The Regency Jerai, Gurun, Kedah

Hubby is well-known for being a very spontaneous person. On the 4th of January this year, a Friday night, hubby asked me what was my plan for the weekend. So my list goes on to something like this: blood test (just for normal check up), Hepatitis B vaccination for myself and scaling. Then hubby said, let's go to Gunung Jerai instead. So all plans postponed and after brunch Saturday morning, off we went to Gunung Jerai.

The journey to Kedah was uneventful. Traffic was smooth (except for one accident along the way) and Tricia behaved herself, being a seasoned traveller that she is and slept almost all the way there. We arrived at our destination around 6pm. The journey upwards from the base was not that long, around 15 minutes or so but it was quite steep and the turns were quite sharp.

The first thing that caught my eyes were these hydrangeas. Reminded me so much of Mimi. It is her favourite flower in her favourite colour! They have lots of 'em here in different colours.

First thing first, we checked in. The lock was quite old-school. We were provided with a key to the sliding door (no access card). The room was small-ish but comfortable and nice. We had TV, make up table and closet. Shower had hot water. Underneath the sink there were many white decorative stones that Tricia likes to play with. Haha. Phone reception was not that good BUT wifi was very fast! I was very impressed. Managed to upload the whole album of my previous photoshoot on my facebook in a matter of seconds.

After a quick check-in, we headed out before it gets dark. There wasn't that many people around this time of the year as it was not a public or school holiday. So we SORT OF had the entire place to ourselves. Hehe. They have a playground and connecting pools. They also have spa facilities but we didn't try that.

The view from up here was outstanding. Hubby kept telling me that we could see the paddy fields, the sea and the hills from one place!

After that we had our dinner at their Puncak Kedah restaurant. Service wasn't fast even though they weren't that many people but waiters and waitresses were very pleasant. Food was okay but price was very reasonable. Not expensive considering this is the only place where we can get food.

The next morning, we woke up late so we missed our buffet breakfast. Checked out in the afternoon and had brunch before we headed back home. It was a nice quick getaway from the busy city and a nice place to enjoy the view of nature.

There was Anugerah Juara Lagu on TV that night so I thought, after a tiring trip up north, we could just curl up in front of the tv and watch people compete. Hubby looked unsettled and wanted to go out for a drink. Not wanting to leave him alone, I tagged along with Tricia. Little did I know, after we went for a carwash nearby, hubby drove us straight to Genting Highland. It was a Sunday night and I had to work the next day. Aishhh. I didn't even bring Tricia's milk. If only he would COMMUNICATE. I didn't know what have gotten into him that night but he became depressed until Tuesday. I suspect  he was just tired from the travel and taking care of Tricia during the day. Lucky he recovered by Wednesday. If not, I would taken him to see any uztaz. Mane la tau kene tegur ke ape. But all is well now. And we will definitely go again!

Photoshoot Pictures

Location: Taman Wetland, Putrajaya
Date/Time: 23rd December 2012 9.30am

As promised earlier, here are some of the pictures from our photoshoot last month.

Father - daughter relationship

Hubby has always been a hands-on dad since the day Tricia was born. But ever since we moved back to Bangi after Tricia's first birthday, their relationship has been closer/tighter. They spend more time together with each other than with me. They woke up late together and went to sleep late together too. Even though I may have verbally said I am jealous of their relationship, deep down I actually LOVE seeing how close they are. It reminds me of the relationship I had with my dad.

More updates on Tricia.

1) She is NOT afraid of the dark.

One night, she was playing with my containers in the kitchen. When we asked her to leave the kitchen, she refused and just stayed where she was. Then we turned off the kitchen light. She didn't move. After that, we turned off the stairs light and the whole house was dark. She still didn't move and kept playing with my containers! Gosh...

2) She LOVES to read.

Hubby told me in the morning, she will just read her book instead of waking her father up immediately. Somehow last night, when I turned off the lights in the living room to sleep, Tricia protested and carried her book to the kitchen (since we left the kitchen's light on) to read! Anak siapa lah nih? =p

3) She bites her straw and definitely not a light sleeper (just like her mummy)

This is self-explanatory. Haha. My hubby and I concluded that Tricia has his physical attributes (except for the eyes) and my characters. She has always been a deep sleeper. She sleeps through the night since she was 1 month old. I can change her diapers without waking her up when she doesn't want too. And she conquers the whole area when she sleeps. Whoever is in her way will get kicked.

4) Tricia can salam already.

Only last week hubby made this comment to someone. "Belum boleh salam. Tapi boleh hi-5". When I came home from work yesterday to pick her up, bibik Mar told her to salam me, which she did! Wow! You learn so fast, sayang.

Happy New Year, 2013!

I didn't feel like making it a big deal but when I read my past new year's posts, it was actually quite fun to look back. Hubby and I spent our new year's eve at the comfort of our home; playing Wii and watching TV with of course our beloved baby. 2012 has been kind. Here's a summary of the "happenings".

Work

I've been wanting to change my job so bad and I finally got it without having to leave my beloved company. It was a "bonus" to have friends as my teammates, guiding me through the new territory. And not long after I joined, we already got a new junior, which forced me to step up faster. So new year's reso #1: Catch up with work FASTER.

Baby

Batrisyia has been growing up so fast, I wish I could put a brake on it. People are making her a benchmark to track their children's growth and a lot of them got frustrated thinking their children are late bloomers. My advice to all moms out there... don't compare your child's growth to others. As long as you know it is normal, then let them be. Of course all moms want their child to be the best, to have the best... and as long as you are healthy and happy, I am a proud mummy, baby. New year's reso #2: Make time for and spend as much quality time as I can afford with my baby.

Travel

We started 2012 with me still being in confinement. It definitely didn't slow us down though. Went for holidays so many times that I lost count. Only went out of the country once in 2012 sending my brother off to study in Bristol, United Kingdom. Managed to slot in Vatican City, Rome and Capri Island in Italy. Plans for 2013? Still deciding. I'll be going to Singapore in January over the weekend since my mom has to attend a conference there. I'll be bringing Tricia but Hubby doesn't want to go. InsyaAllah going for my brother's graduation in July, which is going to be in fasting month but hubby doesn't want to go too. Thinking of slotting in Paris this time, on mom's request. Maybe going to KK with the Halim's family in June after CFA. New year's reso #3: not about travelling but pass my L2 CFA? Hahahahaha... My never ending story, man...

Money

Oh ya! We bought an apartment in Nilai... Starzvalley, right across Inti University. Still under construction at this very moment. Target completion time is end of this year 2013. So looking forward to that. It is an investment property anyway... so it's not like we are going to move. We have decided to delay our K5 purchase for possibly a year or so. Hubby refused to take our names out of the waiting list to ensure that his dream is still alive? Hehe. Also we max out on our ASB loans. One of the best decisions ever, the ASB loan. Dividend time (new year like now), we get to see our savings grow.

Health

Managed to keep my weight around my pre-pregnancy weight through out the year. Signed up at Fitness First very recently so that I can work out during lunch time. New year's reso #4: maintain a healthy body weight. I can put achieving a certain weight but I think maintaining a healthy weight is more important.

Did I achieve my last year's resolution. Not really but it wasn't that big a target. I wanted to use make up and wear high heels more often. But that's not REALLY what I wanted. I wanted to be confident with myself, my body again after my pregnancy. And happy to say, throughout the year, I don't feel too bad. So yeah, consider it achieved! On to the next missionS.

Bye bye 2012

So much happenings in 2012.

I finally managed to change my job. Same employer, different desk. So far so good... At least, currently I am happy where I am.

Biggest accomplishment apart from the new job IS: raising a baby =p

But I am going to dedicate my last post of 2012 to my 2nd cousin's son, Mohd Aiman Haqem, who passed away early this month. May Allah bless your soul and place you among his loved ones. He was 17.

Cheeky little girl

Went through my blog posts and realised I missed out on one little story. I'm sure all of you who follows my tweets or FB posts read about this already but since my blog also serves as my diary, I'm just going to post it here. When Tricia was about 10 months old, we went out to eat and while waiting for the food to arrive, Tricia was trying to take her father's car keys. She tried so hard to pull it from her father's grip but realised that it was a futile attempt. She sort of gave up trying i.e. stopped pulling. Out of a sudden, she pointed towards the opposite direction of the father's view. When her papa looked and let go of the keys, she quickly grabbed the key and got them! Such a cheeky, clever little girl!

13months and 3 weeks

At 79cm, Tricia is officially more than half of my height.

Christmas Holiday

I haven't seen one of my best friends in the longest time since we stay quite far apart from each other. So we made plans to bring our little ones to Aquaria on Christmas together. Knowing how packed the place would be on a public holiday, Haslin and I decided to buy our tickets online and thank God we did. The place WAS as expected really packed. I enjoyed watching feeding session for memerang sungai and the BIG Arapaima. I think I was more excited than Batrisyia. But that was it. The rest of the time was just rushing through the pack of people. Do excuse the low quality pictures as I forgot to bring my camera. Silly me.

Not wanting to join the crowd, we headed out of KLCC to Delicious in Jalan Tun Razak for lunch but not before stopping by Gucci and Hugo Boss outlet. Hubby's on a mission apparently. It was nice to catch up with Haslin and Irwan and their boy, Daanish. It has been a whole year since we seen each other! Kids being kids, they just would not sit still.

After lunch, instead of heading back home, we detoured to Pavillion. The parking was full so we parked across at Starhill Gallery. When we checked online, there should be a Gucci outlet there but after going round and round and found none, we went to Pavillion. Hubby still couldn't find what he was looking for in Gucci so ended up splurging in Hugo Boss instead.

We were not done yet. Went to Aeon Wangsa Maju to see my mom and my relatives from kampung Perlis, had yong tau foo and went to the kids department to buy Tricia an "umbrella" travelling stroller. We learnt our lesson from the UK trip that travelling without a stroller can cause backache. Now that Tricia is bigger and heavier, it is imperative that we HAVE a stroller for travelling. Current stroller is so bulky that it is not suitable for this purpose. Furthermore, I would be going to Singapore sans hubby in January so I really really need this. Again, excuse the picture and the background. Gambar tangkap muat je nih.

Free stay at Marriot Putrajaya

My mom is a member at Marriot Putrajaya. She took the membership because she LOVES to eat dim sum there and definitely making her membership worth it by going there to eat oh so frequently. But the membership also gives her one complimentary night at the hotel and a few more nights at huge discounts. Given how busy my mom's schedule is, WE got to stay at the hotel for free!

Last Friday, we slept in Nilai because I was just too lazy to drive back. We woke up just in time for lunch, where my MIL cooked delicious food, did a quick stop in Bangi to do laundry and pack, then went to check in at Marriot. When we arrived, Tricia was very tired so she was sleeping... but only about 10 minutes or so because as soon as she realised that we were in a hotel room, she sprang up to life and got very excited again. Anddd the exploring began; opening every drawer and cabinet, played with the mirror, hopped on and tested the softness of sofa, played with the TV remote control... She just wouldn't stop. Hubby ordered room service round 1.

Around 6pm, I insisted to bring Tricia down to the swimming pool. Tricia and I played at the kids pool for around half an hour while hubby sat by the pool side watching us. Then we went back up to shower and hubby went back down to the gym. Hubby came back and started to make use of the bath tub. I, on the other hand, was feeling extremely exhausted so after giving Tricia her milk, both of us fell asleep. Around 10pm, Tricia woke up and I could hear that hubby was ordering room service round 2. But I was just too tired to open my eyes. When the food arrived, hubby woke me up for dinner. When we were done, Tricia demanding to go out again as per her normal routine. So we went down to the carpark to get our phone charger and walked around in the lobby for awhile. When we were ready to sleep, Tricia was restless and gave me the "why are we sleeping so early" kind of look. I told her, "Sleep! Sleep! We need to wake up early tomorrow and don't make noise when I wake you up at 7am because you slept late." Reluctantly, she went to sleep.

Guess what time Tricia woke up the next morning. 6.40am! Hahahahahaha.... We packed up, had our breakfast and checked out around 9am. Then off we went to Taman Wetland Putrajaya for a family photoshoot. The pictures aren't ready yet so here's one for a sneak peak.

Grand Lexis Port Dickson

A day after Batrisyia's birthday celebration, we went to Grand Lexis, Port Dickson since I took Monday off. However, hubby and baby both were not feeling so well so we went quite late, arriving there around 6.30pm. When we arrived, Batrisyia was the most excited one exploring the room. She just won't stop moving around, opening every drawer and cabinet. Seeing how excited she was, I looked at hubby and said, maybe we can make this a tradition. Sleeping at a nice hotel on birthdays.

We didn't go into the pool that night. It was cold and was already late. Ordered room service and after awhile, Tricia started crying but this time we knew why. She wanted to go out, as usual. We drove out around 10pm to buy panadol for hubby. Quite reluctant to go out because we had to let go our nice parking spot but we didn't have a choice. We didn't drive out far though since hubby was not in the mood. Hang out at the coffee house for a bit to satisfy Tricia's demand. Went back to the room to sleep but Tricia could not sleep. She was crying and crying and vomitted and her father was also quite cranky. I took her in the changing room/pantry to calm her down. Took her to sleep on a separate bed so that everyone could have a peaceful sleep that night.

Naturally, everyone woke up quite late. We missed our breakfast. And not wanting to go back without trying the pool, we went in but it was still quite cold at 11am in the morning! Maybe because we had the covered pool so we didn't get direct sunlight to warm up the area. After a quick splash splash, we packed our stuff and had lunch at Manhattan Fish Market, Seremban 2.

Anyway, summary of Tricia's milestone at one year.

1) Teeth: first 2 teeth at 8 months. next 2 at 11 months. next 2 at 12 months.

Skills:

2) Words: 1) Papa 2) tehteh 3) Mama 4) NyamNyamNak 5) Bibik =_= 6) Ticha

3) First stand at 10 months. First step at 11 months.

4) At 11 months, picked up a box to stand on it to reach for higher places. (I was so amazed when I saw this)

5) Can drink using a straw at 12 months.

Fitness First

Early this month, I made an "impulse" decision. Had lunch with a colleague from foreign currency side at the Curve and she was talking about going to the gym during lunch time with our boss at Fitness First in Manulife. Soke Yee and I went to ask about the pricing immediately after our meal and straight away signed up. I was excited but Soke Yee initially was frustrated that it was quite expensive compared to what our colleague is paying but after doing some "research", she accepted the pricing. We got corporate rate, waived registration fee, platinum membership, can go all fitness first and towel included. Had to take 3 sessions with personal trainer for RM150 but if we go to the gym 8 times in the first month and 8 times in the second month, we will get a refund.

I know I blogged about this before. I said I don't want to pay a lot of money to lose weight especially when there are free options available. I used to go to the office's gym but all the treadmills are broken. And since we are moving "soon", they are not going to be replaced. Wanted to go to CY's condo's gym but we need to have a resident's card to use it. And since it has been so many months of waiting for the move (hoping that the new building will have a free gym), I got frustrated. My tummy is looking pregnant again and I desperately need to work out.

So far so good. I've been going there regularly. Have not lost weight yet but I gained 2kgs over the Christmas holiday. Like what the heck, man... So must work harder to lose weight. But so far, I definitely don't regret the decision. Must make my investment worth it!
My sessions so far:
Signed up 5/12
1) 12/12 The Curve - first session with PT
2) 14/12 One Mont Kiara - with Soke Yee
3) 15/12 Empire Shopping Gallery - swimming with Cyan and Lisa
4) 17/12 The Curve - second session with PT
5) 18/12 The Curve - third session with PT *body numb*
6) 21/12 The Curve - alone
    (put on 2kgs over 2 days on Christmas holiday =_=)
7) 27/12 The Curve - alone
8) 28/12 Menara Manulife - with Soke Yee

Happy 1st Birthday, Batrisyia Hana

Do excuse the delay in most of my updates. Was trying to get my hand on some pictures in order to update this particular one. So here it goes:

Time flies too quickly. Our little princess has now crossed her 1 year mark.

HAPPY 1ST BIRTHDAY TO OUR BEAUTIFUL BEAUTIFUL PRINCESS!!!

On such a beautiful date:

10.11.12

I didn't plan to have a big one. The plan was just close family and friends... at home... for the memories. But since PCY was open for business as usual that weekend, and quite a number of family members would be working there, we decided to have the so-called non-party birthday get-together there. I also didn't plan to spend a lot but boy we went overboard.

Let's list them down.

1) Cakes - 2 of them. Pavlova and Tiramisu Torte from FatboyBakes - approx RM 150

2) Accessories - I didn't plan to spend on this either. But I "accidentally" walked into a party shop and bought Tricia's flower headband, party hats, party blower and 1 year candle. - approx RM 70

3) Dress - Made hubby bought a dress for Tricia on his own and he went on to buy 2. - approx Rm 150

4) Party favours - We definitely definitely went overboard with this one although it played only a small role in the event. Bought lollipop, jellybeans and buckets to put them in from Candylicious, KLCC for around RM 100. Also bought 1 tin of Garret popcorn for the adults - RM 130

5) And the biggest chunk of all: FOOD - This is what all of us enjoy the most. And the best way to get together with family and friends. The BBQ spread prepared by the PCY team was the BOMB! Plus additonal food and drinks for the whole gang - approx RM 600.

 

All-in-all, it goes above RM 1K but worth every sen paid. It was definitely a memorable one. Thank you to all family and friends who made it. And apologies to those who felt left out. The intention was just for the pictures since she can't remember all this anyway. I would try my best to host a proper birthday party when she is old enough to enjoy it later.

Saving for retirement

Yesterday, I attended a briefing on PRS (Private Retirement Scheme). Basically, it is unit trust investment for your retirement to supplement your EPF savings. It is new in Malaysia as it was just launched very recently and CIMB Principal is one of the eight providers available. In terms of risk return reward, it behaves more like a trust fund where your principal is not protected. But it is quite like EPF, where you can't withdraw from your account 1 (70% of your invesment) before retirement. You can withdraw from your account 2 but you will have to pay 8% tax penalty since you get RM3K tax relief from your annual contribution. That was not what I wanted to write about though so for more info, feel free to visit their website yourself http://www.cimb-principal.com.my/prs/

What I wanted to write actually was about saving for retirement in general. During the briefing introduction yesterday, the lady made a simple calculation of savings you need before you retire. Say you need RM3K per month after retirement for 25 years, assuming you live 25 years after retiring, you will need RM3K x 12 months x 25 years = RM 900K. Let's round it up to RM 1 mio. Sounds quite a lot. It sounds impossible to achieve but actually you can do that using ASB loan alone. Assuming you take a 200K loan, pay it consistently on a monthly basis, WITHOUT taking out the dividend and principal, receive on average of 8% annual return, you will get around 1.4mio after 25 years.

I am not working in PNB, I don't have a KPI to sell ASB loan or get commission from posting this. This is purely for sharing. So for bumiputera out there who hasn't taken advantage of this privilege, you better do so. The sooner the better. Money is never enough but having more money is always better, right. Whether I would invest in PRS? Maybe I will. I think it's time for me to start diversifying my savings.

Hari Raya Haji 2012 family trip

This is one belated post. Last raya haji, my parents-in-law suggested we go back to Penang since Friday was a public holiday. My mom was thinking of going back to Perlis so I combined these two plans together and brought my mom along to Penang and dropped her off in Perlis before we came back to KL.

That raya morning, hubby and I didn't wake up for raya prayers. When we woke up, everyone was downstairs having breakfast. After salam raya with the family, we quickly packed and made our move. The rest went straight to Penang. Hubby and I stopped by Bangi and then KL to pick mummy up. We only started our journey from KL nearly 3pm because Tricia vomitted just before we reached my mom's place. We arrived at Gurney Resort Hotel and Residence around 6.30pm and I would say I like it. The room and the bathroom in the master bedroom were really spacious. We freshen up for awhile and then we walked the long stretch to the other end of Gurney Drive to the hawkers area. Had pasembor and sotong bakar. Feeling very "Penang". Haha.

The next morning, after breakfast, we hang out at the swimming pool. I could see the whole family having so much fun. Even the fathers went on the kids slide again and again on the pretense of carrying a child, to the extend of "borrowing" a child! LOL. I bought a new muslimah swimwear, aprroved by hubby and went swimming a few laps. It felt really REALLY refreshing and GoOoOoOoddddd. I missed swimming.

 

Around 3pm, we went back to kampung Penang and had more food. Stayed for a few hours, went for a motorbike ride (Tricia's first!), talked to relatives and neighbours and then went for steamboat dinner before going back to the hotel. Hubby, Tricia and I went back out to Hard Rock Hotel. After buying a T-shirt from Hard Rock Cafe, hubby had to take us back because both of Tricia and I were sleeping already. Haha. Pity him.

The next morning, after breakfast, I had some alone time (with Tricia) in the bathtub and then, we started our journey back to Perlis. Hubby, kempunan sgt pulut Danok, went to the border, without passport and bought RM98 worth of puluts! We rested for a bit in Perlis and started our journey back around 7.30pm. We reached Penang around 10.00pm and because of the public holiday jam, hubby and abg mi decided to wait hoping that the traffic would ease. We started our journey again around 12am and reached KL around 6am! I slept all the way, thanks to my superhero hubby for driving, reached Nilai around 6.30am and straight away went to work after a quick shower. Did I regret not taking leave that Monday? Well, not really. It was such an adventure. I only pity my husband, who had no choice but to brave through the traffic so that I got home on time for work. All-in-all, it was such good family holiday... much needed quality family time.

Waiting for me

Last night, hubby wanted to go back to Bangi to do some work. I wanted to go back to Bangi to do some cleaning. Since hubby didn't mind sending Tricia back to Nilai in the morning, we decided that I would go straight back and hubby would pick up Tricia from Nilai. When hubby was ready to move with Tricia, she kept asking "mama? mama?". Hubby told her that we will see mama in Bangi but I guess he wasn't convincing enough because the further he drove, the louder she cried calling out for me. "Mamamamamama". She must have thought that hubby left me and I wouldn't be able to find her later. Sweet sgt okay.... Terharu!!!

Happy 3rd Anniversary!

Three years ago, on this very day, we officially became husband and wife. I did not shed a tear when hubby selesai melafazkan akad. I was actually trying hard to not smile so wide, unsuccessfully. I was really REALLY happy, to be married to the one guy I love. The event was quite simple. Carried out in a mosque in Taman Melati. And after dinner, the crowd dispersed and we were left on our own. Just like any other nights. We didn't even have a bilik pengantin... Well, we did but just for show. The real bilik pengantin was my old room, which I didn't bother decorating or made it special for the occasion. But we fit right in... I knew at that moment, this is where I belong.

Today, three years down the road, we are still as strong as ever. Of course, there are ups and downs but we will continue to fight the battle of life together. And now there are 3 of us! Tido malam, katil tak cukup sbb si kecik tu conquer katil okeh. There is no proper celebration for today as these past few days, we have been spending some relaxing time together and for me, that is enough. We travel a lot, we eat out at expensive places often so I don't need to mark the day with these kind of celebrations. I am simply happy to get to hug my hubby to sleep at night, despite our opposite body clock and crazy work schedule. So for the record, I just want to say, Mohd Hazmi Abdul Halim, Happy Anniversary. For a bright and happy future together. Cheers!

Darul Izzah and Gunung Angsi

The first week of October, my group of girlfriends went to an orphanage house in Bangi. It was nothing spectacular or big. It was just a simple event to have pizzas for lunch with them since the last time Irna went, one of the boys got so excited when he heard pizza but there were just bihun and kuih muih. It was a nice, humbling and joyful experience for me. A fulfilling reunion with my girls given everyone's tight schedule these days. We had all the intention to do more next round, find a less-well-to-do establishment to contribute to... insyaAllah, may Allah pave the way for us. Not to say this establishment is well taken care of but only after 10 minutes we finished eating our food, there was already food (nasi + ayam) outside the dining hall. MasyaAllah. Such a caring community we have. =)

The next day, Aizat, Irna, Shasha Id, Hubby and I followed Aizat's ex-colleagues to go hiking at Gunung Angsi. It is the 3rd highest peak in Negeri Sembilan and apparently has a tougher trail than Gunung Kinabalu. I was all excited and pumped-up before we started our climb since it had been a long time since I last hike a mountain. The last one must be Gunung Ledang in 2002, right after I left MMU. What happened to my vow in 2001 before I left TKC to never go hiking again?

We started our hike around 9.50am, nearly 2 hours delayed from the original plan. The hike up was not too bad. We talked and laughed and took a couple breaks. It was damn tiring and it made us really thirsty. Shasha and Aizat's shoes gave way but only Shasha was lucky enough to be given spare shoes from Mizi while Aizat had to tie the sole of the shoes to prevent them from falling off. The trail up was quite steep and there was this one place where we had to climb up using a rope ala2 rock-climbing gitu. We reached the peak in one piece around 2pm.

Climbing down was a nightmare. The first two hours was tough but manageable. I, as usual, climbed down very very slowly. Hubby waited for me and we walked together silently. We reached the 1st river crossing where Irna, Aizat, Mamat and was it Firdaus, stopped for prayer. I continued on knowing well enough how slow I am. However, at the 2nd river crossing, hubby wanted to stop for a quick dip in the water. By that time, half of my legs were in the water already, a result of being too lazy to balance myself on the slippery rocks to cross the river. But that was as far as I went. I sat on the rocks, waiting for hubby. Soon, Irna, Aizat, Mamat & Firdaus caught up with us so we moved together. It was 5pm.

By that time, I felt super drained and tired and dehydrated I felt like fainting. I moved very2 slowly. Hubby walked slowly in front of me. Occasionally offered to carry me but I insisted on walking on my own. Irna and Firdaus went ahead. Aizat and Mamat behind us given that Aizat shoes were in a very bad condition already. The path back seemed unusually long. I remembered it only took us one hour to the Kem Tangga Batu (near the river where hubby took his dip). We heard the first bell at 5.30pm. I was really frustrated that I was still in the jungle. I thought I could be done with all these by 3pm and go back to my baby girl. So I refused to stop. Must. Keep. Going. I was half walking, half crawling by then. Focusing my mind on something to make sure it would not be taken over by some other spirits since I was having my 1st day period that day. Keep on chanting "a little bit more... a little bit more". By 6pm, we heard the second bell. Hubby was getting worried. We should be out of the jungle by Maghrib. So he insisted on carrying me. He also didn't want me to slow Aizat down. I let him because I also want to get out as soon as I could but I was in no condition to run. I let him carry me THREE times. The third time, I got panicked halfway that I struggled to be let down while hubby was carrying me through a very narrow path, just by the slope. We could have fallen to our death at the waterfall below us. Lucky, Very Luckily, hubby could manage his balance for both of us... After that, I walked on my own. Aizat and Mamat nowhere to be seen. I guess, Aizat felt just as tired as I was since she didn't try to catch up.

We arrived at the picnic area around 6.15pm. Visitors there were starting to pack up their stuff. Hubby wanted to follow the trail we used that morning but I insisted to go by the river where there were many people around. We managed to reach the carpark around 6.30pm. Aizat came out around 6.45pm. That was a very close call and I cannot describe how glad I felt that everyone got out safely.

Okay. I vow to never to do this AGAIN. I should remember this experience before I drag my ass up Gunung Kinabalu and slow everyone else down. MUST REMEMBER! One good thing that came out of this experience was the renewed feeling I have for my husband. 10 years of togetherness... made me rethink the feelings we have for each other. I kept thinking whether we still feel the same, whether the love is still as strong, whether we could live with each other for the rest of our lives.  After what we went through that evening, I know his love for me is just as strong, if not stronger, given the responsibility he has as my husband. I know I can put my lives in his hand and he will protect me till his last breath. And I would definitely do the same for him.