Bali Again - part 1

Our 4th trip (Hubby's 5th if you count him going earlier this year with his team). This time around, it was a family trip with Mak.. so the whole gang came. Aunty & Yon, both kids and we brought Anik along too.

Day 1

The day started early for us, the flight was at 0850 hrs so we needed to be at the airport by 7am the latest. Aliah was up easy, as she knows what was in store for her that day. Waking J up was the hardest part of course, but since she slept pretty early the night before it was relatively easy to get her to take her bath. I got about 2 hours of sleep that night what with coming home late after finishing up my part in the tender and then packing all the 3 bags.

Received an sms telling the flight was delayed to 1000 hrs as we reached the airport so we actually had ample time to lepak, much to J's dismay. Kept insisting to go on the jet plane. Since we had time, decided to go on the aerotrain for the kids sake. At least that made Jannah happy for a while. Flight left on time and soon we were in the air. Miss chatterbox was having her conversations with her imaginary friend(s) all the time. She fell asleep soon enough though, and Mommy can finally get some peace n quiet. Haha!

We arrived at Bandara Ngurah Rai, went pass the Immigration and collected our bags without a hitch. Siswanto was already waiting for us outside, and immediately had our first nasi padang for the trip. Next stop, Mercure Hotel. We had to wait for our rooms a bit and then everyone settled in for a bit of a rest. I fell asleep immediately and didn't want to wake up 3 hours later. Haha. I was that tired.

Ended day 1 with walking around Kuta.

Day 2

Day started early as we were headed for Tegallalang. Along the way made stops at Batuan, Celuk, Mas. At the silversmith, Mak managed to haggle her way to get a pretty bracelet. The kids got a seashell each much to Jannah's happiness. Earlier on when we stopped at Rip.curl, she threw a tantrum when we told her we were leaving as she was having a fun time playing at their kids' corner in the shop. Siap guling2 tak nak balik nih. And cuteness as she is, bila marah cakap "Achoom, achoom!"

Then on to our favourite stop at the painting gallery. Bought 5 paintings there, to add to our collection. Not all shops were open along the Tegallalang stretch as it was their Kuningan celebration (similar to our Raya celeb). Even still, we managed to buy 3 more paintings. Haha! Memang kitorang gila painting. But in my defence, it was really cheap! And sangat cantek. Lunch was late, and everyone was cranky. Had another round of nasi padang somewhere in Ubud.

Siswanto then brought us to Jalan Sulawesi where they sell all the kain ela. As both kids were asleep at this point, it would have been difficult to do any shopping. So, decided to do Jalan Sulawesi the next morning sans the kids. Next stop was at Kampung Bali, a one stop center for all things Bali. Got some souvenirs here and Aliah got a Ben10 watch which she loved. Jannah threw a tantrum again, this time because she didn't want to leave as she was having fun playing with all the musical instruments there. In the end she conceded to leave with the Korean drum thing.

Our last stop was at the roadside lalapan stall to get our nasi bungkus. As always the sambal is awesome! After dinner, left the kids in the room with Anik while all the adults walked around Kuta again. This time we walked all the way to Discovery mall. As it was getting late, tak sempat nak shop around sangat.

TBC - part 2

*pictures will also be posted later, tengah takde mood nak edit

Leaving on a Jetplane

Ho yeah!

Flight is in 8 hours time.

And am still in the office. *sigh*

But never the mind, the next couple of days would be offline. (wonder if I would get withdrawal symptoms? - haha!)

See ya when I get back.

p/s : the girls have 3 bags shared between them by the way. ;)

Hyperventilating

2 days to go!

Panic panic!

I've not packed, I've not done any "anticipating" to prevent catastrophic disasters (ye sangat over di situ).

We've never been on a flight bound vacation with the girls, and this would also mark Jannah's first plane ride (the one where we went to Langkawi when she was 3 months old does not count). So, yes, I am borderline paranoid panicky here.

AND AND there's a tender closing on the day we're leaving, so that is bugging me also.

*breathe nana breathe*

I can do this. I can do this.

first, let's go pack the girls bag.

... will update you on how many bags the girls are bringing.. haha!

Thumbs Up!

for Malaysia's Immigration Dept.

for Malaysia's Thomas.Cup team.

for Malaysia's hockey team.

waahh.. sungguh patriotik malam nih. hahaha!

So, how did Malaysia beat In.dia 5-2. Bukan takat 1 goal difference nih. That was a major win. Watching the game however, it was not suprising. They played well. Oh, how I miss watching live matches. Beb, ingat Commonwealth games? Kita pegi ngan Cor ngan sape ek? Anyway, I hope it won't be a one-off thing. Seronok tengok Sultan.Azlan.Shah pun happy with the performance of the team.

Badminton seperti biasa, membuat sakit-jantung-sakit-jiwa-patah-harap segala. At least tonight's game they played better compared to yesterday masa kalah dengan Jepun. NGAN JEPUN BOLE KALAH WEI. Tak ke sakit jiwa. Am not putting hopes at all for the semis though. Haha. Anyway, it's nice to know that I at least have someone who will join me and watch the game. Suprisingly Aliah is very "semangat Malaysia" and she knows how to watch who is winning and will appropriately cheer for the right moments. J yang parrot akan mimic everything Aliah say, so sometimes I get 2 cheerleaders with me too. Haha!

And yes, I have to say my biggest happiness was dealing with the Immigration Dept today. We left after picking Aliah up from school around 12ish and proceeded to Putrajaya. We took the back road and it turned out to be the right option as while we were passing through the Diplomatic.Precint we noticed a sign that said "Bahagian Paspot". Eh, it is here ka? So we followed the sign, and found that it was there smack in the middle. Amannya la tak ramai orang. We got on the special queue for kids, which turned out to be not so special but hey, not complaining as we only had to wait for about 5 minutes. 10 mins later, we were at the paying counter and was told to come back after 1 hour to collect the passports. All in all, it took us less than 1 hour for the process.

We then proceed to the other Immigration building as we also had to renew Anik's visa. This one took us less than 10 minutes to complete the whole process. Amazing! I have to puji, they were all very efficient. And memang sangat customer friendly. Macam ni la baru bagus.

Anyway, I am also putting down what needs to be prepared for the passport and the maid's visa for future reference.

For passport;

*you need to fill out the form, it is available in their website but print out both pages in 1 paper.. depan-belakang. I made the mistake of having it printed on 2 sheets but takpelah, small matter je.

*you need photocopies of your MyKad or MyKid (for kids). And for kids you are required to provide also a photocopy of their birth cert and IC of the parents.

*you need to have 2 passport size photos with light blue background

*and if you are making the passport for the kids, please la bring the kid skali. They need to get their thumbprints on the forms and on the passport.

*Kids get special price for a 5 year passport (half price) and payment by cash is accepted, so for both kids we forked out rm300.

For the maid's visa;

*bank draft of rm445 made out to "Ketua Pengarah Imigresen Malaysia" - they don't accept cash

*valid passport (more than 1 year) if not they won't process

And herewith, are the kids' photo in their passport. Sangat buzzz kan rambut diorang? Haha!

Mother's Day

I received a very reluctant Mother's Day wish, and a more reluctant kiss from the Kakak this morning. Still waiting for the Adik to wake up. (that one is going to have a problem when going to school time comes)

Hubby made buttered prawns last night, and we had a good dinner at Mak's place.

This afternoon, would be entertaining the family at our place.

No extravagant celebration, no special gifts yet somehow this year, is indeed the most special Mother's Day of all.

...how time flies. this year, marks the 5th year of me being a mother...

34-month Baby

While putting her to sleep last night, (we were sleeping forehead to forehead) J actually stroked my face and my hair as per how I normally do to her while tucking her in. And then she proceeded to kiss my cheeks and my forehead. Awwwww... Melt OK. Sangat comel. Haihh..

She's more in tune now to reading and writing. OKla, still attention span of a fish, but at least I can sit down with her and read a full book (if it is her favourite animals book) or at least a page from her Iqra' or some other book if it does not catch her fancy. She is a righty for sure. And her scribbling skills are improving. The walls are still not safe from her. But, we've learn to close both eyes on it. Haha! Last night too, for the first time she figured out what a Doodle does. And was busy doodling the whole night. Each time it was a different picture - fish, bird, eagle (yes, different from bird), clouds ntah hape lagi la. Of course none of her scribbles look like a fish, bird, eagle etc., but to me at least she is showing signs of wanting to learn. So, good for her.

She's also much happy in her playgroup. And looks forward to it now. Waaayyy better than a year ago when she refuse to come into Teacher Fatin's house. And she has no qualms whatsoever about letting her feelings be known, much to her Kakak's dismay whenever Kakak joins the class.

She still cannot sit still for long periods. Always jumping around, climbing here and there.

And she almost always never forget to recite her doa makan before eating. Loud and clear. No matter where she is. And ever since Kakak recites the lengthy version (including the Malay translation) she has been trying to get that one right too. And she also knows her doa sebelum tidur better than Aliah.

Amazingly, she very seldom throw tantrums. Meltdowns are scarce, for which I am thankful.

She still talks funny though if she tries to speak in Malay. Tsk.

Operation Verandah - Part 1

The story : The ideal solution which was also the number 1 item on our Wishlist 2010 was to build up the 2nd floor, and have our big ass dream come true master bedroom. However, the structure of the original house combined with all the cracks we have all over the house made all the contractors we asked VERY WARY about building a room on the 2nd floor. We still needed to do something though as each time it rained the house will have natural waterfall cascading down the walls, much to the excitement of the kids of course. (Yaayyy! Waterfall!!! - cue to walk jump under the torrent of water) So, the conclusion was to create some sort of awning to prevent rain from seeping through the walls. Dah alang2 kan, kita all out la buat verandah. :)

This is the first phase.. the actual atap. Using polycarbonate and kayu kayan. Mahal weh mende ni.

We found some solar powered garden lights at I.kea and thought to add it, those are the white balls you notice on the top picture. Cantek jugak time malam.. we've decided to get some more. Heheh..

At I.kea too we found a bargain of garden table and chairs. Sundays, we'd normally have breakfast up here. The kids love it too, especially since we have moved their slide up here. Notice in the background, their pool is here too. We're thinking of getting a better one soon, insyaAllah.

And since then, it has been our (more specifically Hubby's) favourite lepak spot. Tengok la dia buat muka serious dia tuh. Banyak sangat pikir masalah dunia. Haha! :)

For 2 weekends now we have been to Sg Buloh, looking for plants / garden features. Hubby sangat excited coz we found all this.

Myra darling, do you know these plants? Hehehe.. Top L-R : sage, peppermint, cili padi. Bottom L-R : rosemary, pudina, basil. Do you know that peppermint n pudina are different plants? Their smell is different too. And yesterday, we found thyme jugak. Oh, bau dia.. sangat best rasa nak makan je~!

And this is my "limau" corner. :) Yet to bring up the limau kasturi plant which we have up here. Limau purut punya bau pon bess. And can't wait for the lemon to berbuah.

Of course, knowing me.. I would have my roses. I don't know why I just love them.

Ni baru part 1, more to come soon. Lots of things planned but all pending whatever extra cash we have. Tak dapat master bedroom pon takpe kalau puas hati macam ni kan?

Last Weekend

Boleh pulak terlupa nak cerita. Tsk.

Anyway, last weekend instead of the usual hanging out at the mall (bagus betul kan kecik2 dah ajar anak2 melepak) we (actually I proposed) something different. Seeing that Jannah has never been on any sort of train, and the last time Aliah went on one was when she was erm.. 2 I think, we took a ride on the LRT.

After J's playgroup session, we drove to KJ station parked the car there and hopped on to the LRT. Destination was KLCC. It was a simple hop on, hop off, have lunch, hop back on, hop back off.

Listed below are the observations / highlights from that simple trip.

1. Jannah is good at stabilizing herself. You know how the train lurches forward. Most times she can keep good balance. Quite impressive to watch.
2. Aliah had a great time reading and counting the many stops. Pretty amazing too that she could figure it out.
3. It was also a test to see how the girls would fare without a strolley (haha, this is Aliah-speak). Conclude that, we taught them too well. Haha. Both were complaining of tiredness halfway through. (Jannah simply dropped herself on the floor and started walking on her knees - funny that girl :P)
4. Both girls loved tickets concept, berebut nak masukkan tiket kat entrance.
5. Jannah conquered her fear of elevators. Yay!
6. Mommy found a new love - pavlova. Yummeh!
7. Lunch at The Apartment was delicious. Both kids made themselves at home by running around like it was home. Haha. Jannah even golek2 on the floor. Tak kuasa nak larang dah.
8. Papa still has headaches if and when he takes the LRT. Hikhik. Sorry yang!
9. No pictures, as it was an impromptu decision. Reminder to self, next time weekend je bawak la camera tu kulu kilir.

Aliah said, she had a great time. :)