Mid-December

How have you been? I'm sorry for the lack of post. I'm currently still away on my solo vacation. There's limited internet access so, I shall leave my writings until I'm more free. :) Have a happy holiday everyone!!

11 more days to Christmas,

Hannah

FIRST solo adventure

[UPDATED: 14 December 2012]

I am now sitting in a cosy corner of Coffee Bean at Wisma Merdeka which is in the city centre of KK, writing out this post and watching the city get more busy, with increasing population and cars on the road as people commute to work. It so happen that I wanted to go out to sightsee and do a little shopping, but my aunts are all working so, I'm left to wander around on my own. Since most of the shops are only open by 10AM, I'm taking my sweet time at Coffee Bean having a Smoked Salmon Norwegian Sandwich with a cup of Hot Double Chocolate for my breakfast. I'm now too full to even have my lunch on time. 

I was woken up early by my aunt to get ready so that we can leave together. Well, since her workplace is in the city centre also, might as well. Anyway, today would be the very first time that I'm going around in a foreign country alone (even if KK is my hometown - my birth place and my dad's home, I grew up all my life in Brunei. So, I can consider KK as a foreign country?). There's always a first for everything right? 

The last couple of days, since I arrived in KK has been great. The moment I got out of the airport, my aunt brought me to eat my favourite dumplings at this coffeeshop at Hilltop. I have also met up with my other aunt and cousins over a Korean dinner at City Mall yesterday night. 

I'm going to walk around the nearby shopping malls a little later to see if I can grab any good shopping deals and enjoy the solitude. My first solo adventure begins now. :)

All by myself,

Hannah

p.s. I shall upload pictures of my trip a little later when I have the time :) 

FIRST solo trip

I'm really excited today!! Finally, the day has arrived. I'm going on my FIRST solo adventure!! There's many FIRSTS going together with my trip. I'm excited yet nervous for the yet-to-comes. I'm actually going back to my hometown - Kota Kindabalu (KK), Sabah, Malaysia, for a short getaway and yes, I'm going by plane.

As this post is published onto my blog, I would be hundreds of feet up in the air (because I scheduled this post to be published around the same time of my flight :P). It'll be my FIRST time riding on a plane alone. All by myself. And this is coming from me, a person with  anxiety issues. For the past couple of days, some scenarios flashed across my mind. What if I forget this? What if I that? Would I get into trouble for this? What would happen to me if that? However, despite all those, I'm just going to place myself in God's hands. I'm sure that I'll be okay and I'll reach KK safe and sound :)

It's also the FIRST time that I'm going back to my hometown alone. Usually, I would go back together with my family or my aunt. But this time, it's just me who's going back. I can't help but feel a little nervous and scared because this time round, there's no parents who's gonna look out for me or siblings to help me or entertain me. I guess this is what growing up is like. Although I'm staying with my aunts and grandma in KK, I still feel like this is an independent trip for me.

There's actually many more FIRSTS to come when I'm in KK, but I shall blog more on those at a later time. Until then, goodbye Brunei for a little while and HELLO KK!!

Flying solo,

Hannah

A Short Getaway

Spent a couple of days and a night away from the home sweet home. The whole family drove down to Miri, Sarawak for a short trip just for the sake of getting away from Brunei during the school holiday. Well, it was actually a necessary trip due to some important matters however, it's nice to just be away.. even just for a little while. ;)

Other than the important matters, we did went shopping but we didn't buy as many things as we would have before. It's kinda like just a light shopping trip which was really great. I even bought 2 pair of new shoes, a couple of books and a new iPod casing which I've been wanting for so long. Even if it's not much, I'm still a happy camper :D We spent the trip around Miri town, had a seafood dinner which we don't normally eat back home in Brunei and it was great. We had too much to eat at a very, very reasonable price. :) 

The family kinda just ate a lot during the whole trip. More than we would have.. maybe? Hehehe.. like they say 能吃就是福, which in English would be translated as like, "Eating is a Blessing". Don't you think so? We should be grateful for what we have. The little things and the big things. Also, had Starbucks. Ordered something new this time which I tried a Red Bean + Green Tea Frappucino. It tasted really yummy!! I actually thought it would have a really weird taste, like either it will have a very strong Matcha taste or it will be to red-beany. HAHA!! But all was well. 

I even bought daddy his Father's Day gift as well in Miri from Starbucks. He wanted a mug-tumblr-thingie from Starbucks which was the perfect mug to make and drink his favourite Starbucks Colombian coffee in. Hehe.. daddy was really happy with his cup which makes me happy too!! :) He says it's his FIRST ever Father's Day present which was BOUGHT for him. I usually make crafts and things for Father's Day in Sunday School or something for daddy but this time, I actually bought him something. :)

That's my Miri trip in a nutshell. Moving on, on the way home from Miri back to Brunei, we actually stopped by in KB which was really unusual. We went there to try out some Guilingao place. Guilingao is a kind of herbal jelly which has a lot of medicinal goodness in it and it is said to be very good for the skin. I didn't eat the herbal jelly though. I only tried a spoonful because I shared some soup with daddy. The soup was not too salty, not too oily, which is healthy.

Went for a dinner at Grazie Mauri with some of my friends whom I haven't caught up with in a really long time. The food was great and the company even better :) Had a lot of talks and laughs with them. Gonna miss this. We should do this again sometime. ;D 

That's pretty much about my little adventure over the past couple of days. Soon, it will be back to school and studying, which I'm so not ready or even looking forward too. Well, I do love school because of my friends and the fun we have while at school but I just do not like the exams, tests, homework, assignments, projects and the whole lot of studying and revising. I don't think that all these is just me. ;)

Until the next post.

Hannah