The Boy

I pinch my burger off bit by bit and eat it little by little instead of grabbing it with both hands and biting into it and instead of telling me the correct way of eating a burger, the boy of my dreams will laugh and then say "Ok, let me try doing it". He'll disagree of course, but he won't want me to eat my burger any different.

I don't like vegetables and the boy of my dreams will order my sandwiches with no greens but will make sure there's enough jalapeno and cheese. He'll try to sneak in tomatoes and spend the next 10 minutes of conversation telling me that I need at least some form of vegetables in my diet. Of course, he'll still have to finish the tomatoes for me.

I don't like the cold and my nose gets red and my lips go pale and the boy of my dreams will offer me his jacket and even after me telling him no, thanks I don't need one, he'll still get his jacket off him and put it over me. Even with the blistering wind and cold air, he'll rather shiver than to see me do the same.  I'll be stubborn and say I don't need a jacket in the first place but the boy of my dreams will be equally stubborn to take his jacket off even when I tell him I don't need it.

I sleep really late on most days and the boy of my dreams will call me at 12 am and talk to me til the wee hours of morning. I'll ask him of his day and he'll ask how mine went. We'll have mindless conversations one second and I'll laugh to his weird sense of humour and he'll laugh to my stories and the next minute, we find ourselves in deep conversation about politics. We won't agree on everything and we'll exchange views but neither of us is looking to win. We just appreciate the contrast in opinions and ultimately, each other. His voice will get sleepier and his eyelids will grow heavy. He thinks he can wait it out while I still talk animatedly, unfazed with how late it already is. He refuses sleep. Why? "Because it's you, babe"

I have plenty of guy friends. Instead of being insecure about their company and how close my friends and I are, the boy of my dreams will tell me to have a good time and that he'll call me after. And as much as I love my guy friends, you can bet all I'll be thinking about is how I get to call him after. And this would be the exact reason, why he won't have anything to worry about.

No matter how busy we get, he'll find the time for me. He'll know his priorities and I'll know mine. With university and work and our own social life, we'll make sure to end the day in bed on the phone with each other. Even if it's only for 5 minutes. "Miss you" was all we will need to hear. "Miss you" won't even suffice how much we really miss each other but we'll make do.

As much as I like to have someone agree with what I say, there's always something about someone with a different perspective on a subject. You have a gut feeling you'll argue and debate about this something for as long as you are together. But it's ok. When we fight, the boy of my dreams will always want to say his part and where he's coming from instead of always agreeing and giving me the satisfaction of winning the argument. He will know that I won't want to win just because I'm a girl; I will want to win because I'm right. He knows that. He listens.

I'm a petite girl, fun-sized some would say. The boy of my dreams rests his arms around my shoulders whenever we walk side by side. The marriage of our scents concoct the familiar feeling of warmth and comfort. He will know I like forehead kisses so sometimes, he'll pull me in with the force of his arms on my shoulders and give me a quick kiss on my head. He'll do it so casually as if it's nothing to him. It's everything to me.

I love flowers but I don't like roses. The boy of my dreams would know this and he'll go buy me a bouquet of flowers we both won't even know the names of. And knowing I don't like soft toys, he won't attach the bouquet with a teddy bear or any of the sort. There wouldn't even be any fancy plastic wrap around it with a huge bow. He knows I won't like the fuss. It's just the flowers, all different and all beautiful, hugged cosily between baby's breath. And all of this on February 15th because Valentine's Day is beyond him. And all I'll know is that he's beyond me. So beyond me.

I'm the most impatient person I know. Easily frustrated if I don't understand something. I give up too often and too quickly. The boy of my dreams will be the type of person who I won't be scared or embarrassed to ask about anything. Even if it was for the 19th time. He'll teach me again and again. He'll make sure I understand. I'll say yes, obviously, even when I don't. He'll know this. He'll go on to teach me for the 20th time, without a sigh or without the tiniest hint of frustration in his voice. Unlike me, he won't give up. Even when I've given up with myself.

The boy of my dreams would understand family is priority. We'll spend hours talking about our family and of our little habits at home. He'll go to great lengths to take care of his parents and his siblings. More than anything, he will understand family time comes first. He'll make the effort to try and know my family and before bringing me out anywhere, he'll come into the house to salam my parents and ask how they are. He'll borak for a bit with my mum and dad while he waits for me to get ready (this is very very likely). It'll take me a long time to come downstairs because I always find myself listening in to their conversation and forgetting for a second that he's mine. Between fumbling for my earrings and remembering to bring my phone, I'm late because I'm busy counting my blessings that the boy downstairs, deep in conversation about golf with Papa and laughing with Mama, is really mine.

He knows that I love my own private space. He'll give me that. He'll know when to call and when to let me breathe on my own. We won't let ourselves be too consumed with one another that we forget the outside world and our family and friends. We both will have our alone time but we always know when to come back to each other.

The boy of my dreams will make my heart so full, it'll scare me. How is this boy able to make my days and nights so much better, I won't understand. There's something about him that makes me want to do anything and everything within my capabilities with this boy. He'll travel with me and he'll travel for me. I will be able to envision my whole future with him and it's what keeps me up at night. All I can think about is how I now finally can see the person I'll grow old with. He'll fill all my days with the best littlest surprises like bringing me those lemon cupcakes from Wondermilk or driving me all the way to Tanjung Malim for some good seafood dinner. We'll watch The Notebook and I'll tell him why Noah is the best and most romantic guy in the fictional world. He'll nod and try to suppress a laugh seeing my ugly sobs and crying. But he'll go out of his way everyday to show that I was wrong and that he's the best and most romantic guy in the real world.

And I'll finally see why it never worked with anyone before him. For me, he'll be the best thing I've come to known and the one I've been waiting for. He'll tell me that when we went out on our first date, he knew that he'll spend the rest of his life with me. He knew right from the get go, that I will be his wife and his life companion. He insists that in this relationship, he counts himself as the lucky one. He will understand that falling in love doesn't happen all at once; it takes bit by bit to unravel someone and to know them. You can live with someone for 50 years and still discover new things about one another. He'll be more than willing to be there with me right up til the very end and he'll prove it to me every day we're together. We'll fight and we'll go through rough patches, of course (because, hello, it's me). I'll complain about him to my friends but I'll also tell them that I miss him and I count the ways he makes me happy. We recognise that we're both each other's 'home'. 'Home' is the person or place you always want to return to, and he's it for me.

I will look at this boy and see not just a person, but my future. He is what I've been waiting for and all the love songs and romantic fiction finally makes sense to me. I'll love him wholly, all the good and the bad. I never understood how people could get butterflies in their stomach or how the heart can skip a beat but I'll finally get it when I see him walk towards me, smiling. He'll be another person I add to my prayers for God to take care of and to bless him always. How is this happening, I'll ask time and time again, quietly of course, I'll mutter it under my breath.

He'll be everything I want and need and more.

I'll fall in love so hard, I won't even know what hit me.

Shopping Day Out

It's 8:39 pm and I am feeling sleepy. You have no idea how happy this makes me!!!!!!! I'll finally be able to sleep early and wake up early (we hope!)!! I've been on a horrrrrrrible sleeping pattern what with sahur and the world cup going on.

(Side note : I am INCREDIBLY INCREDIBLY happy that the German team won!!! Sooooo happy!! They've been playing beautiful throughout the tournament so I'm over the moon that they got to bring back the trophy to Berlin!!)

But I slept pretty late last night and I had to get up by late 10 because I had a shopping date with Marissa. And I haven't had a single nap today so I'm already feeling quite tired. And all of this before 10 pm. This is what I call an achievement, ladies and gents!

As we girls do, we headed for all the make up stores and swatched everything like crazy. I came out empty though because I just bought myself a new NARS lipstick and a MAC blusher the other day so I wasn't in dire need of new make up (this is all jokes, because I really want the mineralised skin finish highlighter from MAC criessssss)! ZARA's sale wasn't half bad because I found myself pulling clothes that didn't look like they were from the sale section but totally were. Of course I came home whining "Maaaa why is it there are so many nice clothes when you're not around to shop with meeee". This is true k! I always find nice clothes when my mum isn't shopping with me. And when she's RIGHT THERE, the world decides to hide all pretty clothes in a hidden storeroom.

My eyes look so small without eyeliner!! And I finally see some of me eyelashes! Hmmm that Eyeko mascara really did work...

I'm leaving for Penang next Monday for my 2 weeks raya break so I'm tryna soak up as much retail therapy as I can because if you've been to Penang y'know there's no Zara. No Zara no life lol just kidding (not).

xx

Besties

I love my guy friends. But it's always always nice to gather the girls for an all girls night out. Even if that 'night out' is just buka puasa dinner and playing cards at a nearby mamak.

Wild night out, am I right????

Anyway, I grouped my closest bunch of friends for our iftar in Publika and we had dinner at The Social. It was my first time and I had the aglio olio (surprise, surprise) and it was so good! I don't know what about it that makes aglio olio everywhere really sedap. Or maybe I just really love it.

Like I said, I love my guy friends and they're so fun to be with but nothing beats an all girls night out. I had so much fun laughing 'til my cheeks hurt and made fun of one another and spilled secrets and updated one another. We all live in KL (and Shah Alam for Pana) but even that, we sometimes hardly see each other because of how busy everyone can be (and how far Shah Alam is for Pana) with their own family plans and whatnot.

The best thing about going for a night out with just girls is that everything we talk about is completely relatable and we always go "YEAH ME TOO, SEP!" and we don't really have to be shy with one another. Not that we're shy with our guy friends or anything but there's always that subject or topic that we only girls get. So this was very much needed.

After dinner, we went to Mamak Anderson to play cards. After we got bored (because Pana was winning......), we played 'Spin the Lipstick' because we had no bottle and so we settled for something we had in our own handbags. I think we spent a good 10 minutes spinning several objects before Fain pulled out her Clinique lipstick which worked perfectly. It was not a game of 'Spin the Bottle' with kisses obviously, it was just truth and dare except we didn't play the dare card at all. Hahahaha so it was just playing Truth with a lipstick....

...... ok.

Fun times though because we asked each other scandalous questions and I swear we were quite loud and rowdy, some people at the back might have heard some secrets. Oh well.

This group of friends is forever to me so I'm looking forward to more outings not just in the next month or during our study years in the UK but sampai after kahwin to complain and swoon over our husbands and sampai after we get kids to complain and boast about our kids and sampai our kids go off to universities to cry and rejoice that they're out of the house and sampai forever and ever lah basically.
So much love for these lovely ladies. (I've already made them promise to make me a dulang girl.... if not their pengapit!!!)

x

Clothes and Shopping

If y'all know me, you would know that I'm the simplest of dressers. I never go for anything too showy or too fancy or too adventurous just 'cause it doesn't feel like me at all. I always berangan and get something that's a tad bit adventurous and when I come home and try it on, I always chicken out and grab my favourite blouse and a pair of jeans. Like how some people have comfort food, I have my comfort outfit.

I don't even have a whole range of accessories to choose from. I have a few good necklaces I wear ALL the time and earrings, I have 3 to choose from (and out of the three, one is my mum's, one is Tania's, and one I bought last week).

I also have 1 good pair of heels and 2 pairs of wedges. I've just never been interested in shoes; once I've broken into a pair, I stick by them forever til they look really really sad. I wished I had more but I'm just not interested in shoes like how some other girls are. I saw a pair of heels the other day and they were 40% off but I was 10 bucks short at the time so I told myself I'd come back in a couple of days, only to be disappointed when they were off the shelves dah. Shoes and I, we're not the best of friends.

When it comes to shopping, it takes me super sekejap. I go in a store and whizz by everything with the occasional flicking and browsing of clothes. If I REALLY like something, only then I'd buy it. If it's subpar or if I have second thoughts about it, I just shrug it off. If I'm still thinking about it the next day, then I go get it. But if it's just meh, I just move on to the next. I'm just a really lazy shopper like that, sometimes I get annoyed by myself because I'll be all optimistic about my chances of shopping one day only to be shot down. Wow. Over gila, Nadia???

But yeah. I just haven't ranted about my shopping habits in a while so I figured I would this time. There are huge sales all around now and I hate it. It's very rare I find something I like in the discount racks here as opposed to the ones in the UK. And I'm really not trying to sound like a snob, but the things they have on sales can drive you mental. It's bad enough they just dump everything everywhere. It gets so serabut sometimes, sampai so rimas! Even if there was something nice, nothing seems to fit me nicely. I'm already short, so I don't appreciate clothes that drown me. I did find a pair of white palazzo's from H&M the other day and they fit me like a glove!! Of course, I still have to go and alter the length it because currently it looks like I got no legs in the first place. But I'm just so happy that it fits nicely, it made my whole week!! #over #materialistic

I'm just really appreciating dressing really casually and really easy here in sunny warm and humid KL. I don't miss my jackets and scarves and boots at ALL and I'm taking all my thin and flimsy blouses and hugging them so tight when I open my closet. I missed them alllllllllllll so I'm going to wear all of them all the time!!! (If you haven't yet noticed, I'm still not over how much I love being home and it's been a month hahaha) (Oh shit, it's already been a month?!?!?!?!?!)


I hope you have a good shopping day whenever that will be! As for me, I shall be one with my clothes and shower them with a lot of wears and make them feel appreciated and loved.


x

Summer Project

Marissa and I are starting this little project and it's been kept on the down low for a while now because we wanted to properly launch it when everything is ready.

I'm so excited and I'm not at full liberty to say what it is but we started our 'first day' on Saturday and it was a success! Quite happy with how everything went and insyaAllah, things will go well!

I'm not sure as to when exactly we can properly launch it but hopefully soon, we're still working on the logistics of it all and still going back and forth with the decisions.

Eeeep, wish us luck!

Marissa took this photo of me and she's tall so she took this from a high angle and I look so pendek (I'm aware I am, btw but this looks really really pendek!!! Maybe I should take a cue from Vivy and start wearing heels more often....)

Pants from Uniqlo / Camisole from Topshop / Cardigan from Primark / Sandals from Zara 

Ramadhan Kareem

It's that time of year again!

Salam Ramadhan to everyone!! May Allah bless you and your wonderful family with guidance and sincerity and may He grant us strength and patience throughout this whole month. Let's make the best of this holy month and be good and do good.

For anyone who reads this blog, I'd like very much to enter Ramadhan with your blessing and for any and every wrongdoing, I sincerely apologise from the very bottom of my heart. I'm sure there are some people who have been hurt by my words and my actions and for that, I am very sorry.

May everyone have a beautiful Ramadhan ahead! God bless and take care and banyak banyak bersabar ok? I'm usually very impatient so I am trying my very bestest best to bersabar. May our good deeds berkali ganda and may He forgive us for all our sins.

Salam Ramadhan, everyone!

Yeast

Had an early start to my day (anything before 11 is early, people) and went out for brunch with my other Bristolian friends. Had no car at home so I had to take a cab - something I haven't done in a long long time in Malaysia. So I downloaded the Uber app and took my first Uber taxi ride! It's so convenient! You don't have to carry cash with you because once you've registered with Uber, it'll link your account to your credit card so they just deduct from there and they'll send you a receipt via email and all that jazz. Super cool! And so high class lah the taxi! I loved the experience! And I had a chatty driver as well so that was good! Highly recommended.

So I reached Yeast (in Telawi, Bangsar!) there just in time and we all had breakfast-y meals - I had french toast with caramelised apples and the rest had eggs benedict with either salmon or turkey. It was so sedap, I swear! I'm not one for breakfast, mainly because I hardly wake up for breakfast, but this french toast was really something !

And I had the BEST peach tea around! I've never Instagram-ed my meals like ever because i) They're usually never attractive ii) even if I do have a nicely plated meal, I can never seem to take a decent photo of it. I swear it's really good!

It was blazing hottttttttt!!!! So we went to Chawan for drinks and hung out some more. Overall I had a great dayyyyyyyyy and all thanks to this lot!! Bristolians 5eva xxxx

Back-To-KY

Yesterday was fun.

BECAUSE I WENT TO KY.

Everyone who knows me knows that I love KY a whole lot because of how much that place means to me; the teachers, the friends, the events, the dramas, the staff, the classrooms, everything!

So obviously I was very excited to be there. We went there as a surprise for the juniors; I especially wanted to surprise Puchee because I've missed the girl and it's been a good 9 months since I last saw her and who doesn't like surprising people! (unless it's with bad news of course... unless you're sadistic like that.........)

Surprise was a success!! She basically came running when she spotted me in the cafe! Soooo happy to be reunited with my girl!!! Had a little lepak time at the café (ahh old times) and had a few big laughs with Fauzan.

(in case you didn't know, the café was my favourite place in the whole of KY lolz)

I, then proceeded to the field where the juniors were playing soft ball. I was welcomed with warm hugs and "Nadiaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa" and I was elated to finally see these babies again! Had so much fun watching them play despite me not knowing what was going on. So complicated, man but I just rooted for both teams anyway! The usual playful banter between the two teams were hilarious, with Fauzan dancing around saying "4 sama! 4 sama!" because it was 4-0 before that and then later Merican dancing back to Fauzan saying "11-4!". Might have burst a gut laughing then. So much fun, it reminded me of my last week in KY. THAT WAS HELLA HELLA GOOD, man.

(hehehe my favourite Garnet juniors! Such sweethearts! I'm tellin' you, if you can't find chivalry, please make your way to KY, there's a whole lot of 'em there)

After softball ended, I followed Puchee back to her villa. Yes, people. It is now a villa! They've upgraded the place by a whole lot and it looks so fancy shmancy!! I'm so jealous but at the same time, I'm really glad I went through the whole chalet experience for the 2 years I was there. But still really jealous of the fancy villas.

Talked to Puchee and it felt like good ol' times when I would go to her chalet or when she would come to mine and we would mindlessly talk and talk and laugh and gossip and caught up with each other. 

At 815, we left for the halls, I headed towards the dining hall where the Garnetrons were having their Senior Farewell dinner and Puchee headed towards her Sapphire people in the new block. 

Kanda and I entered the dining hall and Bonda spotted us before we could spot her! Ahhhhh I missed her so much! She was very much like a mother in KY to me. Everytime there was something that bothered me, I would go to her in the Lecture Theater and just sit down and tell her everything. The best part about Bonda was she hardly ever told me to "Sabar...", instead she would also turut complain and whine with me. Sometimes, that can be really comforting and of course, fun. 

Borak borak with the juniors before leaving and they only have a good 2-3 days left in KY and I feel so sad FOR them which is quite pathetic of me but really?? I'm so emotional when it comes to KY lolz 

Jules Neo

WITH THE NEW HOUSECAPTAIN, Sharul! Small world that he's a distant relative of mine!! 

We soon left for Garden Seafood.

Guys.

GARDEN SEAFOOD!

Amazing. Worth the trip. 

It's in Tanjung Malim and it's every KY students saving grace. Whenever we've given up with KY's dining hall food or if there's reason to celebrate or to spend a bit more money, we'd get a cab and go to garden seafood. 

Back-to-KY day was really really really good and I loved every bit of it and I miss it even more now. 

#Ger #Bra

So after a week in Penang, I'm finally FINALLY settled down at home. I was there because my aunty got married so the whole family traveled north to attend the wedding. Penang really has played SUCH a huge role in my life and I really just love it and the house there and everything lah. It's really my second home.

But oh my dear God, the heat. The heat is really something else. My grandparents spoil us silly so we are always in our air-conditioned room and once we open the door to go outside, it's like a furnace. You can almost feel the heat overwhelm your whole body and the humidity just sits so heavily on your shoulders and chest. I wore make up comfortably in the cool room and once I went outside, I could instantly feel my make up melt off my face! It was so uncomfortable!!! Eep this sounds so horrible but what would I do without my air-conditioning!

We arrived KL today and for dinner, we went for good ol' nasi daun pisang at my favourite place; Nirwana. Amaze. I was craving for this like gila so to finally kenyangkan perut with nasi daun pisang was out of this world (#over)!

It's currently 1:15 am and I'm attempting to stay up for the first World Cup match!!!! I'm a big World Cup fan, yeah sure I might not know all the players' first and last names nor do I know the 780 rules there is to football but there's just something about World Cup that I love. Maybe it's the patriotism that emerges within the nation. So yeah, there's that! I'm rooting for Germany and Brazil!

But how to stay up when my eyes are half way closed!!! Zzzzz

(Edit : errr.... so I totally overslept and the next thing I knew it was 8am and bright outside)

HOME

Currently I have Sam Smith sing for me in the background (Nope, I'm still not finished obsessing over him, thanks), eating a piece of Fredo's chocolate (not finished obsessing over that either) and waiting for Subuh.

All that in the comforts of my home in KL.

Yes, alhamdulillah, I'm back!!!! I'm so happy and so overjoyed to be in warm warm humid Malaysia where everything is familiar and upon landing, all I could think about is, "I'm finally home" and even if it wasn't for my nausea from the horrible turbulence, I would've teared a bit. Nevertheless, I'm home!

First person I saw was my mum and I just hugged the daylights out of her. Her first word to me was,

"Finally!"

Of course, right after that I asked for a few ringgits to buy Nelson's corn in a cup. Hehehe

Hugged my Papa after that and we settled at Delifrance for a bit before making a move to Muhibbah for dinner. My stomach cried for joy because in-flight food..... umm..... they get B for effort. Lolz

ANYWAY! As I indulged in glorious glorious seafood in Muhibbah, I was just the happiest girl in the world because I was surrounded by the 5 other people I love very much in this world. We laughed and laughed and made jokes about one another and reminisced our childhood and that's the one single thing I've missed the absolute most from being away from home.

I'm actually heading to Penang right after Subuh prayers. I'M SO EXCITED!!! To be reunited with my grandparents!!! Eeeeep! And the food! Whenever I tell people I'll be in Penang, they always tell me how good the food is and I don't really know how to respond because I hardly go out for the food as my grandmother is always cooking for us. So um, no, I've not gone to nasi kandar beratur or anything like that. I'm good to go right at home with Mak Tok's curry and ikan sambal and udang kunyit and kangkung belacan and ayam masak kicap, thank you very much.

Bottom line is, I'M SUPER HAPPY TO BE HOME IN MALAYSIA.

The past 9 months in the UK have been great and I've had the time of my life, really, but there's quite nothing like being at home.

Mindless Chatter

I've been meaning to update my blog but I keep procrastinating and this annoys me because I genuinely genuinely want to go on a good blogging spree since I'm free from the shackles of university and exams.

I make university sound so teruk when it really isn't that bad..

So anyway!!

I just got back from a good 5 day trip to Barcelona and Paris with my sissypants. We left on the 20th and got back late last night. Phew! It's been tiring, all this traveling. Makes me wonder how singers do it with their tours and whatnot! It's hella exhausting. Ok fine so maybe they have their helpers to do their packing and unpacking and whatever but still! Traveling in itself is very memenatkan!

I'll blog more about Barcelona and Paris later in a different blog post, but right now I just wanted to make a post about my random 2 am mindless chatter.

If you've not heard of Sam Smith, please exit this blog and youtube the heck out of this guy! He's amazing and his music is so chilled and so cool and his voice so melodious, I can't even deal! My favourite is Nirvana and Stay With Me. His new album is pretty sick, so go have a listen!!! I might buy the album to bring home and have it in the car. The Nirvana song goes like, "Take me to Nirvaaaaanaaaaa" and everytime I'm so tempted to sing, "Take me to Nirwaaaaaaaanaaaaa" because I miss my favourite nasi daun pisang place, man. InsyaAllah, very very soon!!
_______

I'm very much into green tea now; I try make a cuppa every night because I heard how good it is for your skin so why not. Sure, it tastes like paper but I mean, when has anything healthy been sedap anyway???
_______

Any Grey's Anatomy fan here?????? The last Cristina Yang episode..... can someone please hold me!! I cried the whole damn episode; I really really cannot comprehend that there will no longer be Dr Yang in Seattle Grace (no, people, I refuse to call is Seattle Grace Mercy West nope, that's not what it is anymore ok)! I was soooo devastated and that episode just broke my heart. She's one of my ultimate favourite characters on the show and ughhhh, so much feels!!!!!
_______

I spoiled myself silly and got Argan Oil shampoo, conditioner, leave in treatment and heat protectant spray; basically the whole collection. And my hair is in suchhhhhh lush condition! I had my hair lightened by the ends because I've always wanted that ombré look. So I did. I bought the L'Oreal ombré kit and did it on my own. Didn't leave it for too long sebab I didn't want to go blonde all of a sudden. But it went pretty okay, not obvious, but it's there. ANYWAY, what I'm saying is that the chemicals did make my ends pretty dry but I was religiously on my Argan oil routine and it has helped wonders!! It really is magic in a pretty pink bottle...

So yeah, that's pretty much it! Will blog about ESP/FR soon !

xxxxxxx

Monte Carlo, mademoiselle!

... and I'm done with my first year of university! I survived!! I did a paper in the morning and was done by lunch. So now I can blog and watch TV shows without the added guilt on my shoulders.

And yes, I can hear your "I hate you Nadia ughhhhh" far far away but don't worry, you'll be done with your papers soon enough! Hehe ;)

My last post was about my trip to Nice. Nice was basically the place we stayed throughout the whole trip but we made day trips to Monaco and Cannes. So today is blogging time for 'My trip to South of France Part Deux"

So, Monaco. I was looking forward to Monaco the most, I think just because I knew a little history behind it when I way way younger because my mum would tell me stories about their royalty and about Princess Grace. I was very fascinated about it all so to actually go to Monaco was thrilling.

And I think I can pretty much tell you that out of the 3 places we visited in France, Monaco was my ultimate favourite. The weather was amazing!!! The sun was shining, and the place was unreal. Beautiful beyond words, really. There were a lot more people touristing compared to in Nice so there was quite crowd wherever we went but I didn't mind because the place was just gorgeous!! I really couldn't come to terms just to how amazing Monaco is. Soooo picturesque wherever you go!

(L-R) Maryam, Zati, Sarah, Fatin, Me, Sofia and Nabilah

(L-R) Azam, Paan, Me, Tariq, Kanda (missing in photo : our French guide Fazmir!)

It was also very very very hot. Almost all of us had our shades on. It wasn't hot that you could sweat but it was hot that the sunshine was so strong, you almost felt burnt. I think we all had a tinge of tan after the trip. I have a tan line over where I wear my watch. And Kanda is tanned now!! Yay, a bit of colour on that boy! 

Basically, we walked all over and thanks to Fazmir (I really really thank him for everything lah because he's never been to Monaco too but he seemed so pro because we were all just following him everywhere we went!) we found the best view of the yachts and everything lah. I'm horrible when it comes to sightseeing because I never know what the place is called. (opens Google)

...

Ok, so we went to Place du Palais because the view was absolutely breathtaking. Like, honestly. You'd think postcards were all about photoshop and the websites promoting Monaco would atleast edit here and there to make the place look more attractive, right? YOU'RE WRONG. It was exactly true to what pictures look like. Heck, it's better than photos! Gorgeous gorgeous gorgeous.

It was soooooo sunny! Haven't felt that much sunshine in so long so it was very nice! Very grateful that it didn't rain throughout our trip.

We had to climb up some more (panting and gasping by then... I should really do something about my stamina...... ok lol jokess) and we just couldn't help but stopping every 2 minutes for photos! There's nothing really I can add about the place; it's definitely something you HAVE to go and see for yourself.

The buildings all over Monaco were all so pretty; the pastel colours reminded me a lot of pretty cakes. The buildings looked like cakes!!! How do the French do it I don't even know...

Then we got to the top (finally!) and masya Allah, perfect! 

All of that and with perfect blue sky!!

I couldn't get enough of it.... but I got hungry so we went to go find food and found this small Italian restaurant in one of the petite restaurants in one of the many alleys. It's quite odd because we ate a LOT of Italian food in France. But then again what can be considered as French food? But the Italian food was really sedap so I wasn't about to complain! 

And then we walked some more. We walked to the Monte Carlo harbour for a closer look at all the yachts. We hung out there a bit before heading to the casino. But first! ICE-CREAM! We basically fed ourselves with endless ice-cream. It really is delicious lah I mean, this was like a random tepi jalan one ok! And it knocked Haagen Dasz out of the park! 

(me and my faithful ice-cream; mango flavoured of course!)

After finishing out ice-creams, we walked to the casino. And it was a long walk. For me, at least. I almost felt we walked all of Monte-Carlo (this is 97% exaggeration but this is me you're talking 'bout, of course I'll exaggerate) but the weather was so nice and I had great company so it wasn't too big of a deal. 

We finally reached the casino and it's so... so like the movies, y'know what I mean? Huge fancy cars parked outside and everyone was taking photos of the cars and then of themselves with the cars. If I owned such car, I don't know if I'd like people to get too close and friendly with it. But I'm sure they (the car owners) were LOVING the attention. Where do they even go that's the quetstion. Because we went in the casino and there wasn't many people. Granted, it was early evening but still! Where would they be?

So yes, we went into the casino and it's every bit like in the movies; gold, gaudy, slot machines, old guys in suits, Asian men with their lady friend rooting them on (only to quickly lose all their money to the card dealer... in like 3 minutes). I couldn't bring my camera in but it really is every datuk/datin's dream; the amount of gold the casino had was blindin'!

So after the Casino Square (yep, googled it), we headed home. Because we got a bit tired and hungry. Not before we got souvenirs of course. 

Me? In a gift shop? Please give me an hour.

Once we arrived in Nice, we decided to spoil ourselves silly with good seafood. So after Fazmir and Kanda went around to see the best menu; we finally settled at this place and we dined! 

The price was actually okay because the portion was generous and we all know how expensive seafood can be. 

Shucks, now I'm getting hungry.

All in all, the trip to Monaco and our second day in France was amazeballs. I think out of the three places we visited in France, Monaco was my favourite just 'cause besides being absolutely stunning, it just really lived up to my expectations ever since I was a little girl. I highly highly recommend the place to anyone; especially if you're a student in the UK, might as well take this opportunity of being here to go travel to less 'popular' places. They surprise you the most.

Monaco embodied the French so much; so effortlessly chic and cool. 

Man, I want to be like Monaco.