walked where our feet brought us so we just hopped on the bus.haha

From the Ferry Terminal we took another shuttle bus to Lisbon, a casino near to Senado Square.

Not so near tho.haha

We didnt know which way to go we just studied the map and went with the crowds. Asalkan sampai...sudehhhhh

 

Fat-ass Casino. tee hee hee

 

We walked for 10-15 minutes and finally arrived at the square. It's just next to a post office building.

 

At this point we were already exhausted so less photo taking.haha

  

From Senado Square, follow the signs to the Ruin of St Paul.

 

Narrow path led to being lost....again.hahah actually we were fascinated with the architecture so missed the road signs to the Ruin. 

Yeayyyy sampai~!!!

Couldnt find any halal portuguese tarts...boo hoo.... I read in some blogs they could get tarts. I wasnt so convinced coz most shops selling tarts were also selling pork. Takde rezeki...

We spent around one hour here. My kaki already almost patah and we wanted to go back to Hong Kong. Walking back to the casino was impossible (sakit kaki...huhu) so we decided to take a taxi.

We hopped on a taxi and surprised by the ride of our life. The taxi driver drove like mad man despite the traffic. When we almost arrived at the ferry terminal, there was a slow van in front of us and the taxi driver started cursing and I could graps a little of his vulgarities 'chisin...chisin...' which i believe in many years being a hong kong drama fan it means 'crazy'. muahahahaha

We arrived safe and sound and almost breathless and managed to catch the 4.30pm ferry back to Hong Kong.

A little information for you which we DIDNT know earlier

Ferry to Hong Kong

Turbojet - will arrive at Hongkong Island Ferry Terminal

Cotaijet - Tsim Tsa Shui Terminal.

We didnt know, we chose Turbojet and arrived at Hong Kong Island.heheh

That's all I think. More details shoot me an email =)

Toooooo many grammar mistakesssss hereeeeeee....dont have time to edit coz Minmin is awake now...

Bye!

Hong Kong Day 2: How to Go to Macau

When we were in Hong Kong, B and I didnt  really go with out itinerary. Like, going to Macau! It was a last minute decision after I saw some beautiful photos at The Venetian and also the memories of watching Goong, a korean drama. Not a fan of korean series though but I still has a soft spot for the drama. Ahh... Chae Kyung and Shin Gun...hehe

Anyhoo, on the 2nd day we decided to go to Macau.  a short one-day trip just to see. 

We got up early as we wanted to catch the earliest boat to Macau. Before that, I have to tell you that I was kinda 'controlling' the trip.haha so confident I knew everything, all the places in Hong Kong based on my readings. So back to the story, I studied the map to go to China Ferry Terminal days before.

China Ferry Terminal: Ferry to Macau or Mainland China

Star Ferry Terminal: Ferry to Hong Kong Island

 

From Nathan Road we walked to Star Ferry Pier then walked to Ocean Terminal (still not the right place..haha) asked a guard thennnn only we arrived at China Ferry Terminal. Haihhhh =')

So we were lost for at least 30 minutes. Yea..my bad. Got confused.hahaha You can spot China Ferry Terminal from far because it looks like a golden building.

  This is how the building looks like

Anyhoo, taking pictures while searching for direction

First time seeing a titanic cruise. It's really huge, guys! This is at Ocean Terminal. Phew..they do have many terminals.haha

Back to the story:

Important Information to Macau

1.There are 2 different ferries to Macau - Cotaijet and Turbojet.

2. Macau has 2 terminals:

•  Macau terminal
•  Taipa Terminal

If you plan to go to The Venetian, take Taipa. We didnt plan so we chose the earliest one and arrived at Macau Terminal.

Since we arrived around 8.30 am we missed the earlier ferry. We chose the next one which is Turbojet.

3. Price for economy class per pax: HKD169 = RM76. Buy at the counter. Your seat number will be given before you enter the immigration door.

4. Bring your PASSPORT!

5. The journey took 1 hour to arrive at Macau. We slept most of the time.hahaha coz got nothing to sea except sea, more ferries and small islands.

6. Be careful and hold your patience

There were many visitors from Mainland China going to Macau as well and some of them were very rude. They cut queue like nobody's business and not only that, one cut one whole village follow. Kiasu level super high! Yea I'm exaggerating coz we had a few bad memories with them.huhu Hongkese were fine tho. Just had to be patience. I did curse them in my language coz i was just damn angry.huhu glad they didnt understand. Well, to be fair, I dont understand their language either.haha

 It's very comfortable inside the ferry. They sell food and drinks as well if you want.

 I think Hongkese loves this kind of design for their buildings. We saw quite a number of buildings with similar design. Bangunan berlubang.haha

Now, off we go!

Hong Kong Day 1 - Tsim Tsa Shui

We booked our room with Canada Hotel at Tsim Tsa Shui a couple of months before the trip. Tsim Tsa Shui is a popular area among tourists because most attractions are nearby - Avenue of Stars, Ferry Terminal, Museums and Shopping streets. Easy to get HALAL food too as Kowloon Mosque is just nearby.

But... I dont really like our guesthouse because it's in Chungkin Mansion -  a 15 storey building with a lot of other guesthouses. There are only 2 small elevators that can only squeeze max 8 pax so during peak hours the queue could be quite long. Apart from that, there are many Arabs, Indians, Filipinos and Africans around so I didnt feel very secure most of the time. Plus, everytime we arrived at the ground floor there would be people shoving us flyers offering halal food or room to rent. It got suffocating and frankly intimidating too. Anyhoo, if you can afford it, please choose a hotel instead. hehe

So this is...... our room. 

I expected it to be small but never THIS small. We barely had room to move around. It's a bit suffocating because we couldnt open the window without letting a bad smell of rubbish and God knows what. Luckily it was the starting of winter so we were okay. and also it was a good call to leave Minmin. phewww!

After we rested for awhile, B and I embarked our journey in Hong Kong.hehehehe We walked for about 5 minutes to Avenue of Stars. We were there for a while before heading to Star Ferry Terminal. We wanted to experience a ferry ride to Hong Kong Island. We forgot to take photos of this except a few. Too mesmerized with the beautiful views MasyaAllah...

The ferry ride costs around HKD1 ++ Cant remember the exact amount because we just tapped our Octopus Card.hehehe The ferry ride took around 5 minutes, plenty of time to take photos and all but we didnt. You get to see the development in Hong Kong, their tall buildings... and winter.

 Hong Kong Island from the ferry

 Something we stumbled at subway... =)

hahahaha a shop near our block.hahahahahahahah

Anyhoo, our itinerary for Day 1 was supposed to go to The Peak but we couldnt find the MTR station which is Central. From Central, it's just withing walking distance to The Peak.The ferry terminal is near HongKong station so we were kinda lost. We spent almost 1 hour walking around. It was getting dark and was raining lightly so we had to end the night early. By the way since it's winter, Maghrib is around 5.18pm. huhu

We had Arab meal for dinner at I-dont-know-where coz we were brought by the guy distributing flyers in front of our block.

Ordered Kabob as we thought it would be the same as Malaysia version but we were wrong.hahah and we also ordered Briyani. Our Malaysian briyani definitely tastes better.hihi

This is Kabob (kebab la..)

Came back to our room, showered then krohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh