I have only been in Bali once. Few years ago. And I wrote something about the trip in my other blog space which has been long-abandoned.

Another episode related to Bali was a few months ago. Hubby and I happened to be in Bangsar South City. The only reason we were there was because the headquarters for Takaful Ikhlas is there and we have some matters to settle over there. Killing 2 birds with one stone, we finished our business in Takaful and we had lunch there.

One of the outlets is a restaurant called Bali Feel. Small but nice restaurant. And we had these:

Kenangan Balifeel dish. Did I imagine I'm in Bali while eating this dish? Nope. But it was a nice dish. Well, with the price of RM12, kalau tak nice, tak tau la...

Nasi Goreng Kitamani. Well, it is stated as Kitamani in the menu but I think it should be Kintamani, the name of one of the villages in Bali.

Es Cendol. Hubby ordered this but I ended up finishing it. I liked it better than the Es Teller .

Couldn't write more about the dishes. This was a few months back and I suppose I need to go back to Balifeel again to refresh the feeling .

My 3rd daughter, Syahidah, enrolled in Standard 1 this year. She has no problems in terms of separation anxiety or first-day-of-school-induced anxiety After all, she has been going to pre-school since she was 4. But one thing which was obvious, it was tiring for her . Previously, she only went to morning school from 8 am which ended at 11.30 am but now, she went to school as early as 7 am and only back at home at 1 pm. Then at 2.30 pm, off to the Islamic school, back at home again at 6 pm. Poor kid. But I guess  I have to rely on kids' super ability to adapt to things and to adjust their mind and body to the daily schedule.

One day, back from the Islamic school, she related this story:

Syahidah: Mak, tadi cikgu tanya siapa nak jadi penolong ketua kelas.

              Mom, the teacher asked us who would like to be the class leader's assistant.

Me: Syahidah angkat tangan ke?

      Did you put up your hand?

Syahidah: Ha'ah, Syahidah pun angkat tangan, jadi la penolong ketua 

              kelas.

              Yes, I did, and I became the class leader's assistant.

Me: Syahidah sorang je ke angkat tangan?

      Were you the only one who volunteered?

Syahidah: Tak la. Ada lagi yang lain angkat tangan. Tapi tak ramai

               yang sokong diorang.

               No. There were others. But they didn't get enough supporters.

Me: Ooo... ramai yang sokong Syahidah ek?

      Ooo... lots of people supported you then?

Syahidah: Haah, semua kawan Syahidah sokong.

              Yes, all my friends supported me.

On 6th January:

Syahirah Nor Ain was born 9 years ago with the birth weight of 2.56 kg. But now, she has grown up, in fact taller for her age. Just short a couple of inches from her 12-year-old sister. Looking at her, I can't believe that she was the tiny baby which I once hold in my arms. It is quite an amazement to see her growing . Soon, she will be even taller than me . 

She has the love for food and when it came to her favorite dishes, she would definitely ask for second helping (and sometimes for third). And I often teased her by rubbing her full stomach each time she finished a meal. This year, she started the countdown to her birthday way back since December. And she already made up her mind what present she wanted for her birthday. I just love to tease her by saying that this year, her birthday is postponed to next year or this year, there's no 6th of January .

On 6th January as well:

Syafiqah Nor Aisyah was born 6 years after Syahirah. During her first year  of life, I had a maid who take care of her while I'm working. Then when we terminated the maid, we send Syafiqah to a nursery. She changed a lot following that. Initially, she's too clingy, fearful of unfamiliar faces (including my parents and other relatives whom we don't meet frequently) and reluctant to mix and play together with kids her age (such as her cousins). But after being sent to the nursery, her social skills improved and I'm very glad of the positive changes.

Well, of course, there are a few setbacks of sending a kid to a nursery such as prone to infectious illnesses and the vocabularies that she picked up from the others in the nursery. Once I heard her singing (in her 'pelatness', of course) this modified birthday song:

Happy birthday to you,

Cikgu panggil kamu,

Kamu buat tak tau,

Cikgu lempang kamu.

Yikes!!! Kids absorbed like a sponge eh?

Anyhow, wishing my dear girls a very happy birthday. They may share the same birthdate and have a special bonding between them but each has her own uniqueness and characteristics. May they grow up to be good muslimahs. Amiinn...

Every year, for the past few years, my hubby and a few of his colleagues (mostly Citibankers), organized a fund collection for an orphanage. The choice of orphanage varies from year to year. The fund collected is usually used to buy necessities for the kids in the orphanage. This year, it was Rumah Silaturrahim Nurul Qana'ah, Greenwood, Gombak.  In conjunction with the 'Back to school' theme, quite a handsome sum of money was collected and the money was efficiently managed to buy school uniforms, shoes, socks and stationery. In addition, the kids were treated to lunch at Sekinchan Ikan Bakar, Sri Gombak. And still got extra money which was also donated to the orphanage. Well, what do you expect from bankers eh? Money management is their forte . 

Below is the full story of the activity plus pictures. Credit to husband's colleague, Faizal,  for this special bulletin. Actually, this piece is good enough to be included in Kosmo .

You don't have to be in any NGOs or societies to perform an act of kindness such as this. It is just a question of whether you want to or not. May this effort continues in years to come. And may more people lend their hands in any way they can. Because it is in giving, we receive . InsyaAllah. 

Received a sad news the other day about the death of a younger brother of a colleague. He died of a heart attack at the age of 36. Oh dear... that's young. I've heard similar stories and news for the past few years now. It seemed that the people who suffered from these attacks are getting younger and younger, especially the males.

And being a female, should I breathe a sigh of relief? I know females are somewhat protected from these cardiovascular diseases (for a period of time). I know, having the female hormone estrogen is the main factor why the females can avoid these diseases (again for a period of time). But this protection has its expiry. Once the menopause knock on the door, the risk of getting the diseases is comparable to the males. And menopause is such a misleading term. It is not a pause at all. It's permanent. Should call it menonomore.

And this morning, while I was drinking SoyRich drink, I thought to myself, ughh... this drink may be rich in soy, but so not rich in taste. Of course, with no added sugar, low in fat, no cholesterol... that equals to bland in taste. So, how to change this way of thinking (and attitude towards food)? Yang berlemak, yang bergaram, yang bergula tu la yang sedap. But those are the ones which are hazardous to the health. Tepuk dada tanya jantung?

Oh mann... This is a very long-due blog entry. 

It started with my birthday which coincided with Hari Raya Aidilfitri celebration months ago. So since I celebrated 'together-gether' with the whole family, there was no 'me and hubby' so-called celebration la.. And I said to him, you owe me a treat.

And we finally had a lunch date not long after that. In the Wadi Hadramawt Restaurant, located at Jalan Ampang.

A 2-storey eating place serving Arab cuisine. The low level was quite full of patrons so we opted for the first floor. Tak de orang, we were the only people who were willing to climb the stairs to the upper floor.

We shared this dish of Chicken Mandy. The serving is huge. The rice was excellent.

We also shared this Lamb Kebab

which came with this large bread. We barely ate the bread, not because of the taste but too full with rice already. Furthermore, tekak Melayu, bukan pandai makan roti masa lunch.

And we had this dish of grilled prawns.

with its accompanying sauce.

For drinks, we had iced lemon tea. Definitely different in taste as compared to teh o ais limau kedai mamak atau gerai tepi jalan.

Coming back from Cameron Highlands, we stopped by Ipoh which is quite close if you exited via Simpang Pulai. Since the kids were denied the opportunity of splashing in a pool at Cameron Highlands, we decided to make a stop at Ipoh and paid a visit to Lost World of Tambun.

We had reservations for 2 rooms at Impiana Hotel, Ipoh and we were able to get the adjoining rooms.


The hotel's rate was RM180 per night per room and with that, we were entitled to free tickets to Lost World of Tambun for 2 adults and 1 kid. I think that was a good deal indeed, considering the tickets' price are quite pricey.

We arrived at Lost World quite early the next day. A very short drive from the hotel. Plus minus 15 minutes. Not many people yet, maybe because it's a weekday. The Lost World of Tambun is owned and developed by the Sunway Group thus the setting and the concept is similar to Sunway Lagoon of KL.

There are water parks which include a sandy bay area and kids' pool.


There are also hot springs pools, a pool which is moderately hot and another pool which is slightly hotter. And of course for more extreme water experience there were rides such as cliff racer and tube raiders. We skipped that.

After a dip into the pool, you can take a tour around the park by riding on its train or can simply stroll along the way. There are a range of activities that can be enjoyed by the kids, and adults too.

Petting zoo: for up close and personal experience with small animals like rabbits etc

The tiger valley, watch out for its feeding show schedule. And other shows as well. We didn't wait for any of the show. The kids' priority is getting wet, wetter and wettest.

Can also opt for activities like paddle boat, fish feeding, geese feeding and pony ride.

And there are a few rides ranging from the mildest one such as the carousel

and the more extreme ones such as this swinging thing. The kids declined the extreme rides and I'm happy with that decision...

In addition, there are also booths akin to funfair kind of activities where you have to buy tokens to play.

After the second round of splashing around, the kids had ice-creams and I tried the waffle. 

We headed back to the hotel not long after that. But I do feel somewhat lost. Because in the brochure, there's a mention of activity like cave excursion but we did not see the entrance or any signage to that direction. But there is one Kepura Cave which can be used for a meeting room or any other group's event.

So, if you ask me, which one is more happening between Lost World of Tambun and Sunway Lagoon, I suppose Sunway Lagoon is more fun. But Lost World of Tambun can be developed further and more rides and activities can be added.

Besides a taste of Tambun, we also experienced Ipoh a bit. Unfortunately we did not have the chance to taste the infamous Mee Rebus Ramli but we had dinner at Dataran Ipoh, close to Ipoh Municipal building.


We tried the Char Kue Teow with prawns. Ok la, not bad. And memang happening la tempat ni malam-malam. Lots of stalls to choose from. Kalau nasib baik, dapat tempat yang sedap. Kalau tak, well, telan je la.

And of course, Lost World of Tambun is just not enough for the kids. They again had another splashing episode at the hotel's pool. 



After all, kids will be kids...