Tamil Nadu, India - Day 6

Our flight home was at night. The final day in India was simply for leisure. After breakfast we took an ato to Spencer Plaza. The ride on the ato was sure an experience & the honking was non-stop.

We reached Spencer Plaza. HB wanted to check out the antiques as recommended by Wan. He was attracted to the ones displayed at Wan's when we had dinner the night before.

The Plaza reminded me of Campbell Complex & Kotaraya in KL. I'm not sure whether we really explored the whole mall because we kept seeing the same shops over & over again. Hence the search for the antique shop was easy. We found 2 shops but the price they offered was pretty steep. I was happy enough that he refused to get any. Antiques & me really can't get along ;-)

We had lunch instead. The girls found a pizza parlor & begged to dine there. Even I enjoyed my lunch. The pizza tasted better. The bread especially. Well, perhaps we had started getting bored with Briyani & curry ;-)

Waiting for our pizza

After lunch, we headed to another shopping mall merely to kill time. The mall was a walking distance to our hotel. No intention to shop really...

Balqis striking a pose

A shot by Yasmin while waiting for HB who was in the toilet. Nadeen was already asleep.

We girls found a ladies' department sharing the same level with the children's department. HB volunteered to play nanny to Nadeen ;-) & I ended up buying something. Hehehe....

After an early dinner we walked to the hotel. HB did the final packing & I got the younger girls ready.

Us in our room before check out

We rented a taxi to the airport. I wouldn't say the journey to the airport was a smooth one for us. Of all the days we were in India, it was on the final night that we had to endure the consequence of an accident. No! We were not involved in the accident but the traffic due to the accident disturbed the smoothness of our journey. Initially, it was a good start for us but due to the bad traffic the driver diverted to another road which took us a longer time to reach our destination. What more with Nadeen chose to throw tantrum at that very moment.

We manged to get to the airport despite the chaos but that was not all... Our flight was delayed! Yasmin started to get feverish. I had the medicine for her yes. But at that time what I wanted most was to be home.

Waiting , waiting & waiting...

At last it was time to board the plane. Alhamdulillah... we reached home safely. Everyone dozed off all the way to KL ;-)

It was indeed an unforgettable experience meeting the relatives in India. Their hospitality marvels us until today. In fact, I do wonder whether I could be as warm as they were if it is their turn to come & visit. To Uncle & Auntie thank you very much for everything. We will pay you a visit again insyAllah in the near future.

The End

ps- Notice the hastiness of this post? Well, I have to complete this tonight because tomorrow I will be in India again. This time to Delhi with HB, minus the girls. Will share my travel pretty soon :-)

Tamil Nadu, India - Day 5

Some may have thought that I have ended my travel log on Tamil Nadu, India trip. Well not yet. Hehehe.. I don't know why it's just out of the blue I start to enjoy blogging again. This is the 4th post for this month! That I tell you is indeed an improvement.. ;-)

At Day 4, I left readers at our parting with Uncle & Auntie at the hotel we stayed in Chennai. You may read here.

On day 5, we had breakfast at the hotel. Just the 6 of us. Down with 7. The plan after breakfast was to explore Chennai but it crossed my mind.. where exactly should we start? HB had the answer for that. He had contacted the MAS area manager in Chennai informing him of our arrival. So that very morning, the first place we visited was MAS town office ;-)

At the hotel

That morning a minister was having a meeting at the hotel. We saw men in uniform outside of the hotel. Very familiar uniform! The 'Inspector Sahab' uniform in Hindi & Tamil movies! The opportunity was grabbed to pose with them ;-)

We looked rigid, I know...

Mr Wan, the area manager was kind enough to brief us of places to visit around Chennai. He even called a car rental company to send us an MPV with a driver to take us around town. How sweet of him. Not only that he went down with us to meet the driver & told him of the places to take us. The final destination he instructed was his house, for dinner :-)

Mr. Wan with HB & that one in green was no secretary ;-)

It was an office girls... not a playground!

Mr. Wan with us at his office..

Our first stop of the day was at Rathna Store. OK. We shopped just enough for the family ;-) Well, 6 of us altogether so we didn't do that bad really :-) Too bad I forgot to snap on things we bought but I sure love the different sizes of woks. Hehehe...

Posing a contented smile ;-)

It was only our first stop of the day but we had past our regular lunch time. Not a good start... Told the driver to take us to a halal restaurant & again we came face to face with Pelita. Nobody complained though :-)

Lunch

Our transport for the day

Next the plan was to go to Gundy Children Park & Snake Park but it was closed on Tuesdays. Guess what day was it that day? Yes, Tuesday... If you have been following my travel log, you would remember a few of such incidents ;-) Oh well... We went to the park next door instead. It was open.

A memorial park

This tree looked kind of eerie

The architecture attracted our attention. Not to the girls though :-) Still they didn't hesitate to pose in that hot day.

Notice Balqis at far left. She chose to pose under the shed ;-)

After the photo shoots at the park we had no idea to go. It was still early for Marina Beach. HB told the driver to take us to see the buildings in Chennai. First stop was Anna University ;-)

College of Engineering

Was I glad to have a driver to take us around...

Despite the reckless driving accidents are seldom

Us in our rideThe Police HQ

Next we visited was the High Court. The others were already asleep by this time except for Balqis who had no choice but to play model for papa ;-)

.... and more photos around the bustling city of Chennai

Yes, only Balqis was still available for modeling ;-) Others were still in dreamland...

Didn't get the chance to try this one :-(

The Railway Station

Atos everywhere...

Wanna catch a movie? ;-)

The time showed a few minutes past 4pm. We still had a couple of hours to kill before sunset. Next stop was supposed to be Marina Beach but it was still too hot. I anyhow gave a brilliant idea. Hehehe! We had another round of....

Hehehe...

Goofing whist waiting for their parents ;-)

Even found themselves a prince!

How about this one papa? ;-)

OK. I got a little carried away... still we managed to get to the beach by sunset. BUT! The walk to the water was like forever. It was close to a half km walk & mind you it was paddling on the beach sand. It took us a longer time.

Sunset... No sight of the water yet!

People who visit Chennai will make an appoint to visit the Marina Beach, hence the crowd. It is one of the longest beach in the country. The distance from north down to south is 13km.

Finally we made it to the water. It was getting darker. This was a shot with flash.

A family portrait (without flash)

A penny for their thoughts... :-)

We later were driven to our final destination - Wan's residence. It was a great dinner for famished us ;-) Thank you to Mr. & Mrs. Wan for their warm hospitality.

With Wan's family in Chennai

*to be continued

She's home!

Yes! Wardah is home. She's like a chatterbox talking non-stop of her stay. I expected she would feel down for leaving her friends. Not at all... ;-)

She looked tired. For the past 3 weeks, her wake call was at 5.30am! We'll see what time will she wake up tomorrow. I bet earlier than me!

I survived the 3 weeks without one of my girls around. I can't lie. The first week was hard. It made it worse when it was difficult for her as well. The second week was smooth for us both & the third week felt like she was merely at school ;-)

To dear mothers out there, it is hard to let go I know. Like it or not you have to do it. If it's the best for our children then be it. Don't pamper them & most importantly don't let yourself get carried away longing for them. I had to keep reminding myself that I needed to be around for my other 3 girls as well. It wouldn't give a good impression to them if I only concentrate on one.

I heard that there were 3 campers who gave in & went home. Well Wardah... you did it darling! If I were to bring you home when you were wailing for it on the first night, things would be very different. I will have to take a difficult longer time to accept the fact that letting go is a process of growing up & you my girl will not understand the meaning of being independent.

We miss you Wardah!

OK here's an update of my Wardah who is now away from us. Well, not that far yes. Still... Being apart from each other is very foreign to this family. An exception though with their dad ;-)

You may want to read here on why she is away & here on how we tried to adjust with this new situation.

Visits are allowed on Sundays. As clearly written in the offer letter, campers are permitted to go out with their parents but they are prohibited to go outside of Bangi except for Kajang. Now, the curfew is at 7pm & we are allowed to take our child starting from 8am. If I get my Math right, that is exactly 11 hrs. How & where do you spend such long time around Bangi & Kajang?

A little bird told me that rules are meant to be broken... Naughty, naughty bird! Shoo! Shoo!

I looked forward for last Sunday. The original plan was to be there by 9am. She anyhow called the night before saying that I could fetch her as early as 8 am. Still, she didn't sound sure herself. I took my sweet time driving & reached her hostel a quarter past eight. Not too early & neither too late.

I found her in front of the foyer. Was about to press the keypads to her phone when the glimpse of me put her to a halt. Smiling all the way & her friends forgotten, she ran to me. My girl looked grown up & she said I looked thinner! Me? Thinner? Hahaha! Well, that was definitely an illusion of a pair of disunited mother & daughter.

Reunited!

I was ushered to a room. There I met the other parents. We had to present our IC & signed on a piece of paper for safety purposes. I could also see the other campers at the foyer playing table tennis & chatting away. Those according to Wardah were the campers who were staying in for the day due to geographical purposes. Good thing she is in UKM! Bangi is less than half an hour drive from home.

In the car, Wardah was talking non-stop of her stay & her new experiences. I knew she was happy. It made me feel a lot better. I think when the time comes to part with the other campers, she will have a difficult time. Everybody seems to be good to her.

At home (geographically 30km away from Bangi ;-)) we had breakfast together. The girls enjoyed Wardah's story about this & that but what they liked most were the gifts Wardah got for them at Petrosains, KLCC. (Campers go for educational trips on Fridays. Last week was Petrosains, this week is Aquaria & next will be Planetarium).

HB was working that morning. Both father & daughter had a very limited time together. If most of my enquiries were more on her stay & her whereabouts, HB's focused on the activities & experiments she did in the lab. You see Wardah was selected for the Scientists group. So most of her activities involve experiments & observations. It was very interesting listening to them discussing science. My least favourite subject ;-) Yasmin, on the other hand joined in with enthusiasm. But there were a few things that she was familiar with based from her readings. I don't understand these girls... it was barely an hour meeting each other but Yasmin had to tease her sister about a few of her failed experiments. Sisters!

After bidding farewell to HB, the 2 disappeared. I was busy in the kitchen preparing lunch & when I went upstairs I saw both Yasmin & Wardah in their room laughing & chatting away with a NB each in front of them. That was how Wardah spent most of her time at home that Sunday ;-)

After Asar prayer we went to Alamanda to get a few things for Wardah. Had a very early dinner & off to Bangi. We left Putrajaya at approximately 25 mins to curfew time. Wardah was relaxed about it. She was not worried for being late at all! Reached her hostel 3 mins before 7pm. We were not late after all.

I helped Wardah with her things to her room. Once settled I told her that I had to get back home to catch Maghrib prayer. She started to look down. I hugged & kissed her. That did it! She started to sob & within seconds tears came rolling down her cheeks. Oh no! I hated to leave her like that...

After awhile she got better. I drove off & prayed softly that she would eventually feel better. This was exactly what HB warned me. A visit might bring trouble.

As I was reaching home, she called & was crying out loud through the phone receiver. It broke my heart... Yes. But I know Wardah just too well. Perhaps all my readers here come to know her by now. She is a drama queen at times & I forced myself to believe she was again in one of her acts. I comforted her of course. It didn't worry me much because from what I gathered after all the stories she showered me with, she was happy there. It was only at that point of saying goodbye which she is never good at.

Somewhere at 9pm she rang me up again. In a gaily voice she said, "Wardah dah OK. Love you Mama!". See... didn't I say so ;-)

I have made plans for this coming Sunday. It's HB's off day & we are watching Rapunzel!