traveling

Few days ago, hubby was asking me why didn't we travel yet this year? He said Portugal is a beautiful place that he'd love to go again. Coincidentally, the Lisbon Tourism Office has invited some Asian media influencers to promote Lisbon and it reminisces our memories in Lisbon and Porto.  Xuan and Cheng upon hearing our conversation chipped in they want to go to somewhere cold, so Budapest is the best because they get to experience overnight train and the weather is perfect (it's nowhere perfect. Instead it was freezing cold but the kids love it). Apparently they forgot that we have used up our quota for this year. Last year was a crazy one that we went to Tokyo, Bali and Eastern Europe. This year we have covered parts of Italy and Slovenia. Spending quality time with family is the best thing in life. Cherish every moment we have.

At the airport

I’m now at the airport waiting to board the plane to go back to Kota Bharu for papa’s prayer. Most of those I bump into are in jovial mood going on a holiday. Airport is a place I like to go, everyone has their share of stories. Some in good mood waiting to travel or just came back from holiday, surrounded by family and friends. Some look upset, like what I went thru 3 weeks ago. I met my family at the airport, waiting to take the same plane to go back to KB after learning about the news that papa was gone. We cried and hugged each other. It was getting so emotional that the ground staff came to us, showing their empathy and sat us down. Airport is a place where we bid farewell to the loved ones who send us off and we won’t know if it’s our final goodbye that we won’t see them again. It tells me so much about life. Life is a Ferris wheel that sometimes we are up and sometimes we are down. Today I’m at the lowest point in my life, feeling the sorrow of losing papa. It’s just a feeling of misery I’m facing. Hubby said he still feels the pain of missing his mum even it’s almost a year. But the regret is totally different that at least, he was prepared for it and I wasn’t... There is a lesson here, always be kind to our loved ones because we won’t know if it’s the last time we see them. Looking back at the message we exchanged, I hope my last message to him on the same day, a few hours before the tragedy happened, which, I was excited and wanted to eat the fruits he posted, was enough to tell him that I appreciate whatever he had done and I love him!

Slovenia

We got back from our trip in Italy and Slovenia with good friends and it was a wonderful vacation. Although stressful with kids, we still very much look forward to a break as such for family bonding. Slovenia is unassumingly beautiful, clean, safe and not overcrowded. We could have stayed longer given the weather there. Hubby's colleague shared that it's only a few hours drive from Munich and Slovenia is full of tourists, mostly from Germany. We do not know if we ever have a chance to go back there again. But I will just say that I have ticked this off the places I want to go, so proud of myself that we made this choice despite many transfers to reach the destination with so many children in tow. Been there, done that!! The only thing that I hope I could have changed is, to go there earlier because it got really warm when we reached Milan and Summer is real!! The next time we go, we should consider mid spring or autumn. hahaha!!

Langkawi

I went on a girls trip with my officemates over the weekend, leaving behind the children with hubby. I’m always proud of him because he handles the kids well, even better than me. While I complain how stressful it is whenever he is away for business trips, there is no single rant I hear from him after I get home, only to see how well he takes care of them that, he can cook 3 meals a day for the kids which I don’t do that at all. The last time I went to Langkawi was 5 years ago when we went to UUM for my sister’s convocation. We then made a de tour to Langkawi. Now the island has changed so much that I think I should take the kids back here again. But they seem to fall in love with Bali more, not for the island itself but for Hard Rock Hotel that they love to stay. Holiday with family is so far away. The next school break will be this March.

Friends in the service! Bumped into Ayu in the island and had laksa together, what a small world hehe...

Having seafood dinner together

旅行是一种冲动

世界很大，风景很美，我想趁你黏着我的时候带你去看看。看看人间冷暖，四季变化，为我的人生旅途添上色彩，还有珍贵的记忆。似乎每个人对冬季充满期待与幻想，雪地白茫茫，干净无暇，除了冻，我也还喜欢这样的景色，所以我妹说，不如我们明年去北海道一趟吧？

Year end 2018

 It was a really busy long weekend that we went on a road trip for a friend’s wedding in JB. We also made a trip to cross the causeway to visit my sis in Singapore. Before returning home, we put up a night in Melaka. As though the snow in Europe wasn’t enough, the boys went to try the snowfall at Sunway Lagoon only to find that it’s all bubbles. The school holiday is almost over, the kids have so much fun that they feel sad to return to school. 

boys

Experiencing spring and autumn. Life has never come easy. But these will be my memories with you... the memories of watching you grow! But, this is the dilemma we face: feeling cold in the foreign land and complaining warm back at home. You know you are Malaysian when you wish you can go somewhere cold then come home to a warm place then cold then warm then the complaints go on. And I know, the complaints usually come from Cheng.

My sons told me they wanted to stay home just like their friends. “My friends stay at home after their tuition, I wish I can do the same too. Their mummies do not work.” Am I feeling heartache hearing this statement, well, not really. I have told them many times that we are a set of working parents. Our household works just like this that both parents are working to bring food on the table. I guess Xuan is getting smarter that he said, that includes travel. My friend, YJ told me that she has never gone on traveling. The farthest she went is to the maternal grandmother’s house. If that’s the case, mummy you need to work so that we can travel again.

And now he starts on logical thinking...

麦当劳

传说世上最美丽的麦当劳是在波尔多，我们不经意的打卡去，却又没有什么照片留念。只记得隔壁的一班年轻小子很友善。后来又听说最美的在布达佩斯，这一次我们再忙也要抽空去看了一下，顺便坐下来解决午餐。这里的设计果然很有意思！

Getting older

Feeling funny, emo and old looking at these pics. You are growing up too fast!! 

想家吗？

布达佩斯真置金秋时节。公园里一望无际的金黄色，美丽如画。这座城市充满活力，不愧是东欧的巴黎。只是天气太冷了，我都不想呆在屋外。这一趟旅行，问了孩子以后想不想在外念书、工作等。看起来奕炫最想家。他说他选马来西亚，还要跟我们一起住。我说好吧，等你们大了，各自长翅高飞，请许我和爸爸一点空间，让我们去走走透气。他说好，他会请假陪我们。弟弟说他会选择扎科帕内，因为他喜欢那里会下雪。我问，那你不想我们了吗？他说，不想了，你跟爸爸老了，应该不会在人世了，所以我住扎科帕内，没有牵挂。

波兰：低调的华丽

从布达佩斯搭夜车到克拉科夫，2天2夜在这老城里，我和老公竟然觉得时间很不够用。真的还没好好沉浸在这老旧和忧伤的世界里，我们就往下一站去。来到了扎科帕内，这个波兰的冬季首都，我们趁着阳光明媚，去了一趟海洋之眼。第二天，老天不负小瓜们的请求，下了一场雪，白雪纷飞，小瓜们玩得很兴奋。还要把雪团装在盒子里，带回房间。只是妹妹还小，不知道玩雪的乐趣。这一趟波兰之旅应该告一段落，下一次，如果还有下一次，应该会很遥远。

海洋之眼

终于来到了这个华尔街日报称世界必访美丽之湖之一，不能说是此生无憾，湖泊没有想像中的大，倒是跟孩子下山的经验让我毕生难忘。其实付了不少的钱上了马车，一路上山往湖泊去，然后还要走一小段路才能抵达海洋之眼。路程中，我们都愧疚于那两匹马载着一班很有重量的游客登山，所以誓要带着小瓜爮着下山也不上马车。赏了湖，太阳公公就躲起来了，只看见湖泊还有雪山被浓雾笼罩，呈现一种朦胧的美。扎科帕内的秋末初冬，湖面还没结成冰，所以今年的秋天不算太冷。我倒想赞那两个瓜跟我们一起走下山，应该是8-9公里的路，用上1小时的时间，是天亮走到天黑都不发牢骚，所以真的是超棒！所以生气时，跟他们说的气话，下次我跟daddy来就好了，暂时用不着。

Major problems

Packing for traveling is a major problem that I’m facing most of the times. I was trying to fit our clothes into our two 26-inche luggage but I guess it won’t fit unless I pack really minimally. I must confess that I’m a true minimalist when it comes to traveling but I always regret because all the photos feature me wearing the same jacket. Last year, I did it again and it was a breeze since it was autumn and didn’t require thick clothing. Now, as the autumn is going to end, the temperature goes really low that we have to pack more to layer up. So again, the hand me down rimowa came to the rescue. I have never thought that I would need its service again so I left the bag with my bro. Thank goodness he is home so I can collect the bag from him.

Then another problem I’m facing is to help the boys to nap. I actually should drain them out so that they can sleep soundly in the plane. Unfortunately or fortunately, they enjoy their time onboard and plan ahead the activities they are going to do throughout. For that reason, I have to force them to nap although they are very much reluctant to.

Wishing us Bon voyage!

Believing in Cheng

In an effort trying to get my sons to say yes for hubby and me to go on a trip while they stay at home with my mum, Cheng has some funny stories that I have to pen down. He nodded, giving me a green light with tears flowing down the cheeks, he said these.

“I will miss you a lot you know, mummy.”
“I’m afraid I will forget you.”
“I will not talk to you anymore even you video call us.”
“Is it a long or short flight flight? Do you have tv in your flight?”
“Can I watch iPad when you are away?”

So I asked him to choose whether to come with us or stay back home but he will get a toy of his choice. “I can’t get both right? Then let me stay with grandma...,” he said.

From Bali

8 or 9 years ago, I managed to secure zero-fare tickets to Bali for my whole family where we only paid RM70 each for the airport tax and some admin fees. Probably it was too cheap, only my parents and bro made to the trip and the rest didn’t come. So many years have passed and I had no opportunity to come although my good friends have been telling me that it’s a wonderful place worth revisits. They have been teasing me when they found out I have never been to Bali and Hatyai. This year, we make it here. As a first timer, I fell in love with this  place, minus the traffic jam, although I’m not a beach person. My regret is I should have come here earlier. But it’s better late than never. We have a fun-filled vacation as everyone enjoys the holiday to the max. And as usual, the kids cried when we told them we are leaving tomorrow. As they said good bye to the swimming pool, they promised to come back here again in future. And the future means end of the year!!

The kids are super funny

Before we got into the plane to go to Bali, parking next to us was an aircraft from Qatar Airways. While waiting in line in the aerobridge, Cheng told his dad, “daddy, I miss Qatar Airways, you know. I think we need to make a trip on Qatar Airways.”

Before we left hotel to go out sightseeing, the father asked Cheng to put on his sandals. “Why are we not putting on sport shoes?” “It’s very warm outside.” “The weather is not cold like Japan? I thought it’s very cold here. I like cold places like Japan, you know.”

Last week on parents-teachers day, Xuan insisted to buy a bottle of non-carbonated drink from the canteen. The drinks that Cheng and he had been eyeing on when he has activity at the school on Saturday. The packaging is colourful with cartoons like panda. And it’s sugar-coated. “Next time, do not simply buy this kind of drinks at the school. I do not know what brand it is and the ingredients are not clear.” “Mummy, Teacher Liaw told us not to 乱乱讲话。My friend bought and he never dies. So it’s safe.”

last night's story

No other photobooks catches my kids' attention as much as this latest edition which features our pictures in Tokyo. The book has some photos of them with ultraman so they get excited whenever they see those. Last night, as the kids were flipping the book, they got reminded of their trip so tears streamed down their faces, they sobbed and mumbled, I miss Japan before they went to sleep. Hubby who was already sleeping, got up and feeling annoyed, "what's so special with Japan that makes you miss it so much. Let's sleep." So daddy, being very practical forced everyone to sleep and made them cry even harder. It's not easy to tuck the kids into bed. They are always full of energy so we have to drain them out. This sad episode of forcing them to sleep repeats everyday at home which makes hubby and me stressed. No doubt it's world peace after they fall asleep. Baby XY, at 19mo, even skips her nap during weekend to play with her brothers. It's hard to think that she, at such young age, is getting more playful.

Long wishlist

I have been having a long wishlist on places I want to go in Europe which are the Balkan, Baltic and Spain. Going to the Balkan has been a hit these years, and I hope the connectivity from here to those places is getting better. I was introduced to tourism in the Balkan back in 2007 while we were on the flight to Europe in our national carrier. At that time, I was amazed by the scenery the magazine showed, and a lady who sat beside me was from Croatia and welcomed us to her country because she said Croatia is very beautiful, besides their football team. It’s just that with a big troop, I dont know when I have the chance to explore. The other day I came across an interview with a celebrity who took her family on a vacation for 3 weeks in Europe, I was taken by surprise that she was most impressed by Portugal out of so many places that she went. Portugal has indeed taken me by surprise too, in so many ways, it’s so unassumingly beautiful that after we got back from there, hubby said we should explore Spain because they both, geographically located in the Southern Europe, should share the same culture. But life is a dilemma of choices that makes it more beautiful and meaningful!

Close shaves

Due to the belief in law of attraction, I always try to eliminate negative thoughts at all cost to avoid negative experiences. Somehow, before our Tokyo trip started, I received a call from Xuan’s teacher on Friday who told me that Xuan had a fever and asked me if I would like to pick him up. It was 10 mins past 5, another one hour for the school to dismiss so I told the teacher to just wait and he should come home with his transporter. Then I received an audio message from nanny who told me that Cheng had an fever too. I was worried if the fever prolonged then I would have reservations whether we should go on with our trip. Our departure was in Sunday noon. But thank goodness they were fine the next day so we went to Mid Valley for dinner. I had a cravings for oyster, so we tried a restaurant which we had never been in the past. That night after dinner, I was feeling nauseated, bloated and couldn’t sleep at all. Then I fell sick on our departure day. I advocate natural recovery and avoid medicine most of the times but this time, just so to make our trip happen, I popped a panadol. So off we went to the park and ride at Salak Tinggi. While we were excited that the erl company provided free rides for family on that weekend, hubby couldn’t get a parking lot after so many rounds of driving. So he decided to go home and asked my bro to send him to the nearest erl station. How lucky that our Plan B still worked! We were fortunate that we left home early so we had plenty of time to spare. So the kids and I travelled on the train to airport while waiting for hubby to arrive from Putrajaya. We arrived in Tokyo safely with me feeling giddy in the stomach. I was very careful of what I ate throughout the trip where I avoided coffee, milk tea and even tempura. Everything went perfectly well until the time where we were set off to fly home. We got confused by the train information and only managed to board the train to Narita at almost 3, while our flight time was 2 hours later. But we were once again very lucky to have met some very kind ground staff who did last minute check in for us. But also kudos to hubby who is smart enough to handle situations as such! This whole trip was nevertheless very eventful with so many dangerous escapes. This trip, is definitely worth a laugh! But perhaps, the funniest part, would still be, both my sons weeping bitterly in the plane, telling me, mummy, I miss Japan!

Till then

I was telling the kids to treasure their time here because tomorrow is the last day that we are in Tokyo and we will fly home real soon. Right after we reach KLIA, our routine continues, the boys go to the school and XY goes to the nanny’s. Daddy and mummy will work harder for another holiday. Then, Xuan began to cry. He said, I miss Japan so there he was crying himself to sleep. They don’t really know where they go everyday here. But they surely love the time spending with us. And of course the chilly weather and the bathtub. Till then, Tokyo!! My children have very beautiful memories because of you. They saw ultraman and even some banners on the train made them excited. And they love Don Quijote a lot that each of them come home with 2 ultraman and monsters. Daddy and mummy have got a little poorer! But we still can’t find their favourite snacks where the aunties always get for them from Tokyo.