Sun, Sea & Sand on Lunar New Year

It was an impromptu trip. Mama's boss has an apartment in Port Dickson so we decided to spend CNY there. Initially we wanted to go on 3rd Feb and come back on 5th Feb but mama's boss' SIL wanted to use the apartment on the 4th so we went 1 day earlier and came back on the 4th morning. As Mr A was still working on 2nd Feb, me and kids went with mama and my sister in the morning and Mr A joined us in the evening after he finished work. Alhamdulillah the traffic was smooth and clear.

We reached PD around 2pm and searched for Ocean View Resort which was located at Batu 9 right after Ancasa Resort. It was not like any fancy hotel/ resort but it was just perfect for us. It was a fully furnished apartment with 2 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, a kitchen, living room and dining hall. Once we were done tidying and cleaning the place, we went out to PD town to get some late lunch.

Luq and Leia were so happy and can't wait to go to the beach.

When we got back to the apartment it was already 5.30pm and it was just nice to go to the beach. Since it was quite a distance to walk to the beach and Mr A wasn't around to accompany us, my sister decided to drive to the beach which was about 3 minutes drive from the apartment. The weather was perfect that evening and surprisingly the beach was clean too and not many people. Maybe bcoz most people were still working. As soon as we settled our things on the beach mat, Luq and Leia started building their sand castles. They were really enjoying themselves.

The last time we brought Leia to the beach was last year when we went to Club Med, Cherating but she was scared of the water then. This time around, she was the one who ran towards the water and was excited to catch the waves. She even didn't want to leave.

We went back to the apartment close to 7pm as it was getting dark and there was no one around.

Mr A arrived just after maghrib as i was preparing dinner. Since everyone was on quite a tight budget, we decided to cook our own meals instead of eating out. The kitchen was complete with a fridge, a microwave and kitchen utensils except for a stove. Fortunately, mama's boss lent us her portable stove which was really convenient and useful that i'm thinking of getting our own for emergency purposes.

The next morning after breakfast we went to the same beach again but this time Mr A was with us. It was already the CNY holiday so the crowd was bigger unlike the day before. The weather was lovely that morning and the tides were low. As usual, Luq and Leia started building their sand castles while mama and my sister strolled on the beach.

Once Luq and Leia were bored with the sand, it was time for some splish splash. Words can't describe how i felt looking at Luq and Leia having a good time.

Just look at them. It was a blissful sight.

We were also happy to get to spend the holiday with mama and my sister. By the time we left the beach around noon, the parking lot was already full and cars kept coming in. After having lunch, we just stayed in the apartment to rest and went to PD town around 4pm to buy some kuihs.

We were caught in the traffic jam as the crowd were still arriving that by the time we reached the apartment, it was almost 6pm. So we quickly ate our kuihs and changed into our swimsuits to go to the swimming pool.

The swimming pool was quite full so we didn't spend much time there but nontheless, Luq and Leia were happy.

Since it was our last night in PD, mama decided to take us out for dinner instead of cooking that night. It was quite difficult to find a place to eat bcoz all the restaurants were full. In the end, we were lucky to find a decent restaurant which wasn't full. After dinner, we visited my uncle and his family who were staying in Royal Palm Springs Golf Resort.

The above are snap shots of the apartment's interior. I forgot to take photos of the bedrooms but they were equipped with airconds and fans.

The next morning after having light breakfast, we quickly packed and made sure that the apartment was clean and tidy bcoz mama's boss' SIL was going to use it later.

We left the apartment around 11am and had brunch at PD town. The traffic home was also smooth bcoz people were still heading down south instead of KL. Now that we're back at our own home, i kind of missed staying in the same house with my mama and siblings. I wish we can go on more vacations together again.

Wordless Wednesday Ver.1

Monday blues

* Picture googled

It's 3rd January and the 1st Monday of 2011, which means kids are back to school and most people have started working. Today, as i went through twitter and fb, i couldn't help feeling sad reading friends' tweets and statuses about sending their children to school bcoz we are unable to send Luq to school yet this year. He turned 4yo last August and by right he should be going to a pre-school this year but due to our financial situation he'll have to wait.

2010 has been the toughest year for us but we are very grateful that we are still surviving until today. No one knows what we are really going through except for our parents. I have been applying for jobs for quite some time now but have yet to receive any good news. There are times when i feel like giving up but after prayers, i always feel that Allah has plans for me and only He knows what's best. In the meantime, I'm enjoying all the time i have with Luq and Leia bcoz i never know when i may start work again. Luq may not be going to a pre-school this year but this doesn't mean that he couldn't learn. I'll have to be his teacher for now and i'll bet i'm going to be his best teacher in the whole world.

A trip to the National Science Center

My sister was on her year end holiday and so was my mum. So they decided to take Luq & Leia out and asked whether i had any place in particular to bring them. I instantly remembered my friend Muna who took her sons to the National Science Center a few weeks back and thought that it would be interesting to bring Luq & Leia there since the Dinos Alive exhibition was still on.

We reached the NSC around 1.30pm and the weather was perfect. Cloudy with a little chance of rain. Teehee. After buying the tickets (RM10 for adults and RM5 for children 4yo n above), we made our way into the center. I remember going to the NSC but it was a long time ago during school days so it was like the first time for me too.

As soon as we passed the walkway and entered the center, we saw 2 gigantic dinosaurs. A brachiosaurus and a tyrannosaurus rex or also known as the t-rex. Luq and Leia were scared of the dinos (most kids were), especially the t-rex bcoz it was moving and roaring. We walked past the 2 dinos and went upstairs to the exhibition halls.

While walking towards the exhibition halls, we passed by a few experiments stations and tried out each one. It was interesting but there was not enough time to complete each experiment bcoz Luq and Leia were easily bored. Who can blame them since they're only 4 and 2 years old. There were also photo tricks. Can you spot them in the photos below?

There were 2 dino exhibition halls (carnivores and herbivores) with smaller dinos. The halls were dark and the dinos were also roaring, which made Luq and Leia more scared. Luq was sitting in the stroller and refused to take photos and Leia was holding on to me like a koala bear to a bamboo tree. Somehow it did feel like we were in Jurassic Park. Hehe.

Once we were done with the dinos, we went down where there were more experiments stations. Luq and Leia were running here and there eventhough they were still coughing. I had to monitor their body temperatures closely too bcoz they just recovered from high fever.

As soon as we were done with the NSC, we went to IKEA to have our late lunch and went home after that.

Luq and Leia really enjoyed themselves and couldn't stop talking about their trip as soon as Mr A came home. 1 day we will go there again with Mr A. InsyaAllah.

*All photos were taken with my BlackBerry bcoz i forgot to bring my camera. Not bad eh? *wink*

Private party for a little princess

As usual, no birthday party or eating out at a fancy restaurant. Just us, a birthday cake, at home. If only Leia's Mbah Kong (my dad) was here, it would have been perfect.

Leia's a big, smart girl now. She knows how to blow her birthday candle on her own. She was even shy at first when i put the birthday cake in front of her.

Luq also wanted to blow the candle. Fuhhhhhhhhh!!

Me and my 2 munchkins.

It was a coincidence that everyone wore red/ pink yesterday.

Leia showing the world that she is now TWO years old.
Mummy and daddy hope that you will grow up to become a soleh child who will always remember to send your du'as to us when we are no longer in this world.
Happy 2nd birthday my little princess.

You will always be mummy's baby girl.

Nuraleia Ekaputri is TWO!

Alhamdulillah. My baby girl is two today. Since last Friday was a public holiday (Deepavali), i've requested Mr A to take leave today so that he could spend the day with us since it's Leia's birthday. We went to Wangsa Walk Mall to let the kids play and it was also the first time for Mr A to join us there bcoz normally me and the kids will go there with my mum.

Luq and Leia really enjoyed themselves especially bcoz daddy was there. So did Mr A.

After a couple of hours in Wangsa Walk Mall, we went to One Utama to collect Leia's birthday cake and since we haven't had lunch, we ate at Teppanyaki. It's been quite a while since we went out for an outing and having to go out on a weekday made it more enjoyable and stress free bcoz the malls are less crowded. Most importantly, we were together to celebrate Leia's birthday.

Bottle no more

It's been 1+ week now since Luq stopped drinking milk from the bottle. Before this, we (Mr A n i) trained him to drink milk from the bottle only at night but bcoz he damaged his last bottle nipple by biting on it, he had no choice but to drink from the glass/ cup. At first it was a bit diffficult bcoz he used to wake up at dawn and ask for milk so Mr A had to explain (Mr A is in charge of waking up n making milk) to him there was no more drinking from the bottle and send him to bed.

We had to be creative bcoz Luq didn't want to drink from any ordinary cup so since we had a few TGV combo cups, each time he wants to drink milk we'll ask him which cup he wants. So far, the Iron Man 2 is his favourite. Some may say 4 yo is a bit late for a child to stop drinking milk from the bottle but for me, nothing is too late bcoz i've seen children who are still drinking milk from the bottle even when they are already in primary school.

Luq & Leia's Traintastic Adventure

Luq & Leia had never been on a train before so last Friday my mum was on leave and we decided to take the kids for a train ride. The initial plan was to take the Putra LRT from Wangsa Maju to KL Sentral and from there take the KLIA Express to KLIA but the ticket price to KLIA was RM35 for an adult's 1 way trip, which means that we'd have to pay RM140 for 2 adults trip! So we decided to take the Putra LRT to KL Sentral and later take the ERL to a shorter distance which was Putrajaya.

We left the house around 11am that day and the kids were so excited. Just look at their happy faces.

Luq & Leia couldn't keep still on the train. Luckily it was a non- peak hour so there were not many people.

As soon as we reached KL Sentral, we went to McDonalds first to take away some nuggets and fries so that the kids could eat in the train since it was already almost noon. Then we went to buy the tickets to Putrajaya at the ERL counter. We didn't have anywhere to go in Putrajaya so we just chilled at the station and waited for the next train to KL Sentral.

Since we already had McDs earlier, my mum decided that we have our late lunch at KLCC.I thought that Leia will sleep on the way from Putrajaya to KL Sentral bcoz she was running everywhere at the Putrajaya station so but she only dozed off when we almost reached KL Sentral. As soon as we reached KL Sentral, i told my mum that we'd have to find a place to sit bcoz i couldn't carry Leia all the way to KLCC and the LRT would be packed anyways bcoz it was lunch hour. So we waited for about 1/2 hour and by the time we were ready, Leia was already up and fully 'recharged'.


It was already almost 3pm when we reached KLCC so most of the people who were working had gone back to their office. We had our late lunch at Dome and after that went to the supermarket and later went home just in time before the Friday evening peak hour.


As you can see from the above photo, Luq almost dozed off on our way back bcoz he didn't even sleep throughout our trip. I just can't describe how happy i am seeing Luq & Leia's happy faces that day. Hopefully 1 day i'll get to bring them on the KLIA Express. So in summary, here's our trip for that day:
Wangsa Maju> KL Sentral> Putrajaya > KL Sentral> KLCC> Wangsa Maju