Day 3 - HKDL

Wow... It sure has been a while. I've been busy with my tudungs. For those who missed the post, my online shop is now welcoming customers. Do visit my shop at A Rendezvous With jabishah's Needle & Thread ;-) And if you are a fan of stone jeweleries you might want to hop at my cousin's shop here.

Well, I only realised that I have not completed my recent HK trip journal. OK, here's the final one. Still in DL as we did not manage to complete the whole park in a day. The crowd made it impossible for us. What more with 3 children & a toddler on tow.

A pose at the hotel we checked in.

A family portrait

Now day 2. It rained again that morning. Not as bad as the day before though... This time around we packed some food in the bag. Sliced cheese & biscuits.

We passed the inspection & posed with a staff there ;-)

The crowd on day 2 was surprisingly small. Not that we were earlier. The day before was a weekday as well as our 2nd day. Anyhow HB informed that Adventureland would close early at 4pm. Guess most travel agents were aware of that which explained the fewer number of visitors.

Us at Mainstreet, USA.

We were fortunate to bump into 2 characters that early morning - Chip & Dale

I did my homework the night before. Based from the brochures given, I planned for the itinerary on the 2nd day. Right after we parted from those squirrels, I instructed the gang to head for the castle. And there they were... the 3 princesses waiting to greet us.

Nadeen & Princess Aurora. She was not scared at all & was admiring the princess. After all she was human ;-)

Little chat with Cinderella whilst Snow White signed the Autograph book.

My princesses with the princesses

We missed Belle who was really opposite us. Told the girls that she would be back in half & hour time. For the mean time we headed to the Adventureland. But before that Nadeen found this souvenir shop & insisted a shot.

Nadeen & her fav bear. Check out the pose ;-)

We hurriedly queue for the River Cruise Adventure. This attracted so many visitors the day before. We were early & didn't have to wait for long...

And this was Nadeen in her elephant pose as her sisters imitated ;-)

I was aware of the time alright & off we went back to the castle to meet Belle.

My girls & Belle

Another photo session with a character noted in my piece of paper was at Tomorrowland. Only Buzz Lighyear was available...

Poses at some of the attraction at Tomorrowland.

This was the roller coaster which Balqis braved herself the night before. Nadeen & I stayed behind.

We were still early for the Lion King Festival which explains these photos ;-)

These jugglers attracted the girls

It was really their day when they met Alice at Mad Hatters Tea Cups.

Now, here's my favourite show in DL. It was totally awesome. No surprise since The Lion King has always been the best Disney movie for me. I watched it 4 times at the cinema!

The girls were not as fascinated as I was though. Perhaps they were not familiar with the story line. Can't blame them for the movie is even older than Yasmin! That was the final in Adventureland for us. Before we left here is a pose...

As jotted in my note, we had completed HKDL. It was still early & we chilled out at a park right in front of the castle. HB chose to play with my Canon & the girls volunteered as models.

The castle again

I was told of a new character would be waiting at Fantasy Gardens. Most of the characters mentioned we had the chance to meet the day before. Hence I herded the troop back to Fantasyland.

Fantasy Gardens was very near to Cinderella Carrousel & upon seeing those horses, Nadeen pointed out for the ride. We didn't hesitate at all. The queue was very comfortable to wait for.

The little boss

This time around all of us got onto the caroussel. Nadeen was of course supervised by papa... & mama?

Mama chose to join the fun ;-)

After the carrousel, how could we hide the Dumbo ride which was opposite the carrousel from the little boss? So off we flew with Dumbo again. But not in the rain this time like the day before :-)

Nadeen's love affair with an elephant continued... (the ride was in the background)

At Fantasy Gardens we met the same characters like before. Mickey, Minnie, Goofy, Pluto, Winnie the Pooh. But this time we found Mulan.

My girls with Mulan

At DL Nadeen not only attracted the characters & staff but also other visitors. She was playing with the bubble when than auntie came & approached :-)

We did The Adventure of Winnie the Pooh again & another round in the tea cups :-)

HB & Nadeen skipped the tour at "It's A Small World" the day before. So we made another round for it. The girls wanted ice-cream. I bought only 2 for them to share. It was drizzling with moderate temperature & ice-cream by right would be a no no. But I guessed 2 cones shared amongst 4 wouldn't do that much harm ;-)

Nadeen & her ice-cream she shared with Yasmin.

Now, this was what happened when she didn't get the first lick of the ice-cream she shared with Wardah... Fhening! Fhening!

It was almost time to leave. The girls anyhow took some more photos at the Tomorrowland.

Future astronauts?

At Main Street we bumped into this Elf.

We had earlier checked out before we left the hotel. But our luggage was left behind. HB took the shuttle back to the hotel & we were to meet up with him at the MTR Station, a walking distance from DL.

We discovered an art & animation academy before right next to the exit. Since the queue was bearable, we gave that a try....

Inside, the girls were given a step to step guides on how to draw a character. In their session, it was Winnie the Pooh.

You have to be more imaginative to see the bear.. ;-)

Now the girls with their art work. Notice Balqis's sour face? Well... the ice-cream episode was over. This time was Wardah's doing again, who else? She laughed at Balqis for signing off her name as "Eric" (the staff who assisted them with the animation). Balqis not only followed his step by step drawing but also his signature ;-)

They did pretty good, didn't they?

Here is an artist who was obsessed with her own piece. Hehehe...

We then made a move to the Mtr Station. Farewell Mickey!

From far the girls saw HB seated with all our luggage & they ran to get him just to show their drawing. If they are good in art it is definitely their paternal blood. I am just lousy at drawing. So, their papa appreciates their piece art than mama :-)

Wardah continued pestering Balqis with the signature thing & even called Balqis Ms Eric :-)

Tickets bought but we were a little bit early for the MTR. I gave some slices of cheese for them to snack on.

Whilst they were enjoying their cheese, came this lady with her friend. In Chinese (which I was not sure which dialect) she asked for my permission to shoot a photo with Nadeen. That was what I assumed because she was only speaking in the same dialect.

In the MTR back to the airport hotel.

The trip back to the hotel was quite tiring. We changed to at least 3 different trains... and check out Wardah there. Kesian anak mama....

We checked in at the same airport hotel & flew back to KL on the morning flight. Tickets for a later flight were fully booked so I had to sacrifice my shopping. What mattered most was the fun my girls had at DL...

For those who plan to go to HKDL, I suggest that you do that when your children are still small. They will enjoy the many characters. I met 18 of them! I doubt teenagers will enjoy it much. Most of the attractions cater for younger kids. Balqis at 5 got in all rides... even the roller coaster! Perhaps when my girls are all grown up we will venture a bigger DL & I hope their parents are still fit for the rides ;-)

The End

Updates on 2010 School Year

The girls are back schooling... Not sure whether that's a relief to me really. True that now the house is no longer a nursery with shouting & screaming over a TV channel or the Notebook! Phenning! Phenning! Because this year I am on duty in double shifts, morning & afternoon...

Yes, Yasmin is in Year 5 now & she's in the morning session. Wardah remains in the afternoon at Year 4. Now let me give you a brief summation of my daily venture. Early morning I send Yasmin to school. Return home for Wardah & Balqis (I don't expect the 2 to wake as early as 630am). At 10am, out again to fetch Wardah from mengaji. Half past noon, on the move again to send off Wardah to school, fetch Yasmin & Balqis. Quarter to 3pm, drop Yasmin & Balqis for mengaji. 2 hours later, need to fetch them. Nope. That's not the end... Half past 6 is my last round of the day to get Wardah home from school.

If it's for love... I doubt I manage. HB suggested to engage a transport for the girls. I of course refused. I don't work & I have a maid. Do you expect me to be the "Cleopatra" at home whist my girls take the transport which I normally witness is sardined with pupils. No! No!

Last night however, a neighbour called me for car pool arrangements. She apparently is working in double shifts herself ;-) So now my half of my chauffeuring duty is taken away. Thanks a bunch Rita!

Balqis with Nadeen.

This was taken on her first day for mengaji class. No I didn't make that tudung. Used to be Yasmin's. A hand-me-down ;-) She was a bit nervous at first. But Yasmin was around to take care of her. Back from mengaji she confirmed with me whether the mengaji will be on daily basis. Later only I found out, her kindi friends are also her classmates at the mengaji centre.

Yasmin was elected a Class Monitor. I mentioned before that she was quiting as prefects. Frankly, I expected her to be the Assistant Monitor but accroding to her the boy who was nominated lost by 12 votes. Woohoo! Congrats dear... Remember time management is the utmost important.

Wardah is still a school prefect. But she's in blue this year unlike last year in green (it was way easier to get her uniform compared to last year). Came home today & announced she's the AJK for English in her class ;-)

010110

New year has always been very meaningful to me. The 010110 this year is not as distinguished as 010101. Not planned but someone seemed to love the attention & steal the limelight. Exactly like she is now... ;-) It was the day I gave birth to my second baby, Wardah. Normal delivery without a husband next to me (HB was in Nagoya). My first experience with labour pain & really not a beautiful sight, you know what I mean...

With Yasmin I requested for epidural as early as the contraction started. In fact, I asked for more when I felt only a slight of pain. A young mom I was... & very scared. The nurses helped me when to push because I didn't feel a thing but numb from waist downward. That was Yasmin. HB was right next to me.

Wardah on the other hand, met her father only on her 3rd day. I chose to stay at the hospital just only to get the thrill of him fetching us.

My oven still remain not repaired. So we bought Wardah a cake. Since yesterday was the 31st & my girls never fail to remind me of BR 31% discount , we got one from BR itself. No. There's no discount on cakes. Only on icecream.

Wardah's 9th birthday cake

Nope. We didn't wait. Cut the cake yesterday.. Not only a day earlier but a year early as well. Hehehehe... Here are some of the moments HB shot.

The birthday girl with her sisters

Wardah saved one candle for Nadeen to blow.

She managed at one blow ;-)

Today in fact is another date to remember. Until this moment, I last breastfed Nadeen at 7am this morning. It was hard for me but I have to obey to HB. Well, I did try to persuade him for another month which he rejected. By right I was supposed to stop when Nadeen turned 2 in December 2nd. I told him that I'd stop once we return from HK. But I didn't... He seems serious about this one." End of the year & that's it".

She asked for my milk at noon today. I used the same trick with Balqis. Applied tamarind onto the areola. I could not give her to taste it. I still remeber the look on Balqis when she had her taste of tamarind when she was about to give in to her addiction sucking my milk. I didn't want to go through that again. So with Nadeen, I showed it to her. Told her that it got dirty & smelly. It worked. She refused. I distracted her.

However when it was time for her day nap, she pulled my hand & led me to my room, on my bed.

Kept saying "Di.. Di..."

I asked, "CD? You want to watch Barney?"

"No...!!" "Di..!" and pointed to the bathroom.

She wanted me to mandi (bathe) as to clean off the dirt. That, made me cry... My maid was just outside the door. She was the one who helped me with Balqis when I wanted to stop breastfeeding her. If she were not around, I might just give in & give her my milk. Sri took Nadeen & said something about dirty & smelly again...

Before dinner just now, she requested to have a look at my breasts. I excused myself & let her sisters distract her. Rushed downstairs, did another application of the tamarind & showed to her. She didn't look frustrated but pointed the dirt with her little fingers closing her nostrils. When I got nearer she ran away from me. But when I told her to give me hug, she didn't hesitate.

As for now, she is with my maid sleeping together with her sisters. Didn't ask for my milk & I can't wait for tomorrow so that I can hug her again.