A Beautiful Holiday

We just came back from Langkawi. Thoroughly enjoyed our time there that I feel compelled to write about it. I was apprehensive at first about the trip. Can we manage 4 screaming kids? 500 km on the road and 2.5 hours of ferry ride? But thanks to Papaboyz's meticulous plannings, we survived! I decided that i should allow myself to relax (not that I can do that much with 4 boys running and jumping), but I refused to think about the patients in the ward, the pending consultant referrals and medical reports. Or my upcoming medical exam and the lectures and the 3000 questions I need to do. Or my arabic classes and the fi'il conjugations and sarf and vocabs and AlKahfi grammar reviews... (yeah serve me right for not choosing arabic at school). Or the renovations of a new unit that we've got. I decided not to think about any of it. 

It's just time for sightseeing, shopping, chocolates, eating, swimming. And 4 screaming kids. (means no spa for me).

We took Langkawi Ro-Ro's ferry from Kuala Perlis (brought our car to the island). Quite a nice experience. The sitting area was comfortable and air-conditioned (with movie shows) and it had a shop that sold coffee and snacks. But the top deck was amazing. Open sitting area with magnificent views of the sea and small islands. On the way back we camped there, enjoying the strong sea breeze. I just loved the smell of the sea and watching the sparkles on the waves under the hot sun. 

We stayed at Bella Vista Hotel. OK. Loved Lonepine Penang more. Not generous I would say. 

We visited Oriental Village and Langkawi Skycab (cable car). Very very nice place. It reminded me of some of tourists' attraction places in Europe. The cable car although Papaboyz had to queue almost 90 minutes for it but the management let me and baby Anas along with the boys to wait at a dedicated rest area. So it was comfortable. And the ride was spectacular! We were hit by fog and our ears became full and we found out that Ammar was afraid of height. There were 2 stations. The 2nd station was 700m above sea level and we had warm burgers on wooden platforms there. The birds and crickets were loud and the wind cold. The skies couldn't be bluer. I almost wished I could pray there. In peace I mean.

Then the wildlife park was also amazing. The kids (and me) get to feed the animals from our own hands. I noticed the parrots' tongue looked hard, I think. And black, haha. And I watched the birds skillfully cracked the sunflower seeds. They are in bright colours, and one pheasant even looked golden. Colours don't match, but they were beautiful. Allah Al-Musawwir. You can pet donkeys and hug rabbits there, but errr.. not for me. And if you want to try feed porcupines with long beans while they climb on you, this is the place. Yes, I do think whoever enjoys feeding porcupines are special people. Like the park staff who did that. The porcupines loved him. 

We also went to Galeria Perdana. Of course I could not miss that. Not many people were there. The kids could not appreciate the place except for the vastness of it. I could understand why the place was built. Where else Tun M could possibly store all those gifts? But the thing I admired most was the portrait of the 2 great men and, of course, the magnificent ceilings.

Everyone knows Langkawi is a duty free chocolate heaven. We allowed unlimited chocolates for the boys. They said this is chocolate vacation. The ate chocolate for breakfast, snacks and supper. Papaboyz said maybe I should work in Hospital Langkawi. Yeah, I should consider it. Seriously. 

We ate lots of food. We searched the famous Laksa Power, rice noodles in thick spicy fish gravy sold from a lorry. They open tables by the beach near Langkawi Airport. It was served with cold sweet creamy cendol. I looked around. No other attraction there. The beach is not suitable for swimming. The sand hot. No shopping malls. People came solely for the laksa. Yes I ate 2 bowls. I declared it the 2nd best laksa I've ever tasted. (The best laksa is my Mom's, and I don't say this because I'm her daughter). Laksa Power reminded me of a Laksa Kedah stall in Chow Kit Road that I used to frequent during my student days in Hospital Kuala Lumpur.

We also went to Wan Thai Restaurant. Authentic Siamese cooking. Even the omelette was crispy and extra yummy, I wonder why. The sweet sour prawns were superb, I could tell the fresh prawns were fried in butter first (I don't know whether this is true or not). Haha. Whatever. 

Adam finished 3 mystery novels during our vacation. I didn't finish mine. That's how 2013 is. I only read like 15 books! tsk tsk tsk...

Now we are already back home. I'm 2 kilos heavier and a tone darker. But it was worth it. Tomorrow our lives will resume its usual schedule. I'll be back in my elements. I love the wards. And the seas. Haha. No they don't contradict. Both have abundant signs from the Creator. If only I stop and think. 

Weekend Getaway (Pesta Buku!!!)

Ya, kami pergi ke Pesta Buku KL (buat pertama kali).

Eyyyyy best sangat hahaha... partly because it was unplanned. Sepatutnya saya standby untuk medical team bagi acara Kejohanan Hoki Remaja Asia yang sedang berlangsung di Melaka sekarang (Malaysia is in the final, besok ok). Saya dalam hati agak kecewa tapi nak menyedapkan hati saya kata, alahh nanti2 boleh je cari buku kat kedai (tak sama ok, now I know). Takpelahh kalau tak ada rezeki nak pegi maknanya itu yang terbaik, kan.

Tapi tiba2 saya dikecualikan dari acara untuk weekend lepas kerana errrr ada insiden berunsurkan 'sexual discrimination' berlaku (hahaha tak kuasa nak layan). Yang penting tiba-tiba free jadi terus buat keputusan bercuti hujung minggu di KL. Tentunya satu-satunya pilihan hotel ialah Seri Pacific PWTC. Terima kasih Seri Pacific kerana room rate tak mahal sangat :)

The plan was, check in hotel, Papaboyz bawak budak-budak pergi berenang di kolam dan saya pergi berpesta!

Sampai je tengah hari Sabtu (5 Mei 2012), MasyaAllah! Ramainya manusia berpusu-pusu, dengan bas-bas sekolah yang beratur panjang di tepi jalan sekitar PWTC tu. Tak tangkap gambar pulak.

Lepas check in terus pergi buat tawaf sulung. Budak-budak dan Papaboyz pun ikut sekali. Tak sampai sejam budak-budak dah tak tahan sebab sesak sangat. Nasib baik jumpa booth Upin Ipin.

Di booth Upin Ipin

Lepas 1 round, balik hotel dulu

Dah rehat kejap, the boys pergi mandi kolam dan saya sambung meronda. Kalau yang first round tadi cover Bilik (Dewan?) Mawar, round kedua pula cover Bilik-bilik Negeri (siapa pernah ke PWTC tahulah kan) dan Dewan Tun Hussein Onn, dan keesokannya jelajah tingkat 2 pula.

Hasil?

Sebelum hasil tangkapan, ada hasil lain iaitu pengalaman. Tahun depan kalau nak pergi bawa troli pasar yang kecik tu (macam Mynie kat Mesra Buku), atau bawa backpack yg macam nak pergi hiking tu. Kalau tak sakit bahu nak pegang beg-beg semua. Lepas tu kalau nak betul-betul menghayati pesta buku tu, tak boleh pegi satu trip je, kena pegi banyak kali (hehe, nak cakap suruh buat macam saya lah tu kan). Baru boleh nampak publisher yang jarang-jarang kelihatan. Contohnya, ada banyak publisher dari negara luar yang join. Dari Indonesia, Singapura, Turki dan China yang saya perasan. Itu pun saya rasa terkilan juga tak sempat betul-betul tengok buku-buku diorang.

Lagi satu, pergi hari terakhir :). Ada banyak extra discount tapi tak ada buku yang habis yer jgn risau. Telaga Biru further reduced discounted books from 20% to 30% (ada as low as rm 5), True Wealth dropped from 15% to 25% and Galeri Ilmu gave extra coupons of further 20% from display prices.

Cuma saya sangat bersyukur kerana berjumpa dengan publisher dari Singapura ni, Darul Andalus namanya. Mereka keluarkan buku-buku cerita Bahasa Arab untuk kanak-kanak mengikut peringkat, dengan terjemahan BM dan English. Saya sudah lama mencari set buku sebegini dari Manchester ke Cairo ke Malaysia (overrrnya :P), tapi tak jumpa (mungkin tak bersungguh sangat mencari). Saya terus melabur untuk ketiga-tiga set. Bukan untuk budak-budak, tapi untuk saya (padan muka sekarang, masa sekolah taknak belajar arabic).

Inilah publishernya

Set Asas

Contoh dalam set asas

Set tahap II

Contoh dalam set tahap II

Set tahap III

Contoh dalam set tahap III

Ok buku2 lain:

Merchandise Ana Muslim untuk anak buah

Untuk anak buah jugak

Majalah Upin ipin

Buku latihan untuk budak (rm 1 each)

Hadiah untuk mak saya (tapi sebelum bagi dah habis baca dulu :))

Telaga Biru- harga runtuh hari terakhir

Al-Quran macam-macam gaya, rasa nak ambik je mana berkenan

Set buku untuk Abid

Antara buku yang rm5 tu, kena lah ambik satu kan, lagipun saya suka buku yang ada nama tempat sebagai tajuk :P

Ini kes terpengaruh dengan book review orang lain

Buku2 baru dari favourite authors, suka suka! especially yg paling kanan tu :)

Haaa tu pasal lah saya suka, sebab terselit puisi-puisi dalam dia

Signed by the author :)

rm 2 each

From True Wealth (penulis jutawan? hehe)

Betul ke ada 90 ubat mengandungi sumber babi?

Malam tu terus buat workbook

pagi besoknya sambung lagi buat workbook

Acara tahunan? InsyaAllah.. :)