Lost!!

I lost my Blackberry!!

Uwwaaaa!!!!

Seriously...this sucks big time. The best thing is, I lost it at Legoland!!

Freaking stupid Legoland. Curse that place! Grrrrr...

OK, so our trip to Legoland was a huge bust. 1st, we only got in after nearly one hour lining up for tickets.  Before you roll your eyes and say "why didn't you just buy tickets online?", it was because I wanted to use the "Kids Enter Free" vouchers. Kids tickets cost RM110, so I saved RM330 by using them.

It was freaking hot in the afternoon and mid-day, which was kind of expected. But then it started to rain around 3pm. And rained. And rained. Complete with thunder and lightning. Since there was lightning involved, all the rides stopped and everybody huddled indoors for hot coffee.

RM7.50 for a cup of hot coffee!! Shhheeeettt!!!

It was during one of my many trips to the toilet that I left it there. Huuhuhuhu...I can still see it in my mind, balanced on the tissue dispenser.

The worst part is that I lost all my photos that I took at Legoland. All my photos with Rachel Allen (yes, I met her! And she taught me how to cook!!). All my photos with Sarimah. Huhuhuhu...and also my photos taken during the Run For Your Lungs event.

So now I'm using this cokia HP phone that doesn't even have Whatsapp installed. En Rashid bought a new Samsung Galaxy S3, which he plans to let me use. So I guess I'm going android.

Bye Bye BB!

Back From Japan

Japan was great!!Expensive as expected but we had a wonderful time just having that Japan experience. If I had to list down the highlights of the trip, it would be the kimono dress up, eating authentic Japanese food, riding the bullet train and watching the sumo match up close and personal. We walked and walked all over Osaka until my back hurt and still couldn't finish all the attractions. I'll write more about what we did there in my next posts...work a-calling...back to the real world.

Life is What You Make Out Of It...

It's been 2 weeks plus since our maid ran away and seriously...I don't miss her at all. Add on to the stories that my neighbors have FINALLY told me about her, I say good riddance!! I was a bit peeved that my neighbors kept her antics a secret from us but on the other hand, I understand their concerns. Ever since one of our neighbors blew up at the others because we told her about her maid, everyone has been taking the "none of my business" route. Which is such a pity. I really would have appreciated it if they had spoken up sooner...Daria might have gotten better care. But what has happened has happened and I believe all for good reason.

So for now, Dania and Dina transit at their kafa school and Daria goes to the kindergarten behind our home. Dania and Dina have been adapting well but Daria...let's just say it's a drama everytime we drop her off at school. The waterworks start happening and the begging commences. The first time it happened, I got so upset, I cried all the way to work. It hasn't gotten easier (yet) but I'm hoping Daria will adjust better as time goes by. According to her teacher, she only cries for a few minutes before settling down with the other kids.

I miss having help with the housework though. Though I must admit, I get total satisfaction when its done now. I dedicate Saturdays for springcleaning; the best part is that En Rashid helps with the dishes and the kids so it's not too bad. I still feel like crying doing the ironing tho; to ease the pain, I bring all the clothes in front of the TV and do it while watching a movie. At least, I don't feel too bored. I don't mind the cooking; the kids love it when I cook. En Rashid...well, let's just say he loves showing his appreciation. Hehehehe...

My mom has been asking whether we want a new maid. Honestly, I think we're coping just fine without. Previously, I was adamant for a maid because Daria was still a baby. Now, she's nearly 3 and can socialize so I'm not too worried. I still feel bad when we have to stay back at work and pick up the kids late. So far this has happened a few times...the first time it happened Daria was too mad to even look at me!!

But all things considering, we are doing ok. It's going to be a bit hectic next week as both En Rashid and myself are going to Osaka for my birthday (plus 3rd honeymoon) but my mom has agreed to take care of the kids while we're away. To think, one year of planning and we almost cancelled the whole trip because of what happened. I owe my mom so much!!

Oya, I'm 95% done with my MBA now!! Yahoo!! Best of all, no more classes or exams. Just left with my project paper to complete. I can't believe I've almost made it. Finals was ok considering I only had 2 papers to study for this trimester. My International Marketing was a hoot; we had to answer 4 questions and each question was worth 25 marks. The whole time during the exam I was like frantically looking for stuff to write down (it was an open book test) to cater for the 25 marks. In the end, I left the hall 30 minutes early...dah takde idea nak tulis apa. Huhuhuhu....

We're all on forced leave tomorrow thanks to The Company's AGM session with the stakeholders. They should do the AGM more often...hahahaha. En Rashid and I will be going to the Japanese Embassy to pick up our visas...hopefully everything will be ready by then.

So this post is just to update everybody that we're doing ok. Hehehee...thanks to all who inquired and expressed concern.

So Much to Write About, Just No Time!!

I have so much to tell you, Internet but I also have 2 article critics, 2 research papers, 1 weekly assignment and presentation to complete plus finals to study for. I hardly have time to breathe!!

I promise, once all the havoc has died down (in January?), I'll write more. Maybe even before then if I"m in the mood.

Just a quick recap on what I intend to write about (regardless of the level of staleness)
1. That bloody war game camp I had to go for my SM class - I finally found a reason to dump my sport shoes from 13 years back!!

2. Our family trip to Singapore - rain, diarrhea, bloody expensive food but at least I got to ride on the Battlestar Galactica!!

I'm pretty sure there are other things I intend to write about but I'm currently freaking out with my article critique. Later, internet!!

Quick Getaway

The clan is back from a quick getaway on PD. It was a last minute decision to go. I was basically having it up to here with work (pointing to my delicate nose) and the kids were getting restless with one week of holiday and nowhere to go.

My boss had been talking about the Legend Waterhomes ever since she took her kids there. So in the end, I decided to try it out and booked their 3 days 2 nights package. I booked the hotel that had the private swimming pool in the room because knowing En Rashid and myself, we would be taichi'ing each other to go take the kids to the public swimming pool.

Since PD is only 1 hours drive from BBB, we had lunch at home first. I had some errands to do that morning so it was after 3pm when we finally set off for PD. We arrived around 415pm, a bit late because someone was going the wrong way. And had a faulty GPS. And wouldn't let me call the hotel for directions.

Once we had arrived, check-in was a breeze. We had one of the rooms that was overlooking the seabed. The girls immediately noticed the floor "window" as we walked into the room.

Daria was a bit comprehensive of the window. She refused to step on it at first since she thought she might fall through it. She even yelled if any of us stepped on the window accidentally. Hahaha, so cute.

But the main attraction was of course, the in-room swimming pool. The girls shrieked (I use the word appropriately) with joy when they say it. Immediately, they changed into their swimming gear and plunged in.

The 3 of them practically became mermaids in the pool and would have stayed in there for hours. We finally dragged them all out when it was time to get ready for dinner.

Since the package only included one dinner meal and we were still rather full from lunch, we decided to head out instead. It was drizzling but luckily the hotel provided each room with a mighty big umbrella so we didn't get that wet as we walked to the hotel lobby.

We took our chance with the first OK looking restaurant we saw. It turned out not be such a bad choice. The kids had fried mee, which they didn't finish because according to them, it was too spicy. And I had specifically requested for it not to be spicy. However, hubby and I had a good meal; white rice with mixed tomyam, siakap cooked 3 rasa and kangkung masak belacan. Adding in all the drinks and what not, it came to about RM44.

Eventhough it had stopped raining, the kids were too tired out to do anymore swimming. So after watching a bit of TV, they fell asleep pretty quickly.

Look at who conquered most of the bed (it was a King bed). Ambik ko, terkangkang terus!!

The next day, the kids were raring to go swimming again. However, En Rashid and I wanted to go get breakfast first, so we made some sandwiches for Dania and Dina and took Daria for breakfast at the hotel. OK, before you ask, the package only included breakfast for two. Kids (ages 4-12) cost RM37.75 per head for breakfast. And knowing Dina, she would only eat one bowl of cereal and a glass of juice and that would be it. It would have chapped my ass if I were to pay that amount for a bowl of cereal!!

So we left the room for breakfast but took the fat crapper with us (Min, I can't stop calling her that!). I must say the breakfast spread was quite disappointing. For starters, no nasi lemak. They only had porridge which is basically hospital food, so yucks! They had a good salad bar though and made a mean omelet. I liked the omelet!

Good omelet!

Daria had some sausages and potato wedges. here she is thoroughly enjoying her cold, cup of guava juice.

They had special plates and cups for children, which I though was pretty smart.

One of the two buffet counters. Daria kept on asking me to bring back the big boat on display.

Hah, no longer afraid!!

Low tide in the morning. Where's all the water, ibu? And the fishies??

Nevermind, while waiting for the fishies to come back, I'll just do some painting over here. An elephant is purple, right ibu?

It rained mostly during the day so we didn't do much. Watched TV, played games, slept. Since it was a Friday, En Rashid went out for prayers and brought back lunch. This was also Dania and Dina's dinner later in the evening. Don't judge!! They were fine with it.

The dinner buffet was slightly better. They had sate, curry mee and white rice with various dishes. I liked the peanut sauce that came with the sate. Also the curry mee was no bad. En Rashid became a fan of chocolate covered fruits, thanks to thw\e chocolate fountain they had. Oya, the chocolate they used was dark chocolate, so yummy!!!

Someone sure is enjoying her ice cream!!

It took 10 shots before I finally got one of her licking her ice cream. Hahaha, thank god for digital cameras.

En Rashid, full and NOT thinking about work. I hope.

The next day was check-out day. The girls woke up extra early so they could squeeze in as much swimming time as possible. We took them to the outdoor pool, so that they could swim while we had breakfast at the pool cafe.

The hotel had 2 pools; one for the kids with slides and all that and another for adults.I must say the hotel took great pride in their facilities, everything was kept nice and clean.

A reluctant look given when asked to leave the pool. Nevermind adik, we'll come back again soon.

Here's the room we stayed in. Ignore the mess. The beds were super comfy and the pillow super plushy.

From the bedroom, you go through the kitchen to the bathrooms. The kitchen had a microwave and plates and utensils. The bathroom was split between the toilet and shower room. The sliding door you see opens up to the in-door swimming pool.

The buggies that took hotel guests to and from the hotel lobby to their rooms. Mighty useful especially if its raining or when you want to check-out with your bags of crap.

Tired but happy. The girls really enjoyed themselves so I would say the quick getaway was just what we all needed.

Now, it's back to the real world. Next week is mid terms!! Argghhhh...plus finals for the kid's kafa school.

A Quicky

It's not that I don't have much to update. I have LOTS!! Just that time is not on my side. Usually suspects; work, assignments, family. I feel like the Energizer Bunny. Can’t wait for July for my 10th anniversary romantic trip..hehe.

Yep, it will be 10 years being married to En. Rashid, come this September. Sometimes it feels like a lifetime, sometimes it feels like…what? 10 years with the same guy? God, I’m so faithful! Whatever it is, I couldn’t ask for a better husband. Except maybe Edward Norton but that’s wishful thinking. Heee…so to my cuddly hubby, I love you so much…may we have all happiness life can give us.

This week is our last week of classes, then its final exams next week. Finals…eeekkkk!! The best part is our MIS final is on a Saturday. Urgh. But after the finals, it’s 3 months of holiday from school. Waaahhh…nikmatnya. However I have a feeling that once classes start back in September, it’s going to take me at least 4-5 weeks to get back into the groove. For sure!

The past school holidays was rather mundane for the family. En. Rashid and I only took 2 days off during the 1st week of holidays. We took the kids to see Kungfu Panda 2 and back to my parents home. Fortunately my aunt had booked some chalets over in PD, so she invited my mom to bring the kids there for a swim. As it turned out, they ended up staying for one night because the kids were having too much fun with all my cousins.

OK, got to go. Work a-calling. Till later.

Dinos Alive @ Pusat Sains Negara

I had read about the exhibition at various blogs so this was a must-do in my list. We finally decided to go last Tuesday, on Dania's 9th Birthday (I still owe her Birthday Note!).

The kids were excited because they love dinosaurs. Don't ask me how many times we've seen Jurassic Park on TV...everytime it's on, we have to see it.

We set out from home around 10am and while we got a bit lost heading there (the signboards were confusing), we reached there at about 1045am. As it was and still is the school holidays, there were several school buses there, all taking school children for a field trip.

If there's one thing to make this trip worthwhile, is getting crushed by screaming, smelling school children.

Tickets were reasonably priced, RM25 for a family ticket which allowed for 2 adults and 2 children. Daria, being only 2, got in for free. Sigh, at the rate she's growing, this free stuff won't be for long.

Before we walked into the exhibition, we had to pass the aquarium with the overhead tunnel. It was awesome...the fishes were as big as En Rashid! Heee...There was one Arapaima that I swear could swallow me whole. Daria was mesmerized with all the fishes and it took quite some persuasion to get her to move to the next phase.

Once we entered the exhibition hall, we were greeted by 2 massive dinosuars. I know one of them was a T-Rex, I've forgotten the name of the other one. I think it started with A.

The dinosuars were kind of cool coz they could move and make sounds. The T-Rex could really roar.

On the ground floor were various science-related activities for kids to try out. They also had 3 types of playgrounds, segregated according to age groups. I took Daria to the one for 4 years and below while En Rashid braved the ones for the older kids with Dania and Dina.

The hall had several levels. More dinosaurs can be found on the 1st floor. I think they had like 10-12 more dinosaurs but in my opinion, the show was a bit lame. I was expecting for the setting to be more spectacular...but it was basically dinosaurs placed in one corner after another. Sure, some of them moved and growled but nothing spectacular happened. A bit dissapointing.

So we spent the rest of the morning trying out the other activities and looking at the other children become monkeys in the playground. Around 1pm, I was starving so En Rashid took us to Ikano for lunch.

So is it worth the admission ticket? Well, the ticket wasn't that expensive and the girls did have fun playing with all the science activities. However, the dinosaur exhibition itself was a disappointment, if you ask me. OK for kids but I think the adults would not be impressed. You'll have a better time in the aquarium tunnel looking at all the fishes.

Full of Hot Air...Sort Of

A few weeks back, there was a Hot Air Balloon Fiesta in Putrajaya. We had missed last years' show so I was adamant in going this year. The fiesta started on a Thursday so I planned with En Rashid to take leave that day. The kids were on school holiday so rather than bersesak2 with the weekend crowd, we planned to go on the 1st day itself. That was until En Rashid later found out he had to attend a workshop. Since I really didn't want to miss the event, I dragged my parents along instead.

The main event was the hot air balloon ride. On the website, it mentioned that the rides would be from 8am until 11am. Thinking we had plenty of time to catch a ride, we headed out from my parents place at around 8am and arrived at the site around 830am. Imagine our dismay when we found out the tickets for the morning sessions were all sold out!! Apparently they only allocated 300 tickets for each session. Peh..melepas la peluang nak naik balloon. I had been on one when I was in the states (a birthday present for En Rashid) so I wasn't all that disappointed.

  

Some of the balloons as seen from the parking lot. A lot of them had already flown off as the organizers were expecting late morning rain.

The Darth Vader balloon!! I took pictures of it as it was about to take flight.

My mom and the girls looking at the rides schedule, disappointed. That was until we saw that the balloons were tied down and only went something like 20 meters up into the air. My dad was like, "I thought we got to at least fly around a bit." Yeah right, for RM10, you get to float around in the basket..that's all. Heee.

So in the end, we headed to the extreme zone. Once I saw the zorb ball, I was like "I need to try that!" It was fun but damn tiring. Both Dina and me were sweating when we finally crawled out of the ball.

Dania trying out as a hamster.

Seeing how exhausted we all got playing the zorb ball, my parents decided to pass. So we headed to the extreme bike section. I've forgotten the name of this type of bike but they have a website. My mom asked the guy in charge how much the bikes cost; I think they retail at RM4k - RM6k, depending on the type of bike. It was fun though and my thighs got such a workout, it's amazing I was still able to walk afterwards. 

Next we headed towards the horse rides. Both Dania and Dina chose a horse and got on. It was RM12 for one round of the track. A bit of a rip-off if you ask me. 

I really wanted to find some activity for my parents to do so I dragged them over to the segway section. I even paid for their rides before they could protest. Heehe. Here's my dad being the dotting husband he is.

 

And here's my dad. mom and Dania getting ready to ride off. They only had three segways available for each trip, so I passed. Furthermore, Dina couldn't ride one as she wasn't heavy enough so I stayed to keep her company.
                                     

The three of them apparently had such fun that my dad quickly looked up the website to find out the price. Let's just say you can get one of these for the price of a Kancil!!

Another Trip To KL Bird Park

The last time we went, I was 7 months pregnant with Daria. So, yesterday I told hubby, we should go again. Actually, it was more of my guilty conscious speaking as I had been so busy with work and classes, that I hadn't spent much time with the girls.

We initially planned to head out from home early but since everyone woke up late, we stepped out at around 10.30am. Dania and Dina were excited; they still remembered the last trip fondly. Daria was just happy to go anywhere...hee.

While En Rashid went to park the car, I bought the tickets at the ticket counter. FYI, the ticket prices had doubled since the last time we were there. For MyKad holders, adult tickets cost RM20 while children tickets were RM10. Fortunately they still had the JCard discount, so we saved RM5 there. Also Daria got in for free coz she was under 2 years old.

 

 One of the many parrots in the park. Most of them eat corn, fruits like papaya and also sunflower seeds.

 Dania and Dina in front of the parakeet enclosure. This was right after we entered the park. Daria was ecstatic but a bit frustrated none of the birds would come to her.

 One of the peacocks cooling its heels in the stream.

 A mummy peacock and her chicks basking in the sun. The chicks were very friendly and would follow people around, I guess hoping someone would throw down sunflower seeds to them.

 Daria being fascinated by the birds. She didn't realize the other birds flocking behind her until...

she turned around and saw that she was being surrounded by many birds. FYI, the guy in yellow was feeding them thus the reason there were so many birds in one place.

Ibu, help me!! I'm being "attacked" by hungry birds!

We passed the hornbill section and headed up to the World of Parrots. The last time we were here, we had a blast feeding the parrots with multiple cups of sunflower seeds. Unfortunately this time, there was no staff to hand out the food when we got there. The girls had to pick up leftover seeds from the floor, in order to get the parrots to come to them.

Monologue for the parrots in the picture:

Parrot 3: I'm sorry honey, for nagging at you. Let's make up.
Parrot 4: No, no, it's my fault. I've been neglecting you. Let me kiss you and make you feel better.
Parrot 2: Auuwww...you guys made up!!
Parrot 1: Good god!! Get a room, will ya!

En Rashid and the girls posing with the lorries. Daria was eager to touch them until....

one of the lorries nipped her finger. Dania protested saying that it was En Rashid's fault...hehehe...

It was a good half hour before the bird show, so we entered the waterfall area. The last time we were here, the place was still under renovation so it was a new experience for all of us.

The front view of the waterfall. They had a walkway that went down to the pond below, where you could feed the gazillion of fishes there. Then it went back up to the waterfall where we then made our way to the auditorium for the bird show.

The bird show was somewhat similar to what we had seen last time, but with a few added tricks. The girls still loved it though and even Daria sat still throughout the entire performance. She was very impressed with the eagles, especially when Dania got to volunteer for the meat-on-a-stick trick.

Dania got to do the trick twice since the first time, the eagle just knocked the piece of meat off the stick. I was so excited for her, I forgot to switch the camera mode to video. Bummer!

Success!! And you can see the hawk (named Hunter), flying off with his meal behind them.

For one person, the highlight of the day was getting to play at the children's playground. Heee.

We then headed to the bird gallery and looked at the baby chicks there. They were so cute and cuddly!

Daria, apparently not well versed in the ways of handing a chick. Fortunately for the chick, she let it go rather quickly after feeling its claws on her fingers.

The eggs of an emu, ostrich and cassowary. Can you imagine passing something this big through your ass? Muahahaha.....
After all that walking and feeding the birds, we were getting pretty famished ourselves. We decided to try our the Hornbill Restaurant.

Dania tried the chicken chop. For RM30, it was rather overpriced though the portion was large, the meat itself was rather tough. The potato wedges were nice though. Dina had a kid's spaghetti meal. For a kid's meal, it was overpriced at RM14. I don't know about the taste but Dina finished it, so you can guess that the portion was rather small.

En Rashid had the Triple Decker toast..or something like that. When it arrived, the first thing that came to mind was "wow, RM20 for toast?" I guess it was nice coz he finished the whole meal before I could even ask for a taste. Oya, the coconut drinks were RM12 each. The stall near our house sells fresh coconut for RM3.50. Go figure!

This is what I had; Malaysian fried rice, supposedly a restaurant specialty (RM20). Nothing really special, I had gotten something non-spicy so I could share with Daria. In the end, she ate most of her father's french fries.

After lunch, we went back into the park because the girls wanted to take pictures with all the birds. The last time we were there, we passed up on the family photo because a) En Rashid didn't want to spend RM30 on a photo shoot and b) I was 7 months pregnant at the time so not really looking or feeling all that great. This time however, we decided to have our picture taken. The charge was still RM30 for a digital photo with a KLBP frame but they allowed us to take a few pictures using our own camera for free as well. 
The parrot was surprisingly heavy so after a few shots, my arm was kind of feeling it. Or maybe its just my "muscles" contracting due to not being worked out for so long...muahahah...

After that, we kind of walked around looking at the rest of the birds in the park. Despite the shade, it was getting rather hot and Daria was acting up due to the fact she was tired and wanted to play around with the camera. I finally let her so she instantly became a "bird paparazzi".

The food could have been better and I was dismayed to see some of the tourists there being very aggressive and provoked the birds. Better supervision should be given to discourage such acts. However, it was still a nice family outing. Maybe we'll go there again in a few years time.