Renew passport di UTC Kuala Lumpur (Pudu)

Semalam dah pergi Pejabat Imigresen Kajang nak renew passport. Tapi dah sampai sana dalam 9am, baru teringat yang aku lupa nak bawak gambar Zara. Tengok orang dah panjang beratur so kitorang pun balik jela. Tak check pulak nombor still ada atau dah habis. Pagi ni sekali lagi ke sana, sampai dalam 8.20am tengok orang dah panjang beratur. Kat hujung barisan ada guard tunggu, dia bagitau nombor untuk hari ni dah habis. Dia suggest pergi ke UTC Pudu (open until 10pm) or datang esok sebab weekdays takdela ramai sangat. But Rabu dah nak fly ke Medan, Isnin & Selasa aku training full day so tak boleh nak keluar office. Nak taknak terpaksa la ke UTC Pudu jugak.

Sampai Pudu dalam 9am. Masa tengah naik parking nampak macam ada ramai orang beratur, barisan panjang giler. Kitorang agak tu la kot line ambik no untuk urusan passport so aku pun angkat Zara yang tengah tidur, terus turun kereta pergi beratur, sementara HB pergi cari parking. Ada la 2-3 kali turun naik aku tengok HB lalu, punya la susah nak cari parking.

Beratur 9am, dapat nombor at almost 11am. 2jam berdiri beratur nak ambik nombor. Tu pun Alhamdulillah nasib baik la sempat dapat nombor. Dia limitkan 400 sehari, teka kitorang nombor berapa?

Sebenarnya awal-awal lagi guard dah kira orang and cut off line. Sepanjang 2 jam beratur belakang kitorang ada la dalam 30 orang. Sekali dah sampai counter, 6 je orang belakang kitorang yang dapat nombor, yang lain kena datang hari lain because nombor habis. Kesian sangat tengok. Jadi macam tu sebab masa guard tengah kira, ada yang tak ada kat line. For example ada satu family 5 orang yang nak buat passport tapi yang beratur kat line cuma sorang, yang lain duduk tepi then bila dah nak sampai depan baru masuk line balik. Tu yang guard terkira lebih orang kat belakang.

Lepas dapat nombor, pegawai kat counter cakap nanti datang balik lepas 4 jam. What? Ok so kitorang pun balik rumah dulu sebab Zara pun tidur tak mandi lagi kan. Kira-kira after 4 jam tu dalam 3pm la. Tapi aku macam dapat agak, mesti by 3pm pun lambat lagi nak sampai giliran kitorang. Sebab if office bukak sampai 10pm, kenapa dia nak limitkan nombor sampai 400 je? So obviously nombor 393 & 394 dah nearly at the end of office hour. Kitorang sampai balik Pudu dalam 4pm. Masa tu baru 223. So dalam 160 nombor lagi. Kitorang pun turun la jalan-jalan kat terminal dulu. Office tu pulak rehat 7pm-8pm.

Lepas solat Magrib semua baru pegi balik office, finally sampai la giliran kitorang dalam 8.45pm. Aku tanya untuk budak umur 2 tahun boleh tak guna gambar yang tangkap kat kedai, dia kata tak boleh kena ambik gambar kat situ jugak. Tak sure whether this rule applies tu Imigresen UTC Pudu ni je ke or sama semua tempat. Alhamdulillah mudah la jugak nak bagi Zara duduk diam. Nasib baik ada patung burung kt counter so kitorang ambik burung tu letak sebelah camera nak bagi dia pandang. Tapi masa nak ambik cap jari Zara macam panic sikit and menangis tak nak bagi tangan. Dia pun dah penat seharian kat sana, memang la nak meragam je.

Gambar passport Zara yang dah tangkap siap-siap kat kedai, tapi tak boleh guna.

Patut kena tunggu 1 jam untuk collect passport, tapi sebab dah last-last tak ramai orang dah so laju sikit la. Dalam 20 minit kitorang dah boleh collect passport then dalam 9.30pm bertolak balik. Literally 12 hours nak buat passport!

So lesson learnt today:
1. Avoid buat passport last minit
2. Avoid datang weekend
3. Avoid renew passport during school holidays.

Unless if you don't have infants or toddler and boleh datang beratur at 6am then maybe you can go for it.

Medan Year End Vacation, 2014.

Insyaallah this December I'm going on a short family vacation to Medan. 3 days 3 nights. Kenapa 3 days? Sebab flight dari KL pun dah malam so ETA at Medan around 8pm++ local time. I heard the journey from Kualanamu Aiport to the city where most hotels are pun dah around 1 hour kan? So maybe if we're lucky we can arrive at the hotel before 11pm.

So the plan is
Day 1: Terus ke Danau Toba and spend one night there
Day 2: Singgah Berastagi on the way balik Medan
Day 3: Flight balik KL is at 5pm so probably after checkout jalan-jalan kat Medan dulu

Rasa macam agak rushing jugak tapi masa beli tiket flight to I had no idea the journey from Medan to Danau Toba tu agak lama. Oh well lets just make the best of the time that we have.

Any recommendations of Muslim supir or tips around Medan? Hotel apa yang best dan selesa untuk Muslim family with elderly and toddler, dan senang dapatkan makanan halal. What is the best way to go from the airport to the hotel? Ambik taxi from airport or arrange airport transfer with the hotel? What is the rate for airport transfer and hotel apa pulak yang provide airport transfer? Gosh so many things I still need to find out. Any quotation or anything, please contact me at sue_xoxo@yahoo.com. Thanks!

On another note, Selamat Hari Raya Aidiladha to all Muslims!

How we spent our raya.

Beli Cath Kidston direct dari UK (www.cathkidston.com)

Cath Kidston UK ada buat sales. Congak-congak kalau beli dari UK campur international postage ke Malaysia, harga boleh dapat still lagi murah dari outlet kat Malaysia ni. Jadi aku pun beli la share postage dengan Kakak & Mak, lagi la jimat. I placed the order on June 28th and expect for the parcel to arrive in 2 weeks time sebab dia tulis international delivery will arrive within 10 working days. Hari tu aku pernah order barang MUA dari UK pun barang sampai dalam 2 minggu.

On July 2nd dapat email dari Cath Kidston informing that my items was dispatched.

Then on July 4th , aku dapat call from an unknown number. Thank goodness I picked up because usually I don't take calls from anonymous number. Rupanya yang call tu DHL nak bagitau that I have a package from UK, but DHL tak cover delivery to my address. And then ada some custom charges that I need to pay. So the option was I could go and pickup the package myself at their customer service center in Shah Alam, or I can make the payment to their account, then once I give the proof of payment they will send the item to me via poslaju FOC. At first I wanted them to the send my package via poslaju, I paid for postage kot kenapa nak kena pickup barang sendiri pulak. But come to think of it rasa tak sabar pulak nak dapat barang. Lagipun tomorrow is a Saturday and I've no plan.

I asked HB if I can go to Shah Alam early in the morning because usually Zara will sleep until noon. Tapi HB offered to go and pickup the parcel for me. Thank goodness because I'm not really familiar with Shah Alam area.

The total price of my purchase was £223 and the custom tax that I had to pay was RM184.43. Tak tau la macam mana dia kira. I think its 10% of the items value + shipping fee, plus duty handling charge. I think duty handling charge tu is for DHL kot.

Mek kecik ni pulak yang tak sabar lebih nak bukak kotak

Tadaa!

Mak beli dua beg, Kakak empat beg, aku beli empat beg tiga wallet. Whoops. Tapi cepat giler barang sampai, so I'm happy with that. :)

My Raya Dilemma

Raya tahun ni buat aku rasa serba salah. Tahun ni giliran raya kat kampung HB. Tapi Mak, Abah & Syafiq nak pergi umrah seminggu sebelum raya and balik seminggu lepas raya meaning diorang akan beraya kat sana. Redza pulak kena raya atas kapal, so Bebi at 8 months pregnant kena raya sorang-sorang. Kakak is still unsure whether she'd be working on raya or she'll finished her housemanship by raya. But even if dia cuti, its just her family and Bebi la. Tak sampai hati pulak rasanya nak tinggal diorang.

Thank goodness I thought of an idea. I know HB nak sangat aku balik kampung merasa berbuka puasa kat sana. Dia nak Zara balik jumpa Umi & Abah. So according to plan kitorang akan bergerak balik kampung 2 days before raya. Ticket flight dah last minit baru nak cari memang mahal giler la. Gigih aku duk survey ticket flight. I found that kalau nak balik naik flight bulan puasa ni, the ticket price boleh tahan la. Tak mahal pun. Dalam RM400 for the three of us (tak termasuk baggage). And if aku balik dengan Zara naik flight hari raya pertama, ada flight yang affordable la, RM400 for us both.

So the decision was, a week before raya kitorang balik kampung nak berbuka kat sana. Then HB akan drive balik kampung dulu maybe one or two days before raya, and aku & Zara akan naik flight lepas solat raya. So win win situtation la, kitorang dapat balik berbuka kat kampung, aku dapat sambut raya with Bebi & Kakak, and also my family in Kelantan. :)

Langkawi Day 2: Langkawi Cable Car, Oriental Village.

Since hari ni kitorang duduk hotel kat Pantai Cenang, aku punya plan nak spend the whole day kat area ni je, maybe mandi pantai ke. Petang Jumaat lepas pindah hotel kat Kuah baru naik cable car. Tapi Abah kata petang tak sesuai nak naik cable car takut berangin, and if its too windy cable car akan stop beroperasi. I'd prefer to avoid the weekend sebab baca biasa orang beratur panjang nak naik cable car. Like I read in blogs ada yang menunggu up to 30-45 minutes. Even though cuti sekolah baru habis minggu lepas, but just to be on the safe side. So bottom line is hari ni jela kitorang naik cable car.

Zara malam tadi nak dekat 5am baru tidur kot! Geram betul, dia excited tempat baru maybe. Bilik pun luas, so seronokla dia jalan sana sini usik semua benda. So as usual bila tidur lambat tengah hari la baru bangun. Mula-mula Mak tak nak ikut jadi lepas solat Zuhur terus bersiap nak jalan. Bila kitorang dah siap baru la Mak tiba-tiba nak ikut so sementara menunggu Mak bersiap kitorang keluar dulu jenguk-jenguk kedai duty free nearby.

Singgah McD sebelah The Zon nak bagi Zara makan. I really want to find out betul ke orang kata kalau makan kedai kat Langkawi ni tak ada tax. Well I got my answer, its true! So the stated price is the nett price. Lepas bagi Zara makan masuk The Zon survey chocs jap. Since ada lagi 4 hari kat sini, boleh la kot nak survey survey harga dulu then dah tau mana yang paling murah baru beli. Aku siap pesan kat HB, tengok je dulu nanti baru beli. :p

Balik semula hotel ambik Mak Abah, dah nak dekat pukul 3pm. Oriental Village ni kalau dari Pantai Cenang dia agak jauh ke belah atas pulau. Takes about half an hour kot, kena patah balik ikut laluan airport. then lalu jalan pusing-pusing yang buat aku rasa pening and tak sabar nak sampai. We passed by a few hotels on the way, one of them was Kuala Muda Inn. Patut la selalu ada promo and bagi harga murah. I wouldn't stay there myself, sebab macam jauh dari semua benda and dia duduk sorang-sorang je kat area tu. Just my two cents.

Sampai Oriental Village aku cakap kat HB, "tempat ni macam dilanggar helang". Then he was like "helang? dilanggar garuda la". LOL. Tapi memang sunyi takde orang. Weekdays kot. The place reminds me a bit of Colmar Tropicale, Bukit Tinggi.

Ticket naik cable car untuk warganegara RM15 which is half of the normal price. But you need to show your ID to get that price. Abah dah jalan laju kedepan nak belikan ticket siap-siap, sekali Abah patah balik sebab nak kena kutip IC setiap orang. Ingatkan Zara free, tapi untuk children 2-12 years kena bayar RM10. Cis. Since tak ramai orang hari ni, tak payah nak beratur langsung, terus je dapat naik cable car. I read in someone's blog time ramai orang, they have to fill up each cable car to the max (6 person) so sumbat jela dengan orang tak kenal pun. Tapi time kitorang naik tu sebab tak ramai so dia tak kisah pun each party in their own cable car. Air tak boleh bawak naik ye, ada rak kat entrance kena tinggal kat situ. Unless air tu ada dalam beg dia takde la beria check. HB baru je lepas beli air, belum sempat minum and still pegang kat tangan, then staff suruh tinggal kat bawah. Kesian HB, turun nanti dah tak sejuk air. Hehe.

The experience naik cable car, seriously gayat giler! Aku pernah la naik cable car a few times dulu masa kecik kat UK, kat Switzerland and paling latest a few times kat Genting Highland. Tapi yang ni serious takut giler sebab aku rasa cable car dia macam kecik sangat, then bila anyone bergerak je rasa bergoyang-goyang. Masa nak dekat sampai puncak Gunung Macinchang tu pulak ada lurah yang dalam giler so bila tengok bawah memang jarak kita dalam cable car tu dengan tanah SANGAT jauh. 

At the first station.

Cable car tu stop kat dua station. Well, not exactly stop sebab cable car tu always bergerak kan but you need to get out at the first station, staff yang suruh. My guess is to be fair untuk orang yang tengah beratur dari first station nak naik ke second station. Tapi tengok ada je orang lain yang insist tak nak turun. Maybe sebab tengah tak ramai orang kot. Memang annoying jugak masa beratur nak naik ke station kedua, a few cable car sampai tapi orang tak nak keluar at the first station so kita kena tunggu lagi for the next cable car. Keluar je dari cable car kat first stop tu I literally had weak knees. Rasa macam nak terus turun tak nak naik ke station kedua (puncak) but unfortunately tempat naik cable car untuk turun bawah is on the other side so memang kena naik dulu baru boleh turun.

Zara makan aiskrim kat puncak Gunung Machinchang

Skybridge kat puncak tengah tutup for renovation. Too bad sebab rasanya aku takkan naik cable car ni lagi kot. Kat atas ada small food stall, tak banyak makanan pun. Ada burger, nasi lemak bungkus, kerepek-kerepek, ice creams and a few other foods that I don't recall. On the way naik tadi Zara tidur je, dah sampai puncak baru dia bangun so masa nak turun dia sedar. Kesian Zara, ketakutan dalam cable car tu. Tapi aku rasa perjalanan turun takdela setakut perjalanan naik tadi. And rasa laju je masa turun, taktau nape. Hehe.

Keluar dari Oriental Village kitorang singgah Pantai Pasir Hitam. Tapi sebab kepenatan aku tak tengok pun pantai dia, duduk makan kat kedai makan je. Then on the way balik ke hotel lalu jalan yang ada banyak kedai jual minyak gamat. Tapi dah nak magrib so semua kedai dah tutup.

Malam lepas Magrib keluar cari makan dengan Abah. Aku dengan HB macam nak makan western or anything else selain nasi. Tapi Mak nak ikan bakar. Kitorang keluar dengan kereta but ended up parking a few hundred meters je dari hotel and jalan kaki cari kedai makan. We ate at Restoran Haji Ramli tapi ikan bakar dia tak berapa sedap, rasa kering.

Pantai Cenang really reminds me of Aonang Beach, Krabi. Hotel-hotel and kedai jual souvenirs sepanjang jalan, the spas and lively restaurants, booth offering island hopping and water activity packages, seriously macam kat Krabi. Cuma kat Aonang Beach kedai dia satu belah je, seberang jalan tu boleh terus nampak pantai so sambil jalan kat kedai boleh nampak laut. Kat Cenang ni pulak pantai dia dah tersorok belakang bangunan, what a shame.

Langkawi Day 1: Adina Drive in Motel, Pantai Cenang.

Heading to Langkawi today didn't have me all excited because I was too tired from work. Pagi petang berdiri jaga exam got me exhausted. Habis jaga exam 4.45pm terus punch card dan balik rumah sambung packing last minute, solat Asar then terus bersiap and ambik Zara dulu before ambik HB kat office dia. Flight 9.20pm so we had plenty of time and tak perlu rushing sangat. Park kereta kat Putrajaya Sentral lepas tu naik KLIA Transit to KLIA2, tiket sama harga dengan ke KLIA, RM6.20/person even though KLIA2 stop is after KLIA.

Dalam KLIA Transit to KLIA2

Sampai KLIA2 makan dulu, solat jamak qasar then baru masuk gate. Flight delay sikit dalam 9.45pm baru berlepas. Took about an hour so landed around 10.45pm.

We can see the plane from the waiting area.

Alhamdulillah Abah dah menunggu sebab flight Mak Abah tengah hari tadi. So Abah dah sewa kereta siap-siap. Jarak airport ke hotel is about 20 minutes tapi kitorang singgah tapau makanan dulu. Abah dah tolong check in for our room masa diorang check in tengah hari tadi. So dapatla bilik sebelah-menyebelah.

Kitorang stay kat Adina Drive-in Motel, area Pantai Cenang. Rate RM122/night untuk Studio Room (through Agoda)which has one double bed and one single bed. So kalau nak duduk bertiga tu kira murahla. Bilik luas tapi kurang bersih. Ceiling bersawang, lantai berpasir. Rasa macam nak beli penyapu je sapu bilik tu sendiri. Celah-celah katil pun macam tak bersapu. Nasib baik katil and toilet ok. Untuk katil double tu diorang bagi selimut untuk single jugak. So aku ni nak share dengan anak 2 tahun pun macam tak cukup apatah lagi kalau orang dewasa nak share berdua. Zara if you know is a fidgety toddler, jenis semua benda dia nak usik so as a mother aku ni cukup cerewet pasal kebersihan bila travel.

 

Bangunan bilik kitorang yang sebelah kiri in this pic, naik tangga tingkat atas. Kereta siap boleh park depan bilik masing-masing as there were plenty of space. So kalau duduk sini malas serabut cari parking area area Pantai Cenang, boleh je tinggal kereta kat hotel and jalan kaki.

Ada sink kat luar bilik. Kettle, iron and ironing board also provided in each room. Cuma nak makan macam susah sebab takde kerusi. Yang ada cuma bangku kecik kat almari solek so aku makan kat situ jela.

Atas ni gambar bilik Mak actually, and gambar pun Mak yang ambik. I forgot to take pictures of my room. Tapi sama je pun bilik aku and Mak.

And this is the toilet, also in bilik Mak and pic from Mak. Ours was similar anyway. The downside was toilet flush bilik kitorang rosak, keeps on flushing non stop sampai mengganggu tidur aku malam first tu. Second night aku pergi tutup pipe water supply ke flush tu and pasang bila perlu je.

Kitorang book hotel ni 2 malam, then lagi 2 malam nak duduk Kuah pulak. The best thing about this hotel is the location. It is within walking distance to Cenang Mall, The Zon and other duty free shops. Kalau nak ke pantai kena seberang jalan and lalu between kedai-kedai | other hotels dalam 50-100m (I'm not good at estimating distance). Nak cari makan pun senang tapi kedai makan area Pantai Cenang ni mahal-mahal sebab kat kawasan tarikan pelancong kan. Kedai makanan Arab bukan main banyak. Hotel ada swimming pool, nampak dari balkoni bilik je tapi tak sempat nak guna so not sure about the cleanliness. Tapi macam kecik je sesuai untuk kanak-kanak.

I wouldn't say I won't come back to this hotel, but maybe next time I'm here I'd like to check out other hotels especially the ones across the roads right in front of the beach.

Happy Father's Day 2014

Happy Father's Day to my Abah. Thank you for providing me with everything I need. If you've seen this cartoon sketch yang orang duk sebar kat internet, the one yang ada budak pakai seluar bertampal-tampal holding his fathers hand, and the father punya seluar pulak berlubang-lubang, which brings the meaning he gave up what he had to provide for his child (malas nak cari balik gambar tu), that picture would best describe my Abah. Like even until now when all my siblings are grown up, working and married, he's still the first person to jump at our needs.

Happy Father's Day to my husband aka the father of my child. Thank you for helping with house chores and baby chores. For understanding and taking over when I'm tired. For that, I am blessed. But you still have a long way to go, Papa. :p

Last but not least, Happy Father's Day to all fathers in the world, and to those playing the role of a father. May Allah bless you all.

Zara & Papa enjoying ice cream Mama belanja. ♥

Hari ni keluar jalan-jalan ke Midvalley. Despite today being Father's Day, aku pulak yang dapat belated birthday gift. Hihi

Thank you HB ♥

Come to think of it, aku tak pernah beli wallet | purse untuk diri sendiri. All the ones I've been using had been gifts or passover from Mak. Phew banyak jugak la aku jimat selama ni ye. ;)

Weekend Getaway: Avilion Admiral Cove, Port Dickson

Sabtu lepas ada kenduri sepupu Mak kat PD, whom supposedly is my uncle yet he's only 23. Kitorang bertolak Jumaat malam sabtu. Singgah makan Wadihana kat Bangi Gateway dulu, then bertolak dari Bangi 10pm and arrived PD at 11pm. We stayed at Avilion Admiral Cove. Check in took a while sebab booking last minit so they still haven't received the confirmation from Agoda. With all the confusion, menunggu la for about 15 minutes kat lobby.

View from our room

Dapat bilik kat level 1. Mak, Zara and I stayed in one room (Straits Studio) while Abah, Imran and HB stayed in another (Superior). The difference between those two rooms was only the view, and the size of the room. Straits Studio view menghadap laut, but laut yang takde pantai la sebab kat luar tu marina. Superior pulak menghadap bangunan lain tapi boleh la nampak a glimpse of the swimming pool. But that would also depend on which room you are staying. Straits Studio was spacious jadi seronok la Zara lari sana sini. Superior is smaller but comfortable enough for 3. Both room ada daybed tapi dalam Superior takde cadar while Straits Studio ada cadar. Sarung daybed and cushion tu nampak macam kotor sikit sebab macam lama and banyak stain. Nasib baik Abah bawak sleeping bag so boleh la buat alas. They also provide iron and iron board in both rooms.

King bed in Straits Studio

Daybed with linen in Straits Studio

Breakfast was ok. Takde la banyak sangat choice tapi ok la. What I liked was the salad bar with 3 different types of dressing, cheddar cheese and beef pepperoni  (which were sliced a tad too thick). The fresh milk was nice, masa pekerja tu refill I notice they use Goodday milk. Kadang-kadang ada hotel yang guna fresh milk yang rasa macam pelik. Sort of susu murah ke apa I don't know. But taste different la if you know what I mean. Juice pulak on the first day ada pineapple and guava, the second day manggo and guava. Juice rasa pelik so I didn't have any. Thank goodness for the fresh milk. The breads were ok, they serve croissants with a couple of pastries each day. Ruang makan tu was rather small comparative to the hotel and obviously it would be full. The good thing was they kept on refilling the foods and I can see the chefs coming out to check on the foods, the manager was also there monitoring the staffs the whole time.

Hari first turun breakfast kitorang macam tercari-cari mana dining area. Sebab susunan hotel ni macam pelik sikit, kena pusing sana sini. Dari segi service for me semua ok, the staffs were ok. Hari nak checkout, Mak mintak extend our checkout time and dia bagi latest at 1pm. Lebih dari 1pm dia akan automatically charge RM100/hour. Hotel ni pun dekat je dari tol PD. I think dalam 10 minits macam tu la lebih kurang. In a nutshell, the hotel is clean and comfortable with spacious room so I would recommend it if you are looking for a hotel in PD.

Weekend Getaway: JPO + Grand Bluewave Hotel, JB

Finally, the weekend for our getaway to USS! Kononnya Zara's belated birthday + my advance birthday vacation. Masa beli package holiday kat MATTA Fair, ingatkan nak ber-honeymoon. Tiba-tiba macam dah jadi family day pulak with my parent, sister & brother in law, cousins and aunt join sekali. Not that I mind, memang lagi seronok pergi ramai-ramai pun. :D

Zara malam tadi, dah standby dengan beg dia.

Malam sebelum gerak, aku siap message kat group Whatsapp family, esok nak gerak by 9am sebab petang nak relax dalam hotel. Tapi malam tu Zara pulak tidur pukul 4am! Sudahnya lepas Subuh tidur balik, 8.30am baru bangun and 10am++ baru gerak dari Bangi. Singgah 'brunch' kat Restoran Jejantas Ayer Keroh, Bebi baru sedar dia tertinggal passport so kena patah balik. Nasib baik la Redza tu jenis relax je tak marah. Kalau aku la yang tertinggal, I don't even want to imagine. :p

Singgah JPO dulu before check in hotel. Last time aku pergi JPO (some time around August last year), macam tak best sangat pun. Barang tak banyak. Ni macam dah best la pulak. Clarks outlet dulu ada a few designs je. Sekarang dah banyak, even rak dalam kedai tu pun dah bertambah. Dah la kali ni masa memang limited sebab nak check in hotel so sempat masuk certain kedai yang memang target nak beli je.

Zara having late lunch at JPO.

Checked in kat hotel dah almost 7pm, pukul 8.30pm nak keluar makan balik. Tak sempat nak rehat sangat pun. Mandi, solat, and belek-belek barang yang beli kat JPO tadi. Kitorang duduk kat Grand Bluewave Hotel, JB. Satu malam RM230 untuk Studio Room book kat MATTA Fair. Semalam aku tolong book the same room for Bebi & Redza through Agoda RM203 per night and they got upgraded to Executive Studio. Pftt! No more MATTA Fair for me.

I like the room. Spacious with carpeted floor, jadi anak aku nak main lari sana sini takde la risau sangat. The carpet pun seems clean enough. Kalau ada extra guest nak tidur atas lantai pun selesa lagi, banyak space. View menghadap laut | Singapore but biasa-biasa je. Serabut and sesak pun ada, tengok luar ada construction (at the moment) and laut yang seciput between Malaysia and Singapore. Tapi view dari suite Mak Abah menghadap tambak Johor and the better side of the city so cantik la sikit.

I'm also happy with the bathroom even though takde bathtub, shower dia best and luas with pretty tiles. I would say I like the Studio Room punya bathroom compared to the Suite Mak Abah was staying. Jubin kat Studio Room lagi cantik (color dark grey jenis kesat) while kat Suite (color maroon jenis licin). I feel that the Suite's bathroom is too big, making me feel rather uncomfortable. The shower and bathtub were together and I don't fancy having my shower in a bathtub. But rasanya unlike me, ramai yang kisah sangat kot hal shower/bathtub ni?

For my Studio Room, masa masuk bilik we realize ada dia bagi satu je towel so HB call mintak hantar satu lagi and they sent it straight away. The downside was probably the TV which was quite small. Channel pulak tak banyak and channel yang ada pun semua siaran tak berapa jelas. All in all, I'd stay again at this hotel.

Lighting in the room was rather dim.

Imran nak bawak kitorang pergi makan dalam 9pm so kitorang ke rumah nenek dulu, tunggu dia kat sana. Tunggu punya tunggu, pukul 10pm baru dia sampai. Kitorang bawak nenek keluar makan kat Restoran Singgah Selalu. Kat situ, nak bercakap dengan orang kena shout at the top of your voice sebab ada live band and speaker dia kuat giler. Seronok but kesian kat Zara tengah tidur. Environment dia buat rasa macam orang muda pulak lepas sini malam-malam. Kahkah.

Sampai hotel nak masuk bilik ada problem dengan card so HB kena turun ke reception and activatekan balik card tu. It was already after midnight and HB terus tertidur, penat sangat. Aku pulak melayan si kecik tu main pukul 2am baru tidur. Phew.

Beli pakej USS kat MATTA Fair.

Untuk birthday Zara tahun ni kitorang plan nak celebrate special sikit. Mula-mula nak buat birthday party but then many questions came up and we couldn't come to a decision. Nak buat kat mana, rumah kitorang, rumah Atuk & Opah Zara or kat luar? How far should we extend the invitation, just family, or ajak kawan-kawan rapat, jiran, kawan office? Menu apa, nak masak (as if), ambik catering, upah orang masak, take outs?

So in the end kitorang decide nak go and celebrate somewhere just the three of us. Gabungkan sekali celebration birthday Zara & Mama, HB nak belanja pergi USS. YEAY!

Last weekend kitorang pergi MATTA Fair. Banyak jugak package USS. Ada yang RM168 + free SGD10 meal voucher + SGD5 retail voucher. Pakej Hotel Sentral JB RM280/person untuk 1 night stay, return transfer to USS and entrance tickets.

HB beli pakej USS dengan Grand BlueWave Hotel berharga RM600 nett for 1 night stay at the hotel, 2 entrance ticket and hotel-USS return transfer. Breakfast tak termasuk dalam pakej so for breakfast tambah RM15/person. Bas bertolak 8am so takut tak sempat pun nak breakfast. Tapi HB kata because dia tau aku suka makan kat hotel so tambah jela. Hihihi

Murah ke tak pakej ni? I would say actually sama je pun if you beli bukan kat MATTA Fair. Because entrance ticket paling murah aku pernah jumpa RM165/person. Harga biasa rasanya RM185/person. Return transfer to USS usually RM30/person. Grand Bluewave Hotel aku check kat booking.com boleh dapat dalam RM205/night including breakfast! Tapi tu check in Friday la. Kalau check in Saturday at least RM250/night. The advantage of this package is takde surcharge on weekends and public holidays. So kira-kira balik if beli hotel, ticket & bus asing-asing harga dia sama je kan if not higher. Tapi kalau nak lagi jimat boleh je duduk budget hotel tak pun duduk Tune Hotel pun ok. Bus ke USS pun ada dari Tune Hotel tu.

So bottom line is kalau nak cari pakej jimat untuk ke USS during MATTA Fair ni, baik tak payah la. Tapi kalau malas nak fikir, nak mudah and terus book 'all in' package banyak la kat situ. But mind you, there're not exactly at the lowest price. Aku ni ada jugak terfikir rugi je beli pakej tu, kalau ambik hotel budget boleh jimat cost. Nak sedapkan hati --> takpe la kan, cos its a special ocassion. Huhu.

Ok now aku kena survey pulak tips what to do or not to do kat USS. Come to think of it, banyak ke rides untuk budak 2 years old macam Zara ek? Then if aku nak naik rides yang Zara takleh naik macam mana? T_T

Product Review: TBS Born Lippy Lip Balm

My favorite lip product at the moment. Smells delicious!! The watermelon flavor was beyond expectation. Smells yummy and it doesn't give much of a color on your lips. The strawberry flavor smells very sweet so it might not be for everyone. It gives your lips a slightly red tint. I also have the raspberry flavor which I have yet to try. Can't decide which would be my favorite flavor as they change along with my mood. ;)

Got this from The Body Shop UK for £2 a pot (normal price). Here in Malaysia its RM19 a pot. Don't know if I'd buy it for that price though. Then again, maybe I would. But just one pot at a time and use it until it is finish. :p

I won the Big Bad Wolf preview pass!

I am over the moon! I won the preview pass to the Big Bad Wolf 2014 sale! Meaning, a day before the actual event starts, a limited no of people get early excess to the sale. So the chances untuk dapat buku-buku yang best | bestseller tu tinggi la sikit.

How I won the preview pass? The BBW FB page ada buat sharing contest. Kena share one of the BBW promo photo then 10 lucky people will win a preview pass to the Big Bad Wolf 2014 main event, biasanya hujung tahun.

Hujung bulan ni ada BBW sale lagi, tapi its a bit different this time. Kena beli box dulu (ada dua size) then you fill the books that you want in the box, make sure box tu boleh tutup rapat then you get all the books inside for free. Tak boleh nak imagine lagi untung ke tak sebab box tu harga RM79.70 and RM99.90. What if tak banyak buku yang kita suka? Like it or not kena jugak spend that amount of money for the box. Therefore aku plan untuk tak pergi event ni, because I want to save up for the main sale nanti (as if).

The only thing that I'm not happy with is nanti aku kena claim preview pass tu kat BookXcess punya office kat Amcorp Mall. Kat mana tu! Yang aku tau its not anywhere near Bangi. Malasnya. Kenapa dia tak boleh email je kat kita terus.. Huhuhu.

Anyways, boleh la pergi dengan Kakak nanti. Kakak pun menang preview pass jugak tapi in another contest. Actually she was my inspiration. Hehe. I am counting days! :D

Balik Kelantan.

Dah lama tak balik Kelantan. Supposedly nak balik masa cuti CNY last month, but we had to cancel sebab Zara masuk hospital because of Pneumonia. So bulan ni kena balik jugak la. Mak Abah decided nak ikut sekali, saja-saja nak berjalan ke pantai timur.

Zara sibuk nak bawak kereta dia balik kampung.

Zara dengan kereta dia.

Sem ni my schedule from Monday till Thursday is literally full so aku boleh cuti Jumaat je. Hari Khamis, kelas habis pukul 8pm so kitorang gerak malam, plus hoping that kalau gerak malam Zara tidur so takde la meragam dalam kereta. Well guess what, dia tak tidur. -_-

Omg geram + stress betul rasa masa tu. Kitorang gerak dari rumah Mak Abah dalam 10pm. Abah je ikut naik kereta, Mak esok baru naik flight ke KB. Zara tidur dari 11pm-12am and then she was wide awake! Panjat sana panjat sini, tengok Upin Ipin. Aku dah la tak rehat since 6am++ pagi tu. Kelas 7.45am-1pm, sambung lagi 2pm-8pm. Balik rumah terus packing barang, bersiap, then gerak. Dengan sakit badan lagi sebab jalan agak teruk and kereta bergoyang-goyang. Pukul 5am baru Zara tidur, and pukul 6am kitorang selamat sampai kampung.

Lepas solat Subuh tidur sampai 10am. Then kena pergi ambik Mak kat airport and hantar Mak Abah check in kat Renaissance KB. Kat airport Abah & HB suruh beli terus ticket flight untuk aku and Zara balik KL. Tak sanggup rasanya nak travel jauh 8 jam dalam kereta dengan Zara.

Kat hotel baru mandikan Zara sebab dia baru bangun. Abah & HB pergi solat Jumaat kat Masjid which was within walking distance from the hotel. Balik dari hotel, ingat nak singgah makan mee celup tapi tutup pulak kedai.

Petang kitorang keluar pergi pasar malam kat Pantai Irama. Aku teringin nak makan kuih-kuih | makanan Kelantan. Tapi gerai jual makanan bape deret je yang banyak kedai jual baju/barang-barang. Then malam pergi Wakaf Che Yeh.

Makan sausage + keropok lekor tepi Pantai Irama.

Coming soon, cuti-cuti Medan.

YEAY! Ada additional vacation tahun ni. We are going to Medan! Semalam start sale Airasia free seat. Aku ni setiap kali Airasia or MAS ada buat sale, mesti banyak perabis masa survey ticket. Belinya pulak belum tentu. At first aku almost beli ticket ke Chiang Mai sebab Mak Abah dulu pernah pergi situ, diorang kata best and sejuk. Lepas aku survey, kawasan tanah tinggi tu actually dalam 4 jam perjalanan dari bandar Chiang Mai. And apart from that aku taktau sangat apa lagi attraction kat Chiang Mai, so I guess I have to do more research before nak 'tiba-tiba' beli ticket. Especially bila nak travel bawak budak kecik.

I decided to focus on somewhere yang aku memang teringin nak pergi. Which would be Krabi (again), Medan atau Siem Reap. HB teringin nak pergi Yogyakarta tapi aku takut tak sesuai untuk Zara sebab dari cerita Bebi masa dia pergi dulu, aku imagine tempat tu panas and jauh nak travel dari from one candi to another. Forgive me if I'm wrong, its just my assumption tapi bila instinct ibu rasa tak sesuai untuk anak dia, ikutkan jela ye tak. Hehe. Not now, but one day insyaallah. Aku pun memang teringin nak tengok Borobudur semua tu.

Ok since my family dah pernah pergi Medan so aku boleh tanya tips, and ada sedara belah Mak kat sana so in case of emergency ada contact, aku pun beli la ticket ke Medan untuk travel December ni. So Medan, here we come!

Danau Toba. Photo: Wikipedia

Ok next target kita ticket hunting untuk ke Krabi pulak. Rasa teringin nak pergi Krabi lagi sebab tak puas jalan kat sana masa honeymoon dulu. Kitorang beli package 4 days/3 nights with 2 days island hopping trip. So tolak 2 hari for island hopping, tinggal hari kitorang sampai and hari nak balik untuk jalan-jalan free and easy. The second island hopping trip tu kitorang tu naik speed boat ke Phi Phi Island which took about 1 hour for one way, kitorang pulak duduk depan bahagian muncung speedboat and rupa-rupanya situ la bahagian yang paling melambung teruk. Dengan berjemur bawah matahari terik lagi, malam tu aku terus kena migrain teruk.

What we planned was, pagi before bertolak ke airport baru nak pusing beli souvenir. Kalau keluar je hotel (Aonang Princeville) memang sepanjang jalan tu banyak kedai jual souvenir. Tapi dah aku sakit kepala and muntah-muntah mana nak larat. Balik Malaysia, dalam seminggu jugak la baru nak baik migrain. So because of that, aku tekad nak datang jugak Krabi lagi sekali satu hari nanti. Nak sempurnakan hajat yang tak tercapai. Hehehe.

P/s: Just realize I've lost all my honeymoon photos which were in the external hard disk that I lost. :'(

Big Bad Wolf Fireball Sale

Last weekend ada sale Big Bad Wolf lagi, macam last year punya aftermath sale. Ada further reduction on all books but usually buku best dah takde. Since the sale starts on Saturday, and I am hoping ada sisa-sisa buku best yang orang maybe overlooked time sale that day, aku pujuk HB mintak pergi jugak BBW Fireball Sale. Kitorang nak keluar pergi Semenyih pun after tu, ada makan-makan kat rumah Kak Yan. So singgah Mines dulu. Tak jumpa pape buku yang aku aim so aku pun main grab pape buku sebab yang RM8 dah reduced tu RM5. Dapat 6 buku baru RM30.

My catch from the BBW Fireballs sale.

Aku ni kalau BBW memang tak puas sekali pergi. So the second time aku pergi sorang-sorang hari kerja. Best betul rasa sebab tak payah nak rushing. Sempatla aku nak survey habis-habis. Dekat 2 jam jugak la aku dalam MIECC tu. Bila sampai kat bahagian buku masak aku dah rasa penat and lapar giler lagi-lagi duk tengok gambar makanan kat buku masak tu. So in the end, tak banyak jugak buku yang aku beli sebab dah tak larat patah balik ambik buku yang aku nak.

My current book collections.

Product review: TBS Atlas Mountain Rose Perfume Oil

The perfumes that I'm so in love with right now.

Body Shop's oil perfume have been around for ages. Dulu time belajar aku pernah into Body Shop's perfume sekejap. Tapi tak laa kan nak beli jenis oil perfume because masa tu for RM59 I thought they were rather expensive. And in a such small bottle (15ml) I don't know how long they will last. I'm not really a fan of The Body Shop but this product has got me rethinking.

Recently Body Shop UK ada Christmas Sale and Syafiq pun dah nak dekat balik Malaysia so aku pun beli la beberapa barang considering the price were cheaper than here in Malaysia. I bought Mak and Abah perfumes, body scrub for Syafiq and I got myself 2 oil perfumes in Atlas Mountain Rose and Indian Night Jasmine, 4 pots of Born Lippy lip balm.

When Syafiq gave me my package, there was a very nice smell coming from it. Bila check rupanya penutup botol Atlas Mountain Rose perfume oil tu maybe tak rapat kot so tertumpah. Nasib baik sikit je yang berkurang. This will make me think twice about keeping them in my handbag. Baru plan nak buat perfume oil ni as a 'keep in bag perfume' since the size is very small.

I'm not usually a fan of rose scent or floral fragrances. But the first time I wore Atlas Mountain Rose I totally fell in love with the scent!  I kept sniffing my wrist when I wear this perfume! The smell of roses is refreshing and not overpowering. Unlike the Body Shop's Moroccan Rose which smells purely roses and a bit overpowering for me (yet I still bought them). However, the smell of the Atlas Mountain Rose range varies according to the product. I found that the EDT, lotion, body mist all smells differently. The perfume oil is the best for me.

I don't know perfume ni sekuat mana untuk orang sekeliling. But its strong enough for me to smell it on myself with just a swipe of the stick on my wrists and neck, and it will last all day. The best thing is the perfume is alcohol free.

The Indian Night Jasmine is just as nice. This perfume has a an oriental smell which to me is quite unique. Jadi boleh la gilir-gilir nak pakai bau apa ikut mood. Tapi rasanya bau Indian Night Jasmine tak berapa kuat and tak tahan lama macam Atlas Mountain Rose. So maybe kena pakai banyak sikit or keep on reapplying after a few hours kalau nak bagi bau tahan lama.

P/s: Japanese Cherry Blossom smells quite nice too and might be on the list of my next purchase.

Renew roadtax dengan MyEG

Kali ni dah masuk kali ke 6 aku renew roadtax guna servis MyEG. And kali ke 5 aku guna insurance Etiqa Takaful. Why? Selain dari dapat extra 10% discount from total premium, hari tu aku  dapat cheque dari Etiqa.

First year aku guna kereta, penjual kereta registerkan insurance kereta aku dengan Allianz. Second year, orang MyEG yang register kan insurance aku sebab time tu aku student lagi and tak reti pasal insurance ni. So aku bagi info through phone call then orang MyEG registerkan aku dengan Lonpac. The next year aku try guna Etiqa sebab aku macam selalu dengar and tak familiar dengan insurance lain. And sampai la sekarang terus sambung with Etiqa. Cuma last year je aku macam bengang sikit sebab 2 kali aku buat payment guna cimbclicks, duit dah tolak tapi insurance aku tak ada. So 2 kali aku kena contact orang Etiqa mintak refund duit. Yang bagusnya aku contact helpline diorang page FB Etiqa je. Tapi respond memang cepat thank goodness.

About MyEG pulak. They've never failed me. The first time aku renew roadtax dengan MyEG, ingat lagi time tu aku kat hostel and aku pergi cybercafe kolej Maryam untuk renew roadtax. Settle dalam pukul 11pm++. Then keesokan hari dalam pukul 6pm runner MyEG datang hantar roadtax. Less than 24 hours! Dah la tak payah nak ada geran kereta semua, just provide semua info dalam form online je.

Tahun ni roadtax aku mati 13 Feb. Kalau bukan sebab premium insurance kereta nak naik harga lagi after 15 Feb, mesti aku asyik delay renew roadtax ni..huhu. Tahun lepas same case jugak. Dah announce premium insurance nak naik harga baru la aku gagah sikit nak renew insurance. As usual aku renew insurance Etiqa Takaful online, then renew roadtax through MyEG. Semua settle by 10am++. Then petang tadi dalam 4.30pm runner MyEG call bagitau dah nak sampai ofis aku. Budak ni pulak memang dah biasa datang GMI. Tahun lepas pun dia ni jugak hantar roadtax aku. Dia masuk sampai ke lobby department aku, senang tak payah aku nak jalan jauh-jauh.

Rasanya by far, ni yang paling cepat kot dia process and deliver roadtax aku. Bagus bagus. Very recommended to all.

Zara dapat toys baru.

Malam ni Kak Ayu ajak datang makan-makan kat rumah dia sempena birthday Damia. So before pergi Ukay Perdana kitorang keluar rumah awal singgah KLCC dulu. Even though takde plan nak tengok or beli apa-apa, my habit is kalau keluar mesti nak jugak cari something kalau tak, balik mesti rasa tak puas hati. Saja tengok-tengok Mothercare and Toys R Us, then rasa nak beli toys untuk Zara.

Zara tengah pilih toys.

Kitorang solat Magrib siap-siap before leaving KLCC. Nasib baik aku masuk surau before masuk waktu, sebab lepas tu tengok orang agak ramai. Sementara aku solat, HB jaga Zara kat luar surau. Keluar surau, nak ambik Zara dari HB I spotted someone macam familiar je menunggu luar surau jugak. Then I realized he is Noh Hujan. Not that I'm a fan, tapi I assumed he would be waiting for Mizz Nina. Sejak Mizz Nina berhijrah, I have come to adore her. Jadi instead of berjalan tengok-tengok kedai berhampiran, aku pun dah macam stalker menunggu kat luar surau tu jenguk-jenguk kalau diorang lalu. Hehe. Tiba-tiba ada a group of girls berkumpul kat sebelah aku macam berbincang, then diorang patah balik and masuk lorong ke Isetan. The stalker in me had an instinct to follow them, bersungguh betul dengan bawak stroller lagi, bawak Zara lagi. Then I saw her!

Mizz Nina berjubah, berselendang labuh, and tak pakai mekap pun. Ramah je melayan thegroup of girls yang datang tegur dia tadi. I guess tadi the girls were discussing nak tegur Mizz Nina or tak kot..hehe. Teringin sangat nak bergambar dengan dia tapi taktau nak suruh siapa tolong tangkap. By the time HB keluar surau, Noh was close behind and he headed straight to Mizz Nina so jadi macam segan pulak nak tegur mintak ambik gambar takut mengganggu. Jadinye sampai ke malam la aku frust sebab tak dapat ambik gambar dengan Mizz Nina. Sobsob.. ;p

Bagus jugak diorang ye bersesak-sesak kat surau KLCC and solat di awal waktu.

Zara checking out her new toys