Krabi

Krabi, Thailand has been one of the places in my wanna-go list.  Kalau pergi Krabi, Ao Nang is the best place to stay instead of Krabi town.  Ao Nang is very near to the beach dan nak cari makanan halal pun sangat senang.  Banyak kedai makan Muslims ada di Ao Nang.  From airport, we took a cab to the resort for RM60. 

My hubby insisted on staying at Ao Nang Princeville Resort after reading a few positive reviews about it.  I would strongly recommend Ao Nang Princeville Resort to all muslims if you want to go to Krabi. The founder is a Muslim and the food there is certified halal.  Breakfast dah senang, bangun2 tak payah mandi pun boleh terus makan tepi pool.  Hehehe... But of course I mandi...  The founder pun sangat peramah.  Lupa nak kaji selidik nama dia.  Hehehe...

Resort ni sangat bersih dan cantik... Resort memang kecil tapi biliknya very spacious and comfortable. You could easily feel at home.  My hubby made the right choice!

The resort is right across the road from the beach.  Ada banyak kedai souvenirs, beach shops, massage shops, tailors all around the resort.  The location of the resort is so strategic, it's in the middle of the small Ao Nang town.

On the way to the resort, the taxi dropped by a tourism centre.  They offered us tour packages for things to do at Krabi.  I did some research before going to Krabi and noticed that a lot of people recommended to buy tour package in Ao Nang town itself, so you can bargain and get cheaper.   But kitorang dah ade budget sendiri, as long as the charges are not beyond our budget, kitorang grab je... Malas nak pening kepala... So kitorang took the package of island hopping and forest activities for RM340 per person.  I think it's pretty reasonable although I know we might get cheaper package in town.

We reached Ao Nang early in the morning around 10-ish am.  The front desk assistant was very nice and friendly.  Dia pakai tudung bawal and kebaya nyonya macam cara orang Malaysia jugak tapi yang membezakan dia tak boleh bertutur bahasa Malaysia.  She was so nice until she allowed us to check in early.  We're such a happy couple!  At least we could take some rest and take shower then only pegi jalan2 kat town. 

The 1st day, I tried the traditional Thai massage yang lipat2 tu.  The cost of traditional massage is only RM20.  OMG... tak tahan OK.  Either tergelak2 since I was ticklish or sakit sebab kena lipat sana lipat sini.  Hehehe...

 

 

The 2nd day we did island hopping.  The ocean, the beach, everything has a magnificent beauty!!!  They were really breathtaking.  The tour guide (dalam gambar berbaju hitam dan berambut panjang tu) was awesome!  Dia nampak macam typical beach boy.  Dia boleh cakap bahasa kita, bahasa melayu, panggil kitorang "abang" "kakak", "tahun depan, mari lagi".  They took us snorkeling twice.  We went to few small islands including Phi Phi Lay, Bamboo Island, Maya Bay where they filmed "the Beach" the movie, starring Leonardo DiCaprio in 2000.  The beach, and sea were very beautiful and clean.  It's totally the right place to go if you would like to escape from the hustle bustle of big city. 

To be continued...

CNY celebration rocks the beginning of 2013

It has been quite awhile since the last time that I blogged. Well, it has been a really full and hectic months with learning all the new workloads and new work style under a management of new lady boss. Girl power! Yeay!

Previously we had been hosting the CNY events at the hotels but this year our CEO decided to do something so different.  Last week we hosted a Chinese New Year celebration for the very first time at a cinema, which was at GSC Premiere Cinema, Signature, The Gardens Mall.  The price was very reasonable but of course you can't expect you will get the same quality of services that hotels could offer.

I was so nervous yet I was very excited at the same time.  The event started with an informal lunch and network session then followed by a cantonese movie screening - Journey to the West. I did not expect that to get GSC to provide a set of pop corn and coke for all guests was such a good idea.  I personally received glowing feedback from a few guests about how they had fun with a new way of us celebrating the festive event especially the part when they got pop corn and coke for free! A-Ha!

This is our door gift specially made for our guests.  It is a mug filled with either rose or jasmine tea.  Bought this mug at IKEA.  IKEA has never failed to impress me with their cute little stuff! At 1st I thought of putting little mandarin oranges in the mug but when the event was getting closer - the idea to put a tea sachet popped into my head. After seeking opinions from my fellow colleagues of how to decorate it, tadaaa... here's the result...  A mug filled with a pouch of tea leaves. The idea was contributed collectively by my colleagues and myself. Teamwork really can do wonders!

This picture was captured at the beginning of the event by our official photographer Juaini Shamsul... A few of guests just stepped in and registered.

Here are some of my colleagues entertaining their respective guests.  The idea was having an informal lunch and networking session.  Everyone was free to mingle around.  After lunch and networking, the guests were invited to watch "Journey to the west", by Stephen Chow.

Sempat lagi nak berposing dalam kesibukan event ni bersama mak yong yang suweet - muweet at the longest registration table.... We had 2 sweet girls who did the registration, other 2 cute girls who distributed the movie ticket and another 2 pretty girls who distributed the door gift. Hehehehe....

Alhamdulillah... I received this thank you email from my CEO.  He was very happy with the new look and feel of our CNY event. But honestly, I would not be able to do it right without the efforts from the whole team to put on such a colourful event.  I'm glad I have moved on far from my comfort zone to a totally more challenging role.  This role won't be able to please everyone although everyone expects you to please them.  Sometimes I guess we just have to believe in ourselves and we have to keep moving on no matter what...  Although the event was not totally perfect but Alhamdulillah it went on smoothly...

Role model

Recently I was told by my uncle that my former boss has just been appointed the CEO of ECM Libra.  Lately I have been busy to even sit down and grab a newspaper to read.  (bukan suka baca newspaper pun memandangkan malas nak tau sad and sob stories happened around us)...  Tapi bagus baca newspaper ni, banyak knowledge kita boleh dapat....

So terus googled to know more, I found this reliable link: 

http://biz.thestar.com.my/news

Yup... Confirm! ECM Libra Financial Group Bhd has appointed my former boss its new chief executive officer.  Alhamdulillah... I am so happy for her and proud that I had the chance to work very closely with her.  She was my role model at the time. In fact she will always be my role model although we're not working together anymore because she is everything a role model should be...  As a woman, she's pretty and kind.  As a mom, she's loving and as a boss, she's understanding...

She was very generous to all of us including me... Alhamdulillah.  It started with giving me beautiful handbags, although they were not totally new but they were still gorgeous and stylish! For a secretary like me at the time, I could not afford to buy such handbags on my own...  She has never failed to give me pressies during my birthday and took me out for lunch... Pegi mana2 mesti belikan souvenirs... Every year bagi duit raya...  She has never scolded me when I made mistakes...  Despite her kindness and generosity, she remains simple and very down to earth...

When I wanted to build up myself with a better career, I took her advice.  I had to choose my future career path either to be a personal assistant or corporate communication executive.  Her advice was to have a career goal is to really look as far ahead as possible and visualize which would be a best-fit career path for me...  And so I did... Here I am, in the corporate communication field and I am happy at where I am now...  Alhamdulillah... Thank you boss for being such a great inspiration to me and my fellow colleagues... 

Until now I keep a picture of us at my workstation.  This picture was snapped at her fond farewell tea.  Whenever I see this picture, it reminds me of the good memories and wonderful experience we shared...

"If your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more and become more, you are a leader." -  John Quincy Adams

Manja or Mengada?

That's me... Manja... Or Mengada?  Some might interpret that my character is "manja" but ada jugak might feel that I am just so mengada, ada pulak segelintir feel that I am "gedik"? Orang sekarang punya bahasa kan, which is quite a harsh word to me... Nevermind,  we can never pleased anyone.

I hate to admit, I am quite a spoil brat.   When the rest of my siblings terpaksa kumpul duit belanja sekolah untuk beli benda yang diorang suka for example basikal, I got it as a gift from my dad.  When my sister had to strive hard, to get the chance to study abroad, my mom sent me to further study in art at UK even before I get my SPM results. But why must I felt that I am a spoil brat? Shouldn't I change the way I think towards positive thoughts? I might not be a spoil brat, but perhaps I was just lucky because I was the youngest girl in the family.

At some of my previous workplaces, I was dimanjakan... I was given only a job that I liked to do, bigger work stations, higher cubicles, flexibility, etc.  I did not ask for all those things... But again, I guess I was just lucky... Hurm... Tapi at my current place, I kena belajar untuk jadi tougher, sebab dah tak ada manja2 ni, cuma tea lady je manjakan semua orang... ;)

My hubby ~ yes people might think that we wives have to be independent.  I am or I can be very independent.  But in this case, I have made a choice, dengan siapa lagi nak bermanja kalau tak dengan suami sendiri...

Back to manja character,  usually it's the way I talk.  Or when I got easily moved or terharu by little2 things.  Ketahuilah that's just me - the real me.  Untuk apa jadi orang lain kalau kita terpaksa berpura-pura macho... Tak hensem pun buat ape nak berlagak macho... 

Sesiapa yang mengenali saya, saya tak pernah berniat nak jadi mengada or dalam bahasa kasarnya gedik  tapi ini ialah saya... Jadi saya takkan marah kalau ada orang yang tak boleh terima character manja saya ini, sebab saya memang lemah, (tapi jiwa kental) chewah... Hamba Allah yang ada kelemahan dan saya terima kenyataan tu...

~ Graceful Violet

Terukir di bintang

Terukir di bintang is one of my favourite songs.  Yuna, that young lady selalu je ada magic touch.  Mungkin ada yang tak minat Yuna.  But, personally I think she's creative and she must have have been given telinga yang sangat amazing. I mean pendengaran yang bagus, sebab dia pilih Aizat untuk replace dia cos dia tak dapat bawa lagu dia sendiri yang layak ke anugerah juara lagu 27 due to prior engagement.  Aizat memang pilihan yang paling tepat sebab suara yang sangat cool dan santai.

Bila dengar Aizat bawak lagu ni, terasa macam dengar Michael Buble's song.  Performance concept yang dia bawa memang sesuai dengan maksud lagu dan melodi yang Yuna cuba sampaikan through "Terukir di Bintang".  Lagu ni memang overall simple and santai, feeling macam naik river cruise in the morning with a cuppa coffee. His image and body language betul2 kena dgn stage set.  Stage set tu, mcm cafe kat Paris! The best part was when he sang the last line "terukir di bintang tak mungkin hilang" muncul gambar Yuna melambai2 full screen kat digital backdrop. That shows, Aizat's trying to express that Yuna is the rising star... The concept was very simple but sweet... Congrats Yuna and Aizat with such an amazing creations!  

Apa ye makna lagu ni? Terpulang pada interpretasi individu sebenarnya.  Tapi mengikut interpretasi saya,  lagu ni cuma satu penyampaian mesej dari seorang perempuan tentang betapa sukanya dia kepada seorang lelaki.  A feel good song about how deep an average person falls in love...  Takkan tak faham, very simple! Hehehee...

"Maha suci Allah yang menjadikan kejadian semua berpasangan dari sesuatu yang tumbuh di bumi, dari mereka (manusia) dan dari sesuatu yang mereka tiada mengetahui."

(Yaasin: 36)  

Here's the sweet lyrics:

Terukir di bintang

Jika engkau minta intan permata tak mungkin ku mampu
Tapi sayangkan ku capai bintang dari langit untukmu
Jika engkau minta satu dunia akan aku coba
Ku hanya mampu jadi milikmu pastikan kau bahagia
Hati ini bukan milik ku lagi
Seribu tahun pun akan ku nanti
Kan... kamu...
Sayangku
Jangan kau persoalkan siapa dihatiku
Terukir di bintang tak mungkin hilang cintaku padamu

Quality time with familia at Johor!

Hubby kata, cukup cukup sudah, cukup sampai holiday ni aja (mcm lagu lah kan...)  According to him we have had many vacations this year.  Alaa, baru pegi Bandung, Cameron Highlands, PD, India and recently Johor. Manede banyak, belum pegi Mekah, Madinah, New Zealand, Italy, Japan and Korea.  Hamboi berangan... Hahaha...

Initially memang saya and Mr. hubby planned nak pegi shopping trip to Johor Premium Outlet (JPO).  Kebetulan kakak saya pun planned nak ajak the whole family pegi Legoland.  So, we decided to tag along, apelagi.  Kebetulan lagi, my hubby dapat discount for only RM65 per ticket untuk masuk Legoland.  The full gate price for an adult is RM140 while for a kid is RM110.  Alhamdulillah, rezeki bercuti kali ni... 

We stayed at Thistle for 3D2N.  The hotel is clean, nice and spacious.  Tapi the services were quite poor.  Masuk2 our room, we found out tak ada full set of towel.  Pastu masa breakfast, the waiter would only replenish food upon requests je... Hurm... 

This is the view from our room... Cantik...

After we dropped off Mama and my aunt, Cik E at Thistle, dengan sikap yang tak berapa nak sabarnya, cepat2 pegi JPO.  We dropped them off sebab takut diorang tak larat nak tunggu kitorang survey goods at JPO.  Maklumlah kitorang ni bukan kaya raya boleh shop the whole JPO, mestilah perlukan masa untuk pilih yang sesuai and necessary saje...  Shopping pun kena ade iman ni... Hehehe... So my hubby bought a pair of PUMA shoes for himself and couple of Fossil watches for me and him while I bought a Coach Leather handbag for me.  I shall give credit and salute to the Coach retailer yg sanggup tunggu lama dgn penuh kesabaran melayan karenah customer ini yang agak cerewet la...  Murah ke? Takdelah murah mana, tapi worth buying la.  For instance, Fossil tu giler tak beli, cos dah lah bagi 30% discount from boutique price, tambah lagi another 50% discount for the 2nd purchase... Ape lagi grabbed la kan...

The last day at Johor, we went to JPO again.  This time around we went there with the rest of the family... Tgk aje happy faces kat above picture selepas bershopping.. Eh eh my sister tak sempat shopping ape2... Unbelievable!!! Tapi dia tetap sporting berposing sengeh sampai ke telinga... Kesian dia tak sempat nak shopping sebab melayan my niece, nephew and baby brother...  Kali ni, I bought 3 purse at Fossil for Cik E, my niece and myself... Tak sia2 pegi JPO 2 kali..
~Happy thoughts... 

2nd day kat Johor, kitorang pegi to a colourful theme park ~ Legoland... Mama didn't follow us, I hope she had a good rest at the hotel sebab I didn't encourage her to go along. I bet she won't enjoy it as the weather was very hot and the crowd was super packed! All of us kena sunburned.  We didn't expect it was going to be that hot.

Since the weather's too hot, kitorang pakai sunnies, hubby and me love our Rayban aviator sunnies.  We also brought 2 umbrellas. Kebetulan tiba2 je hujan after we took couple of rides. Because of the weather was unpredictable, skarang ni saya kena combo of demam, selsema, batuk,  headache and sore throat...

For those who are keen to take your kids to Legoland, please be prepared of the hot weather, pakai sunblock cream or spray and such, pakai cap, umbrella and sunnies. Bring wet wipes, kipas and drink lots of water...  Water bottle kat Legoland is quite pricey.  Its price is like twice the price at  regular shop.  

All rides kat dalam Legoland ni free,tak ade additional fare pun...   Tapi disebabkan kitorang pegi hari Ahad, cuti sekolah, jatuh pada minggu christmas plak, terpaksalah queue panjang sepanjang2nya... The place was like full of people from all over Asia, ade yg cakap philipina, indonesia, hindi, thai, mandarin, cantonese, mcm2lagi laa... The best time to go theme park like this is on weekdays and BUKAN cuti sekolah please...  We would love to go again because the park was pretty, colourful and banyak harmless fun rides that we have not tried yet...

Legoland is so awesome for a family vacation especially to those yang ada primary school kids.  They would love all the things in there!  Tapi rasenye tak perlulah bawa senior citizen to such theme park, sebab I saw one old lady dah macam nak pengsan, terduduk atas wheel chair... Kesian sangat...   Masetu terfikir nasib baik Mama tak ikut...

These are replicas of buildings in KL and Putrajaya, which were made of lego.  They were intricate and beautifully done... 

 

Ni kitorang berposing kat replicas of buildings in Asia and again they were made of lego... Look at that, Taj Mahal pun ade... Baru je pegi tengok the real Taj Mahal, and its replica is almost real minus the size...

We had so much fun!!!  Legoland memang awesomeness!!!Nak pegi lagi!!!

Incredible India Pt. 3

Taj Mahal is the 2nd place of "7 wonders of the world" which I had the chance to see for myself after the great wall of China.  Now I can definitely see why it is one of the 7 wonders of the world...

A Shrine of Love

Taj Mahal was known of a shrine of love.  The Mughal Emperor Shahjahan ordered Taj Mahal built in memory of his beloved wife Mumtaz Mahal who died only a few minutes after giving birth to her fourteenth child, a daughter.  The final request of his wife was for him not to marry again and prove their endless love by building a dreamlike beautiful mausoleum.Taj mahal was built in 22 years (1631-1653) it was dedicated to Mumtaz Mahal (Arjumand Bano Begum), the wife of Shahjahan. 20,000 workers labored during the construction of the monument and it was built according to Islamic architecture. It is one of the Unesco world heritage site and one of the most beautiful and costly tombs in the world.  Taj Mahal is taken from the name Mumtaz Mahal.

This was my 1st view of the magnificent Taj Mahal... Upon entering the door to Taj Mahal garden, I shed a tear after looking at the most beautiful building right before me... Betul2 nampak macam palace yang portrayed in all the fairy tales I have grown up with... Cantik sangat2... I was told that it was designed by an architect from Turkey. But the buildings I saw at Istanbul are nothing like Taj Mahal...   The tomb is encased in white marble which is decorated with flawless sculptures and inlaid design of flowers and calligraphy cut from precious gems.   The building was built flawlessly proportionate, and built almost entirely out of marble.  Masya' Allah...

Tengok ni , kitorang sempat lagi acting cerita Bollywood depan Taj Mahal...

 Ni aksi kanak-kanak riang yang tersangatlah excited dapat jejak Taj Mahal...

~Graceful-Violet.