Monday 24 October 2011

Getting ready for our Beijing Trip

pinkycatemoticonGoing for a holiday is fun but the pre and post holidays are so tormenting... I always pack 1 or two hours before leaving and as a result, there are things that i always forget to bring such as medicines, facial foam and so on. And, the house will be in a mess by the time i leave for airport.  This time around, I want to start early and make sure everything is all set before our journey this Wednesday morning. Need to pack light and easy. i don't purchase any checked-in baggage.

Weather in Beijing is getting colder and colder day by day. Need to prepare thicker attires especially for the kiddos. According to Yahoo! weather, the weather in Beijing now is fairly fair with 14 degree Celsius. It can drop to 3 degree Celsius at night.

Farah found me upstairs packing the bags and she took the liberty to mess around with some stuff
Beijing, here I come!
Our jackets
Faris's bag.
Passport, visa & RMB, checked! Yesterday's conversion was RM49.95 = RMB100

Medicine is a must. We don't know what could happen there especially with the chilly weather. Faris once had caught a fever and vomited through the entire Kuching's trip when he was 4. We had to go all over Kuching to find an available clinic on a state public holiday...

Panadol, coughing syrup, ventolin (very important), etc...etc...

Extra food is next! Buns, biscuits, 3 in 1, cup noodles etc..etc..etc... anything to keep us from starving especially at night. Nights are colder.

Some food items
Just bought my new shoes yesterday. I thought of wearing my scholl sandals just like any other trips. After all, i survived an 8 degree celcius temperature in Amsterdam with just wearing my sandals..:) But that sandals were already a history by the time i came back.. Hancus sudah! But then, i imagined myself climbing the Great Wall with sandals...nah....! There goes my RM200++...A brand new Scholl... Thought of buying cheaper ones. Tried Adidas and Nike, but my feet didn't agree to any of those...sighs...

My brand new shoes *blushing*
pandaemoticon

Saturday 22 October 2011

Local is safer

This was an old entry yang diberi nafas baru..:) I'd written it in 2009... I didn't know how to blog back then...



Last December (2010), we had decided not to go anywhere far as the H1N1 viral flu was still on the go.  Plus, I’m damned broke since my last Europe trip...he... he...J! Therefore, for cheap yet still enjoyable (for the kids, I guess) holiday, we went to Kuantan, Pahang. Since my husband had a job there, so the kids and I (plus my husband’s brother) decided to tag along. 


     Since there were five of us, of course we cannot afford to book two hotel rooms and 1 hotel room was too cramped for the 5 of us. The night before the trip, I managed to browse the Internet for cheap hotels in Kuantan. Seri Malaysia seemed OK. Cheap but we managed to negotiate a family room for only RM160. I also checked with the hotel about the weather condition there. Just as a precaution, I thought if it was raining all day long, why bother staying there, right?


The journey was quite short, thanks to the new highway. We only made one quick stop at the R&R and arrived at our destination within 3 hours.  


Berjaya Megamall.. Look at these two brats, how small they were  2 years ago...:)

We stopped by at hubby’s office. While he was busy with work, I took the kids to Berjaya Megamall adjacent to the office to grab a bite. Easy & fast, I chose McDonalds for lunch.  The kids would definitely love it as Happy Meals came with free Avatar toys…  


Farah dan cinta hatinya, Ronald

Farah@the pool

After lunch, we checked in at the hotel. Typical Seri Malaysia hotel, 
same layout throughout Malaysia! The most important thing, it has a swimming pool for the kids to swim. I’ve been to Kuantan a few times, so there was nothing special about it to me. This was more as to keep the children happy during the school holiday. My husband was off to 
work again, so it was me and the little brats. As routine, we put our things in the room and started to dip into the pool. I just watched the kids splashing in the water since I was so lethargic to join. I preferred to just watch them have fun and snapped a few photos. Once in a while, I logged onto the Facebook through my hand phone.  Although the hotel has its own WIFI, but it was really slow. And, I really meant what I said…really slow! 

Fun at the pool
After a few hours, I chased the kids out of the pool and went up to the room. As usual, the children would be starving after playing at the pool.  So, we headed to the nearby food court. Surprisingly, the food was not bad at all. 



TC @ dawn. Photos were not so good as we
used the phone camera..Forgot to bring our camera..
That evening, after finishing his errand, papa took us to Telok Cempedak Beach(TC), one of the ‘must see’
 hangouts in Kuantan where the locals go to unwind and for a time of leisure
 with family members. However it is advisable not to swim during the monsoon season as it can be really dangerous.  So, we just scrolled along the lane watching the locals selling souvenirs. I didn’t buy any, though.  My children bought some airplane toys and we ate ice cream before we headed back to the hotel getting ready for dinner. 


Farah happily playing with the sand

Siblings!


     Dinner was superb!  One of the local friends introduced us to this famous ‘ikan bakar' restaurant.  Famous, Fast & Delicious! The location was a bit out of the main road, so you need to really know the location, or else you might miss the place. When we arrived there, there were so many people from all walks of life eating there. Fortunately, the service was really fast. After a while, we got our order.  The food was nice and fresh. And, it is much cheaper than in Kuala Lumpur. There was an incident happened at the eating place that we thought was a bit weird and funny. One of the waiters apparently had accidentally splashed some gravy on one of the customers. And, this waiter didn’t even have the courtesy to apologize. I noticed there were a few patches on the customer’s back. Poor man!  He was so mad and called the owner/manager. After negotiating at their table, we noticed that the waiter did apologize. I bet the owner/manager gave that family free ikan bakar…  

Blurry

Appetizer..nyum...nyum...Look at the oil....huh! Talking about
healthy eating

Siakap 3 rasa...nyum..nyum...

Signature dish: Udang masak petai dalam daun pisang. I didn't try
since i don't eat petai..

      The next day, when we went to TC again, we saw that same family having a stroll there. I think they recognized us… Funny, isn’t it? How you can see the same family again the next day. What a coincidence!  

The kids played with the sand again. They loved it so much even though they did not know how to build sandcastles. They brought their equipment with them, though.  Befere playing in the sand, we did hike at the long bridge and enjoyed the scenery there. Very short distance, with a lot of monkeys  searching for food.


Morning walk

Papa n Baby Farah
Our family
The kids with pak cu
Our lil' friend!
   
Sandcastle in the making

A lil' bit more

What a sunny day!

Saying goodbye...


On our way back, I wanted to stop and play at the new Gambang Theme Park but my husband refused. He wanted to go home fast L… No used in negotiating with that man, so we went home. We stopped by at the theme park, looked from outside and then left.


     Overall, the trip was short but I knew my children had fun.  One thing for sure, Farah became a shade darker. At least, if they need to tell their teachers at school about their holidays during the school term break, they already have something in mind to talk about...   


Saturday 15 October 2011

Just to Share...


Hoek Vaen Holland Port


Travelling is my passion! If I could get the opportunity, I would like to go to all over the world.  Of course, money is the biggest issue here and time is number two. Despite those two biggest obstacles, I still manage to browse through the net and find some cheap travelling promotions. Most of the time, I will go on my own as travelling with the tour operator would cost me a fortune! [not good for people who are always out of budget, like me…J] At the same time, I don’t really like to follow schedules when travelling. When travelling with tour operators, you have to follow tight schedules and it seems to me like a bit of a rush. I like to travel following my own pace.  Also, my very special thanks to Air Asia (AA) which so far manage to make my travelling dreams come true. Names like Air Asia,  Easy chains, Accors, Seri Malaysia, Aer Lingus, etc. are all in my lists when travelling.  


The airline that makes it all possible for me!
Ikan Bakar with the kids!
Courtyard Mariott @ Bali
            I go travelling with different people/group. Firstly, with the whole family.  I would take the whole Brady Bunch with me if I’m going to places where there are beaches, theme parks and amusement parks. Plus, the distance must not be too far as the flight journey would be longer and I am afraid my children could not take the long tiring journey.  Another important aspect, when travelling with the kids, I must make sure our hotel has swimming pool as to my kids, vacation is not a vacation when the hotel has no swimming pool. Therefore, I will try my very best to find a very reasonable cheap hotel with swimming pool for my two beloved kids. Oh, yes! Once in a while my parents do tag along when we go travelling. Old couples are almost the same like kids, Less tiring journey, cozy hotels, relaxing stay, good food, etc.  


Just the 2 of us: Atomium@Brussels
Bangkok with hubby
          Secondly, I travel with my hubby (just the two of us!). Further destinations and places with more cultural attractions won’t attract my kids. Taking them along would be a waste of my time and money. Plus, we can at least have the quality time together. Even with the diverse environment, we still quarrel during our vacations. Who are we without quarrelling? When only both of us are travelling, we can cut cost on the accommodation as both of us do not need a hotel with a swimming pool. It is more than enough to stay at cozy budget hotels. Recently, i've started travelling with a few friends and i notice that it's actually fun and exciting! 

Kenyir Lake with Rna n Family
Pulau Dayang Bunting with Kak Ros n Family
           
Disneyland, Paris with colleagues at Marjon
        I started to develop my passion for travelling since I got my first baby (that was approximately 9 years ago). Before that, I did go on some short distance travels but not very constant like now.  When I was studying, I went on a few travelling trips with my housemates to France, Scotland and places nearby England. 


Inside the train heading for Edinburgh, Scotland
HRC Edin with Pok Chah
       
     
































      For a start, I’d been to all the states in Malaysia. Part of it because my hubby always works outstation, so my family and I always tag along whenever he goes to other states. Therefore, we get free transports and hotels.   
Stop over at Genting, on our way back
 from Temerloh
Penang@Berjaya Georgetown
    



Different food
Different weather
Shopping: It's so hard to resist!











To me, there are a few reasons for packing my bags and travel. Personally, I think after long tiring days of loads and loads of works and chores, your body and soul deserve relaxation. You need to rejuvenate! People go to work every day, come back at night, sleep and you will repeat the same routine over and over again. Don’t you think your life is so bored and cruel towards you? Why bother ‘chasing‘ money when you don’t know how to spend them? Life is short, so enjoy it while it lasts! Secondly, I go travelling to broaden my knowledge and experience different countries' cultures and customs. I can experience their unique and different culture, weather, environment and ways of life. Every country is different. We would be very surprised when we see their ways of lives.  I don’t really fancy trying the food, but I think my hubby enjoys trying foods whenever we go travelling. I am more into visiting landmarks, cultural stuff and interesting places there. I don’t fancy shopping during my travel as I prefer to travel light and easy.  However, I like to collect souvenirs from places that I have been too. I would display them in my small display cabinet back home.  Besides, shopping as a tourist would be neck wrecking. It would be very expensive. Nonetheless, as a lady, I cannot resist the temptation of shopping when I go to shopping paradise like Bandung, Shenzhen and Langkawi J . There are other few reasons why I enjoy travelling, but let’s just say those two are the most prominent ones. 

Window of the World


       To sum up, I would say, I really enjoy travelling to various destinations. There are so many places that I haven’t been to. I will try my very best to fulfill my dream. Like I said earlier, life is short, so make full use of it while it lasts!  You will bring precious memories with you every time you come back home. 






P/S: I know there are a lot of people out there who are similar like me...! A shout out to all of u, pursue yr dream, don't loose hope and be happy!

OVERNIGHT AT THE BERBER DESERT CAMP

Selepas lunch, kami teruskan lagi perjalanan yang panjang sampai lah petang.  Look at the view.. Magnificent!  We crossed the High Atlas Mou...

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