Tell Me Three Things by Julie Buxbaum | Book Review

April 14, 2020

I bought this book in Popular prior to previous BBW visit. Actually I separated books I bought from BBW and the rest so that I would like to make sure I read at least half of BBW books (just to feel it worth my money travelling to KL for them haha). But somehow this book look attractive though.

Title: Tell Me Three Things

Author: Julie Buxbaum

Pages: 325

Publisher: Delacorte Press

Publication Date: April 2016

Synopsis:

This book is about Jessie Holmes's life approximately 2 years after the death of her mother. His father got married to a woman he met online, subsequently lead to Jessie's moving to a brand new life in Los Angeles. Jessie knew no one there except her father, new stepmother and stepmother's son.

Few earliest days there, Jessie got an email from anonymous, Somebody/Nobody (SN) who offer to navigate her around without meeting each other in real life. After Jessie slowly making friends there, she was still in contact with SN, while trying to find out who SN was (who seemed to be a guy).

There are about 3 guys in the novel, Ethan Marks - Jessie's partner in some literature project, Liam Sandler - son of a saleswoman who hired her to work in a bookstore, and Caleb - a guy she met in the wrong class, sharing about his summer vacation.

Who is SN? Why is he messaging her?

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1. “Perfect days are for people with small, realizable dreams. Or maybe for all of us, they just happen in retrospect; they're only now perfect because they contain something irrevocably and irretrievably lost.”

Jessie lost her mother to cancer at the age of 14 (I guess), and that's approximately the age girls start to become teenagers and somehow mothers are to whom girls will turn, to get further life guidelines.

Through the novel, I can always feel that she missed her mother a lot. The way she counted the days her mother left her, it showed it was never easy for her to forget. And to be real, I believe it is really difficult to move on and live with the memories.

And I love the part where Rachel (Jessie's stepmom) bought flight tickets for her for a weekend trip to Chicago to meet her old friends and to enjoy her known, familiar neighborhood. Rachel is one of the stepmoms who are not... I mean, mean?

2.

I love this part too!

Deep inside, I really hope SN is a good person for Jessie. You know, sometimes I can't help to think that there is someone around Jessie (maybe) planning to trick her on thing like this. T_T

But, I am glad, SN IS A GOOD ONEEEE! :D

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Maybe enough with two. All in all, the story is cute and adorable, though I found it tiring to know the mysterious SN, which was finally exposed at the few final pages of the novel. T_T The three guys are interesting too, I mean, the author somehow managed to trick me into doubting myself to guess which one is SN.

I am a slow reader currently, reading takes a lot of time, making a review as well. Haha.
Till then.

p/s - I can't help to read SN as Staff Nurse -_-'

My rating: ★★★★☆

SM, Perak, Malaysia

200414

Review on Unifi Mobile™ Pek Jasa

March 26, 2020

After more than 10 years of being a loyal Celcom customer, I finally decided to turn my back to it. To be honest, I think Celcom is one of the strong telcos in Malaysia. I have never tried any other Telcos anyway.

Cute little simcard

But after paying almost RM110 per month (actually RM98 + tax) for my First Gold Plus plan, I realised there are few other choices out there that offer almost similar plan with cheaper price T_T.

CELCOM FIRST™ GOLD PLUS - (RM 98/month)

20GB free weekend Internet (5GB every Saturday & Sunday)

20GB weekday Internet

100GB free Super VideoWalla for 12months

unlimited calls to all networks

unlimited social apps

** unlimited Hotspot within those 40GBs

Sounds okay.

But look at this one!

UNIFI MOBILE™ PEK JASA - (RM 59/month)

unlimited data

unlimited calls to all networks

unlimited SMS to all networks

no contract

10GB Hotspot

I have surveyed for Maxis, Digi, U-Mobile too, but none of them are interesting as how I am attracted to Unifi -_-' Maybe due to the reason that lots of my colleagues in ED use Unifi, most of them have given generally nice feedback.

It was a hard decision to make and I hope I don't regret it.

So, good bye Celcom!

2007-2020

On 10th February 2020, I finally decided to proceed with the plan :) I went to the nearest TM point and inform the officer about what I want. Alhamdulillah the process was smooth, with the help of the officer. If you want to apply the same Pek Jasa as I am, don't forget to bring your working ID as well ya.

It is still early to give thorough feedback on this new data plan, but generally for the past 1 month:

I have no problem assessing the Internet (on Unifi) as the data is unlimited. When I was using Celcom previously, it was really hard when the month approached the few last days. My job requires me to be on Mobile Data for 24/7, there are lots of PDFs to be downloaded, not to forget lots of movies/dramas to be watched on off days.
Unifi coverage is not that broad compared to Celcom. There was one time I went to Sendayan for a Paediatric course and it was really hard to even get 1 bar! I don't know why but seems that friends using other Telcos have no problem with their coverage. Ehemm... but no problem so far in Manjung.
I can feel the difference of paying the bill! RM59 vs RM 98.

I just knew that Unifi gives free LTE hotspot for 999GB till 1/4/2020. Alhamdulillah, I can use mobile hotspot to connect to my laptop :D

The charges breakdown.

I am currently on Day 2 of staying at home due to some reasons that (maybe) I will share later. Please pray for me and my ED team :)

SM, Perak, Malaysia

200326

The Rainbow Skywalk, Penang - Worth It!

March 9, 2020

This post was supposed to be published a week ago. But, I was quite lazy to open my laptop and I don't fancy writing over phone much. Hehe :)

This one is the Rainbow Skywalk (at level 68) of THE TOP, Penang. If you love heights or glass floors, this is one of the places to go :)

They offer official photos, but we have bought one from the observatory deck. We just asked the other tourists to snap photos of us :)

The entrance to the Rainbow Skywalk.

THE TOP will provide us with this reusable shoe covers, it is for free but you need to return to them later. The shoe covers are needed to walk over the glassy floor.

The world's first tower curved skywalk.

The view from the curved skywalk.

One of the view up there. There is a restaurant if you want to try having lunch / dinner with 360 degree view :)

It is said to be wishing pot, people (as expected) will throw some coins inside to wish for something. It is a common view at wishing fountains all over the world though.

This is the restaurant I mentioned earlier - Coco Cabana Bar & Bistro. I had no idea about the menus, but I was more interested to play this one :D

Tadaaa :D I used to play this one at home (when I was a child), you know the darts game we can buy from the night market. It was too expensive to buy toys at the mall at that time :D I guess, currently is is even more expensive hehe

That's the end of my Penang trip. Let's look forward to more trips. :) Haziq and I just finished our 1640km road trip to the south of Malaysia, please pray that I will write about the trip faster hehe

200309

SM, Perak, Malaysia

Welcome to THE TOP, Penang

February 25, 2020

8th February 2020

Penang, Malaysia

The next day, we decided to explore THE TOP, Penang. There are actually a lot of fun things to do like the Rainbow Skywalk, Jurassic Research Center, 7D Discover Motion Theater, Tech Dome Penang etc. But, in view of we didn't have enormous time, we decided to try the Rainbow Skywalk. Similar to other state's highest point, this one offers the 360 degree view of Penang.

It is located at the top of Komtar tower. Though I've been to Penang multiple times, I can't remember going to Komtar. -_-'

For parking, you can try the parking at Komtar, Not that expensive I think (can't remember the fee).

There are two sections for the top view of Penang - one is the Observatory Deck (at level 65) and the other one is the Rainbow Skywalk (level 68). If you park your car at the Komtar parking area, you can see signboard at each parking levels.

We bought our tickets via KLOOK, just because we want the cashback via Shopback. It was RM48 per person (similar price with the official website). Prepare to show our identity card to get the benefits of Malaysian citizen and pray that the good weather is on our side.

Though we bought the ticket online, we still need to queue to claim our wristband (which will be used to enter both Observatory Deck & Rainbow Skywalk). On the wall, you can see lots of pictures of famous people visiting THE TOP. :)

Our wristbands. I love our veins anyway hahaha.

It was Thaipusam that day but CNY decorations were still all around. Well, didn't mind either as the decorations were beautiful too! Before taking the lift, we passed through the pathway and why not we took pictures here ;))

I wish I will have the opportunity to watch sakura with real eyes :)

At level 65, there will be introduction video before you can step into the Observatory Deck, but it was broken at that time, so they allow us to go inside directly.

The first view you will see is the Gurney Drive.

"Gurney drive is a popular seafront promenade in Pulau Tikus, Penang. The drive is one of Penang's most popular tourist destinations, famous for its hawker food. Previously know as the new coast road, it was completed in 1936, along the north beach and renamed in 1052 after Sir Henry Gurney, the British High Commissioner in Malaya at that time."

"The Kek Lok Si Temple is a famous Buddhist temple situated in Ayer Hitam. As one of the largest and finest Buddhist temples in Malaysia, it serves as an important pilgrimage center for worshippers from South East Asian countries. The entire temple was built from 1891 to 1930, and it is now a center for Chinese culture and Buddha's teachings as well as a unique heritage treasure."

Then, there will be an area with glass floor that we can stand on top of it. It is not that scary anyway, I've been to Macau Tower (with the world highest bungee jump) - that one was scarier. :D

There are photographers who will take your photos and if you are satisfied with the photos, you can proceed with payment. If I'm not mistaken, it was around RM40+ per printed photo. It include a soft copy of it online (I forgot to claim the photo) -_-' it had already expired after 14 days. T_T

Selfie for now.

Walking around the deck, you can see Penang Bridge as well.

"The Penang Bridge is a 13.5km (8.4-mile) dual carriageway toll bridge and controlled-access highway, connecting Butterworth on the mainland side of the state with Gelugor on the island, crossing the Selatan Strait. The bridge was inaugurated on 14 September 1985 and it is the first road connection between the peninsula and the island. It was the longest bridge in Malaysia until the Second Penang Bridge, with a total length of 24km (15miles) was opened on 1 March 2014."

The tower binocular - RM2 for few minutes.

"Seberang Perai, or previously known as 'Pyre' during the British Colonial era, is situated opposite Penang island on the main land, and connects to the island by the Penang Bridge and ferry services. The mainland is where the heart of mega commercial projects and residential townships is, with 54% of the Penang population living here. Many major developments are now focused in Seberang Perai, which has been crowned as Penang's catalyst for growth in the 21st century."

"Initiated in the year 1920, the Penang Ferry Service is the oldest ferry service in Malaysia. It connects Sultan Abdul Halim Ferry Terminal in Butterworth to Raja Tun Uda Ferry Terminal at Weld Quay, Penang. It served as the major link between the mainland and the island untul the Penang Brudge opened in 1985. The ferry service allows pedestrian passengers on the upper deck and small vehicles on the lower deck."

Talking about the ferry, when I traveled to Penang with my parents, we usually travel to the island via ferry and took the bridge later to get back to the mainland :) It is a good experience to try the ferry service here, especially when you bring along kids. They will find this fascinating :)

"Padang Kota Lama, located in one of the oldest districts of George Town, was among the earliest settlement of town. When Francis Light (Founder of Penang) landed at the cape in 1786, he found that this part of the island was uninhabited. The land was flat but overgrown with hardwood trees such as the Penaga Laut (ironwood). The northern shore was sandy while the eastern shore was covered with mangrove swamp. Light was said to have blasted silver coins into the forest to induce he workers to clear the land. These coins could possibly still buried in the area where Padang Kota Lama is located today."

Actually I were the one excited to come here as I would like to check out THE GRAVITYZ. Have any idea about it? It is for those with adrenaline rush to challenge ourselves with things involving the great height. They claim to offer activities under one of the best high-altitude sports platform in ASEAN!

If I'm not mistaken, the price is less than RM150 per person.

However due to time constraint and it was so hot that morning, we decided to plan another trip later to this place again :)

In the next post, we can enjoy the view from the Rainbow Walk :D

Till then.

SM, Perak, Malaysia

200225

Roti Canai Transfer Road, Penang

February 21, 2020

The next day, we went to try the famous stall along Transfer Road, Penang. Since our hotel was just walking distance to the stall, we just left the car at the hotel's parking area and walked to it. Around 2 minutes walk, I think.

Basically the hawker will prepare lots of this food and serve all the new customers coming to the stall. And you can also order other food as well. The drinks were prepared by the other hawker, so the payment was separately for both food and drinks.

This roti canai + chicken curry = around RM8, if I'm not mistaken. The portion is big enough so, maybe the price is still okay.

Me and the boys. We were planning to go to our friend's wedding ceremony later in the afternoon.

This is how the stall looks like from Google Maps.

For me, the taste was nice. I mean the roti canai was really soft and when it came together with delicious chicken curry, hotly served, it feels yummy. Just, I was a bit awkward to eat at the roadside like this. Haha. I mean, it is not like I haven't try any hawkers like this, but sitting very close to a busy road like this one is frightening. T_T

It was a beautiful experience, anyway. Looking forward to more :)

SM, Perak, Malaysia

200221

Lebuh Armenian, Penang at Night

February 17, 2020

Just a short post for memories. :)

I have been twice to Penang Art Street, the first one was with my parents and the second was with my Norwegian friend, Hege... both trips were when I was waiting for housemanship.

This trip was a bit different. Maybe because I came with my husband and maybe because it was at night. Told ya, we didn't have much time to spend in Penang T_T