she did it.

Don’t lose hope for dreams do come true. Believe in yourself and things will fall into places. I cannot wait to hear Angela's song. It would be great!

Btw, I *heart* Ellen D.

Things to do in Bali - a seriously delayed entry

I thought I lost this entry. Oh well, I should not let it go to waste kan?

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If anyone tells me they get bored while in Bali, I’d slap them silly. Serious.

To really enjoy all the tourist attraction, one must know where they want to go and what they want to do. TIME MANAGEMENT is the key and sadly we wasted half our morning sleeping, getting ready and accommodation hunting.

You would also need a guide to bring you around. There are plenty of tour operators and even the independent one waiting for guests at Legian Street. However, you may need to find a good guide so the trip would be more fun and worthwhile. But how you know kan? Well, there were signs actually.

The first guide we hired was an old man who doesn’t say much. We needed to go to Ubud area and Uluwatu for Kecak Dance performance so he took us to those places and suggested the Ubud market, Batik factory and the Silver factory. He charged us IDR400,000 (RM152.00) in his old van with no aircond.

He brought us to the Batik factory which I think was okay but unnecessary. We learned Batik in high school what. But since we were already there we decided to look around. Their batik creations included cartoon characters like Doreamon. *grins*

You could also buy anything batik at the souvenir shop but it is very expensive compared to the ones sold at the market. So if you’re not a fan of batik, you may want to give this a miss.

We also skipped the Silver factories for the obvious reason.

At Ubud, we visited Pak Ketut, the well known healer but I shall do a separate entry for that.

Our next destination was Ubud market where they sell handicrafts among many other things. Every stalls sell almost similar stuff, so you may want to really search for something special. Plus this is the time where you put your bargaining skills to good use which I suck triumphantly.

The long drive to Uluwatu was too long, I stuck my head out of the window to enjoy the Bali breeze only to realize it was a crazy thing to do with the number of motorist passing by.

Despite the crazy driving, we arrived just in time for Kecak Dance performance. By the time Kecak was over, it was too dark to see anything else. *sighs*

The second guide we hire, D Ray only charged us IDR300,000 (RM108.00) in his Avanza. Maybe because he was much closer to our age (definitely younger), he was chatty and we, well at least I felt more comfortable to ask lots of questions and he brought us to many interesting places.

Our first stop was Nusa Dua, the venue for water sports aficionados where you can choose parasailing, jetski, flying fish, doughnut, glass bottom boat, fishing, banana boat, turtle island trip and diving. Unfortunately, this wasn’t in our to-do list.

Seminyak is the land of paddy and corns. Among the greens stood beautiful villas for rent which are popular for the long-staying foreigners. I wish I could stay there.

Our first stop was Krisna, Ole-ole Khas Bali. It’s more like a hypermarket of souvenirs and the price is reasonably cheap. The only problem was, it was so stuffy, I could hardly breathe.

We then stop by at Seminyak Beach, well Double 6 to be exact for Eskay to fulfil her bungee-jumping dream. I took one look and I know I may have to wait for few more years to gather my courage to jump from the very tall platform. If I ever have the nerve to do it larr.

Eskay did very well by not chicken-ing out. *cheers loudly*

The waves at Seminyak were rough and scary if you ask me and I was quite surprised to find no surfers there. Maybe I didn’t look hard enough.

We then continued our journey to Tanah Lot. The traffic was bad so our guide took us through the smaller and narrower road but it was scenic with the beautiful view of the paddy fields. I wanted to roll the windows down so I could get a clearer photo but I didn’t think the guide would appreciate me wetting the seats.

At Tanah Lot, there were plenty of stalls selling souvenirs and stuffs. However I was too busy looking for the famous Tanah Lot temple and the rain did not ruin that picturesque view of the sea and the temple itself. We must have been real good that day because it stopped raining and the sun did show herself for 5 minutes or so.

The temple is like one giant stone and there is an opening at the bottom where the spring water flows from the temple. First, you need to clean yourself with the water. The “priest” says to wash your face and drink the water but the guy who cuts the queue, practically took a bath. Then the “priest” will bless you by placing what look like rice on your forehead and a white Cempaka behind your left ear.

There is also a Holy snake across the temple that says to bring good fortune. You can’t really see the snake because it is kept in like a miniature cave. All I saw was the tail and the belly and it was alive alright coz it slithers when I rub the belly. I had goose bumps because I do not like snakes and the belly felt so geli. *shudders*

Kuta Beach. Come and feast your eyes with the yummylicious (well, not everything is beautiful)creatures from all over the world. *grins* I don’t have to tell you what to do in the beach larr kan? Me, I had a pedicure and with my favourite songs blasting from the earphones, I just lepak at the beach enjoying the view. All of it.

I could just sit and do nothing the whole day but the only problem is I get sunburn easily. I am so lazy to apply sun block every few minutes and even with a hat, I still get a tan. Now I have different shades of tan and it is not pretty!

Bali also offers PLENTY of spa services. The trick is to find a really good one. We went to Galuh Bali Spa and took a package that includes body scrub, massage and soaking in the air bunga which was okay. Honestly, I had better massages but again, one would never know the excellence of the place until you tried it. Or maybe the masseuse assigned to me wasn’t the best they had.

Bali is a shopping haven. Along Legian Street, you could find shops after shops selling t-shirts, sundresses, shorts, sunglasses, fake goods and everything you could thing off. Again, bargaining skills are important and patience does come in handy. *grins*

Bali is a place for everyone. I just wish I had more time and money to explore the place. Hopefully I get to visit this lovely island again. Soon.

February 14th, 2010

The girl sighed as she clutch ‘Anne of Green Gable’ closed to her heart. She wondered when will she meet her ‘Gilbert Blythe’ and live happily ever after. She imagined their white wedding at a meadow and what a perfect picture it would be with their children playing catch at the front lawn while she and ‘Gilbert’ hold hands and drinking tea at the porch of their beautiful mansion.

Many, many years later, that girl, now a woman, let’s call her Optimistically Blinded, sighed deeply as she switched from one TV channel to another, wondering why there is nothing to watch on Valentine’s Day. Thank goodness for her [single] friend, let’s call her Long Island Iced Tea, they went out to look for coffee and a peace of mind.

Unfortunately, the Universe has nothing better to do then to mess with them, and all their favorite coffee places were packed with people having the CNY night outing with the whole village. “Don’t these people have open houses to go to?” sighed the two women and crossed their fingers that the beach would not be crowded by couples who somehow managed to knot themselves together during the most romantic day of the year.

Or so says Hallmark.

Despite the starry night, the beach was somewhat deserted. The two women chose to seat at a table near the staircase to the sandy beach and realized it was a big mistake as an elder woman yelled at her children to get their ass off the sand right behind Optimistically Blind which nearly made her optimistically deaf too.

A three piece band, which sounded more like wedding singers, tried their best to convince everyone but them themselves that it was indeed the most loving day of the year. Their choices of classical selections which no one has heard before were questionable but they were rewarded during their Rock & Roll attempt with a couple who looked like their had too much Mandarin Orange doing ‘line dancing’ on the sand and another lady who obviously had too much Margarita doing the ‘Jane Fonda’ while her date who was clearly embarrassed, looked away. If that is not love, Optimistically Blinded has no idea what is.

As the two women discussed about common sense, a red colored lantern floats from the sandy beach, released by a couple, who are no doubt in love and looked absolutely pleased with themselves. Optimistically Blinded and Long Island Iced Tea wondered if it was a smart thing to do as the airport is just at the other end of the beach. Another couple, with a blue colored lantern did not want to be left out, set free their testimony of love, only to watch it plummeted into the sea minutes later. Optimistically Blinded watched, big eyed and wondered if it is not a [bad] sign, then what is.

Optimistically Blinded noted there were plenty group of men enjoying their night out and wondered if they too needed their peace of mind or were they celebrating their [temporary] victory for escaping the corporate manipulation of Valentine’s Day. One can only guess.

As Optimistically Blinded lay in her bed that night, she wondered how her next Valentine’s Day will be. Will she be sipping her Kit Chai Ping under the starry night with another single friend? Will she watch her floating lantern crashed into the sea? Will her date look away as she does her ‘Put A Ring On It’ routine? Will she and her ‘Gilbert’ do ‘Dirty Dancing’ under the starry night while the rest of the world watched in envy?

Optimistically Blinded is optimistically optimistic.

February 12th, 2010

How does one SHOULD feel when turning 32?

Were you supposed to feel a tingling sensation? A sense of pride? Excessive happiness?
I was waiting to experience something awesome, and sadly, aside from the disappointment for a somewhat different reason, I feel nothing.

So I was in bed at 6.30pm because of the splitting headache and my son woke me up around 11pm to help him with his homework (it’s a long story people) but as the clock strike midnight, I held my breath to embrace whatever it is I am supposed to feel, but zilch. I still feel like my old self, the perfectly imperfect me.

I made my son sang me an out of tune Happy Birthday and I was, happy.

The next morning, when I looked into the mirror, I still see the same face. The dark circles under my eyes are still embarrassing and I need to do something about my skin. I stared at myself wondering if this is it because if it is, it would be a sad thing.

People at work threw me a nice surprise do in the office. I even had a cake and someone bought KFC. Knowing the people in the office, that’s a big deal and I am deeply grateful.

I told my mom to do her compulsory dinner next Sunday during the gathering because it would be fun to blow the candles with the kids around. I hope it will.

So Friday night, I was at home, with everyone out of the house. I had the remote control all to myself and a half bottle of red wine which I finished. Sad as it sounds, I was content.

I went to the island with my bestbiens the next day for a small celebration. We ate. We drank. We talked. We laughed. We swam, well I soaked. We dozed off under the sun. Despite this pain from my badly burnt back, it was great. I am already looking forward for the next trip minus the Vodka of course.

I am still waiting for that greatness. I don’t know what the year has in store for me, but I can feel it in my bones, something excellent will happen. Until then, I am just going to sit back and enjoy the ride, like I always do.

To everyone, thank you for the wishes. I feel so loved and blessed.

the day before i turned 32

I miss blogging. Words would swirl in my head but the moment I want to craft them nicely, they went hiding. Okay, laziness has something to do with it too. *whistles*

Many things had happened in the past few weeks. Not necessarily about me, but the world in general. It is sad to see tragedies happened, but it is even sadder to hear people making assumptions about them. Not everything that had happened happens the way you think.

I am still learning not to jump into conclusions too. *head hangs in shame*

I am a year older tomorrow. *woohoo* Unfortunately, this migraine would not stop and not only my head aches, my face begins to hurt too. The gastric is not helping either. *sighs*

Maybe I worry too much.

I hope tomorrow will be a better day. This year, I know what I want when I blow out the candles. Over the years I’ve only asked for one thing. When I think about it carefully, that birthday wish is granted every year.

Between you and me, I do hope some people would remember my birthday. *keeping my fingers crossed*

perfect? definitely not.

I admit there were times, if not often, where I go all blank and clueless to what I should do. When getting help is not an option, I’ll just close my eyes, cross my fingers and pray for the best. That includes motherhood, work, relationship, finance, what to wear, and many, many more.

Yes, that’s right. What to wear. Maybe it is just me, but there were few occasions when I thought I look pretty decent but when I saw the photos the next day, *OMG* I want to put my head in a hole somewhere. So very the Nicole Kidman with her blotters drama. Thank goodness for Photoshop!

Anyway, it’s hard. I cannot tell you the number of times when I feel I have failed miserably, especially as a mom.

“Maybe if I have taken better care of Ekiel, he would not get sick”.

“Maybe if I didn’t pamper him so much, he would not behave so badly and no one would label Ekiel as a difficult child.”
The IFs debates goes on and on.

And I used to think I’d make a great mother before I had Ekiel. *rolls eyes*

When I watched Oprah the other day about the secret lives of mom & truth about motherhood, I laughed. Out loud. Though some mothers would give those mothers the dirty look for pretending not to hear their child crying or not bathing the kids every day, I nod my head with understanding. I do because I sometimes skip Ekiel’s bath time as I am too tired or just plain lazy. And I only have one child. *head hangs in shame*

Yes, you can call off my nomination for Mother of the Year award.

I must admit I was relieved to know that I am not alone when dealing with motherhood. It makes me feel more… human. *hee*

I know no one is perfect, but our society is always about who’s the better daughter, the better mother, the better everything. So we pretend everything is perfect and we cramp all the skeletons in the closet. When we hear someone did something unacceptable, we roll our eyes and shake our head with disapproval, when in reality, we do the exact same thing.

Why do we do that? We cannot help it. We need something or someone as a guideline, you know, to make sure you are doing what the rest of the world is doing, if not doing the right thing. Of course this is only MY opinion.

What do you think?