Clovers & Roses

Source: http://brookeweeberillustration.tumblr.com/post/46956630207/hello-spring

Finally I am on my long awaited 3 months semester break. After the hectic schedule of my third year, this holiday is much appreciated. It has been a little over a week since my holidays started and I have been busy with my attachment/part-time job at the pharmacy. Hence, the lack of update on any of my social media.


Working at the pharmacy has been really educational for me, especially with the attachment that I am on for 4 weeks. I learned so much from shadowing the pharmacist in charge and she has been really good in teaching me all sorts of things. I received loads of feedback on the things I needed to improve on and also the knowledge that I needed to brush up on. I have to say, she is better than some of my lecturers. I think it is mostly because she is practising and my lecturers are mostly giving us theory as opposed to practical experiences. Anyway, that is why I have the attachment.


Apart from the attachment, I did do regular holiday things like doing some light reading. Prior to my break, Any and every kind of reading that I did was related to my classes. There were endless journals to be read for assignments and stacks of notes to be memorised for my tests and exams. Needless to say, it was not the most enjoyable kind of reading but it was a necessity.


Recently, I started reading One Hundred Names by Cecelia Ahern. This book is probably not the newest from her but it is one that I have been eyeing for awhile. I finally bought it about a month ago when there was a pop up book store in my campus. It was kind of difficult to resist buying when they were selling the book at only a fraction of the current retail price! I'm about halfway through the book and I am genuinely surprised how relatable the story is to me.


If any of you have read the book, you know that the main theme of the story (at least in my opinion) is persevering through adversity. I know, this theme is a very common theme and everyone knows the principle of it. The way the story is written really shows this theme in a very good way. It is relatable to me because this past year has not been easy on me.


I shall not divulge into the details of my life but basically, I have had a hard year. It was something I knew that would occur but I supposed when I "signed up" for it I didn't expect the severity of it. I guess signed up isn't quite the best way to word it but I did consciously make a decision. There were many times I faced challenges from all possible ends and I thought I could not make it through, that it will break me and this would be the end. Somehow I pull through each time and survived till now.


Looking back, I wonder what would it be like if I never held on. Would I still be here or would I be somewhere else? Would I be in a better situation than I am right now? Obviously these are questions that no one can answer but I naturally just love to wonder. This trait of mine is what makes my therapist quite baffled with me sometimes I think. Lol


Anyway, the story written by Cecelia Ahern speaks to me in that sense. When reading the book, I feel like I understand how the main character feels, how tired she must be feeling from taking hit after hit and having to stand back up and take another step forward. I was just like that this past year and I know that challenges come and go all the time. We can never fully guess or predict when the next one will come. Neither can we fully prepare ourselves should the next challenge comes knocking on our door.


I always thought that if I prepared well enough then there is not a single challenge that can take me down. That was until this year. This year made me realise that there are just some things I can not prepare for. I mean, I can be somewhat prepared but I cannot expect things to be exactly as how I predicted them to be. I am not trying to be a show off here when I say this but my instincts are usually on point on most occasions but even with instinct so on point, I was taken by surprise more than once.


The feeling of not being able to prepare for it or rather not being prepared enough is the most terrifying thing I had to face this year. I had to learn how to accept it and accept that I cannot be 100% for certain things. I supposed I can say that I learned that this year and hopefully, this will make me a better person for the coming years.

Currently hanging out at a cafe and trying to catch up with my studying. As usual on a Saturday night, the crowd is here. It is now the "it" thing to be cafe hopping. It is a full house with customers still queueing up at the counter to place orders. 

Don't get me wrong. I love cafes and I think cafe hopping and hanging out at cafes is a totally good thing. I personally think hanging out at a cafe is much much better than partying the night away in a club. That is my honest opinion. 

However, there is a pet peeve I have about people coming to a cafe in a large group, taking up like 6 tables and then instead of actually spending time talking and catching up over their coffee, they are all on their devices. Mobile phones, laptops, tablets etc.

I mean that kind of beats the purpose of coming out and meeting up at a cafe right? Like, if you are all going to spend the entire time staring at the small screens of your phones or devices then you might as well just stay at home. Have a Skype date instead.

I am not wrong here right? Because there are tons of people who legitimately want to sit down and talk with their friends over coffee, devices aside.  But, they cannot do so because there aren't any tables for them due to these people sitting down with their devices and not talking within their group. 

In MY PERSONAL opinion, that is just plain selfish. 

OKAY. Rant over.

Back to my books

And my cafe latte

Currently on my 3 months long "summer" break and like every other degree student, I decided that it would be best if I took up a part time job. I was supposed to go for an internship arranged by my university but that has not happened yet. When will it happen, I have no idea. I am still waiting. 

Anyway, I took up a job at a nearby pharmacy (obviously I cannot name which, just in case) to enhance my abysmal looking resume. Well perhaps abysmal is a notch or two too harsh but I do think my resume is like crap. I figured a job at a pharmacy would help perk things up a little. Especially since how my grades are not the best. 

This week is my second week working in the pharmacy and I figured it would be okay to update how it is so far. Because I am still a student pursuing her degree, I am still restricted to certain things in the pharmacy. I am only allowed to make recommendations for OTC products and nothing more. Anything in the poisons category goes straight to the pharmacist as it is legally required. 

I spend most of my time attending to customers and helping them locating the product that they are looking for, sometimes directing them to the pharmacist's counter for help. Of course housekeeping duties also fall into my plate but I am okay with that. I figure spending more time with the products will help me learn more because I will read the info attached on the product. 

The pharmacy also sells supplements (like many other pharmacies here). The toughest thing is when I have customers walking into the pharmacy and heading to the supplement aisle then proceeds to ask me for a recommendation. I get really panicky because I am clueless. I suppose I should be reading up and doing research on that instead of blogging here HAHAHAHA

Overall I think I have learned quite a lot. I have been learning how to counsel patients indirectly and also how poisons should be arranged. Hopefully by the end of this week or the next, I get to spend more time behind the dispensary counter where the pharmacist sits and learn more there.


This job is kind of tiring though. There are two shifts in a day, morning and afternoon, but most days I work double shifts because they require more help. I am totally okay with working double shifts except on my days off (like today) I am completely exhausted and spend the entire day recharging. I suppose it is worth it in the end. At least I hope it will be *fingers crossed*.

And once again I am back at my abandoned blog. Been awhile since I actually checked my blog and surprisingly I have more views than I recall. So I guess people do read my ramblings here. Haha

Well I frequently abandon my blog because like everyone else I have "many other obligations in life" [Read: I am basically just lazy. Really.]

Which is why it is a good thing I do not make a living by blogging. I would be a shame in the blogosphere. Or, maybe if it was my bread and butter I would be so much more enthusiastic about constantly posting stuff. Ah well, some things we will never know.

Anyway, if you arrived here from my previous blog post, HAI AGAIN. Thanks for actually reading my blog. I am not a legit blogger, just someone who likes to ramble a lot. Haha so bear with my slow updates or lack-thereof. 

I mentioned that something happened which was why I couldn't complete my final post about my Bali trip. It actually isn't anything major but seeing how lengthy my Bali (Day 3 & 4) post already was, I figured no need to put people through the torture of reading more words. Worse, words that are not even related to the title. Thus, I am tying this new post.

Okay, so what happened was my trusty laptop of 4 years died on me. It was a sudden thing literally. One night it was totally fine and the next it was dead and gone. Technically my laptop is still able to turn on with battery and direct current, but the screen remains blank (black background just in case anyone was wondering) with a blinking dash on the top left corner. It stays like that for however long I leave it connected to a power source. 

I did ask multiple people what exactly is up with my laptop and I received different answers each time. Some tell me it is my hard disk, others say it is my graphic card. I did not actually send it to a repair shop because my laptop was pretty laggy prior to it dying. It has served me for about the average lifespan of a laptop I would say so I figured the time has come for a change. 

After buying my new laptop, I realized that my pictures which were edited for my blog post were not in my external hard disk. What a smart thing to do right? A 1TB hard disk and I forgot to back that up. Pfftt

The only good thing is that I shared most of the pictures from my trip. Wish I could share all of it as planned but luck was not on my side. At least I learned to back everything up now. I guess it also serves me right haha

So that is what happened. Like I said nothing major whatsoever. Pretty boring in my opinion. LOL

NEEXXXTTTTT!

I have been thinking about this blog lately and how I always abandon it somewhere along the road. Usually when I busy with my other "more important things". I know it is really no excuse for me to do that but I tried to post as often as I could but work always swamped me. 

Sometimes I do feel like working on a post but I lack the inspiration or rather my idea would be somewhat mediocre and I do not really spend time and my focus on expanding my idea or looking for inspiration. I guess that is the issue with lazy people. Which brings me to the main point:

I can guess what some people will think when they read that. 

"You cannot even manage a blogspot blog and now you want another blog?"

I figured Tumblr would be easier for me to update since basically what everyone does is reblog other people's post and I am already obsessed with We Heart It (link in the sidebar for my WHI account). Tumblr seems like the appropriate next step, hence, new beginnings.

I will still blog here. Whenever I have a more wordy post, I will be here. For some reason, Blogger still appeals to me for lengthy and wordy posts. I only see my Tumblr as a place to reblog pictures and maybe share my own pictures and short blog posts. 

So cutting to the point, come find me on my Tumblr account

HERE

So, see you there!

The final two days of my Bali Trip. Finally reaching the end of this topic. Lol

Day 3: Shopping Trips

Day 3 started later than the previous days. We got to sleep in for an extra hour or two before heading out again for shopping (one of my favorite activities) this time. We also changed drivers on this day. I have no idea why though. 

As per usual, the day starts out with the buffet breakfast at the hotel. This girl needs her grub and coffee.

After filling our tummies, we took a shuttle from the hotel to a nearby shopping mall. It's the most famous shopping mall in Kuta. This mall is called Discovery Shopping Mall and it actually has pretty decent shops in there. Lots of surfing brands as usual because Bali is a surfers' hub. 

I naturally went bananas at the Roxy/Quiksilver outlet. You cannot really blame me when the clothes are on sale there and the price of one Roxy t-shirt was around MYR 30 - MYR 40. That is a steal price that is almost unheard of in Malaysia. But my mother being my mother stopped me and told me I can only get one piece -.- 

She regretted after we flew back and realized that she missed the golden opportunity to shop there.

Tried Cold Stone Creamy for the first time in Discovery too. Sadly, there isn't an outlet in Malaysia which I am still baffled about. I believe I chose chocolate and another flavored ice cream and added Reese's peanut butter cups into them for the mash up. LOOVED IT TO THE LAST DROP. 

Moving on, we made arrangements with the new drivers to meet us at the shopping mall and us being tourists got lost for a good few hours. The drivers waited for us in the roofed parking lots and we mistakenly thought that they were late. But they were really nice and totally understood why we were lost. 

They proceeded to drive us to the next destination which was REALLY REALLY far away from town. We drove past many paddy fields and open areas with little to no buildings except the occasional hut and scarecrow in the middle of a field. I have to admit that I was freaked out a little by the distance and when I asked the driver, he kept saying we will reach in awhile more. 

After over an hour, we arrived at our destination which was called Taman Ayun which is translated, literally, as Swinging Gardens, in an area called Menguwi. It it basically another one of Bali's famous temples but instead of having lots of steps to climb, this one was just a large area with the temple in the middle and tourists can walk around it. We can't actually enter the temple though. 

What I really like about this temple was the uniqueness of the architecture. The other temples that we visited most had the same structure of craved stone sculptures. This temple had more buildings - sort of - than just stone sculptures. Also, I really loved the wide grassy areas, it was very pleasing to the eyes. It is one of those grassy spots that would be perfect for a picnic if it weren't a religious compound. 

The tour guide walking with me around this temple explained to me what the temple was for. If I remember what he said correctly, these tall structures are used as altars to place offering for the Gods. There are doors opening to a small altar and offerings can be placed there. Again, I am typing this by memory so I may or may not be right. 

(This post was sitting and collecting dust in my "drafts" since a long time ago. There is more pictures to my Bali holiday but something happened. For all you curious peeps out there -----> LOOK HERE)

Found myself with a window of free time so I decided to work on a post about my Bali holiday again. I know I am taking a long time to post my entire holiday but I have a lot going on at the moment so bear with me please? For those who actually read this little blog that I call mine. Thanks :)

Day 2: Sea Adventures and Exotic Cuisines

The second day of our trip was focused more towards the sea and beach. Bali is after all famous for being a water sports hub as well as having beautiful beaches. 

As usual, we had an early start of the day. Had breakfast at the hotel restaurant again and I indulged in their egg station. The sweet female chef made the best omelette ever and she was so nice to me. Major love. 

The first place we went to was Batara Dive & Water Sports which is located on a stretch of beach called Tanjung Benoa. This beach is located in Nusa Dua which apparently is really popular for water sports/activities. This stretch of beach does not have powdery fine sand, instead it has really coarse sand. The water is not crystal clear but you can still see hints of greenish blue in the water. This does not come as a surprise to me seeing as there were multiple water sports "companies" (couldn't think of a better word, vocabulary fail wtf) on the stretch of beach. All their boats were docked by the beach along with jet skis, bobbing on the water so each time the engine starts, a little more of the water is polluted. The side effects of the tourism industry. Anyway, I digress. Read on or rather look on. Lol

Selfie with my brother in the van.  He's a cool bro because he is willing to selfie with his vain sister. HAHAHA

When we reached this place, it was drizzling slightly which was not the ideal day for water sports but since we were already there we decided to purchase some of their packages. We rented one of their boats with a "window" on the floor to look at the corals (they call it glass boat I think), bought a snorkeling package for 3, a visit to the nearby Turtle Island and a jet ski ride for one.

Morning OOTD with the sister before leaving for our activities. Aren't we just twinsies, we even posed the same way, sort of :D

The first activity our guide brought us was snorkeling. The 3 who went for it were my sister, brother and aunt. I did not go for it because I have a fear of the ocean which I could not overcome when I was at the beach so it was a no go for me. Our guide brought us to a diving/snorkeling spot about 10 minutes away from the beach and marked by a circle made by other boats. They provided some bread which we can feed while snorkeling. I sat and watched from the boat while my brother and sister floated in their life vests with their faces down in the water, occasionally coming up for some air. I did what I do best on the boat:

I selfie, naturally.

From the boat, the water looked pretty murky but my sister and brother both said that the view was spectacular when they snorkeled. At this point, I regretted that I had this fear of the ocean. I wished we had an underwater camera so we could have some pictures but we didn't.

Group shot in the boat

Moving on, our guide then brought us to the nearby Turtle Island. It was approximately 20 minutes away from where we snorkeled. It is quite a hit with tourists and throughout our boat ride there, I saw many boats heading in the same direction as well as leaving from that direction. The weather was still gloomy and wet when we reached the island but I was excited nonetheless. I was so excited to get to see turtles! Like actually living breathing turtles. I always hear and read stories about turtles and hoped that I could one day see one for myself. They are really amazing sea creatures, probably one of my favorites in fact.

Fam-bam at the entrance of Turtle Farm

Group shot with the extended family

After paying for the tickets to enter the farm, we entered and the first thing that caught my eye was the huge pools which had small turtles swimming around. By small I do not mean the size of baby turtles. These turtles were bigger than my palms. Visitors were not allowed to carry these small turtles, we were only allowed to take pictures of the small turtles and watch them swim energetically in their pools.

Little turtles

Not so little actually

The main attractions were the bigger/adult turtles. We were allowed to carry the adult turtles and take pictures with them. Mind you, they easily weigh 7 kilos or more! But it was so exciting to be able to hold it in my arms and feel it's weight. The turtle does sometimes struggle as it is passed from one random arm to the next but a calm hand and gentle stroking of it's head will calm it down.

Hey there, big guy.

Me carrying the turtle. Heavy enough to be an arm weight for lifts. Lol

Walking deeper into the compound, there were larger pools for fully grown turtles. These turtles were definitely not for carrying because they are HUGE. Visitors are allowed to walk into the pools and be close with the turtles. The water level is quite shallow; up to the knees for an average height adult. Kids will require the company of an adult. It is a little scary at first because the pool is quite murky and the turtles are dark as well. We could see the curves of their shells poking through the surface of the water as they swam. The feeling when they swim past your legs is really something. You are either tickled by it or completely freaked out. I was the latter naturally.

Forgot which species were these.

With the sister. Grabbed her arm because I was still a little nervous.

The compound also housed some exotic animals such as some species of snakes as well as some birds. I wanted to take pictures of all the animals but the crowd was too big to get any decent shots. I did however, take some pictures with a small eagle.

Me and the eagle. I guess something caught it's attention instead of me?

Mini porcupine shoo cute!

After everyone took all the pictures they wanted, we found our tour guide and headed back. I kind of wish I bought some souvenirs from here but it is way too expensive. The weather started drizzling again as we left the island.

Look at the amount of boats! The water is ice cold btw.

Next on the agenda was my brother's jet skiing lesson with the trainer. Me and my sister opted out because the training is one-on-one and the trainers were all guys. We were not really comfortable with the fact that the trainers needed to ride on the back with us. I get that it is for safety purposes but on the other hand, I am totally not okay with the trainer grabbing my waist or worse, butt. I am not saying that they will do it or they did it but the thought was on my mind while I was there. Mind you, their trainers are really, really young. Again, this is totally just my opinion and you are completely free to have your own.



After wrapping up all our water sports activities, the tour guide brought us for lunch at a local restaurant called Warung Babi Guling Rahayu. We decided to try the famous local food there which is called "Babi Guling". It is basically like a spitfire roast pig. The skin of the pig is roasted till a crispy brown. Whether the meat is juicy or succulent I have no idea because I do not eat pork. Instead, I ordered their chicken meal.

(Scroll pass the pictures if the sight of a cooked animal head bothers you or if you are bothered by pigs.)

The head of the roasted pig.

Their roasted pork meal comes with several slices of pork with a side of vegetables served with white rice. Their chicken meal is basically their version of chicken curry with a hard boiled egg and a side of vegetables and two sticks of chicken satay served with white rice as well.

Looks pretty good.

The sides of vegetables and satay.

According to my relatives and family who ate the pork meal, it was actually pretty good. Not as good as the Chinese style roasted pork but it was still tasty. As for my meal, the curry was actually pretty good too. Taste wise it is not the same as the typical Malaysian curry we have here. They cook the chicken curry using some lard so there was the pork taste in the curry. I ate only the chicken meat and left out all the gravy.



The price for lunch was slightly pricey but I suppose it is normal in Bali. It is such a commercialized tourism place that it is very clearly stated in some places the price differences for locals and for tourists. Naturally, if you are a tourist you will pay the higher price.



Next, our tour guide decided to bring us to a beach that the locals call "Dream Beach" because the sun was shining really brightly when we left the restaurant, I was so excited to see the sun and ready with my sunnies :D Throughout the ride to the beach I was smiling and praying hard that the sun stays shining until we reach and get to play on the beach. Oh btw, the "official" name of the beach is Pandawa Beach located in Desa Kutuh.


The sight as the van approached the beach is something I will never forget. The sight of the clear blue sea water was breathtakingly beautiful. I wanted to take a picture but since the van was moving, I couldn't get a clear shot.

Already crowded when we arrived.

This beach was the kind of beach that I always expected to have in Bali. One where the water is a blue or turquoise so pretty you cannot even believe in yourself and the sand is a powdery texture as you walk along the shoreline.


In this beach there was only one water activity which was kayaking. There was no boats in sight. That explains why it is so clean. Along the beach, there are several stores for people to purchase little knick knacks and some snacks. Several sun loungers are also provided for people who want to get some tan.

I love the beach

One lone kayak and a whole lot of sea

Sadly after taking a few pictures and splashing around in the water, the rain clouds returned and it started to rain again. We had to leave the beautiful beach and move on to the next location before it started to rain really heavily.

One last shot of the beach before we left

We had a discussion and we agreed to head to another one of Bali's famous temples, Pura Luhur Uluwatu or Uluwatu Temple. This temple is famous for being the temple on the edge of a cliff and overlooks the ocean. According to some of the reviews I read online, if you are lucky and visit this temple at the right time, you may see dolphins in the ocean. I don't know how true is this because when we arrived, it just stopped raining heavily and the sea was quite rough (is rough even the right adjective to use in this case hahah),

The one opening on the trail to the the top of the temple

Look at the crashing waves

Those rain clouds though

The one thing that the people in charge of the temple will warn you about are the monkeys. They will warn females with bags to be extra careful with their bags and for those wearing glasses to take off their glasses if possible. There are also signs warning tourists not to feed the monkeys although there are some locals selling bananas outside the temple entrance.


When we were walking along the trail, which btw are lots of stairs going up and down, we had to be extra careful because the rain made the steps really slippery and the last thing anyone wants is to slip and fall when they are on the edge of a cliff. We had to stop a few times because monkeys appeared and we had to walk slowly pass them so we don't startle them.

At the peak of the temple

By the time we left, it was already time for dinner. Something many recommended we try when we in Bali was their seafood. Apparently there are some really nice places in Bali that sell really awesome grilled seafood. The tour guide brought us to a restaurant which is by the seaside so we can actually dine by the beach. How romantic is that?!


The restaurant was located in Jimbaran and is called New Moon Cafe. The restaurant has quite a rustic feel to it because of the wood paneling in the restaurant and also the wooden furniture. They had a few tables set on the beach and had candles lit on each table. I found that really nice because I am sucker for candlelit tables or meals.

The view outside

Before we can order our meal, the waiters insisted that we move inside instead because it was going to rain heavily again. At that point, I was so disappointed because I had only 15 minutes of sunshine the entire day and it was going to rain again.


Anyway, the more important part is the food. I have to say the food was delicious. The seafood was fresh and cooked beautifully, I didn't get to take pictures of the food because everyone was starving.

I really like how they decorated this candle

Last picture of the day with my sister

And that is the end of Day 2.

It was a long and wet day. I was so happy to be back in the hotel room to have a hot shower and then bury myself under the thick duvet to sleep.