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.

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*

When The Ngeks Meet for Meatballs

It is really difficult to meet all the Ngeks eventhough there are only 5 of us bcoz everyone is always bz. Even for this meatballs session, we had to plan 1 month ahead bcoz Nana was bz with her exams and Ein with her never ending family functions. Hehe.

So finally last Sunday we get to meet up. We arrived at IKEA around 10ish but found out they only serve meatballs at 11.30am so we ordered light breakfast and got to catch up with each other while waiting. Faez is due to deliver her 2nd baby early December, which is next month! Nury is expecting her 3rd baby in March next year and Nana June next year.

We were so happy to to finally have our meatballs. It was a girls only session but Nana had to bring Iman bcoz her husband had to attend to his class that morning.

After filling up our tummies with the yummy food and 3 hours of sitting at IKEA's cafeteria, we decided to jalan2 to exercise our feet and eyes. Hehe.

Our outing will not be complete without a group photo and after 3 attempts of taking our own photo in front of a mirror, we finally got a nice shot which i personally loved bcoz it looked as though we were all in a frame.

I guess the next time we'll be seeing each other will be when Faez delivers. Eventhough we don't see each other often, we always keep in touch with each other via facebook, BBM or sms.

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.

Genting Trip with Ngeks

It was the anticipated trip for us Ngeks bcoz we've been planning dis day trip about a month ago n finally the day came, 26th June 2010. We agreed to meet at 10.30am after the Gombak toll and later drove n parked our cars at the cable car station. I can't even remember when was the last time i rode on the cable car to genting. We thought that there will be less visitors as the school holidays was over but we were wrong. We had to queue for almost 1 hour for our turn to go on the cable car. It was kinda eerie to be hanging a few hundred metres above the ravines. Luq was really scared that he didn't let go of my arm until we reached Genting station. Leia, on the other hand was not scared at all. She even stood near the cable car window right to the top.

We reached the top around 12pm n it was a beautiful sunny day. After a quick visit to the loo, we headed for the outdoor theme park. Once inside, 1st stop was the carousel. Luq was really excited that we went for two rounds. Next was the ferris wheel. As usual, Luq was scared but not as scared as going on the cable car. He didn't have to hold my arm. Leia, again was standing the whole time on the seat n even stuck her head out.

Look at Leia. I don't think she understands the meaning of height, which is why she's not scared at all. Hehehe

After the ferris wheel ride, we went to other rides but mostly kiddie rides. I must admit that i'm not a big fan of roller coasters or thrill rides but i have been on at least a few small roller coaster rides before.

The daddies also didn't miss their chances to get on the most daring ride, which was the Flying Coaster. Juz looking at all of them gliding on that ride was enough to make me feel sick. I could actually hear Mr A's vice laughing. Hehe. They were all grinning when they came down but i wasn't sure it was bcoz they enjoyed the ride or bcoz they're thrilled dat the ride was over.

After taking a few last photos at the outdoor theme park, we decided to go to the indoor theme park. At that time it was already almost 7pm so we decided to have early dinner. As we were discussing on what time to leave during dinner, we heard a loud thunder n when we looked outside, it was raining very heavy.

As there was no way we're going down on the cable car with rain n thunder, we planned to juz check in to First World Hotel n go home early next morning. However, Nana's husband insisted dat they go home bcoz he has class next morning. Fortunately, Ein n family drove all the way to the top so plan B was for Ein n family to drop our husbands (Mr A, Nana n Faez's husbands) to the cable car station n they would drive their cars up n bring us home.

Once Ein's husband has agreed, we continued with our rides in the indoor theme park n once we were done with the rides, we went to the food court to hv some drinks n had a small birthday celebration for Ein, Muhammad n Nana whose birthdays were in June.

At around 10.30pm, we said our goodbyes to Ein n family n waited for our husbands to fetch the cars. They reached the top at almost 12am n we reached home around 1.30am. I would say dat we had a fantastic 'adventure' n we planned to return but next time with Nury's family included n we'll definitely stay 1 night.

Lake Garden

Mr A n I have been wanting to bring Luq n Leia to the park since last week but it was raining in d evening last weekend. Since Mr A came back from work early last night, we decided to bring d kids to Lake Garden this morning. It was a beautiful morning n when we reached there around 8.30am, d sun was already 'smiling' so bright. It wasn't only d first time for Luq n Leia going to Lake Garden but it was my frist time too coz i couldn't remember when was d last time i went there.
Luq was so excited to play at the dinosaur land but unfortunately most parts of the payground n d slides were a bit wet due to d heavy rain d night before. Nevertheless, he still had a fantastic time.

As for Leia, she too enjoyed herself. She even fell n cut her lips bcoz she was too stubborn to let me hold her hand. As a 'present', she got a swollen lip but a few minutes after her fall she was back to her usual antics. In the end, i juz put her on d swing. Luckily she enjoyed d swing until it was time to go home.

Can u see her swollen lip?

Poor baby

We left Lake Garden around 9.45am as it was getting really hot but myself n Mr A will make it a point to bring them again at least 2 weeks once.