7th Anniversary

Yes, we have been married for 7 years. Time flies so fast.

So, this year, we decided to celebrate it at our favourite destination, Penang at Hard Rock Hotel, which is also our obsession. We booked the hotel quite early as the earlier you book, the cheaper you get. As our anniversary is almost end of year, most hotels will have peak rates. So, to cut cost, we decided to celebrate it a week earlier.

I booked the opening rate promotion, and it is still cheaper than the promotion rate. We also got a framed CD as complimentary gift, saying that we are the 3271 visitor to Hard Rock Hotel Penang. The frame was quite big, which why I love it so much. We're going to hang it beside our shot glass collection of HRC.

The hotel is located at the end of Batu Ferringhi, after Rasa Sayang. The moment we laid eyes on the hotel, we fell in love with it. It looks marvellous and amazing.

I never expect the hotel to be crammed up with people. The lobby is next to the swimming pool, so everybody hang out at the lobby. Once you checked in, you will be given 2 complimentary drinks, which I never experienced before.

I also notice that their staff wears shirt, bermuda or even crocs. I hate them for having such a cosy, relaxing working environment.

The hotel look brand new and you can feel the HRC aura anywhere in the hotel. We got a room facing the sea, which is a gift for us since we booked the one without the seaview. We were given a seaview deluxe, which was supposed to be more expensive. An unexoected gift for our anniversary, I presume.

The hotel furnishing is simple. I expected the bedspread to have the HRC logo but it was plain white. The room is equipped with iPod docking station, DVD player and a LCD tv. We even can enjoy the live band from Hard Rock Cafe directly from our room. Everything about the room was nice for me. I love the bathroom so much, which features an opened or closed bathroom wall.

The swimming pool is like a waterpark. You have slides, water gun, etc. Eya loves the swimming pool. She even can play with the sand beside the swimming pool.

 
As it was our annual trip to Penang, we didn't forget to have our usual dose of nasi kandar Line Clear. The moment we reached Penang, we went to have our nasi kandaq before we checked-in to our hotel.  Some people doesn't really knows how to enjoy  it. There were 2 couples beside us and it seem they were new to it. They ordered everything from ayam goreng, squid, prawn and the guys could not even finish his rice as he couldn't stand the spiciness of the curry. Hubby laughed at it since Eya can eat the curry chicken.

However, when we had dinner with hubby's friend, he told us that nasi kandaq beratoq was much better than line clear.We went to look for it and its fit its name, nasi kandaq beratoq. There was a loooong queue for it and it opened everyday at 10 p.m. Next time we going to Penang, this nasi kandaq will be our top priority and hubby has to be the one queuing up.

So, to hubby, I love you so much and thanks for sharing your life with me....

Eya has passed the night-train test....

Yayyyy....We can save a lot now. Thats not quite a true statement. It just cut some of our major expenses in a month. So, now, I can use the money to spend on something else. Hehehe...

As in previous entry, she is diaperless in the day and only wear it during her sleep. After a few days the entry being wrote, she is now TOTALLY DIAPERLESS. Hooraayy for the three of us.

The chronology on how we started night-training her.

1st Day:

We asked her to wee-wee before she went to sleep. Later, we woke her up at 6 a.m., after the Subuh prayer. So, day 1 went smoothly.

2nd Day:

It was an accident. Hubby forgot to put the huggies on. He realised that she was diaperless in the morning. Pure luck.

3rd Day:

Again, asked her to wee-wee before sleep and again success.

So, the 4th day and counting, we did the same steps and she managed to be dry until morning.

We are a very proud parents of her. She is fully-trained at 3 years and 2 months old. Way to go, Eya!!!

No more pampers, mama....

Eya has been successfully potty-trained a few months ago. No more diapers during the day, just for her sleep at night.

Her teachers at nursery also informed us that she doesn't want to wear the pampers I provide for her. When her teacher want to put it on, she told them that she doesn't want it. So, when she takes her nap, her teacher will wake her up so that she could go pee. Hearing that, we were quite shocked as it is impossible for us to wake her up from her sleep without she being grumpy and cranky. Maybe she obey her teacher more than us.

She also has outgrow all the Huggies size. Currently, she is wearing XXL, the largest you could find among all the dispo brand. Only Huggies and Drypers have XXL, but we stick with Huggies as Drypers is more expensive and it leak at the back. You could get Huggies for 44 for average of RM33.90 but for Drypers, yout get 32 pieces for the same price.

Now, she doesn't want to wear her Huggies at all during the day or even at night. We have to wait for her to be soundly sleep before we put her dispo on. The XXL Huggies is small for her that the side strap is hurting her. So, we only strap the Huggies as further as we can.

Now, I think we have to buy her only pull-up pant as the side is larger and maybe could not hurt her.

She also like to hold her pee for quite some time. I think she still does not understand when is the correct time for her to pee. Only after she really feels like it, she will go pee. We have taught her about this for quite some time but she still doesn't get it.

Now, she also does her 'big business' in the toilet. We bought her the potty seat few months ago but initially, she refused to use it. Only a few weeks back, she agreed to use it and now, she does all her business using it. Everytime she does it, we have to praise her, clap our hands, anything that shows that she is a good girl. Now, we only have to flush her 'thing', no more dispo. She will do it and we have to wait outside. After she finishes, she will call me or her ayah, and clean her up.

As for going diaperless in the night, we are still wondering and searching how to teach her on that. I asked my mom and even my maid, how did they teach their children, but it seem that they all forgot about the tips and tricks for teaching your children to go diaperless during their sleep.

I searched from the net and found out that you could set a schedule for your child to go pee in the night. As for me, I don't think its quite right to wake her in the middle of the night just to go potty. It may disturb her sleep and causing her to be moody in the morning when she wakes up for school. Some parents also said that you may successfully potty-train your child during the day but it may takes some time before they are ready for night-trained.

I think I can wait for that. She just turn 3 years old and we can train her slowly. Good luck to me and hubby.

Eya turns 3...

Eya, 3 years old with her birthday cake...

Eya, Ayah and mama...

This signified that my little angel just turn 3 on 24th September.

Again, I did not plan anything big as her birthday fall on a long holiday. The birthday celebration was just between the family. Initially, hubby planned to celebrate it at Taiping with all her cousins but something came up so plan was changed.

She knows how a birthday should be celebrated as every week her friends from the nursery will have a birthday bash. She kept asking us to have Happy birthday for her. Everytime she sees a big cake, she will sing the birthday song.

So, this year we plan to have a small celebration with cake at her favourite fast food restaurant, KFC. Kaklong volunteered to buy her a birthday cake.

We put the candles on and asked her to blow the candles. And she knew how to do it. Maybe from her observation at the nursery.

Me and hubby is happy to see her growing up so well but at the same time quite sad as she is no longer our small baby. I hope time will slow down as we don't want her to grow up so fast.

I can still remember the moments I held her in my arms 3 years ago. It was the best feeling in the world to have your own flesh and blood.

To Eya, mama and ayah will always love you. You are our little angel.

Bangkok Trip I

Bangkok trip was meant for my family vacation. My big, extended family. We purchased the ticket during the RM1 promotion by AirAsia last year. I thought everyone will go but due to the H1N1 break, only 7 out 0f 14 went for the trip. Nevertheless, it was a great trip and experience for all of us.

Planning

I was the trip planner. Once I bought the tickets, I started surfing for the trips. I searched on the best map, accommodation, transportation and anything that was related. After a few month research, I found out the best for everything was:

Map: Groovy Map for Bangkok
A complete, easy-to-use map that cover everything. My sis bought it from MPH Midvalley.

Accommodation: Samran Place
Budget hotel that near to Halal food, nice staffs and got a high ranking in Tripadvisor.com for its range.

Transportation: A mix of BTS, Boat, Tuk-tuk and taxi.

Shopping: Will be covered below.

The real itinerary

4/8/09:
Our day started with departing to LCCT. Our dear Chu brought us there. My flight was supposed to depart at 6.50 but we arrived at LCCT around 2 p.m. We did not take the same flight as mom and abo was in the earlier one at 4 p.m.



We hang around the LCCT, had a light meal at a very expensive Marrybrown. Although I hate anything that is associated with any celebrity that I hate, I need to put that aside as there was no any other cheap food. (Tips: The celebrity name start with M) If I had the money, for sure I will have my hot chocolate at Theobroma.

Exactly at 6.30 p.m., we boarded our flight. It was Eya's first time in a flight. She was not that excited as she thought it was just another mode of transportation.

We arrived on time and searched for mom and abo. Once I found them, we started searching for taxi to bring us to the hotel. They had public van but we were unsure what they meant by public. So to be safe, we took the airport limousine, but due to our number, they give us van. The van was so great, and it was large. It can fit 10 people, I think. It was called Toyota Kommuter. If they sell it here, my mom was sure to buy it.

The traffic was horrible although it was 9 p.m. The first thing we did after checked in was thinking what to eat for dinner. Although the halal food was opposite of the road, we were afraid it was closed and being just a small lane, maybe we could get lost finding the food.

So, me and hubby being an adventurer, we proposed to have dinner at the hotel. We asked for squid and shrimp fried rice. Mom ate fish and chip. Luckily, it was nice.

5/8/09:

Our first plan was to visit the Grand Palace.There was no bus or BTS directly to get to the pier. So, the best option was to take BTS to Saphan Taksin and from there, we would take boat from Sathorn, the Central Pier. The boat ride only cost 1.30 and we took the orange flag ferry.



The Sathorn pier was N1 and the stop for Grand Palace is at Tha Chang, N10 so it was quite a boat ride from me. I was not a fan of any transport that is related to water. Thats why I stayed near to the life jackets in the ferry.

From the stop, we need to walk a little bit before we arrived at the Grand Palace. We need to pay 35 per pax for the entrance fee. If you took any tour service, it will cost you the cheapest of RM70 for the trip to the palace.

The GP was quite a big area. Due to the hot weather, we just briefly visited some of the main attraction and left the palace.



The next plan, was to have lunch. So, the only thing I could think of, was halal food at MBK. The food was great but pricey. For fried rice, it was 80baht and for something like nasi paprik, it cost 150 baht. Food was expensive here even if you go to stalls. I love the Iced Milo there. It was heaven.

We rest at the hotel before going for dinner at Ali Selatan. The owner is a Kelantanese. All the halal food you find on Zabihah.com can be found here at the street. The food was marvellous and the sirap bandung was great.

The next plan was to go for Suan Lum night market. So we took BTS to Silom but failed to find the market at the Lumpini Park. So, changed plan to visit Patpong night market. It was similar to Petaling Street. If it just the both of us, I would go to see of the night show but as I went with family, I cancelled the plan.

The market is located in the middle of Patpong 1 street, so when you were walking, you can get a glimpse of whatever happened in the bar. I managed to see some pole dancing and girls doing their show. However, in the Patpong rate, it was still considered a decent view.

So, as I read that Patpong night market is expensive, I did not buy anything. Once we arrived at our hotel, we had a foot massage at a place beside it. It was cheap, just 200 for an hour. The guys tried the body massage for just 200 baht.

That was my trip for the 1st 2 days. Will blog the second part of the trip later.

p/s: Pics will be included later.

Keds and lot of bracelets...

What was the happiest shopping moment during my trip to Bangkok?

Its when I discovered Siam Paragon does sell Keds shoes. I love flat shoes, in fact, now I have 6 of them . Mostly are Nike as they have nice flat shoes. So, once when I was web surfing, I found out that a US brand, Keds produce flat shoes.

So, I tried to ask hubby to persuade his friend in US to buy it from me as the brand is not available in Malaysia. But, his friend will be there for 5 years, so I need to wait for some years before I be able to wear it.

I never thought I could find it. So, during the trip, when I found Keds is being sold there, without any hesitation, I decided to buy it. The choice was not that many but I bought one. Even my lil sis bought one for her. So, now I have an extra pair of Keds.

The two pair of Keds...

The other highlight of my trip was to Platinum Shopping mall where I found a small shop selling bracelets. This shopping complex is known for it wholesales trade so mostly everything are cheap. All the bracelets and necklaces is similar quality and look to Diva's and DP merchandise but with very low prices. Usually DP or Diva bracelet cost about RM20 for the simplest bracelet but here you can get one for only RM3. So, I bought every colour of bracelet that I could find. It was such a happy day for me.

Now, I have complete collection of every colors for my bracelet combined with a few from my sis. Even my bracelet tree could not handle all the weight. I need to find a new tree for all those new bracelets.

A rockstar in the making...

Rockstar in the making...

Abo and adik just bought a PS3 complete with the Guitar Hero set. It includes a guitar, drum and microphone, complete to create a rock band. As for the games, Abo had bought about 15 games from Ebay UK.

Previously, when they played PS2, they also played guitar hero using 1 guitar. So, when they bought the set, the old guitar could not be used with PS3.

I respect that adik and just anyone who could play the guitar as it was really hard for the player to follow all the colours from the game. For those who are unclear of the game, the guitar and drum have 5 colour keys/buttons. They have to follow the color exactly when it is being displayed on the tv.

For me, I could only play the drum set with easy level. The guitar was out of my league, it was quite hard for me to play it.

As for hubby, he become the vocalist of the band. To sing it is quite easy, as you only need to know the rythm and lyrics of the song. You need to match the tempo and lyrics.

As it was hard to follow the key colours, some people who play the guitar, concentrate really hard and was very static when they play it. So, we love watching Eya playing the guitar. She was really cute and act just like a true rockstar. She can sway to the music and move the guitar to the beat. She can do that as she don't play the game. She just follow whatever her Acu did and I did teach her to follow the colour keys.

Now, it become our family pastime favourite to play Guitar Hero.

Eya and Dede

We can sing, so surprising...

Me and Eya having a good time

Just a gimmick! We still could not sing well like even a average person could sing. My SIL planned for the whole family to go for karaoke. I resisted the idea but love being with my family, no matter what, I just agreed to it.

So, last Saturday, after my cousin had finished her cupcake lesson, we headed down to Ampang Park. It was quite cheap compared to what Red Box @ The Curve charge. Just RM35 for an hour for a medium room, which can accommodate up to 15 people. So, my whole family including Adib went to have a 'melalak' session for the first time except for my SIL, who was quite a pro.

Along, Kaklong and Zidane

We booked the room for 4 hours which for me was quite long. My SIL said 4 hours was too short and we might ask to extend the hours. Me and hubby being quite an amateur in this area was quite 'kekok' with this whole karaoke thingy. We didn't know how to choose song and set for it using the karaoke machine.

Me and hubby chose our fav song which includes Hotel California, some oldies for hubby and for me too. My first choice of songs would be N' Sync but their collection contained songs that I didn't really like.

Hubby and me trying our skill in karaoke'ing

Hubby who was so reluctant to the idea at first started enjoying the singing. He tried to conquer the mic and almost all the songs. The funny part was he is tone deaf. He just follow the lyric blindly without knowing how the songs sounded. It was funny but it was exciting to see how hubby enjoyed the whole session.

As for me, I got to sing my most favourite song, Januari by Glenn Fredly. My Eya sang her Ketahuan song by Matta. Both she and Zidane enjoyed the session too.

Eya n Zidane is starting from young

Really looking forward to have another karaoke session when Abo is here. Okay, guys, start collecting money as it going to be a really long session.

Eya's eating habit...

Eya is almost 3 years old. Only a few months before she turns 3. Her weight always like a yo-yo, sometimes up and sometimes down. For now, her weight is okay, which is about 17 kg. One of my friend told me that her weight was 19kg when she was in Standard 1. A difference of only 2kg. I think it is normal for her to be at that weight for now. The weight is reflected by her tummy. Yes, I do love the tummy. She knew it and when we asked 'perut sapa', she will replied 'perut mama'.

Lately, she eats like an adult. Sometimes more than me or even her ayah. We are not worried about worms as we had given her the worms vaccine.

In a normal routine, she will eat 3 times. These meal usually will be a plate of rice, with a 'telur mata'. She likes her rice to be a little bit 'banjir', just like her ayah. So, sometimes we put her with kuah sayur or kicap. She will finish the whole plate.

As with the milk, she still drinks her milk. She drinks Nespray 1+. So, when the ads with Sheila Majid in it, she will shout, 'susu Eya, susu Eya'. A lot if I might add. If she forget to drink her milk before sleep, she will wake up in the middle of the night and asked for it. Not everyone could prepare her milk. Depends on her mood before her sleep. Sometimes it can be her ayah or me. However, I always wish it will be her ayah.

She also loves Ribena. We introduced her to Ribena upon her paed advice. When she was a baby, she do not like to drink and always got constipation. So, her paed advised us to give her prune juice or ribena. She hated the prune juice but luckily she can accept the ribena. So, its Ribena until now. However, to balance it out, we only give Ribena when she is at home. Outside, we will give her plain water.

The best thing I ever saw of her eating habit was when we ate 'nasi daun pisang' as our dinner. After she finished eating the rice, she folded the daun pisang. Just like what we normally do after eating nasi daun pisang. Someone told me that if we fold the daun pisang towards ourselves, it means we like the nasi. So, Eya did just that. We were really surprised as we never told her to do that. Maybe she watched us do it and learn from it.

My mom also noticed that when she eat spaghetti, she will use her fork to twirl the spaghetti. Only after that, she will put the twirled spaghetti into her mouth. We never taught her this but I think, again she learned from observation. She will twirl even mihun.

She also likes to have roti canai for breakfast. However, she will only eat it if there is kuah dal or kari. She will dip her shredded roti into the kuah, and eat it.

I think she learned a lot by observation and I'm sure she likes to eat. A true AL clan by heart.

What kentut have to do with Eya and Hubby?

Hubby and Eya were watching tv, while I was doing something in the kitchen (I think). Suddenly, hubby shouted, "Sapa ajar Eya ni? Tak senonoh."

I asked why and hubby told me that Eya farted in front of his face. It began when Eya complained that she smelt something smelly. Hubby thought she wanted to 'bom-bom'. Then, suddenly, Eya turned her back to hubby's face and farted at him. Poor hubby. He was so shocked that his lovely little princess could throw a dirty trick upon him.

I bet she must got this trick from someone at the nursery.