Counting minutes to 01.01.10

Hi all,
I'm at my desk waiting for Faizal to fetch me... Well, today is going to be the last day of 2009.

What have all of us done, learnt, achieved, travelled and not done so far? I'm sure a lot of us, I mean "normal people" like us, trying to think and re-do our new year's resolutions.

For me, it doesn't matter wheather you have achieved or not, just to have one is already considered as an achievement.

As for us, InsyaAllah... trying to explore different part of the world (wow!!! sounds ambitious, do I?, he..he..why not?), and at the same time trying to improve ourselves, work harder, thinking better and also stay healthier.

Last but not least, Selamat Tahun Baru 2010 to all our family, friends and most importantly our blog readers/followers and Flickr contacts. As for us, to kickstart our 2010 resolutions, we'll be flying to Jakarta tomorrow morning.

Always remember to believe in yourself,challenge your minds and dare to dream, and Dream Big!!!!!

*A very BIG THANK YOU to Berita Minggu (link), KOSMO! (link), Schmap!.com (link), COSMOPOLITAN Magazine (link), GayaTravel Magazine and Bazaar@Maeps (link) for making our 2009 such a wonderful year.

Enjoy the little things...

Assalamualaikum,

It's totally been a while since our last post... Too many things happening and less time to update our blog...

Firstly, we would like to say "Hi" to our "adik angkat" Le Trong Khanh from Vietnam and Tsutomo Tawada from Japan. They were here for The Ship for Southeast Asian Youth programme, where universities students all over SEA plus Japan (as a host) gathered in Japan and started their journey on the ship to 5 countries, including Malaysia. It took them almost 2 months to complete. Wow ! Sounds great! Right? They spent 3 days 2 nights with our family. We spoilt them with our traditional breakfast and the whole day of Kuala Lumpur excursion. Even though the time is limited but I guess, it's kind of brief what our country can offer. We told them to come back again at least 2 weeks to explore more on Malaysia. To them, we wish both of you, Good Luck and All The Best in your studies and career! It's nice to have you guys here!!!

As you guys know that I've been "chosen" as finalist for Cosmopolitan Magazine Fun Fearless Fabulous, unfortunately I didn't win. But I had a great time meeting other finalists. Congrats to Shafi, an activist who won that top spot. I'm not regret to enter this kind of "competition" but I don't think I would do that again. It's just not me... I prefer to be behind the scene. Anyway, it was a lifetime opportunity for me plus I met fabulous group of people...

Thank you again to Rizman Ruzaini, who're willingly to sponsor the fabulous dress. (Nak tau tak? I pakai baju Siti Nurhaliza...wow!!) Enough of that, any plan for next year's backpack?

Actually, to kick off 2010, insyaAllah we'll be flying to Jakarta over the weekend. Who would resists free tickets by Malaysia Airlines??? (actually we used our Enrich points for the tickets..he..he.. kira budget la tu...)

By end of January, we'll be in Singapore for The Killers' concert. On top of that, we just received complimentary tickets to Koh Samui for our travel snapshot. This one is totally a shock, we didn't expect to win, we'll be so called "World Tour" next year.

*We are in the midst of fund saving,... Europe anyone???

Melangkah Mengejar Mimpi

Ini adalah sesuatu yang amat dinantikan oleh kami. Adaptasi dari novel kedua Andrea Hirata “Sang Pemimpi” yang akan ditayangkan di layar perak seluruh Indonesia pada 17 Disember 2009. Filem ini juga terpilih sebagai filem pembuka bagi JIFF 09 (Jakarta International Film Festival) yang telah diadakan pada 4 hingga 6 Disember yang lalu. Harap-harap ianya akan turut ditayangkan di Malaysia or else we’ll be going there to watch it.. hehe!

Honestly, we started to know about Andrea Hirata first novel “Laskar Pelangi” through Nidji hit song by the same title for the movie soundtrack. The catchy tune and it’s beautiful lyric grabbed our attention to know more about this no. 1 best selling novel in Indonesia. (Finally we’ve completed the collection - “Laskar Pelangi”, “Sang Pemimpi”, “Edensor” and “Maryamah Karpov”).

“Sang Pemimpi” continues with Ikal’s life as teenager. This time it tells another plot of the story where Ikal has a cousin, Arai. Adopted by Ikal’s family, Arai being such a wonderful friend, brother, motivator and a shoulder to cry on for Ikal. Shall we say more? Just wait for the movie or you can watch the trailer or read the book.

*Sudah agak lama juga kita tidak menghasilkan adaptasi novel ke filem sehebat “Ranjau Sepanjang Jalan” atau mungkin adaptasi sebegini hanya sesuai untuk dijadikan sebagai sajian drama atau telefilem di televisyen sahaja.

By the way, we just started our “2nd branch” for our stall at Streetmall, Cyberjaya every Tuesday from 10am - 5pm. If you guys happen to be there, just drop by.

What's in the Backpack..?

Hmm.. rasanya lama juga dah tak update blog ni. Both of us pun kindda busy for the last few weeks. Time macam nilah rasanya seronok kalau ada laptop. Bolehlah update, surf & hangout dimana-mana tempat yang ada WiFi, specially di Starbuck or Kopitiam. But since it hasn't reach our top 10 wish list, we'll keep it for later.

Ok, let's continue with the story as one of our readers was asking on how to pack a backpack. Here you go...

Normally, we'll check on days of trip and destination. If it's a week or more, bigger bag is needed and less clothes to bring. (We normally do the laundry to avoid stack of dirty clothes or else, we just buy a new one.. shoppinglah apa lagi). Yup! that's what backpack is all about, less is more. Space is needed for other stuff like toiletries bag, slippers, poncho, electrical stuff (travel adapter, phone & camera charger) and our travel scrabble... hehe. (Btw... We used Deuter Traveller 70 & a Karrimor Backpack). We recommend you guys have daypack which is attachable to the big backpack. So easy to carry for daily adventure or sightseeing. One more thing, we prefer to use cargo bag to check in. Meaning pack all together our backpacks into one bag. Easy and manageable.

How to squeeze everything in?.. The tips, Rolled up your clothes and put it in nicely.. that's how we do it. (Anna really good at this "bab kemas mengemas"... Thumbs up!).

Now you know the tips. So guys, start your backpack and let's go traveling.

*In midst of planning our next trip, which will probably start again next year. Wanna clue...?

Let's Rock The Vote...!

Do you guys still remember Anna's magazine photo shoot earlier this year? For those who have missed it, here's the post. After almost a year of waiting, finally is coming to the end. Now is the time to vote for the 11 finalist of Cosmopolitan Magazine "Fun Fearless Fabulous" Malaysian edition. Anna was chosen by Cosmopolitan Magazine for the January issue.

Inilah pertama kali Anna terpilih untuk acara "girl-girl" sebegini. (She was the only married finalist..!) Perasaan dan debarannya memang agak berlainan. Biarpun sebelum ini pernah juga terlibat dengan pelbagai acara seperti berjalan kaki 24 jam, budget backpacking, mendaki beberapa gunung dan menawan Annapurna Trek di Nepal, gelisah yang satu ini memang lain sungguh rasanya.

So guys, get the latest November issue of Cosmopolitan Magazine (Malaysia Edition) and let's start rocking the vote for Anna...!

*Whatever the result is, you already my Fun Fearless Fabulous... hehehe!

We're on Schmap.com!

Camera has always be our top priority whenever we go travel. I guess to everyone too. You wouldn’t want to miss those wonderful moments and beautiful sceneries... (A reason why we bought our first DSLR Nikon D60, after years of saving…hehehe!).

We love to keep our photo as it is… meaning without any touch-up using Photoshop or Lightroom or any other photo retouching software. (I guess that old-skool feeling of non-digital era is still in us..) If we’re not satisfied, we just snap it again and again.

Last week, we received an email from Schmap.com – the website for destination and travel guides loaded with photos, reviews and map. Three of our photos have been short listed, and earlier this week, two of them have been chosen. These are the photos and the link, link and link to the website. It’s a very big surprise for an amateur like us. Thank you again Schmap.com

Somethin' About Carboot Sales@Maeps...

Hai semua...

Today we have special edition post. It's not about travel, not about ourselves, it's about Carbootsales@Maeps. Since we started almost 4 months ago, I've seen a lot of improvement especially on management. The crowd is encouraging but due to Hari Raya and Deepavali celebrations, crowd wasn't that happening same goes to the sellers.

The good news is starting November, this place will be expanding to bigger area for Autosales, meaning you can sell or buy a car directly from the owner. Awesome!!! Actually, this place is still looking for vendors that can offer different kind of things to sell. For us, to please the crowd, we as sellers must come out with a lot of different ideas to sell things and how to decorate or set up the stall creatively. We have been to a few fleamarket/bazaar/carbootsales aboard and they always come out with something new and interesting. No wonder market@Portobello Road in London lasts for more than 100 years..

Forget about Carrara@Gold Coast, Chatuchak@Bangkok, Paddington Bazaar@Sydney,  Jalan Surabaya@Jakarta or Pasar Karat Lokin@Ipoh, we can just be like them if all the vendors/sellers stick together, be more discipline and play our role to promote this place. I'm sure one day, we can be as big as Shah Alam market or even bigger and better.

There is one thing I quite like it, the punch card system that has been introduced recently.. It's for vendors not to come "LATE and go back EARLY". Quite cute though!

For all of you guys out there who have never been to Carbootsales@Maeps should come and witness for yourself. There are a lot of stalls selling different kind of thing with affordable price. From clothes/shoes/accessories, secondhand goods, collectibles, toys, plants(herbs and deco), to unwanted household and not to forget tasty delicacies and the famous drink, Ice Blended! Plus free entertainment (karaoke) too! And also, you can have a moment of relaxation at the reflexology stall!

Coming soon attractions!!!! WiFi kopitiam, Pets and of course, CARs. Next to this place, there are go-kart and car drift track, plus other facilities such as washroom and surau. 


What are you waiting for?! Mark your calendar now! And even kids love it!

*For more info on carbootsales & fleamarket@maeps, please click here and here. You can watch it on Youtube too. (Stay tuned till end if you want to watch Faizal been interviewed... hehehe!)