so we saw singapore got thrashed by liverpool. so kallang stadium turned into a mini anfield overnight. for once the away team had the most support. pity the lions, played as hard as they could but they were simply outclassed by the mighty reds. the atmosphere was electrifying to say the least. the songs and chants were sung loud and proud. those who don’t know the songs were given song sheets. the script was followed to perfection, the introduction of kuyt and riera tore the lions apart, with torres scoring a goal for himself. final score 5-0. yes, its great to be a liverpool fan!
the fans were simply fantastic! more pictures at my flickr site!
ugh, nothing more i hate than a blog entry backlog.
ok ok, let’s summarise, chop chop, before the juices run out.
so we went to kota kinabalu, which is like, in sabah, malaysia, right? no idea why we decided on this place, all i knew was, i needed a quick getaway, the budget was family-friendly enough, and it was NOT a roadtrip. (i miss airplanes, can?)
the highlights:
1) it was the kids’ virgin flight, and they did well enough, considering how it goes against the grain of nature to force two irrepressible, wriggly little beings to stay put in a cramped space for more than two hours. were they impressed with the view and the fact that they were being propelled through the air at an incredible speed in a metallic vessel? not really. then again, neither was i when i was their age and my parents hauled me on our annual vacations. wait till they have to pay for their own fares.
2) we stayed at the shangri-la tanjung aru, and it was worth every damn hard-earned dollar converted to ringgit. the kids loved the bathtub – they made a beeline for it the moment they stepped into the room, and every morning when they woke up. in fact, every time we returned to the room, they’d climb into it first and demand to be soaked. they have never been cleaner in their lives. and because the rest of the KK clan came as couples, we were also given the same honeymoon-ish treatment of rose petal-covered sheets. sorry auni and aniq, for downgrading you to a baby cot and a sofa bed respectively. wait till you have to pay for your own hotel rooms.
3) there’s a nearby tanjung aru food centre a walk away from the resort where we discovered the most exquisite, heavenly, orgasmic mango juice in a large pint mug that cost a mere RM6. one sip and your eyes POSITIVELY roll upwards, it’s that good. they must’ve used a whole lotta mangoes coz it was really thick and sweet. (but i guess it depends how lucky you are with the batch of mangoes they use coz on the last day when we bought it again, it wasn’t as sweet. that’s the thing with fresh fruit juice, the inconsistency.) plates and plates of hot keropok lekor just kept coming to our tables (coz someone kept ordering more and more). and of course, the much-talked-about bbq chicken parts, in particular the, erm, rear end. proper name: pope’s nose. crude name: jubor ayam, in short, “jubs”. it brought finger-lickin’ to a new level. of course, it was a favourite with the guys, and only the guys, while the girls demurred. i mean, ge-rosss.
and by guys, i mean ALL of them, aniq included. does he know which part of the chicken it came from? does he care? of course not.
4) i wouldn’t say the filipino market was exactly a highlight, but someone’s got to contribute to the sabah people’s economy. this was a place full of traditional handicrafts and knicknacks, and pretty much looked like the inside of geylang market, actually. oh look, i found a sarong wrap.
the girls had two packed cartons of dried salted fish and… i don’t know, other dried stuff from the sea, to bring home to cook. (seeing as cooking is a foreign concept to me, i did not partake in this particular ‘group buy’.)
5) the island-hopping was, as unanimously agreed, the MOST thrilling part of the whole trip! OMG. throughout the entire trip on the bumpy speedboat, you can hear, over the roaring motor and crazy splashing waves, screaming laughters (guess whose was the loudest??) to match a pack of wild hyenas on a daredevil roller-coaster. we just kept howling and howling non-stop, it was ridiculous, and worse, WE COULDN’T STOP THE HYSTERIA.
see the deceptive sun at the jetty? well, soon after we reached manukan island, the skies on the horizon turned grey and heavy clouds started rolling swiftly towards us. the passing shower played peek-a-boo with us a few times, so the gang stole every opportunity to splash around at the beach (auni was more than happy to be passed around) and do some snorkeling. with the waters looking choppier and choppier, we decided to skip the other islands and headed back to the main shore. with such choppy conditions, the ride back was EVEN MORE THRILLING. the waves kept crashing down on us, soaking us all thoroughly to the bones. i had to keep my mouth closed coz everytime i opened it, super salty sea water kept splashing in. great, if one had ulcers! and at the end of the ride, we ALL APPLAUDED at the (very skillful) speedboat driver for bringing us back in individual pieces. even the kids came out unscathed.
i wanna go again. LOL.
6) one thing we also agreed that we didn’t get enough of, was the swimming pool! since we were all soaked from the speedboat saga, we headed to the resort’s pool for a dip. was reminded of my swimming lessons as a child. note: seriously need to send aniq for swimming lessons. gah!
7) one thing we noticed was, the day seemed to move by pretty slowly, especially in the evening. this may have to do with the fact that, as izad mentioned earlier, the sun rises earlier than we’re used to, so it sets earlier as well, and whenever we check our watches, we’re always surprised that the night seemed to crawl. which is good! coz holidays are about time moving at a slower pace and all.
and here’s izad’s favourite part – the FOOD. heh. well, seafood, to be exact. that’s the specialty after all. rows and rows of seafood, fresh and barbequed or grilled to mouth-watering perfection.
there were sea bass, tuna, crabs, squids, prawns, lobster (this was the prized crustacean, placed in the center and attacked last!), and other fishes of which species i wasn’t acquainted with, topped with more bbq chicken and corn, and free flow of rice. i think each couple ended up only paying something like SG$30 RM$30 in the end. group buy! very good!
and after all that rustic ambience, we headed to a Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf in town to chill. here’s to modern life.
8 ) we managed to hire a van with a local driver to bring us up to the kinabalu national park, which was where the Poring hot springs and the Canopy Walkway were, a scenic 2hr+ ride up the mountain. while entry was cheap, bringing in mobile phones and videocams was not! it cost esah&fadz RM30 to bring in their videocam. why eh? why?? hmm. so anyway, it was quite a trek up the rainforest, and i was practically gasping for air midway, the anti-outdoorsy princess that i am. YES, i am after all, allergic to exercise in any forms. i stopped at the little hut just before hitting the canopy walkway with auni and lydia, none too keen on the idea of someone carrying the lil one (auni, not lydia hehe) up the precarious-looking bridge, but aniq on the other hand, apparently turned into spiderman as soon as he was let loose up there. why am i not surprised that he actually enjoyed the height and the adventure of it all. really, bertuah punya anak.
there were these really ol’ skool kinda bathing pools for us to soak our feet in the hot spring water. hot is an understatement. it was HOT. but bearable hot after a while. even the kids didn’t think the water was too hot. apparently you can boil an egg in there. i don’t care about the egg, just don’t boil any auni or aniq! horrorssss.
the driver took us to this beautiful lodge called The Pines, with lots of, duh, pine trees surrounding it. the air was crisp and cool, you forget that you’re in malaysia, or anywhere in southeast asia for that matters.
so here’s where all the most romantic, scenic pictures happened, lol!
and the perfect group shot happened at the most opportune moment. GUESS WHO FARTED OUT LOUD LAH.
9) another thing we miss (other than the bathtub) is: the morning breakfast spread. sigh.
and finally (seriously, i need to sleep. this entry took me all of 5 freaking hours!)…
10) the company. i think THAT was the ultimate highlight of the trip.
(our neighbour! and my bosom sister. ;))
thank you all, my brudders and sistas, for the memorable moments we shared, for lending a helping hand or ten with our kids, for the laughter and experiences. :)
till our next trip. here’s to, err… hawaii 2010?? (HAH!)
*cue hawaii 5-O theme song*
while the rest were still in dreamland after 3 days of intense holidaying, i woke up early to try to catch the sunrise.
i said try because although i set my alarm to 6am, the sky was already quite bright.
but the jetty was serene. the sound of the waves, the smell of the sea and the coolness of the morning dew.
there seems to be a calming effect to all this. i just wished that the moment would last longer.
the video that all have been waiting for!! recorded via satellite in shangri-la, kota kinabalu, sabah, malaysia. presenting billie "not my lover, fadz" jean!
i’d meant to bring the family somewhere for an overnight stay where it’s near and cheap and that wouldn’t require a tedious drive across the causeway, but bogged down by sheer inertia and procrastination, it didn’t happen. so on the last day of our week-long holiday last week, we decided last minute to just hop onto the ferry to batam for a day trip, just for the heck of it.
we left aniq to spend time with his grandpa and uncles, and brought mum along, who was equally curious of the place.
it reminded me of old shopping centres in malaysia. (not the KLCC types, of course.) nothing much to shop for, so we concentrated on, erm, eating. which izad was more than happy to do.
i liked the Breadtalk spree the best. and so did auni, as you can see. she devoured a whole cheesy bread thingy by herself.
the thing about not driving up was, we couldn’t bring back a load of stuff, so we had to give a miss to a lot of cheap groceries and toiletries at the hypermart. and concentrated on bringing back these instead, which went like half the price of that in SG.
for $40 a ferry ticket, i think the next time we head there, it’d better be for a spa resort holiday.
who doesn’t like the airport? i do! i still harbour a deep desire to one day be employed within the grounds of the changi terminals. maybe after i retire i can be the janitor there or something, who knows.
for now, h1n1 or not, it’s one of our favourite places to go to whenever we run out of air-conditioned open spaces for the kids to run around.
budget playdates. discussions of the fall of changi airport’s spot to world’s number 3. temasekholdings and outsourcing. discovery of bigger portions at the food outlets thanks to travelling angmohs’ feedback. potato chip confiscations on budget airlines… we learn something new everyday, not just the kids. who are always, always busy learning, from everything and nothing.
and what better way to end the day than a home-cooked meal by someone who’s not me? :)
tomorrow’s itinerary: we’ll know when the sun comes up.
we let aniq ditch school from tuesday onwards, and since our half-cooked plans to get out of the country didn’t look like it’d materialise, i thought, what the heck, we can still have fun right here without getting our passports stamped, dammit.
no fixed itinerary. just free-and-easy.
at marina barrage, after our holiday ‘tradition’ of a mackers big breakfast.
a panoramic view of the skyline marred by cranes and buildings undergoing construction, some information about water (i think, ha haha), a wide open grass area that’d be great for kite-flying or a picnic (if one doesn’t mind a suntan while at it). and a shallow wading pool thingy, alike the one at vivo, except, perhaps, cleaner. nothing makes kiddies happier than splashing about in a bit of water on a hot day. coz they’re easily amused like that.
and after all that sun, a bit of ice kacang was called for. these were particularly good.
can’t you tell? they were so good, daddy’s ratty handkerchief had to double up as a bib for the little one, who dug in with as much relish as the rest of us.
Bottle Tree Park, where some pathetic attempts at fishing took place. lol!
for $10, we got a boy with his pants soaked, mommy with slimy feet from pond scum, baby with restraint fishermen instincts, and daddy who caught 11 longkang guppies but gave credit to his 3-year-old for the triumph. much to the delight of the baby, who now knows what ‘fish’ is. (when asked “where’s the fish?”, she’d waddle to the kitchen where the fish was subsequently held captive in their fishtank. they were all to die tragically 24 hours later – death by chlorinated water. talk about irresponsible pet owners, tsk.)
the boy spent quality time with his yai today (no doubt glued to the video game console), while the girl spent quality time with her daddy (trawling sim lim and funan, future techie in training). and mommy, err, spent quality time with her friend in retail therapy. ahh, the life.
“let’s go, my engine’s revved up!”
nope, it’s not turning out to be a SAHM week after all. there’s to be no staying at home, that’s fer sure.
the blistering heat didn’t deter us from a bit of sizzling good time at the zoo on a public holiday. if we were on a giant grill, we’d have been pretty well done. auni’s toasted button nose and my broiled bare shoulders are your tender juicy evidence.
it was altogether a pretty good day nonetheless, as mentioned. if the children are happy, i’m happy. of course, happiness doesn’t come without a bit of prior warning. warning which sounded like this:
me: aniq, pls promise me two things today. 1) don’t make adik fall or cry. 2) don’t make mummy angry. promise?
aniq: promise.
they were pretty much kept on this particular day. when his sister fell on her own accord, he was quick to jump to his (self-)defence – “not me! not me! HIM!” (no, he’s not placing the blame on an imaginary assailant. he’s just still a little confused with gender-specific pronouns.)
on the boat ride at the zoo, he volunteered to carry around a snake skin for the rest of the passengers to touch and feel. before that, he was asked the two basic questions from the boat guide.
guide: what’s your name?
him (and by him, i mean the above-mentioned boy, as i am perfectly versed in assigning gender-specific pronouns, except with cross-dressers and transvestites, which are a different thing altogether, and i am meandering so far away from the course of my story now): aniq!
guide: how old are you?
him: 3 year old! (pls pardon his flawed application of plurals as well. he is only 3 years old after all.)
anyway, later on, as we were walking out of the zoo, the daddy and i quizzed him again, oh, for the heck of it.
us: what is your name?
him: aniq.
us: how old are you?
him: 3 year old.
us: where do you stay?
him: i stay inside my house.
me: HAHAHAHAHHAHAAAHAHA!
him: (in all seriousness.) *pause* mummy, not funny. not funny.
me: HAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!
daddy: aniq, next time say ‘tampines’.
him: pampinis.
kidzworld was crazy with kids running amok amidst the sprays and splashes of water, while the adults pretended to tend to the children but were actually secretly enjoying the cool swirls of water on their feet.
the girl made a bee-line to the water jets and never looked back.
sports illustrated – not!
i’ll keep a look out for the now-baby prawn’s smokin’ tan lines. speaking of which, she received at least 2 bikinis on her birthday. tiny, barely legal triangle pieces that would make even britney spears blush. i was tempted to try them on myself… but i digress. in any case, we’ll definitely have to make more trips to the pool, if only to make full use of her entire range of swimwear.
last but not least, thank you hidaya, who’s been a great ambassador to the zoo! :)
i think i remember ayu once said, in one of our crazy discussions on career choices, that she’d like to work at the zoo, even if it’s just to chop vegetables for the animals. looking at the people who actually work at the zoo, i think that might actually be pretty fun. i’d love to be able to talk to an audience like the animal show presenters there, they’re pretty impressive.
fellow zoolanders
ok, it’s almost 3am and my shoulders are tingly. i really should’ve heeded baz luhrmann’s advice and wear sunscreen.
which brings me now to copy and paste that brilliant song of his, which was, technically, not really sung, more like monotonously delivered, but brilliant nonetheless.
The Sunscreen Song
Ladies and Gentlemen of the class of ’97
Wear sunscreen
If I could offer you only one tip for the future, sunscreen would be
it. The long term benefits of sunscreen have been proved by
scientists whereas the rest of my advice has no basis more reliable
than my own meandering experience… I will dispense this advice now.
Enjoy the power and beauty of your youth; oh nevermind; you will not
understand the power and beauty of your youth until they have faded.
But trust me, in 20 years you’ll look back at photos of yourself and
recall in a way you can’t grasp now how much possibility lay before
you and how fabulous you really looked…. You’re not as fat as you
imagine.
Don’t worry about the future; or worry, but know that worrying is as
effective as trying to solve an algebra equation by chewing
bubblegum. The real troubles in your life are apt to be things that
never crossed your worried mind; the kind that blindside you at 4pm
on some idle Tuesday.
Do one thing everyday that scares you
Sing
Don’t be reckless with other people’s hearts, don’t put up with
people who are reckless with yours.
Floss
Don’t waste your time on jealousy; sometimes you’re ahead, sometimes
you’re behind… the race is long, and in the end, it’s only with
yourself.
Remember the compliments you receive, forget the insults; if you
succeed in doing this, tell me how.
Keep your old love letters, throw away your old bank statements.
Stretch
Don’t feel guilty if you don’t know what you want to do with your
life… the most interesting people I know didn’t know at 22 what they
wanted to do with their lives, some of the most interesting 40 year
olds I know still don’t.
Get plenty of calcium.
Be kind to your knees, you’ll miss them when they’re gone.
Maybe you’ll marry, maybe you won’t, maybe you’ll have children, maybe
you won’t, maybe you’ll divorce at 40, maybe you’ll dance the funky
chicken on your 75th wedding anniversary… whatever you do, don’t
congratulate yourself too much or berate yourself either – your
choices are half chance, so are everybody else’s.
Enjoy your body, use it every way you can… don’t be afraid of it, or what
other people think of it, it’s the greatest instrument you’ll ever own..
Dance… even if you have nowhere to do it but in your own living room.
Read the directions, even if you don’t follow them.
Do NOT read beauty magazines, they will only make you feel ugly.
Get to know your parents, you never know when they’ll be gone for
good.
Be nice to your siblings; they are the best link to your past and the
people most likely to stick with you in the future.
Understand that friends come and go, but for the precious few you
should hold on. Work hard to bridge the gaps in geography and
lifestyle because the older you get, the more you need the people you
knew when you were young.
Live in New York City once, but leave before it makes you hard; live
in Northern California once, but leave before it makes you soft.
Travel.
Accept certain inalienable truths, prices will rise, politicians will
philander, you too will get old, and when you do you’ll fantasize
that when you were young prices were reasonable, politicians were
noble and children respected their elders.
Respect your elders.
Don’t expect anyone else to support you. Maybe you have a trust fund,
maybe you have a wealthy spouse; but you never know when either one
might run out.
Don’t mess too much with your hair, or by the time you’re 40, it will
look 85.
Be careful whose advice you buy, but, be patient with those who
supply it. Advice is a form of nostalgia, dispensing it is a way of
fishing the past from the disposal, wiping it off, painting over the
ugly parts and recycling it for more than it’s worth.
just a few notes about round two of the Jalan-jalan Cari Makan roadtrip to KL we went on two weeks ago.
remember, it was all about the food, the whole food and nothing but the food.
so ok, let’s go. first stop, breakfast on a saturday morning across the border. some had roti canai, some had nasi lemak. some had kaya toast. and a side of sausage. (which is what i call that juicy meat with the bald head. ie. “hey Sausage. Sauu-sageee.” coz she really feels like one. cheese-filled.)
we reached our destination in good time, but our hotel rooms weren’t ready. in fact, they weren’t ready for a few hours more. this resulted in a Singaporean female lioness unleashing her wrath of fury to the hapless hotel staff. wah seh. you don’t play play with Singapura lionesses, ok. they are not all docile, purring Kucintas, hor?
we bunked in with lyd & mr boy, the latter whom Sausage is smitten with, for some reason. she calls out to him every time she sees him from afar, and has absolutely no objection to him carrying her. why ah, Sausage, why? why do you like mr boy so much? is it his magic mole that holds the charm? coz mummy also has a mole and you like her very much too.
[insert obligatory family picture. see hot Sausage in stroller.]
anyway, the hotel we stayed in was the heart of damansara, perfectly located with malls and shops all around, and too many restaurants we didn’t know where to begin with.
ok ok, i know where we tried to begin with. it was the Bubba Gump Shrimp Co.
i said tried, coz we somehow didn’t end up eating there although i think most of us wanted to. see, we happened to be there on a valentines weekend, and well, malaysians are not immune to the pull of the valentines dollar, or rather, ringgit. a few places had projected that valentine couples would readily open up their petaling street wallets on this special weekend, and priced their set meals and buffets at exploitative costs. unfortunately for us non-valentine tourists, bubba gump was one of them. so we gave it a miss, and headed to marche instead.
what did we eat? i don’t know! i think aniq had spaghetti, i had rosti, auni had mushroom soup (and bits of bread, baby bites and anything else she could grab within her reach), izad had turkey ham something (that looked like Spam to me), and grilled chicken. should have ordered the crepe, which thankfully rin & naz did. the calamaris farah & naz had were not as good as the calamari you find in SG. and i wanted my bundaberg root beer but got ginger ale instead, grr.
we settled in our rooms for a bit, naps for the drivers and some of the kids, and then we got ready for our reservation at Rebung restaurant. which we were an hour late for coz we got decidedly lost. lol.
(well, at least i almost wished we had, so we could go to T.G.I. Fridays instead. shhh.)
but found it we did. we had to lah, the last time we came to KL, we cancelled our reservation coz we decided to do tony roma’s or something. :p
this famous restaurant is owned by chef ismail and dr sheikh muszaphar. yes, THAT one. the pride and joy of the nation. the handsome-tak-boleh-carry astronaut. the manager of the restaurant told us that we should have informed him of our, ahem, ‘interest’ to have him present that evening coz apparently, he makes guest appearances lah, ok! but nevermind, he said, next time sure boleh. because, malaysia boleh.
so what did we eat at rebung? err…
i don’t know either! lol.
the dishes are mainly traditional. think hajah maimunah to the power of three. with all the ulams and asam pedas and sambals and siput seduts galore, i’m very sure our parents would lurrrve this place. the rest of the gang did too, actually, since they all wanted to try out this place. izad, don’t say lah, he’s one of those appreciative of malay foods. (unfortunately, the fella had a seriously bad case of ulcers this time round, so his palate was a little wonky. nonetheless, he valiantly attempted all the dishes that came his way despite their threats to assault his wounds.)
i think i had my rice with whatever i was familiar with, ie. asam pedas, kicap ikan… ok, i’m sorry, all i can remember was feeding auni with rice and sup daging. lol. and pisang goreng. i know, i’m like the absolutely worst person to bring to a buffet, i swear. hopeless like anything.
anyway, the manager took us around the place, took some pictures, and we left, with our butt marks imprinted on the red sofa as a memo for mr astronaut that the Kucintas had come, preened and poised, ready to pounce on him. meoowr. next time lah.
the next morning was hotel breakfast, the usual fare. i was delighted to find porridge amidst this, and proceeded to stuff auni with as much of it as i could. can you tell i’m obsessed with stuffing her, like a turkey?
with all the restaurants around our hotel, it was a bit of a puzzle how we somehow ended up going all the way to KL central for lunch. some had chicken rice, some had bubur ayam (which again, i managed to stuff the little Sausage with). the fella, despite his frazzled ulcered tongue, could still taste how bad his mee bakso was. which was why i held out on local fare – i wanted my westerns and i wanted my meats, dammit!
BUT! to keropok lekor, i concede.
coz, malaysia has the best lekors lor! they have soft ones, thick ones, crispy ones, thin ones.
i like the piping hot chewy ones. mmm mm.
next up was PS Boutique. that’s Petaling Street Boutique, to you.
the lure of this place is, of course, the search for the Almost Genuine-looking Fake Goods. attempt only if you are already familiar with the real stuff, know your goochis and el-vees and praduhs well. also your tissohs and omegahs. :p now, we will not disclose what have been collectively acquired at PS Boutique by the gang, as we are sworn to secrecy of the highest order. (now, pls girls, tuck in those blue boxes away…)
but i will tell you this – izad’s favourite stall in all of PS. this is real stuff, cannot bluff. with the heat beating down on us, we had at least three cups between us.
my perseverance finally paid off when we reached pavillion – carl’s jr.! :D and this time, no wussy chicken burgers (coz the last time we came, the beef broiler machine thingy was out of action). good ol’ double hunka meats for me. and this time my turn to stuff my face, with the yummilicious chilli cheese fries. and free flow of drinks!
they (the burgers) were so huge, i shared one with izad on the spot, and took away another one, of which i devoured half of at the hotel later that night, and the other half… back home in singapore, shhh. lol.
speaking of that night, we decided not to follow the rest to farah’s friend’s house coz it was late and we wanted to get the kids bathed and in bed after a long day out. he was kind enough to pack some of the satay kajang he’d served, though.
and so much for getting into bed – us and aniq ended up sprawled on the hotel room sofa watching a ‘friendly’ Wall-E dvd we’d gotten from PS Boutique earlier.
on our last day, our Bubba Gump plan was once again thwarted (why ah??), coz we decided to push on to KL central again. eh, we didn’t even get to eat those swedish meatballs at ikea again. and TGIFridays was out of the window as well, lol. so much for damansara.
we got to KLCC and headed for Chilli’s instead. nachos, fajitas, all good. even auni had her free kid’s meal of mac & cheese. now i know what to buy for her next time. gooey, disgusting mac & cheese. lol.
and that, i THINK, concluded our Jalan-jalan Cari Makan trip. well, give or take a few snacks in between.
travelling with a bunch of friends is always good. give and take is a must, and miscommunication inevitably happens, but surviving it only makes the bonds stronger, no? well, i hope so. :)
travelling with kids – what can i say? the joy and the fatigue come with the package.
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