:: japan trip (part 1) ::

Two weeks ago our little family went to Japan for 6 days vacation. The flight tickets were bought earlier this year during one of many Air Asia promos and after many months, Sunday, October 12th finally arrived.

PREP
Despite the early bought tickets the real preparation only started a month away. We did not engage with any travel agent so I was the self-appointed-agent-in-charge. The next item bought was the 7-days tourist train pass or known as the JR (Japan Rail) Pass. The pass is only sold to tourists and allow us to ride any JR line train including selected shinkansen bullet trains, JR bus services and JR Miyajima ferry. We bought return tickets to / from Kansai Aiport, Osaka as it was cheaper than arriving / departing Tokyo; and with JR Pass we still have a good option to travel to Tokyo. My BFF, Nor was kind enough to help buying our pass (and also went through slight trouble) during the previous Matta Fair. Each pass cost Y29,110 for adult and at other times it can be bought from Japan Travel Bureau at Amoda Building KL located opposite Berjaya Times Square, in between Melia Hotel and Imbi Plaza.

One reason why we chose Japan as destination was to bring Ady to the Disneyland, as he was very happy with his visit to Legoland in January this year. We already went to Hong Kong Disneyland last year but Ady was nearly two years old back then and has not learn to appreciate theme park, so the next nearest Disneyland is Tokyo. Being the 'tour agent' I planned the entire itinerary, before proposing to my other half. The itinerary is purely for family (with a little, active kiddo ^_^).

Outline of the itinerary is below. There were two options actually; whether going straight to Tokyo after arriving Osaka or start at Osaka then go to Tokyo. We chose the latter one bearing in mind it is a 6 hours flight + 3 hours journey between Osaka and Tokyo.

Day 1
- Depart from KLIA2 - Arrive Kansai Aiport - Check-in hotel at Namba, Osaka - Tour around Dotonbori / Shinsaibashi area

Day 2
- Trip to Universal Studio Osaka

Day 3
- Check-out hotel - Travel to Tokyo via Shinkansen - Check-in hotel at Shinjuku, Tokyo - Tour around Shinjuku

Day 4
- Trip to Tokyo Disneyland

Day 5
- Check-out hotel - Tour around Harajuku & Shibuya - Travel to Rinku Town, Osaka - Check-in hotel at Rinku Town

Day 6
- Depart from Kansai Airport - Arrive KLIA 2


Thanks to the internet, I just Googled any info I wanted, bought our hotel rooms via Expedia & Agoda and also bought the Disneyland tickets from their website. Universal Studio does not sell any online ticket so it has to be bought from the counter or their affiliate hotels.


D-DAY
Sunday, October 12th: we departed home for KLIA 2 at 5:00 am and my parents-in-law was kind enough to send us. Our flight was scheduled at 8:00 am and I'm telling you, don't mess with KLIA 2 yo! Not counting the time since we stepped our feet at the building but time taken from the moment we entered the departure hall to the boarding gate was not less than 45 minutes. It was a very long walk *phew*.

The 6 hours plus flight would be less boring if we travelled via non-low cost airline (obviously) but  we had no problem with Ady because he loves transportation and loves being inside an airplane so he behaved really well. Arrived Kansai Airport (KIX) around 3:30 pm but finally out of the airport building about an hour after that.
*Note: Japan time is 1 hour advance from Malaysia. Example: 4:00 pm in Japan = 3:00 pm in Malaysia.

First task we had to do was to change our receipt with the official JR Pass. The JR office is located at the 3rd floor of the building opposite, connected to the airport and this is what we got in return:

From KIX we utilised our JR Pass for the first time to JR Namba station. The lady who gave us the pass printed out the stations we need to change train so we just followed it, being newbies. It took us 45 minutes to reach Namba and after long travelling hours we really look forward to settle down.

We checked in the Monterey Grasmere Osaka hotel. It has the perfect location, above the JR Namba station. The main key of my research for this trip in Google Map is "hotels nearby XXX station". Thinking of the train ride, our luggage and Ady Rifqi, we really have to settle down as fastest as possible at one place. Monterey Grasmere is a nice, comfortable hotel. Although the room was not as huge as the usual hotel room in Malaysia but apparently it was the largest among all hotels we stayed throughout the trip. Our room was at 29th floor and we got to see clear view of the city.

We did not take long break. It was already 7 something and it was already dark... and we were hungry so as planned we went 'jalan-jalan' to the Dotonbori and Shinsaibashi area; almost 15 minutes walk from the hotel. It was windy and quite chilly. We stopped by at one of the bridge there watching the colourful lights and hundreds of people around us. A Japanese guy who was probably drunk suddenly came and vented out his anger at a homeless uncle who was sitting on the bridge. As he was cursing in Japanese he then opened his pants' zipper and peed the uncle! I was disgusted with the scene. Was that a "warm welcome" from the land that is well-known with courtesy and culture? Hrmmm...

Well anyway we went off walking along the alley full of restaurants with gigantic models such as crab and sushi, and finally found a halal indian restaurant for dinner. We continued strolling around the area. There were lots of eateries, drug stores, shops selling clothes and shoes, karaoke and shops that could not be defined. We returned to the hotel empty ended and called it a day.


Monday, October 13th: It should be a day spent at USJ (not our housing area but Universal Studio Japan) but we were informed by the hotel during check in that a big typhoon is coming to town so USJ might not open for business. We were quite frustrated but that morning I woke up to this view:

A beautiful, bright day - no sign of typhoon coming. We decided to follow our plan and went to the USJ. From JR Namba we had to change train at Shin Imamiya for Nishikujo and changed to another train for the Universal City station, almost 30 minutes journey in total. We were informed by the staff at the station that JR line train will stop its operation at 4:00 pm due to the typhoon.

Entrance fee for an adult is Y6,980. We were so excited we still managed to arrive Universal Studio Japan and the first ride we went on was the famous JAWS ride. Ady likes watching shark videos on youtube so he was not afraid of the shark. We thought of experiencing the Jurassic Park ride but it was not suitable for young kids and by that time Ady has started nagging us to visit Elmo and Cookie Monster, whom he called "Am Nyam Nyam". We spent few hours at the Sesame Street indoor area as it has started raining.

 

Raining was on and off. When it stopped we went to the Harry Porter area, which is the latest attraction at the USJ. I am not a Harry Porter fan and I only watched the first movie but I was impressed. The area was like a set from the movie with the huge Hogwarts School castle, row of shops selling weird stuff and even the Hogwarts Express train.

Lesson #01: when travelling with kid/s it is quite challenging to have camera in hand all the time, hence the best option is to rely and snap photos with mobile phone's camera. Ensure the battery is always sufficient and set the photo quality at high megapixels.

 

At 4:00 pm the day was getting darker, windy and wet but we did not bother much as the park was still open so we strolled around and even watched the Terminator 3D show. We were informed that the park is closing at 5:00 pm so at 4:40 pm we left the park as the rain was continuous. We reached the Universal City station looking at sealed barriers. Ok that happened because we did not take the announcement seriously. JR line already ended their operation at 4:00 pm and we were stucked. We walked around that area in the rain finding taxi but all taxis were reserved via phone calls. There were many of "us" around there, finding solutions to go back. It was cold and very windy. The area is next to the sea and we came across two tv station vans with satellites (just like what we normally see in Hollywood movies) setting up to capture the typhoon coming. We walked to the nearest hotel drop-off area and asked the concierge to call for taxi. Few people have started to ask the same thing and from the call we were told that no taxi is available. We were stuck.

Hubby went smoking to find a solution. As I stood near the concierge I have been observing and listening to people around me. When hubby returned a taxi arrived and appparently it was for a guy and his son. Actually I overheard him wanted to go to the Nishikujo station and Namba, which were similar to our destinations so when he was about to enter the car I asked him to consider the three of us too. Luckily he was kind enough to allow us in the taxi. What a big relief! Apparently they came from Korea and stranded because their flight was cancelled due to the typhoon. They had to find a hotel to spend another night and since his wife was waiting for him in Namba we told the taxi driver to drive us straight to the JR Namba station. Alhamdulillah, thank God for the assistance. It was a win-win situation for two parties as later we brought the Koreans to our hotel and they got a room for a night there.

Lesson #02: when travelling to other country, do not take for granted any local announcement and keep updated on their weather condition.

Most of the shops were already closed so that evening we just stayed in the hotel room watching tv. A bit later we decided to try our luck to find any covenient store that may still open and we were amazed that the supermarket at the JR station was not closed. We spent time at the groceries area shopping for food, fruits and since we were in the land where sushi belongs, I insisted to 'tapau' local nigiri sushi for dinner (they tasted good I tell you!). We left when the supermarket was almost closed and outside, it was raining with heavy wind. That ends our adventurous Day 2 in Osaka.

...to be continued.


*keywords: what to do in osaka, where to go in osaka

:: ady rifqi's 3rd birthday party ::

 

 

Ady Rifqi turns three (3) on 17th June 2014.

 

 

THE PLAN

Few months before his birthday we have decided to throw a birthday celebration for him. He had his first birthday party when he turned one, but we did not have any celebration when he was two except for cake-cutting. I have been wanting to plan, decorate and host my son's party - it's among one of many things in my bucket list and it made me so excited. The first thing I did was asking Ady what theme he would like for his party. He loved Thomas and Friends and have started playing Lego so I asked his preference between the two. I asked the question once in between few days and even rotated either with Thomas or Lego as the first preference because sometimes kids give answer to the first thing they heard. Being Ady he always knows what he wants, and he answered Thomas every single time, so that's it. He will be having a Thomas-themed birthday party.

 

The party was planned to be held on Saturday, 21st June 2014 at our own crib. I have informed closed family members and friends to save the date earlier and one month before the actual date, an invitation was sent to guests through Facebook calendar of event and mobile messages. The colour code was based on Thomas' main colours - red, blue & white. Party checklist was all in my head and since then I started wearing my party planner hat when ever I had the free time. Until the day arrived, together with my husband we completed everything in the checklist:

 

1. Personalisation is important. With a bit of research I came up with a 'branding' for Ady Rifqi's 3rd Birthday Party. Instead of colourful cartoon design I wanted something that is simple and urban so I played with stripes, polka dots and chevron. After getting approval from the other half (it's a team affair, always remember to consult the co-organiser :-D) then only the actual designing and printing works started.

 

2. Designed and printed out our own party labels for the mineral water. It is an advantage that the company I'm working for produces mineral water in small bottles so I bought them and replaced with our own party labels.

 

3. Using the similar design we printed out stickers and printed materials for other party stuff such as garlands, table decorations, party favours, etc.

 

4. A guest book is a must. Instead of buying a ready-made or producing one with coloured papers (which I did for Ady's first birthday) I made a mini photobook via photobook.com.my. The photobook contains Ady's photos since day one and blank pages for guests to write.

 

5. Bookings and orders for cake, desserts, caterer for F&B, clown and photographer. Fila voluntereed to purchase and bring the helium baloons (thank you so much babe!).

 

6. Prepared party favours in goodies bags for the kids. I felt so lucky when I found polka dots paper bags in red and blue at Mydin USJ 1. It was the cutest and the most acceptable design available there. Did candy shopping at their wholesale area too. We had two types of bags. Red bag is for younger kids which contained a tub of mini playdoh and candies (mini chupa chups, mini mentos, mini m&ms and granola bars). Blue bag is for the not-so-young kids which contained a set of colour pencils, customised Thomas colouring sheet, a snack and almost similar candies.

 

7. Designed and printed photo props, but Nor assisted to prepare them on hard papers and sticks (arigato gozaimasu cik Nor!).

 

 

 

 

D-DAY

Hubby and I started arranging furnitures and decorating the corridor since early morning. We turned our dining table to a cake / candy buffet by wrapping it with papers. We placed everything necessary on the table and made paper garlands backdrop. There was a dedicated table for the photo props and guestbook, complete with colourful sharpies and stickers. The caterer arrived early and we had two big round tables for the guests. We ordered roti jala with chicken curry, singapore fried noodle, chicken drummets, nuggets and cordial drink. My mother-in-law voluntereed to prepare teh tarik and my mom brought coconut jelly all the way from Seremban. As for desserts we have the birthday cake, cupcakes, blueberry cheese tarts, mini donuts, 'love letters' and candies.

 

We managed to complete decorating just in time before the scheduled timing, 3:00 pm. Guests started coming followed by clown and photographers. Everything went on according to plan, only that it was such a hot and sunny day. We did not rent any tent so most guests had to mingle and stay inside the house. It was a bit crampy and we really apologise for such inconvenient. The birthday boy on another hand did not take his afternoon nap because he was too excited so he was a bit cranky during the party. He also got very excited accepting gifts which he proudly opened one after another. Note to parents - please accept birthday gifts and keep them in a room during birthday party to avoid similar experience.

 

 

 We had cake cutting, followed by party game led by the clown. The only time Ady happily participated was during dance session because the clown played his favourite tune - Gangnam Style. He danced to that song from beginning to the end.

 

Most guests left home by 6:30 pm. We started packing and cleaning after that. Everybody left except my family members as they spent a night with us (and helped finishing some of the food... haha.)

 

It was a memorable day for us and I have another checked item in my bucket list, Alhamdulillah. I realised I didn't get the chance to have long conversation with all guests, but hopefully they enjoyed each other's company and the experience. To family members, friends, neighbours and colleagues, we THANK YOU for spending your time with us. As the hosts, we sincerely apologise for any inconvenience occured. On behalf of the birthday boy, we appreciate all the gifts. Ady received Thomas & Friends playset and tableware, Hot Wheels playsets, a huge toy truck with cars, educational toys, building blocks, a lot of clothes and even cash (already deposited into his personal account). We did not expect that but thank you, thank you, thank you everyone.

 

  

Here are some of many beautifully captured moments during the day. I am so satisfied with the outcomes, thanks to mister photographers.

 

 

 

To our lil boy Ady Rifqi, you're growing up too fast baby. You have cherished every single day of our life since day one and our prayers are always with you. May you grow up to be a good muslim and continue to be a good son. No word could ever describe how much you mean to both of us and we promise to take care of you as long as we live. 

 

We love you, baby!

 

 

 

*keywords: thomas party ideas, thomas the tank engine birthday party, children party ideas, kids party ideas, third birthday celebration

 

:: movie date ::

13th August was Mr. Husband's birthday. When I counted we have been celebrating his birthday together for the 12th year in a row, since 2003. It does not feel that long though and I wish we can continue celebrating our birthdays together for many times / years as we can. It is a ground rule that both of us should be on leave on each other's birthday. The rule was broken this time because we had to go to the office, yet we still managed to spend half of the day together after lunch time.

We have not watch movie at the cinema for a long time. The last time we went to one was during Die Hard (A Good to Die Hard), in which hubby wanted to surprise me. He brought us (Ady & I) to GSC Summit but all of us got a surprise as we were not allowed to enter because Ady was a baby and the movie was rated for violence. We were allowed to exchange the tickets and we had no choice than changing them to Hantu Kak Limah 2: Husin Mon dan Jin Pakai Toncit because it was  not rated and the closest time available. Can you believe it? I supposed Ady could not take it too as he was crying when we entered the cinema hall. After 15 minutes we went back home and that was the end of it.

A "wefie" - the only picture of us together on his birthday.

 

So last Wednesday we took our chance for a movie date. We chose GSC 1Utama as we wanted to try the latest movie experience with their recently launched D-BOX Motion System. D-BOX Motion is to enhance the experience of moviegoers as the seat moves according to the scenes. The seats are made of comfortable leather and visibility level of the motion can be controlled from none to level 3. The motion seats are positioned in few rows at the back of the hall, together with the normal seats unlike the Gold Class movie hall, and not all movies are available for D-BOX. There is only one show available in a day, at 3:20 pm and that day we settled for the Guardians of the Galaxy. The movie was freakin' awesome! I love action movie with underlying / synical jokes. The kind of joke that some people may not find it a joke at all. It is another Marvel comic movie but I found it a tad different than the usual famous superheroes one and I would rate it 4.8 / 5. The motion seat did not move the entire time and it was not very vigorous - I found it just nice although it was at the maximum level. All in all it was a very interesting experience. A good movie is still the key to satisfaction as the motion seat only enhances the experience. We can live with or without it but if the movie sucks, it would not help elsewhere. Yet it is still worth to experience it, at least once. By the way, the price for a D-BOX Motion seat is an additional of RM15 on top of a normal priced ticket.

Hubby already received his birthday gift and a card earlier after midnight so we only went to few shops and a coffee break after the movie before we went home. It was a simple celebration, if compared to my own birthday celebration this year but I hope he enjoyed the quality time we had as much as I did.

Happy {belated} Birthday to the king of our hearts. You mean so much to us and we really love you!

:: selamat hari raya! ::

It has been many months of silence. Once in a while I dropped by my own blog space, thinking when can I start writing again. I miss blogging. I miss recording wonderful moments of my life in this blog only that it did not happen because I was "too absorbed" in the real world.

Anyhow I hope it is not too late to wish Muslim readers "Selamat Hari Raya" or "Eid Mubarak" and at the same time would like to seek forgiveness for any wrongdoings. This year, for the very first time I celebrated the first day of Syawal away from my parents and sisters as we were celebrating it at my husband's hometown in Kedah. The experience was different from what I normally had. Even the food too. We went to four houses on the first Raya and served with laksa utara, laksa sarawak and rice with side dishes. On the second day we visited husband's relatives in Kangar, Perlis before heading to Padang Besar for a quick shopping spree. I managed to eat some lontong and rice cubes with peanut sauce, and also mandy rice. The food was all good and tasty only that until today I have not eaten the usual Raya food - lemang and rendang. Perhaps that would be a good, concrete reason to look forward to receiving 'open office / open house' invites and eat them without any guilt ^_^

Here are few photos taken throughout the long holiday and a week of Eid celebration:

Pre-Raya pics. We went back to my hometown in Seremban on Friday and Ady had fun playing with his aunties. We went back to Kedah on Sunday and we were lucky this time because the road was clear from heavy traffic. We departed from Seremban at 12 noon and stopped by our house in USJ to replenish our cats' food & water. Our journey to Kedah started at 2pm in which we stopped for short nap at an R&R, did a bit of shopping at Sunway Carnival Seberang Jaya and still managed to reach Sik few minutes after break fasting time, around 8pm.

 

 



1st Syawal selfie with my sweethearts. We were wearing grayish blue outfit this year, bought from PKNS Shah Alam. Hub's and mine is a couple set outfit and we managed to find almost similar colour for lil Ady.

 

 

OTW home on 3rd Syawal we stopped by Taiping Zoo because our boy loves animal. Sadly the day zoo already closed when we arrived. The night safari started at 8pm but we still had a long way to go so we did not wait. Luckily there was a huge crocodile statue and Ady spent most of his time there adoring the gigantic thing. We still owe the little guy a visit to the zoo and KL National Zoo is now top on our to-visit list.

 

After Taiping we stopped by Ipoh. Every year ever since we got married we never miss visiting husband's good ol' friend. It is an annual thing. Thank you Halid, Balqis and the kids Hannah & Iffat for having us again. Too bad we never snap any pic or else we can see how we changed and how the kids grew up every year. Usually we also visit Nor at her hometown house in Ipoh but this year the ritual was broken because she travelled to the south a day earlier. Next year ajelah yer, insyaallah kalau dipanjangkan umur.

 

23 years of friendship and counting. Visited my long time girlfriend, Riza at her house in Bangi on Saturday. We have been friends since we were 10 years old (standard 4) and we have been through numerous experiences together. Glad the friendship remains until today although we do not see each other often. There was no official dress code but apparently we were wearing the same colour theme. Riza has started her own business selling shawl and baju kurung - check out @pumpkeenscollections on Instagram & Facebook. Loving those glittery shawl as what she was wearing (I already own 4 pieces of them, including the emerald green I was wearing in OTW home pics above).

 

 

There goes a week of holiday and celebration. It is now time to get back to reality and absorbed with never ending work responsibilities. Not sure when is the next update but hopefully it would not be as long as before. As I mentioned earlier I miss blogging. I miss doing things I love to do, instead of forcing myself to love things I have to do.

 

Last but not least, do not forget to pray for our Muslim relatives who are fighting for their lives in Gaza Palestine. It is a cruel world out there. May God continues to keep them under His protection and blessings. As Malaysians we also need to pray the same thing for our country. May the souls of those perished in the MH17 tragedy rest in peace.

:: birthday getaway ::

On 17th January 2014 my age increased to another number. Alhamdulillah with His blessing I am still able to breathe until this day, continue to live and surrounded by my loved ones. Apparently the entire nation "celebrated" my special day with a public holiday - the Thaipusam. We did not travel anywhere during last year end so we thought it would be good to travel somewhere and at the same time celebrate my birthday. The inital plan was Hard Rock Hotel Penang but few weeks ago I ended up making reservation for Legoland Hotel in Johor instead. Lego is one of my favourite toys. When I was a kid I used to save my daily school allowance just to purchase one small set of pirate-themed lego set because I really liked it. It was priced between RM20 to RM30 back then but with a RM1 daily allowance it was quite tough to collect and achieve it.

Anyway, we travelled on Thursday 16th January with Malindo Air. It was a 7:45 am flight and the ticket was priced at an unbelievable rate of RM39 one way from KLIA. It was a very good deal because we travelled with a Boeing flight instead of propeller and most importantly we didn't need to walk outdoor and climb the stairs (ala-ala travel in style gitew). I personally recommend the airline because the seating area was spacious and there was in-flight entertainment even for short distance flight - just bring along personal headphone or purchase one if interested. Earlier that morning we travelled to KLIA from home via taxi that we booked via My Teksi app. It was a very reliable app indeed. We booked for the cab to arrive at 6:00 am and when it was in front of our home, a notification was updated with "your driver has arrived".

We straight away travelled to Legoland Hotel in Nusajaya from Senai Aiport to register and to keep our luggage because we wanted to enter Legoland immediately. It was around 35 minutes journey and the airport taxi rate was RM68. Check-in time is at 4:00 pm anyway so we didn't expect to wait. It was neither public holiday nor weekend so the park was not crowded at all. We took a lot of family photos, thanks to the photographers who were always on standby at strategic locations. They didn't mind to snap our photos with our personal camera before using their camera and we were given a strap which they can scan to upload our pics.

We let Ady enjoyed the rides. First he drove a car around the track. He still didn't know how to handle the steering so he kept on crashing into the curb. We then rode a boat together then took turns to accompany Ady riding Lego aeroplane. Waiting time for each ride was less than 5 minutes or none! Ady loved the aeroplane so much. He rode it twice in the morning and four more times in the evening without waiting. Even if there is a waiting line, kids won't feel too restless because a table of Lego is always there for them to play with. The entire park is very kids friendly!

At Duplo town area. There was a huge covered place where kids can play with Duplo Lego and ride a train. A good place to rest and catch some breath. There were restaurant and nursing room too.

 

 



The viewing tower where we could view the entire park from above. Lego Technic Academy is targetted for teenagers and adults. Hubby joined the free 45 minutes programming class and made his robot move to cut a wire.

 

 

The Lego City was filled with significant miniature of buildings and landmarks, all made of Lego. It was really impressive. That KLCC looks so real isn't it?

 

 

Not in any photo is the Lego Kingdom area with a huge castle. Ady had his usual afternoon nap so we took turns and had chance experiencing the roller coasters; one in Technic area and another in the Kingdom. Both rides were not as challenging as the Cyclone in Universal Studio Singapore or those in Movie World Gold Coast but they weren't too bad. Since the park was not crowded with guests, one day at the dry park is good enough for me. There are still other attractions that we did not experience due to age or height requirements so there is actually a lot more to ride and explore. Yet I really had a great time and enjoy the entire day.

 

Among highlights about the park based on my observation:

 

1. Legoland dry park is not only a theme park because there is always something for everybody at every age. If you don't like riding any game you can enjoy sightseeing at the Lego City area, riding train around the park or riding a boat. For those who love taking photos, it is definitely a perfect place for photography session because everything is unique and colourful.

 

2. Park opens at 10:00 am and close at 6:00 pm during weekdays and 7:00 pm during public holidays and weekends.

 

3. Restaurants or food stalls are everywhere. Please expect higher price compared to food outside but they were not too expensive.

 

4. Legoland staff is very warm and helpful. From my observation many of them naturally love kids and very patience. It is something that one could not pretend and I really respect that. Keep it up, guys.

 

5. There is wide range of Lego products that we may not find elsewhere. Rambang mata sangat! They do not stated anywhere but we received many free gifts too depending on total amount purchase. When we checked our bags there were a lot of extra stuff. Awesome meh.

 

6. Legoland has proper praying place or surau located at the main entrance area. Couldn't find such proper facility at other theme parks such as Universal Studio Singapore (during our visit last time there was only a small room) or Disneyland. There is high population of Muslims around Asia so they should consider that actually.

 

7. Explore the park and let your photos taken by the official photographers. It is not compulsory to purchase any at the end, but let me warn you there is a tendency to do so after viewing them :-P We viewed our photos 20 minutes before the park closed and ended up purchasing our family photo on lego bricks. It is a unique souvenir as they can be disassembled if we want to, just like playing normal Lego. The entire package came with another three (3) sets of printed photos and all four (4) photos can be viewed online, saved and shared via social media. It's worth the purchase.

 

 

 

We checked into our room later in the evening but I will write a review about Legoland Hotel in the next post. That night we had dinner at Medini Mall located next to the hotel. It was an open concept mall, with a number of restaurants and shopping outlets however the entire place close quite early. Some restaurants were already closed when we arrived at 8:30 pm. We had dinner at Chicken Rice Shop and according to the staff the place usually close a bit late and crowded only during weekends.

On 17th January which was my birthday we said goodbye to the hotel at 11:00 something in the morning. Our flight was at 3:05 pm so we decided to spend few hours left at Johor Premium Outlet. We rented a car stroller for our little boy - RM30 fee for one day rental with RM100 deposit. It was our second visit to JPO, the first one when it was just opened two years back. Now it has expended to the second phase with more outlets such as Furla, Timberland, Aigner and others but nothing really attracted me. Ended up buying a pair of wedges from Pedro, the wedges that Fila and I had our eyes on when it was displayed in Empire last year.

JPO to Senai Airport was merely 10 minutes drive so we departed at 2:15 pm with a cab. Our flight was slightly delayed and we arrived KLIA around 5:30 pm. Although we were only travelling within Malaysia the experience was very different because we took flight and travelled with taxis. We felt like tourists in our own country and such experience is in line with 2014's Visit Malaysia year :-D

It was a memorable getaway indeed, thanks to Mr. Husband and lil boy Ady Rifqi who made the experience more exciting and wonderful - double, triple the fun!

May this year brings me a lot of love, luck, good health, happiness and prosperity. Ameen.

:: whuzzup? ::

Hello people. It has been months since my last update. I really miss blogging but what stops me from writing is 'time'. In June I was transferred to another unit and life has no longer been the same. Being in a new team requires me to adapt, learn a lot of new stuff and with a major project that we are currently having, time is one of our 'enemy'. Call me workaholic but I couldn't help to think do work every night and day. There was this day in Ramadhan when I stayed up through out the night doing a presentation slide and ended up knocking someone's car bumper on the next day because I felt asleep for a few seconds at the traffic light. I don't need to mention how tiring and challenging it is (since I'm also a wife and a mother) but despite all these, I do love what I am doing and that keeps the whole thing going.

In these few months, I had the opportunity to travel from one state to another, interact with company's management team, observing qualities that are required to become good leader but one moment that truly inspires me was when I had the opportunity to accompany our company's GCEO for lunch. There were only three of us so I took the chance asking him a question; whether he had ever imagined himself to be at the current position. Maybe I should asked better (and more intelligent) question than that but I did not regret asking because his answer was inspiring and a mind opener. He mentioned about the importance of having value and purpose in life and at work; and when believed we are doing the right things on the right path, good things will come inevitably.

Although I didn't update my blog, I was still active in the social media especially Instagram. I just love Instagram-ing photos especially when they are captured moments of my not-so-little-anymore boy and moments that I would love to remember. Below is a small collection of my Instagram @yatoque photos to recap what has been going on in my life during my hiatus from the blogging world since June.

HIGHLIGHTS #01:

- Ady pretending to sleep. Not sure about the pouty long lips but he always does that everytime he pretends sleeping :-P

- My new pairs of killer heels bought from trendyfairy. The one with spikes is a weapon in disguise and I am the first victim, now left with scars on both feet -__-

- "a kiss from a furry friend"

 

 

HIGHLIGHTS #02:

- Ady dancing Gangnam Style in diapers and sunglasses

- Few photos of us in Brisbane and Gold Coast (will blog about this later)

- Me featured in Cosmoderm's ad in few local women magazines. Thank you Cosmoderm!

- Raya gifts from BFF during our annual iftar together

 

 

 

HIGHLIGHTS #03:

- Ady helping Atuk washing his car during a weekend in Seremban

- Food platter Ady sent me for lunch while I was doing office work at our dining table. I was touched.

- Photos of myself while on duty for TM booth at career fair in KL Convention Centre

- Photo of babyAdy captured and printed by sis-in-law. Love the pic!

- Ady helping Papa washing Mama's lil red car :-)

 

 

HIGHLIGHTS #04:

- Few pics of myself as the WonderWoman during our 'superhero' themed annual Group Awards Night held in MMU Cyberjaya

- 17.06.13: Ady turns two!

- Our five kitties (clockwise: Neslo, MiuMiu, Nescafe, Teh Tarik and Milo) having their special weekly dinner

- BFF friendship keychains for each of us. Made these with the girls during our karaoke night-out

 

 

 

HIGHLIGHTS #05:

- With BFF during our girls' nite out at Redbox The Gardens

- Short visit to i-City Shah Alam with family

- 06.06: Our wedding anniversary

- The day when Ady received his first Thomas play set

- The night when we went up to Genting Highlands for a stroll and coffee / hot choc

- The room in Majestic Malacca: my first out station after many years & first time sleeping without my baby

 

***

Selamat Hari Malaysia peeps!

:: happy birthday Ady! ::

Happy 2nd Birthday to our little diamond, Ady Rifqi. No word can ever describe how grateful and lucky we are for having you in our life.

posted from Bloggeroid

:: family vacation 2013 part 3 ::

>> PART 1 <<

>> PART 2 <<

Fuhhh... I have finally come to the last part of our family vacation story and here goes...

On Friday, 29.03.2013 we arrived back in Hong Kong from Shenzhen and checked in at the first hotel we stayed, the Newton Place Hotel. When we went to Shenzhen we did not bring the entire luggage because the hotel offered luggage storage service for only HKD10 per bag so we retrieved back our bags and had our lunch. During the vacation we actually brought together a mini rice cooker, a multipurpose kettle, instant noodles and a lot of Brahim's packed dishes so MIL cooked rice and we all ate in the hotel room. After Zohor prayer we went out to explore the city for the last time so we decided to go to Victoria Peak. From the nearest MTR station, Ngau Tau Kok we had to change the train route once and stopped at Central Station. From there we had to walk up the hill (around 10-15 minutes walking distance) to the Peak Tram Station but surprised to see such a very long queue. The Peak tram is somehow similar to the hill train at Bukit Bendera, Pulau Pinang but due to time constraint and long waiting we decided to go up the hill by cab. Despite the experience, it is more cost saving to travel by cab because the fee was around HKD50 per cab whereas a single journey adult ticket by the tram cost HKD28 each and best of all, we managed to reach the top faster and skipped the extremely long queue.

On top of the Victoria Peak there were two buildings located in opposite of each other. One is The Peak Galleria, which is a shopping mall and another is the Peak Tower. In the Peak Tower visitors could view the entire Hong Kong from its sky terrace but we went there because we wanted to go to the Madame Tussauds. An adult entrance ticket is HKD190 but you could buy it in advance from their website and get 10% discount (HKD171). Since we came in a big group we asked for group special price and luckily we got the 10% discount too. Madame Tussauds Hong Kong is very small if compared to the one in London. It was my second visit there so I happily offered to be the photographer and let hubby posed with the 'celebrities'. I only posed mostly with those who are still unavailable during my previous visit such as Robert Pattinson (who doesn't look much like him), Kate and William, Donnie Yen the IP Man and my favourite Lady Gaga. Ady was asleep when we entered the gallery but he was so cheerful after he woke up. Normally he does not like to take photo but that day he was smiling when he peeped through to become the face of a sumo guy.

Hubby with Karen Mok, Andy Lau and Aaron Kwok

Bottom left is myself with Robert Pattinson. Errr I think I prefer Edward Cullen. LOL.

...and here are more photos of us with the 'celebrities'...

After spending few hours on The Peak we went straight to the shopping area in Tsim Sha Tsui which cost us more than HKD100 per cab due to heavy traffic. Tsim Sha Tsui is shoppers' paradise for international brands like Chanel, LV, Longchamp, Burberry, Gucci... just name it all and it is there. For your info branded goods in Hong Kong are duty free so they are said to be cheaper than Malaysia even after currency conversion. I could not do any direct comparison because I did not do any research before the vacation. I bought a handbag though but I have not time to visit the boutique here yet so I am not sure how much the difference is. During my first visit to Hong Kong I did buy a Coach handbag (I never have enough handbag LOL) and it was around RM300 cheaper than Malaysia so I supposed it shoud be cheaper also this time.

It was already late in the evening but we still insisted to do a very last minute shopping before saying goodbye so we took MRT and went back to the first place we visited earlier, the Ladies Market. It was nearly 11 pm when finally returned to the hotel. I slept around 3 something in the morning packing our luggage because there were a lot of new things and these are among the stuff we bought during our 6 days vacation in Hong Kong and Shenzhen...   

Truly a shopper's paradise! ;-)

We arrived Malaysia in the evening of Saturday, 30.03.2013. It was a great, memorable family vacation and I will be glad to visit Hong Kong and Shenzhen again in the future.

***

THANK YOU FOR READING ABOUT MY JOURNEY

With that, I would like to give a fridge magnet / bottle opener from Hong Kong to three (3) lucky readers.

Just write "I WANT A BEAR" in the comment section below with your name and email address before 12:00 noon, Wednesday, 24 April 2013 and I shall pick the lucky winners by randow.

Item will be delivered to your address by post (for Malaysian residence only.)

:: prince of my heart ::

Top: 06.04.2013  |  Having his favourite Chatime milk tea at The Curve

Bottom: 10.04.2013  |  In the car on the way to school

Ady is 22 months (young) today. My little baby is no longer little! His set of teeth is almost complete and he can also walk, jump, run and dance but until today he still could not talk properly -_- He babbles a lot in his own language though and only say 'nah' (here it is), 'nak' (want) and 'ba' (bus) but he could understand instructions and what people are talking about so I am still not worried because I was a late talker too. Nowadays Ady is more independent and ever since coming back from Hong Kong he is such a happy fella. Since we travelled a lot on bus, Ady is now a big fan of the transportation. He likes holding our London double decker bus fridge magnet and points at bus when ever he sees one.

At times, Ady can play on his own. He really loves car and likes to stack his collection of cars (he got 26 new mini toy cars during our 6-days vacation!) or being a cook at his kitchen play set. Writing about this reminds me about list of how to bring up a child according to gender that people shared on Facebook and one of it stated do not let boy playing girl stuff such as cooking. I would say different people have different opinions but to me, allowing a boy to role play as a cook does not change his gender or personality. Even today many famous chefs are guys and most of them are straight, so I guess what is wrong with cooking for the boys? Unless you let them play with make up or let them wear skirts and dresses, then that is a different story. We bought the kitchen play set in Shenzhen for only Yuan120 (around RM60) and Ady's aunty Dibah, who is my youngest sister also likes playing with it when ever she came to our house. Apart from that Ady also likes riding his mini cars. He has two cars, one is a gift from Opah and Tokwan and another is a gift from his own Papa. If he has a playroom in this house, I bet it is already full with toys. We do control the purchasing though so he would not be too pampered and used to get everything he wants.

Like other children, Ady loves playing at the play ground too especially with the slide so we have now become regular customers at kids gym or play area available at any shopping mall we visited. If we are too tired to hang out at shopping mall we just bring him to the nearest McD and let him play with the slide there. So far the best kids gym we have been to are the one in Setia City Mall and Mid Valley. Both are paid ones with wide range of facilities but these days many shopping malls have prepared free play area for the kids and so far we have been to those in Sunway Pyramid (in front of Cold Storage), The Curve and also in Giant USJ.

He is still into nursery rhymes but he has started to appreciate cartoons on tv. Almost every morning he watches Disney Junior and among his favourites are Bananas in Pyjamas, Jake and the Neverland Pirates, Mickey Mouse Club House, Timmytime and even Hi5 but I noticed that he does not fancy Agent Oso. Nowadays Ady does not play with iPad as often as before. Since 3 - 4 months ago he already knew how to operate any touch screen gadget and play YouTube by his own which is good enough to me. I prefer him to play with the toys to stimulate his senses and broaden his imagination. I could not wait to teach him to draw, well if he is into it-lah. As for now he is more like his father but that is good too. That reminds me to buy a new set of toy hardware tools for him so he could be a handyman, just like his Papa :-)

Ady loves car so much and he rides a Bugatti Veyron :-D

Nowadays trip to the shopping mall is quite tiring for hubby and I because we have to use a lot of energy to curb Ady from running around. He does not like to sit in the stroller so we still takes turn carrying him most of the time or let him walk. We already bought a leash and made him wore it few times in the shopping mall but instead of controlling him from running around to unnecessary place, I ended up running together with him! The leash defeats its purpose so we already stopped using it. Moreover in this country public still could not accept child wearing a leash so imagine how many stares (and even bad remarks) we got. Hmmpph.

For 22 months Ady has been accompanying me every single day without fail and my life has been cherished with his smile, laughter, crying, screaming and shouting. As a woman my life is complete with a king and a prince, and I thank God for such blessing. Alhamdulillah.

Happy 22nd month birthday sayang! No word could describe our joy for having you in our life. Mama and Papa love you so much, and you are always in our doa.

*BIG hug*

:: family vacation 2013 part 2 ::

So let me continue my story on our recent trip to Hong Kong while it is still fresh in my mind. For those who have missed the beginning, this is a continuation to this previous post.

On the third day, 27th March 2013 our family went for the Hong Kong city tour as arranged by the travel agent. A bus fetched us from Disneyland Hollywood Hotel and brought us back to the city for breakfast at a halal kebab stall. City tour started with a visit to Hong Kong's famous landmark; the Bauhinia Square. It was located next to Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre by the riverside of Victoria Harbour and there lies a huge golden statue of the blooming bauhinia flower which is a gift from the central government in commemorating Hong Kong's handover by the British to China. There was nothing much to see actually but a visit to Hong Kong is incomplete without visiting the landmark so after taking a number of photos we then continued our journey to see the other part of the city at the Repulse Bay area.

Victoria Harbour is a famous landmark but it looks ordinary during day time. The view is a lot nicer during night time because the buildings are colourful with lights.

The Repulse Bay is beachside area where luxury properties are located and to accentuate the fact, the tour guide showed us Jackie Chan's house, which is located on top of the hill. In Hong Kong cost of living is very high and properties are very expensive. The tour guide told us that average income is around HKD15,000 but monthly rental fee for a small size apartment is around HKD8,000 and above excluding utility bills. Even their 600ml mineral water was sold at HKD5 the lowest and maybe because of that we hardly see people loitering around the city doing nothing.

Can you see Jackie Chan's house? Emil, the tourist guide said he does not own the entire building though, only an area of the building because the property is very expensive (but Jackie Chan is already super rich isn't he???)

We spent 20 minutes at the Repulse Bay because again, nothing much to see except taking photos. The next stop was much better though as we were brought to see the old version of Hong Kong at the Aberdeen Fishing Village. Back in the days hundred of years ago there were a lot of fishing villages in Hong Kong where people lived on fishing boats but due to modernisation majority of them were transferred to land by the government except those in Aberdeen Fishing Village who insisted to spend their entire life there. We went for a boat ride to see the actual fishing village because Emil said the entire fishing village will be gone someday when the pioneers passed away so better see it before it becomes history. It cost HKD50 per person and it was not included in the tour package because fee has to be paid directly to villager who ran the boat. In our case an auntie ran the boat but too bad, she was unfriendly and sulking most of the time. On the way to the small fishing village we passed by this huge floating restaurant named Jumbo which is famous for its location and decoration; and also a marina where tycoons parked their luxury yachts. Meeting beauty then the beast. How ironic.

Journey on the boat. Wanted to share pics of the floating village but no nice view of it.

Visit to the fishing village did not end our city tour session as we were then brought to visit a diamond factory shop and also a souvenir shop. Well you just can't escape visits to such stores where tour guides get commissions so layankan ajelah and after that we were then brought to an Indian restaurant for lunch before they sent us to train station for Shenzhen, China. It was only a 45 minutes ride on a commuter train to the last station in Shenzhen and we had to pass both immigrations before meeting Julie, the tour guide there. It was a bit of a nightmare especially for lil sisters-in-law because we had to drag our heavy luggage for hundred metres and down the stairs to the van but alhamdulillah we went through it :-) The first place we went to was a Chinese Muslim restaurant where they served a seven-course dinner. The food was good because some of them were spicy, just like what we normally had in Malaysia so we really enjoyed the dinner. 

Shenzhen is a big city with 17 millions population. It is a huge and a modern city because most manufacturers are located in Shenzhen so the street was busy even until midnight. Similar to Hong Kong, their cost of living is very high too and it was sad to hear from Julie that she would not be able to have a child some time after she got married next year because they would not be able to raise one due to high living cost. Even to get married, her fiance has to prepare a house and a car, give a set of jewellery to the wife and the mother and also Yuan80,000 which is equivalent to RM40,000. Haiyo so expensive! You would not be grateful until you hear such story, so thank God for such wonderful life we have in Malaysia. 

In Shenzhen we were staying at this place called Green Tree Inn which I sincerely would not recommend others to stay if you are looking for 'travelling in style thing' but thankfully it was located near the Dong Men shopping area - only a mere 10 minutes walk to what I can describe as a shopping haven. In Dong Men, the lingo is China brands or unbranded goods. Full stop. But that is the place where you could find pretty shoes at Yuan40 (RM20), handphone cables at Yuan10 (RM5), powerbank at Yuan65 (RM32.50), decent tops at Yuan25 (RM12.50), chic necklaces at Yuan40 (RM20) and many, many more at very low prices. Crazeyhhhh!!! I was so crazy until I did not know where to start and until today I still regret for not buying some of the stuffs. Gahhh... 

We did not snap a lot of photos in Shenzhen because we were too busy shopping. Above is the shopping area in Dong Men district and group photo was taken in front of our hotel.

On the next day we went for compulsory visits to a jade store and a ginseng store but we managed to skip visiting Splendid China because we wanted to go shopping. Splendid China is similar to Mini Malaysia where we could see the entire China and its cultures. I have been there before and I know my family would not regret it. After lunch we were back at the same street we went the night earlier, hunting for more goods and bargains. Later in the day it was a bit challenging for both of us because Ady was already tired and bored. Just for info we did not bring any stroller because we knew it will be wasted so we took turns carrying Ady through out the 6 days vacation. We ended our shopping spree, returned to hotel before 6 pm and later had our dinner delivered by Julie. I already surrendered to shop but mother-in-law was kind enough to babysit Ady that night so guess what, we returned to the street again for a last minute shopping. Ha-Ha-Ha.

Ok enough is enough. That laugh marks the end of our visit to Shenzhen and on the next morning we were sent back to Hong Kong to enjoy our last memorable day in the city again.

*TO BE CONTINUED...

p/s: next post will be the last of the trilogy and also comes with a giveaway ;-)