Kota Kasih - Bali

I'm all pumped up after having Heaven and Earth green tea for dinner just now. And..... Finally here's the free time to post about our family Bali trip during the Chinese New Year!!! I don't care how long has the trip been already (omg, it's 2 weeks), the memory is however still verrryyyy fresh in my mind, and will always always always be among the best memories of us (although it's the 2nd time for us this time). And you have to know why... 

Well, most people say Paris is the city of love. But to me, so far after a few countries visited, Bali is the one. Kota kasih katanya. Speaking of love or kasih, we fantasize nothing but the love between man and woman. Oh gross, the most heartbreaking one. Set that aside, because Love is happiness and beautiful, I've been blessed with a lot of loves alhamdulillah, and that gave me life. The most important love ever is the one Allah granted it to me and my family. We become closer each year (not that we weren't that close before) but as time goes by, I feel them in my blood and soul, that's how I realize how magical my love for them is. 

So, we have been to Bali twice and I just feel that Bali is like our honeymoon set up every year hehe. It's not anymore a place that reminds me of typical love between man and woman, but I'm happy that whenever I'm reminded and called to Bali, it's my family who becomes like the "monument" of the wonderful place. My impression has totally changed since the first time I came to Bali. Though we went for only less than a week, which is really not enough, I have to admit that every second was precious and I couldn't feel happier without my family to be there with me. 

After all, THANK YOU SO MUCH Ayah for the trip!

We had Abang Epul as our supir (driver) there. He's been a loyal and dedicated driver to us in Bali since 2015. Knowing that it's quite challenging to find confidently halal food in Bali, having him as our driver there is definitely making our trip so so easy. Our top favourite food in Bali are of course Bakso Pak Rebo (which you can find in Sanur) and Terang Bulan, dessert like apam balik but a very nice Indonesian version one (I don't have a picture of this so so sorry!)

The Bakso.

The stall from outside. (Bakso Pak Rebo, Sanur)

It's damn nice so please goooo tryyyy if you go Bali. Shoot, regret that I'm doing this at night, now I feel hungry! Where to get same exact one in Malaysia?! I'll be so dead if I crave for this one day if I'll pregnant. My husband will cry.

This year, Ayah belanja my sister, my mum and me to go Spa while my brothers went surfing. Last year we didn't get to go but this year we had more free time so there we are... It was the best moment ever. I wish I could go to this spa everytime I have the usual perturbing backpain in Malaysia. Urgh. Unfortunately the moment I went to the spa that day, I was feeling all well, minus the little migraine. But my body was totally fine, urgh, why didn't you just get tired that day before the spa dear body, I was all fresh and well, fresher after the Spa!

We got to have the spa in a closed area, but sadly I was separated from my mum and sister, left all alone in the room with the spa lady. But I feel special though, it was like a real me time! I don't know how many times I wished the moment of being massaged didn't have to stop... "Don't stop massaging me... Don't stop massaging me... Don't stop your hands there, please!!!" When the first 1 and 1/2 hour finished, I was oh ok nevermind I still have the second one! Hehe. We actually took the 1 and 1/2 hour full body massage and 1 and 1/2 hour feet reflexology. We went to Aroma Spa Retreat, also in Sanur, and it's actually a spa under the Prama Resort. The place is bloody beautiful and relaxing...

Oh, you spelled my name 'correctly'?! and I'm married?!

We were fetched by a car from our hotel, and like usual, the people were so nice. And they treated us all so so so gracefully and nicely wherever we're at (they actually really appreciate tourists). I love how graceful they are the people in Bali. I loveeee Balinese!

Got wet towel and water bottle just before getting into the car. I felt like a Princess. How did they know I need these two?? THANKS A LOT. Wet towel please, I need to stuff this in my face cos migraine's hitting me again due to the super dry hotness. Ohhhh this chill plain water, I need to rehydrate myself most of the time. And a reminder here, I recommend you to go Bali in June, as recommended by the Balinese there, cos it's chiller and less warm, unlike in December-March. Or maybe, just go there when Australia is having winter!

 My single room during our first spa session : Full body massage. Nawwwhh I miss this T__T

Second spa session : Feet reflexology. Was sitting here with my mum and sis. Instead of falling asleep in the single room massage just now, I fell asleep when I had them there with me to talk to. Maybe the foot massage was just too comfortable....

We had the best lunch ever (read : TWICE) at Denpasar. The restaurant's namely Ikan Bakar Cianjur. Not to exaggerate but if you are food lover, don't miss to try their Indonesian dining!!! Cuz you won't regret it! Jangan lupa jugak beli keropok diorang, ada jual dekat pintu masuk. (Tak sempat nak tangkap gambar jugak sebab dah tak pikir apa, terus makan). Sedap gila...

We also went to his restaurant called Sederhana Restaurant at Ngurah Rai near the airport as soon as we touched down Baliiiii. Their specialty here is Nasi Padang! 

Next, we tried Anomali Indonesian Coffee. How do I tell you that it tasted waaayyyyy nicer than Starbucks?! The taste is even softer, cos as a daily coffee consumer, I easily feel dizzy and uncomfortably anxious after consuming coffee, but my experience was different with this one. The "feels" were so calming that I felt like keeping it in my mouth without having to swallow it heheee.

Wish I can get this now..... Noms. We went to the Anomali Coffee cafe in Ubud.

As you see, we went there for 4 days only and the first 2 nights we stayed in Sanur. The consequent night we stayed in Ubud. Our hotel in Sanur was Griya Santrian Resort. The hospitality was of course, the best one, but we didn't really like the room cos we unexpectedly got the kind of 'old' room ones, unreasonable to the price per night (we also didn't get our rooms close next to each other cos Ayah booked each room for two). Maybe the high price is due to its seaside location. Despite everything, we had great time there cos the place is beaaaauuutiful. Here are some pictures :

Breakfast area.

 Me and the welcome drink during checked-in. Btw, they put a LOT of orchids as their main flower for decorations! It's unbelievable how the orchids are all REAL, fresh and beautiful.

I am so sorry I just realized that I didn't take more random photos of view of the resort instead only those views with me in the frame. I had to upload them anyway. Just showing you the view around the resort. :)

And the next day, we went to Ubud. Sorry for being biased, but we loveeee Ubud more than Sanur. Our hotel this time is more reasonable in price and the view was even more breathtaking.  We had sea in Sanur, but because it was extremely hot there (there's no slight of wind!), and we couldn't even walk a lot around the seaside area because dogs were freely running around and it's uncomfortable. 

But differently in Ubud, we had the green view we always wished for. When I first saw Ubud, I was definitely in love. Ubud is more like a traditional place, you get to learn more about their culture here. And of course, I took more pictures in Ubud. :) 

Sanur is actually the most preferred place for the senior citizens. Ramai sangat omputih tua-tua! Most of them might be retirees or spouses who seemed to be sweeter than newly-weds! While Ubud is the place where teens, young couples prefer to go...it's more lively in Ubud than Sanur.

Oh anyway our hotel's name in Ubud is Plataran Hotels & Resort. I rate 9/10 stars for my experience! Soooo gooddddd!

My sister and I's room! 

I took flatlay straight away when we arrived... (I was obsessed with taking flatlays during this holiday actually, hence the lack of views photos). We were very very excited and happy with the transformation from a disappointing room in Sanur to a unexpectedly beautiful room in Ubud. Oh while I was taking flatlay, my sister's busy recording herself talking on how she loved her make-up that day (if you followed her in FB/instagram, I assume you watched it already haha). Well, I had to agree with that because she wore my Russian Red lipstick anyway. Hahaha. 

Chilling restaurant area.

Lobby.

I love the architecture! Of glass and wooden cladding...

The picturesque view while swimming... 

This view <3

The gym. Wish I have this in Malaysia! Heee.

We were lucky cos as the last day we're in Bali, the Balinese were having their Raya guys. It's Hari Galungan & Kuningan. I love to see they all were wearing traditional attire, like a kebaya in my eyes. Everywhere was so merry. We were luckier that we're all in Ubud during the celebration cos Abang Epul said it's the merriest celebration in Ubud and it really was! 

Oh, the girl smiled at me?! I was quite rushing when I took this picture. Didn't notice that she responsed at me! So cute!

Those tall things (I forgot what it's called, I think it's Benjor) are made and decorated with coconut leaves and Abang Epul also told us that we can only find the tallest ones in Ubud! We were lucky again! They were all indeed so tall. The ones we saw in Sanur weren't as tall. They only put these things up during Hari Galungan.

Btw,

Anyone wants souvenir?

Sorry to break your heart but this is the only thing I brought from Bali...

So...

That's all for my Bali post. Hope you feel the Balinese spirit!  This post definitely couldn't even perfectly describe how I love Bali so much. So I recommend you to go hehe. I will definitely return again someday, and like the "Eat Pray Love" movie, we might get to meet our soulmate there hehehe. So so so many mat/minah sallehs in Bali, guys. They also love love love Bali. Many of them make Bali like their own hometown already.

If you have any questions just drop me email or comment or anything!

The blooming Peonies

I’ve been away for too long but let’s not talk on that with same excuse all over again. Missing my blog very very much after a long holidayyy. Bali has been wonderful mashaaAllah, will post about it by this week where I can spend more energetic and quality time in campus to use the wifi. I myself can’t wait to start the entry, will cry reminiscing the best moments with my family there.

By the way, remember the #start2016withduck contest I participated and being chosen as one of the top 10 winner? The prize was the latest limited edition printed duckscarves and dannngg it’s beautiful! So here a few photos of me and the prize I got from them :) 

IT’S THE BLOOMING DUCK! 

D illustrated the design after the flower Peonies reminiscing the moment she met her bestfriend Hannah for the very first time. I feel more than lucky and blessed to have this for myself frrreeeee. With the goal to save more this year, a 220MYR scarf is quite killing hehehe. But Alhamdulillah it’s the best gift of the year. Worth the effort! Well, my favourite white-curvy-framed mirror broke, but this beautiful scarf paid the sweat and tears. 

After the friendship theme D created this scarf, my very angel girlfriend also bought the same one scarf, a yellow shade instead of pink like mine. I will definitely have to kidnap her one day and force her to take picture with me in our same-but-different-colour scarf (hahaha sorry Man). Will blog about itttt. Well that will be full entry of how we met, friendship rain and sunny days etc…. *ouhh missing those moments of taking hail of pictures together last 4 years at school*

Hope every friendship in this world stay together, regardless distance! Although how far my friends are, still can't stop missing them. There's always a thing or two happen everyday in my life that remind me of them. Stay safe wherever you are lovelies! *Thanks to social media for helping in long distance friendship, can see their updates everyday* 

Pre-holiday

I never thought that blue could be my colour theme this holiday. Let's have fun tomorrow you three blue siblings. 

I'm supposed to sleep now. It's already so late, but I'm so excited to blog for a while, to leave my blog a goodbye kiss and of course Happy holiday to me and all Malaysians out there! Let's take a break, guys. 

Pray for my family and me a safe flight! We're going to Bali again this year hehe. Can't wait to play with the beach and seawater, the spa and massages, and BAKSO omggggg (and also having my siblings to help take picture of my ootds, hmmm thanks loves). Have fun everyone wherever you are :)

Hello, from Malaysia (to Malaysia)

Hello!

Another short post for today. 

I feel obliged to tell something here in case you don't read my tweets yet. But just this week, I was aware that, the "S" guy I told you about (can refer to this entry), the one I thought I could not see anymore, is.. actually.. STILL HERE. You can't imagine the magical coincidence feeling I embraced with that day I saw him again for the first time in 2016. 

I THOUGHT HE'S GONE. 

HE'S STILL HERE.

 IS THIS MAGIC?

I heard that, "There's no coincidence. It's how the Universe works people to be together." Hmmm. Whatevs. Magical what, Sweet Coincidence what, Nadzirah. He's just still here because he's initially wanted the transfer programme for a year and you just didn't know earlier thus simply making assumption.


But, do I need to do anything?! I have about 3 months before he left Malaysia for good... Start saying "Hi" to him and introduce him nice cultural stuff about Malaysia and Malays especially? or shall I be a tourist guide to him? Hm, sometimes I think nicest thing I've always wanted just impossible to get.



So...



FORGET IT.

Just look at him from a distance and done.

Looking forward for constant self-reminding that some dreams don't come true. Tsk tsk.

Being healthiER

"I'd like to be healthier," I told myself everyday while at the same time keeping bundle stocks of Maggie Curry, Instant Ah Huat Coffee and abandoned Milk in the fridge, bye.  But from now on, I must care about myself and must pursue change! So I have been busy of taking care of my health now, the least I can do is to work out regularly. Because I really cannot start my day without coffee for breakfast!!! (Sorry Dearest Nervous System, you've to work hard every morning just to keep me excited. Thanksss).

Now, I'm trying my best to work out regularly with sistah. We have a very conducive gym at our place here, a very comfortable one, I'm the laziest when I'll just walk like grandma on the treadmill, at leassssst I do something, oh please. So I feel good every afternoon, don't need to take afternoon coffee #tryingnotto

Sometimes I get crazy and eat Maggie Curry with cut red and green small chillies for breakfast. Oh nyums, the taste when you bite the chillies, feeling the hot tasty soup on your tongue, awwwh even regular coffees can't make me feel as good though.  Craves, guys. I cannot tahan ok, too hungry! And I just did this yesterday. I'm dead if Ayah knows. So you can imagine how less healthy I am, hence the migraine sighs every month. Parents told me to reduce coffee intake. Shoot, reduce coffee what. You should check our grocery payment receipt everytime we go shopping and check if there's word "Coffee". Hmmm.

I occassionally suffer backpain when I get stressed with life. Lol. So I'm now practising Anlene! The yogurt is soooo yummy. I wonder if it's really a healthy yogurt. I thought healthy stuff usually don't taste nice?! Thank you dear yogurt, you make me feel good! Could you faster give me strong bone please?

So here're benefits of strong bones I extracted from Anlene's website :

Strong bones are important to maintaining an active, fulfilling lifestyle. Bones provide :

- structural support so you can stand straight and tall,
- protection for the delicate parts of your body e.g. your skull protects your brain, your spine protects your central nerves etc,
- the ability to move (muscles and bones work together to allow movement).

In addition, strong bones are resistant to breaking, so that your risk of fractures is much reduced.

Reading this makes me feel old. Sigh. 21 and feels like a grandma. 

Oh, and I also take Marigold brand natural fruit juice cos I don't really like eating fruits, lazy to peel them too. But this juice already naturally rich in Vitamin C. Tastes nice! I can't believe something beneficial for my skin and body would taste this amazing. I silently wish for a nice, soft, healthy skin whenever I drink it. Can at least cover those unhealthy foods and drinks I've swallowed into my beloved body.

I should practice consuming MORE healthy foods and drinks right? Now still in baby steps, tryinggg! To a healthiER February I hope! (And forever).

My exciting February

It's February 1st! I'm quite excited for my university journey especially when it's already February but that means that......hm, I should no play play anymore. I have neglected my blog a lot lately, (but actually I have been planning a LOT of entries I SWEAR OK but the inavailability of wifi at my new house makes them undone). This is not merely excuse ok, but everytime I go to Uni and getting wifi connection here, I'll be busy with lectures and....friends. 

Tonnes of works in line this week, and holiday coming too! I'll update on instagram where will my family and I go...and I have figured the kind of ootd(s), flatlays, etc and their captions would be... haha. Excited and well-prepared for IG feed (why la I cannot do that on studies too). Can't wait to get things done this week and holiday! And I've received my gift for the duck planner contest too! Will update on instagram as well. Stay tune.......

Exciting February alright! and Happy Chinese New Year to those who celebrate :)