Gold Coast to Brisbane

All great adventures begin with a long journey,

a long journey will have you feel nausea, bored, restless and pretty much everything else.

It took me 8 and a half hours to go from KL all the way to Gold Coast.

Truth be told, I couldn't sleep because of the uncomfortableness of the airplane seats.

I only had roughly  one and a half hour worth of rest before arriving to Gold Coast.

 Branded clothing are cheaper here to start with.

I recommend you guys to stay near the Surfers Paradise Beach.

It is worth it, trust me.

As for the food, you can always go and buy yourself kebabs or what not.

We went to this restaurant who's owner is a Chinese from Malaysia.

He's been living in Australia for over 2 decades and the restaurant offers

a wide range of Malaysian food. You should totally come over when you

feel the urge to find and eat food from back home. I forgot

the name of the restaurant but I'm planning to go back to Gold Coast as a holiday 

alone during my semester break in April. I will update you by then.

Top is from Ripcurl and shorts also from Ripcurl.

It cost me roughly 50 bucks from shirt to shorts.

The shades from the picture above were bought from

this shop that sells pretty much everything which cost about 20AUD.

 It was just a few hundred meters away from

the hotel I stayed in (Hotel Grand Chancellor).

Dad said it was about RM100+ for one night which was quite cheap

since it was just a 5 minutes walk away from the beach.

Voila~! This was the view from my balcony during my stay in Gold Coast.

The sand was unlike we have in Malaysia. The air quality is better too.

I miss this place so much.

I went there during Summer and to tell you the truth,

you won't feel the heat if you're in Gold Coast but in Brisbane, its otherwise.

After spending 2 days in Gold Coast, we had to leave Gold Coast for Brisbane.

It was roughly an hour long drive, Malaysians can drive using their origin license (as far as I know).

Driving in Gold Coast was way easier than driving in Brisbane.

You'll have a rough time getting to your destination if you don't know the place well.

That is when a travel buddy is best needed.

After 3 years of studying in Griffith University, my sister finally graduated from

Faculty of Health; Bachelor of Psychology. There was this woman who made a speech

during the graduation ceremony to wish all graduands good luck on their journey

of adulthood. She explained that dressing up is a good investment. 

"You have to dress expensive for the job, especially for an interview"

I couldn't repeat the exact phrase she mentioned but it was like

marketing but the difference is, the product is you.

You're there to sell your service (skills) and you have to always

maintain a good appearance so that people would be more or less attracted to you.

Who would ever want to buy an over washed cloth, heck who would even stop and stare?

It was an investment, and I have to agree with that.

She also mentioned that in this life, you will stumble and fall.

Failing in something doesn't mean that you will fail forever,

it does if you don't try and try harder.

The key is to put a sense of humor in it. Be optimistic.

Her speech was so inspiring and I was lucky enough to be there to hear it.

This was taken at South Bank, Brisbane.

I wore a simple formal shirt I bought from Cotton On and

H&M black skinny jeans.

There's a replica of a temple near this place and the Wheel of Brisbane is

located near this place. Go ahead and visit if you come over to Brisbane.

 

Iced Honey Lemon, a great refreshing drink before I went to the graduation ceremony.

I love that bracelet that I bought for 8 dollars. It has this unique touch to it.

I bought it from the same store I bought my shades.

If you do come over to Brisbane,

South Bank is a must visit place at night.

You should try riding the Green Cab too !

Its fun and relaxing and is only available at night.

After spending 7 days in Australia, I was back in Malaysia.

My adventure in Australia will resume itself again in 45 days. I can't wait.

I will be sure to update for more useful information regarding places to visit and what not.

For any inquiries you can always drop a comment below.

Wisdom

Wisdom isn't easily obtained. Age doesn't define the depth of someone's wisdom. Wisdom can only be gained from harsh experiences and through mistakes made throughout someone's lifetime. I know I've mentioned before that I would write less about emotions and what not but sometimes you just have to express everything that's bothering you and let go of it. This is what I'm doing here, trying to express myself and what I'm feeling although some feelings can never be put into words. Our vocabulary is limited to the things that are only known to the human population but we as individuals have our own unfathomable feelings. That is probably why one word can never fit one's current certain emotional state or best describe the feelings that they have in their heart.

The more we experience, the more mature we get, the stronger we will ever be. Do not let yourself be fooled by your own fantasy. Letting your fantasy succumb yourself wholly will only hurt yourself. Believing in something that could never be, although its hard, hope is in fact fragile. You know that deep in your heart that this "thing" is just a phase and will not last but you, yourself try to blind your thoughts to make room for hope. Hope is what we need, but when it is risen to its peak, there you let yourself be endangered to all types of destruction. Why do we try to deceive ourselves? Forcing ourselves to believe in something that is there temporarily and that "thing" would end up being our forever? Foolishness is not an excuse as we will always have choice in hand. In order for us to salvage the remaining fragments of our souls, we try our best to not let anyone in this imaginary wall made by our mind. Trust is something that is easily obtained but hard to regain. Like a flower in winter waiting for spring to come, we lock ourselves in this wall in hope that one day the sun will rise and the coldness of winter will vanish to finally bloom like how flowers do in Spring.

I have had gone through enough emotional pain that only myself would know, but no traces of this wound can be seen physically. Everyone is facing their own version of what you call, hell on earth, but not to lower your hope, although darkness may never truly be vanquished, the sun will always rise at dawn.

I'll update on my trip to Australia soon in my next post.
Thank you for reading.

Island Getaway

It was the breath of fresh air I've been craving for,

To let me forget about my problems for awhile,

I was closer to nature than I ever did before,

Nothing could describe what today meant to me.

 

The view of the island was overwhelming.

I would suggest you guys to come and visit this island,

Manukan Island, Sabah, Malaysia.

 

Even though the getaway was a short one,

I still have tons of adventures waiting for me in the future;

For example, TOMORROW !

Its THE day ! I'll update more on Australia soon.

Thanks for reading.

Longings

Hello readers,

Its been awhile since I've posted something other than my crappy short stories that I never get the chance to finish in this blog. Perhaps enough of that for the moment. Let me show you 3 pictures of what I've been doing or so. I also have this thing that I want to announce here in my blog.

 I went to KL for three days for my mum's event at Putra Hotel (?) I'm not sure of the exact name of the hotel I stayed in. Nevertheless, I had quite the fun even though it was a short trip. I had the time to walk around in KL like how I used to before having to deal with SPM, and now that its over, its more blissful. I'll be going to Brisbane for my sister's graduation ceremony and will be dropping by Gold Coast this Saturday. I'll update more about my adventures in Australia. Some of you might or might not know that I will be continuing my studies in Melbourne next February, InsyaAllah. That's one part of the thing that I would like to announce here.

  

Now, you might be wondering why I posted a picture of the things I bought in KL, well it has something to do with what I'm going to tell next ! Since I will be studying in Australia, I was google-ing a few things to prepare me for the culture differences, what I need and where can I get those stuffs kind of stuff. It shocked me that not many people (international students) write about their experiences in Australia or anywhere else in this world. It gave me an idea to do a some sort of guide for future international students to prep themselves before going abroad. I have decided to create a new blog (or might just change things in this blog) for that single purpose. I also have decided to be more positive and kind of experiment with fashion, thus bringing the reason to upload the picture above in this post. A breath of fresh air is all we need here in this dusty depressing blog of mine. So I might do a little bit of fashion blogging in this blog.

Not to forget I'm also an avid novel reader. I bought this book in Kinokuniya, KLCC last Sunday. I had this book with me to avoid boredom in my two hours long flight. It helped though even in a slightest bit. I upload stuffs in my Instagram account, regularly unlike my blog. Do follow me on Instagram; @captmizanahmad . Well as for this book, it seems really interesting in the early parts of the novel. I haven't reached the end of the novel but based on the feedback I've gotten from my friends, it seems worthy to read.

That is all for now dear follow readers.
 Thanks for reading.

Luna's Tenebris Part II Caerulus

Visions of the guy kept haunting me until the roaring clasp of the audience made me aware of reality. Finally, the presentation was over. The warmth of my bed and the coldness of my room made me eager to go back home and rest. As I was preparing to pack the things for the presentation, I heard a familiar voice from behind. No it was not the professor; this one was different yet familiar. I swiftly turned around and my eyes widened in shock as I saw him again, the guy from before. He was talking to the professor and he caught me looking at him. Everything became blurry to me and not long after that, my vision was filled with darkness. All that I saw before the darkness was him trying to catch me for some reason I could not fathom.

…………………………………………….

I opened my eyes slowly and saw the pale white ceiling from above and heard the constant beeping of the heart rate monitor. My head was aching so badly and as I was touching it, I could feel some odd contours on my forehead. My state of confusion didn’t go away when I turned to my right and saw him on the couch next to the window of the room. Who is this guy? I had no idea. He looked adorable with his perfect brunette hair, one hand behind his neck as a pillow and his perfect facial features. I noticed something on his right arm, a tattoo. It seemed weird that it was somehow familiar to me but I have never seen anything like it before. A sudden knock on the door made my heart stopped for a second. It was the nurse, she was checking on my condition and to make sure there were no oddities on the monitor.

“How are you feeling?” she asked with a smile.

“I’m feeling better, thank you.”

“The gentleman has been here all day waiting for you to wake up. Who is he? Is he your boyfriend?”

“No…” I had struggles to tell the nurse who he really was because I had no idea myself.

“Well then, have a good night rest Miss Vasiliev. Make sure to press the bell button if you need any assistance,” she left with a big grin plastered on her face. I wonder if it’s because that I said he’s not my boyfriend or the fact that there were no abnormalities on the monitor… It must be the first one.

She went out of the room as quiet as a mouse. I turned back to him. His eyelids were closed but there was this smirk on his face.

“Are you fond of the sight you’re seeing?”

“What sight? Who are you?”

“I’ve noticed that you’ve been looking at me for a while now”, he smiled.

“Yeah right”, I tried my best to not show myself blush in front of him.

“You haven’t answered my question.”

“I’m a close friend of the professor, he is actually my mentor. My name is Arthur Berlix.”

“What happened to me earlier? Why am I here?” captivated by his eyes which was more alluring at night I tried my best to look away.

“Let’s play the questions game, we both take turns to ask each other. It will be fair then. My turn now, what’s your name?”

“I’m Luna Vasiliev. I’m actually tired.. I should rest,” he stood up and went closer to my bed. It made me feel uncomfortable and alarmed.

“Go ahead Miss Vasiliev, I’ll be here if you need me”, he took my right hand and kissed it ever so gently.

“Thank you, that’s thoughtful of you. Good night then,” a sheepish grin appeared on my face. Nobody had done this to me before, he made me feel somehow special but for sure I won’t let my guards down because that would only cause me harm.

“Good night,” he smiled and headed back to the couch.

I watched him sleep before fatigue washed over me. For the first time since forever, someone made me feel the way he did. It was weird but it’s a nice type of weird. The coldness of the night made me fell asleep faster.

…………………………………………….

Luna's Tenebris : Part I Ravus

I realized I was a fool searching for something that was nearly impossible to find. I was a fool to think that such thing would actually exist in this world of chaos. Although people say that even in the darkness of the night, the moon will shine and soon darkness will vanquish. My hopes faltered after realizing that light will never truly vanquish the dark. As the moon and the dark can never be truly apart.

I pressed my temples with my hand and realized it was already dawn. The pain I had in my head wouldn't fade away like how it used to. Everything was dull to me. My room which was covered in grey and white decorations didn't help to enlighten myself to greet the day with a spirit. I looked around to see nobody in this empty apartment of mine. Unwashed laundry scattered everywhere in my room, I had no will whatsoever to clean this mess. My phone rang and it was Kate,"Where the hell are you? The professor is going to kill you if you don't come over in 5 minutes." I was still in a blur to what was going on. My eyes widened as I remembered that I was supposed to help him to set up his presentation today in front of the Council. Adrenaline rushed in my veins as I quickly got up and headed straight to my campus.

 ..................................................................

Sweat formed on my forehead. Even the cold wind of early Spring couldn't cool me down. I was a few feet away from the entrance to my faculty and with a blink of an eye, the door opened and I lost my balance for a second before this one guy grabbed hold of my hand and quickly pulled me into his arms. Everything went slow for a moment as I looked up and saw his mesmerizing brown eyes and smile. My heartbeat tripled its pace and blood rushed to my cheeks making it pinkish red. I snapped out of the gaze and picked up everything that had fallen.

"Are you okay, Miss?", he proceeded to help me pick up my fallen items.
"I'm fine.", I couldn't stand looking into his eyes so I looked down due to that embarrassing moment that had befallen to me.
"I'm sorry if I had knocked you off your feet. For a moment there I thought there was nobody coming in.", he straighten up and smiled.
"It's okay. I'm alright.", I tucked an errant strand of hair back behind my ear and left without looking back.

I heard him say something but I was already late to turn back.

 ..................................................................

Forgotten Part I

Forgotten

Why must the world be unfair to some of us? We were all created as equals, guys and girls, we were meant to fill what each other are lacking, to make us whole. Each and everyone of us are fighting our own battle which we may or might not know about. What hurts a lot is when you deem yourself worthless and that everyone else around you treat you that way.

Sitting down, with my back against the cold wall of my bedroom, the dim light that makes everything seem dull, I now know that love is only something that we create to forget reality for a little while. It is of our own foolish thoughts that made such infatuation true. 

A quote from my favourite movie mentioned, “Love, why would you make yourself believe in something that is just a beautiful lie?”.

Love is a beautiful lie that we tell to ourselves.

Love is what shapes us and it is the cause of our own destruction.

Tears begin to form and fall down from my cheeks, everything feels numb now. Not even the cut I made on my wrist can defeat the pain that struck my heart as it is now broken to pieces. Trails of crimson red flow from my wrist to the white marble of the floor. The feeling of heartache, disappointment and most of all, the feeling of being worthless was pumping in my veins, swallowing me whole and making me reminisce on what happened for the past few weeks.

…………………………………………………………………………

September 13^th

The soothing ocean breeze greeted me as I strolled along the beach. Being used to being alone made me feel like it was a normal thing to do, to stroll by myself while my friends were enjoying their time together. It didn’t bother me that much. I took photos of the beautiful creation God made, I enjoy taking photographs as I know that this little moments are worth to be cherished and to be kept as a reminder of the good old days when I come to a dead end in the near future. As I was enjoying the sand under my feet, with the ray of the sun blissfully shone my way along the beach, there I saw her. The dress she wore made her bloom like flowers in early spring. The smile that she wore was as beautiful as the scenery at dawn before the sun greets the mountains with purplish hue. She was sitting under a palm tree near to where my friends were at. She was blowing bubbles and without me noticing, my finger pressed the shutter button of my camera and took a beautiful photo her. It was as if my body had the mind of its own. I smiled in awkwardness as she looked at me. I walked away as if nothing happened, but I could feel a rush of blood rushed up to my cheeks that made it pinkish red.