Snowboarding: The art of falling down.

Continuing from where I left last week..

So yeah, we got to Aviemore at about 4 something pm. Went straight to the guesthouse that we were booked in, Ravenscraig's Guest House and was super impressed that I never wanted to leave already! This place has amazing reviews on Trip Advisor, and man I tell you there is not a single doubt why.

The living room

Kitchen

Tsara's and Kak Ina's

Ours!

We actually booked the whole house for £75 per night. The master bedroom, that's ours, ahems, has got an ensuite bathroom. There is, however, another common bathroom that is soo big that we kinda envy them bahahah. The kitchen comes complete with a washing machine and cooking utensils including pots and pans and all the spatulas that chances of being starved was very remote. Well provided you have the food to cook la. There's also a groceries store in walking distance that you can go and buy supplies from.

I can go on and on about how much I love the place but that's not the main point, so I'm going to stop here. But any chance you want to go to Aviemore I can wholeheartedly recommend this place!

We spent the night of arrival just having dinner and chilling out, really. Tsara and I made pasta with creamy mushroom sauce which was essentially just the mushroom soup coming out of cans lol. But nevermind, a good dinner it still was.

The next morning we made our way to Cairngorm mountain for our first snowboarding ever! Well not for Kak Ina since she has done it quite a number of times when she was in Japan. Took a taxi cause buses were infrequent on Sundays.

Again I can explain in details what happened during the snowboarding lesson but to spare the agony of reading my nonsense rambling, I shall go straight to the point.

I suck at any sports involving balancing and maintaining posture.

I tried ice skating once at Sunway Pyramid and failed miserably at it. Kept falling down with very little success of standing back up again. I have no memories of owning a pair of rollerblades when I was young. And I'm the only one among my siblings who can't swim. Heck, even my mom can swim! Not exactly sure what swimming has to do with ice skating and rollerblades but I'm pretty sure there's some element of balancing yourself just so that you don't sink, so I thought I might as well say it.

With the above points mentioned, naturally I would suck at snowboarding. It didn't help that I took my first fall rather awkwardly i.e. not landing on my bums bums but rather on my coccyx or for you non medical people, the tailbone. 

And man it hurt like nothing else. Take my advice, you don't want to fall on your tailbone. Ever. Ever.

But anyways, the day went pretty rough as I tried to ignore the pain while doing things the instructor asked us to. And naturally I struggled with my balance and was soooo scared of falling again that I tried not to fall backward, and landed on my hands forward instead - which was again, very dangerous.

Lesson learnt. Learn how to take a fall first. Fall down correctly. (If there is a right way to fall, that is.)

At the end of the day I finally got the hang of snowboarding, which to be honest felt pretty amazing, really. And that was that. The second day we went snowboarding on our own when this time I could eventually steer my way through people and not just snowboard blindingly and fall when I became panic. Bahahah. So yeah there goes the success story of my first snowboarding.

And now the pictures.

It was Tsara's first experience with a lot of snow so at the end of the day she was just sitting there making little snowman hahaha!

Sexiness redefined. Ahhh.

This was taken on second day when we managed to figure out on how to take the 'lift' uphill lol.

The view from the funicular ie the train we took from base to the top of the mountain.

Not quite in the mood of writing hence the very brief accounts. 

And my coccyx still hurts. Not kidding.

But still, I highly strongly very enthusiastically lol suggest to try snowboarding, at least once in your life! It might mean risking your coccyx lol, but eventually it's super worth it. And just for the record, apparently tailbone/coccyx injuries are very common in skiing or skating (snowboarding included). 

Actually Tsara had the same injury (injury, haha) on second day which put her off almost immediately, and all she said to me was,

"Finally I get what you mean by your coccyx hurting. It hurt sooo bad. Honestly I don't even know how you managed to last the whole day when you first fell."

Have to warn you because it really does hurt! I guess by now you already get the message of this entry - part of snowboarding is about the art of falling down.

Bahahah.

T_T

Snowboarding: From Northern Ireland to Scotland.

Let me just start this post by a genius quote,

"Apalah maknanya duduk UK kalau tak pernah buat snowsports." (yours truly)

Bahahah. Can only say that cause I went snowboarding last weekend. Heh.

So yes, with the super kedekut Leicester giving us only 4 days of Easter break (more like an Easter weekend really hmphh) I guess I managed to get the best out of it!

Guess who was here?

Kak Ina all the way from Malaysia!

(sorry have to post this picture and spill the excitement of snowboarding pictures first thing in post cause I haven't got any other pictures of her alone and not in snowboarding outfit)

Kak Ina is actually Adam's cousin. And she's into all these cool stuff like mountain climbing, scuba diving and everything else that I can't remember of. Damn cool righttttt?? I've always wanted to go to Himalaya climb Mount Kilimanjaro (did I get the spelling right?) do parasailing, scuba diving, bungee jumping and all that stuff but never got to do so!

Kak Ina arrived Belfast on Friday night when I cooked nasi lemak ahems for dinner. We began the journey to Scotland first thing the next morning. Left the house at 6.30am to Belfast Port taking a ferry to Cairnryan Scotland.

I had no idea what to expect of the ferry ride to be honest. But Tsara has been insisting that it was so fun and she enjoyed in very much the last time she went to Glasgow! Okay people let's be honest here, what is it so fun about ferry rides? Gahhh. In my mind I had the visual of Langkawi ferry ride where it's so stuffy and we had to cramp in a small space with kids crying etc (don't know how it's like now though). But apparently..

Nahh you wouldn't even know this was taken onboard right! It was like being in a posh coffee shop that swayed every now and then lol. 

Outside was super cold despite the sunny weather but still as breathtakingly beautiful!

The ferry ride took us two hours. And from Cairnryan we took a bus to Ayr railway station. The journey was around an hour and a half I think.

Must show photos of us cause no other pictures in the bus lol.

And from Ayr railway station we took a train to Glasgow. Probably around an hour or so.

I super love this shot so must share!

Arrived Glasgow Central and had to make a change at Glasgow Queens Street station, so we took the chance to walk around the city for a bit. It was sunny and lovely and I reeeally love the fact that Glasgow people went on sunbathing in the middle of the city lol.

Super excited wife with a non amused husband.

From Glasgow Queens Street it was another train to Perth and then to Aviemore. By that time we were already super exhausted, pictures were no longer in my mind. Pehh.

But anyways, to sum it up, the journey went like this.

Belfast, Northern Ireland - Cairnryan, Scotland (ferry)

Cairnryan - Ayr train station (bus)

Ayr - Glasgow Central (train)

Glasgow Central - Glasgow Queens Street (walk)

Glasgow Queens Street - Perth (train)

Perth - Aviemore (train)

Left the house at 6.30am, arriving at 4.30pm.

Now I'll let you do the maths while I go and take a shower.

Til then!

Beauty in the rain.

There is something that Belfast and Scotland (in general) share in common - their weather.

Having lived in England for nearly three years now, I must say that our weather is fairly moderate. There's plenty of sunshine that we don't really feel the need to rush out and sunbathe whenever it's bright and sunny outside. Sure, it would be nice to, but deep down we know there will always be another shades and flats kinda day.

Not in Belfast. I don't think the same goes to Scotland. At least this is how I feel.

Belfast is almost always gloomy that sunshine is a luxury. I've never worn flats to Belfast because let's admit it, I'm such a pessimist when it comes to Belfast weather. It always rains. Always wet. Always too windy. Always cold. 

I'm guessing the same goes to Scotland. A friend in Glasgow said that rain is their bestfriend, that no one lives in Glasgow without a raincoat or a waterproof jacket. I, on the other hand, survived one whole year without a waterproof jacket in Leicester. (until I bought that darn Superdry that seems to last forever, ugh?)

Last weekend I was in Belfast and Scotland for some snowboarding (more into that later) and I realised, it's the weather that makes these two places special.

It was really sunny up to 18 deg that I can't help but feel special in some ways. Belfast when it's bright and sunny, is so glorious that nothing compares to it. It makes me treasure the day so much, that I can't help but feel warm and fuzzy inside. Not even the sunniest day in Leicester can do that to me.

Same goes to Scotland. We made a short transit in Glasgow and it was all warm and the sun was shining ever so majestically that I wished I could stay longer there. I've been to Glasgow once when it rained all the time, so you can guess how much I wanted to explore the sunny side of the city.

It's all about the weather, really.

A true happiness becomes more meaningful after you've tasted the bitter side of it.

After all you can only see the brightest of stars in the dark.

Tudung nangka.

You know those videos when babies say the funniest things? Well I have my own personal amusement too.

Adam. He says the funniest thing that I can't even guess where he gets that from. His English vocab is good, sometimes even better than mine. But his Malay.. I can only shake my head in amusement.

Last weekend I was in Belfast. As soon as I got into the car at the airport..

Adam: Babyyy why baby wear tudung nangka?

Bella: What tudung nangka?

Adam: Tudung like that. Like cempedak.

Guess what he meant by tudung nangka/cempedak.

It's just a freaking shawl! Okay I admit, he hardly ever sees me in shawls, but tudung nangka is just ridiculous? Gaahhhhh.

It reminded me of a friend's boyfriend. She only started wearing scarf when her boyfriend asked in pure innocence, "Kenapa awak pakai tudung macam telur?"

-_______________________-"

MEN.

Anyway the other day Adam said I was being a fashion 'terrorist' by wearing a shirt that matched the colour of my shoes. Surely he meant fashion crime?

I'm not the only one who finds his language amusing. Apparently Kak Dina too. Last time when we went to Kak Dina's place, Adam was describing his house by saying,

"Rumah dekat penjuru jalan tuu."

Really sayang??

Alright first, no one ever used the word penjuru in daily conversations.

And second, we all say corner or simpang. The meaning of the word penjuru doesn't even fit into the context.

He also likes to twist Malay idioms like, "Yang dikejar berciciran, yang di-something tak dapat" or something like that. It amuses me to no end when he tries really hard to find the right Malay words when he's trying to describe something. Bahahah.

Speaking of Kak Dina, well, she had a baby!

Right Baby Farha, you can now ask Uncle Adam when can you have a playmate.

#ovarybecalm

Ten facts.

Gosh, the last time I've done tags was like, four years back! That owes to the fact that (1) I don't really leave comments on people's blogs, and (2) let's admit it, I don't have that many friends to tag around, well not bloggers at least.

But anyways, this comes from Sara, and heck, for the fun of it (while humming We Are Young by Fun), why not!

Answer this with ten facts about yourself, then pass it on to ten of your favourite followers :D

1. I am at a point where I'm very happy with myself, my imperfections and flaws, that it's hard for me to feel inferior towards others, let alone envy them. Not in a stuck up or selfish kind of way, it's more like a contented feeling when you feel at peace with your inner self that you can't really be bothered to compare against others wth hahaha okay I should probably stop here. Anyways, that probably explains why I am not very ambitious and prefer to take life one at a time OK STOP

2. I'm friendlier/nicer online than in person. And I kinda like strangers.

3. I jalan tak tengok orang, just so that I can avoid awkward eye contacts. Actually baru tadi kena sergah dengan my friends sebab jalan menonong tak tengok kiri kanan haha! 

4. I label my socks, so that each one of them has a fixed partner, and not tukar tukar partner everytime lepas keluar washing machine. Good thing I don't name my socks.

5. I judge you if you drink Starbucks every bloody day and are proud of it.

6. I still have the idea of quitting Medicine from time to time.

7. I bruise very easily at random places out of nowhere, have massive bleeding at that time of the month til the point that I think I deserve to be diagnosed with monthly anaemia, and have very frequent gum-bleed. These, I believe, all fit into the category of some clotting disorder, except that I don't get nose-bleed at all so that's a good thing.

(I was so tempted to use menorrhagia, epistaxis and coagulopathy at some point in the above statement errkks)

8. I have a thing towards tall, fair men. Small eyes are bonus. I cairrr when I talk to them.

9. I can see the shadows of my eye-lashes in my vision field. I mean, don't everyone get that?

10. I have another private blog. AH-HAH!

Not gonna tag anyone cause I really can't think of anyone to be honest. Lol.

Half of the problems can be solved if only we listen more.

Most of the times we just want to be heard. To be acknowledged. If we can't have the attention in a nice way, we do the opposite. 

Children with behavioural issues usually just want to be heard. Or rather, demand to be heard. They can't have the attention they wish through the scores they get on a speeling bee competition, so they channel it through a different way. Tantrum. Temper.

"To some, it's better to be recognised in a bad way rather than not to be noticed at all."

So I've been seeing this one person for a few times now, whenever I feel the need to let things out and get myself back on track. Most of the times it's just to have someone who's really interested in how I feel and actually give it a thought, rather than seeking for the actual solutions. The options are there, but we both know that I won't go down the road I wish I could, for I don't have the gut to. So we play along knowing the conversation won't lead us anywhere but one - my sanity.

Sanity. Only by being listened to.

If only we listen more.