Balik Kampung Giveaway by Her Little Guilty Pleasures

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Randomly released a giveaway like usual. For those who have been following me since few years ago, you must know that I have this habit of randomly releasing giveaway whenever I feel like it. So, this is one of those times. Let's just say that I'm super excited to balik kampung this June and I want to share my excitement with you guys.

Balik Kampung Giveaway by Her Little Guilty Pleasures

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Giveaway Duration

This giveaway runs from May 1, 2018 to June 30, 2018. You have two months to join this giveaway. I decided to run this giveaway for two months as I may need time to go through all the posts (eh, ada ke orang nak join?). Additionally, I'm expecting to slow down my blogging activity (as if it is not slow enough eh?) in Ramadan before picking it up again in the second week of Eid?

Prizes

I have yet to decide the prizes. However, insya Allah, the prizes will be something from Canada and/or South Korea. Nothing fancy. They will be something that I can afford. Previously, the prizes for my past giveaways were fridge magnets and postcards from Canada. Maybe you can give suggestions on what would be the best prizes for this giveaway?

Winners Selection & Number of Winners

The winners will be picked through a lucky draw. I will put participants' names in a jar and pick the lucky names from the jar. As of May 1, 2018, there will be 10 winners for this giveaway. The number of winners may change at the end of this giveaway. I'll keep you posted on any changes :)

Winners Announcement

Insya Allah, the winners will be announced in the first week of July and the prizes will be posted once I get the details from the said winners. I'm expecting all the prizes to be safely delivered to the winners by the end of the second week of July. Insya Allah :)

Bonus question (tak wajib jawab!)

Name one of my favourite voices for the past 8 years. 

p.s: So, I'll see some of you in the comments below? :)

p.p.s: Good luck, everyone! May the odds be ever in your favour! :)

My Songs of June 2018

Wow, it feels like forever since I last posted my songs of the month. I guess I'm not used to the gap of a month and half. Remember, I posted My Songs of May 2018 earlier than usual due to Ramadan? Anyway, I'm so excited to share with you my songs of June 2018. Mainly because I really, really, really like them. I had difficulty choosing songs that best represent my June 2018 because I got attached to more than 5 songs in this June which was unusual. Anyway, these songs will definitely remind me of my June 2018.

But before that, let me summarize my June. My June was a mix of excitement, confusion, and sadness? As you all probably know and aware, I was extremely excited to go home and by the time you reading this, insya Allah, I have safely arrived in Malaysia :)

As for the confusion, again, I was contemplating about my job. Same old same old but this time I have finally made a final decision. As for the sadness, hmmm, something ridiculous happened to me at my workplace and left me feeling sad and down nearing the end of June. I don't want to talk about it as it still hurts whenever I think about it T_T

Anyway, my June had been pretty much good and happy if I ignored the ridiculous incident. And, all these songs will stay intact in my mind with the happy memories of June 2018 :)

Soran (소란) & 10cm (십센치) - Crazy (미쳤나봐)

It is safe to say that I really like the combination of Soran & 10cm. I wish they had more duet songs because two is not enough! I want more! I need more! :)

Soran (소란) - I Study You (너를 공부해)

I'm just going to be honest here. I think I love most of Soran's songs. I like this song particularly after I watched 10cm singing this song. In a way, I wish this was 10cm's song but I like the original song as well. Decision. Decision.

Martin Smith (마틴 스미스) - Crazy (미쳤나봐)

Thanks to YouTube for the suggestion for that I discovered this gem. This is such a bop song! Stumbled upon this song when I was searching 미쳤나봐 by Soran & 10cm.

Mount Norquay

Mount Norquay

June 20, 2018

11:45 AM

Went to Mount Norquay for the first time yesterday. It was such a neat experience because it was my first time seeing the Town of Banff and the surrounding areas and mountains from this point of view. It was also a hilarious experience as I had a staring contest with this bighorn sheep. I had a good chuckle when it happened. Too bad that I didn't get to fully utilize this experience as I did not know the best time to visit Mount Norquay and I had a stomachache when I was up there that I had to cut short my stay to 20 minutes. Maybe I'll pay Mount Norquay another visit, again?

Locals' Appreciation Day at Lake Minnewanka Cruise

Pursuit Collection had a Locals' Appreciation Day on May 27, 2018. On this day, locals had a chance to enjoy free admission with donation instead of paying discounted or full rate to selected attractions. Most of my colleagues and friends went to Banff Gondola but I decided to go for Lake Minnewanka Cruise as I have never been to Lake Minnewanka before. Honestly, I wanted to go to both Banff Gondola and Lake Minnewanka Cruise but there's only so much time in a day that I had to sacrifice one of them.

Took the 9am-ish bus from the nearest stop to my staff accommodation so that I can catch the first cruise. It took me almost half an hour by bus to reach Lake Minnewanka. It was great to see the vast Lake Minnewanka especially after getting stuck with my routine in Banff Avenue. lol! Anyways, I saw few bighorn sheep while we were on the way to the Lake Minnewanka. So, that was a nice surprise :)

There was quite a long line when I arrived at the dock that morning. I guess most people had the same idea as me. Or, maybe they were there early so that they can go to Banff Gondola next. In any cases, the waiting time was quite long. Had to queue to get the ticket and then had to queue again to board the cruise.

Tip: Do book online or with your hotel's front desk agents or any tour operators so that you can cut the waiting time. It'll be no fun to show up without the ticket as you may waste a lot of time waiting.

The cruise lasted for an hour and half. A lil bit too short in my opinion. I felt that I needed more time to soak and enjoy the view but then to each of their own, eh. And, as I mentioned in this post, the ride was fun and informative. Passengers were supplied with the information of Lake Minnewanka and the nearby area. Our guide was particularly entertaining that almost all the kids loved hearing her explanation. And it was nice hearing explanation from someone who studied Geology :)



Tip: They do have 2-hour cruises but they are offered at selected times. So, do check the timetable on their website.

As what happened on my ride and explained by the guide, the cruise will stop for about 10-15 minutes in the middle of lake so that everyone can soak and enjoy the view. You'll feel so small as you're taking in the view. Subhanallah. I know I did. This is also the perfect time for photo ops provided the weather is great and the lighting is on your side.

Tip: Do go for a cruise that departs around 12 pm or after that so that you'll not get backlight for most of your ride.

I then spent about half an hour at the deck after the cruise to just soak in the view again. In my opinion, the deck is one of the best photo spots in Lake Minnewanka. There are few red muskoka chairs as well on the deck so visitors can take their own sweet time sitting and enjoying the view. I personally wanted to stay for longer, maybe walking along the trails there on top of sitting on the muskoka chair but I had to rush home as I needed to go to bed. Maybe I'll be back to Lake Minnewanka again once the weather is good? After all, I still have few more free tickets for the cruise :)

Road Trip to Bruce Peninsula National Park

This post was first published on May 22, 2016 on one of my older blogs. Decided to repost it here in Her Little Guilty Pleasures due to reasons that I mentioned in this post.

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Have been wanting to update about this road trip to Bruce Peninsula National Park since last week but I was too occupied with my guests. Well, I haven't seen them since we came to Canada so there were a lot of things to catch up. Plus, we had sendiri-sendiri Korean dramas marathon. Oh my god, we were like the definition of unemployed bums for the past few days. lol!

Anyway, I figured I should update about this road trip now than later before I become lazy or too occupied with my other personal affairs.

On May 13 (it was Friday the 13th by the way, hehe!), we rent a car to send out soon-to-be-shipped-to-Malaysia stuff to our senior house. After we were done with sending our stuff, my housemate drove us to Bruce Peninsula National Park. Bak kata orang, alang-alang dah ada kereta, kita keluar merayap la. Plus, Bruce Peninsula National Park is not really public transport friendly. So, bila dah ada kereta, kita pergi sahajalah :D

Bruce Peninsula National Park is 3 hour-is away from Guelph. The view along the way was so pretty and calming. It reminded us both a little bit of Alberta. We were teased with the view of clear and blue water at some point before we arrived at Bruce Peninsula National Park. Ya Allah, we were shouting like a child as we were excited to see the blue water because it reminded us of Alberta again.

Tobermory

We didn't get to do many stuff or to go to many places because we were short of time. We arrived at Tobermory around 2 PM-ish and we left Bruce Peninsula National Park around 10 PM-ish. In that short time frame, we only managed to cover Tobermory, Indian Head Cove, and The Grotto. We planned to go to Fathom Five National Marine Park and Flowerpot Island where we can see a lot of shipwrecks and more beautiful scenery, however, we missed the last boat. They usually have more boats going to and fro Fathom Five National Park and Flowerpot Island, but the service for peak season hasn't started yet, so ...

Indian Head Cove

Right after we had our lunch at Tobermory, we headed to the Indian Head Cove and The Grotto. Had to do a lil bit of hiking but it was totally worth it! Well, the hike was super easy. The trail is well-paved. You can even hike to the Indian Head Cove and The Grotto wearing heels if you want!

Indian Head Cove

We spent most of our times here as we were busy doing our failed grad shoot. As we were busy, I did not have a chance to properly shoot the beautiful scenery here. Rasa nak menangis bila tengok gambar-gambar yang hampeh dalam hard disk ni T_____T I should just take the scenery pictures instead of my pictures. Ughhhhhh >.<

While we were doing our own failed photo shoot, there was a couple doing their wedding photo shoot. It was interesting to see cause it was very Bollywood like. Rasa macam tengok Hindustan sikit. And they used drones to capture the moments too. I am truly wondering if drones are allowed in national park. As far as I know, drones are not allowed in national park.

The Grotto

We then moved to The Grotto after my roommate was satisfied with her pictures at the Indian Head Cove. We did not really take many pictures here because we were so tired! We just snapped few pictures and sat around enjoying the scenery.

After we had enough of the scenery (honestly, you'll never get enough of the scenery but you just have to move one!), we went to Tobermory again for dinner before my housemate driving us back to Guelph.

Conclusively, it was a day well spent and a memorable road trip! :)

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I just have to say this. Bruce Peninsula National Park is truly alluring. It honestly reminded me of Jasper National Park so much! (You guys know how much I love Jasper National Park, right?) I just wish we had a nice weather and higher temperature when we were there cause Bruce Peninsula National Park looks stunningly amazing during sunny days!

Evening at Edith Cavell

This post was first published on September 28, 2015 on one of my older blogs. Decided to repost it here at Her Little Guilty Pleasures due to reasons that I mentioned in this post.

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If you've been following my blog since last year, you should know that my favourite mountain in Jasper is Mount Edith Cavell. Mount Edith Cavell was one of the reasons why I went back to Jasper last summer.

I was stunned by this view

All this while, I have been obsessing over Mount Edith Cavell from afar. And, alhamdulillah, I got a chance to go for a hiking trip to the base of the Mount Edith Cavell last summer. In case you are wondering, nope, I did not climb to the top of the Mount Edith Cavell. Mount Edith Cavell hike is for the professionals. I am far from professional. I only went to the base :)

Angel Glacier and Cavell Pond (I assume)

The road up the base was crazy because it was zigzagged. Few girls had carsick, so we had to stop few times. I felt so bad for them but I can't do anything to them. Plus, I was busy calming myself down. I was like an excited child while we were on our way to the base. I kept repeating, "Oh my god! I'm so excited! I can't wait to see Edith Cavell from near. My dream will come true! Edith Cavell, wait for me!" A lil bit dramatic, I know. My heart was beating too fast to the point I felt I was going to have a heart attack.

Once we arrived, my reaction was like, "OMG! I can't believe this is happening! Dreams do come true, Farah. Dreams do come true! Subhanallah. Edith Cavell! I can't believe my eyes! Why are you so pretty?!"

Meadows at Mount Edith Cavell

It was cold, cloudy, and raining a lil bit when we arrived there. I was excited yet I was not really happy at first because I really want to see Mount Edith Cavell in a good weather. And what made things worse was I went there with an empty stomach. Hence, I was a lil bit grumpy. I woke up so so late as I had a midnight shift the day before and I missed my dinner. My sincere advice to you, never ever go for hiking trip with an empty stomach!

Trail to Angel Glacier

But nothing can ever go wrong in the beautiful place like Jasper. My mood totally changed after few minutes. The view was still super pretty and spectacular even with the crappy weather. We did the easy trail to the Angel Glacier. We also did another trail which I can't recall the name. Pardon me as it has been almost 3 months since this trip happened.

Angel Glacier at Mount Edith Cavell

The trail to Angel Glacier was actually closed by Parks Canada but our guides said, "It's okay! It does not look that dangerous. Let just go down to the Angel Glacier. It's gonna be such a waste of time if we did not get to be near to the Angel Glacier." So, down to Angel Glacier we went. You have no idea how afraid I was when I passed over the closed trail. However, the feeling went out of the window as soon as I reached the Angel Glacier.

It was super cool as I can see the glacier closely. I also got a chance to touch those ices. We spent a good half an hour here before headed out to another trail. The trail that we went after was fairly easy. We got to see the meadows and few animals on our way to the midpoint of the trail.

Marmot

We did not finish the trail as we did not have enough time. We stopped at the midpoint around 7:45ish and we needed at least half an hour to walk back to our van. I was pretty sad because I really wanted to stay longer.

Chipmunk

We left the base at 8:30 PM sharp. I was overwhelmed with different feelings when we left. Part of me was happy because I got to be closer to Mount Edith Cavell. But, there was another part of me that felt so sad as the time that I spent there was fairly short. Why the heck I had so much emotions? Hahahaha.

But, I am very sure about one thing. I love Edith Cavell and it has a very special place in my heart. So long, Edith Cavell. May I get a chance to see you again, insya Allah! :)

Emerald Lake

Emerald Lake

May 31, 2018

10:57 AM

Went for another tour (again!) two days ago. This time around I had a chance to see a glimpse of the Emerald Lake. Didn't get spend too much time here as we were in a rush to go to our final destination that day. Hopefully I'll get another chance to visit this beautiful lake. Pray for me, will you?