Monthly Archives: February 2015

xin nin kwai le

Posted in Everyday Life by

Its a long weekend for the general public and I am grateful to have at least a full 2 days off as compared to them. Despite not celebrating the Chinese New Year (CNY) .. I am still in a festive moodΒ and trying to enjoy my quality time with my parents and of course Mr Husband and Hazeeq.

I try to make it a habit of visiting my parents at least once a month to see how they’re doing. Occasionally they would drive over to my place for a change of air.

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My neighbour who is celebrating the CNY has been very quiet for the past 2 days. Perhaps they are celebrating elsewhere as we have yet to see the festive side of them for the past 3 years we’ve been living in this neighbourhood. I was looking forward to some lion dance and firecrackers or a glimpse of the lovely sweets and cakes but the gate is closed shut. HUhu.

After 2 full days at my parents house, it’s time to go home. The traffic from their placeΒ to ours was incredibly smooth. It was ugly yesterday as stated on the news. We heard that the journey from Malacca to Kelantan took up to 12 hours by car. Say what?? Thank god my parents house is just a football game away. Although it could get up to 5 hours, at most. Yikes.

Prior to reaching home,Β we stopped at Old Town White Coffee at KIP Mart for lunch. One of those places where people don’t seem to frequent at that hour of the day. We love lengang places. We abhor overcrowded areas unless we have to.

Anyway, HAppy CNY.

Xin nin kwai le..Β 

Mr Husband requested a camwhoring session

Mini Project : Buku2 Malaysia

Posted in Mini Project by

It is time to get acquaintedΒ with our talented writers in the local scene. Hence, I couldn’t thank enough lejenpress for restoring my faith in reading Malay genre books after Kapal Angkasa Yang Terhempas Di Subang Jaya .

But lets not be greedy. Let’s take it one step at a time and make some ground rules regarding what kind of books I’d like on my shelf. Ones that I wouldn’t feel embarrassed to share with other people or show around when visitorsΒ come over to the house. We do want to appear well read, huh? HIhihihi..

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Avoid picisan.

Avoid poor language. Slanga driven books. Im reading a book. Not a diary.

Avoid books that start with Tales of malaysian bla bla bla.. . In a way, avoid anecdote-like books. Or compilation of short stories.

Oh well. Talking about avoiding. I did start off the year with a book that himpunkan kisah2 pendek. It was by a blog writer. I was swooned by the title : Desaturasi Merah Jambu. It felt poetic and indie. I used to read Perempuan JOmblo’sΒ blog religiously someΒ time ago when I was a medical student butΒ then I got absorbed into my daily routine as the nonappreciated, burnt out, love-less house officer working in a busy hospital. Thus, have missed out quite a lot over the years.

Now that I’m more stable *ahem* , I am able to indulge in my favourite pastime of scrap-booking, blogΒ writing plusΒ hopping and book reading. So it was nice to reconnect with her stories and boy.. a lot has happened it seems.

Anyway, this year will be an ode to our local writers. I welcome suggestions of books to read.Β Nothing too extreme I hope. Something different and mind-opening I plead. It doesn’t have to be written in Bahasa Melayu. In fact, some of our local writers write excellentΒ English books. Here’s to a year of Buku2 Malaysia.

Yogyakarta : Food And Ole – Ole

Posted in Everyday Life, Leisure & Travel by

To be honest, after the 2nd day I can’t palate another Indonesian dish. I was craving for spaghetti or something cheesy instead.

Mr Husband seems to love its food. He had Lontong, Kueytiew Ala cina, Nasi Daging and such. I could only stomach the Nasi Penyek whole heartedly as it was a familiar taste. The rest of the cuisine was just too spicy for my liking. We did however splurge on their snacks and brought back loads of interesting tidbits as ole-ole (souvenirs). You could try bringing back home its delicious brownies, their local chocolate confectionary branded as MONGGO, bakpia, fruit cake, kerepek pisang sale (pronounced as sah-ley), Good Day instant coffee and of course Indonesia’s pride.. teh kotak or teh botol.

I drank the teh kotak till I pee-d the clear colour of pure spring water. That’s how much I loved it.

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Overall, it was a pleasant and safe trip. We enjoyed it very much. We did not suffer from any food poisoning nor were we at the edge of getting mugged. We did however exceeded our hand luggage 7kg limit and had to ‘rearrange’ a few things in the bag.

Our Hotel βŒ‰ The 1-day tour βŒ‰Β Taman Sari & MalioboroΒ βŒ‰

 

Yogyakarta Day 2

Posted in Everyday Life, Leisure & Travel by

Day 2 was Free and Easy. We went to 2 places. This was on a Monday.

To be honest I think Taman Sari is officially closed for some official ceremony but the guy manning the place was more than willing to bring this family from Malaysia for a mini tour around the area. I say so because we did not buy any official ticket at an official booth nor did we have to get a camera pass like the ones they talk about in blogs.

Anyway, we were grateful for the personalized tour. Even if the guy lied about the history of the place we’d just swallow it whole like a kindie kid. In truth, he did not lie. Instead his face glows as he tells the story of the place.

Taman Sari is interesting and one could easily get lost within the many spiraling and small streets. This place was once a place for the sultan to rest and play. Now, the compound is inhabited by the locals who are helping to preserve the taman  for tourism purposes. So to get to the bath house you’ll have to pass through a housing lane and to get to the underground mosque you have to use the neighbours staircase.. things like that. A palace within the commoners. So don’t be a Scrooge and just pay for a tourist guide.

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It’s a very smart and practical place to begin with. And they used a lot of natural influences in building and running the palace. For instance, the king has two beds in his room. One had running water underneath the ‘mattress planks’ for cold conditioning and if its gets to freezing temp, he’ll move to the other bed where there are hot ashes underneath the planks.

We wanted to continue with a visit to Kraton. But it was also closed for an official event. So we got on a beca and headed to Malioboro – a shopping destination.

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Malaysians just like our Indonesian cousins are obsessed with clothes and batik and such.

We bought memorabilia items like T shirts and keychains. A few batik -like outfits for Hazeeq and his cousins as well. Mr Husband enjoyed haggling for the best price. So I let him do the talking.

We did not rush but once again it rained towards the later half of the day. This time no room service but Mr Husband bought kebabs and tidbits for supper.

Our Hotel βŒ‰Β  The 1-Day Tour βŒ‰ Food &Β Ole-OleΒ βŒ‰

Yogyakarta : Day 1

Posted in Everyday Life, Leisure & Travel by

We hired a supir for 12 hours but ended up finishing our excursion in less than 10 hours because Hazeeq was getting cranky from the Avanza ride. Our Supir’s name was Fitrah. He was a sub for the original supir Arnaaz, a nice fella we met at the airport. Arnaz was actually our taxi driver from the airport to the hotel.

This was the plan for the day : Candi Borobudur β†’ Gunung Merapi β†’ Candi Prambanan

Candi Borobudur

Foreigner : IDR 250K/pax

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With such extravagant fee, we had a complimentary 330mls of bottled water each. I was in awe of the architecture of the place and the surroundings. Never have I seen a place so at peace with nature befitting its role as a place for worship. Eventhough I am a Muslim and this place is best known for its Buddha practices, I still wish that some visitors would be more respectful towards it. I hate how some would freely climb onto the sacred structures or out of habit clear their throats on the wonderful green grass. Like, helloooo..

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We spent just an hour at the place as the place was getting hotter by the hour with the crowd of people piling in.

Gunung Merapi

General entrance fee : IDR6K/pax

Jeep ride : depend on chosen route

We had doubts on whether Hazeeq would enjoy the jeep ride. We chose the shortest route which was still a 1.5 hour journey that cost IDR 300K per jeep. I wouldn’t recommend this jeep ride to pregnant mothers, elderly with bone and joint problems, a heart condition, severe asthmatic sufferers or those with anxiety attacks.

Hazeeq loved the bumpy rocky ride.

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We also had an overly enthusiastic jeep driver who even directed certain photograph poses for us. We couldn’t help noticing that slight irritated tone when Mr Husband can’t seem to follow his instructions on how to pose. Ha ha ha.

Candi Prambanan

Fee : IDR 20K/pax

Yogyakarta-prambanan

We wanted to pay the foreigner fee (very honest tourist we are) but was ushered to the local’s ticketing office instead. So we were like, ‘okay…. ‘. We got in with a local price and again I was struck by its magnificence. A Hindu temple in almost ruins during the earthquake.

The walk around this candi was quicker as there were less space to cover. We spent more time on lunch and feeding the deers. Even Fitrah, our supir was surprised at how fast we finished the trip. He even offered to take us to one more place to finish the 12 hours as promised. We declined. We needed to rest. Hazeeq needed a nap before he morphs into Hulk.

On our way back o the hotel it rained. So dinner was again, room service. I have to say it was an exhausting 10 hours especially when you’re bringing a 3 year old. Cause sometimes he just refuses to walk and you’re stuck in having to carry him or it could be the complete opposite when Hazeeq would be like this crazy energizer bunny and wouldn’t stop running.

So be advised to have breakfast before even starting the trip and have your lunches promptly. Feed the little monster in good intervals and wear comfortable footwear. Bring a hat. Bring a paper fan. Prepare small change for snacks and water.

Our HotelΒ βŒ‰Β Taman Sari & MalioboroΒ βŒ‰ Food &Β Ole OleΒ βŒ‰