Well, compared to last year, my NYE this year was relatively mild and thankfully eventless. But then again, nothing can be worse than meeting ur ex at the same party, gotten dragged out of the place by his cousin who wanted us to 'talk', gotten drunk because of everything, puked outside the building coz of the alcohol, ran into someone else I didn't want to see, and the grand finale... found my bf talking to *him.

This year, partially to avoid NYE '06 and mainly because Brunei is so sad that they had to ban NYE celebrations due to some Islamic event, we hopped into a 4WD and ventured off on Road Trip 2006 to Kota Kinabalu. [P/S: the 4WD was, very tragically, stolen on the 6th of January, in Miri. Tsk tsk! Malaysians. Now back to my story...] The journey officially began at 1.30pm, which is about the time we left Mr D's place. We got stuck in the bitchiest traffic jam, in the biggest downpour with teh tarik-coloured water gushing on the road for a grand total of about 4 hours. We finally reached Limbang at 6pm. We then ventured on to Temburong and got stuck in another traffic jam for the saddest ferry in the world. Seriously, even I can swim across the 'river' which may even be smaller than some drains.

Heading on, we had to cross out of Brunei (Temburong) again into Sarawak, and then into Sabah. All of which required us to stamp our passports seven times [my poor new passport, stamped all over the place by the stupid immigration officers). We finally arrived at our destination at 11.30pm, some apartment place facing the sea in the city. Three-bedroom apartment to be shared by 11 people, thankfully because I'm a girl, I got to share a bedroom with my bf in private. An additional perk, my pig managed to acquire the room with ensuite so mmmhmmmm =.=

Next morning, we had to wake up at 5am [Ugrh !] then we drove to Kuala Penyu [penyu penyu penyu! isn't it the most adorable word?] and came across a roundabout with three turtle statues in the middle. So cute ! We reached Kuala Penyu at 8.30am and had to wait 2 hours for our boat to take us to ----> Pulau Tiga aka. Survivor Island. In the little bouncy boat, approaching the island, my breath was caught by one of the most beautiful sights I've seen (which is not in a tv or computer screen). The trees were 'beautifully' green, the sea was blue, the sand was white... Aah... Paradise.

Enticed by the sight of the resort, we hurried off to check-in, dropped our bags, got changed and jumped into the water where we spent the whole morning snorkelling. It was amazing, looking at all the corals and little fishes but sad as well as a lot of it has been destroyed by inconsiderate divers and pollution (i know, i sound like i should be on the Discovery Channel). There is a drawback, at first, because we were struggling to adapt to breathing w our mouths only and the flippers, which makes our feet feel like it weighs a tonne, doesn't help much either. We spent half the day drowning each other =.=" After that, we spent a rather interesting afternoon. Interesting, in the fact that I, yes I, hiked (i mean like, since when do i hike?) up a hill. Interesting, because I did it to see a mud pool (I got conned! Volcano Mud just sounds so much cooler) Believe it or not, I actually jumped into the mud (yes, it was real mud.) and check this out, I hiked down the stupid hill, Bare-Footed and caked in mud. Seriously looked like an Aborigine with fair skin. But I like to think of that as a personal achievement. haha! Seriously, can u imagine ME barefooted, caked in mud n hiking down a hill !?!?

New Year's Eve, we had a nice barbeque, although I was too tired to even eat. They had this party, which was gay because their music can go from the Beach Boys to Shakira and to some la la style trance. I suppose the highlight of the evening was the fireworks which wasn't extravagant, but sufficient enough. The boys, coaxed by this man who we supposed was the owner of the resort, decided to jump off the pier into the water, after midnight. Its tradition on the island, we were told, and it supposedly brings good luck. This is, of course, yet to be seen.

Two days later and a dozen sandfly bites and five shades darker, we all began our perilous journey back to our homeland. It was an exciting journey, I would say, as we spent the whole time chasing a white Toyota Kijang that was muddy and occupied by friends, albeit they look more like Thai workers than people returning home from a vacation. We had walkie-talkies as well, its purpose to help us overtake other cars when we're chasing their car. Although, the communicator did a pretty lousy job what with the "Cut now, there's no car" -> "Oops, no wait, there's a motorbike" or "Sure, there's no car. Cut now!" -> "Erm.. there is a car. We see its headlights" But all in all, it was fun.

Now, back to the present, I'm still working at VW. Its actually fun. I think mainly from the company there. My colleagues are fun, friendly, not so much politics =) I suppose I should be working til early Febs and smelly Vel, I would like very much to put my tagboard but I have forgotten how to do it. If I do not figure it out by the time I see u, u shall have to help me. HAHA! The formality of this post is due to the fact that I am bored. and Cimiu, I am angry at u!

I really hope that this would be a good year for me so I shall... pray. haha!

-n-