Gifts: Time to Read

Three months ago, I had a couple of pretty harrowing conversations. 

One with the impressionable new intern who called me boss. At which point I responded that my boss is our boss. I'm just the one who has to guide him along the way.

And the other one with my boss, who told me here's my chance to learn how to be someone's boss. 

Gah.

I've always been the baby, the one being mentored, the one getting advice. 

What the hell am I supposed to do when I'm supposed to actually be a mentor?

Three months down the line, it's time to bid adieu to the intern who almost seems like a permanent part of the team.

And, as part of his farewell present. here's how I've framed up what I think is the most important piece of advice I'd given in the past couple of months:

Along with the book I'd been talking about which had gotten a blank stare along with the answer 

"I don't have time to read books". 

Here's the whole set of things.

In case you're wondering, the orange thing is a "keep calm and" notebook. Wish I'd had time to go have a "Keep calm and WRITE THAT DOWN!" notebook made. That would be the second most important thing I've said to him the entire time. 

And yes, if you think that top item looks a little familiar on this blog, you're spot on. 

I love that stuff. And so does he.

Don't judge us.

Sunshine and Fresh Air

There's no doubt that I'm a city girl. But it's always nice to have a change of speed once in a while.

For me, that usually means going to a different town or city, and getting lost amongst buildings, random markets & museums.

So, imagine my trepidation at having to go on a more nature-y trip. For the entire week preceding this trip, I was whining about not wanting to go. But that's as far as my wet blanket tendencies go. 

So I went along.

Below, the continuation of my whining, laced with omgthisplaceissoprettywhydoesithavetobesohardtogetto?

1. Waking up at 5am so we can take a two hour bus ride and be dropped off at the side of the road? Gahhh... Okay I'm exaggerating. This is the beautiful spot where we got off the bus to continue on by lorry. Yes, by lorry  - which was both terrifying, and awesome.

2. OMG it's a winding road with loads of sharp bends. The kind you have to blast your horn as you approach because it's a blind corner on the side of the hill, with a huge drop off the side of the road. At one point, there was a huge, oil palm filled lorry coming from the other direction and we had to pull over to let it pass. And most of us city folk did what everyone tends to do when someone says "ooh...pretty" - go over to the side of the lorry that offered the better look. That would be the side that was on the edge of the cliff, of course. And of course, yours truly was the one who was in the opposite corner going "Whoah people...back on the safer side of the lorry, please!"

Otherwise, there was lots of clinging to the lorry, and being too worried about losing my phone over the cliff to take any photos. Until we arrived, of course.

3. But the place is so pretty! I don't really get the decor. But it's a nice place!

Gosh...gosh why do hotels always do this? I hate it when they have creepy paintings in the room.

4. More importantly, the food was uh-mayyyy-zinggg. Again, I probably exaggerate. But I've definitely had worse in fancier places. Definite thumbs up on the meals. And here are a couple of highlights that I bothered to take while we weren't too busy digging in. 

5. And now, my favourite bit - the slightly less terrifying lorry rides to and from some of the activities. 

Note the bangku in the corner - for those of us who can't figure out how to get on and off the lorry without one. 

This is one of my favourite shots from the trip.

6. Outdoor activities?! *cue frightening montage in my head of the thousand and one ways I could get injured* So while the rest went white water rafting, me and a couple of others stayed behind to chill out.

I can't help but hear the soundtrack from the Lord of the Rings play in my head while they head downstream. 

I'm a nerd sometimes. I know.

So it wasn't so bad after all. It was great just getting out of the city and soaking in some fresh air and sunshine.

Bonding with Food & Drink

One of life's pleasures I enjoy the most is catching up with friends over food and drink. 

It's one of the best parts of going home.

 

There's nothing better than a nice iced mocha while you catch up with a girlfriend on a hot afternoon.

Except maybe also being able to appreciate the quirkiness around every corner in Penang. 

Spot the blue heart?

All those desserts!!! Definitely want to come back again, preferably not right after a heavy meal so I can try these. 

These were taken at siTigun on Nagore road.

By the beach

Another weekend of my continued effort to keep weekends interesting. This time, to a new place (for me at least), with good company.

This short weekend trip finally allowed me to check Port Dickson off my "places to go to" list, and also just chill out with a bunch of really fun people. Wasn't all that much to do there - which was exactly what we wanted. Strangely, a road trip with a killer playlist & fun people in the car doesn't happen as often as one would think.

Once the actual road trip part is over, other things to do were:

Stay in and play charades - another simple thing we don't quite do enough.

Go grocery shopping - we were supposed to stop by to pick up mixers. We ended up with a whole trolley that looked like full on stock-up-the-household groceries. We're weird shopaholics, I know.

Enjoy a sunset by the beach and then go for a swim, in the pool, of course.

Take silly photos with friends

And then stay in and play more games. Plus eat all that food we bought.

Then wake up the next morning to go food hunting.

One night in Ipoh

Weekends.

How to keep them interesting?

For this lazy girl who loves her comfort zone, the most interesting ones usually involve the least planning. Like this one weekend when I just hopped on the proverbial bandwagon of someone else's plans. 

Try a different mode of transport. 

I'm pretty sure I can count the number of times I've been on a train in Malaysia on one hand. But travelling interstate? A definitive zero.

So when I heard that we were going to be travelling by train for this trip, and that it would only last a bearable two and a half hours, I said why the heck not?

Indulge in food. 

As always, discovering good food in new places is always a plus!

Stay in an awesome place. 

I went only knowing where we were going to stay, and all the thigs people have told me about other Sekeping er...hotels? 

Did not do any research on the one in Ipoh. 

When we got to Sekeping Kong Heng, the first thing I saw was the library. 

Fell in love instantly.

Soak in the place. 

Taking a walk about the town, randomly discovering stuff, and just watching what a Sunday looks like here was pretty awesome. Even better when you have commentary from a former local.