Engaged!

Bah. Old news. I've been engaged ever since August 11th actually. It was a really small, private affair, nothing like most of the engagement parties nowadays (sometimes I think other people's engagement do is more grand than my nikah!). No caterers, no mini pelamins, no new outfit (can you believe that?). It was kind of a rush job as I had to get back to Kemaman after Raya and it had to be done before the bf was going back to Iraq (or so we thought he was going back to Iraq).

I've always wanted to venture into the wedding planning biz, starting off with taking orders for hantaran. Of course, no one would really dare to hire someone inexperienced to do their hantarans right? So who would be a better client but myself...

So here's my first attempt at making 3 dulang hantarans. Excuse the doilies, some were too large for the tray which hid the beauty of the Queen Annes.... yes, there were actual trays...

Sirih Junjung

Basket of fruits

And a cake. Obviously I didn't put in any effort for this. I ran out of time!

Now for some *cough* real professional work...

The Tepak Sirih

The ring

The Candies/Sweets in a jar

All the three pretty dulangs from the guy to the girl in a row...

The hantarans were done by his mom, whom to my defense had a house full of gadgets and gizmos specifically for hantaran. Whereby my work was.... go Pasar, randomly select flowers and fruits > go home realising I didn't buy enough flowers > go Floristika, randomly select flowers and leaves thinking they match the Pasar flowers > go home realising the flowers dont match and the leaves I purchased were flimsy and that I didn't have the necessary tools and whatnots to do a hantaran. But I say my so called work of art is not too bad for a first timer, working with only toothpicks and a pair of scissors. No help from glueguns, UHU glue, pins, needles, thread, flower shears, etc etc etc. Ok so maybe I did use a knife to shape the sponge. But that's about it.

So here are a couple of photos for you to appreciate my work of art. Hehehe

Because I think my flower arrangement is not too bad

Because I think my flower arrangement is not too bad Part 2

I've obviously not learnt my lesson, coz I'm still going to be doing my hantarans for nikah, yep all seven of 'em. What I did learn is I'll start earlier. Wayyy earlier. Hahah.

I would love to do more hantarans should I have the chance. So if you're thinking of saving money (I'm cheap labor!) and want to gamble your hantarans (what a way to promote right?), do drop me an email! :)

Hello from the new Inspiron 14 7000 Series

So what have I been up to lately? Besides work and holidays, not much (but then again, that is pretty much my life). My last diving trip was to Tenggol again, this time the weather was sooooo much better, the resort I stayed at (Tenggol Beach Resort formerly known as Aqua Tenggol Resort) was beautiful (of course so was the price!) and the visibility? Superb. At par with Sipadan I must say. Prior to that I was in Redang, also for  a short diving trip. Stayed at Redang Mutiara, chose the seaview room and I must say it literally is seaview! The white sandy beach is right out your doorstep. 

Unfortunately my apartment was broken into and my laptop was stolen, so I've lost all my photos from the recent diving trips. I also lost my 5-month old camera :(( *sob*sob*. Oh well, that's life.

I purchased a new laptop (which I'm blogging from obviously), another Dell. This time it's an Inspiron 14 7000 Series with touchscreen! My previous laptop was a pink Dell inspiron 3000 I think (I bought it 3 years ago), so it was time to get an upgrade I guess! Never could keep up with technology. While I still miss my old laptop (I'm the sentimental kind), I'm loving this new gadget! Of course, I'm not those hardcore techies that scrutinize every little detail of laptops before purchasing. I just opened up the Dell website and saw "Ooohh, touchcreen! oooh, it's slimmmm!" and my heart was pretty much set on it. Did Google some reviews but wasn't really all too bothered about the negative reviews - stuff about the uneven lighting on the backlit keyboard, speed (it's faster than my previous laptop. Good enuf). I'm too psyched about it being slim and touchscreen. Touchscreen!!

So here's to blogging with the new laptop!

Ile de Maurice: Finale

Have you ever felt so frustrated when you Googled for travel posts, hoping to get more info from bloggers but instead come across blogposts that had little information on the place you're visiting?

Well here's another one. Hahaha.

Well I've finally gathered enough energy to write another post on my trip to Mauritius. Ok fine, it's gonna be another photo-filled post. Hehe. To wrap up, my sister and I had lunch at Le Chamarel Restaurant. Situated on a hill, this simple restaurant has an amazing view. See for yourself!

Photobombed by some random mat salleh

This was at the lookout point on the way to the restaurant

At the entrance of the restaurant

  

MashaAllah an amazing view

No, I didn't take this off from the website

Simply breathtaking

If I recall correctly, Charamel has a museum/store that sells the 7-colored earth. (I just got mine from one of the markets. Haha). Even if you don't feel like eating, do pay a visit to this place and enjoy the view.

La Route Du Sel (couldn't find their website so this would have to do!)

It's nothing extraordinary really, just a salt pan across the road from my sister's house. How convenient right? Nevertheless I've never been to a salt pan before, so if you've never been to one either, here's what a salt pan looks like.

This is how a salt pan looks like, senget

Wearing a shirt from Out of Africa and a necklace from one of the stalls,

both in Mauritius

Isn't the blue sky amazing? Yes, I purchased a few packets of salt of course.

And an apron.

I'm pretty sure I had more photos of the seasalt and salt pan without me in it.......... Oh, here they are!

Well that actually pretty much sums up my short trip to Mauritius. I hope you have enjoyed viewing the photos as much as I have posting them. It would be lovely to be able to visit Mauritius again sometime.

To end on a nonsensical note, here's a photo of me at my sister's fav fishmonger shop with a super big yellowfin tuna!

Mauritius : Part Deux

I really admire how some fashion/any other bloggers can have the energy to blog almost everyday. Especially those who have day jobs. Then again, not everyone is as lazy as I am. Heheh.

So here I am after another month of hiatus, to continue my story on my Mauritius trip. Which was about 7 months ago. Haha. I'm just relating all my stories based on the photos I took (as I obviously have forgotten details), but as they say a picture paints a thousand words...... (or in this case a photo tells....?)

L'aventure du Sucre

Welcome to the Sugarcane Factory

Finally got to wear my Sacoor Brothers skirt.

Enter

At a sugar factory, naturally you'd walk through a path lined with sugarcane!

This is some machine/equipment thingamajig they used to use back in the days...

Four of the many different types of sugar

Posing maut with the sugarcanes

My delicious lunch at La Fangourin

Shoppinnnngg~~~!

 Moi et ma soeur after shopping. Heheh.

Technically I didn't really visit the sugar factory. We just went there for a yummy lunch at La Fangourin and shopping! Purchased several types of sugar as souvenirs and for myself, and also an apron that I have not touched till now. Teeheehee. It was too nice to be used lah!

Next up, we went for a little historical tour.

Chateau Labourdonnais

So this is what a chateau looks like! An absolutely beautiful mansion, which I believe has been restored. Apparently they kept the furniture that was part of the original building. Each piece was luxurious, of intricate designs, carefully preserved. They unfortunately do not allow photos to be taken inside the house. So I only have photos of me camwhoring outside. Enjoy!

A big mansion with a big lawn

Another posing maut

Le Chateau. Gorgeous ain't it?

I don't mind having a house like this in the future.

Where I can keep all my kids and grandkids under one roof. Teeheehee

"Oh... It's such a beautiful weather isn't it darling~!"

A nice fountain to complement the chateau

Just a spot for me to camwhore

Staring longingly at the clear blue sky... Longing for I don't know what. Hahah

"Come join me for a cup of tea darling!"

A massive corridor

Frankly, I can't really recall what's the background on Chateau Labourdonnais. That's why I provided you the link, so you could do your own reading. Meheheheh. I hope my photos are enough to convince you to visit the place though. :D

Well that's all for now. Time to go to bed. Another loooong day at work tomorrow!

Mauritius : A Long Overdue Post!

Then again, a lot more other posts are overdue too. Teehee.

So where do I begin? My sis n hubs are (very soon were) living in MRU so I decided to pop by and visit them. Ok fine, so I was also dying to go diving too.

When I landed, I wished I was 80 yrs old so that I could skip the super-long queue at the immigration post. That aside, I managed to pass through immigration with my half-past six French! Felt so proud and thankful that the thousands of ringgit spent on French classes didn't go to waste.

Note : Be sure you print your return ticket as you need to show it to the immigration staff. Thank God they had wifi at the airport and I was able to show them my return ticket.

When I arrived it was already almost 9PM and shops were all closed. So I had dinner and went to bed. MRU is 4 hrs behind KL time so I was also pretty much in la-la land.

My 6D/5N trip kicked off with a trip to one of the 5 star resorts (Gosh, it's been 6 months since my trip I can hardly remember details!) for a 'Family Day' with my BIL's company. Nothing much besides eating, lazying around  and getting a massage. Here are some photos:

Looking like a bibik. Hahah

Gorgeous white sand

Simply breathtaking

A selfie. Bahahah.

If there's one thing you gotta love about Mauritius is the clear blue sky. So peaceful and serene! The next three days were spent diving. I have to admit that diving in Mauritius isn't all that spectacular. It was however a new experience as it was my first time diving with a steel tank.



Steel tanks are super heavy. I can hardly carry my own aluminium tank, let alone this steel tank. Of course being a girl, just smile and the next thing you know the tank is on the boat waiting for you. Hahah. As I didn't have any underwater camera at that time and I didn't feel like renting one, there are unfortunately no underwater photos. There are however more photos of the beautiful sky to make you jealous!

 

Moi and my dive guide Jean-Francois

Diving is Fun!

Me and the rest of the dive shop crew

Oops.. gotta go buy some kaftans, will continue my MRU trip soon!