Jacqkie | Travel and Lifestyle

As the pandemic ravages through every little thing, a small community I am part of becomes no exception. For many years, we tried to sustain it with the objective of it being an educational platform. We started in 2013, and have created so many fond memories from. I became a president one term, and a public relations vice president another.  That was the only thing that kept me sane in my workplace. When we're meeting up, we don't talk about work at all . Not about business goals, but about our livelihoods, our friendships and many things that are far more important. It's a distraction, even without having to leave the workplace.  It's the Toastmasters Club 💓 What started as a platform to teach one another English, build confidence and essentially speaking in front of an audience grew much more than that. We became friends, and mentors, both in the club and in life. Everyone was humble and relatable. You drag the walls down of them as colleagues, you begin to see them ...

The usual suspects decided to spend overnight in an island last August to celebrate Jessy's birthday. I bought the stay for RM 450nett (a slightly steep price than most of the places) but I think it was worth it. We stayed at Manukan Sutera Sanctuary Lodge, a recently renovated resort at Manukan Island. It is like a mini chalet, and the last time I stayed here was probably when I was only 7 years old with my dad. While old memories are slowly fading, the goal is to create new ones and I am happy we did. Each of the chalet has its own small balcony, which is very apt for rest and relax. Only thing is, every once a while a giant lizard as big as a crocodile (!!) comes out and peek at you. Like fk. Every time that happens, I am like HOLY SHIT!!! But everyone in the island is used to it by now, so they now become like a family and permanent resident instead of a scary friend. Lol. This island, post sunset becomes very peaceful and quiet. For many who are not used...

We were supposed to go somewhere for Jessy's birthday, I wasn't quite sure how we decided on the island, but that was a pretty sweet decision. By day, the island was brimming with tourists and families, but by evening as the sun sets colouring the sky, it becomes a quiet isolation and absolutely stunning to enjoy an evening walk by. If you ever had the chance to stay overnight in a small island, please try it. We stayed at Sutera Sanctuary Lodges, cost us about RM 500nett for three of us. We woke up slightly earlier around 9am to enjoy the beach and swim when no one was there yet. Well Jessy did the swimming. I had a wedding to keep my tan lines even the week after so I kinda hid from the sun 😌 The unit though, almost chalet like was quite huge! The bathroom itself felt like an entire unit, with unique tiles that go right up to the top. Very luxurious. And. it. has. windows. looking. out. the. room! Each unit has its own balcony, which makes a perfect place ...

It's always sunny in Kota Kinabalu 😊 I've always wanted to go to the Marine Ecology Research Center (MERC) at Gayana Island Resort, so when the company asks us if we wanted to go for a day trip..... I replied within seconds. I absolutely love educational trips, totally my thing! Upon arriving Gayana Island Resort, we were welcomed by friendly folks who took us for a short tour around the resort and spoke about their many and excellent conservation efforts. Some of the efforts include reducing plastic usages and replacing them with zero waste items like steel bottles instead of plastic. Living in the islands are no easy feat, you have to truly be as sustainable as you can to avoid wastage. Many things are imported from the lands. The tour included an educational videographic about the importance of the giant clams in the sea's ecosystem. Some of the main things, if not the most important, is the fact that giant clams are the sea's natural vacuum. They cle...

You gotta say yes to Karaoke. Gotta!  In my attempt to spice up my weeknights, I said YES to a karaoke on a Wednesday night but ... this time WITH A TWIST. My Wednesday's karaoke sesh was to be organised on a CRUISE. Yezza.  The North Borneo Cruise, the same guys who I got on board on for my sister's awesome sunset cruise birthday,   came up with another legit thing to party and celebrate any occasions on A NIGHT CRUISE. With Karaoke no less Sabahans 👐👐 Read more of our sunset cruise here  The cruise departed at 8pm, and is a 2 hour cruise along KK's waterfront esplanade area. Kota Kinabalu city is so beautiful at night, I have seen many skylines around the world, but nothing truly like your own home's 💖 And very dear to me too, because I have always looked out to the sea from the land lol, so it's quite amusing to be on the sea looking out on the land instead heh. We walked into this luxurious comfy lounge, fitting of up to 20 people with this...

Now that I’m older, and presumably wiser, I have built my own opinions on a lot of things and another, style. Most times I am either clad in a simple top with dark pants, pearl earrings and my famous string bag pack. Other times you’ll see me donning something sweeter, mostly in white, I like the clean, crisp and casual feel of a white shirt / top. Perks of traveling around the world is seeing a lot of interesting things, learning new stuff and eventually exploring new ideas. Food, architecture, people and fashion to name a few are the things that I truly love to observe. I picked up so many new ways of fashioning myself throughout my travels; scarves, bracelets, anklets and a little bit of everything else to mix and match. My style is a cross of bohemian, sweet (pearls, braided long hair) and just chilled. (unless I'm in the office 9 -6, then, I am in my monkey suit) This is a rare post of me talking about the ladies fashion around the world that I’ve come across with, but...

I understand I am always on the move. May it be for leisure or for work, I am always on the move. But the number one people who always get my attention is my FAMILY.  My family and friends know this because I spend most of my weeknights with them (having to stay with them) and because we're just close that way. I have always insisted on a family trip, so *I* took the liberty to organize this trip. I made sure it is SO NEAR to home that no one can say no to it, I made sure we're all in one car and come the same time so that we'd have to deal with each other throughout. I made sure that we're all in ONE ROOM (we can afford to, there's only 4 of us!) so that we can really spend the night together. So I decided on Langkah Syabas Beach Resort    because of all the reasons I just mentioned. I had no expectations because I've never been to the shore / beach of the Kinarut Beach / Shore. After a 30 minutes drive (yes just 30 minutes!) we reached Langkah Syabas. ...