Biking Adventure

It's a whole week holiday for my girls. Chinese New Year holidays. But I'm pretty sure that they have to replace the classes on Saturdays. Well, school is never a problem... neither to Yasmin nor Wardah.

Hubby did not get a long leave, as usual. Two days was good enough for us. We spent the two days in Klang, hubby's hometown. The girls of course had been looking forward.

Wardah had a surprise gift awaited her in Klang. It was a brand new LeRun bicycle, a belated birthday gift I assume from the grandparents. She just graduated cycling & recently got rid off her two training wheels.


Wardah with her new bicycle.



Yasmin posing with her bicycle.


In Klang the relatives stay closed by. This means all extended families are just a shout away. Let me make it vivid to you. All houses are in one same big lot, that is lot 524. First house is my parent in-laws', next to theirs, their youngest sister & there are three more houses occupying the same lot at the back. So it is one huge area. A very strategic place for my girls brushing up their cycling.

Normally Wardah would be the hindrance for Yasmin to explore biking until the end of the lot. She was always calling out "Kak Yamin, Kak Yamin... wait for me...!", with her small bike & the irritating sounds of her training wheels. But now just look at them, cycling together.


Balqis, of course didn't want to miss the fun. She inherited Yasmin's small old bike. Poor girl... but she liked the bicycle so much. The only problem was that she lacked of practice in cycling. So her bike was only static. Unlike cousin Hadi, with his broad, massive feet cycling away hilariously :-D. Hubby however, solved this problem. After tired pushing Balqis's bike, he put Balqis onto Hadi's bicycle carrier. Hadi didn't complain but by looking at his expression, he prefered Balqis off bike!


The girls sure did have a great time. Too bad I didn't have my bike with me...

Dusit Thai, Sunway Pyramid

We went to visit my parent in-laws in Klang on Monday. Wanted to take them to the seafood restaurant in Port Klang. However, both my brother & sister in-law had another place in mind. So instead of dining at Port Klang we drove further up to Sunway Pyramid.

My brother in-law family was around too. It was altogether a party of 10 adults, 3 children & 2 toddlers. We had to pass on the round tables. Opted for long tables. I think it was 3 tables joint together.

I am not really a big fan of steamboat. But the restaurant really had varieties choices of steamboat. Too bad did not get the permission to shoot.

For those who are not familiar with steamboat dining, this is the big cooker with 2 partitions normally used for steaming (well, it's rather boiling to me, because most of the time we forgot to cover the pot).Two different types of soup poured onto each partition. One was obviously the famous tom yam in Thai cuisine & another I think was chicken soup. Raw foods like, squids, shrimps, fish, chicken, beef, crab you name it including processed foods like fish cakes & chicken balls were boiled inside the soup desired. Once cooked, it was deliciously eaten with the special sauce. I prefer the sauce hot with little bit of sweetness. The sauce provided in the restaurant did not really agree to my tongue.

Here is HB helping himself to the yummy delicacies in the pot

Here was what he found...

Wardah eating the noodle which was also steamed in the pot

Balqis was busy with her coconut drink instead of the food

If you ask me the food there was merely okay.No doubt of the freshness. Steamboat is just not my cup of tea!

Sushi King, IOI Mall

I have always love to dine at Sushi King. Love the soba, tempura & yummy sushies... I used to go out only with hubby. The girls then were too small to appreciate this Japanese cuisine. Now, we go there quite frequent. Yasmin & Wardah, each one has their regular order. Balqis simply eats anything served in front of her.

Why do we opt for the one in IOI? It's merely because it is convenient. We stay in Puchong. Furthermore, the outlet in Tesco is rather too small for our family of 5. Here are the photos taken at the restaurant recently. Sorry that some of the images are a little bit blur.

Yasmin attacking her shrimp sushi. Well, I don't remember what it's called but this is a must in her menu.

This is Wardah's & my favourite. Seasoned baby octopus...(chuka iidako) Oooo... I'm drooling already. Look at the way Wardah holding the tiny octopus :-D


Balqis grabbed this from the carousel. It tasted like fish. Something like fish nugget I assume.


Look at Balqis eyeing on the foods. Just cannot decide on which one to eat!


Hubby's favourite green soy beans (edamame) & fish teriyaki (saba teriyaki) .


Here's my first ever eating udon. It was always soba for me. Udon was not that bad. Didn't really like the elastic texture. But the soup was really delicious.




Looking at this soba reminds me of my favourite Japanese Soba at Secret Recipe. Ummmp... how about that for dinner???

Help! Wardah's doll cake on fire....!

While we were busy singing birthday songs to Yasmin & Wardah, one of my guests shouted "Tangan doll terbakar! Tangan doll terbakar!" Which really meant "The doll's hand on fire! ". It was the pink doll cake. Poor doll , all her fingers on her left hand melted. Couldn't be saved... Click on the box to view the video.

Yasmin's 8th & Wardah's 6th Birthday Party

Last Saturday, my two older girls celebrated their birthday party together at McDonald's Restaurant, Equine Park. No... they don't share the same birth date, not even born in the same month. Yasmin's is on March the 9th & Wardah's is on January the 1st. It's just that we normally have their party together in February ;-)

It was the first time they celebrated at McD's. Normally, we host the party at home. To those who attended, thank you very much. The girls really loved the gifts. Hope your children enjoyed the party.

Wardah's doll cake. She was proud of her cake. It was worth the trouble decorating it for almost 2 hours.
This is Yasmin's. Kim Possible roller skating. By the way, it's her 8th birthday...



The host & hostess - HB & I.



Balqis hugging Birdie. At first, she was scared of the mascot but after a while she was hugging the bird.


Yasmin & Wardah, the birthday girls.


A big hug from Birdie.


Thank you Birdie for coming! Yasmin & her gift from Birdie.


Some of the foods. Prosperity Foldovers did not last long on the table.


Some of the gifts.


Busy unwrapping the gifts. Balqis was more excited than her sisters.

Medical check up

I've been postponing to get a check up for quite a while. The time has always been an excuse. Today, as I need to get my maid examined for her annual check up, I might as well get it over with.

The doctor, my best friend, suggested me to take the package of cholesterol,glucose,thyroid, liver & kidney test(I think so, that was all...). My blood pressure has always been at the low side. Today was 90/60. Quite low but rather normal to me. It's just that I get tired easily nowadays. Obviously the result will only come out after the Chinese New Year holidays. I'm quite concerned with my cholesterol level though. Well, will share you the result soon. Happy holidays!!

The longest half an hour of my life!

It happened in Dubai. Mall of Emirates (MOE) to be exact. On a Saturday, January 27th, this year.

In my blog about Dubai-Abu Dhabi, I mentioned Ski Dubai. How the girls were only admiring it from a window glass in the mall. Wardah especially was begging us to buy the tickets.We did not plan to go in as Balqis at 2 years & 3 months was rather too small & not allowed to enter. It was very difficult reasoning with Wardah at that moment. While we were handling Wardah whining, all the kids including our friends' were assembling together. We finally managed to solve the problem as I saw an ice cream parlor right opposite of us. All the kids shifted their attention to the ice cream & like poking their noses to the glass trying to have a better look of the ice cream they wanted. Hubby was entertaining them. I switched on my Sony handycam & started shooting. That was when I realise one child was missing. My Balqis was not in our crowd!!

I got panic. Started observing around. The last time I saw her, she was happily playing with the other children at the window glass. I told hubby about it. He barked angrily at me. I knew it was my fault! I knew! But I did get into my senses. I reported to the security in charge. One of the them said that he saw the same description of girl. Showed the way she headed & I started trailing. Walking like a maniac stopping here & there listening hard with my ears & heart for any familiar cry or laughter of Balqis. During that time, I did not stop praying to God to please, please return my baby back to me.

As I stopped at a crossroad, following my instinct whether to go straight ahead, take either left or right, I saw another security. I stopped him & asked about my missing baby. He made my day by saying "Yes,we found her. Follow me!"

I found Balqis sobbing onto a lady's shoulder. She was wearing a uniform, so I assumed she was a security there too. Once I took Balqis, she cried & I cried. I thank God, really thankful to Him. I got back my baby. According to the lady, she found Balqis wondering about alone happily. She was minding her own business strolling alone. She cried only after the lady took her.

I just do not know how to describe my feelings within that half an hour. One thing for sure is that I've learned my lesson. I never had problems with Yasmin & Wardah when they were smaller. They were always tailing my butts. Not my Balqis. She hates strollers, car seats, high chairs anything that requires seat belts. Always wants to get free. I gave it a test. While waiting for my friend before going back, I let her walk freely. She took the opportunity wisely. Walked gaily & even made cheeky faces to passersby. Catching up with her from behind I could picture what really happened....

Eye On Malaysia

You know how kids are nowadays. They are exposed to lots of media. Now, since my 2 older girls can read, I just can't escape from taking them to new attractions in town. The latest that they have encountered is the giant ferris-wheel at Taman Tasik Titiwangsa, K.L in conjunction of Visit Malaysia 2007. My parents' house is quite near to Titiwangsa & Wardah (Ms Demanding) is aware of that. So, during our last visit to my parents' she made hubby promised to take her there. We were rather reluctant knowing that it was a Sunday, the queue is definitely forever & of course the hot weather.

As expected, there were lots of people there. But not all were looking forward to be on top of "Eye On Malaysia". Yes, that's what the ferris-wheel named - Eye On Malaysia. Surprisingly the lines to buy tickets were fortunately not that long. We waited about 10 minutes to buy tickets & another 10 minutes to get inside the gondola. The tickets were RM15 for adults & RM8 for children.

Quite costly I know. But to think positively for the girls, the experience was priceless. How could I say No to these faces? Patiently waiting for their turns.

Now, how would I describe it up there? Frankly, it was a bore. But what would you expect of a ferris-wheel? As a tourist maybe I would appreciate it more. But being born & raised in KL, it was just an okay to me. As for the girls... Wardah was of course excited (she better be!), Yasmin was scared (that was the day she claimed, she was scared of heights) & Balqis was rather puzzled on what was going on (she kept on asking, "apa ni? apa ni?", which meant "what's this?"). This is the best shot of them with cousin Nuryn.


These were taken when we were eventually "eyeing on Malaysia".


(This is not a crack. It was the air conditioning water from the gondola on top of us)


The other gondolas right behind us.


The Eye On Malaysia. Look at the palm tree. Shows how windy it was.


Yasmin & Nurin sharing a drink after the ride.


A clown entertaining the kids at Titiwangsa

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Cousin Aiman showing off his new machine gun!


On the way home, I was thinking. We really had to thank Wardah for her curiosity. If it was not because of her, we would never take the chance. The "Eye On Malaysia" is offered only for a year. That is this year - Visit Malaysia 2007. But now I'm wondering... who are the target group? I did not see any foreigners. Only us, fellow Malaysians. Perhaps the crowds are better at night with all the colourful fireworks.

UAE - Dubai & Abu Dhabi

Hubby's leave at last approved. Even though it was only for 5 days of my girls' school days, I did not hesitate when he suggested us to pay our friends in Abu Dhabi(AUH) a visit. The girls of course did not mind at all. In fact were counting days. The daily questions asked were always anything related to either Dubai or Abu Dhabi :-D
Our flight was at 1235pm. So, the girls did not have to wake up very early. But being excited as they were, they woke up before we did. Here are some of the shots at KLIA.

Did I mention that my youngest girl, Balqis napped on the way to KLIA? She woke up as we were approaching the airport & was indeed very cunningly fresh. I knew, troubles awaited in the plane. Guess these photos tell everything. She just refused to sit down!

And after 4 hours keeping up with her, she finally dozed off zzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.........

We reached Dubai at approximately 630pm local time. Dubai was 4 hours later than Malaysia & at 1030pm Malaysia time, it had past their bedtime. It was quite amazing on how the girls could adapt to the local time there easily. They even followed their friends' bedtime which was really at 2am in Malaysia.

Abu Dhabi was without doubt a beautiful city. It was not as congested as Dubai. Even at my short stay, Dubai welcomed me with its infamous traffic jams. Very much like my hometown, KL. So if you ask me, I prefer Abu Dhabi better than Dubai. These are photos of Abu Dhabi.


Photos in Dubai.

The food was really great. I opted for lamb most of the time. The shish kebab especially was my favourite. Too bad I didn't snap any picture of the foods. It didn't last that long on the plate... Shopping wise was heaven. Must be my lucky day. We were there in winter with moderate cool weather & also during winter sale! The sale there was really, really a sale. Bought a lot of clothes for the girls. Shopped till I dropped! You know what I mean... Too bad hubby was around to hinder.

Dubai of course was a better place to shop. We went to MOE - Mall of Emirates. The mall was huge. You could get almost anything in one roof, even skiing. No, not skiing attires but skiing itself indoor. Ski Dubai. We did not enter because Balqis was not allowed due to age restriction. Here are the girls admiring Ski Dubai from a window glass in the mall.

We will definitely go there again. Perhaps when Balqis is more independent. So, I can indulge myself more in shopping ;-) I knew that 5 days were not enough for the trip plus 2 travelling days. We only spent exactly 2 & a half days & 2 nights in Abu Dhabi. Really have to thank our friends Razmyn & Eileen & also their kids, Fatin, Nurin & Adam for their excellent hospitality. We will be back!!