Picnic in Bangsar

It was Syima's birthday about 2 weeks back and we had a little picnic to celebrate her becoming old. I am still not sure why we celebrate people getting older but i'm in for any kind of parties, heh. We decided a picnic should be suitable since most of my friends have kids and well, you know, dah banyak umur ni, can't really stay up late.

Happy birthday Syima!

At first we wanted to picnic at Taman Lembah Kiara however that park is so popular in the neighbourhood that it's always packed in the morning and since some of my friends have babies and pregnant, it'll be a bit of a problem to park so far from the park. So Yati suggested a park near her place in Bangsar, which i found out later, is just behind Kompleks Sukan Bangsar (a location that i will blog about, sometime next year).

Fascinated By: Shuz

So i've decided that Wednesday should be the day we be nosy! Because Wednesday and We-Be-Nosy starts and ends with the same alphabet, hah! (the fact is, i'm just too excited to post my first interview and tomorrow is already too late).

This is Khairunnisa Noor bka Shuz. Born in 1987, she is awkward, a walking list of creative projects and buat je anything she feel like doing. She loves cats but wouldn't wanna be one because the thought of being molested totally creep her out.


1. Where are you now and where were you yesterday?
now: in my personal space getting my shit done.
yesterday: out and about getting other people's shit done.


2. What are you doing in life right now to get by the system?
i make things, especially clothes.
i teach things, especially garment construction.


3. How many bills per month do you have to settle?
three + one. tho i wish i could afford to contribute more.


4. What is your favourite breakfast and why do you think it's good for you?
dua telur mata goyang
a fuckload of spinach and mushrooms
pinch of bamboo salt + pepper
(all cooked together in one pan in coconut oil)
+ four to six slices of grained roti.

same thing every. single. day.
good because buat sendiri + consumed within an hour of bangun tidur.


5. What was the last thing you draw/doodle?
http://wtfruga.tumblr.com/tagged/420

Shuz is also a very shy person.

6. What will you be doing this coming weekend?
i would like to say lepak lepak have fun with the homies and go to my husband's show but most likely work because i'm obsessed.


7. What's the difference between holiday and travel?
holiday is the beach / hutan / outskirts where you just chill, smoke some greens, look at clouds, free from work and other city burdens.

travel is the city where you walk and look at things, surrounded by capitalism and hyper consumerism and bump into other tourists (literally). sometimes you even have to work.

both are cool because you get to observe new things.


8. How do you really wanna live your life?
free of debt most definitely.
free of the need to succumb to consumer capitalism.
free of human politics / democracy / kakistocracy.
on a hill / by the river or sea in a tiny open space cottage.
one husband, a couple of goats, a number of chickens, zero humans.
fuckload of plants and of course endless supply of herbs.
doing whatevertf i want but never forgetting god.

tldr; basically off the grid.

#wilderpeople

Besides this, she also made my nikah kebaya.

9. Do you like folding or ironing your clothes?
yes to folding (sambil angkat baju sambil lipat kain).
no (never) to ironing because i love that hobo look.

10. Have you found your purpose in life?
found it in a book revealed verbally 1400 years ago.

11. List three things that you are currently fascinated with.
i. god's meticulous planning.
ii. god's intricate creations and the creations they create.
iii. dmt.

12. Why are you wearing that shirt today?
top of the pile.

You can stalk her more, here.

I can be a writer if i feel like it

Okay fine, not exactly a writer but that status gives me the advantage of holding an interview. I've always been curious about people, like what they do, how they survive. Basically, just being nosy. Since i'm not eligible to be a real writer or journalist (because i don't really have a purpose in life), i will be doing a weekly interview post with my friends (hopefully i can get 10 people to agree to this). I'm calling it: Fascinated By:. People who think they're normal but they're not.
I haven't decide which day of the week i'm gonna post the interview because consistency is not my middle name, duhh.
Okay, now i will have to go think of a real solid purpose why i wanna do this interview post, so my friends would agree to it, willingly. Because i don't like being pushy. I don't like being pushed, therefore.

My lovely Japanese lady-bike

It was a birthday gift from my brother back in 2010.

At first it was orange.

And then a friend rented it in 2011 for a local shampoo ad.

And after so long the bike was left abandoned (because it was too pink for my dad to ride), finally shuben helped out to paint it in grey and changed the brake wire, pedal and added rear LED. He's planning to install a basket in front so he can ride it to the pasar.
Okay.

Wind turbines at Pulau Perhentian Kecil

You can find a lot of beautiful islands in Malaysia. I think i've blogged about Redang somewhere here (but i missed blogging about Tioman. Omg, i forgot to blog about our New York trip. And the part where i got married 3 days before flying off).
Aaanyway, i'm just gonna share some stuff on our recent Pulau Perhentian Kecil trip. If you don't know already, there's Pulau Perhentian Besar and Pulau Perhentian Kecil. The big island (Besar) is laid back and family friendly (the truth is i've never been there hoho). The small island (Kecil) is more lively with noise, curious young wanderlusts and 'what happens on the island, stays on the island' kinda vibe. There was a phase in my life where i went there a few times in a year, that time i was single. In fact everytime i travelled, i was always single because i was open in meeting new people, well, not sure what i was looking for though. Now that i'm married, it's a bit hard to adjust but i'm sure i'll fit fine. Because i'm that adaptable type (i think).
I can't remember the last time i went to the island so for that recent trip i was acting a bit anxious in surveying the transport and accommodation because it's my first trip there with shuben so i wanted him to really like the island trip. Previously you can't really book the rooms on the island, they preferred walk-ins but i guess there's a lot of changes in 6 years because as i browsed for chalets, most of them offered packages (like Redang). I mean, it's great but whenever it's meal time you have to go back to your chalet (first world problem). So despite it being a long holiday weekend (end of August-Merdeka weekend) we bought our bus tickets, return boat and just go without any room booked. That's how we ended up in Rock Garden Chalet. Sorry guys, no photos but heyyy, here's a video of us going up the other side of the beach, up to the wind turbine.

So how did i find the island after so long of not going there? Very different. Still glad that there's no road there but amagad is that a tractor??? (menjeling Bubu Villa) Why can't you people just maintain the hippie vibe of the island? When i saw photos of the brick path to Coral Bay i was really disappointed because previously it was just a path through the jungle however it made our way easier to and fro Long Beach at night (but it's still dark). The first few nights we were there, it rained lightly so we just stayed in our room. Thankful for the good weather on our last night there, we went for dinner at Ombak Resort Coral Bay. After dinner we went back to Long Beach and people were starting to fill up the beach bars to watch the fire show. We stayed for a bit and spent the night in our room (it was a pricey room for us so there's nothing wrong spending every second cherishing the room). We didn't go for any snorkelling trip this time, just rented the snorkel masks and swam near the rocks, below our chalet.
If you guys are planning to go to Perhentian Kecil expecting to float in the calm clear water, better go next year because the island is closed for tourists during the monsoon season (November - February). For those who hate long road trips, you can fly to Kota Bharu and take a taxi to Kuala Besut jetty. For those who don't mind sleeping on the bus for 7 - 8 hours (like me), you can get bus tickets (return RM90) online and i suggest that you just get the boat tickets (return RM70) once you're at the jetty. Everything is slightly expensive on the island so bring your own snacks and whatnots.

Trip duration: 26 - 30 Aug 2016