Backpacking to sulphur land

I believe many knows that volcanic mud has been a beauty secret for centuries with many benefits to our skins.

So, there I was backpacking alone in Rotorua, Waitomo and Taupo. Few days back, I was pretty sick and tired of the ways my relatives treated me, plus from the painful ordeal my grandmother had shown me- she knew I didn't like staying in their house due to too much restriction and there was also curfew, so I told my other aunt that I wanted to stay with them even if there is no one at home, I was fine, however my grandma started to say "'You can get out of the house, if you do not wish to stay here!". Well, who ever knew a grandmother whom everyone said to be sweet and loving towards their grandchildren turns out to be like this- like mine!

Of course I told my mum about it, and I had the urge to pack my bag and waited at that nice auntie house rather than staying with monsters. I hesitated and found solution by throwing two birds with one stones. I was going on a trip and at the same time, avoiding them was the best choice.

I couldn't remember which site I booked and how many days I stayed there as it was 2 years ago, in 2013, however I think I remember some of the places while looking back at the pictures.

So early in the morning, took a bus to town and got on a tour bus that brings us to Waitomo. I slept throughout the journey- I am not a morning person! In Waitomo, I stopped at the infamous glowworm grotto, I toured around the cave with rather low ceiling and narrow pathway guided by a tour guide. I remember one part where the tour guide led us to an open area with really high ceiling and urges us to sing because it echoes beautifully, just like the cathedral. As the land tour ended, I was led to the river and jumped onto the boat and was steered inside a huge cave, which was illuminated by thousands of tiny lights from the glow worms suspended on the cave. It was really beautiful, like shimmering stars blinking through the dark sky and I had to strained my neck to look above the whole time while the guide continues with his talks. The younger glowworms glow brighter than the older ones. Sadly I couldn't take any pictures inside as the flash light from the camera will cause some disturbance towards the worms. But I remember snapping at least a picture of the cave from the outside.

After the tour, I headed back to the bus, I wasn't really keen on buying any souvenirs. Lunch was provided and I ate, drank and happily fell asleep in the summer heat again. The next stop, Agrodome. In the tour package, we were given three choices; to agrodome, ride luge, relaxing in their thermal pools and of course I chose Agrodome because I had tried to ride luge in Queenstown and I wasn't really keen in relaxing in thermal pools alone, is weird to go for a dip alone.

Anyway, at Agrodome, a 60 minute tour of sheep shearing documentary, a tour around the farm on a one cabin train-like vehicle that was attached to a tractor and hand-feeding animals (the sheeps reminded me of the movie black sheep), and lastly a sheep dog demonstration by keeping the little lambs at bay- it was absolutely adorable! In the meantime, I made friends with two lovely Japanese woman who looks younger than their actual age, it wasn't easy as my Japanese was weak so we communicated in English instead.

The final tour brought me to Te Puia, New Zealand's Maori Arts and Crafts Institute. There was a 45 minute traditional song and dance, as you may see at the bottom of this post. I found the website to provide more insight of the dance.

"Visitors are treated to perfect harmonies, the rhythms of the Poi dance, the ferocity of the Haka and the complexity of the Tititorea (stick games)"- credits to Viator.com.

When the performance ended, a tour guide led me and my small groups under the same tour around to view the history of Maori, the carvings, weavings used flax fibres and a replica of traditional Maori village. The guide continues to walk to Whakarewarewa Geothermal Valley. It was already hot with the insane heat from summer and the added boiling mud pools makes me sweats buckets! Also, not forgetting Pohutu Geyser, that shoots up hot air a few metres off the ground that reminded me of Ol 'Faithful (only seen it on television). It was a fantastic tour and I really can't phantom how remarkable New Zealand is with all the fascinated natural resources and how well it was maintain.

After a day tour- the coach bus dropped me off at the backpackers hotel in Rotorua which I booked and stayed with 5 other strangers. Sad to say, no matter where I go, I just can't make friends, wonder what did I do wrong. I remember walking all the way to their local supermarket to buy food as I was too cheap to buy one. So I walked almost half hour to buy raw food too cook. My memory was a bit fuzzy but now thinking about it, I am surprised how much I am willing to walk.

I'll hold onto the tour at Taupo for awhile and will continue this sulphuric tour.......
As for the pictures, it was inside my old handphone, and I have trouble to read the microSD card. Darn it! Sorry, I'll make sure to upload as soon as possible!!

xoxo luv sapphirejest

Friendship

I have a pen,
My pen is blue,
I have a friend,
My friend is Mg (not magnesium)


Okay, so just last week I went over to Surabaya, Indonesia to visit her. It was a last minute decision as she wants companion for the weekend when her fiancé was on a short holiday trip in Bali. I booked the tickets just two days before I fly.

Anyway, she provided great hospitality and really give her attention to me and I get to have a gist of her life and the plans for her wedding. I will try to help as much as I can but only if she needed- not willing to poke my nose if is not my business.

However, I still feel a little distance from her aside from friendship. She was raised with a silver spoon, have everything she wanted and the luckiest person- in my opinion as she has not taken the train while studying in University in KL. Plus, she has male friends willing to drive her if she needed to go somewhere.

And now, she have a well off fiancé that can support her for a lifetime. She is definitely down to earth, she don't wear branded stuff from head to toe and knows but on certain occasions only. However, when it comes to socializing, I'm still pretty bad at it- I did not take marketing or mass communications, and I was said to be an introvert. She had years of experience from university to modelling. I respect her quite a lot due to her knowledge of handling people.

All in all, she is still wickedly cool.


























xoxo luv sapphirejest

AFA + comic con 2015 bangkok

Hi there lovely people (throw sparkles and rainbows and skittles).


Recently I went to Bangkok for an anime event- AFA (Anime Festival Asia) and only to find out there was another event nearby, Comic Con Thailand. So we manage to kill two birds with one stone.

It was a huge surprised for me, because I only manage to find out on AFA around end of March, hence I only had a month to planned and make my new costume. I was thinking of cosplaying Serah Farron but it was too simple, sometimes I realize it doesn't bring much attraction- I'm not adorable.

Finally, I decided to re-use my pink wig and cosplay------ (drum roll)- Lumina. Another adorable character with full of spunk, slightly dark and mysterious and of course childish.
It took me the whole month to make the whole attire and yes I am proud to say it was all hand sewn. I admit I was definitely stressed, I had to find the beads, the feathers, the cloth and sewing was pretty tough too.

After a gruelling month of hardwork, it came out fine- not perfect but fine and fitted as it was my very first costume made solely by me. Aside from that, my mum assisted in making the spikes (at the left shoulder and right shoes). I couldn't find the material at my end and my mum was really interested to involved herself with arts and craft plus she has the talent for it.

Sadly when I wore the costume, everyone was more charmed by the spikes that took only 3 days to make instead of my entire costume that took a whole month. I was really depressed since many took the liberty to buy the costume rather than making their own, hence many people think my costume was made by a seamstress or pre-order. Well, I mustn't give up now, can I? I will definitely make more costume to my liking and enhance my sewing skills!

Alright, enough about my costume alone, feast your eyes to the spectacular costumes of every other cosplayers.

Here's the snippet of the events. Sorry there was a lot of me with another cosplayer, I'll try to find more pictures in my sister's phone.



xoxo luv sapphirejest

Para Para Paradise

First word that came to mind when Bali is mentioned? Tropical island with beautiful beaches, waves crashing down- famous tourist destination for those who wishes to escape from the bone-biting winter.

Yeap, I was there with my sister and two cousins. It was supposed to be a birthday gift that my sister and one of the cousin had planned but they invited us, so hey just enjoy!

Definitely one of the best vacation I had so far! I went white water rafting at Telaga Waja which is graded the most challenging one in Bali, then we went ATV riding, it was more of a massage. While riding it, I felt my whole body shaking together to the rhythm of the bike and it was so loud, I can't even hear myself. Oh, I got stuck halfway since I'm bad at driving manual, they finally got me a automatic one instead (embarrassing).

Not forgetting, my sis and I learn how to shred the waves by surfing, but we ended up falling more than we shred. Unfortunately, my belly piercing swollen and bled, so I had to stopped halfway, but enough of this pulsating stuff. It healed alright now for those wondering.

Also, we stayed in a huge three-story villa with two rooms and a private pool. We drank and watched movie and also just having fun in the pool. It was really nice to have your own privacy and get crazy once a while.



private pool!!

The next few days, my cousins and us (sister and I) split up as we visit Bali temples and other famous destinations while my cousins book another house further up to the coast that leads directly to the beach. I of course enjoy the day trip and finally get the eat the local food "babi guling". It was spicy and yummy, I ended drinking more water than I eat- I'm bad at spicy food.


babi guling!

So the 7 days was amazeball and although we spend more time in Kuta, the shopping haggling haven, I wished to return to Bali again some day, learning how to surf again and party. I never get the chance to party partly because I'm with my relatives, is really wrong to show your wild animal in front of them.

cousin-sister-cousin

beautiful sunset at heritage hotel

coffee is not my cup of tea

desserts for thee?

view from the private villa

massage anyone?

rafters are ready!

knees and elbow pads- checked!



OMG the plane crash landed (joking)

clear sea water- I love you



Uluwatu

cliché model pose

xoxo luv sapphirejest

Island in an island

Hellllooooo there

You know when you read some nice articles somewhere and you wish you'll do it or go to that location? Well after reading someone's blog about an island in Singapore island where I don't need to bring my passport, I jump into the bandwagon and rode off to that island. (actually it was a boat, not a wagon but you get my point)

So I dragged one of my friend to accompany me to this mysterious and historical island. It was St. John and Kusu Island. We had to pay a round trip of $8 (?) from marina south pier, sorry please dismiss the lack of proper direction, it happened few months back, I have poor memory. LOL

Anyway, as the boat first stop was at St. John island, we took a big tour and we followed the crowd to the famous hidden beach which is apparently not so secret anymore at Lazarus Island! The water looks blue and it was full of people but it was too hot for me to dive in, it was about 2pm, the sun is high!

We took a short break and ate some bread we brought and climb aboard the small ferry to another island- Kusu Island. Story passed down by both Malays and Chinese in Singapore says a magical tortoise turned itself into an island to save two shipwrecked sailors - a Malay and a Chinese. However the island was much smaller than St. John and there was no beach for you to swim in it. Only mud and dirty sand.

I was totally disappointed that the website said there was a beach, probably it was low tide but I reached that island around 4pm. Hence, we ended up touring the beach and climb the stairs to visit the holy shrines of Malay saints and Chinese temples.

I return with bad sunburn.

the not-so-secret beach at Lazarus Island

would you dare to dive into that?

xoxo luv sapphirejest

pictures come to LIFE!

Hey there beautiful people

This was quite long ago, but I just thought hey maybe I should blog about it. No harm doing so.

I went to a 3D art museum called- Trick eye museum at Sentosa, where pictures comes to life when you take at a right angle. Wait, I think every angle will still make the picture popped out. And of course, my friend and I tried to pose the funkiest, crazy or cliché poses.

It was pretty pricey in my opinion but I manage to get the tickets cheaper by 30%? I think it was supposed to be more than $20, but I got it for $17? Honestly I can't remember, I know it was lesser than $20 per person and I got it from Groupon.

Here are the few pictures, credit to my friend's photography skills.

things are not always what they seem

xoxo luv sapphirejest

BIG Leap?

Hey there peeps

So, I have finally stepped out of my comfort zone and tender my resignation. The job I'm currently working now is pretty simple. In fact, all I do is taking calls or emails now ( my job scope had changed slightly) and checked, investigate and revert back to customers, and i'll just try to find the answers and resolved and of course hoping they are satisfy with my service.

Aside from the simplicity of the job, there is another side to it. I hear the screams, curses and vexing re-run complaints from various people of almost the same issue everyday. Like they say "same shit different day". It really fits this job scope.

I have not found a new job yet, and chances are slim in this short noticed, less than a month from the  last day. However, I realize I am getting more shit loads of work than before, tonnes of cases pouring in on me and murdering my brain slowly. I had just stayed back today to tried to clear up my cases which I am able to finish in time by 6, but more things coming in and if I don't clear them, I get the most annoying questions from the higher up.

In reality, we are not doing the work right and there isn't enough people to cover the load of work. I had thought long and hard to leave this place but I told myself I shouldn't let myself be ruled by stress and I should challenged myself to continue. Well I challenged myself for a year now, I have no idea if it did help me along the way; communication and negotiation skills.

They said it should helped me, however I think it rather gave me bad mood and intense stress everyday. I'm wiped and done and I honestly had enough.

I will let nature takes it course. What it may come, let it be,

 xoxo luv sapphirejest

Recap of year 2014

Hi there!!!!

I just realized my recent post was on March 2014. I didn't had time to post anything since then because I started working. It was quite a big whirlwind for me as I took the liberty to cross the bridge to another country without a second thought.

I got an offer in Singapore in a Telco company, packed my bag and swoosh, three days later I began a new life in a neighbouring country. It was barely a year after my return from studying abroad and I had to packed my bags again. I was really looking forward to it, many reasons but mainly- freedom!

I started working in the month of April and my life was a regime
; work, eat, sleep, repeat. I could barely have time for myself and I barely go out, I do overtime almost everyday till I lost 4KG and my parents were really worried that they wanted me to return home. Honestly, I wanted to as I was on the breaking point and I went into depression but not deep enough to seek medication (I don't like medicines anyway) but I told myself I have to moved on or else I'll have to eat grass.

Okay I'm not that poor but I can't survive on my parents anymore, I'm a working adult!

So..... each month fly pass, I made a few friends along the way and join some activities- cosplay.

I was actually introduced to cosplay by my sister when I was 18, however I wasn't very keen to be the person in costumes but rather taking pictures of them. Sadly I'm not a good photographer either so my first try was to dress those "Harajuku- themed" clothing which I presume is consider cosplay too. Then slowly I manage to crawl myself into these Japanese, games, anime, toys etc loving people who are pretty fun and lovable- although I only know a handful of them (I'm just a sucker at meeting new people)

Before I knew it, it was the end of the year. And how did I celebrated New Year's Eve?

I watched the countdown on TV and wished my landlady "Happy New Year!" and went to bed.


Yeap, it was quite a mundane year and I'm hoping this year will be nothing but fun!!

AFA 2014- I meet these interesting and amazing people. missed them!
 

xoxo luv sapphirejest