Long Awaited Holiday 2012

.... planning dari tahun lepas .... tapi belum berkesempatan.

Akhirnya on 24th September 2012, my friend Kathy, Yasmin and I berlepas ke Jakarta dan Bandung untuk percutian 5 hari ! woohooo.. !! Thanks to Encik Ridzuan (Kathy's husband) for giving us the push !

jutawan-jutawan di airport Penang

The original plan was nak pegi bertiga - Kathy, myself and another friend Noraini. Tapi disebabkan Noraini is away temporarily in London, Kathy and I decided to go anyway, with Yasmin tagging along as well (dengan izin para suami, of coz).

Kathy wrote a beautiful post about our trip, so tak perlulah myself nak mengarang lagi. Kita share share la yer...  You can read about it  "here" .

di Puncak

(eh!? dalam photo baru terperasan pakaian dua orang ni boria!)

dari Puncak, turun ke Kebun Bunga

tunggu nak naik tram pusing keliling Kebun Bunga

Check out the beautiful photos at  Kathy's  blog.

Next destination kita nak pi bercuti ke mana, Kat?

Fun at Sunway Lagoon

"I noticed semenjak selesai khenduri ni, my uban tiba-tiba jadi banyak pulak!", kata Faiz sambil membelek-belek rambutnya depan cermin.

"Hehehehehe... sindrom naik pangkat jadi Tok Ayah ler tuuu", I replied.

Seperti yang dijanjikan oleh Tok Ayah Faiz to our new cucu Mimi Maisara, on 7th April,  Faiz, Yasmin and I flew down to KL with her for a trip to Sunway Lagoon.

trying on her new goggles

jom... check-in

nak tunggu kapalterbang tu lambat lagi ke, Mak Tok?

haa.... nak boarding tu. cepat beratur!

yeay! kapalterbang dah sampai! MAK TOK!!... kapalterbang warna oren la!! (her favourite colour)

nak duduk tepi tingkap 

Tiba di KL, Farid, Kartina, Firdaus and Ani fetched us at the airport.  Breakfast kejap... then off to Sunway Lagoon!

I joined them for a few fun rides while Faiz was just contented to stay put in one place, read the newspaper and took care of our bags.

Mimi sliding down with her Paksu Firdaus

eeeiiiiii....   pucat !!  hahahaha...

here comes Aunty Min and TokSu Ani !! 

tak ketinggalan... Mummy & Daddy

haaa... naik yang ni ok la... tak takut

"tok ayah... jom pi main game Angry Bird tu"

back row from right: Firdaus, Yasmin, Ani, Tina and Farid (terlindung dengan pillar tu pulak dah!)

"Mak Tok... bila nak boleh pi mandi kolam ni? Asyik dok main games ja?", tanya si budak yang dah tak sabar-sabar nak try on her goggles tu... hehehehe..

"Ok, jom"

haaa... ni baru best !!! 

(air kolam takat lutut ja, tapi kelengkapan mengalahkan nak berenang di kolam dalam!)

Sementara Mak Tok and Tok Ayah bawa Mimi pegi mandi kolam, elsewhere Paksu Firdaus and Aunty Min went BUNGY JUMPING !

berani sungguh !

Lebih kurang 5pm, it started to drizzle, so we decided to go back to the hotel.  If the rain stops, nanti boleh continue swimming in the hotel pool.  Tapi bila tiba di hotel, no one was in the mood to swim anymore... semua pakat letih belaka ! 

Ok lah... swim esok pagi ja after breakfast....

Tok Su jadi lifeguard watching over Mimi  :-P

We took the 6pm flight back to Penang.  On the way to board the plane, Mimi saw a helicopter nearby.  

"Mak Tok... mak tok...! Lain kali kita naik helicopter pulak yer?"

"Family time is not a matter of convenience...it is a matter of priority."

Wes Fessler

Ladies Getaway To KL

The last trip was to Singapore.

It was time for a getaway again... but ... where to?

Bandung was on top of the list during the few discussions that we had but had to choose another location because to go to Bandung, Noraini had to apply for visa and we didn't want to go through the fuss. And so, KL it is !

Noraini, Kathy and I took the 9am NICE Express Bus to KL. Yati was not able to join us for the trip this time because of her son's PMR exams on those dates.

6 - 8 October, 2011
3days 2nights
Boulevard Hotel, Midvalley.

Studio Suite

After checking-in... jom makan!!

at Tempanyaki

wah! bergayanya dia masak

yeay! this is my chicken tempanyaki set

oit!! started without me aaa.. ?

After lunch, we wandered about and we came upon an ice-cream parlor...

time for dessert

My sister, Ani, joined us after finishing her work. Continued with more shopping and ended with dinner at Madame Kwan's. Kathy's son, Alif, came a while later to pick up some things from Kathy and joined us for dinner. After dinner, Ani left for the airport to fetch Yasmin, who also decided to come spend some quality time with her Maksu in KL.

2nd day - Yasmin joined us for breakfast and later, the four of us took a taxi to IKEA. We each bought a little bit of something that we could manage to hand-carry.


For lunch, we proceeded to Tony Roma's at the Curve.

Though the ribs look harmlessly small, they're actually quite a mouthful! We ate till we're about to drop ! Thumbs up to both Kathy and Yasmin who managed to 'clear the plate'.. hahaha..


Alif arrived as we left Tony Roma's. Laaa... kesian dia... I'm sure dia belum makan (me.. the concerned Mum always ... when it comes to food!).


Oh! Look!! There's Chocolate Lounge! Let's pop over for desserts and "what-have-you's" there (the image of my weighing scale was making frightening appearances in my mind.... eeyahhh!!! karate kasi pecah sama dia!!).

eemm... yummylicious

Ms Coco

We did not venture much into the shops at the Curve because dragging the IKEA bags and shopping at the same time proved to be quite a hassle. That's why we ended up from one food outlet to the other where we sat, relaxed, enjoyed the food and chat.


We got back to Boulevard Hotel just in time to beat the evening rush-hour traffic. After resting for a while, we went out again. This time to Garden's.


Later, Ani and Yasmin left for dinner and karaoke activities while the three of us decided to dine at Delicious. With all the food we had consumed throughout the day, we were feeling considerably full. So, dinner was a light one with just soup and cakes.

carrot cake

Wild Mushroom Soup (didn't finish my soup, too peppery! bleaakkhh !)

Trip To Universal Studios, Singapore - Part 2

2nd September 2011 - Woke up to perform Subuh prayers with high spirits and excitement in anticipation of today's itinerary - to Universal Studios, Singapore. wuhuuuu...!!!

Surprised to see Firdaus huddled at the corner of his bed looking sickly.

"Eh?? what happened, Adik?"

"Diarrhoea... the whole night.... and now rasa nak muntah..."

"Laa! Makan apa, eh? Everyone else ok jer. emmm... must have been the Nasi Goreng Daging Merah you took last night." (my excitement and high spirits immediately vanished into thin air!).

Ransacked the mini fridge looking for 100Plus ...

... none.

Aduihh..!

Went down to the lobby, asked where's the nearest clinic. Thank goodness, considerably near ... but opens at 9am. "Ok, where's the nearest 7-11 ?". "Just around the corner."

to 7-11 beli pill
Chi Kit Tek On

9am, our transport came. First stop ...








While waiting for us, Ani and Yasmin got down to filling up the Immigration Cards.

Ok... ubat dah ambil ... the Doctor made him take 2 tablets at the clinic and to follow up with other tablets, if condition persists.

"Ya Allah, sembuhkanlah anak aku. Amin". ok, jom...

drop / pick-up area at the basement under the park

asal posing ja, mesti nak tunjuk 'peace', kan?

Alhamdulillah, Firdaus is looking more or less his playful self now

Tak caya?

Tengok ni...

ceria, kan? hehehe..

Dengan rasminya, Mama's worries flew off !

Ok, ambik tiket masing-masing ...





"Nak pi yang mana dulu, eh?"

For a person who loves the excitement of roller coaster rides and couldn't wait to madly dive in for his first ride in the park, it wasn't surprising when Firdaus answered: "ANCIENT EGYPT - REVENGE OF THE MUMMY !!"

On the way to 'Ancient Egypt', we stopped to see an indoor Steven Spielberg's special effects short movie at "Lights, Camera, Action".

We were made to stand in a boathouse by the harbour and experience a Category 5 major hurricane in New York. Interesting!

ok... sambung perjalanan ...

... sampai dah!

'dug.. dag.. dug.. dag' ... hati kecut tapi posing bukan main lagi!

Come on! You can do this, Dolly!


Revenge Of The Mummy, my first ever roller coaster ride in 48yrs of life! This indoor roller coaster started-off slow before suddenly reversing and then exhilarating and plunging us into pitch black total darkness. I could feel the rush of adrenalin as I opened my eyes wide, partly in shock, trying to catch a glimpse of even the slightest of light. I could hear myself screaming my lungs out, clinging on tightly to the safety lap bar for dear life throughout the wild ride!! What have I got myself into!!??

"aaaa.. aahhhHHHH.... AAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH..!!!!

aik? apasal grandpa's and grandma's in the two front rows (except for that young fella) nampak relax jer macam not affected langsung, eh? (reminds me of one of Mr Bean's episodes on TV).


"Amacam, Mama? OK dak?", Farid asked. He's the one yang bersungguh-sungguh sangat nak Mama dia naik roller coasters.


"Eh! Mama okeyyyyhh... (cewah!!??). eemm... kat mana toilet?"

Ani waiting for me in front of the restroom. "Sorry eh, cheq lambat skit. Ni nak sudah dah".

Next, we proceeded to the outdoor roller coasters, Battlestar Galactica, where they have two high speed roller coasters HUMAN (red) and CYLON (blue), moving parallel side by side twisting, turning & narrowly avoiding collision with each other!

Naik HUMAN dulu, ok?


Jom!!

'peace'
who am I kidding? trauma tadi pun tak habis lagi!
risau aku!!

OMG!! aahhHHH.. aahhhHHHH.... WHOAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH..!!!!

There was no harness on the upper body part, just a lap bar, and I felt as though I was going to be flung out from my seat! It was scary!!


Down from HUMAN, diorang kata, "Jom sambung naik CYLON pulak!".


"You guys go ahead... bak sini tiket Mama, I'M DONE !!" (nasib baik cheq tak mati atas roller coaster tu tadi! ... eeeiii...)

water! nak minum! nak minum! my throat dry from all the screaming just now!

after CYLON. I noticed Firdaus was a bit pale and was not as 'cheerful' anymore.

"Are you ok, Adik?"


"Pening skit. Nak muntah ... panas ..."


It was midday and was getting considerably hot. With Firdaus starting to feel unwell, we quickly went into one of the air-conditioned souvenir shops to cool down ... browse ... and do some shopping.

After getting some souvenirs and T-shirts, we moved on to "The Lost World" which is divided into two themed areas: Jurassic Park and WaterWorld. It was most unfortunate that Jurassic Park was closed for technical maintenance as we were actually looking forward to this thrilling outdoor river rafts ride (eemm... does this mean we have to come back again for another visit? hehehe...)

Ani: "Lapaq laaa...".

beli nachos...

... drinks and a fancy 'water bottled' fan to keep cool

Next, we proceeded to ...

The live water show at "Waterworld" was about to start as we hurried into the sheltered enclosed area. The stunts, thrills from real explosions of fire and spills of water made the show a sensational one.


Next area was Far, Far Away where we watched the Shrek 4D adventure. There was a long wait in the introductory hall which was quite boring because the hall was packed with sweaty people and smelly clothes which made the place stuffy! eeuuww! I was so relieved when we were finally ushered into the cool comfortable theatre. As I sat, something fell off my seat. Hey! I found an iPhone!! The show started. It was an entertaining 4D adventure with gentle breeze of water and rocking chairs making the story somewhat 'real' as it progresses. Fun!


After the show, we stopped at Madagascar's Casa Del Wild for lunch where we had chicken rice and spaghetti. Meanwhile, Firdaus made calls with the iPhone we found to try to locate the owner. Within half an hour, a young Chinese lady walked into the cafe and was straining her neck as though searching for 'someone'. On instinct, I waved my hand and she came to our table and was so grateful and glad to claim back her iPhone, snapping a photo of Firdaus before leaving.

Perut dah kenyang, sambung perjalanan...


Next, we tried Madagascar's "A Crate Adventure", an indoor river boat ride adventure.

Thank goodness we bought 'Express Passes' together with our tickets online, so we breezed through entrances to all rides and shows. The waiting queues were 45mins to 1hour each!

It was a very very slow and boring ride. As the boat glided gently down the river, I kept expecting something to shock / scare or get us wet but was disappointed with the tame river ride all the way ...

After the ride was over, the penguins and other animal 'friends' entertained us with a dance show.

Last stop, Hollywood. It was here that Firdaus's diarrhoea and nausea started again and he declared that he could no longer bear to go on and badly wanted to get back to the hotel to rest. So, kat sinilah sessi menghabiskan Sing Dollars yang masih ada dengan membeli segala macam souvenirs and Tshirts.

OK.. selesai dah? Jom balik ...

Called our transport and within minutes we were on our way back to Johor Bahru. Made a quick stop at Hard Rock Cafe Singapore to buy some Tshirts. Perjalanan selesa without any traffic jam on the Causeway, arriving at the hotel within 30 mins.


"OK, Ah Wei.. Come fetch us at 8pm for dinner, ya".


8pm - We were entertained again by Mr Teng, Faiz's friend, to the famous Indah Selalu Nasi Lemak and seafood dinner at Kampung Senibong, Permas Jaya.

The restaurant was constructed by the waterfront overlooking Singapore. It has a relaxing ambience with sea breeze and straits view that makes dining a pleasant experience.

3 September 2011 - Time to head home. Our transport came to pick us up at 7am and by 7.30am, we were at Senai International Airport.. getting ready to board two 8.40am flights; ours to Penang and my sister's to Kuala Lumpur.


Alhamdulillah, no flight delays and by 9.30am, we arrived safely in Penang where Pak Kozeni and Faris were ready to pick us up.

Summary:

The Universal Studios in Singapore was nice-and-easy and smaller compared to the one we went to in Gold Coast, Australia a few years back.

Looking at the holiday photos made me feel all sentimental. I am so blessed to have all of you in my life. The laughter and screams would be lasting memories cherished and would forever bring fond smiles whenever I think of them.