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October 09, 2019 No comments

March 03, 2019 No comments

Last April, my husband and I had a whim of a travel to Semporna, Sabah. Semporna houses the service to various of beautiful islands along the coast of Sabah. Read: Mabul Island, Tatagan, Bohey Dulang, Mantabuan, Mataking, and many more!

Our travel was such a last minute decision, we paid almost MYR1,000 for the flights alone. If you had ample time to plan, you can get a return flight to Tawau from MYR300+. And the accommodation left was not neat either. We booked our accommodation on the main island instead of on the small, beautiful islands since there were not many options available.

Upon arrival, we took a Grab car to Semporna from Tawau Airport. The ride costs us approximately MYR92 and the journey took around 1 hour.

Semporna is a fairly small town, but equipped with basic facilities such as hospitals, numerous schools but it lacked Muslim eateries. You could see a few Malay-based restaurants, however due to mainland's Chinese tourists overflow, the market are catered to Chinese populations instead of Muslims.

On our first day, we arrived so late in the afternoon which left us very little time for island hopping. We decided to went for a short hike instead - at Bukit Tengkorak or Skull Hill in Semporna. It was a 10-minutes ride from the town via Grab car.

Overlooking the Semporna's waters.

The hike was a breather but it was worth it. On top of the hill, you could see the magnificent turquoise water of Semporna and the smaller islands. The high grasses, the sea breeze, it actually does make you feel as if you don't want to leave. Bring along some food for a short picnic overlooking the magnificent open sea.

Our second day consisted of several island hoping. We were scheduled to visit Tatagan Island - where the sea gypsies live, Bohey Dulang Island, Mantabuan & Sibuan Island. Bohey Dulang Island was where you could hike and see the formation of hills connected underneath the sea, but it was raining heavily prior to our arrival at the island. So we could not hike as the trail was closed.

Sea gypsies at Tatagan Island coming to collect sweets or any food you brought for them.

Kids swimming in front of their houses built above water.

Games for the sea gypsies' children.

We did however snorkel in Mantabuan & Sibuan Island - the sea bed offers thousands of beautiful corals and unique fishes. Too bad we do not have underwater camera to actually capture the memories. But it's okay, pictures often do not do justice anyways.

Bohey Dulang jetty.

After the breathtaking snorkel at Mantabuan Island.

Sea gypsies' house on Mantabuan Island.

These islands were truly an amazing experience for us. We did have a second day of island hoping the next day and it will be in another entry. Together with the delicious seafood delicacies (lobsters and fresh crabs).

July 03, 2018 No comments

We're hitting 6 years this year! Passed the so-called first 5 'tough years' as labelled by the FB folks (spent too much time on FB more than I like these past few months) due to financial instability. Honestly, if 'tough years' were labelled so because of money, they need to sort out their priority. Because in all actuality, the tough scenarios are not often related to money in marriage.

It's true that now you can't live without money. But, you'll survive with little money in this world today. You're just not that crazy rich as the ones you saw on Instagram showcasing their lives. They are rich, but so are you. Maybe not money rich, but you're rich in something else. Sit back and reflect on your life. You'll eventually find something that's enriching maybe not your life, but maybe others?

The thing with marriage is, money issues are small. You have so much more issues to endure. Families, in-laws, emotional breakdowns, work that tolls your relationship, distance, SO much more.

Now that we're hitting 6 years of marriage, we have had so many questions asked - be it children, assets, money, work etc. Prior to 2018, all the questions we're ever asked for is, "When you'll have kids?" Once I was asked by a relative, why haven't I conceive? My cousin was married for few months is already showing baby bump - in the meanest possible tone you could ever imagine. My younger self was often triggered by these kind of questions because honestly, it's not my doing that we have not yet conceived. Humans could only do so much (fun, LOL) work to produce offspring but the fruit of the job is not determined by us.

Then in 2018, all I was asked is, "What are you doing at home now that you're not working anymore? What a waste. You have no kids, you're not doing anything at home at all. Why quit your job?"

As if they didn't know I quit my job willingly because my husband was being transferred to another state. And as if they didn't know we have done the episodes of long-distance marriage for 4 years before. And back then, it was in a different country with different timezones.

And we have had enough of it. It was tiring, time-consuming, emotionally shattering.

I decided to quit my job and follow him because I believe 'rezeki' or rizq, or sustenance is not determined by my job. I might be earning okay back then, but I was whining everyday. I became a very negative person. I'm not pleasant to be around, admitted by my husband himself. I'm not happy at work. I'm constantly on the verge of breaking down. I was tired all the time. The job was terrible even though I loved teaching, loved my students, loved my colleagues. But I do not love the job. I constantly disappeared with fellow colleagues to places away from our cubicles simply because we hated our superiors and the endless unnecessary jobs they kept giving. Until one time, I felt like what I was earning wasn't blessed. My salary disappeared before my eyes and I never felt fully satisfied. I began to feel guilty, and trapped. I can't escape. Then my husband's transfer took place - it's a good opportunity for me to leave that toxic place.

Now I'm happy. I don't have a job, I'm doing a small business that only earn me a few hundreds a month - only a fraction of what I made previously. But I'm happy. I have nothing to whine about now job-wise. I'm happy I'm always together with Amir now for lunch, dinner, breakfast, weekends, weekdays any days. Although some days I do have some episodes seeing former colleagues and friends earning from their job, enjoying their hard paid work, and missing the feeling of payday, it's fine. It's my choice.

I'm not staying home just to do nothing, every day I do apply for jobs everywhere. Countless of interviews attended. Just wasn't my 'rezeki' yet. But questions keep piling, as if I am one lazy person staying at home just waiting to be fed like baby birds. We never ran out of money or food to eat. We never starve, and we never begged to others for money either. The concern from people around us sometimes were just purely unnecessary to make me feel like a useless human.

"No job. No children. Business is just okay, not thriving, not soaring through the roof. You must felt really down with yourself." were some of the things I've encountered this year. But it's fine.

In life, endless questions will be thrown at you, at me, at us. People ask all sort of things. It's our job to filter what necessary and what is not.

July 02, 2018 No comments

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