10 Hours In Kota Bharu

Shortly after my day trip there last October, there was a free seat offer by Firefly and having enjoyed my trip, I decided that I wouldn’t mind a return trip sometime after Eid this year. I checked the offer for last Saturday, 23 July 2016, and was lucky to secure free seats for both the trip there and back. Alhamdulillah!

We left for Subang Airport at 07:17 and arrived within 20 minutes. I had already checked in online but as I brought my long brolly along, I had to get a tag from the counter for the brolly. I didn’t have to check it in, I merely needed to hand it over to the cabin crew after boarding the plane. I didn’t quite know how to tell the good-looking bloke at the counter but he understood me when I resorted to English and answered in English too (thank you kind sir for not being like those jerks who acted all superior when replying to my English queries in Malay; I do understand Malay but most times, I think and speak better in English. And there’s no point to act all arrogant).

We landed at Kota Bahru airport at 09:35 but I left the terminal only after confirming the flight time back to KL (the time stated on the ticket and boarding pass differed so I thought I’d confirm it first). I had a longer wait for the bus no. 9 to the bus station in the city this time – 30 minutes. Oh well, it’s not as if I don’t already have to wait that long or longer for RapidKL buses! The taxi from the airport will cost you RM30 or RM20 if you hail it by the road outside the airport building. The bus fare was only RM1.80. Well, I wasn’t in a hurry and I had my novel to occupy me so it was a no-brainer: bus it was. It was already a hot bright sunny morning and barely 10:00!

The bus pulled at the bus station about 20 minutes later and after checking the bus to Billion and departure time, I walked to the gold shops around Pasar Siti Khadijah. The last time I was there, I was looking for a white gold anklet. Kelantanese aren’t fond of white gold so it was a challenge to find one. Well, this time I was looking to replace my bangle. While it’s easy enough to find a bangle in yellow gold, I wanted an oval-shaped one, not the usual round bangles. There weren’t many there and I didn’t really fancy the designs of those few oval bangles. I spotted a few Cartier-inspired Love and Juste un Clou bracelets and Hermès-inspired Clic Clac and while they were in yellow gold, they were wayyyy too big for my wrist. There were also some Pandora-inspired bangles and Tiffany T bangles but I’m not a fan (yet). I walked around and even ventured to the other side of the market and the few gold shops at the market itself but the few that were there didn’t catch my fancy at all.

I hurried back to the bus station after purchasing some mineral water and fish satay from a street vendor and caught the bus no. 23 to Billion Shopping Centre. I gotta give it to the bus company: the bus was punctual! I wanted to go to a fragrance shop there that I had visited when I was in the city with Abah and Mummy. I left after performing prayers at the adjoining Renaissance Hotel. I had to wait a bit for the bus back to the station.

Back at the station, I checked the schedule for the bus back to the airport and was informed there was one departing at 16:20. The 17:10 bus would not run that day. I had about 100 minutes plus to kill so I went back to the gold shop and then to the market to shop.

I returned back to the bus station laden with purchases sans new bangle at 16:10. Again, the bus was on time, in fact, it left a minute before its scheduled time. The traffic back to the airport wasn’t heavy this time (unlike on my last trip) and we reached the airport in 20 minutes. It was still too hot to be out and about so after checking out the two restaurants across the street from the airport, I went into the terminal to wait. I killed time by making progress on my novel.

At 18:00, I went to get a tag for my brolly then I went to find dinner. It was still bright and hot and the sun was glaring in my face. The first restaurant was full of people but I didn’t stay as it didn’t have seafood tomyam (I’m reducing my chicken intake; I started this just before Ramadan) and besides, people were smoking openly there. The second restaurant was devoid of people and yes, it told me something but it had seafood tomyam and no one was smoking. I ordered seafood tomyam and hot barley and both were way below par.

I returned back to the airport and quickly went in. The flight from Subang landed late so we only boarded at 19:30. We were airborne within ten minutes though and landed at 20:35. I went to collect my brolly from the cabin crew but some idiot placed my brolly below all the passenger check-in bags so I had to wait a while before I got it back. As a result, I had to perform jamak takhir instead of jamak takdim prayers. Mehhh.

So that was my ten hours in KB. Will make another trip if a similar offer crops up!

Boarding the plane

View from up in the air

Another view from up in the air

Siti Khadijah Market. This area was still closed last October. Was so glad to see it has reopened

Cat at Siti Khadijah Market

My less-than-satisfactory early dinner. I rate it 3/10

Cat at restaurant

All About The Money

So, it’s 10 Syawal today and the middle of July. I’m sure some of us are already counting to the days to payday and this is perfectly understandable considering we just celebrated Eid. Of late, I find myself in tight financial situations too myself due to a variety of reasons (one time it was because I had to settle Mummy’s estate and paying the administrator’s fee for helping me settle it; then it was when I decided to pay for my LASIK in full instead of opting for instalment; another time it was because I was cheated from a purchase; a few times it was because of repairs; and other times it’s because I was lusting after bags, yes plural). But hey, no regrets. I don’t believe in regrets and I try not to have any because life is too short anyway (life is just too short to have regrets and too short to beat around the bush).

As such, I decided to have share some tips to those of us observing financial diet for whatever reason.

Cut down on dining out. Besides, it’s healthier to buy your own food and cook yourself. You can control the amount of sugar and sodium you put in, eliminate colouring and artificial flavours, and choose healthier ways to cook like steaming, grilling, roasting and baking.

Cut down on recreational activities. When we were at home from boarding school on school hols once, Akak and I had the following conversation:

Akak: I’m bored

Me: Well, what’s boring costs nothing. What’s not boring will cost you though.

And yeah, when you think about it, a lot of recreational activities that are interesting cost money (bowling, watching a movie, going to a play, dining out, travelling, paragliding, shopping...). Activities that are not interesting don’t usually cost money. Such is life. Choose activities that either don’t cost money or cost very little. If you want to exercise, go for a walk or run instead of joining a gym. Spend an afternoon at a museum or art galleries instead of at the theatres. Better still, stay in and be firm about it. Surely there are a lot of things you can do at home: reading, tackling those domestic chores, cooking, gardening, working out...

Oh, make up your mind! Just stay in!

Cut down on pampering activities such as massages, pedicure/manicure, facial treatments...

Cut down on shopping, be it physically walking into shops or catalogue shopping or online shopping. Window shopping is fine as long as you have the restraint and control. Make a shopping list before going to the supermarket or hypermart for your grocery shopping and try to go early to avoid the crowd and after a meal so you won’t be tempted to buy too much food.

Buy good quality goods. Quality lasts a long time. Don’t compromise on cheap fast clothes that go out of fashion after a season. Be a smart savvy environmentally-aware ethical shopper. Avoid clothes-shopping errors (check the guide by Lady Sarah here, here, here and here. Oh and do practise wardrobe maintenance too). Invest in classic quality accessories, shoes and bags. It’s taken me a while but I’ve started investing in bags and shoes.

Invest in fashionable, versatile and chic clothes

Buy pre-owned or pre-loved instead of a brand new item. You won’t believe it but a lot of pre-loved goods are in pristine gently-used condition. This is a big market in some cities. London has quite a few charity shops (check this and this out) and it is one of the things to do in the city. I myself went to visit a few shops on my recent three trips there (it all started when I spotted a second-hand book in a store in Bayswater...).

My haul from my trip last September

Consider selling your things that you have use or no longer have any use for. One man’s trash is another’s treasure and all that. Hold a jumble sale, sell it to Cash Converters, sell it on mudah or other social media platform like Instagram.

Jumble sale

Do it yourself. Instead of sending your clothes to the cleaners for ironing, pump the iron yourself. Learn how to mend your own clothes or fix and assemble things, in short, DIY. Where you previously engaged some help to clean your house, do it yourself. Trust me, you get more satisfaction that way. The downside is you get more backache though!

Make sure you know what you’re doing before attempting DIY!

Join a local library. I brought two box-full of books to the KL Library to donate in mid-October 2015 (I had previously enquired if a donor could join for free but was told no). There was a promotion then and they were offering free membership so of course I joined. Members get to borrow three books for two weeks. The one that I frequent near Merdeka Square is closing for renovation though (if it hasn’t already). But there are other outlets that you can go to. To be honest, I only started borrowing in mid-March of this year; I really should have started going much earlier. I already have too many books and have given away at least five boxes of books so far. So joining a library means I don’t have to buy as many books. I also exchange books with a colleague so we get to read more books but not have to spend as much as we did before. And yeah it’s a good thing we like the same genre!

KL Library network info

Take public transportation. It’s environmentally friendly and you don’t have to worry about filling up, finding parking, insurance, road tax, possibility of being involved in an accident, being summoned, wear and tear, repairs and maintenance.

Thank You Allah

Dear Allah

Words cannot even begin to describe my gratitude to You. In fact, words are inadequate to describe my gratitude to You for everything but I shall try anyway. So, here goes. Thank You Allah –

For letting me reach another milestone and allowing me to celebrate another year on this earth alongside people I cherish and love. My birthday this year fell on the 1 Syawal too! What joyful occasion to celebrate my birthday and with so many people too. And I don’t have to apply for leave this time around, what a bonus!

For letting me pursue things that I love and doing things that I enjoy.

For the family I have, annoying and irritating and testing as some members are.

For the good health, bar the rare flu occurrences, that I enjoy.

For the wealth (rezeki) You give me. Some may say I’m not an ambitious person but I’m happy doing what I do now. I don’t care for the extra responsibilities that come with a promotion. I don’t think I’m being complacent, merely content and redha with what I have.

For the good education I had and the thirst for knowledge that You bestow.

For making me love reading.

For making me understand, value and honour time.

For the friendships fostered, some many years ago, some recently, that last to this day.

For my love for the good things in life. Yes, I have a life-long weakness for branded goods and now luxury goods and I do believe it’s allowed to live my life while I’m still alive while balancing my deeds for the afterlife.

For being perfectly normal. For not being born with any major illness. For not being born a special-needs person and being a burden to my poor hardworking parents. For my pair of legs that I really utilise (even though no amount of walking will get rid of the darn cellulite!)

For the opportunity to travel and meet people, enjoy other cultures, have a different experience.

For listening to my woes, my anguish, my sadness, my joy, my happiness and for always being there.

For everything else: the air I breathe, the full moon I always enjoy watching, the occasional rainbow that awes me every now and then, the beautiful flowers, the lovely fragrance of flowers, the simple things in life.

Thank You, Allah, for all these and more.

Please continue to bless me and my family members and friends with love, rezeki, good health and wealth. I also pray for peace for all Muslims around the world especially those in Palestine, Syria, Iraq, Myanmar. Amen.

P. S. I underwent LASIK surgery a year ago today. Alhamdulillah, it went well. I can’t recommend it enough! In fact I probably should have done it sooner but Allah had His own plans for me.

Here We Go Again

It’s that time of the year again. After a month of abstinence, patience, control, restraint, reflection, appreciation and ibadah, we will celebrate Eid tomorrow. And the way some celebrate it here, I’m not sure why we even bother observing Ramadan when Syawal becomes a month of wastage and flaunting. I don’t like and have never liked the way it’s celebrated here – in excess and in ways not even Islamic. Only Malaysian Muslims celebrate Eid for a month just because they fast for a month in Ramadan. Anyway, maybe it’s just me. But I sure as heck don’t look forward to Eid. I don’t believe Eid is the only time children/the young should remember their aging parents/family members and make the trip to visit. Am I supposed to be flattered with your visit when you never deigned to visit or attempted a phone call the previous 11 months? I don’t think the purpose of Eid is for the womenfolk to be slaves in the kitchen preparing food for the guests. Oh sure, some willingly put themselves through this but you can still have a good time celebrating together without going overboard. If it were to me, I’d just order the dishes and that’s it. I’d rather be in the air-conditioned office than slaving at home over the stove. I’d rather earn the money and pay someone else to do it for me and why not when I don’t have the expertise or interest or inclination.

Anyway, let’s all have a moderate Eid. No need to go to extremes, no need to be extravagant, no need to flaunt new clothes. You deserve to dress yourself in something special everyday anyway, not just during Eid.

I do try - as I do on other days - not just during Eid, to keep the house in order. It’s a losing battle because dad isn’t the neatest person and he makes a lot of mess. He probably doesn’t even notice his mess or that I clean it up for him. Such are men!

As usual, I feel sad as Ramadan comes closer to its end. I tried my best, Allah. Please forgive my shortcomings and do grant me another Ramadan, insyaAllah.

Last but not least, these are some of the LOLCats’ Eid Preparations:

Clean up the house

Clean the outdoors - or outsource it to a professional clean up crew

Set the house to order

Try on new clothes or your still new clothes and make sure they fit and you like them. Otherwise, toss them out!

Set time aside to mend clothes if and when necessary

Make sure you iron your clothes early in case there’s a blackout or you’re prevented from ironing for some reason

Cook, or if you are hopeless like I am, be useful in the kitchen and help out

Help out with the batter, the mixing, the kneading, the baking etc

All that done, all that’s left is all that’s left is to ask for forgiveness...

...and the to go for Eid prayers and wait for the guests to arrive

Wishing everyone Eid Mubarak. Exercise moderation in your celebration and food intake and do drive safely.