Anniversary - part 2

Yes, it has to be done in parts because;

1. The 20th was a weekday and we have schooling kids who we could not abandon at will :P

2. That weekend was the only one available to fit in everyone's timeslot - ours, kids, mak

So we did manage to do it. Lucky for us our support system is strong. And for the first time, instead of sending them over to mama's, kids stayed home with mak.

As usual, this mommy was very apprehensive about leaving behind the boo-boy. Unlike his 2 kakaks, he has enjoyed being breastfed for the last 14 months and thus needs his nen to sleep at night... Thus there was the whole "are we really leaving him?" and "he's gonna be ok kan?" moments which bugged me every half hour or so.

Anyhow, we did another round of KL sleepover. Still at Impiana. Didn't have dinner there though. Walked across to the new Hyatt for that.

Dinner was simply lovely! The food was awesome - how can it not be with lobsters and scallops and trout and alaskan king crab. The live band was good. And we had a view of KLCC in the background.

Managed to get some good uninterrupted us time. Catch up on some movies. A good night sleep that does not include one kid or the other waking us up wanting this or that. Sambung tido lagi till the breakfast arrived. Haha. Bliss I tell ya.

And did Amir survive the night? Apparently he did. Some crankiness and whining. Slept late. But all in all, it was good - else we would have gotten a call at 2 in the morning wouldn't we? ;)

[this was our dessert :: kellaas presentation dia.. siap berasap2]

USS Getaway

It was sort of impromptu, what with getting Amir's passport at the last minute. And it definitely wasn't part of the year's planned out trip. But when an opportunity shows itself up, it would not be a brilliant move to snub it kan?

Waiting for the Monster Rock show

This would be the first time we tried to manage all 3 kids by ourselves. TRY being the operative word here. Luckily for us, there were many willing babysitters and kidsitters too. ;) [thank you guys!]

The trip itself was enjoyable. The USS was awesome. The company so much more.

We drove to JB on Friday evening. Have to say the kids do not like night time travelling unlike the parents. Haha. We checked-in to New.York.Hotel close to midnight. The reason we were staying there was because they had a package deal incl. accomodation, transport to and from USS and entrance ticket. Not bad I might add. [thank you puan organizer! :) ] It was to be the kids first coach ride and they enjoyed themselves.

Semangat nak berjalan punya pasal, we didn't have problems in waking them early and getting them ready. 

Excited dia looking at the scenery

By the time we got to USS, orang sikit punya ramai! Luckily, our tickets have been pre-bought. Cuma tinggal pegi guest services counter to get the Express Tix upgrade. Yes, it is SD50 a piece.. But if you factor in the waiting time, AND if you even WANT to go on any rides at all maka sila lah keluarkan duit lebih sikit. Even rides bodo pon ada waiting time of 30-45 minutes.

Wait Time for the Transformers ride was 2 hours!!

As Amir was still not viable for most rides, we had to take turns taking the 2 girls. Hence, the express tix was extra handy.

Most rides are pretty awesome. The 4D and 3D attractions are most popular I believe. Specifically the Transformers ride. Aliah even went on the roller coaster ride twice! J decided that she was extra tired and fell asleep by mid afternoon. Good thing too as she was getting reaaalllyyyy cranky and testing Mommy's patience to the max. 

We didn't get to see too many characters though. As it rained twice! Luckily most rides were still accessible.  

All in all, superb quick getaway. 

The thing about going by coach would be that we need to embark-disembark a couple of times. Masa pegi takpe lah lagi. By the time balik, kids dah tak larat. The parents pon dah tak larat. Agak mencabar lah jugak. But it was a good experience. And it proved to us (me and Hubby) that we can manage without the maid. Agak penat. But still viable. 

If we could improve on certain aspects, would definitely want to stay inside Sentosa itself. So we could come back in for the fireworks at night. Or even go back for a quick rest / nap. And come back fresh to attack the rides again. And if we were to come back again, it would be after Amir has reached the 102cm height. So that all of us can go together on the rides. 

Will we go back? Yes, InsyaAllah. :)

E.I.G.H.T

Blissful pampering time

Delish Dinner

Walking from Impiana to KLCC via the new pedestrian walkway - 
excited nak pegi KLCC macam budak dapat pegi Disney!

Garrett & Candylicious - yumms!

And yes, Amir was with us the entire time

.. Happy 8th Anniversary to us.. It has been a super ohsem journey with still a long way to go.. May the love we have keep on going forever and ever till Jannah..

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. :)

Day Out :: Butterfly Park

We went there 2 weeks ago, but procrastinate punya pasal langsung tak update.

Fee : RM8 for adults, and RM4 for kids. If you bring your camera, it is RM1 each camera.

Parking : Relatively easy as not many people go there, unlike the Bird Park where there were so many people.

The plan was to tire the kids out, so that Papa can watch the F1 in peace later. Haha. It worked though. Mommy wanted to test her Ni.kon and tried out some settings. So all in all, everyone was a happy camper.

The race however was a boring one I have to say.

My models (bottom right pic : Kakak leading Adik in an exercise routine)

Anyway, the park has lost its attraction if you ask me. I remember when we went there about 15 yrs ago, there were so so so many beautiful butterflies and they were jinak (for lack of a better word). But now.. oh, you could still see them but nak dapat pegang ke memang mintak maap la. And not many species available.

The flora n fauna

Still, if you have little kids who love the outdoor (like Jannah) and loves her animals and insects and bugs (like Jannah), do go. And if you have little kids who whine because they have to walk a lot (like Aliah), this is a good place too as it's not too big but enough to tire them out just right. ;)

CNY Weekend

After postponing it for so many weeks; the girls were not well, weather was not sunny, Mommy & Papa was not well - we finally went to the KL.Bird.Park. Very interesting, especially if your kids are outdoor adventurers and animal enthusiast. We left late, it was the holidays and I didn't want to rush for something we were doing for fun and spoil it by rushing. (I read this back and am wondering if people would understand what I'm trying to say)

Anyway, we arrived there close to midday and found the parking all full! Hmm.. everyone seems to have the same idea. We decided to park a bit further at the Lake Gardens parking, and walked back to the park entrance. Kerna bawak single stroller, Aliah sudah complain kena jalan jauh. Haha. Entrance fee is acceptable for locals, and you get further discount if you have Jcard. If you have more than 1 Jcard, bawak semua - as the discount is given per card.

Yer, tiada gambar burung.. masih menanti DSLR. Huhuhu.. We stayed until 4ish. On the way back, both kids dah pensan.

And because of that, I know there was no way they were going to go to sleep early. Might as well go all out. Haha. Malam tu, we headed for Sun.way Py.ra.mid's Beryl Park - named after the Beryl chocs. What got me interested to go was actually because a few days before that, we (as in me and Hubby) went to Py.ra.mid Bowl and I saw this ferris wheel. And it was indoors! And I thought, hey.. the kids would enjoy this. And they did. Glad to know that Jannah seems to enjoy all this more now, compared to dolu-dolu. The way they operate is you buy a ticket and you top-up X amount of RM, depending on what you think your kids would want to ride. We spent a total of RM35 for them to go on the ferris wheel (with Mommy), the merry-go-round, and for Aliah to go on the train and plane rides. OK la. For kids, under the age of 8. Haha. But the girls loved it.

Back-date Post : Jalan - Jalan Melaka

This is a belated post. A very belated post. I hope I can remember the details. Hehe.


We went for a 3d2n getaway with the kids n brought Anik along with us too. Utilising the free nights from 0rient Rewards, we stayed at the E.ver.ly Hotel situated along the Tg Kling road. We left a bit late on Saturday, as there were earlier commitments we needed to attend to. But as it was a holiday, so we didn't see the point of rushing.

After checking-in, we lazed around a bit before deciding to go out for dinner. Not really in the mood for any ikan bakar, we went into town in hopes of finding a Nyo.nya restaurant. We found a few, but there were no parking in the vicinity. Finding a parking spot in town during the weekends is quite a challenge. In the end, we went to Dataran Pahlawan and had.. NLA! Haha. It was my first experience of having NLA outside from the Kg Bharu outlet, and I have to say it does not live up to the standards. I'd much rather go to Kg Bharu itself or even have nasi lemak Mak.Wanjor.

Next morning, we wanted to swim but it was raining. Plus, Aliah wanted some toys she could use whilst main pasir. So, we decided to go back into town and head to the mall to look for the toys. Dah alang-alang ada in town, we went to a couple of the tourist-y sites. Went up The Eye. And went to the ship. Wanted to take the boat ride, but the queue was too long. Basically, out of all the things to do there, those were the only tourist-y thing we did. For one, we didn't feel the kids would enjoy all the other stuff and also Melaka during the weekends is just so damn packed with people!


Head back to the hotel, but first we stop by the roadside to buy some really mouth-watering coconut shake. Bess gile! Dah la depan hotel je the stall.

As soon as we reached the room, both kids bugged us to go down and swim. I told them to rest first, and we'll go down when it's not so hot. I really don't know where they get all their energy. Mommy and Papa dah nak pensan kepenatan and they still can run and jump around. Jannah still has some reservations about being in the pool, but Aliah just loves it! I think next year we can think about sending her for proper swimming lessons.

All along, Hubby wanted to stop at this Chinese Muslim restaurant but each time we either missed the junction or the kids were asleep or something or other. And that day, we missed the timing. Lunch was until 3pm only, and we arrived 5 after 3. So kecewa again. To make up for that, we decided to go for dinner. Walaupon tau that both girls might be cranky and tired. But redahkan jua, nak makan punya pasal. And true enough, the food was delicious! Murah pulak tu. So, if you are in the area please go and visit. Confirm tak menyesal. We had a little chat with the owners. 2 ladies who's been friends for years, one of them is Malay and the other is Chinese Muslim. Apparently they told us, they've just been open for 15 days.


Monday morning, both girls had lots of fun at the beach. It's the first time for both of them to actually main kat pantai. J got cranky when we dragged her away from there. It was almost 11 and the day was really hot! Dah la I forgot to bring sunscreen for anak-anak orang putih dua orang tuh.


We went back up to pack, and left the hotel promptly at 1230. But our holiday was not yet over. Next stop : A Fam0sa Res0rt. Yeayy~! Heaven tau pegi situ on a Monday. T.a.k.d.e. o.r.a.n.g! I guess it is also because they close the Water Park on Mondays, so the crowd is down by half. Anyway, we arrived just in time for the start of the shows. Cowboy show, Animal Show, Bird Show & Elephant Show. Aliah enjoyed herself tremendously. Jannah, seperti biasa.. tutup telinga. Haiih... She only enjoyed the elephants. By then, both girls were tired. Masuk kereta, salin baju, minum susu and tidooo.

Verdict : Excellent trip, great bonding time with the girls.

The Bangkok Experience - Part 2

Day 2

This would be one of those long days. Since we'll be going from one place to another via the sky train (BTS), we opted for the one day pass which cost THB120 (approx. RM13). Proved to be an asset - it was the weekend, a lot of tourists, not enough ticket kiosks (which uses coins only). Our first stop for the day was the Chatuchak Weekend Market. We could see the market from the train and it was HUGE!! I got a headache just by looking at it.


Maka bermulalah sessi berjalan dan berjalan untuk hari itu. By midday, my feet were killing me! Tapi gigih jugak ni, redah la segala kedai. I went there without any expectations, so didn't get too dissappointed when I didn't find the things I expected to find there. Bangkok is very similar to KL - the buildings, the rush, the traffic, the public transport.

We left the market, hopped back on the train, headed for the town center. Went looking for the Jim Thomson House - gila ah, main aci redah je.. nasib baik jumpa. Hubby was skeptical already. "Are you sure this is the right road?" Pasal jalan tu macam jalan kampung yang tak logik akan ada sebuah interesting place di hujungnya. But there it was, and it was really cantek. Cuma dah capek sangat nak follow the museum tour, so we just lepak for a bit and went to the shop je.


Lepas tu nak carik HRC pun satu hal jugak. Jalan dan jalan lagik. Jumpa. Penat. Makan. Grab a couple of HRC souvenirs.

We decided to head back to the hotel to rest a bit before our theater show later.

And the show was absolutely AWESOME! Worth every baht we paid for. Tickets were priced at THB800 (approx RM82) per person, but we got a promo of buy 1, free 1. And we got a free gift to boot.


They had 8 sets of shows, mostly with puppets but in between there was a Joget song with belly dancers, a silat song was used for a dance of a scene during a Sabung Ayam contest. They even had a meet the guests show during the set. The hour long show terasa sangat sekejap!



Video from www.aksratheatre.com

Day 3


The plan was to lepak at this beautiful garden till it was our spa time. (note: one of those rooms was our room) Tapi pasal tak puas hati, ajak En. Hubby pegi Chatuchak again. Boleh? Gigih nih.. Haha. Udahnya, we arrived late for our spa session and they had to move our slot. Nasib baik tak kena bayar denda, and nasib baik puas hati dapat beli barang lagi kat JJ tuh. Hehehe..

Lepas spa yg sangat bess, kemas barang and check out.

All in all, it was a great trip. Seperti biasa, we much prefer to just wing it when it comes to holidays. Read up a bit before, figure out the best places to go, read reviews and then make up a rough plan. And so far it has worked.


...going on this trip has made me miss Bali even more...


note : more pics in the FB

The Bangkok Experience - Part 1

It was a short getaway. We were a bit concerned about going, the H1N1 and political issues being our main concerns. In the end we decided to just wing it, and Alhamdulillah everything went well.

Day 1

I did the web check-in as I didn't want to be stuck with all the early morning travelers, so we arrived ngam-ngam an hour before our departure. Dropped off the luggage at the drop-off counter, and we were ready to go.

Aliah was OK with it, as I had pep talked her earlier about where we were going and when we'll come back. I wasn't worried to much about her as her cousins were around. Jannah was being a bit moody, not too sure whether it was the early morning or the crowds that caused it. I was concern too for her, as she had a slight fever the previous night. But I know she is in good hands with Anik, and Mama is around to help her too.

We arrived at Suvarnabhumi airport after a 2 hour flight. Immigration was smooth and easy, luggage was out early, our airport transfer guy was waiting outside and we headed straight for the hotel.

Because we arrived early, we could not check in to our room yet. So we decided to go for a short walk to the duty free mall next door. Hoo-hum, nothing much to see. Hehe.. But we did find the Aksra Theatre on the 3rd floor and promptly bought tickets for Saturday night show.

Head back to the hotel, got our room keys and checked out the room. It was lovely! We got the garden view room and this is what we saw when we looked out the window. Check out the pool! Of course we couldn't resist from dipping in. Syiok!


After maghrib, we left for the Suan Lum Night Baazar. Our hotel is close by to the BTS station, and even so they had a complimentary tuk tuk service for their guests to the train station. Kerana lapar, we stopped at Nana station (ye, ada station sempena nama saya!), headed for Sukhumvit Soi 3 and went looking for some Muslim food there. This is the best place for halal food, Pak Arab memang merata-rata kat situ.


As the Asok-Sukhumvit interchange was just at the next station, we decided to walk. Next, we took the subway to Lumphini station, the stop for the night baazar. It was quite spacious, and sold everything from clothes to trinkets to food to household items. And it was a case of see one seen it all. No complains though as we were there to enjoy the sights and atmosphere.

Notice above pic has an elephant in it? Selamba je gajah tu lalu tengah jalan, we figured out later it was an attraction and you pay the trainer to feed and take pictures with the elephant. Seterusnya, gambar us fooling around at the hotel. Lawa seh hotel tu.. mmg worth every penny we paid for it.


..next Day 2 and Day 3..

Ada semut dalam kaki

Just got back from JB late yesterday evening..

Penat ya amat.

Still trying to come back to daily routine. Haha. Excuse my tardiness. Sneak preview je dulu lah ye.


By the way, Aliah got the semut-semut for sitting too long in the car. She just suddenly burst into giggles while shouting "ada semut laaa dalam kaki saya" Haha!

Bu.kit Me.rah

*This is a belated post.*

We were here during the March school hols, coinciding with Mak's "pilot's" wedding. It was a 3d/2n stay. Although Friday tu sampai2 pon dah Maghrib. Jannah being her usual self, automatically disliked the new environment. It was difficult to get her to sleep.
Saturday morning, we started of with the EcoPark. I have to say, although it is small.. it was definitely better than other zoos we've been to. The kids enjoyed themselves a lot there. They had an animal show (although only macaws were part of the show), we got to feed the animals (for RM5/pack of veggies and nuts). They even had a petting zoo area which was pretty cool.
After that we went to the Waterpark, tak sempat amek gambar as the kids were enjoying themselves in the pool too much. (Note to those who wants to go there; we recommend you take up the cabana rental - it is cheap-ish (rm30 for 2 hours) and it gives some extra comfort too as it can get really hot)

We left soon enough and decided to literally Jalan-Jalan Cari Makan. Heard so much about the Mee Udang Kuala Sepetang and upon goggle-mapping figured it was not that far. Along the way we were greeted by this.. Election was round the corner then kan. Anyway, it was utterly delicious. Memang sedap amat! Even now thinking about it has me drooling. Haha. The queue was crazy, people came from everywhere just to eat there. There was about 1km worth of cars and buses parked by the roadside near the kedai.
Sunday, we left early as we still have a long way to go as the wedding was in Grik. And we reached home way after Isya' as we really took our time and made stops along the way (Sg Perak, Sg Buloh). The kids were forever singing with Barney in the car. All in all, it was a great trip.

The last week of the year

It has been a busy week, with holiday breaks in between. I think most people took some time off, just so dapat extra long stretch of unwind time. So did we. Let's recap what happened..

[note : this could be a long post]

25 December
Started the day with a day out with the girls - Caza, Ina, Kay, Een, Niko. Ogy was MIA, thus our target for a whole 7 is still elusive. Had a great lunch at Pavillion's Tony Roma's - big portion!! (note to self : next time share please). Niko ngelat.. dia bagi semua orang dia punya food and thus food dia habes dulu. Lepas Zohor, waited for Hubby n kids to pick me up before we headed for Boe's daughters' birthday. It was great too that I got to meet up with Orang Kampung.. albeit just a few of them.

26 December

Took the day off, although hangin jugak kejap as Hubby still had some meeting to attend in the morning. After friday prayers, went for my long awaited retail theraphy session at OU. haha! Had a good outing at M&S, bought a pretty black dress for A, Hubby bought new shoes and I guess our biggest buy that day was this. Ada orang tu dah target, 15kgs in 6 months time. Go! Go!

Tapi lepas tu, pegi Ikan0 pulak. Boleh? Shop for the girls' clothes at Brands 0utlet. *sigh* it's always so nice to shop for the girls.

27 December

Was a bit of a relaxing day, apart from Amir's wedding and travelling to Puchong for a sleepover.

28 December

Headed for Aquaria after a pancake breakfast. We got there around 11ish, and the queue to enter was already so long. But I have to say, the staff of Aquaria is really professional and courteous. Top class. The kids had fun, Aliah got freaked out by the spiders. Jannah loved all the fishes although she was a bit afraid of the dark ambience. We spent about 2 hours in there. From there we moved to Summit, pasal nak carik PS2 and GBA punya games. Hubby lah ni, he got tired of Aliah wanting to play games on his phone. But susah la skarang ni nak carik PS2 and GBA punya games. Everything is either PSP, Wii or Xbox. Tapi borong jugak some DVDs dah alang2 kat situ. :)

Petang tu bebudak terjun swimming pool. A is a water baby. No problems whatsoever. She can put on her arm bands and terus terjun dalam pool. J however is still afraid of the pool. Cuma the last 10 mins je dia cam OK sket. And no one else can touch her in the pool except for Mommy, alang Papa dia pon kena marah kalau cuba pegang dia. Haha!

Malam tu, went out for a drive to Sunway. Checked out the lights. Cantek. Aliah made us pusing 3x kat situ. Haha. Even Jannah loved it too.

29 December

Everyone was still tired from yesterday's outing that we stayed home. Wanted to go out for lunch but J decided she wanted to catch up on her sleep and proceeded to sleep for 3 half hours stretch! Impressive. Haha. Penat sangat la tu. The evening the girls went for another round of terjun in the pool. This time J was a bit better and even allowed me to dip her in the pool.

30 December

Back to work. (insert sound of discontent here - haha)
That night, we got some good news during the company's dinner. Wohoo.. Alhamdulillah. Tengoklah Aliah, budak pompuan lain sume buat butterfly ke star ke ape ke.. dia naaaak jugak Spiderman. Tsk.

31 December

Another work day, walaupon hakikatnya semua yang keje (ada la 3-4 kerat) pon macam tak keje jugak. Haha. Finally got to watch Chihuahua that night. And suprisingly, the malls wasn't that packed. Hmm...

A new year is up ahead. This year went by so fast I think. And next year is going to be another challenging year. Am grateful for all that I have now, but at the same time I know there's a lot more to strive for.

To all, Selamat Tahun Baru Hijrah and Masehi!

Yesterday's Outing

So we did go to the zoo.. and *sigh*. As much as I want to say it was worth the rm15 entrance fee for adults, it wasn't. It would have been more worth it to fork out the extra 11 bucks and go to A.qua.ria. Or traveled all the way down to Melaka and go to their zoo or even to the A.Famosa. They just really need to do something about the zoo. Even the show wasn't *that* entertaining.

I have to start of this post by saying I am officially raising mall rats. Tsk.

Aliah was probably happy about the prospect of both parents not working yesterday, more so than the fact that we were going to the zoo. So yeah, she was quite ecstatic about the elephants and the giraffe, and the deers, and the train ride. Apart from those animals, she just wanted to move along. Heh.

Jannah on the other hand, had her blur-no-mood demeanor on for most of the day. You got a bit of hope at the monkeys area. And that was it. But then, the moment we stepped into the car, wah.. she got so happy and couldn't stop talking all the way.

tsk. I think Anik had more fun there compared to Jannah. Haha! (She even bought a keychain at the gift shop)

We we there for about 3 hours, leaving about 4ish right before it started raining.

Then we, oh scratch that, I decided we should probably make the most of the day and head indoors to a mall. (At least Hubby could go scout around for that exercise machine he wants - alasan je la kan! Haha). And this is why I say my kids are mall rats. As soon as we got to the parking area of MV, Aliah was excited beyond description. Non stop chatter, telling us of the places she wanted to go to and what she wanted to do (her Papa by this point was already rolling his eyes). Even Jannah showed more excitement on her face. Although she did throw up at the parking lot. So that could have been the reason for her better mood.

Since Christmas is around the corner, we got to be jakun over the nice decor they have. Aliah even insist on photos. Oh, sangat posing ok amek gambar skarang.


Had a really nice late lunch early dinner at Rak.Thai. Went to Toys'r'us and let Aliah ogled on all the cool toys she wants (Ultraman, Power Rangers, Thomas, even Ben10 walaupon tak pernah tgk kat TV - can someone please tell me am I raising a girl or a boy?) Hubby did go look for that exercise machine and has set his eyes on one that seemed to be good, even for me. We're probably going again next week to decide.

We left about 9ish, sent Yon home and by the time we reached Bangi the girls were tired and fast asleep.

All in all, I'd say it was a good day.

oh.. we finally saw Jannah's 2 new molars. I think that has been the cause of her moodiness for the past week.
opps.. have to edit that, not 2 molars.. but 4 molars!