Pacific Sutera : Relaxing and fun holiday staycation

If you want to get out of the house but don’t want to go thru the hassles of driving several hours or if you feel like you deserve a vacation but can’t afford to skip town entirely. The answer is STAYCATION! I've always thought that staying at a local hotel for a night/a couple of night is a good idea for a staycation. =)

My boyfie and I were staying here for 1 night during Kaamatan. This is one of the best hotels I have ever stayed in. We were upgraded from a deluxe golf view to deluxe sea view upon check in. The rooms has a breathtaking view of marine blue of the south China sea and we can see neighboring islands. The bathroom was spacious and has a separate bathtub and shower. Best feature is the breakfast with all kinds of western, Malaysian, and Chinese food but some guest had to wait for tables and it can be a bit crowded. Kota Kinabalu is famous for their exquisite sunsets. The sunset view from here quite spectacular. You can order some drinks from the outdoor bar and enjoy the stunning view. Here are some pictures which I taken. Overall our stay was wonderful and relaxing. I would love to come back and stay there again.

Weekend getaway : Kokol Haven

Went there in the evening with boyfie for a sunset view of Kota Kinabalu on Sunday. This is my second visit =P 30 minutes drive from Kota Kinabalu and the resort is situated on top of a hill. There is only one road to go in and out. Entrance coupon is RM10 for each person. This entrance coupon can be redeemed with drinks.

Kota Kinabalu's city can be seen clearly from up here. The view is undeniably stunning and breathtaking. Although the weather was not very good on that day but we manage to catch the sunset view. It was indescribable when the sun goes down and the Kota Kinabalu's city street lights started on. Highly recommended for those people who wants to find peace and calmness. 

  

Here you can just go and have a cup of coffee or a cold beverage with a spectacular view of Kota Kinabalu. The open-air cafe with the fantastic views offering local and western cuisine. ( ps : the cafe gets crowded when the sun goes down ) The cafe now serving Kaamatan special. ''Tuhau'' ( local ethnic delicacy ) pizza. RM 16.00 ( small ) and RM 26.00 ( big ). But we didn't order because I don't like the smell so we ended up ordering thin crust Hawaiian pizza. The pizza was unexpectedly cheesy and delish!! yum yum!

Spotted rainbow!! the clouds broke away and revealed a beautiful rainbow. The rain washed away all the dust and created beautiful raindrops on the flowers.

Fresh air, greens everywhere. There is not much to do apart from enjoying the pure air and watching the clouds drift in and drift out.

men with beards?

Whether you grow a beard or not, how women perceive you is not up to you. *rolling eyes* There are women who love men with beard because bearded men showed more signs of macho behavior. But there are number of ladies that think beards are dirty. yes! D-I-R-T-Y No doubt that some guys look really awesome with beards, some don't. If his beard accentuates his face and well-groomed, then ok; if it looks like TUPAI then HELL NOOOO!!! I think it entirely depends on the person and their face, and ability to grow a beard. If you can't grow a nice beard, just accept your fate and shave that crap off. Sorry to say I'd rather have clean-shaven than nasty, overgrown beard boyfie. Everyone is entitled to their own views. Once a woman forms an opinion that beards are dirty, there is not much convincing you can do to change her mind. kthxbye!!

Review of X-Men : Apocalypse

X-Men : Apocalypse was one of my most anticipated movie of 2016. I watched the movie last weekend, This was actually a really great movie. Definitely better than Captain America Civil War tho. X-Men: Apocalypse ties up what's came before with what's ahead. All characters are visually stunning. The backgrounds enrich the mutant's history and the references to past X-Men movies are littered thru the entire movie. I loved Alexandra Shipp ( Mohawk Sorm ) and Olivia Munn ( Psylocke ) performances and acting. Some scenes are very laughable like Quicksilver rescuing a dog eating pizza. Yup! A dog eating pizza sounds ridiculous right? Well, he’s actually rescuing everybody out of the the faculty before it all goes boom. The appearance of Wolverine fitted in nicely although very brief. At first I thought Magneto was the most powerful mutant but technically Jean is the most powerful one because she can merged with the primal force.

Genres : Action | Adventure | Fantasy |
Running time : 2 hour 27 minute
Rating : ★★★★☆ ( This is certainly a massive ‘X-Men’ movie )

STORY : After sleeping for nearly a millennium, the world's first mutant Apocalypse ( En Sabah Nurcomes ) back to life. He is utterly displeased with the turn of events over the last few centuries. Since he can changes bodies and imbibe fresh powers, he decides to take things in his hands. As he builds his army of four horsemen, Professor Charles Xavier and his students are faced with the cumbersome task of stopping the evil force that will end the world as they know it.

The Apocalypse, an immortal mutant from ancient Egypt who basically has the powers of a god.

Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse

Charles Xavier ( also known as Professor X ) is the leader and creator of the X-Men and the founder of the Xavier School

Evan Peters will have an expanded role in X-Men Apocalypse and the actor reveals that his character will be in search of his father, Magneto

Jean Grey ( Sophie Turner ), Nightcrawler ( Kodi Smit-McPhee ) and Cyclops ( Tye Sheridan )

Younger versions of the mutants known as Mystique ( Jennifer Lawrence ) and Hank McCoy/Beast ( Nicholas Hoult )

 Erik Lehnsherr/Magneto ( Michael Fassbender ) is back again, and this time he's playing a henchman for the Apocalypse

Last but not least, please do not listen to the irrelevant criticisms thrown at this movie. Go to the theater and enjoy yourself for 2 and a half hours =)

numbers with special meaning ♥

If you have Chinese friends in your Facebook then you will see today a bit different in their Facebook status. On this day, most of the couples will go out and enjoy their lovely day. There are quite a number of posts on my insta/facebook. Some people choose today to make confession, some send flowers/gifts to lovers, some hang out for a date and some even sign in for marriage. 13:14pm on 20th May only occur once a year.

我5(I) 爱2(Love) 你0(You)

Mandarin pronounce as:

WO(5) AI(2) NI(0)

♥

♥

♥

20th May - 13:14pm.

5/20 - 13:14

5201314

To those who doesn't know chinese.

5201314 actually means wo ai ni yi sheng yi shi ( The pronunciations are almost similar )

In English:  I love you forever and ever ♥

我爱你一生一世 ♥

moral story

Once a man and his wife were taking a donkey to the market. As they were walking, some people saw them and remarked, ‘Look at these fools, why don’t they ride the donkey?’ The man heard this and asked his wife to ride the donkey while he walked alongside. A man seeing this remarked, ‘What is the world coming to? Look at that woman riding comfortably while he makes his poor husband walk!’ So the woman got down and this time the man rode the donkey. As they went along, another man passing by said, ‘Why don’t both of you get on the animal?’ So they listened to him and both rode on the animal. Yet another group who saw them said, ‘Oh! What a poor animal. It has to carry those two fat good-for-nothings! How cruel some people can be!’ By this time the man and woman were getting quite fed up. They decided to dismount and carry the donkey instead so as to stop everyone from talking. This led people to laugh and say, ‘look at these human “donkey” carrying a donkey’. 

Moral Story: We cannot please everybody

You cant please everyone. They own their thoughts, reactions, and beliefs. We cannot live being obsessed with what other people think about us. So instead of feeling stressed and frustrated, just be yourself and welcome the peace and happiness that will come your way. =)

the good old days

I look back on my life and think about things I wish I knew earlier. It would have made my life so much easier if I knew then what I know now. I wish I could turn back the hands of time to tell my younger self. ( I wish I hadn't wasted 4years+ on my miserable ex! ) I want an exciting and a fulfilling life with happy times, but I just don't know how it can happen unless I get confident and overcome my issues. Lately, I've been wondering, what if I went thru high school again but with the experience and personality I have today? I will study harder and make myself much neater. make more friends...I miss quite a few things from high school.  I miss the freedom and sense of imaginative futures where I don't seem locked into a career path, pretending to listen to teachers, sneak out with friends after school, and look forward to school holidays. No debt, no bills, life was easy. Life now is all about the responsibility, work and becoming more and more stressful...

the indulgent hi-tea buffet

Happy belated mother's day to all the great moms out there! 

I have celebrated mother's day with my mom few days ago at Soluxe hotel.

Mother's day balloons decor. The purple fabric caught my eye once I walked in. The purple color in interiors always look so rich and & elegant. ♥

The outdoor buffet/grill prep station serves grilled tomato, capsicum, chicken, sausage, marinated beef, chicken wings...etc

Chicken and beef satay with peanut sauce. The chicken satay after being marinated was so succulent. I thickened the mushroom soup by using the toasted bread =P

The smoked salmon was so greasy. A good hi tea buffet will not be complete without desserts! There are so many Malay kuih to tantalize your sweet tooth on other side.

Something sweet and slightly salty --- the noodles soup and bubur kacang hijau. 

beef with grilled asparagus, nasi pulut hitam, smoked salmon, baked green mussels, sliced juicy chicken breasts, baked potatoes *the baked potato has crisp golden skin on the outside and sooooo fluffy on the inside* triangle spring roll with sweet potatoes filing, raw mango pickle and fried sardin bread! *I do portion control so although I eat frequently, I eat enough to feel full but stay under a calorie limit =P* The picture on the right side is my creation =D

Advice : Don't blindly accept friend requests on Facebook

Please don't send me a friend request on Facebook unless we've actually had conversations before...

Facebook is mainly about developing relations, keeping your friend updates and communicating with them. In Facebook, friend requests play an important role, but at the same time they are delicate and can create problems. I receive 2-3 every week. They're either random people or spam. Complete strangers should always be ignored, unless there is a message along with the request explaining who they are. But there are several people you should not add friend because it might be invasive *sorry if I offended you* As Facebook is all about your personal life and photos, it turns into a stalk book for some. Facebook stalking has become very common and a serious issue these days. If there are no mutual friends, there is really no point. However, if there is a good reason for a stranger sending friend request, then you might take it into consideration. So, in the end it’s all up to you to decide whether those friend requests are really worth accepting or setting them aside would be a better idea =)

Backpack: Yay or Nay?

So I met up with boyfie today. We headed to Suria cause I wanted to choose a pressie for my sista. I'm actually looking for a durable and comfortable bag for myself too. Eeeee...It is a daily struggle for me to carry ALL OF MY JUNK to work/shop. Most recently I've been using tote bag. One of the consequences of carrying a tote on one shoulder for longgg time will leads the side effect like shoulder becomes slightly higher than the other. This issue leads me considering a backpack. The straps add stability and provide for a more balanced posture. I spotted a lapel leather backpack at Mango store. Wow!!! This is definitely my type!!!!!! but the prices were bit exorbitant. I googled search and found that the backpack are made from 100% bovine leather. It comes with 3 diff color and I prefer the black one because it goes well with every outfit! The sand color is not bad too but it is pretty obvious when it gets dirt. 

Dating monthsary celebration - Buffet dinner @ Le Meridien Hotel

Throwback to Monday night, a great night indeed! We celebrated our monthsary on 02.05 and coincidentally it falls on the holiday. We decided to have our monthsary buffet dinner at Le Meridien. So this post is gonna be a combination about our monthsary dinner and recommendation I would like to make for the food ♥ If you expecting some Malay, Indian, Chinese, Japanese and Western cuisine then you can get it all here. I like the atmosphere, so peaceful and quiet. The restaurant interior was grand and classy too. The bar serves variety type of lettuces where you can make your own salad with freshly chopped condiments. They also have salad that's well prepared. On the other side of the salad bar have raw salmon, slices of beef...etc. The crab, mussels, prawns are presented on a bed of cracked ice. They serves local food like nasi briyani and something else which I couldn't recall. 

        

The plate of food which I will always go for whenever I go for international buffets. Took some cooked cod meat, baked potatoes and prawns. They were all very freshly cooked.

Gourmet mussels served with wedge lemon and the freshly baked bread with Canola spread

I always gravitate toward the cheese. The cheese station serves various sorts of cheese like Emmental cheese ( medium-hard Swiss cheese ), Edam cheese ( semi-hard cheese that originated in the Netherlands ), Cheddar cheese...etc. The most anticipated part for me would be desserts! No buffet is complete without the desserts =D But unfortunately over here the choices are limited. They have selection of coconut puddings, red velvet cakes, choco tart, caramel crimble tart...etc. Had a hard time deciding what to get as I was quite full by then. The taste just fine. 

And we end off with a tempting ice cream. I picked chocolate, yam and strawberry with raspberry syrup and choco rice as topping.

The food quality was not too bad actually. However the food choices were quite limited. I felt that it was a bit expensive in terms of food wise but if you love to seek new experience, this place could be the great choice for you! thumbs up for their service as they were really courteous, attentive and cleared our plate quickly.

LE MÉRIDIEN KOTA KINABALU

Address :

Jalan Tun Fuad Stephens, Sinsuran, 

Kota Kinabalu, 88000, Malaysia

Tel : 088 - 322 238

★ Exclusive for SPG Members Special! Dine and enjoy 35% OFF at Latest Recipe! ★

Mondays to Thursdays

Lunch 12:00pm to 2:30pm

Dinner 6:30pm to 10:00pm

35% off

Buffet 

✓

Applicable up to 6 persons

Fridays to Sundays

Lunch 12:00pm to 2:30pm

Dinner 6:30pm to 10:00pm

20% off Buffet 

✓ 

Applicable up to 8 persons