will i am's delayed diary

Woke up puffy-eyed and sleepy for breakfast at 6:00 AM. Finally had a good view of the surroundings at Yanti Homestay. The place is a cluster of rooms with common areas and a warung at the front. After our simple breakfast of a sandwich, omelette, and weak coffee, Pak Sulaiman met up with us with a clove cigarette in hand. One look at the shoes that we were wearing, he shook his head and told us to change into slippers. Together with a local guide, we walked a short distance to the Tumpak Sewu viewing deck. In the Javanese language, Tumpak Sewu means "a thousand waterfalls", and it's really breathtaking. Water flows down 120 meters over a semi-circular gorge with Mount Semeru in the background.   The real adventure began with our descent to the foot of the falls.  One would think that such a beautiful nature spot would be under the governance of park authorities, but in actual fact it's all maintained by locals. The path down was a mixture of trails, bamboo paths, r...

Remember my cancelled trip to Danang due to well-timed cyclone? To make up for that, KH arranged a trip to Surabaya at the end of November. The itinerary included waterfalls, and volcanoes. Nothing too strenuous he assured me. The night before our departure, KH notified me of some bad news. Surely it wasn't another cyclone! Batik Air had chopped our direct flight to Surabaya into a transit at Jakarta! Because of that, our arrival would be late, making our schedule a little more hectic. The check-in queue at the airport wasn't too bad. And there was small consolation of a check-in cutie in my line of sight. Tall Thai boy from the looks of it. Pretty good leg room on the Batik Air flight, and we were given a cheese bun, and a muffin. At 4PM+7, we landed at Terminal 3 of Soekarno Hatta International Airport. Thinking back, it was 19 years since my last visit, and that terminal didn't exist back then. Pretty large and empty, and for some reason the airport authority has a th...

Malaysia's 15th General election was called on the 19th of November 2022. Having registered as both polling and counting agent, KH and I both woke up bright and early to start work at Institut Latihan Perindustrian Kuala Lumpur located beside the large KFC at Jalan Kuchai Lama. Parked our car at the fast food restaurant and walked over to the polling station. Although it wasn't open yet, and it was drizzling a little, there was already a queue of early birds. Collected our passes from the DAP polling station manager, and we were let in by the police officers at the gate.  KH and I were assigned to different saluran . Voters who came to my saluran were at least 60 years old. Greeted the Elected Commission staff and made sure we were friendly with the leader of the saluran because he had the final say in most things. As the first ( and only~ lack of volunteers ) polling agents on duty we had the task verifying the setup. We were responsible for checking the ballot papers, ensur...

Gosh, was voted as a chief coordinator for a church ministry. Mandarin pulak tu . Two-year term. 

In my working career, I never really took a proper break. My new employer wasn't pushy about my joining date, so I gave myself four weeks of rest to properly detox. Thought about bringing my mum somewhere for a holiday, but she was very engrossed with taking care of my nephews with it being my sister's super busy year end period. Didn't do anything special, just some random things: Dim sum breakfast with mum and her taichi buddies. Fix my neck at the chiropractor's. Attend church meetings. Go on dates with the hubby. Cafe hopping with neighbours. Bumming at home. Perhaps I should have flew somewhere just for the heck of it. But I am pretty content with just spending quiet time in KL. 

A little over a year ago, I left the company where I started my career in IT. Early November 2022 marked another LWD ( last working day ) for me. Definitely will miss the 15-minute door-to-door commute to Technology Park Malaysia ( rebranded to MRanti recently ). So nice not having to wake up at ungodly hours to avoid traffic snarls. At least, I enjoyed it for a year. A new chapter beginning soon in KL Eco City come December. 

With the Korean Wave at its peak, our boys look towards their Korean idols for fashion inspiration. Spotted Hallyu Han at K Plus Cafe, located inside K Plus Food Market, a Korean version of Isetan Food Market. The fella looks like he stepped out of Korean BL comic. The hair, facial features, and fashion sense were all on point. Although it would be perfect if he was taller, but I'm sure it would not be a dealbreaker for many of us.   Annyeong haseyo!