Stuck in Sunway

Muhammad and Danish were telling us about their hilarious experience getting stuck in one of the water slides in Sunway. Muhammad went off first, sharing his tube with Haidil. But before that, the 4 boys shaked hands and Muhammad said "Today, we might or we might not die. So good luck to you all." (Apa saja la budak berempat ni!!!) Then off went Muhammad and Haidil. Then they got stuck in the tunnel..

Muhammad - Haidil, shout shout. Tolong! Tolong!

Haidil - Tolong! Tolong! Tolong! Aku tak nak mati!

Man came to their rescue and pushed them down. But they got stuck again in the middle. Haidil started praying, reading Al-fateha and whatever surah that came to his mind.

Meanwhile, Danish and Harith prepared slide down. They too got stuck in the tunnel.

Harith - Tolong! Tolong! Tolong!

Danish - Shut up! You are embarassing me!!

Harith - Ok...(one second later)..Tolong! Tolong!

Again man came to their rescue and pushed them down. They met the first two who shouted - WE ARE ALIVE!!! They then reached the end of the water slide. Once off the tube, Muhammad and Haidil kissed the ground.

What a hilarious story!! We were all laughing and laughing. Tak boleh tahan!! No wonder they said they had fun together with the Akmal brothers. Hahaha...

(L)epak (R)oad block (T)ersesat di KL

Left Perth for KL on Christmas eve and we arrived there at around noon, taking Air Asia for the first time. We rated the service, food and atmosphere better than Tiger. The kids' meals came in a box with food and puzzles to keep them occupied. Very Good!! Parents' meals were Nasi Lemak and it was super good. Flight was all right with slight bumps when we were near Exmouth and Indonesia. Not surprisingly coz there is a category 2 cyclone just after Exmouth.
After landing at LCCT, we thought of taking the budget taxi to Duta Vista Suites. But they quoted us RM180, tak nak la!! So we then bought bus tickets for shuttle to KL Sentral - adults RM8 each while kids RM6 each. After an hour ride in a comfy bus, we got into a cab which cost us RM15 to reach our destination. After checking in, Jasmin came with our rented car. Punyalah besar...its a Naza Ria, similar to Kia Caarnival. Abah had to reverse a few times before being able to get it out from the so-so sempit car park.

Kids were disappointed with the apartment. It's a 2 bedroom apartment with kitchen but the one that we were given had so many problems. Firstly the fridge was leaking that caused Sofea to slip and fell twice. Then there was no towels ready for us, lucky we brought along two from home. We asked for a change of room but no such luck because the manager said all fully booked. Another major problem was the entry card. We could not use it to get in. We had to get the manager to open the door for us!! Pengsan!!!

We then decided to head over to KLCC for makan and that was closed to evening time. Since we did not have a map, we were keeping a lookout for KLCC building and just drove towards it. Pusing punya pusing!! Lucky sampai juga!! Headed straight to the foodcourt and we sat there from 7 pm to 10 pm. Makan...minum..while waiting for the Abdat family to join us. They went to Genting but they were leaving for Jakarta the next day. It was good to see them and have dinner cum supper.


We will see them back in Perth next year in February. It's their first visit to KL and they managed to get to Singapore for a day trip before flying to KL.

After that eventful supper where we 'helped' to tutup kedai, we drove towards Maya Hotel where the kids were super anxious to meet the Akmal brothers. They had a good room where we could see the nicest view of KL (20th storey). The boys played PSPs with Harith and Haidil under the table (of all place) while Sofea, Sabryna and Haikal played together. They really missed each other!!

After making final plans of where to go the next day, we bid them farewell. We planned to go Sunway Lagoon for a swim and slide. This was when the night adventure started. Duta Vista is situated along the highway and because it was night time, we kept missing the exit and instead went round and round. To make matters worst, our tank was empty. We exited Sri Hartamas and came to a road block. Abah stopped the car to ask for direction to the nearest petrol kiosk while 2 policemen shined their torchlights to see what's inside the car. Dah la black car...besar pula tu. Silap-silap they thought we were kidnapping the kids who were fast asleep by now. After pumping petrol, we went to a taxi stand and got hold of a taxi driver to show us the way. We ended up at Dust at 2 am and again had to get the night manager to open the door for us!! Penat sei!!

Next day after getting a change of room, a better one with a nice view of the pool that we did not get to swim, we headed towards Maya Hotel to fetch the Akmal bros n parents. Drive there was fun with Adnan fiddling away in the car instead of concentrating on giving navigations. Plus he came up with an imaginary signboard. Kids, as usual, playing PSPs together and refused to unglue themselves from each other even when they went for water slides. The boys got stuck in one of the water slide and the lifeguard had to jump in and push them out. Too light, he said!!

The next day, we took the 2 older Akmal bros to Berjaya Times Square indoor theme park while their parents went for shopping and massage. Because of the height restrictions, Haidil and Sabryna could not join the rest on the fast bumper cars. I tried to cheer them up by going on other games area but both looked bored especially si Haidil!! Ish ish!!!
Then we went to this haunted house. Since Sofea wanted to stay with her Abah, I accompanied the 4 boys. Sabryna also wanted out from going in. Hahaha...we just entered the place and I was not much help because I started screaming when the 'ghosts' started jumping out from nowhere with their masks on. Haidil wanted me to hold his hand and also cover his eyes for him. La!!! Budak ni. How to walk and see??!!! By the time we came out, we were all laughing away!!! We could not spend the whole day there because the Akmal bros were due to fly off at 6pm. So after saying our goodbyes to them, Kak Lah and Uncle Agus, we went back to Duta for a rest before having dinner at Pavillion.

I managed to have dinner with Lin, Linah and Is who drove up from Sg to meet me, Zarina, Mumu and Sharifah who were permanently residing in KL. We had a mini Cedarian reunion with one RGS 'spy' = Is. After dinner, Abah and I wanted to have supper of roti canai and teh tarik so we headed over to one curry house outside Pavillion. Food was good and we went back the next day for breakfast.

We did not shop for clothes because there were not much sale. Instead we spent the next 2 days cutting our hair and buying lots of books such as the 'Mr Midnight' series and some other local writers. I spent RM260 just on my hair and this did not include any colouring at all. Abah n the boys only spent RM26. Minus one zero!!

Oh..I forgot to mention that we did got ourselves lost again in Pavillion carpark. We could not remember where we parked the car and went round and round before the security guard came to our rescue. Sesat aje!!

But it was a good getaway trip and we ate to our hearts content. Now still groggy from all the sleepless night in the plane.

Final assembly of 2009 and saying 'Goodbyes'

We attended the final assembly of the year with the annual graduation ceremony for Muhammad's class because they will go into high school next year. Today is Muhammad's last day in this school since he will be going to a state high school next year with new friends and teachers.

While he took away the Science Award, Sabryna walked away with the top prizes for Numeracy and Islamic Studies. Good for her!! Danish is just happy with the siblings' achievements and hopefully he will be inspired to work harder next year. Abah managed to join the assembly having to go off for his morning run at 7am just now.




Sabryna will be saying goodbye to her best friend, Manda (the one without the tudung), whom will be returning to Jakarta since the father has finised his studies here. We bought her a going-away present and just looking at the picture, they can pass as twins!! These three were inseparable in school and they have been best friends forever since last year.


After the assembly, we headed to the airport to say our goodbyes to Roskhaider and family who were with us since last friday for holidays. They have the most well-mannered and quiet children and Sofea had a blast playing with the youngest daughter. One thing we learnt during their stay was we all came from VJC!! Small world huh??!! Well goodbye guys and we hope to see you again. Our door is always open for you!!

Laki ku..peminat Alleycats

It all started with hubby asking me to update the music selection in his Iphone. He was bored from hearing all the 80s Malay rock songs. So last night while he was having a table tennis match with his friend, Roskheider, who is here holidaying with his family, I was busy updating his Iphone. So now in his phone, there are songs from Alleycats, Carefree, M Nasir and etc. As he was checking out the list, he found this song, played it and dedicating it to me who was by then, half asleep. Sofea was long gone so she was not disturb at all with his singing. Aiyoh...the song got stuck in my head after that!!! Til now!!!

The final house inspection for 2009 was finally over today. This time, 2 ladies came and walked around the house ticking here and there on the inspection list. As usual, tak ada apa diorang nak find fault because the house is very tidy. Look for yourself...but then they did not know what we've been through over the weekend. Penat giler kerjakan the backyard and the front lawn with the mower, shears and cutter. Abah upah the boys to dig out the broad-leave weed, one for 50 cents. Sofea busied herself by digging up the sand and playing with her kakak Sabryna.


This is our games room where we managed to fit the kids' PS2, Wii, table tennis and look, Sofea's little pink house that she will drag from one room to another. Rumah bergerak!! This will be the first room people see when they step into the front door.

Here pula is where we will lepak and watch TV. My fave corner is fully equipped with a power point for my lappie and TimTam. I think we spend a lot of our nights here as a family and watching our fave shows. The kids will squeeze themselves on the sofa (the best seat) with us parents in the middle. Nasib baik semua badan kecil molek.

Because of the inspection, the computer corner is very very clean and tidy. This is usually our most chaotic messy area. Not the bedrooms but this table. PSPs, DS, bags, letters, notes and everything else got dump on this table sampaikan sometimes the laptop gets hidden.


Ni pula our backyard yang menyusahkan diri kita everytime comes inspection. We have to make sure the weeds are gone and the grass are cut. Do you notice the round table with umbrella and chairs? With the summer here, we try to have our weekend lunches and tea breaks here. If the kids want to play out in the front, we will put out the 2 chairs and table in the games room and have our tea there while keeping an eye on them. Our street is relatively save for them to ride their skate scooters up and down.

Ni pula our small kitchen. I try to buy flowers to brighten the area which I can get from the supermarket for AUD$5 a bouquet. Plain and simple kitchen with enough area for me to mess around.

The next few days will be busy with other important stuff than the house...YES!!! Christmas parties to attend to (one with Sofea's daycare and another one at my workplace), the boys will be going to a birthday party, Muhammad's graduation assembly where I heard he's going to....(psst..its a surprise) and of course, packing for our KL trip. Come New Year we may be going to Margaret River, just need to confirm accomodation aje. Betul punya busy kan????

Waving farewell to Shekeen

Almost 2 years ago, we came to Perth within the same month of each other. We became friends since all of us were new to this foreign place. Everytime any family managed to get a house for rent, we would invite one another for bbq. But today we had to bid farewell to Shekeen who nicknamed all of us her 'Oz Clan'. She would be getting married next week and begins a new chapter in her life as a 'Mdm' back in Singapore.

Yesterday, being Rin's birthday, we took the opportunity to have the last get together before the 'Oz Clan' gets smaller. Abah was supposed to prepare a speech tapi dia lupa. But we did have that 'speech', just outside the front door di bawah lampu porch. We said our goodbyes and well wishes to Shekeen. I think it was very private and nice because knowing me, I wouldn't want to say all these private words at the airport. There were definitely tears today at the airport that I had to delete the many photos that were taken because semua muka sedih..:(


These 2 babies have been babysitted by their Aunty Shekeen when the mummies had something to do. Shekeen said she has photos of Sofea and Camelia when they were little. Look how big they have become sitting on their Aunty Shekeen's lap for the last time.



Here were the mother and daughter who celebrated their birthday last night together. Rin and Sabryna lost one of their front teeth together almost the same time but they were too shy to show off their beautiful 'smiles'.



We wish all the best to Shekeen and hope to see her again. She can always return here for her future honeymoons. But for now, I am thinking back those wonderful times together, us getting comfort from each other while adapting to our new life here. Each of us have our own different path to follow and I am glad that we met along the way. Waving goodbye for now....

Long weekend..woohooo!!

Since Fri was Eid Adha, the kids' school was closed for the day plus Monday. So betul punya raya lah budak-budak ni. Best tu best but the Mummy will be penat layan their kerenah. This year, with the new head of the school, it hosted the solat raya for the 1st time. But since Muhammad orientation in his new school, Danish attended it all by himself. I had to make arrangement with a friend to help take him back to his house while I dropped Muhammad and Sofea (dia kena pergi daycare la!!).

I contributed popiah goreng for the after prayer's makan-makan. With the support of parents and friends, it was a small but very meaningful day in school. Muhammad also had fun attending the whole day program and we also attended the talk given by the principal. The school will have few trips next yr, i.e. trip to Germany, a ski trip and also Italy. Best kan???? Being him, he has already make friend with another Aussie boy of his size and also taking the outdoor specialist program.

Today and tomorrow, the boys will be attending 'ESQ Leadership Workshop' conducted by an Indonesian company. So while they were there today, we went to pick our friend, Hairuddin from Singapore who is now living and working in Sydney just 4 months back. Hah..apa lagi, my husband happy la sebab we get to do touristy things. We took a ferry from Perth to Fremantle, enjoying the view of Swan River and the places surrounding it. We then headed towards Swan Valley for chocolates, honey and halal grape juice. My friend has one thing on his mind all the time and that is to borong kicap 'Cap Kipas'. Apparently they don't have that in Sydney.



Look at this picture. Sofea took this all by herself. Cute kan??

This one pula was in Perth Mosque after doing our solat Zuhur. Penat juga today. Another day tomorrow to enjoy. A birthday party to attend to and lots of other activities in between.