The lil’ dude and his family…

I know that it has been a month since we’ve gotten back from our trip and I still have yet to finish posting up pictures. Blame it on work. :P Anyway, here are the pictures from our time in London. Too malas to write anythinglah. Kerja berlambak!

We left for Paris on Christmas Eve. Many flights were cancelled due to the snow and the bad weather but thankfully easyjet did not cancel our flight. The Ciampino airport was just madness but we are lucky to be travelling with Irfan because they gave way for families with toddlers everywhere. We didn’t have to queue for more than an hour to check-in and didn’t have to wait for long to board the plane either. :)

The ride was smooth and when we arrived at Orly, we took the train to Gare Du Nord as I chose an apartment near the station since we’d be taking the Eurostar to London. Weather was cold and it took us quite a while to get to Gare Du Nord because we screwed the tickets up somehow and while waiting at the Anthony Metro station, paranoia kicked in. Irwan had to repurchase the tickets to Du Nord so he had to leave me and the luggages and for a moment there it was just me and some queer looking chaps at the station. I was just wary of everyone and when one guy kept staring at me and getting closer and closer to me, I just wanted to cry. Pathetic I know but I was pretty much alone and that incident in Rome kept coming back to me so yeah, when Irwan finally arrived with Irfan, it was a big huge relief for me. And the guy? He went to the other side of the platform after that. Go figure. Heh.

When we arrived at the apartment (about 200sf in size) we immediately fell in love with the place. Oklah, the place is a bit small but the owners have done it up nicely and we were happy to be at a homey place. Metro station is just about 2 mins walk and there is this grocery store that sells halal meat. There were a few Asian stores for me to find my “ingredients” as well so we were very happy with our choice. :)

A lot of places were closed because it was the Christmas Eve but we walked around the area for a bit until we couldn’t tahan the coldness no more.

The next day we took the Metro and headed over towards La Fayette as the bus stop for the hop on hop off bus was near the famous shopping mall. We had our lunch at one of the restaurants along Champs-Élysées and that place was just packed with people! Irfan had fun being able to run around just about everywhere so I just let him be lah although I was kesejukan like mad!! I think the temperature that day was about 0° or 1°. All I wanted to do was stay in a room with the heater on full blast! :P

When we got to Eiffel Tower, the queue to go up was just too crazy! I’ve been all the way up already so it was more of Irwan’s call if he wanted to queue. Since the weather was too cold and he didn’t want to freeze his a** off, we didn’t bother queueinglah. There were a lot of pigeons there and when about 20 of them came near us, Irfan started crying his lungs out! He said he was scared of them. Instead of pacifying him, I took the chance to snap some shots of him wailing. Yes, tak baik I know, but couldn’t help itlah. :P

Irwan did the tour of Le Louvre the next day while Irfan and I hopped from La Fayette to Printemps to H&M. I didn’t see the point in dragging the poor boy to stare at artsy-fartsy stuff so I volunteered to babysit him (and get some shopping done) while Irwan spent some few hours at the museum. We met up with him back towards the later part of the evening and spent some time strolling the area. The next time I’m coming back to Paris will be during bearable weather months because the city is just lovely and when it gets too cold, you miss out on a lot of stuff because you cannot bear being outside and getting frostbites! Heh.

I checked the Eurostar’s website that night to see if our train is still on schedule to depart for London the next day and thankfully, they’ve resumed their services again. But the same cannot be said for the London-Paris service as the weather in London was/is still too cold and I heard that they were cancelling on a lot of them. I pity those people who have had to miss their Christmas gatherings and what not due to the erratic bad weather. :(

Our train ride was good but the train was going slower than it should but I guess they just want to be on the safe side. The couple seated next to us had two kids with them and Irfan was having fun playing with Alex - the 2.5 year old boy and Amelie - the 18 months old chubby girl. Alex had this sticker magazine with him and Irfan made us promise that we’ll get him one when we arrive in London. I can’t find those sticker magazines in KL - has any one of you seen them?

We arrived at King’s Cross Station 40 minutes behind schedule and there were just throngs of people there! Anyway, here are some photos of us in Paris and I shall continue the last bit in the next post because work is calling already! :P 

We left KL on 18th of December and arrived in London close to midnight. Weather? Well below freezing point. The plane ride? Quite good. Airport hotel? Mengarut to the max!

Since we were planning to take the first flight out of London to Rome the next day, I didn’t see the point in staying in a posh hotel for 6 hours. So I booked us in a small hotel that only costed us about £39 per night. Not too shabby, right? Wrong! Apparently the hotel couldn’t “claim” the money from my credit card (because I had to send it back to the bank since the CVV couldn’t be seen anymore) and so we got charged £79 instead! Blardy hell, had I known, we’d have just stayed at Hilton for that same amount of moolah. Dahlah kasi bilik kat atas and then berbau rokok. Gah!

Fast forward to the next day, it was our flight to Rome via Ryan Air. The queue at the airport was massive because I guess everyone wants to go home/somewhere for Christmas but we managed to sort our luggages out (1 bag per person and 15kg per bag and it doesn’t matter if you’re travelling on the same itinerary because there is to be no pooling of weight amongst the 3 of us - it was quite hell-ish packing 3 bags and making sure that they’re all 15kg per bag) and waited for the annoucement for our boarding gate. Ryan Air has already a month before the flight sent out an email saying that our flight would be delayed by two hours (and that has made all the necessary arrangements in Rome and Sorrento go haywire) and when we got passed security at Stansted, we were told that the flight would be delayed for another two hours! Guh-reat!

Upon arriving at Ciampino Airport, which is relatively small (and quiet) even by our LCCT’s standards, we had to go pick up the rented car to drive to Sorrento (Southern Italy). With 3 luggages, a stroller and a toddler, you’d wish that the rental car office/desk is in the airport itself, right? But nope, we had to drag everything with us for about 15-20 minutes walk outside with cars going in every direction.

Traffic getting out of Rome was quite bad but getting into Sorrento was even worse! Everyone was out shopping or dining and instead of arriving at our destination 2 hours after we left, I think it took us about 3.5 hours to get to the hotel. By the time we settled in, it was almost 8pm and with the wind from the sea blowing directly at us, I was freezing as h*ll!

The next day, we drove around Sorrento, Positano and Amalfi Coast. Not many restaurants were opened but we managed to find a small and quaint Italian/Mediterranean restaurant that served one of the best stuff I’ve eaten during our trip. :) Irwan had fun negotiating the bends from Sorrento all the way to Amalfi Coast.

We headed back for Rome after spending 2 nights in Sorrento and got to our cute lil’ hotel near the Termini Station after going through more jams in Sorrento and Rome. Sigh. What a waste of time, man!

It rained the next day but we had two umbrellas with us and Irfan was having fun playing in the rain as well. We visited lots of fountains and monuments and churches and by the end of the day I was feeling tired from walking in the rain and suggested to Irwan that we should take the train back instead. What a big horrendous mistake that was. :(

At the Barberini metro station, there was hardly anyone around us when we were waiting for the train. So when the train arrived, we immediately boarded it but to our surprise, someone was sort of blocking Irwan and the stroller and I felt something amiss because never in my entire life of travelling anywhere that such thing has happened before. People would always give way to a parent with stroller.  2 seconds later I could feel that there were at least 5 people behind me trying to push their way in. And we were still trying to get the stroller inside the blasted train. 3 seconds later, I felt someone’s hand inside my handbag (which was zipped) and tugged it immediately! As though on cue, the perpetrator who was “blocking” our way moved in and so Irwan and Irfan who was in the stroller could go in. I related to Irwan in BM about what happened and while talking to him, I looked at my handbag and sigh, the zip was opened and my wallet gone. I wanted to scream, and I wanted to hit all the bitches that were behind me but all I could do was cry. Rome was the start of our journey so I do have quite a substantial amount of cash in my wallet. Yes, I wanted to leave them in the safe deposit box but because we were rushing in the morning, I completely had forgotten all about it. All the what ifs, could haves, should haves came to mind but my RM3,500 will not come back to melah, kan? Next time, just use the blardy credit cards! Even if that means wreaking havoc in the budget but at least the money was spent on me and not some stooooopid gypsies. Urgh! I seriously hope they’ll die a slow painful death. Gah!

So then I had to make all the necessary calls to Malaysia to cancel my credit cards and asked from AMEX and VISA for a replacement card since I’ve got no cash whatsoever to survive. :P Next was to walk to the nearest police station to make a report but I was turned away because I did not have any ID (passport was left at the hotel) with me. Habis tu, dah my wallet kena curi? Duh! We had to walk for about 30 minutes (because I just refused to take the train again since they can’t even letak bloody CCTVs in the metro station knowing that this pickpocket business is so rampant there!) and I just wanted to collapse. All my energy was gone and I was furious, upset, disappointed, etc etc and I didn’t have an ounce of energy left to walk to the Termini station to lodge the report. But we did anyway.

Upon arriving, there was an Arab couple who was pickpocketed and just before we left, there was a group of Japanese people who shared the similar experience as well. In a span of 1 hour and in 1 police station, 3 people were making reports that they were pickpocketed. I wonder if the same ratio applies in Kuala Lumpur. Hrmmmmm…

Anyway, I couldn’t really sleep that night but vowed not to let this sh*tty incident affect our holiday. Sh*t happens and there is nothing I can do about it. So the next day we hopped on the “hop-on-hop-off bus” and toured the whole of Rome.

Here are some photos from our journey and I will continue on in the next post. :)

Maaf zahir dan batin. :)

Below are photos taken after my brother’s graduation together with his girlfriend’s family. It’s been a while since the pictures were taken but I’ve been awfully busy! Pft.

So to those who are driving back to their hometown or going for a holiday - please drive safe. And to those of you who are like me and tak balik kampung - enjoy the jam-free road!! Wheeee… :)

We tagged Irwan (yet again!) for the BMW Peformance Day and this time around it was held in Kuching. I prefer Kuching to KK as it is somewhat cleaner and more organised than KK; although their taxis are just as cekik darah  but most of the time we had the rented Harrier + one of the event peeps to drive us around to get the Sarawak kek lapis and ikan terubuk masin. :)

On Saturday night, we went for dinner with another couple and had lala, steamed kerapu, empat ekor lobsters, prawns, fried rice and vegetable and the damage was only RM147.90!!!! Imagine.. we had FOUR lobsters and the price was that. Damn! Must go Kuching again. Haha! So if any of you guys are going to Kuching, do visit Top Spot Seafood Centre. ;)

We stayed at Four Points by Sheraton and the room and bed and pool and food were just amazing! Too bad it was only for the weekend. Ah well, next timelah kot? :P

And oh, I brought along my new toy to play with - the Canon 24-105mm f/4L IS lens. I’m officially b.r.o.k.e. And then there’s the diving course I’m taking up. And the trip at the end of the year! Eeeeppp.. no new baju raya for me this year! :P 

Last weekend was pretty much hectic for all of us. Irwan had to clock crazy hours on Thursday until the wee hours of the morning on Friday, and then went for the BMW Practice at Sepang on Friday evening and I had to bring Irfan to SJMC that Friday night as his runny nose wasn’t getting any better. On the same night, I also had to pack for all of us as we were going away on Saturday to Genting and PD.

On Saturday morning, Irwan had to go to the Shah Alam circuit first for his annual Australian Alumni Go-Kart Race. And since 2005, Monash has been winning the race and so it wasn’t a surprise that this year Irwan and his team won again. Yay! Immediately after he finished his race, we left for Genting. Traffic was ok and so was the weather. Irwan was already late for his registration and so I dropped him off at the entrance of the theme park and proceeded to park. I think the parking angel was with me because I immediately got a parking spot the moment I entered the carpark. Heh.

When we got to the go-kart area, the place was packed with Fly FM crews, BHP booths and many more. The race kicked off at about 1.15pm and 90 contestants had their go - 3 persons at one go - and had their time clocked too. After Irwan was done, we proceeded to let Irfan have his fun - the bumper car being his favourite! :P

Not more than 15 minutes later, it poured. H.e.a.v.i.l.y. And we were stuck. But thank goodness we were stuck indoor and not under ‘em tents. When the rain started to slow down, we made our way back to the entrance to have lunch at Marrybrown as Irwan was given some vouchers for makan.

Out of the 90 contestants, only 30 will be chosen for the final round and since it rained not once, but twice that day, the whole event got delayed! By the time the names were announced, it was already 7pm! And we were suppose to be headed to PD already by this time. So yes, Irwan’s name was one of those 30 names that were announced and he had to run back to the car to get his helmet as now they allow the contestants to wear their own helmets pulak. I didn’t understand why they didn’t allow them to wear it at the start though. Oh well.

So yeah, there we were - Irfan and I - cheering for Irwan who sengaja wanted to go last so that everyone else would dry the track for him and I guess it was a good move too because although he said that his kart was really really slow, he managed to get 3rd place and walked away with RM 10,000!! Wheeeeee….!!

When everything was settled, we quickly made our way to the car and left for PD. Irfan slept the moment we hit the road as he only managed to nap for about 1.5 hours earlier on. Anyway, by the time we got to the hotel, it was almost midnight and I was just oh-so-tired! Wanted to sleep in the next morning but since our room was facing the pool and there were some other companies having their family day and what not, the noise was just unbearable and so Irfan and I decided to tag Irwan for breakfast before he has to leave us to attend his team building thingiemajigie.

After breakfast, Irfan and I went to the pool to have some fun. As he was still Mr.Sniffles, I didn’t allow him to rendam for long in the pool - 30 minutes tops. As usual, after swimming he’d be starving. So we made our way to PD town and had some Hainanese chicken rice. He finished the whole plate along with my fish ball soup too! And waddaya know? He was doing his big project while I was finishing up. Aiyah! How to sit in the carlah like that? In the end, I had to make him stand at the back seat and drive real slow back to the hotel. :P

We met Irwan back for lunch and it was during this time that I got annoyed with one of his colleagues - he was the acting Head of IT before Irwan joined Khazanah and took over the position as Head of IT. So anyway, this guy is having his wedding sometime this month. He has passed the invitation to Irwan a few weeks ago and Irwan told me that no kids are allowed at the wedding. Finelah, no worries. If noone can jaga Irfan that night, Irwan will just have to go without melah. No hal. So, while having lunch, Irfan was just walking around the room, checking things out and all that but did not disturb anyone. That’s just him. And I’d think it’s perfectly normal anyway for a 3 year old to be inquisitive and all that. But no, not to this guy. He was seated next to me, by the way and said this “You do know that your son will not be allowed to be at my wedding, right?” I answered “Yes, I’m aware that kids are not allowed to attend your wedding.” His reply to that “Yeah, it’s because your son is too notorious.” Notorious? Notorious? Really? Has he even seen how “notorious kids” behave??? For heaven’s sake, all my son did was to walk around and play with his cars on the chair while everyone else was having lunch - what’s the effing problem? He’s had his lunch anyway, so what? Does he expect kids to sit on the chair without moving a muscle? If he does, then good lucklah! I know that Irfan isn’t perfect. But he’s definitely NOT notorious! Gah! So annoyed I was that I tak selera to continue my lunch. And when I told Irwan about what the guy has said, Irwan’s reply was that to just ignore him because he’s just the sarcastic type and more often than not his choice of words are always out of context. What-ever! :P Thank god he was already done with his lunch and left a few minutes later. Else, I wouldn’t know what I’d have said to him. Eeeeee..!

So after lunch, Irwan had to return back for his team building stuff and I was having a hard time keeping my eyes opened. I told Irfan to play quietly with his cars while I took a nap and an hour later I woke up and the first thing I saw was him sleeping with his head on the edge of the bed while standing! Haha. He’s even packed all his cars nicely and put them in the pouch that Ira made for his birthday. I then put him on the bed nicely and packed all our stuff and waited for Irwan to be done. After checking out, we transferred Irfan to his carseat and he was still asleep. When we got home we took him out from his carseat and he was still asleep. The maid was vacuuming the living hall (where he was asleep) and he still did not wake up. Finally at about 8.30pm or so, he woke up and had some dinner and went back to sleep again. :) Penat sangatlah tu!

Irwan had to be in KK for the weekend to conduct the BMW Performance Day and since I have not been to KK (yes, very the malu), I thought that I might as well tag along and visit the negeri di bawah bayu. However, we didn’t stay by the beach (wanted to check out Tanjung Aru or Karambunai) because the event was held at the port and so we were put up at one of ‘em hotels in the city.

Irwan and the luggages left first on Friday morning and Irfan and I took the MAS flight in the evening. The fare difference was only about RM100 or so and since it was easier to take the train from KL Sentral to KLIA, I chose to fly with MAS. Traffic was just madness that evening but my brother managed to drop us off at KL Sentral by 6.20pm. Since I had already check-ed in via the web the night before, I just needed to go to the MAS counter at KL Sentral to get the boarding pass endorsed. We were on the KLIA Ekspres (which I got my driver to buy the tickets earlier so that I didn’t need to rush everwhere) by 6.30pm. Phew.

Irfan had a fun time being on the train and when we got to KLIA we still had time to munch some food. I wasn’t sure whether we’d be given food onboard so to be on the safe side, I got Irfan some nuggets from BK. When it was time to board the plane, they’d actually allow those with kids to board in first (unlike AA!!!!) and I was just so glad they did. It gave me time to make sure Irfan was comfortable because it was a 2.5 hours flight and I didn’t know what to expect of Irfan. Haha. But alhamdulillah, he slept after having nasi beriani for dinner.

We arrived in KK at about 10.25pm and Irfan was still asleep. So I carried him out of the plane to meet Irwan and damn.. that kid of mine is so heavy now! I almost broke my back!! We went straight to the hotel and I completely knocked out ’til the next morning. :P

Irwan had to leave early the next morning for the event so Irfan and I had breakfast at the San Francisco Coffee and he actually finished the scrambled eggs, toasted bread and sausages - I think I only had a quarter of the whole plate. After breakfast, I brought him to the waterfront which was across from where we were at because he wanted to see the boats and ships and the whole works. It was just too scorching hot for us to spend too much time there and so I brought him to the malls instead. (Apalah, go KK to shop.. :P)

We had lunch at one of the shops in the mall, and again, Irfan finished off my food. Haha. It was too hot outside and I was too tired anyway, so both of us went back to the hotel and had a l.o.n.g nap. By the time I got up, it was almost 5pm and got us ready to go to the Filipino market. Irwan arrived just before we left, so he followed us to the market. Irfan was asking Irwan to carry him every 5 nanoseconds (and he wasn’t all that whiny with me) and poor Irwan, tired from the day’s event had to submit to his son’s request. After getting some stuff from the pasar, we went to have dinner at the Kampung Nelayan Restaurant and food was just amazing! :)

On Sunday, after breakfast, I brought Irfan to Lok Kawi Wildlife Park. What I didn’t know was that there are no taxis there for you to balik and I ended up paying RM120 for the cab driver to wait for us for 1.5 hours. He said it’s a normal practice. Sheaaaahhh right. I’m surelah kan? Whateverlah, I just wanted Irfan to have his fun time so I just ignored the fact that RM120 is a rip-off!

We saw two orang utans riding on the buggy and I think Irfan was pretty amazed and I had to explain to him what orang utans are. Then we saw some parrots and one of them greeted Irfan and I could see that he was shocked! Haha. So I told Irfan to greet the parrot back and when the parrot asked where we were from, I told Irfan to reply. I think they were conversing for about 5 mins or so and Irfan made me promise to come back to the parrots before we leave so that he can wish them goodbye. :)

While at the Sunbear’s area, one of ‘em bears were circling around the pool and taking a dip in it and Irfan just had to ask me this “Ma, the bear pakai sunblock tak? Nenek says must use sunblock when swimming!” I was laughing my head off and then explained to him that bears do not need to use sunblock. He just okay-ed me but I have no idea if he fully understood. ;)

Irfan was drenched in sweat by the time we were done and since our flight was at 530pm that evening, I thought that it’d be best if we went back to the hotel and let him have his nap (since he woke up rather early that morning). Oh, before that we had lunch nearby and yup, he finished off most of my food too. Haha! I think he loves all the fresh seafood in KK. ;)

It was just me and Irfan going back first and although I needn’t be at the airport early (since I’ve done the web check-in the evening before at the hotel), I just thought that we’d pusing-pusing KKIA. Irfan wanted some mackers and ice-cream and after having our tea, we went past the customs only to be told that our flight was slightly delayed. We were supposed to take-off at 5.30pm and the plane from KL only arrived at 5.20pm. But not too bad, we left KK around 5.50pm or so. And it was a full flight too with loads of kids and babies!

Since Irfan had his nap earlier on, he didn’t want to nap after having his nasi tomato but he let me have my nap 30 minutes before arriving at KLIA. My brothers were already at the airport since they were at SIC for the Japan GT earlier on and I was just so t.i.r.e.d that I wanted to sleep on the chairs at the arrival hall.

So that’s how my first trip to KK went. Will probably go again next year (and stay at Karambunai!) since this year’s holiday allocation has been max-ed out with our Europe trip in December. Heh. 

After the big dinner on Saturday night, Irfan wanted me to accompany him to a playground nearby so that he can kick some sand (again!) and go on the swing. While I was sitting on the bench, he told me that he wants to go for a walk (which is normal) and that he’d be back. I told him not to wander too far and after 15 steps, he u-turned and ran towards me. Halfway through, he lost his balance, slipped and fell and knocked his forehead on the ground. Ouch. I’m so used to seeing him running and falling and with bruises everywhere on his legs and hands that I just don’t get those panic attacks anymore. He’s a boy. And I’ve been told that that’s what boys do. Heck, I was like him too when I was a kid. So mak borek, anak rintik ah. Haha. Anyhow, back to his bruised red forehead, it wasn’t all that badlah, but he was pretty shocked and cried for his papa. So, off we went to look for Irwan.

Irfan didn’t want to stay long at the beachside, so we toured around the hotel and found the kids’ playroom. It’s so nice and cooling and cozy in there that we spent almost an hour playing lego with him. Of course, I took pictures toolah and got Irwan to snap pictures of me and Irfan too, but that budak kenit just couldn’t sit still, so all of our pictures are blurry. Bleh.

Next morning, I woke the two boys up and Irfan wanted to go to the pool again and when it got too hot, he refused to come out. So, I went up to have my shower and to pack and the two boys chilled by the beach under the pokok kelapa and what have yous. How blissful. :P

We left Kuantan around 12pm and surprisingly, there was no traffic jam whatsoever considering that it’s the last day of school holidays and we got home just slightly before 4pm. And he still wanted to jump in the pool! Ish!

We went to Kuantan for Khazanah Nasional Berhad’s Family Day and we stayed at Swiss Garden Resort & Spa from the 20th of March til the 22nd of March. The lil’ dude had the most fun. And I had fun with my “Lima Dee” (thanks for the name, Tecky!) too. Heh. It was a relaxing trip and Irwan treated me with a spa session. Thanks dude! ;)

Irfan was really enjoying the sand and was kicking me and everything else around him with it and even swallowed some bits of sand that was stuck on his face, hair, hand, baju, shoes, etc etc. Boys. Hrmph! Too bad that it was low tide and scorching hot, else he’d be having fun in the sea too. :P

Irwan was mingling around entertaining his team and it was good that he mingled longer than he should have that Saturday night as he won himself an ipod touch. Oklah, not as gempak as an iphone, but bolehlaaaa… Haha! Irfan and I meanwhile were lepaking in our hotel room and just after midnight, we could hear people screaming and all. Soccer matchlah pulak. So, who won, eh? :P

A week before her wedding, Zehan, Az, Farrah, Kim and I “kidnapped” Alia for her bridal shower in Langkawi. It was my first time leaving the two boys alone and I was very nervous and anxious about the whole trip, but it was a good one. I’m glad I went. :)

Saturday

We left for Langkawi on Saturday morning, and as always, the AA flight was slightly delayed. When we arrived, the driver/chef/caretaker - Pakcik Nazri - from the villa was waiting for us and we headed to Bon Ton for lunch. After lunch, we went for a sightseeing around the area since they were doing a soft launch for their new villas and I thought that it’d be nice to get some pictures of Alia at the historical villas.

When we were done, we headed to the duty free place to get some snacks and champagne. After that, we stopped at the nearby stalls to get some pisang goreng and kuih-muihs. Maaaan, I knew it then that we’d be pigging out like nobody’s business for our entire trip. And I was right! Heh.

The Owners Villa (courtesy of Uncle OTT and Aunty RZ) is a blardy gorgeous place! But since it’s in a middle of the jungle, it got a bit eerie at night, but nevertheless, a lovely place. :) It was blazing hot and we all decided that we should go for a swim after we’ve settled our luggages. The twins made an entrance at the pool and after a few laps here and there, we went for our makan session (again!) and by 6pm, I was this ular sawa that cannot move anymore. :P

Dinner was by the beach at Datai Hotel itself. We were fortunate that it didn’t rain that night and if it had, we would have had the dinner at the Gulai House instead. Whatever it is, the view was magnificent and the ambiance was oh-so-great! Thanks to Regina who arranged everything to perfection. :) And of course to Zehan too who was bossing everyone all the way from Sydney. Haha! I’m kidding, babe! :P

We got back to the Villa after dinner and changed into our PJs. First, we had the panty poem and it was just so hilarious! Zehan and I only found out about the game via the internet 3 days before the trip and I rushed to Topshop and La Senza to get ‘em panties for Alia. So to anyone who wants to throw a bridal shower to their friends, this poem rocks! When that was done, we did the newlywed game. Zehan got a friend to film Johan (the groom to-be) answering some questions and we asked the same questions to Alia and then compared notes. It was soooooo funny and everyone just had a good laugh! Again, good game to have at any bridal showers. :)

We then watched SATC and I was just so tired from everything that I knocked out 15 minutes after the movie started. Besides, I’ve watched it like 3 times already. Ish! Haha. Then around 1-ish, I got up and decided to go to the loo. And to do that, I’ve got to go to our own individual villas as they weren’t any toilets in the TV room. It was quite eerie outside but I had to golah and there was no two way about it. Haha. I’m just glad that Pakcik Nazri didn’t mention any stories earlier on, but he did when he sent us to the airport the next night and I ain’t gonna talk about it here. Pft.

Sunday

Zehan had to drag all of us out of bed for our morning walk with Irshad Mobarak but I’m so glad that we did it. We were suppose to have our nasi lemak at 7am before the morning walk, but since we all got up so late, we went for the walk sans our breakfast. By the time we got back to the villa, it was 10am and we gobbled down our nasi lemaks like there was no tomorrow. And then, we had to get ready for our Thai culinary class that was specially arranged by Regina at The Datai at 11am. Kim and I quickly mandi-ed kerbau because cannot tahanlah the body so sticky and all and we made it a few minutes late for the class. But since it was specially catered for the 6 of us, it wasn’t really a problemlah.

Menu for the day was Thai Basil Chicken and Tom Yam Gung. We were done cooking our individual meals in less than an hour and sat down for lunch (makan lagi!!!) with our end products. I never knew making Tom Yam Gung is so simple? Shall cook those two dishes once my hectic schedule this month is over. ;)

Went back to our villa after that for some quiet time at the pool. Most of us zonked out by the poolside and when we got up later on, we all went into the pool and had more food for tea. I swear, I just can’t bear to look at anymore pisang gorengs for now.

Kim, Farrah and I were to fly out of Langkawi on the last flight out on Sunday night. After tea, we just chit-chatted until it was time for us to pack and get ready. Around 8pm, we had dinner (more lovely food from Pakcik Nazri) and although I was so full from eating the past 2 days, I just couldn’t resist his sambal prawns and oyster sauce vege. I think I must have tambah-ed three full plates of rice. Urgh. Damn ular sawa alright.

Pakcik Nazri drove us to the airport at 9pm and waddaya know? We were told that our initial flight at 1040pm has now been delayed to 11pm. And then, as we got into the boarding hall, we were told that our flight was postponed yet again to 1120pm. I’m like whateverlah wey. Just get us out of here! :P

Got home around 1am and that is how I spent my weekend - with the girls. Thanks Yan - for everything and thanks Alie - for the lovely gifts. Thanks Uncle OTT and Aunty RZ for the food and the lodging. See you girls tonight at The House and so can’t wait for the big day this weekend! Wheeeeeee…. ;)

The whole load of pictures (courtesy of Zehan snapping my Pentax too) can be seen here:

Part Un
Part Deux
Part Trois