11 August 2011

The Art of Travelling

When you pack your bags to explore the beauties of your own country or travel around the world, consider these keys to a happy journey.



Travel lightly. You are not traveling for people to see you!

Travel slowly. Jet planes are for getting places not seeing places; take time to absorb the beauty and inspiration of a mountain or cathedral.

Travel expectantly. Every places you visit is like a surprise package to be opened. Untie the strings with an expectation of high adventure.

Travel hopefully. “To travel hopefully,” wrote Robert Louis Stevenson, “is better than to arrive.”

Travel humbly. Visit people and places with reverence and respect for their traditions and ways of life.

Travel courteously. Consideration of your fellow travelers and your hosts will smooth the way through the most difficult days.

Travel gratefully. Show appreciation for the many things that are being done by others for your enjoyment and comfort.

Travel with an open mind. Leave your prejudices at home.

Travel with curiosity. It is now how far you go, but how deeply you go that mines the gold of experience. Throreau wrote a big book about tiny Walden Pond.

Travel with imagination. As the old Spanish proverb puts it, “He whole would bring home the wealth of the Indies must carry the wealth of the Indies with him.”

Travel fearlessly. Banish worry and timidity; the world and its people belong to you as you belong to the world.

Travel relaxed. Make up your mind to have a good time. Lets go!

Travel patiently. Its takes time to understand others, especially when there are barriers of language and customs; keep flexible and adaptable to all situations.

Travel with the spirit of a world citizen. You’ll discover that people are basically much the same the world around. Be an ambassador of goodwill to all people.

Wilferd A. Peterson
from The Chicken Soup for the Traveler’s Soul

28 July 2011

Sound of Music

I must say that from the first time my eyes laid on this movie on television years back when i was young (i think i was 13 years old at that time if i was not mistaken) i can tell u it was love at first sight. I fell in love with the movie so much that ive watched it so many times towards my teen years and to add to loving it, even went to watch the musical at Istana Budaya, KL during my Uni Graduation week. My fav part was when Rolf took Liesl at night and dance away under the moonlight.



Also seeing Liesl (acted by Charmain Carr) i'm so mesmerized by her pure beauty and never have i seen such beauty before. Till today. Tell me if you agree or not





Music that captures all walks of life, movie loved by all that is a timeless pieces. I will surely watch it with my future children one day. Hope they will like it too!

July it was..

Its been ages since i've blog about 'my-what-had-happen' in a month since way back 2006 in which i've use to do blog using my expired friendster blog (i think the blog has shut down years ago). Well i think the feeling of month-blogging came back into me. So before i change my mind, i think i'll better blog away.

So, what has happen to my life in July (I know this might sound cliche, but just bare with me!). In the beginning of July, the ladies of JCI Intan was so kind enough to held a GMM cum Housewarming celebration (plus Abby's B'day too) at the Yong's new Residence and me as the member of the organisation as the host together with dear hubby. It was such a nice day and with lots of foodie, fun, sharing & laughter around the whole afternoon. And we received a blender as a housewarming gift! Now was can have blended yogurt smooties (no more yucky plain yogurt!) Yeah!!! And thank to Nora too for the lovely 'Welcome' signage.



Come 7pm, we wrapped up the GMM and rush over to Fresco @ downtown KK located at Jesselton Point for soon-to-be-brother-in-law David's performance with his students from the KK International School. Admist of the tiring day, it was great to be able to watch & support David together with my parent & sis. Thumbs up to David for a lovely performance on the guitar! and huge thank you also on the tickets!

On 9th July, the D-day of JCI Intan 'Be A Belle' project which i organised together with my organising committee. Held at 11am-5pm at Kinabaly Club @ downtown KK. When when i say downtown means right smack in the middle of KK in the heart of (listen to this..) the Bersih 2.0 rally venue!!!!! Seriously! Luckily the policeman let us all through and thank God the rally didnt happen. But no worries, everything went well and we managed to pull the day through. A Big thank you to all our lovely sponsors that day, to the partipants that braved the jam/road block, to the ever wonderful speakers of the day! Truely appreciate it 101% and to the hardworking ladies of the committee. You all are truely a Belle!





A week later on 19th, me & hubby participated in the annual Sutera Harbour 7K Charity run. A tradition for us which we started 2 years ago and plan to continue it for as long as we can. The company we work for sponsored the giant arch and in return we received free tshirt! A lovely sunset ended the run of the day.





July also mark the Birthday of my only dear sister, Linda as she turn 25 years old but unfortunatelly is not in KK as she and David will be in London on a visit to David's families + holiday. Happy Birthday Sis! However we managed to have a get together dinner over seafood at the famous Welcome Restaurant @ Bundusan before the fly off the next day.

Another wonderful occasion to celebrate - Uncle Vinson retirement + wedding anniversary + birthday (as i think housewarming too) was celebrated on the 3rd week of July. It was a impromt party held at their house gathered by all families member and i got to tell you that i was soooo indeed happy to be able to see all cousins, neices, nephews, uncles, aunties after soo long! gosh we should have such gathering from time to time ya! And mamak's hinava was sumptious!! yum yum! (eat your heart out Linda & Lester!HA!)

Other things to be happy about;


Had a get together high-tea with the 'Geng-Keras' at A-Roma Ristorante on 14th July to celebrate the Geng-Keras July babies Birthday. Wish the rest of the geng were with us.


Ive done my part as a citizen of the world by donating to plant a tree to Wild Borneo Expedition! hey! it got my name of it! Cool!!


Met Louis Pang during the Nikon Showroom Launching (we were the event organiser for them). Manage to had chat with my all time favourite photogragper!

Also featured on WhoAmISabah courtesy by a lovely friend - Vera M. here at http://whoamisabah.com/2011/07/18/whoamisabah-lenore-beverley-lee-yong/.

Thats all folks! Im indeed blessed!

With lots of love, Yours Truely!

12 July 2011

How travel makes you smarter, sexier and more productive


Traveler reading ‘An introduction to algorithms’ in Polish. Honest. [Photo: Anna Borska]

By Robert Reid, Lonely Planet author

Why do we travel? Just a hunch here: because it’s fun. Plus we have to occasionally pay a visit to Uncle Greg in Minneapolis or attend that conference on soybean research your boss makes you go to every year. But, at the same time, travel can pay off in many ways, and science backs it up.

Here are the four main ways that travel can improve your life:



1. Travel makes you younger

David Eagleman, recently profiled as ‘The Possibilian’ in the New Yorker, studies time perception at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, and has made many experiments regarding how life-threatening moments feel slowed down.

Travel to new places has always felt like stretched time to me too; a week in Guatemala seems to last as long as three weeks in the Outer Banks – in a good way. So I asked him, for my recent CNN piece on travel to new destinations, whether science can back up my gut reaction.

Eagleman told me adults’ sense of time is more ‘compressed’ than children’s, but that travel to new or ‘novel’ places – the more exotic, the better – is an equalizer of sorts. ‘It essentially puts you, neurally, in the same position as when you were a child.’

Travel: the fountain of youth! And, with its perceived time-stretching possibilities, a life-saver even if you only take a week or two for vacation this summer.

2. Travel makes you smarter

It’s an old cliché that travel broadens your mind. I’d scoff if it weren’t true. A recent psychological study at Indiana University found students had broader answers when they thought the study was imported from Greece, rather than homegrown. What the researchers call ‘psychological distance’ – what we might call ‘armchair travel’ – increases your creativity. A recent review of the psychological distance concept, suggests that travel, or even planning travel and imagining yourself in an unfamiliar and distant location, might not just improve creativity but self-awareness as well.

William Maddux, an American social psychologist, studies how those who live abroad come home more creative too. He told me by phone that ‘immersion’ in a place is key – one of the reasons, he says, he’s working in France.

‘It all depends on someone’s mindset when traveling’, he said. ‘Are they really open to it? If not, and all they do is sit and watch TV, it probably won’t make them more creative… And you don’t necessarily have to cross a border either. What’s more similar New York and Toronto, or New York and Savannah?’

3. Travel makes you more productive

Americans’ relative lack of holiday time is sometimes defended as a strong ‘work ethic’, and a reason the country is so productive. But is it?

This fun Businessweek slideshow shows how many countries’ economic output rivals the US, with far less work time. France, for example, takes off 60% more days off (40 compared to the USA’s 25), and records 98% GDP per hour worked. While the USA remains the world’s top ‘competitive’ country, runner-up, Switzerland, nearly matches the US mark with a week more vacation time.

Some argue taking extended time is even better. In a TED Video on taking sabbaticals, graphic-designer Stefan Sagmeister illustrates how he plans a one-year break from work to ‘experiment’ every seven years simply to generate new ideas.
4. Travel makes you sexier

It’s not just a tan you return with, but stories. According to one recent ItsJustLunch.com survey, the best first-date conversation topic was hobbies, with travel following second. Somehow manage to combine the two, and brace yourself Romeo. Just be sure to have exchanged your Paraguayan guaraní into dollars before the bill arrives.

And if travel has already done its job by making you more creative, youthful, self-aware and productive, you’re bound to be looking pretty good out there.

For the travel bug in me




I have to urge to travel at the moment! like NOW! have you ever felt this wasy before of just getting online purchase your ticket & just get on the plane & zoom away. Don't get me wrong, im not running away for any problem / trouble just the urge to see new places & to have inner peace & take time to smell the roses. Oh i so want to do it badly! Saying is always easy....but doing is hard..

Anywhere, i know i can just dream & think of it. Some of my favourite travel quote that inspire me and i hope it inspire you too in some way or another. When i read these quotes i just shut my eyes and im far far awayyy~~~


“Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn’t do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines, sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.” – Mark Twain

“Travel is more than the seeing of sights; it is a change that goes on, deep and permanent, in the ideas of living.” – Miriam Beard

“We live in a wonderful world that is full of beauty, charm and adventure. There is no end to the adventures we can have if only we seek them with our eyes open.” – Jawaharial Nehru

“A journey of a thousand miles must begin with a single step.” – Lao Tzu

“A journey is best measured in friends, rather than miles.” – Tim Cahill

“Once you have traveled, the voyage never ends, but is played out over and over again in the quiestest chambers. The mind can never break off from the journey.” – Pat Conroy

“What you’ve done becomes the judge of what you’re going to do – especially in other people’s minds. When you’re traveling, you are what you are right there and then. People don’t have your past to hold against you. No yesterdays on the road.” – William Least Heat Moon

“Adventure is a path. Real adventure – self-determined, self-motivated, often risky – forces you to have firsthand encounters with the world. The world the way it is, not the way you imagine it. Your body will collide with the earth and you will bear witness. In this way you will be compelled to grapple with the limitless kindness and bottomless cruelty of humankind – and perhaps realize that you yourself are capable of both. This will change you. Nothing will ever again be black-and-white.” – Mark Jenkins