Desaru

Hammock!
First beach experience for AIR2

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It was a short but fun stopover in Desaru, especially for AIR1. The pool, the beach and the playland were his favourites! AIR2 had her share of fun too. Her first beach experience was quite hillarious.

This weekend's getaway

Oklah, map to indoor theme park only. Our target would be first the outdoor then the indoor.

This weekend. Kinda excited as it will be a new environment for both AIRs. Let's pray it materialises and weather will be kind to us :)

Memories of Marang

On rather short notice, I was asked to go to Marang to issue a permit for site work. I agreed but had to leave on a Sunday. OK la, nevermindla.

I was so kelam kabut that I only remembered that I left my PPE in the office when I was about to reach home on Thursday. Luckily my colleague who was going with me to site was still in the office and she grabbed it for me.

The last I was in Marang was in 2005 when I went there from JB with the JB group of athletes for the annual Kapas-Marang Swimathon. And I didn’t think that this trip, I’d be going anywhere near where I was then.

However, when we were looking for hotels or more precisely Seri Malaysia Hotel, we ended up the same spot the bus dropped us off for breakfast and then on to the ferry to Pulau Kapas. Ahh, it brought back sweet memories. The thought of waking up blurry from the bus being told we were at our destination already and told to go grab breakfast and the journey after to Pulau Kapas.

Flash back to the days which led to the event, which looking back I wondered how on earth I actually agreed to go for it and how I did it. A 6.5km swim through the open sea from Pulau Kapas to Marang. Oh goodness I still remembered there were stages where I felt like after many strokes, I didn’t even move. The strong current was horrible. Looking at the waves yesterday and this morning, it reminded me of THAT very day. But the waves today were worse. Sea was really choppy but the wind was really nice.

Anyway, the days which led to the swimathon were filled with endless swims. Imagine 130laps of swim in the pool….most of the time by lap 40 or 50, I’d have lost count. By that time, I’d resort to time to check my distance. It was pure monotony and it the beginning it was almost torturous. What could you do when you were in the pool? If I was on the treadmill, at least can watch TV, read a book or listen to some songs to keep myself entertained. But in the pool? It was terrible, trying to come up with something to keep myself sane.
After a while I became a familiar face at the Tmn U pool in Skudai. Larkin, though my favourite, wasn’t favourable to me after dark because on one end of the pool, it wasn’t properly lit. Hence, it was kind of scary. So Tmn U it was though slightly more expensive, but nearer and I felt better.

Marang today was viewed differently. We had a superb and really cheap dinner last night amidst strong winds in a sea-fronting restaurant. If the winds were not so strong, we’d have sat outside. But it was so strong that I think if food was served, it’d be blown away almost instantly. Breakfast was also very cheap but funny, Rhu Rendang, about 2km from Marang, where the site exactly was, seems like it has quite strange cooking style. Everything seemed to have ginger added to it. My colleague’s fried rice and kueh teow had ginger, breakfast which included some weird kuih which had green bean and coconut fillings also had ginger and to top it all, currypuff also had ginger. Yes, the regular potato curry in the curry puff had ginger in it. Weird.

Neways, that was Marang....and I wonder when will be my next Kapas-Marang Swim. It was my first so-called cross the open sea swim. Desaru swim, although in the open sea, it was just 2 rounds of a short 750m into the sea. You don't get the 'effects' of open sea or the feeling at certain points when you're all alone 'floating/swimming' in the vast ocean. It is scary but also fun at the same time :)

Now with baby in tow, I may think twice before plunging in the the deep waters of the ocean.....

Trip to the East

My boss told me that we'll leave at 8am. Gosh, that seems pretty early. But nevermindlah. So by 8am I was already waiting. Thank God I told ladyboss the night before to call me before she leaves the house, cos by the time she called, it was already almost 830am. And in between, I managed to doze off and slot in some 'The Guardian'.

So the journey began to Kuantan. Stopped at Temerloh Rest Stop for a break - nice nasi lemak they have there too. Actually it was the first time for me travelling to Kuantan via the newly (not so new now) opened Karak highway. I think it's been two years already? The last trip I used was up to Mempaga only. That was barely halfway point. The new stretch starts further from there. So gone were the really winding and some parts single carriage way where you have to crane your neck to checkout the oncoming traffic before overtaking. However, it did take about 3 hours for us to get to the meeting. I didn't dare sleep (luckily I wasn't sleepy then) cos I needed to know where the meeting place was and where was the site too.

After everything was over, while we had lunch, somehow something too me by surprise. My boss knew I took part in Fear Factor? huh? when and how? I'm puzzled. Cos right after I went to settle the lunch bill, as soon as I got back to the table, my boss said 'they' (those people we had meeting with and hence lunch) wanted to know how I got to FF and what I did. Oh boy, was I surprised. hehehe Uptil now, I dunno how he knew. Don't wanna ask la.

Didn't manage to enjoy the 'beach' hehehe

The journey back was nother 3 hours or so too....dropped by the site and then shortly after hitting the highway, I dozed off. Hope I didn't snore! hehehe woke up approximately an hour later, fully rested and energized. :D

Guess there'll be more trips down Karak Highway next year for me.

Road trip again

Looks like the weekend will hold another road trip for us....Last weekend, we headed to Simpang Pulai. This time it'll be to Teluk Intan. I'm thinking, can I extend it further up north? haha

Perhaps not. Since Mum & Dad will be here the following weekend and well, as much as I'd like to go home and meet up with friends who are back from overseas for the Christmas and New Year holidays, I think it's best I stay put around here.

We had Thursday off as it was Sultan Selangor's birthday. It was sleep-in and movie day. Bolt was quite good. Somehow it had small twists to it and made it interesting, more than just another animated movie.

The best part is now I realised (yeah, like a few moments ago) that my boss wants me to pop by the site tomorrow night during the shutdown. Hello?? Well, lemme see....if I pop by at 10pm, should be ok la, but if I'm expected to pop by at midnight, I think it's a big 'no thank you!'...Though it's just a pop-by and I'm not expected to do anything, I think it's wiser for me to not go...we'll see how things goes. Hubby will have to be dragged along.

It's really weird. I was technically on medical leave on Wednesday cos I went for my routine check up. And the best part (again) is that my boss can ask me to attend a meeting which he already agreed to attend the day before. Goodness! Well, I told myself that I'll go only if it didn't rain and luckily the office wasn't too far away from my house. It's getting ridiculous la!

Haha, I can smell the weekend already! :D

On another note, it's only now that I'm begining to feel preggy! hehehe yes, my ankles get swollen more often and this annoys me cos I like to walk alot. And I do get unexpected dizzy spells, even while sitting down. And I do feel the weight on me when I lie down now. At 34 wks, baby's 2.3kg makes its pressence felt. :D

Can't wait for the road trip, Mum & Dad and some long break to come!! :D