The End of University Life

Hey Bloggers/Readers,

Its been half a year since my last blog. Last 6 months had been a really busy one for me as I venture into my Final Year Project as a Project Director and that I didn't travel to anywhere expect Phi Phi Island (which I have blogged about).

Having some spare time today, I thought of just updating everyone of what I have been up
to. Other than my final year project come to an end with a bang thanks to my ever loving team (drama or no drama happening team), I learn that we can never please everyone in a team and that there will always be one person who would try to mess things up. But, that is life. We all learn from our mistakes. I learn that most from the project.

I also cant believe that my university life is ending so soon. Now, I am currently doing an internship with Eastern & Oriental Berhad here in Penang. Not the hotel but the managing company who owns the hotel :) It has been quite a ride doing my internship. I learn that I am actually practicing what I have learn in University, which is great! 2 more month and its time I hot adulthood, finding a job and making it into career life.

Relationship wise, I have a perfectly steady relationship with a man whom surprise me everyday with how silly he can be and who adores me more than I should be adored.

Honestly, I have no one to thank but God for being so gracious to me and for providing me with the necessities in my life. I am so grateful for everything and blessed beyond words for the things I have in life.

That's about all the update I could come up with. I will be travelling soon in May. Fingers-crossed to Hong Kong, Myanmar and Europe, Thailand again on its way.

Stay blessed, happy and healthy!

xoxox
Amberstories

PADI Open Water Dive Course

Hello bloggers/readers!

I am back to share a little about my little adventure in my hometown Kota Kinabalu, Sabah. Being so close to the ocean and beautiful islands, taking a diving license is merely a foot step away. Just like every other home girl, I have taken this for granted for 17 years of saying yes I will do it but never did. Giving myself excuses like "Hey, there is always next time." Finally, on 17th July 2016, I took the step and paid for it which by all means I have to finish the course or I will lose my money.

With that being said, it turned into the best 3 days of my life. Diving is definitely different from skin diving/free dive. Which I do so often. Diving is literally breathing under water and 45 minutes underwater feels like 5 minutes. I dare not say that I love diving more than free-diving or vice-versa because the experience from either are two separate experiences. But rest assure, diving is for the brave of heart.

I say breach the fear of deep waters, experience the life beneath and its nothing but pure bliss!

WHERE TO GET YOUR LICENSE IN KK

Scuba Junkie Wisma Sabah
RM 1030 (ALL INCLUSIVE + LUNCH FOR 2 DAY DIVE)
*its definitely cheaper that any other trip advisor scuba company, they are generally at the price of RM1200
*book a day earlier, Scuba Junkie get fully booked real fast

WHAT TO BRING

• Towels
• Extra clothes
• Sunscreen
• Motion sickness pills (if you have)
• Basic essentials

WHAT TO DO

• Have loads of courage
• Remember to keep breathing (especially if you are so used to skin-dive like me)
• Do NOT panic
• Try and stay calm
• Trust your instructor
• Enjoy!
• Ask loads of questions 

WHAT TO EXPECT IN A 3 DAY COURSE

Day 1

Watching videos on Scuba Diving (5 sections)

Knowledge Review

Final Exam (Paper)- General questions that you will learn from DVD

Day 2

Water confinement (10 min water float without equipment)

Dive with equipment on shallow water (Dive skills as instructed by instructor)

Day 3

Water confinement (200M swim without equipment)

Dive deep water (Dive skills as instructed by instructor)

Hopefully pass and get your license!

Go get your license soon! Its definitely bucket list checked for me!

Here are some pictures!

Dive instructor

my buddy, my instructor

Hi Nemo

Prawny touched me

Breath and keep breathing!

xxx

xoxo

Amberstories

#2016forlove

Hello my lovely readers,

It has been a while since I wrote and update anything. Pretty bad, I know. I wouldn't lie that there are days when I am typing out paragraphs after paragraphs just ranting but then decided not to post it because its so cliché of me or because I just think I am being overly emotional.

But I guess its the only subject matter that comes to my mind. I apologies in advance, for starting my first entry of this year with my late night overly emotional rants. So here it goes.

Recently, I watched a video about true love and about how everything we do to let go and let our significant other grow. I remember growing up, that no matter how much mama and papa fight, they never let go of each other. The whole idea of true love then makes sense to me. When one is married, they make a vow to love each other through it all. But dating, dating is a whole different game, it's where everything can be stop or ended because there is a gap of not wanting to give and take or maybe just simply because they don't make each other happy any more.

Here is my understanding though, that true love means loving yourself and letting another person to love you for all of you. Another person's happiness becomes your happiness too. Lust and love are two very separate feelings. One can never say they love another because of lust but one can love without lust. So if you are going through an emotional roller-coaster ride right now on your relationships or you just ended a relationship, just remember that if you were meant to be, then you will find your way back to each other.

So for all the broken hearted out there or the ones that are simply still finding yourself, I just want you to know that I feel the same way too. Lost sometimes, happy most of the time then sad on another time. This does not mean that we are bound to be alone, just because we don't have another person next to us yet/any more.

It just means that we are still learning to love ourselves more and learning to grow in ways we have never grown before. Experiences makes you a stronger person and dont let anyone tell you otherwise.

Most importantly, its a comfort to know that your happiness is God's happiness and His love is yours to receive.

xoxox
Amberstories

Here are some pictures of my latest mini adventure.

Short trip to Langkawi with my sff

Free diving and snorkelling = Life

Hello

Beach life, for life

Being Somebody

Hey my faithful readers/bloggers, I know its been a month since I last blog-ed about travels on my so called "self-inflicted" travel blog. However, I am not going anywhere any time soon as I am back in my home town, rediscovering myself. I am planning on a solo day trip in my city soon when I do find the time and I promise I will blog about it.

Whilst is good to be back and assignment free, I am here sapping with my thoughts and thinking about who I really want to be and what my goal is for the coming semester. Stumbling upon a beautiful text on Facebook (refer picture posted), I decide to then type out this blog as a reminder to myself and to just share my thoughts.

We all live in a world where race, gender, money and power becomes an issue. Trust me it happens at anywhere and at any time even in schools, universities worst yet in the working world. Everybody wants to be on the good side of the so called "leader" in order to be somebody, others gather their own troop to form another so called "group". 

I question myself all the time when I find myself stuck in this situation. What would I do? Whose side would I be on? Would I go against my self morals just to be on someone's side or would I be my own self and not be part of any groups? What would have happened to me? Would I be an outcast, if not are these people just treating me nice because there isn't any faults to be found, YET? Then, when the fault is obvious, what happens next?

The real world is though, they say. So am I ready to face all these? Most people take advantages of another person just to be recognize/acknowledge and even just to be seen by another. Yet there are others who do things from the back, gets no credits out of it, keeps quite about it and most importantly doing it with a genuine heart without any intention at all. Cruel world isn't it? Then I ask myself again, would this front forward people be able to do anything at all without these people at the back? Who would I want to be? The person in front or the person at the back?

At the end of the night, after thinking about all of these, I decide that I would always choose to be the person at the back, who would do things genuinely because I love doing what I do and to do things with kindness because that is what my parents has taught me and what my religion teaches me everyday. People have choices of who they want to become and of who they are, regardless I cant change their choices but I can always show kindness, after all actions do speak louder than words. 

I make  mistakes, a lot of them, most of the time. Just like everyone else. Then again, at the end, its our choice to choose, either to learn from the mistakes and change or to learn about it, never change and repeats the same mistakes.

Being somebody isn't important,but being the best person one could be in the eyes of God is more than enough. The world seems to always tell us other wise, everyone is eager to be somebody and we cant deny it. I am far from being the best version of me. REALLY FAR but I am trying, really hard. Therefore, it is important to remind myself every morning that there are people out there waiting to see other being fall, don't be that person instead be the person who lifts another being up because feeling good about yourself inside makes a happier outside.

I am sorry if this post offended anyone but this is a reminder for myself, of who I want to be and what the world is to me, right at this moment. You may see the world differently than I do, but let us just all be the best version of us in achieving our dreams.


xoxoxo
AMBERSTORIES.

Mission for next semester

Langkawi

Hello lovelies,

It has been busy lately as its the exam week and I am lucky enough to have a week gap to my next paper. So what else is better than a short weekend getaway to Langkawi.

Here are some little travel tips and fun stuff to do in Langkawi. Enjoy!!

How to get there; Air Asia ( I got a return (PEN-LGK) for only RM119) Check on the flights now they even have a promo for only RM10 to Langkawi

Where to stay: Langkawi Dormitorio, Chenang beach is the place. They have funky cubic bed style and the owner Richard and Lin are the most amazing people you will ever get to know. They also do pick-up from the airport. (RM 50 per night and RM20 for pick-up/drop off)

What to bring:

• Beach towel
• Light clothes
• Umbrella (weather is unpredictable. When I was there it rained in the morning as well as mid-night and clear skies after 12pm)
• Sunglasses
• Flip-flop/good pair of sandals
• Big appetite
• Book
• Sketch book (I sketch a lot in Langkawi. Each cafe actually have something nice to sketch)
• Camera ( for random pictures by the street)
• Bikini

What to do:

• Have breakfast in The English Tea Room and Coffee Bar. They serve good breakfast and their teas are amazing! Not forgetting their very British ambience. A very good place for good tea and just chill. 

• Have lunch at Red Tomato Restaurant and Lounge. Their pastas are AMAZING. Full flavour and the owner is friendly. Ambience is very chic and cool. It keeps bringing you back to it. I know it did to me and my friend. It is also a great place to chill at night for a few drinks.

• Have dinner at The Sunset Boulevard. If you are looking for the most authentic Indian food, I suggest you to eat here. The chicken tikka and mutton vindallo is so so good! This is certified good Indian food (my friend is from Sri Lanka and she knows her Indian food, trust me)

• If you want a fancy dinner like I did or just some place fancy, then head to The Cliff. Their western food is good and comes with a complimentary red or white wine. The ambience is a five star as you can see the sunset and hear the waves just hitting the shore. Amazing.

• Chill by the beach at noon or night at Yellow Beach Cafe. It is such a cute cafe and just at the heart of Chenang beach. What more to do then have a glass of juice by the beach?

• Place to club is definitely Sunba at Pantai Tengah. If you are living in Chenang, it takes about 20 minutes to get there (by feet). But if you have a scooter or a car then it would be less than 10 minutes away. Just beware of the local Malaysian who endlessly try to pick-up girls at the bar even when you are not interested. I suggest don't go there alone or by two. Go with at least in a group of 3.

• Another place for a drink is called Lepak. It is situated right next to Red Tomato. Their signature XL size Mojito is the bomb. Ambience is so great and getting to know Tracey and their owner Frankie makes the place even more amazing than anything else. 

• Walk and explore Chenang streets. You would find a lot of nice hippie spots and cute cool cafes.

• Relax and unwind at Alun-Alun Spa. The ambience is so relaxing it is worth every trip to get yourself pampered. Message was good as well

• Lay on the beach and sun-tan yourself

• Shops open late and based on the weather in Langkawi. So dont be afraid to sleep in as the earliest they would open their shops is at 11am/12pm

• Lastly of course is to buy LOTS of chocolates and alcohol. Tax and duty-free

This trip was a good one. I really got to adapt the "beach life" and just do what I feel like doing. It is a trip worth going. Finding myself and just be connected again to life. 

It is also a trip of friendship. I got to make friends with some locals and they have shown me the inside of Langkawi that I wouldn't have known. Not just that, they even taught me a little something about life and hard work. 

Sometimes, life is just about that. Getting to know new people at your very own country and learning about life from others. I have found more than what I expected in this trip. 

So live life and live for the moment. Just once, so you can say, I breathe!

P/s I dare you to write a note to a stranger. Because I did (left it on his wind shield and run!) :)

Here are some random pictures!

xoxo
Amberstories

Cubic style dorm

Yes?

Sea

Cool streets

Indian food, happy food

The cliff

Just sketching

Visha my travel girl

Fine dinning

Lepak bar

XL Mojito

The breakfast 

Kinabalu Saya Sayang Kamu

Hello my lovely readers,

Todays blog post isnt about travel or heart break or love. Its for my beloved home Sabah.

Sabah is know for its beautiful nature and lovely place, of course the iconic Mount Kinabalu. People of many races and ethnic. People of various culture and unique beliefs.

I myself am proud to always say I am a Native Sabahan. A dusun girl at heart, who cant speak a single Kadazan Dusun word and who barely looks like one. But that never stops me from still being a Dusun.

For as long as I could remember, grewing up in Sabah is like the best thing that God have given me. I may not be raised in a fully develop state, but I have all the necessities I need.

At this age of getting older, so they say. I have come to love my Sabah so much more. People may not know how develop we are but we are always known of our community. If you are looking for the perfect One Malaysia, come to Sabah and see for yourself. 

Kundasang was one of my favourite place for a  holiday trip, going up and feel the cold breeze. Sleep in rooms without air conditioner because its already that cold. Walking the hanging bridge and touching the old trees in the forest. How I love the smell of fresh air. Even though I complain about the insects but deep in my heart I know I am a AKinabalu girl for life. 

Unfortunately, Today my lovely Sabah, was hit by an earth quake. A really high one. 

I woke up with my newsfeed on facebook all flooding with panic and scare. Here I am in Penang helpless and unable to help.

30 rescuer mainly locals of dusun and kadazan has gone up to the mountain to help rescue the stranded climbers. I pray that they will be safe and that they come down safe as well with the others.

Its raining here in Penang, I hope it is not up at the mountains. May the Lord ease their way up and may they find peace with nature.

I love you my Kinabalu. No matter how far I am, where I will ever end up in future. You will always be in my heart. 

Kinabalu saya sayang kamu!

"The mountains and hills may crumble, but my love for you will never end; I will keep forever my promise of peace. Says the Lord who loves you" Isaiah 54:10

#prayforsabah #2015positivevibes #kinabalu

xxxx

Amberstories 

Brighton, England

Hello everyone,

Sorry for the late post but I have been busy with assignments and events lately. Havent been travelling either but today since I have some free time, I would like to share my Europe travels from last year.

So here goes, a little throw back on Brighton England. Brighton is a pretty funky town. Loads of young people and cute cafes.

How to get there;
I am lucky to have families in England so I basically stayed in Haywards Heath, which is only about 20 minutes to Brighton and about 45-50 minutes to London by train. If you are travelling then I suggest booking a hotel down in Brighton or London if you could.

Travel mode; Train (£10 peak hours, £6-7 off peak hours )



What to do:

• Walk along till the end of Brighton Pier (in Summer the sea is beautiful)
• Must eat, fish and chips, by the sea. (life couldn't be more beautiful than that)
• If you walk far enough, you might just bump into their nudist beach (I did, with my niece, not a good thing though with kids)
• Go to the toy museum (entrance fee of £3)
• Try and find cool walls with painting around town
• Shop when its summer sale
• Hang around the beach
• Have some cotton candy
• Hop on the old train in Brighton

What you need:

• Sunscreen (gets really hot in summer)
• Sunglasses
• Comfy shoes
• Big appetite 
• Camera (for pretty amazing architecture)
• Light clothes

If you are from England and wants a change of place other than Camden, London. Then Brighton should be on your list. It is as funky and beautiful. 

If you are just travelling and stopping by, then enjoy the beach and the breeze!

Have a good day! Brighton is worth the money!

xxx

Amberstories 

Train station

Brighton

Walking by the pier

Cotton candy and ice cream

Brighton eye

Old train in Brighton

Nudist beach. had to take a picture

Fish and chips by the sea

Cool hair braiding by the street

Bright and colourful buildings

Very cute

My favourite street

Square ready

Fresh flowers?

Toy museum

My little niece day out

Just thinking

Buying finger puppets. my sister and niece

Brighton mall

Tea anyone

Nice cafe ey?