8 Labuan : Layang-Layangan - Just the beach!

Layang-layangan beach, one of my favourite hangouts .... until I moved to the city. Clean, serene, with long stretches of sand ~ the perfect picnic spot? Yeap! I've not been here for almost a decade. My trips home have always been packed with meeting the relatives, plus an unimaginable amount of time on feasting. I am not kidding when I say that it begins with an early breakfast and goes on until dinner! So this is a very treasured 30-minute stop just to snap some shots and breathe in the beach air. Evening beach stroll A gloomy evening that brought the drizzle. Sea, sky ..oh, where are you, sun? Lots of these holes on the sand...

8 Breakfast And A New Pan

Breakfast is important. Everyone knows that but mornings and me? We shake hands and that's as much love as we have for each other. No hugs! Brunch is more my thing. The only food that  goes into me first thing in the morning is a hot cup of chocolate malt. Chocolate Malt Occasionally, I have eggs and baked beans... Eggs and Baked Beans But only because I have a fancy new pan to try out < --- "motivation" Nah, this post is nothing about breakfast. I really, reallyYy wanted to show off the latest addition to my kitchen. Do you like it? Haha. Don't be mean now. New Pan ~ RM9.90 from Tesco  ...

12 The Revamped Garden

This is it ~ the unveiling of my new gardening initiative. I've been very low key about it. The jitters, you know - a confidence sucker. If plant murder is a crime, I would have been convicted many times in the past. But my new garden is three weeks old now and it's flourishing. I'm really quite proud of myself, thanks to huge encouragement from gardening enthusiasts in the My Nice Garden Chat  Facebook group. Small Balcony Garden (Colourful Coleus - Potted plants on bamboo poles, Mona Lavender - Purple flowers below) For ideas, I scoured the nurseries along Sungai Buloh, finally settling on a crisscrossed bamboo stand which...

8 The Messy Garden

My plot of green. ...before the revamp. I woke up one morning and asked myself, "Is THIS really the best you can do about it?", while rolling eyes at the little jungle I had nurtured before me. This is where I spend most evenings watching the sunset. It's also our corner for "romantic dinners". I wonder how Man feels about having his meals on a balcony surrounded by a mishmash of plants that seemed happy to grow where they please. A state of before! I've had these impossible-to-die-off  plants for years. It is watered often < ----  sums up my gardening duties. However, a new me has emerged since fateful morning of green-lightenment....

6 Johor : Chillaxing at Kota Tinggi Waterfall

Our trip to southern Johor was planned ages ago. Flight tickets were purchased the year before courtesy of Air Asia's cheap fare promotion. Three girls - shopping, eating, sight-seeing ..bliss. We took a casual drive to Kota Tinggi Waterfall on one of the days. It was the weekend. The place was bustling with picnicking people. Young men were carrying tube floats up the slightly hilled road. Kota Tinggi Waterfall Tainted by cloudy water and suspicious cleanliness, it was clearly not one of the best waterfalls I have been to. Lack of maintenance, less than attractive surroundings along the river and a toilet that screamed 'enter at own risk!'....

4 Penang : A Tour Of Fort Cornwallis

A walk back in time ~ that's how it felt like. Jen and I made our way to Fort Cornwallis from Queen's Street. It was a short ten minutes away. I've been here several times but never tire of each visit. The Entrance to Fort Cornwallis Fort Cornwallis was built in 1786 by Sir Francis Light. Today, it is a neatly kept tourist haunt for history buffs. RM2 per entry A quaint little chapel sits inside the grounds of the fort. I love the simplicity of the structure but wished it could have been refurbished for a fresher feel.  Imagine wild flowers adorning the sides of the building. You walk into a brightly lit room decorated...

4 Creative! Clothes Hook with Sticker Notes

Brilliant. I was so excited when I saw these stickers above the clothes hook in the fitting room. You'd think I could have arranged it in the same manner even without the sticker signs but I'm going to tell you honestly that I wouldn't have. This is me. I'll be carrying 5 blouses into the fitting room. Try one on, love it to bits and hang it on one side. I'll try another, get excited and hang it on the same hook. Then.. wonder what made me love the first one. I'll try the first blouse again ...starts thinking about budget, cash or credit card, did I bring the store card for points, is it 'no plastic' day, do I really need this, is it flattering,...