3 day weekend_3

The 3rd of 3 day weekend (25-28 Dec). Friday was a public holiday (Christmas). Went home early from work around 4pm. Targeted to leave Bangi for Batu Pahat by 6pm to avoid the traffic jam. Used MyVi instead of Merc (after triple journey to up north within 1 month, the car demands some rest).

Just enough space for our bags

6.30pm Left house (not bad, usually time lag between planned and actual is 1 hr) but stopped by for fuel at Petronas Seksyen 15. So truely left Bangi at about 7pm.
8.20pm After discussing where to eat, we decided to stopped at Umbai, the usual 'ikan bakar' spot. Not in the mood to try something new although we just had a seafood feast in Perlis the week before. There are many 'ikan bakar' spots in Melaka. Well known ones areAnjung Batu, Umbai lama, Alai but the one that we always go is quite new. Opened in 2004, Perkampungan Ikan Bakar Terapung is suitable for families with small children since it's not packed with people (when there's no event) and there are playground to entertain the kids. More of this in another entry.

10.00pm Left with full stomach. Tried to stay awake but couldn't.

12.00 midnight Reached Taman Soga.

Day 1
6.15am Woke up to perform Subuh prayer. Getting ready for 'Rengit Parade' i.e. brush my teeth and wear something decent (tracksuit & jacket to cover the short sleeved mini T-Shirt). I'll write more about the place in another post.
6.50am Drove Myvi to Pasar Batu Pahat (where the Rengit Parade is) with Rengit Parade fans (my bros Iwan, Imi & Radhi).
8.30am Came back from Rengit Parade satisfied with purchases. I spent RM20 for a foldable wood table suitable as porch furniture.

Seller just starting to unload the stuffs.

The guy in red was putting together an IKEA chair that we wished to buy. Sorry, lost a screw so we cancelled. The chair would normally cost around RM350-RM400 over brand new. Here it costs RM35 (can bargain for RM30) as seconds.

11.30am Decided to go to Mak Ee's house alone since everyone was still lying around, asleep... The kids would follow the guys after the Jumaat prayers. Mom already left with sis Ila at about 9am. Mom said 'ada beribu malaikat menyambut kepulangan orang yang mengerjakan haji. Kita patut mengambil peluang  bersama-sama dengan malaikat tersebut supaya kita turut diberkati'. Mak Ee & hubby + Anjang & hubby went to Mekah for Haj end of Nov. Mak Ee safely landed at Senai Airport at about 8am and reached Batu Pahat at about 10.30am.
12.00 noon Reached Taman Murni and greeted everyone. Helped Mak in the kitchen. Mak Ee was talking to her biras. Never mind, I'll talk to Mak Ee later.
2.30pm Talked to Mak Ee and asked about her experience performing haj.
Free pack (given to jemaah by rich Arabs, maybe?) It was not available when my dad went there in 1998....

Contents include milk carton, a fruit, snack bars and bread rolls.

She looked thinner and happy to come back. She also looked fulfilled since she has done the last of Rukun Islam....alhamdulillah..... I'm happy for her too. Brings about the question 'Am i ready for haj?' 'Have i done any preparation for haj?'....

Glad that i shared this experience. This reminded me to live well and appreciates Allah SWT. It reminded me that this life is temporary and i should start having a vision to perform haj at a young age, not after 50s.... I should start reading books on haj....

5.30pm Left Mak Ee's house for San Ban Gay, the place in Batu Pahat if you are looking for cheap clothes for the kids or yourself. When i say cheap, it means cheap. RM5 per piece! Even my maid couldn't believe her eyes.... The truth is the clothes are manufactured for famous brands such as GAP, Old Navy, Guess and didn't pass the QC. Some misunderstood 'factory rejects' as totally unwearable whereas a perfect t-shirt with colour not as per QC is a reject. And as long as the colour is nice and the t-shirt fits us, we are willing to pay RM5 for that GAP t-shirt! However, when you go to this kind of places the downside are:

1. Defects Examine carefully the item you have chosen. Majority priced at RM6-RM12  clothes will have defects such as tear, marks or hole. The higher priced clothes are usually perfect, just need to find the size.

2. Luck You have to come regularly since the stock changes quite often. Don't expect what you saw this week is the same next month. I sometimes looked for boy's clothes and they only have girls'. Thus it will depend on your luck too.

7.40pm Came home and spent RM20 at San Ban Gay (RM5 x 4 items). Nothing much happened after that so end of Day 1.

Day 2

The plan is to visit brother Amat in Machap. He just moved in to his new corner double storey house about 2 weeks ago.

7.40am Kasyif is already up so decided to bring him to Tasik Y. The girls were still 'mamai' (not truely woken up yet although eyes are opened, they slept late last night)...

7.50am Reached Tasik Y. Losts of people doing exercise. Jogging, badminton, tai chi, stretching. This is the sight that i want Kasyif to get used to so he will be an active person himself. Directed him to a playground for kids aged 1-4 yrs old. He was more interested watching a group of Chinese ladies doing a fan dance + kung fu exercise.

After a while, we walked around Tasik Y.

Watching the Chinese ladies with amazement.

8.10am Enough of morning exercise, Kasyif. Let's go home...

11.30am Left Taman Soga for Machap.

12.05noon Stopped by at Parit Raja to buy 'kerepek'. The plan is to pack as RM1 snack for sale at my office. Chose 4 to 5 different types of kerepek costing RM30 (bargain for RM2 i.e actual price was RM32)

1.10pm Reached Amat's house. Wow!..... I've always dreamed to have a house with some land and Amat got it first. He bought a corner double storey house. I'm happy for him...really...**jealous**jealous** ;-)

The plan was to stay not too late. I wanted to drop by Air Hitam and visit Mak Na's house since A Usop also just came back from Mekah (he is a medical assistant being posted at Mekah for the haj season).

Amat's MIL and wife, Ida cooked 'Nasi Kerabu' for lunch. I've always preferred Nasi Kerabu to Nasi Dagang as it has more veggies than the latter. Amat was just starting to BBQ some chickens as part of the Nasi Kerabu dishes.

5.00pm Ucu + family from JB came. Amat called and invited her around noon. Ucu likes Nasi Kerabu so much and been hinting at Mak and her DILs (2 of them are Kelantanese) to cook Nasi Kerabu. Now she gets want she wants. She looked happy and satisfied.... (she just recovered from her cimo treatment of breast cancer).

Happy faces that never shy with cameras.

Jasmin & Najah (her cousin).

The lucious chickens patiently being grilled.

The corner lot with potential land for future projects.

8.00pm Left Amat's house. Plan for Air Hitam and Mak Na's house is cancelled. I was ok with it since i myself was quite tired.

9.15pm Hubby was hungry so he stopped by at Sup Sitam near HSBC once we reached Batu Pahat. I stayed in the car as Jasmin was asleep on top of me. I didn't want to eat anyway since i was still full.

10.00pm Reached Taman Soga. All of them have reached home earlier. My sis and bro were trying out the Alpha One therapy machine bought by my mum (she bought it cash RM16k, ok!)....Hopefully it's a useful investment for a healthier life. I'll write more about it in another post. That was the end of Day 2.

Alpha One therapy machine. Electric current is running on them.

Day 3

The plan is either to leave in the morning around 11am or late in the evening to avoid the jam. We left Taman Soga at about 8.30pm and reached Bangi at about 12 midnight. There were still a lot of cars at Seremban apparently although it was quite in the late hour. Home sweet home....zzzzzzzzz

3 day weekend_2

The 2nd of a 3 day weekend (18-20 Dec). Friday was a public holiday (Maal Hijrah) and Najib's wedding (anak Makcik Perlis) was on the 19th.
Hubby did a last minute booking at Bukit Merah Laketown Resort. Original plan was to look for cheap hotels between RM60-RM150 at Kuala Kangsar since the intention was only to stop & rest. Ended up paying RM300 at Bukit Merah thus we should make full of use the facilities, shouldn't we... We reached Shah Alam at about 10pm to pick up BIL and reached Bukit Merah at about 2am. We stayed at Laketown Service Apartment Room 6217. The notice on the block were hopeless as it said the room was at 1st floor whereas it was at 2nd.
Day 1
7.15am Noticed BIL gone. Possibly didn't want to bother us when Pipi came to pick him up at about 4am. My kids were up too so i told them to freshen up. Kasyif was excited exploring the new place so we went down to walk around and have breakfast (included) at Colours Restaurant.

Kids (my kids) still in pyjamas..hehe
7.30am Saw a father and daugther went for a swim at the swimming pool next to Suria Apartment. I thought the pamphlet says pool is open from 9.00am to 7.00pm? Another misrepresentation and i think Bukit Merah should do something about it! Do not give your guests wrong information, it shows the level of your professionalism!!!

7.45am Had breakfast at Colours Restaurant. Simple breakfast with the usuals.

After half an hour, i went back to apartment to take the swimsuits while the kids waited at the playground near the pool.

8.00am Attending the kids at the kiddie swimming pool. Kasyif didn't want to be hold! He thought he's big enough to be left in the water alone!.... Had a swim at the adult pool later on, have to shed the extra kgs as well as the more kgs would be gained at Perlis/kenduri nanti!...

11.00am Left Bukit Merah for Taiping. As promised by hubby, we would drive around Taiping before going to Kuala Sepetang. Wanted to have Doli's Char Kuey Teow & Ansari's cendol but both were closed. These 2 places brought back memories to hubby as he was in Taiping for 3 years while studying at ITTM. ITTM is now known as MMU and there's no college at Taiping anymore. More about Taiping in another entry. Head for Kuala Sepetang at about 1.45pm.

2.00pm Reached Mak Jah Mee Udang Banjir. We got there just in time before the heavy rain started. Excited to try the dish everyone was talking about. More about Mee Udang in another entry. The wow was the XL prawns, the noodles is nothing special but edible.

3.00pm Left Kuala Sepetang and heading for Perlis.

4.45pm The traffic came to complete halt on the way to Gurun just after an exit i couldn't recall. Hubby decided to reverse the car until the exit (dangerous attempt but had to) and so were other few cars. Just in time before a police car came in to control the situation, or else we would be stuck. There were 2 derailed trailers between Gurun and Pendang. Hubby really made full use of the iPhone with its locator application when we were using the 'jalan lama'...

9.00pm Finally reached Jelempok and starving. Didn't notice were were on the road for nearly 12 hours! And that didn't include the 4 hour drive the night before from Bangi to Bukit Merah... Hubby must be very very tired.....Pity him...

Day 2

7.45am Followed MIL to Makcik's house to say 'hi'. By right, relatives should come and give a hand to help and prepare the kenduri. Luckily Jelempok still practices the 'helping hand' system known as 'syarikat', a group formed to help out kenduris. Left the house 5 minutes after that... :-)

12.00pm Went to Makcik's house with SILs and kids. Helped to prepare fruits for 'meja pengantin'. Had nasi kenduri for lunch... I really like nasi kenduri in Perlis. Plain rice served with beef either cooked as kari/kurma, kerabu/salads and chicken either plain fried or 'goreng berempah'. Sometimes they serve sambal belacan which goes well with the dishes. Makcik also served 'udang goreng with kacang panjang' instead of chicken. Wow! That would be considered lavish in Johor. I guess prawns are in season and easily available in Perlis at the moment.... Also tried laksa which was served to guests who decided not to have rice.... Sedapppp....
4.00pm Went back after the kenduri seemed quiet with guests.

5.45pm Hubby wanted to go to Kuala Perlis. Errr...haven't we just had kenduri today? There must be leftovers and yet we are eating out? 'Makan ringan-ringan je' he said, implying we should just order light meals e.g 'sotong goreng tepung'. Just Irdina & Jasmin in the car.

On the way to Kuala Perlis

7.15pm Still waiting for our sotong, ikan jenahak bakar, kailan ikan masin and mentarang. Don't ask me what happened to ordering 'light meal'. Will write about this eating spot in another post.

7.45pm The 2nd group joined the feast. Nurun, Anis, Dek Mi, Pipi & Harith and A Oun. Ordered another 1kg sotong and gerut bakar for them.
7.55pm The 3rd group in Wira parked nearby. Waida and Fazli. So 8 adults and 4 kids...meriah!
8.30pm Left Kuala Perlis. The 2nd group would be sending A Oun to bus station (he was going back to Shah Alam at 9.30pm).
That was Day 2.

Day 3
Nothing much on Day 3 since it was a travelling day. Left Jelempok at about 2pm. I couldn't stay awake lately, dunno why. Woke up here and there but noticed there were lots of cars. Detoured at Tapah since the traffic seemed bad and unmoving (IPhone to the rescue).
8.00pm On to Sungkai exit and i dozed off (sorry)...stopped by at Behrang for quick dinner. Dozed of again...
12.00 midnight Reached home...pity hubby....

My dearest kids, Happy Birthday!

16th December was chosen to celebrate the births of my children this year. Irdina is 7, Jasmin is 5, Kasyif is 1. Since I combined the 3 birthdays, i wanted to put more effort in organizing a fun party and i have my maid to help out.

The party food. The birthday cake.

It seemed like a chaos at first. 12.30pm and i was still climbing the ladder hanging the decorations. I just dumped the mini sausages, crab balls and chicken wings in the oven while i start frying macaroni at about 1pm. I was still cooking when some of the kids came at 1.45pm (the invitation says party starts at 2pm). The cake was not picked up yet and my appointed helpers (my 2 teenage cousins) were no where to be found!

The good thing about kids only b'day party is you don't have to put so much effort on the food and they are easy to please. I've arranged a craft station at the porch so i just asked the kids to make some crafts (cutouts prepared earlier) while i went to fetch the cake.

The craft station.

I was happy to see some of the kids explored their creativity at the craft station and looked forward for the games. I arranged for 3 games: musical chair, throw/catch ball and 'who am i'.... The prizes were simple, Mamee snack/Double Decker/Sunmaid raisins and winners get to be crowned. I was happy that i decided to make the crowns because I saw they really liked the crowning part more than the prizes.

The ladybirds made by guests.

The crowning of the winners.

Peeking at the cake.

Most of all, i was happy to see my kids were happy with the party. They appreciated every single effort that i did. From the decorations, the rearrangement of furniture, the making of fancy cookies (which they helped).... they kept on saying "bestnye! tak sabar nak birthday party!".....They were excited to peek at the cake i picked up that i had to chase them out of the kitchen and asked them to wait in front.

21 goodie bags using brown paper bag, labels and gold ribbons.

Organizing birthday party for them is more than just for fun. It tests whether you are in tune with your children and understand them. Mothers may be excited when the goodie bag, the prizes and table cloth match the overall theme. But what children are excited about are the content of goodie bag, the games and the cake. I asked my children's opinion what to get for the goodie bag. I asked them to help me out on the decorations and fancy cookies. They asked a lot of questions and i tried to explain the best that i can. So it was more than just organizing for fun. I actually spent some of my time with my children and noticed how little time i've spent with them before.

Things to remember for next party:
1. Kids are indifferent about party food, so don't put too much effort on it. Make simple stuff and can be prepared a day earlier. Or just buy frozen ones...
2. Cake, games and goodie bag. The 3 things essential to kids for a good and fun party.

The treasure chest full with goodies.

25 cookies made 1 day earlier.

3. Take time to prepare and put a budget. It's easier when you have a budget and knowing the limit you can spend. Divide the budget into cake, goodie bag, deco and food. It is a lot cheaper if you make the deco yourself. Buy manila cards, search for ideas on the internet. The party doesn't have to be full with expensive decorations, just colourful to bring out the party atmosphere.
4. Don't panic if things not going as planned. They are children with low expectation...except on cake, goodie bag and games!.... Just apologize and move on....And have fun!...

So regardless of your budget, party is meant for fun. Focus on what is important...you kids that is!...

3 day weekend_1

The first of 3 day weekend (11-13 Dec) was quite packed with fun activities. Friday was a state holiday for Selangor (B'day Sultan Selangor) so i managed to complete 'to do' list for the children's birthday party next Wednesday....
Day 1
10.45am Went to Pustaka Rakyat at Seksyen 7 to buy stuffs for prizes & crafts. They liked the stationery store and i liked it too. Managed to find playing cards at RM1 and interesting short ruler at RM1.80 as goodie bag gifts.
11.30am Irdina said she's hungry. Oh dear! I didn't noticed it was near lunch time! So we made a quick trip to Kedai 1.99 and Yummie Bakery before we went back to have lunch. Oppsss, we need to order the cake first, kids.....
12.30pm Went to Segar Bakery at Sek 4 tambahan to order the birthday cake. The first time i put some thoughts on the design. The kids chose edible images (I chose Upin & Ipin for Kasyif) and ask questions regarding type of cake and costs. Do you know that there is a butter cake/butter cream, butter cake/fresh cream, you can mix 2 flavour in one cake, have them layered like kek lapis, and add RM2 if you want a square cake rather than round? A 3 tiered cake starts from RM200 because for a normal 3 tier: 3kg, 2kg & 1kg, each kg costs roughly about RM30++ and that doesn't include the deco yet. OK, so we decided on a rectangle chocolate/vanilla with 3 different edible images on a 2kg cake. Hmmm, can't wait to see the outcome!
1.30pm Since Irdina was pressing me to go bowling, i planned to go to Alamanda to do some food shopping for the birthday and play bowling. I asked the kids to have lunch first and take a nap before we go. They didn't have their naps though....
3.30pm Reached Alamanda and went straight to bowling centre. All lanes were occupied due to tournaments and only available around 11pm....OK, bowling cancelled and so let's do the shopping. Dropped by the amusement centre opposite bowling and indoor playground next to Parkson Grand to ease the children's dissapointment.
4.45pm Started shopping. Decided on raisins, double decker, London Choco roll and 2 other junk foods...all x2 packages. Crab flavoured ball, mini sausages and another balls, chicken wings. Cancelled on drink cartons, the brown bag could not handle the weight.
5.50pm Reached home to cook chicken soup for hubby.....And this was Day 1....

Day 2
Hubby was not around in the morning. I finished up some craft projects for the party.
1.30pm Hubby came home from work at UiTM. Decided to go to Mines since Irdina pressed him to go bowling. He suggested Mines boat trip after bowling.
3.00pm Left home for Mines.
3.30pm Went straight to bowling centre. Saw Crocs SALE banner on the way. I had to resist myself....(kids first, kids first...)....Alley not available so put name on waiting list (maybe availabe around  5.00pm... Woohoo! Crocs Sale, here i come (luckily the venue was near to bowling centre)
4.45pm Kasyif was restless and so we went out before i could find a pair for myself. I did buy one for Kasyif.

4.50pm Played bowling

6.15pm Went for Mines boat trip (South Lake). Couldn't recall the exact price but it was quite pricey to me (considering the plain views offered). Maybe Adult RM20 Children RM15...

6.40pm  Hubby + Irdina + Jasmin went to the 'animal park' since it came free with the boat trip. I didn't go since Kasyif was asleep. So decided to go up to Level 5 for the Crocs Sale again....Unfortunately it closed at 6pm... Maybe i was not meant to be wearing Crocs...sob sob.......

8.00pm Left Mines and asked hubby to drop by Minlon to survey for sofas. Found an attractive set at a whopping RM5,400 before discount of 30%. The distinguished feature is the sofa has curved arm rest. The drawback is the colour and the metal legs. If i want to change the fabric (to purplish) and only take the 3 and 2 seater, the guy qouted me RM4,400. How come? RM5,400 (for 3+2+1) at 70% is only RM3,780...that means change of fabric would cost me extra but the guy didn't highlight me.... Luckily i was only surveying....

End of Day 2

Day 3

I went for a fancy cookies decorating class at Seksyen 7. Found Loveliana website here. Only 2 participants including me. Paid for RM150....ok for beginners like me as all were hands on. It could be costly to some since all you do is simple cookie baking and simple decorating. As for me, the opportunity couldn't come at a better time since i'm thinking of making some as goodie giveaways for the coming kids' party. To order would cost me 20 cookies x RM3 =RM60. Paying RM150 would need me to bake about 3 times to break even with RM60. Later i'll calculate the actual cost to make 20 cookies.

The other participant, Marina from Ampang. Nice girl.....

The result of my work.

The kids followed me and excited watching the cakes & cookies.