Our weekend in PD

We had a short getaway last weekend in Port Dickson -- my girls, my mom, a cousin and I. I had wanted to do something different for my mom for her birthday -- an extra something apart from the usual year-in, year-out birthday do and presents.

And since it was the school holidays and I haven't taken the girls out for cuti-cuti Malaysia yet, I thought a short trip to PD would be nice (convenient location - dekat!!). What more, the girls kept asking me if we were going to go somewhere for a 'holiday' since the school break started. Kesian lak. I kept telling them that the Langkawi trip we took during the Deepavali weekend was an early 'holiday'. They didn't buy the idea!! hehe

What added salt to the wound was when they saw my PD photos -- the ones I took when I was there for work three weeks ago. The 'ooohhs' and the 'aaahhs' which came out from their mouths -- kesiannye!!

Yang tak tahan when Maira said, "kita pernah pergi hotel tu dengan Daddy, kan". Misha added, "yang lantai dia kayu and boleh tengok air kat bawah, kan?" That did it for me!! I vowed to take them there walaupun rega dia semalam adoiiii!! Dalam hati kata: pretend lah I dah dapat duit x-gratia yang expected end of the month ni... justification, justification...!!

Googled the net for other accommodation options, but couldn't find one that I was satisfied with (later find out from another cousin who recently went to Avillion Admiral Cove -- half price of Avillion Water Chalet -- only 7 months opened to public and niiiiceee -- so rugi la, but nemind, next time!!). And so Avillion it was!!

And so we were there last weekend -- it was also great that mom was gonna be away from home since my other siblings and nieces wanted to have a little surpise birthday do for her. We had a perfect plan then!! We'd drive home on Sunday and tadaaaa... it was "Surprise!!" for her!! She was surprised, I must say... nicely surprised.

Anyways, what's a beach getaway without the photos, kan... so here they are!! (seronok lak main Picasa nih :o)

The PD beach was... sad to say... yucky!! Tambah-tambah pulak the last beach I went to just two months ago was at Pulau Beras Basah where it was soooo pristine... memang tak lalu lah, beach kat PD ni... thank God Avillion has a nice children's pool.

I love the above pictures taken just after Maghrib, as we were about to go out for dinner... the deep blue sky... amazingnya ciptaan Allah...

That night we were up until almost 1am... just hanging out on the balcony -- the tide was low and we could see many people walking on the beach in pitch darkness holding their torchlights looking for crabs. The view was quite something. Terlupa pulak nak amik gambar. Our chalet was the last one at the end of the beach and so we were not overlooking other chalets... I really appreciated that...

Avillion also has a mini petting zoo where guests can feed the animals at 10am daily. The girls teringin-teringin takut nak pegang the rabbits. You know who I thought of when I saw 'em rabbits? MTT!! hehe

The hotel also organised some outdoor games for guests to participate in and we took the opportunity to join in. It was a fun weekend which started and ended very well.

Alhamdulillah.

Happy Birthday, Mami!!

My mom was born on 15 Dec, 68 years ago. This post is a little belated, I know -- but a significant event such as the birth anniversary of a person who gave birth to moi deserves a special entry.

At 68 years of age, my mother shows no sign of slowing down. I can safely say her life is even more hectic than mine, attending to business, events and social functions. I thought I'd never say this, but I hope I'd have half her zest for life when and if I ever reach that age!!

As the second eldest sister in a matriarchal Minangkabau family (elder to three younger sisters in KL - eldest sister lives in Kedah), she is the leader of the pack—head honcho if you would. Mami is the sixth child out of 10 – five girls and five boys. Except for one, all four elder brothers have passed on while Mami and her two younger sisters are widows.

She is indeed the pillar of strength amongst our family members – the ‘orang tua’ we all look up to. She is the glue that keeps the family together.

We surprised her on Sunday with a little birthday do attended by close family members.

So, to Mami -- Happy Birthday and I pray I can be the anak solehah that I should!! And though these words seldom come out from your only biological daughter, I know that you know I love you!!

Happy birthday, Mami!!

* the yummylicious birthday carrot cake was baked by my niece, the budding baker Mya.

Post Eid al-Adha ramblings...

I am blogging from my bed!! Aaaahhhh... I pat myself on the back for applying for an extra day of leave... in this gloomy weather, you just don't feel like working...

There are a few things cramming my head, fighting for space and attention these days. Some things that need to be done and insya-Allah, I will try to resolve it. I pray He shows me the right way. Ameen.

Alhamdulillah, we were blessed to celebrate yet another Eid-ul Adha, kan... may He bestows his redha on all the sacrifices we make... ameen.

My family had a tahlil for all our beloved ones who've gone before us, Sunday night. You see, my dad passed on one Friday, eve of Eid-ul Adha in 2002. So, since then, we've always held a tahlil every 10 Zulhijjah... I hope all our efforts will benefit our beloved, ameen.

Like ms hart mentioned in her blog, the weather was so gloomy yesterday. But since we stayed indoors, I didn't really mind. The weather was cool, so tak lah berpeluh-peluh bila sibuk melayan tetamu...

We had a simple menu for Eid -- ketupat daun palas, nasi himpit, rendang ayam & daging and mom's original laksa lemak. I baked a choc cake and some cupcakes. SIL brought a choc cheese cake. Enough to fill our tummies from morning till night!! :-D

In the afternoon, the ladies from the nearby surau sent a periuk of sup gearbox from the korban in the morning. Alhamdulillah, our family ada rezeki lebih to korban seekor lembu. I pandang sebelah mata je sup gearbox tuuu... you can see the fat floating on the surface of the soup tauuu... eeeiieww

Did I tell you my camera went bonkers?? I dropped it about 3 weeks ago and it plunged from the third floor down to the second floor!! So angry at myself for being so careless. I now have a hard time using it to take photos (I have no problem reviewing saved photos though)... the lense macam buta... kena godek2 and if I'm lucky, I can 'see'... more often than not, the lense refuses to 'open up' and all there is is blackness... how laa...

So, since camera buat hal, malas nak layan dia to take photos... but I did my best in godek-godeking to capture the bakes I did for Eid and here they are... (alamakkkk malu la kalau wiz tengok!! ;-) -- Wiz!! I was inspired by you, you know!!) Am sure all of you know Wiz, kan... Wiz is THE Queen of cupcakes, novelty cakes, all the cantik-cantik cakes, lahhh... Maira's beeeauuutiful handbag birthday cake was baked by the Royal Majesty herself... I bow to you, my queen... :-D

Aaaahhh... even though it's my day off today, I still have to attend a work-related dinner + awards ceremony at S*hangri-La tonite. Bummer!! Malassss....

Tales of Langkawi III

Before my Langkawi Tales become basi, let me just post the last adventure here!!

Final Day

We decided the day before that we'd go around the Datai Bay area and check out the Temurun Waterfalls on our last day. It's been AGES since I went to a waterfall, and never in Langkawi. Since L and I wanted N to see the most of Langkawi (and N too, was open to anything), we gave the waterfall a shot. And we sure glad we did!!

Before cerita pasal waterfall, let me relate a funny incident at the hotel coffeehouse. L & N came down for breakfast first before we did and apparently the waitress kept bugging them for the breakfast coupon (which was with me). They kept telling the waitress to wait just a little bit as I was coming down in no time and bringing the coupons. It seems the waitress stopped L at the buffet line three times when she wanted to get food and sort of like threatening her "kalau tak de kupon, kena bayar kak..". L yang boleh tahan mak tiri jugak (hehe) said she ignored the waitress and buat muka dunno jek.

And finally when I came down with the coupons, L pun bagila the coupons to the waitress and told her sinisterly, "nak suruh saya bayar jugak ke??" hehe... marah akak tu!!

After we finished eating, I took out a food container which was earlier filled with some leftover brownies and muffins from KL and which we had already finished the day before. I wanted to refill the container (I know, tak de klasss kan?? hehe) with some muffins and buns from the buffet line. Just to have something to eat if the girls get hungry later. I asked L & N if they minded (ye lah, nanti malau lak kalau kena tangkap!!) and L said,"well, I've tried to be so sophisticated since we came but since the waitress treated me like I'm some kind of pompuan tak malu, I'm gonna act like one!" and she went to get plates of muffins and buns to fill up the container!! haha!! It was hillarious the way we were laughing and secretly trying to sorok2 what we were doing!!

The Datai Bay is something like 30 odd km away from Pantai Tengah where our hotel is. With L reading the a map, I drove (was the appointed driver the whole 3 days, L was the apponted map reader) leisurely asfter breakfast to get to the waterfall. We reached Datai Bay but couldn't find any signs to Temurun Waterfalls. Drove and drove until we reached a very quiet and secluded road... and tetiba saw the entrance to The Datai, a 6-star resort I've heard a lot of, but never been to.

Yang bestnya travel with ladies is that, bila rasa sesat je, we'd stop somewhere and ask for directions. It'd never happen with guys hehe. So, we decided to go to The Datai and ask directions from the hotel people. I waited in the car with N while L and my girls went down. Five minutes later they came back and told us, "wahhh the place is sooooo nice" (yelah, compared to our 3-star hotel, kan??). N and I decided that we too, want to have a look at the resort and so we parked the car and went inside. It was beautiful indeed. The typical resort filled with Mat Salleh's only coz they're the only ones who can afford it. And... the staff there were so nice... Before entering, we told the guys at the concierge if it was okay for us to just look around and they gladly welcomed us with big huge smiles.

So, we snap, snap pictures la... hehe. While walking to the car, we saw the entrance to The Spa. I suggested that we go have a look since I am SURE I'd never go back to the place ever again. And so we walked to the spa. There was one staff at the main reception who was again, soooooo nice. Genuine smile and called us Puan and not akak!! heheh...

The actual spa area is located in private villas scattered uphill. She invited us to have a look though I am pretty sure she knew we weren't going to patron the place. That was really nice of here. I mean, we were dressed in our Muslimah swimsuits with a t-shirt over!! How classy is that?? Still, she was sooo nice. I told the girls... see, only 6-star resort staff knows how to treat us as we should be treated!! (referring to how my friend L was treated at the breakfast buffet) hehehe

So, after the little visit to The Datai, coupled with directions from the staff, we found our way to Temurun Waterfalls. Have you been to a waterfall lately?? Was it clean or dirty?? I was surprised at how clean Temurun was, did not find ANY piece of plastic or bottles or any litter at all!! Again, the waterfall was masya-Allah, gorgeous!! Terpegun melihat betapa cantiknya ciptaan Allah!!

I think we were the first to arrive at the Waterfalls that morning. We had the waterfalls all to ourselves for a good 30 minutes before other people started to come, all of them Mat Salleh families. 20 minutes later, we decided to make a move as others started to come in.

We reached the hotel just in time to clean up and check-out at 1pm. Though we had checked-out, we could still use the rented car so we drove to Pantai Cenang for lunch. After lunch, dropped off the car at the car rental centre and had them drive us back to the hotel where the airport shuttle was waiting to take us to the airport.

Reached KL on Tuesday at 7pm and reached home at 8pm. The girls ponteng sekolah satu hari (exams were over) and we were back to the same old routine the next day. Sigh!!

It sure was a fun activities-filled holiday. If I have to describe Langkawi in a few words, I'd say it is a natural wonder in every sense.

pic above, bottom right -- the view of the main Datai Resort taken from the spa villas... gorgeous!!

Tales of Langkawi II

Day Two

Our trip was an AirAs*a Go H*lidays package, so the first half of Day Two was taken care off. On the itinerary was island-hopping!! Our first stop was at Pulau Beras Basah... beautiful island with such soft sandy beach. The wet sand almost felt like mud on our feet. Hampir-hampir nak bubuh atas muka!!

Next stop was eagle-feeding at Kilim mangrove area. Of course, we did not feed the eagles from our hands... instead the boatman threw chicken cuts on the water and this attracted the eagles. Being able to view the birds up-close, spreading their wings and descending ever so gracefully to pick up the food was a wonderful experience. It was not my first time, but I guess with the girls around this time, it made me marvel at this wonder with innocent eyes.

After eagle-feeding, we hopped to Tasik Dayang Bunting. I assume everyone knows the legend of the pregnant maiden right?? By this time, the sun was exactly on our heads!! Panasss!! The girls wanted to go on the boat ride at the lake, and since we had 45 minutes to kill, that's what we did. We took the water-cycle boat just the three of us... I kept thinking wow!! Masya-Allah... a lake within an island... isn't that something??

After Dayang Bunting, our boat made a pit-stop somewhere for fishing (not deep-sea fishing of,course). At first I was like... what?? fishing?? not interested!! hehe... but soon, when one of us caught a fish, the excitement began. The first to catch a fish was my friend N, followed by another friend, L. Pastu Misha got a fish!! Yeay!! She was thrilled!! She got a little ikan selar, I think... L managed to catch another fish, a 10-inch Talapia!! By this time, Maira and I was like... errr... how come we're not catching any fish nii?? Maira declared, "we're not leaving until I catch a fish!". Too bad for her (and me), we did not catch any fish till it was time to leave. Misha and N both caught two more. The fish was to be barbecued for us to savour later!!

Our next stop was of course, lunch under a hut at a little island. Perut dah teramat laparrr by this time. It was barbecued shrimp, crabs, chicken satay, stir-fried vege, fried meehoon and the star menu -- our catch!!

On our way back to the hotel, N, being the foreign tourist among us (a colleague, she has been in M'sia for two years but will soon resign from work. She will however come back to complete her PhD in UKM next year) insisted that we stop at Dataran Helang to snap a pic with the giant Eagle. Dah tak larat nak get out of the van dah by this time, but sebab nak menyampaikan hajat kawan, we stopped jugak and snapped pictures... It was scorching HOT by this time...

We went back to the hotel with the adults all flat and the children all psyched up to go to the pool!! So, after prayer break and a 10-minute terbongkang on the bed, we went swimming in the pool la pulakkk... hee hee... Mommy really needs to catch up with the kids' stamina nih!!

We chilled at the hotel pool for a while and later went out again. Wanted to visit the art galleries but all were closed by 6pm (why laa??). We took a drive around Pantai Cenang...quite happening this place since the last time I was there. Pusing-pusing, we decided to have dinner at the highly-recommended Hj Ramli Seafood.

And that was the end of Day Two.

Tales of Langkawi

Am back from Langkawi!! And I need a holiday to recover from the trip!! Hehe...

The five of us left for Langkawi on Sunday morning and reached the hotel before noon. Since check-in time was 3pm, we decided to rent a car and wasted no time in exploring the island. We got a Kancil to use until 10.30pm. As we were already feeling hungry at that time, our immediate mission was to stop for lunch on the way to Gunung Mat Chincang for the cable car ride.

And so lunch was at the Oriental Village. There were quite a number of restaurants offering Western, Greek and Mexican food among others, but we chose to satisfy our growling stomachs at a Nasi Kandar restaurant!! Kenyang!!

We had also considered having our lunch at The Loaf, but due to the limited space (the place was crammed - with only like 5 tables for patrons), the Nasi Kandar restaurant was our best bet!!

Alhamdulillah, the weather was kind to us throughout the trip. We were afraid it might rain since it was raining almost daily here in KL before we left. Tu yang kejar pergi cable car ride tu, as the service can be disrupted for days kalau bad weather...

We had to wait in line for almost an hour for the cable car ride!! We were told that it rained two days in row before that, so that explained the flood of people!! But the long wait was well worth it. The view from up there was breathtaking!! The blue sea and the blue sky seemed to merge into one... masya-Allah!!

After the cable car ride, off we went to Kuah town. Bought chocolates je... didn't shop for any of those pinggan-mangkuk/crystal though mata ni meliar-liar jugak (ok la, I DID buy a few things, macam tak real pulak la kalau tak beli apa-apa kan??) hehe... It was my friend who borong-ed barang-barang kat Hj Ismail Group tu... hehe

Dinner was at a seafood restaurant and by the time we were done, it was almost 10pm. Dropped off the car at the car rental and got driven back to the hotel. ZZzzzzzz... tidoq lena!!

to be continued...

Salam Aidilfitri 1429!!

Syawal menjelang...

In a couple of hours, akan bergemalah takbir Syawal... this will be my last entry for Ramadhan 1429, but hopefully jika ada rezeki, dapat menyambut Ramadhan 1430 next year... insya-Allah...

We finally baked the raya cookies yesterday (choc chip cookies) and kuih samperit this morning...

Rajiiinnnn Maira & Misha tolong mommy...

Kuih samperit pulak we baked this morning. After the girls got up, the four of us (plus bibik) got in the car and went to Petaling Street to get some fresh flowers. Then we went home to our house to do some last minute mengemas and of course, the kuih samperit!!

Kuih samperit ni was my late hubby's fav kuih raya. Maira pun suka jugak... I mixed the dough and the girls did 90% of the rest. They like tolong-menolong kat dapur ni... I pun happily left it to them to 'tekan' the acuan. Deruang sukaaaa... dapat main, 'macam playdough' Misha said... of course, I made sure they washed their hands clean before that ;-)

Sambil buat kuih sempat bergaduh... Maira said, "Maira sama ngan daddy, kitorang sama-sama suka kuih ni,"... and Misha tak nak kalah... "Misha pun sukaaaa laaa... Misha pun sama ngan daddy!!" That's my girls... they love talking about their dad. They must miss him a lot, just like me. During Ramadhan last year when my MIL was still around and we were talking on the phone, she said, "tahun ni T** tak payah buat kuih samperit kot... nanti dok teringat kat Wee." Tapi I buat jugak... I WANT to remember... more importantly, I want the girls to remember laa...

The flowers I got this morning was made into three different arrangements for the house... the balance to be taken to the grave...

Misha posing with one of the flower arrangements in the house...

I'd like to take this opportunity to wish all readers of this blog, Eid Mubarak 1429 and Maaf Zahir & Batin jika ada terkasar bahasa or menyinggung perasaan. Semoga kita dapat mengeratkan lagi silaturrahim di bulan Syawal dan semoga segala amalan kita di bulan Ramadhan tahun ini diterima Allah. Insya-Allah, let's pray we'll see yet another Ramadhan and Syawal next year!! Assalamualaikum warahmatullahi wabarakatuh...

Getting ready for raya

Two more days to raya and preparations are under way to greet the festivity. Have been at mom's since Saturday (FYI my mom's place is just 10 minutes away from mine) and helping out where I could. Some parts of the old house is being repainted (still in progress and it's less than 48 hours till Eid!!)

The girls are having fun offering to help this and that. Nak tolong ini, nak tolong itu...

Misha & Maira 'helping' to fill up the 'lil 'pond' @ Wak Mi's...

My BIL came over yesterday to pick up some things and brought along his cucus, Aiman and Lisa. The kids begged to stay the night and hang out with their aunties (hehe). They are a boisterous lot!! The kids had fun playing some bunga api...

I spent two very productive hours yesterday morning at Jalan TAR searching for tudungs. I say productive because I manage to get all the colours I wanted (well, almost). Buying tudung to match the shade of your outfits sound trivial, but percayalah, it can be such a chore and so meletihkan... so happy I completed the 'chore' yesterday!!

It will be a busy time @ mom's today -- nak kopek bawang etc to make rendang (thank God for bibik!), wash all the cookie canisters, more of mengemas rumah and all the raya preparation thingy... I have been trying to occupy my time with all sorts of activities sebab dalam hati ni... asyik terkenang si dia... every minute.

I am putting focus on making the girls happy throughout this holiday... it should be a happy time for them and I will try not to nag (ooopppss...suddenly I remembered they didn't do their Kumon worksheets yesterday!! nak kena nag ni!! hehe). Maira!!! Misha!!!

Raya on my mind (already??)

Dah siap shopping raya semua? Ya, though I confessed to having completed shopping raya for my girls in Jakarta & Bandung last month, I couldn't resist getting them more stuff when we jalan-jalan at the mall last week. It was actually to get my maid some baju raya, but ended up getting the girls three new items each as well. Tu lah akibatnya shopping masa puasa... nafsu makan disekat, so nafsu shopping yang dilayan... ish ish...

I also got them a pair of ready-made baju kurung each on Sunday. I thought the baju looked sooo adorable... cannot tahan la... this is on top of 2 baju kurung which my mom tempah for them the other day. Now, have to think of a way to explain to mom pagi raya when the girls tak pakai baju yang dia buatkan... how ah? Dahlah she always tell people that she has given up buying things for me because I always dislike what she gets. Mesti dia kecik hati, kan? So my plan is for them to wear the more 'glamorous' baju kurung (glamorous sebab ada jahit labuci, tu je...) which I bought in the morning and then change into the 'sweet and humble' baju kurung which mom made in the evening. Ok kot...

My fav raya cookie Melting Almond dah sampai. My choc chip cookie and kuih samperit belum buat lagi. Plenty of time left to do some baking. The office will be closed for a week (three days of forced leave for everyone) during raya. A total of 9 days off work. Yeay!!

(Gambar untuk sekadar menghiasi post... these cookies are not mine...)

I have always always loved raya. Family gatherings, fabulous food, baju raya, melawat saudara-mara, rumah yang berseri-seri dengan cahaya Syawal etc. It truly is the best time of the year.

However, raya is different for us now. No more baju sedondon for the 4 of us. Just three. Of course, the difference is much much more than that. Ye la... what is raya without the one you love?? No more salam pagi raya from suami yang dikasihi and the list goes on (dah start sedih dah, so I better stop here - if I can help it, I takmo bersedih2 sgt).

Ok lah... sebelum dapat beraya, let's continue to menghayati Ramadhan yang tinggal 18 hari saja lagi. Insya-Allah the last ten nights of the current month of Ramadhan will start on Saturday night, 20 September, and the 27th night will then fall on Friday night, 26 September (thanks, Prof R*dza for the info). Hence, we can start to prepare/plan the necessary to grab the blessings and forgiveness from Allah SWT during this important period.

Selamat beribadah, y'all!!

Kuih Jongkong sebungkus!!

If there's one delicacy that our family cannot miss during Ramadhan, its kuih jongkong from Hulu Langat. And not just any kuih jongkong sold by the Tom, Dick and Harries of Hulu Langat. It must be from one particular makcik who sells her oh-so-wonderful jongkong in front of the mesjid. Hers tak boleh ditandingi!

You can only get this kuih during Ramadhan. So, come rain or shine, mendapatkan kuih jongkong akan diusahakan! I have not paid the dear makcik a visit since last Ramadhan though, but thanks to my mom's driver and my bro, our supply of kuih jongkong tak pernah putus!

My late hubby can have 3 bungkus in one go!! And I can have 2 myself!! Sedapppp, I tell you!!

For those who have never tried it, it's like a huge fat cendol in masin-masin manis gula melaka & santan syrup. The green 'cendol' part is not quite cendol, more like the soft green part of tepung pelita. Can imagine, or not??

Sedaaapp, sedaaappp... (the jongkong in this pic is a-day-old, making the santan a bit berketul2, but no change in taste. Nope, nope...)

Don't forget to serve it chilled!

The santan & gula melaka syrup is s-i-n-f-u-l!!

... mmmm... nak lagi!!!

A weekend for the homebody...

Aaaahhh... at last the weekend is finally here. Yeay!! Looking forward to spending quality time at home. Feeling a bit domesticated, heheh.

Ramadhan is less than 48 hours away, alhamdulillah. Many thanks to Him that we're able to experience yet another blessed month, insya'allah.

This weekend will be spent at home... getting self into the momentum of the holy month, insya'allah. Planning the menu for Ramadhan, shopping for foodstuff etc. Alhamdulillah, I've completed Raya shopping for the girls, so that's out of the way. Baju raya for me... no idea yet. Think will wear the green baju kurung I made for my nephew's wedding recently. Baru sekali pakai... ok lah tu. My mom pun bought the girls Japanese cotton material in green floral prints -- she had sent them to the tailor and dah siap dah pun... so that's baju raya for the first day. Settled.

Kuih raya... (hmmm... puasa belum start dah pikir pasal raya!! hehe). I will make kuih samperit, Maira & Daddy's favourite and of course, choc chip cookies. Four weekends left to slot that in!! The rest beli je kalau ada yang berkenan (my one and only fav is Intan Cookies' Melting Almonds)... we're not kuih raya fans anyways, plus my mom will have like 20 types of kuih raya at her house thanks to my brothers, cousins, friends and her anak2 angkat etc -- kalau sedap, I angkut la bawak balik rumah heheh...

Ok... gotta send the girls to Kumon now!!

P/S: Wishing all of you a blessed Ramadhan Al-Mubarak!! Mintak ampun and maaf ye, if anything I've expressed here in my blog had offended anyone...

Our 'lil break

Here are pictures from our recent visit to Jakarta & Bandung. We -- my girls and I, my mom, a cousin and Indonesian grand-aunt left Tuesday afternoon onboard the KLM flight.

In Jakarta, we stayed with family, Om Oyong and wife Tante Ret. The two children in the pic below are their grandchildren, Faisal and Sasa.

We travelled to Bogor the next day and visited Taman Safari Indonesia. The girls had a lot of fun with the animals as you can see from the pics below.

From Bogor, we drove on to Bandung and stayed 2 nights there. Om Oyong and Tante Ret have a home right smack in Bandung city (very very near the factory outlets!!). The house is currently being occupied by their youngest son whose studying to be an orthopedic surgeon at Institut Teknologi Bandung.

The next day, our gracious hosts took us to the famous tourist attraction, Tangkuban Perahu, 30 km north of Bandung. This stratovolcano last erupted in 1983!!

On the way down back to Bandung, we had lunch at scenic Lembang. Sundanese food doesn't quite agree with me... I much prefer nasi Padang!! (orang Minang lah katakan!!)

Sampai Bandung, apa lagi... shopping la!! Rumah Mode, Heritage, we were there!!

For dinner, we drove uphill to The Valley, a very nice cosy restaurant overlooking Bandung city. Food was good, so was the company. Bliss.

Friday, we travelled back to Jakarta to continue shopping at... Tanah Abang!!

There were soooooo many people there!! It was quite a feat to actually make your way from one shop to the other. Ohhh... my girls hated Tanah Abang!!

From Tanah Abang we continued our shopping at Mangga Dua. The girls liked this place much better. I completed Raya shopping for them here (still can't get over how cheap those Guess jeans and t-shirts were -- ori tau...)

Then came Sunday when it was time for us to go back... but not before doing some last minute shopping first!! You'd think we had enough time getting all the things we had on our list... tak pun... ada barang yang dipesan kenkawan tak dapat di beli... not enough time... sorry laaa...

Though it was a short trip, a lot was accomplished (no, I'm not referring to the shopping part). We met with many wonderful family members, strengthening silaturahmi, had lots of yummy food and most importantly I got to spend quality time with the kids.

The smiles on their faces were of course, priceless... (sorry, this phrase is NOT ori)