Have a little faith - a review

The moment I read the first page of "Have a Little Faith", I realized how much I miss Albom.

It is not easy to find such honest writing as his nowadays. The journey with Albom has always been a fun one.

This book is a true story about the life of Albert Lewis, Albom's childhood rabbi. The rabbi asked Albom to deliver the eulogy for him during his funeral when the time came. Albom was a bit hesitant in a sense that he was too far drifted away from his own religion. But he did it anyway, took his time to visit the rabbi every now and then to get to know him more so he was able to write the eulogy for him. This book is about a journey of a lost man, finding back his own purpose of life, presented in a way that regardless whatever religion you are, it still fits you well, the objective.

Albom's writing in such delicate issue is a brilliant one.

I would strongly suggest you to read this one!!

Paths of glory by Jeffrey Archer - a review

My mentor has been continuously insiisting me to read any of Archer's books. He was convinced that I'm gonna like it.

I don't really read fiction except from Dan Brown and Sophie Kinsella. But back when I was in BBW 2 years ago, Archer's books  were selling for RM8 per piece. Who said no to that?

Finally, now I have time to start finishing off all the books I bought previously.

Paths of Glory is about a man who attempted to climb the Everest way before Sir Edmund Hillary. He left his wife and kids just for the mission and promised to leave his wife's photo at the peak of the mountain.

He was found many years after that, dead just before the peak of the mountain without the photo of his wife with him. Some speculated he made it to the top and was dead on the way down. Having that said, the history might changed.

Romance and such are typical spices of this kind of novel. But it's worth noting that in the end, his grandchild conquer the mountain and left the picture of both the grandparents at the peak saying he finally completed the family's business.

Archer's way of writing is kinda draggy. I so much prefer Dan Brown.

But I won't object of reading any other of his masterpiece because he is that good.

I'm reading another of his at the moment. Should catch up with my review soon.

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.

Anniversary and my first boss

I had to work on my anniversary, how fun? It was quite fun actually because I had training on Beaglebone. Geek stuff, so boring.

Colleague  sent this 9gag material to us during our training in ITMS; the IT lab

Love had to go to Puspakom and JPJ. Oh.. we sold our Punto and bought a new Iriz with 522 plate number (May 22nd; the anniversary, so cheesy the husband, my kind of cheesy).

Later in the evening, we went for a simple anniversary celebration at Secret Recipe, IOI city mall.

Guess who we met?

My ex first boss. Back when I was done with my SPM and had a 6 months part time job at Nando's Maluri.

Back when Love came all the way with taxi to Nando's and waited patiently for my lunch time to spend time with me.

"Have you tried making small talks with the customer," I remember once this boss asked me. I was not the best at making small talks.

"What for?" I asked naively.

"Sometimes it's not the food that they are paying for. It's the service."

Years down the road I couldn't agree more.

Later on.. we became close. He helped me to get my driving license. He would occasionally pay for my family's dinner and Love's lunch at Nando's.

Those family I worked with in Nando's.. they don't necessarily need to earn handsomely to have such fun life. I learned a lot from them.

"So, I have to call you doctor now?" my boss asked me.

"Don't you dare!" I laughed.

"13 years down the road, you're already a doctor," he said, grabbing the receipt waiter sent to us, insisting to pay, so typical of him.

13 years already?? I was shocked.

I don't remember much all those deep, meaningful conversations he taught me, I wish I do.

But the feeling a mentor left me still lingers. The feeling of being so loved is so strong that it makes me believe I can do anything in the world. Just like how he praised me in monthly meeting for making customers felt comfortable in the restaurant for my small talks. My biggest achievement at that time looked so silly now.

I wonder if I can ever left my students with that kind of feeling later on in their life.

Meeting one of the men I respected most in life during our anniversary has got to serve as a reminder for us, Alhamdulillah.

Mother daughter bonding time

Khaira had so many funny requests in a day.

"Ibu, do you mind telling me the story of Ikan Nun and Nabi Yunus?"

If it was for the third time of the day already, I would just asked her to go to Abi instead.

"Ibu, nak Ibu pakaikan seluar." Always when I nursed Aisha.

But lately was,

"Nak ikut Ibu pergi kerja."

Or..

"Nak Ibu manjakan Khaira."

Then I realized it has been the longest time since I spent a quality time with her.

Right after my industrial training visit on Friday, I rushed back home. Arrived slightly before 6pm, picked her up, off to Jusco. I only have an hour, but I was determined to make it a quality time.

I dropped off at Studio R and bought her a new pair of slipper.

Then to Jusco to buy her a dress and 3 blouses.

Because this week Khaira moved to Book 3 (she was the first one to start book 3, it's only May), she deserved all the presents. Teacher targeted book 3 for 5 y.o.

Another dress for Aisha, 2 pairs of leggings and 2 new sippy cups.

Looked at the clock, it was just 45 minutes, such shopping skills I acquired as a mother of two now. *blows nail*

"We still have 15 minutes before 7pm. Would you like a slice of cake?"

She hugged me.

This reaction is priceless.

And all she need is an hour from this freaking busy mother? What have I become?

Oh no worries about Aisha, she was happy with my mom when we were out.

Vietnam with a toddler and baby...

...and not using travel agency is crazy.

Lucky we went to Ho Chi Minh for only three days.

Flight from KL to Ho Chi Minh is around 2 hours. We left via KLIA2, my first. Was amazed with so many shopsssss!! Must come early and lepak first.

Time difference is around an hour. 1pm Malaysia = 12 noon Ho Chi Minh.

RM1 = 6000 dhong. You can use RM as well in Ben Tanh market. And if you change RM to Dhong in Vietnam (we changed it in their airport) you'll get more compared to exchange rate in Malaysia.

They are using 2 flat pins plug like this, so converter is needed.

Travelling with a toddler and a baby, what you need?

1. A small portable stroller mainly for baby Aisha, or for Toddler Khaira if K fell asleep. Which left A to use..

2. A carrier. We love our Pognae so much.

3. Diaper bag with only diaper pants. Ho Chi Minh is not at all baby friendly. Don't expect to find any nursing room. Diaper pants are much easier option.

4. Formula milk for the toddler and baby food for the baby. First day I brought frozen food for A (which I reheat by submerging the tupperware in hot water). Since Baby A is not a colicky baby, we just gave her instant cereal for the other 2 days.

5. Light clothing, comfy shoes.

6. No jewellery please. I'll talk about it soon.

7. Snacks while travelling for the toddler.

Our first happy day.

Flight to Ho Chi Minh was smooth sailing, Alhamdulillah as both my girls were born traveller. We had a peaceful time in the flight while they were playing happily.

We arrived at Ho Chi Minh at 12 noon local time. We purposely did not take the first flight like we usually did so that by the time we settle down, hotel was ready for us to check in.

Stayed in Hoang Lien hotel with one queen size bed for all of us girls and one single size bed for Love. The bathroom was equipped with a bathtub so the kids love it. Comfy to bath the baby as well.

Funny though.. you need to leave your passport at the reception of the hotel or otherwise you need to pay a deposit of 100 usd.

We had our lunch in the hotel. Knowing it was hard to find halal food in our area as we did not stay in Ben Tanh area, I bought extra food from AirAsia. Each guest is entitled for 2 meals, so I bought 5 meals altogether for our lunch and dinner. We had a very heavy breakfast at the airport before.

After lunch, I called the hotel reception to buy us 3 tickets to water puppet show later at 6.30pm with the price of 150k dhong per person with extra 50k dhong for the hotel's sercive.

Then, all of us took a nap so the girls would not be cranky. Then we took a bath and off we went.

We walked to the water puppet show. Around 10 minutes walk that felt like forever. The traffic in Ho Chi Minh was crazy, I tell you! Motorcycles outnumbered the cars here. They move like a swamp of bees. Zebra crossing not working here, don't bother wait for traffic lights. They don't comply with the system AT ALL. Just brave yourself to cross the road, and the motorcyclists will find a way to avoid you somehow. It's like they don't need a system to work because they are soooo in tune with each other, it just works you know. They texted while biking and honking like alll the time but, not a single accident we saw. Total opposite of Japan but perhaps too systematic causes us to lose our common sense.

Water puppet show was amazinggggg!! The girls love it very much surprisingly. Must watch. It was a 50 minutes show in their native language.. but you don't need to understand the story to appreciate their tradition. I'm still amazed as of how the water puppet works. And K still refers Ho Chi Minh as "the place with puppets".

After the show, we had the time of our life in Trung Nguyen coffee shop. The coffee was amazing, never found a coffee this beautiful and strong. Then, we went back to sleep. Took me 2 hours to sleep, damn you caffeine!

But at least, I slept that night happily; loving the Vietnamese and the coffee.

Second day sucks big time

Woke up early and went to War Remnant Museum, 15 minutes walking. Was so so. Entry fee is 10k dhong. Opens daily from 8.00 to 11.45am and 1.30 to 4.45pm. I still wonder why so many Japanese in the museum.

Play area

Had Trung Nguyen coffee and shopped for some souvenirs, then we took a cab to Ben Tanh market.

A metered XE taxi driver looked kind enough and drove us to so called Ben Tanh market. Meter went out soo fast.. It was only 15 mins away, he charged us RM100. Even worse, he brought us to Bin Thay market, not Ben Tanh.. Ugh! But we shopped for Vietnamese cotton there. 10 pairs of them and other fabrics as well.. Vietnamese cotton was only RM 22 for 4 metres. Can get cheaper if you know how to nego.

Asked the salesperson how much does it cost for taxi from Bin Thay to Ben Tanh for validation, she said around RM25. So we saw a taxi driver with Vinasun's (the reliable taxi) clothing and cap, we asked how much, he said around RM25. But as we got to the taxi, it was not Vinasun, it was XE taxi again. But since he carried all our stuff already, off we went to Ben Tanh. As we arrived, he said we need to pay RM80 because RM25 times the number of people in the cab. We tried to nego and guess guess.. he grabbed Aisha's golden anklet ok!

I officially hate Vietnam after that! I hate Vietnamese so much, we felt insecure there.

Felt insecure to the trishaw drivers that pushed us to use their services. Felt insecure with so many people polishing Love's fabric shoes without permission. Insecure with people walking too close to the girls.

Had our lunch at Muslim shop near Ben Tanh and tapau for dinner as well. The Vietnamese salesperson spoke Malay fluently. The price tag of some items in the shops also in RM. Funny.

For me, Ben Tanh is messier that Philippine market. Price is so overrated. A tshirt for RM45, negotiable to RM8. Merepek tak? I don't like to nego, so I just walked away until I found honest salesperson that put the cheapest price.

Ben Tanh is not suitable for baby or stroller. Sempit, panas, kotor.

Then we took a Vinasun cab which charged us appropriately and got back safely to the hotel. At night, we lepak at a different Trung Nguyen shop and shopped for coffee to bring back home. Trung Nguyen coffee is quite pricey but for the premium taste, I must say it is worth it.

Can't wait to go home: Day 3

After breakfast, we went to Tao Dahn Park near our hotel. It was fun. Khaira went crazy.

Back to the hotel, packed, checked out (don't forget your passport) and straight to airport. Had lunch at Domino's; vege pizza. It was delicious.

Then, home sweet home!

Not missing Vietnam. Not coming back, hopefully, in shaa Allah.

I'm sorry, girls. No more places like these without travel agent. Even if we go after this, we'll stay in a place where we can have fun for you, girls k.

Alhamdulillah, Malaysia, I love you.

Water chalet @ Avillion PD

I had a retreat end of last month at Avillion, PD. They gave us a water chalet, wooottttttt!!

Avillion has been super fun. The best chalet in Malaysia I must say for me.

They have mini zoo inside, a play area, 24 hour swimming pool, near the beach, food was super good. Would go there again and again.

The chalet was nice, with 1 king sized bed that Love slept all by himself while I slept at the other smaller bed with the two girls fighting over who slept closer to Ibu (T_T)

Bathroom was superb, where you can see the skies and the sand, even crab. Khaira was the most excited with the bathroom. But at night, we found three cockroaches in less than an hour, ohh.. that I cannot tolerate.

But I will be there again, Avillion, just waittt!!~