Aidilfitri 2018

Tad bit too late to wish all of you Selamat Hari Raya, maaf zahir batin!

Raya has been good for us. Of course, with the passing of both my grandparents, at both sides now, things have been different. But I guess this year we managed to cope with it better.

Sigh, so guys.. if you still have your grandparents with you this Raya, please do cherish them as I miss my grandmom so much 😭

Anyway, forgive me for all the wrongdoings guys!

My 32nd birthday

Ohh so old!

Sadly, I couldn't take leave on my birthday as my leave this year was very very limited since K was warded last April.

I had to work as usual, it was the first week of semester.

Went to lab and I received a call. Shortly after..

Received a bouquet of flower from my aunt. Awww...

After lab, had a lunch date with my favourite girls.

While having my lunch, this BFG came to surprise me with a box of KLduck in Olive Green. I have always wanted KLduck, specifically in Olive Green. My fourth duck, yay!! (2 out of 4 from Love) But it's not the Duck that really matters, it is the fact that he came all the way from work for lunch to meet me!

Had dinner with my beloved back at home. Had too much of fancy food, I told my mom I just wanted a comfort food this time around, Tomyam from my favourite Mamak. Sorry guys. (They were expecting some steaks from steak house, hehe)

I am 32, Alhamdulillah. Thank you Allah for my excellent health and my wealth (my family and friends). Thank you for giving me a husband who still shower me with surprises and spoil me with gifts. I pray you will give me an idea on how do I surprise him back during his birthday next month, Ameen.

Playing tourist at KL and Putrajaya

Hi everyone!! What have you guys been up to this school holiday?

Alhamdulillah, I don't have teaching load this time around but actually am saving for our next trip, Holla Bruneiii!! Haha so Bangi-Putrajaya Hotel je lah ya kids.

The best coffee guys!

Anyhow, syukur to the Almighty that I am more free this time around because long holiday last December had been really hectic for me. Not only I was rushing to finish up the syllabus as it was the final quarter of the semester, on top of that, I was scheduled to Japan for a week. *cries a river* But Alhamdulillah after much discussion, the trainer agreed to come to UNITEN instead.

However, I was still all over Malaysia, a couple of days in Bersia and Janda Baik for our consultancy and research projects *cries* Hectic hectic month. So how do I entertain the kids?

Goodbye to all the theme parks I wish to visit. We play tourists around here instead. It was fun! Every weekend we brought the girls to places, so I thought of sharing with you guys!

National Art Gallery

*yawn* I know I know. But my girls loveeee art, so why not?

Taman Titiwangsa and Taman Layang-Layang, Kepong

Our first time flying a kite ever in our life, all of us.

Aquaria, KLCC

Because they were so into the Baby Shark song.

Taman Wetland, Putrajaya

Breathtaking view! Especially at the top of Menara Tinjau.

Taman Astaka Morocco, Putrajaya

Loving this so much! Don't mind the Japanese guy, I'm bringing my Sensei from Japan along!

Dondang Sayang Ride at Putrajaya

Taman China-Malaysia

And last but not least..

Bubbles and Beans Putrajaya Fun Ride!!

Not bad, right? I hope you have some ideas where to bring your kids with the leftover cuti we have. Have fun, everyone!! I'm definitely having fun this holiday break with my loved ones :)

And baby girls, sorry for not able to bring you theme parks this round. But tomorrow, I'm on leave and it will be a day just for the two of you exclusively. Excited!

Bukit Tinggi

It has been a while since we went on a holiday, so for Christmas, we spent ours in Bukit Tinggi,

I stayed in Meranti Park Suites I rented via AirBnB. RM450 per night. On the way, I dropped by to my old neighbor's wedding. Say hello to my childhood friend, Athirah!

First day

I loveee our apartment a lot, and Nicole was very helpful!

Cosy

View outside our apartment

We headed first to Animal Farm, RM5 per entry. The kids had fun.

We had barbecue outside the apartment that night, food was super expensive here.

Second day

Started our day early, which was lucky as the traffic got heavier later on. Paid RM15 per pax to get at the top of Bukit Tinggi.

Colmar Tropicale, so breathtaking.

Watch out for the performance time, some dancing and at the end, the kids can dance with the dancers as well.

Hiked further up, you will find a Japanese Village.

There is also organic farm and botanical garden in the middle of jungle. And adventure park. All muka so tired already, so no pics worth uploaded, heh!

Barbecue again at night.


Third day.

Woke up with a misty morning!

Went to see the horses but joyride was too expensive. 7 times more expensive than here. So, no joyride and K was a bit cranky.

Of course, this girl couldn't care less. Sibuk cari kucing while orang tengok kuda.

At the club house, there were all sorts of entertainment.

Played two rounds of bowling and archery and we headed home to a busy week. So many things to update! Happy new year everyone!

Reminiscing..

I have finally finished reading both Nenek's books that she gave me.

The book about her written by her. It's like walking down the lane 50 years back, when I was not even born yet, but now everything is relatable,

I couldn't understand her first book much, because it is more to politics. I'm so not good in politics. But I kind of learned a lot there.

Nenek's second book that I read is about her journey to London and some times she spent there.

This opens up my eyes a lot, understanding Nenek's perspective when she travelled means the world to me. I always fond of travelling although I'm slowing down a bit now due to the kids. I always learn something new when I travelled, but Nenek learned about a whole lot of things.

The book was written 60 years ago. Funny how you could still relate the working mom's dilemma.

Al fatihah, Nek :) May you be among the pious.

...

Also, I have spent 6 months tying to finish up this one book, which I did not recommend at all. What a waste of my time (T_T)

Alright, there you go. Now I'm up to date with my review, yay!

Fragile

I broke down before my class this morning.

And after.

Then, I pissed off with everything.

I should have bought a flight ticket and fly somewhere far away for Raya. To make it worst, it will be such a long holiday break this time around.

I barely made it to Ramadhan without my Grandmom, and God knows how I'm gonna get through it for Raya.

Raya songs have never annoyed me this much, I have managed to get away from them all the time so far.

I haven't fully open myself up about Grandmom to anyone since she passed away, not even to husband as it makes me feel so fragile. 

Maybe talking about it makes it feel so surreal? I don't know.

All I know is that, I really REALLY need to get away from here for Raya.

Back to square one, I'm regressing. Started to think if I'll ever move on :(

Mak..

I finally have a dream about my late Grandmother last night. It was in the month of Ramadhan, I hope she came and visit. I hope she received all my doa for her.

In my dream, I was as usual entertaining Mak. She was on a boat, on a river. So was Datuk. I took my boat and pulled Mak to the land. Then, I did that for others and fell asleep.

I was then being awaken by somebody. "Mak sakit!" she said. I realized, it has been too long since I woke up, scared by the thoughts that my Grandmother was sick at her home. Way too long, I miss her.

I quickly grabbed her medicine, she had a heart attack. And quickly recovered after she took her meds.

Then, in my dream, Mak said something she always told me when she was alive..

"Bila kakak takde, mak sakit.."

And with that, I woke up just before Subuh. Couldn't fall back to sleep.

God knows how much I miss her.

There will not be a day

There will not be a day that shall go by without me thinking of you, Mak.

...

During the last months of the passing of my Grandmother, my aunt and family, my uncle and my uncle's friend have contributed so so much for my Mak. In fact, my uncle's friend was the last person to be there half an hour before Mak passed away, and stayed overnight in the hospital with Mak. He was not an actual family member, but he took care of Mak as if it was his own. Everytime we came, he would wash the dishes, do the laundry or even cook for her and to the extend brought Mak to kubur Datuk every now and then. Mak spoke so highly of him, it was only natural to approach him and thanked him for taking care of Mak all these while after kebumi yesterday.

"I wasn't the one who helped Mak," he said. "It was the other way around."

It turned out all these while, when he spent time at Mak's house, Mak taught him how to solat and mengaji. He couldn't thank her more. He said half an hour before Mak's passing, she was soooo happy, even made some donation and small talks to patients next to her bed. ... So, this morning, when I woke up numb, feeling more lost and empty than yesterday, his words made me able to get up to know that Mak had an easy ending and husnul khatimah, in shaa Allah.

Too soon, Mak.. You left us too soon, too sudden :(

Al fatihah to my Grandmother.

Lost

My grandmother was very dear to me. She took care of me up until I was 9. I came to visit her every weekend. I called her up every now and then. She shared my every stories, even puppy love moments without any prejudice. She knows everything about me, more than my mom.

Grandmother love.

Two Sundays ago, I went to visit her in IJN. She was admitted on the 24th November due to difficulty in breathing. Turns out she had a slight pneumonia. Apart from that, she was healthy. Not even being dripped.

However, considering it was her 4th time in IJN within less than a year, doc suggested to do angiogram due to her previous heart problem. The angio was scheduled to be on the 27th November, but later was postponed to 4th December due to her kidney was unstable. Angiogram procedure has an affect towards kidney, might caused the kidney to fail, hence, we obliged.

So, two Sundays ago, after not being able to see her for three days, Grandmother looked a bit feverish. She craved for Cendol and after   having her Cendol, terus demam. I believe because it was too cold in IJN. Nonetheless, she was chirpy as usual. I fed her some porridge with she shared with Aisha, aunt captured our pics together..

..and that was it.

That was my last moment and my last picture with my Grandmother, whom I dearly called "Mak".

On Wednesday, mom and dad visited Mak and she was so happy. That night, Abang Mat spent a night in the hospital with Mak. She was so so happy. In the morning at around 1030 am, Mak insisted Abang Mat to go to the cafe for breakfast. Siap bagi RM50, belanja katanya. Because she was persistent, Abang Mat left for breakfast.

Around 10.45am, Mak went to the toilet with the nurse. After a while, the nurse called for her from outside of the toilet to no reply. When the nurse opened the door, Mak was trying to move from toilet seat to her wheelchair, clutching her chest. Nurse suspected she was having a major heart attack. The nurse managed to hold Mak before she hit the ground, but by then, Mak has left us.

At 11.08, I received a phone call from Aunt saying that IJN called, "Mak critical" was her exact words. (In actual, Mak has passed away and they waited for official statement from doc).

I rushed to IJN, only to discover that Mak has left us while on the way.

Doc tried everything, but did not manage to do anything. CPR 5 times to resurrect, last option is to cut her neck to inject some medication straight to the heart, but to no avail.

Right now..

I'm so so lost.

Al fatihah, Mak.

The Asyikins' birthday party

Khaira was born in October and Aisha on August. So we decided to choose 26th September to organize a birthday party for the girls!

Normally we did it at home. This year we had it at KFC, which proven to be:

1. More cost savvy; at home other than food, you need to pay for entertainment, the cleaner, the canopy etc.

2. Less hassle: no need to clean the house yay.

3. More fun: you can entertain the princesses and the guests better.

But I still love having people coming over to my house. Because we seldom have guests, so every now and then it was fun.

The cost for the birthday party was RM1400; inclusive of food, magic tricks, chicky costume, face painting and an hour of games also goodie bags and cake. So worth it.

You can add any menu as per normal price, we added some rice.

Highly recommended to have it here. I rate it as 10 over 10. Thank you KFC staff... they did a very good job. All my guests had fun! And my princesses just excited!!!

Face painting

Cake kfc surprisingly sedap

Goodie bag

One group photo

Magic tricks

Mascots and chicky dance

Some games

And last but not least..

Princesses would like to thank everybody for making it to their birthday party.

Meat feast

I know it is too late but I would like to wish everyone a very Selamat Hari Raya Aidil Adha.

And I would like to take a moment to recite Al Fatihah to all our hujjaj that gained syuhada in shaa Allah in two separate incidences in Mecca.

Innalillah. Allah swt definitely loves them more, to pass away in a holy land and holy month, Allah swt must grant them their wish. May all of us have a husnul khatimah, Ameen.

My raya haji was a super tiring day, from Ampang to Kajang to Klang back to Seri Kembangan but I have got the chance to meet all my family member.

Mostly I'm glad to still get the chance to spend it with my grandmother whose getting healthier and healthier each day. She stayed with us for a couple of days during Aidiladha.

May we meet again next year :)

Selamat Hari Raya everyoneeee!!

Selamat Hari Raya to all my readers. Please forgive me for all the wrong doings.

Raya has been fun! Grandmother was back to her house after almost 3 weeks staying with us on Raya eve. So, first day is the usual. Except.. without Datuk around. Our first Raya without him. Al fatihah to Datuk.

Purple vs orange

Went back to Kuala Selangor on second day Raya. Couldn't make it last year because both dad and Love were worried of the fact that I was due anytime. I would say it is a wise decision that I listened to them both.

Third day raya well spent at Batai with the relatives.

Started working on the 4th day of Raya.. macam loser busy marking whole day. But back on leave 5th day Raya for a date with Love.

Wanted to play mini putt at citta mall but it is no longer operational, boo. Ended up watching ant man which was fun!

Loving my raya this year. Very grateful to the Almighty to have spend it with my loved ones. Hope yours went well too, peeps!

Pangkor babyyyyy!!

That Saturday, we woke up early and left KL at 930am heading to Pangkor for 3 days 2 nights.

First day

Khaira has been obsessing about 'ship' ever since she watched "Kisah Nabi Yunus dan Ikan Nun." I don't usually fancy travelling by ferry, but this time it was different. The cost of the ferry was RM 10 per adult to and fro. Ferry arrived around half an hour interval starting from 730am.

The tiredness was totally worth it.. Look at these two..

We stayed at Coral Bay Resort 3 bedroom apartment; perfect for all 6 of us and the two girls.

As soon as we checked in, we had tea along Pantai Pasir Bogak which was in walking distance from the apartment. I was surprised to see so many hornbills. They're like crows here, almost everywhere. So, one selfie with the hornbill..

Later we went for souvenir hunting near the jetty. So cheap compared to jetty Lumut.

At night, we went to Teluk Nipah. Teluk Nipah is more like Malay area while Bogak are mostly Chinese. We had dinner there; so many gerai ikan bakar, you can just pick and choose. The ones we picked was so so, hence I would not recommend.

K insisted those were durians

Must see at Teluk Nipah: glow in the dark plankton at night and hornbills gather around in the morning.

Second day

The next day, weather was on our side. We spent the whole morning almost 4 hours by the Bogak beach.

The boys had fun fishing, mom had fun just chilling, the both of us had fun jet skiing, K had fun swimming and A had fun eating.. I mean playing with the sand.

 

After lunch and nap time, we went for archery provided in the Coral Bay compound. Merida wanna be was so happy. The rate was RM 20 for 20 arrows. They have paintball, treasure hunt and a lot more activities there.

Afterwards, the girls had the time of their lives swimming at swimming pool in the resort.

At night, we walked to the ikan bakar gerai next to the resort called seri ilham (kots) and I totally recommend this gerai. And the gerai burger next to the resort pon sedapppp!! Filled with carrots!

Later we tried looking for reflexology. Pangkor is not a commercialized pulau like Langkawi or Bali. Only three reflexologies we found; one near jetty, one in Bogak and one in Nipah. But the one in Bogak, the service sucks.

Third day

There was a play area in the resort K woke up to.

Then, they went swimming again..

We left to jetty pangkor around 12 noon. Bad timing.. people checked out at that time from hotel caused us to wait more than an hour for the ferry.. with the kids.. and the luggage. Penattttt..

For 3 days, the cost of the parking was around RM30.

Arrived home at 8pm and now busy settlekan laundry.

Overall, I think Pangkor is so so. Since I have been to only 3 islands in Malaysia, I would always want to return to Langkawi and Penang first before Pangkor. But considering this is my first time, I would say I had so much fun. 

The resort helped a lot.. I couldn't imagine staying in Nipah.. the road up there agak horror with the old Rusa that we rented for RM 250 throughout the stay. Of course with my family all there, I couldn't thank Him more.