Friday, November 28, 2008

Penang - Balqis's Birthday & The Train Ride

We are home. The trip to Penang was OK despite its infamous one way streets. The girls had a spectacular time. I tantalised my tongue to the variety delicious local foods & now I'm a kg heavier! Chit! HB? He had to enjoy the workout carrying our only luggage of more than 15kg in weight ;-)

This time around HB suggested to travel by train. I agreed knowing that it would be an amazing experience to the girls & even to their parents.... hehehe! I bought the tickets online for 2 cabins. It was pretty simple & I have to give credits to the customer service staff who were very helpful & patient answering to all my questions via phone. Including...

"Just to confirm, I booked a ticket from Sentral KL to Butterworth. Is Sentral KL, KL Central?"

"Yes, ma'am"

"Does it mean that I do not have to go to the old Railway Station?"

"No, ma'am. We now operate from KL Central."

Imagine, a hundred people like me... Hahaha!

OK, I can't write long. Am hosting a birthday party tomorrow & I have loads to do. Enjoy this pictorial post.

At Putrajaya Central, we were late for 5 minutes hence needed to wait for another half an hour. Even though we did manage to get the ticket, to ship my whole troop will take at least 10 minutes...!


Here is the birthday girl.


Told her to pose but she made this butt slapping pose. Wonder from where she learned that from... Any idea Wardah?



Her T, says it all!


Remember? I wanted to get Balqis a small cake. We found DDonuts.


I distracted Balqis whilst HB lit the candle (which I brought from home!).


We were singing to her the birthday song but Malaysians will be Malaysians, none of the staff joined us. Well, my voice was loud enough to make a dozen.. ;-)



Make a wish!



We made do with this muffin. Something for a change ;-)



Nope, this one is mine. Get your own muffin!



But, who could resist Nadeen?


The time showed quarter to 8pm. On the ticket we were to depart at 8pm. This is something that KTMB needs to improvise. I understand the delay but the system was rather sad. We were at KL Central & I expected at least for a screen monitor like at the airport. But there was none (or did I miss it?). According to the staff, we had to wait at Platform 1 & 2 (which both share the same staircase & elevator) & someone would announce if the train were ready to be boarded.


Picture this crowd.



Imagine how my small girls were to get through those impatient people.



And HB did not look happy... Ooo! Oh!


I did not hear the announcement. But I saw those people reacted to a staff gesture & almost all rushed either towards the staircase or the elevator. We chose to wait. Did I miss the announcement to give the priority to children & elderlies? Hmmm...

Anyhow, the poor system was forgotten once we saw how excited the girls were. Especially knowing that they were putting up the night on a train. Balqis called it the "moving hotel".




Including Nadeen was in a cheerful mood!


It was small but we didn't mind. I was thrilled. Not only the girls' first time, HB's & mine too... hehehe!




Pictures of the small cabin & mind you, this was the First Class. OK laa



The size was approximately 8 X 4... I think.



There was a TV but we were not fortunate enough. The TV was on service. The fan could not oscillate but it was air-conditioned of course.



The top bunk bed



The bottom bunk


The elder girls begged to stay in a cabin. They pleaded & pleaded & pleaded. We gave in... but once Wardah & Balqis were asleep I went to the next cabin with Nadeen & Yasmin. The cabin next door slept soundly! I wonder how did they (HB, Wardah * Balqis) do it? Yasmin & I are both light sleepers so we were awake most of the time...

We were to reach Butterworth at 440am the next morning. Yes, at the wee hour of the morning! How did we manage with the girls? .....

* to be continued

10 comments:

Anonymous said...

it was a great experience, despite has to work before and after the trip.... glad the kids enjoyed it

Waterlily said...

Ja

cant wait for the sequel. I think my children would love the train experience too. My second and youngest havent had any experience with train rides yet. Me, dear hubby and syafiq had our first during our journey from zurich to milan. Nice cabins, nice ppl, nice view but the toilets suck!

Lee said...

Hi Jabishah, beautiful pictures. Love those train pics.
And Jabishah, you are one woman I really admire greatly...going anywhere, anytime and with all your Angels.
And Nadeen being still young too.

And here I have friends, just one 3 year old kid...takut nak pergi travelling.

Jabisha, you one heck of a mother, a wife.
IHey, love Captain's beard...ha ha.
Best regards to Captain, you and your Angels, Lee.

Anonymous said...

ja,
keep them coming... can't wait to read yr story bout penang plk, btw, malu la u baca blog i tu..hee..he..

jabishah said...

Papa,
Yup, they sure did enjoy the trip! Perhaps next time we can try the ferry frm England to France... ;-)

jabishah said...

Wlily,
Wow... bestnye. Zurich to Milan. But were the toilets that bad? Tu yg penting. The one we has was clean tho rather small. The girls were fascinated coz it was a triangular shape. Alaaa... one coener taken jadi toilet. Hehehe.

jabishah said...

Hello uncle,

Tq for your flattering words. Hehehe... You can always make my day ;-)

I am one boring lady who has to bring one whole troop everywhere I go for holiday. Else, it won't be a complete trip. The girls are so used traveling ever since a baby... hence they hardly complain.

Have a nice day!

jabishah said...

Shahid dear,

Hahaha.. apa nak malu! Ceh!

Please be patient ya for the next sequel. I just posted something else instead. Will post the sequel somewhere this week insyaAllah...

Psst.. update la blog!

Mohamad Nazmi Zaidi said...

good thing you brought your children to board the train. youngsters these days are no longer exposed to train rides. it is a good thing we have the railwayfan to help spread the words and again bring back the joyful train rides to our new generations.

Anonymous said...

comel sgt ur family..suka tgk..