Thoughts that cross my mind...: Year end holiday...

At last... the long awaited holiday that the kids were counting the days for was finally here... It was one of those (very rare) mornings that I didnt have to wake them up. In fact, everyone was already awake when my alarm went off that morning... Kalau tiap2 hari macam ni kan bagus... especially on school days... So, instead of me rushing them to shower and get dressed, that morning they were the ones pushing me to the bathroom yelling "cepatlah mummy!!!"...

Day 1 - 25th Dec

We left Shah Alam almost 11am and arrived at our first stop at Felda Residence Resort Trolak about 2 hours later. There we joined my brother and his family.

My sister in law (Haizan) and Eisya Humaira (my brother's youngest daughter)

The "Kolam Air Gunung" - the cool mountain water pool

My brother and Eisya

Soaking feet in hot spring water. From left, Muhammad (my brother's son), Amin, Muaz and Hadaina (my brother's daughter who scored 8As in PMR recently).

Day 2 - 26th Dec

We continued our holiday by driving along the state road with the intention of showing the kids the old route of balik kampong before the existence of PLUS hiway. But, what they did was just slept along the ride until we reached Batu Gajah. Well... cant blame them... they spent the entire afternoon alternating between the cool pool and hot water pool at the resort the day before. So, tak pe lah... I just drove along the roads while recalling my childhood experience of balik kampong from asrama every school term holiday.

In Perak, we were supposed to go to 2 weddings - but went to 1 engagement (in Batu Gajah) and 1 wedding (in Bandar Sri Iskandar) instead. Below are photos of the bride (Nora, anak sedara sepupu) and groom (forgot his name). Nora is my cousin's daughter. (No photos of the engagement-forgot to take any-the engagement was of my brother in law's niece).

Weddings are good occassions to meet with long lost relatives. And that's just what I did at Nora's wedding. Nora is my late mom's older sister's grand daughter. So, at the wedding I got to meet with relatives from my mom's side and some of them I havent seen in more than 5 years or since my mom passed away in July 2003. But I didnt get to take many photos because the camera was with Muaz and he was taking a nap in the car - he couldnt stand the heat and went to sit in the car and fell asleep.

Here are the photos that I managed to snap before the camera "disappeared".

From left - Nana (menantu sepupu), Tiyah (cousin), Achai's wife (menantu sepupu, I forgot her name) and Nafisah (anak sedara sepupu). It has been quite a while since I last met them and the other relatives...

The pengantin and the bride's mother (left) and aunties.

Me and Maknyah (my late mom's older sister, the bride's opah)

Day 3 - 27th Dec
Had lunch at a cousin's house in Parit, tea at Saerwati's house in Taiping and dinner at my sister's house in Bandar Sri Iskandar...

Me and Saerwati at her house in Taiping

We also went to Night Safari at the Taiping Zoo...

Ooohhh... this is what "cipan" looks like... hahaha....

My brother and his family went back to KL on the 28th while I continued our holiday (cum work) with the kids to the North...

Day 4 and 5 - 28 and 29 dec
Sg Petani Swiss Inn.

When we first arrived at SP, Muaz told me he didnt bring his tights for swimming. And since he had to be the "adult accompanying" his siblings at the hotel pool while I went to work rhe following day, swimming trunks or tights was really a necessity. So, we went to Tesco, first we tried to look for it ourselves, but when we couldnt find it, I asked one of the personnels. Her answer "Apa itu tait? Tak tau". AfterI explained to her, she said.. "Tak da...".

So, we went to the shopping mall next to Tesco, Village Mall. There, we went to 3 shops, the first one "Tait? Apa itu?". There I went again explaining to the promoter... "Oohhh tak dak". The second shop "Seluaq ketat ha? Ada... ada... " and she showed me tight jeans. Adoi.... The third shop... "Ini ka?" and showed me belts.

By that time Muaz's mood was beginning to shift. "Tak pe la mummy. I'll just sit by the pool and watch them". But I was determined to find the tights for him, so, I drove to The Store, there we finally found a promoter that knew what tights were. She was a chinese lady who spoke fluent Malay in loghat utara, which my kids (except Muaz) found so funny....

We went back to the hotel after that and while unpacking I found Muaz's tights in his brother's suitcase... Adoi geramnya!!!!

The kids were on their own on the second day at Sg Petani while I conducted my workshop at our SP branch. What did they do? Well...

If they were not jumping...

they'd be soaking in the jacuzzi (in the bathroom)... or...

in the swimming pool...

The 2 little boys spent too much time in the water that they both developed nasty cough and runny nose.

After I finished my work on 29th, we once again had to drive around SP looking for pharmacy to get cold medicine for Aqim and Nabil.

Then, we drove further into the kampung area and found AIMST University... pelik betul ada medical school di tengah2 hutan Kedah tu...

Day 6 and 7 - 30 and 31 Dec
Langkawi

We arrived at Langkawi at almost 3pm, picked up the rental car that we booked before we boarded the ferry, checked into the hotel (De Baron) and started our journey exploring the island, with a help of a map provided by the car rental operator. I am not at all, by nature or by character, an adventurous person...plus my sense of direction is really bad... nasib baik Mia was good at reading maps. The boys (the bigger ones, Muaz and Amin) were cracking jokes all the time, which made me confused in setting my bearing trying to figure out my direction. They laughed when I made a wrong turn or when I missed a turn.They said "dont worry mummy, we will never reach the Thai border... the worst that can happen is that we just go round and round and round the island..." and they laughed again... teruk betul...

But after about 45 minutes, we found the place we were looking for... the Cable Car and Suspension Bridge...

The cable car ride... Mia was almost hysterical and Aqim tried to calm her down... Nabil was laughing at Mia... hahaha kakak pengecut...

Muaz and Amin continued to tease Mia...

On the suspension bridge...the view was breathtaking... it was worth the kecut perut (the cable car ride) and sakit lutut (from climbing up and going down steps)...