gerak antara daerah dibenarkan

PKPB, MROC.. Wa pening.. Gerak antara Daerah boleh, tapi gerak raya raya xbleh 😅.. Max dalam kete 4 org. Kluar tanpa had masa.. So basically, nak shopping raya gi Key Ell, biz almost as usual,.. tapi untuk apa? .. Raya diam2 dalam rumah sudah.. 

Kiteorang pun dah tekad, baju raya beli sepasang sorang je, ckop syarat nak ambik gamba pagi raya. Kalau kotor baju tu, dah back to baju dirumah 😂

Semalam selepas hampir 2 bulan budak-budak ni tak keluar langsung dari rumah, akhirnya berjaya bawak gi rumah nenek atok berbuka sekali dengan cousin-cousin yang lain. 

Terawikh dengan Atok as Imam. Kenangan koronamu.. PKPB ni pun dah nak sampai ke hujung.. Cuma masing2 kena pandai2 jaga diri. Jumpa family terdekat sudah. 

Best way to fly to Pulau Perhentian and save you time and energy!

Dah banyak minggu duk survey cara terbaik untuk ke Pulau Perhentian, tapi tak ramai yang berkongsi cara kalau nak menaiki kapal terbang. So, harini aku share pengalaman kitaorang menaiki kapal terbang. The best is to take flight ke Kota Bharu. So, misi pertama untuk ke sana, of course cari package penginapan dan sebagainya. Tapi sebab aku nak pergi semata-mata untuk ambik course open water diving, aku terus minta pihak ocean13scuba settlekan bab transport dari jeti ke pulau dan bab penginapan.

Why flying is the best option to go to Pulau Perhentian

First of all, there is no direct flight to Pulau Perhentian. So, the nearest option is to take a flight to Kota Bharu airport, which is 40-45 minutes to Kuala Besut jetty - the best gateway to Perhentian Island ;)

We opt for flying because, we are short of time and we wanted to save our energy. Travelling by road can be long and tiring, and we have very little time in our hand to waste it on recovering the kepenatan after haha. Flight to KB is only 50 minutes, memang cepat dan mudah.

Kalau nak naik bas pulak, ada budak-budak kecik, takut banyak pulak hal diaorang nanti nak ke tandas dan sebagainya.

Malindo Air sangat selesa dan luas

How to buy cheap flight ticket from Kuala Lumpur to Kota Bharu 

I have used skyscanner to compare ticket prices, and Malindo Air was the winner. But, when booking, I used budgetair.com as it offers the lowest price, and there is no hidden charge (unless if you want to add on stuff like free cancellation or insurance-like).  The flight that we've got is quite cheap, 4 adults and 3 kids, cost us RM 800 to and fro KL-KB. The flight was for Sunday-Khamis (We stayed a night in Besut just to berjalan raya around my mother-in-law's kampung).

We arrived Kota Bharu around 8:30am, we then have some breakfast in the airport lounge area, then only make our way to Jeti Kuala Besut.

From Kota Bahru airport you can easily buy a taxi coupon to Besut Jetty for RM78. Look for the taxi booth near the arrival hall. We were lucky that we find a big taxi that can fit us all, so we only needed one. The journey to jeti Besut took us about 40 minutes.

How to go from Besut Jetty to Perhentian Island

This part was not mine, since it was pre-arranged by ocean13scuba but I will just share our experience. The best part of this arrangement was, only 4 of us are going for the diving trip, but each family brought along their parents, kids, and some siblings too, so we became a big group of maybe 30-ish people, just enough to fit a speed boat!

There are plenty of things you can do while waiting at the jetty. There's food stalls, clean toilet that you can pay even to shower, souvenirs shops and many travel agents that offer over-the-counter deals, so if you don't want to pre-book your boat arrangement, you can also buy it there.

Speed boat ke Pulau Perhentian

From Jeti Kuala Besut, it is about 30 minutes by speed boat to Perhentian Island. We stayed in Shari-la Resort Perhentian Kecil, a very convenient resort as there is a cemented walkway from the jetty all the way to the resort and through their individual chalet too. So you can use the typical roller bag to bring all your stuff over! No sand will be in your way :)

The speed boat that we got was not as luxurious, but it is ok, as long as it takes us safely to Perhentian, and most importantly, FAST! But when returning to Besut, we got a better looking boat, complete with cover, I really don't understand why the big difference :D

Oh yeah, the price is typically the same for any agent, speed boat to and fro will cost you RM70 per adult and RM60 per child.

Mesmerizing view welcoming us upon our arrival

The walkway to Shari-la resort - roller bag friendly

The Shari-la resort entrance

The resort is individual chalet like - complete with air conditioner (suitable for mat-salleh like children of mine haha)

3M enjoying the trip to Pulau Perhentian 

Summary of our summer break in Malaysia

Holiday has never been enough, especially if you are spending it in your own home country. Being expats for nearly 8 years, we have always treasured our moment when we are back, squeezing as many things-to-do and things-we-wanna-do all in the little time that we have. It is tiring, yet satisfying! Even the kids love it.

Our summer break this time starts few days before Eid Al-Fitr. Breaks for Eid are always big in Malaysia. The norm for Muslim is to celebrate Eid for a day or two, but we'd do it for the full month! And of course, the best is the first few days, where everybody is usually available for family gathering.

Myself and hubby is quite lucky that our families lived nearby, so most of us are there to celebrate together. Everybody are looking lovely in their new 'baju raya' we call it which means new clothes/garments for Eid. And the tradition is to shake hands asking for forgiveness from each other, then giving away 'duit raya' to children which means money slipped in colorful envelope. After some photos we'll then dine together to enjoy the traditional food such as lemang, ketupat, rendang and lodeh.

The activities will continue as such for the whole day, going from houses to houses of family and friends. It is not just the food that we are after, but it's to continue and strengthen our siratulrahim (bonding). So for a month, we've been enjoying this 'datang beraya' (visiting) to so many places whilst taking some holiday breaks.

We have been up and down the peninsula, from Semenyih to Seremban, Kajang, Tampin and then to Cameron Highlands for 'Raya' gathering. Cameron Highlands is slightly higher thus chiller than other parts of Malaysia. Being there with my siblings and their family giving me back my childhood memories. Everyone enjoyed their time there. At night, we even lighten up the place with some fire crackers and 'bunga api'. In Cameron you can experience some strawberries plucking and having a cool break in tea plantation area, at least slightly away from the hot Khatulistiwa.

We've also been to Kedah for a friend's wedding. The special thing about this friend of my husband's is, he was best man for 13 friends before finally tying the knot himself. Like that movies 13dresses right!??? Haha. 

After few days, we continue with some more of 'raya' activities and went for day-trip to Singapore, visiting the Merlion and Singapore Flyers. We then travel back to Johor Bahru for a night over. The next day, we spent the whole day in Legoland and overnight at its super fun hotel. The kids especially were thrill. It was our second trip to Legoland Malaysia, it was never dissapointing. Maybe I'll write up a special review for it next time, pray for my 'rajiness' k haha.

Packed with activities, we even flown to east coast of Malaysia and spent 4 days and 3 nights in Kuching, mainly for marathon run that I have shared in my previous post. 

There's an end to every story, and I am truly sad to part with my home country again. I can't believe our 6 weeks or so holiday is finally over. It was not enough.. never will. But hey, we have to go back to reality. :(

Till we meet again Malaysia.. lots of love from afar.

-Yeen-

Malaysia be-reak

One and a half years since I last came back to my home country. Finally the day has come.. 16 December 2011. We've booked the ticket long ago, and can't really believe that it finally arrived. It was Maqeel's first journey back to Malaysia. He didn't show much curiosity during the flight. Might be because of the late hour, just few crack of cries.. until he felt asleep.. and yeah.. the baby bassinet is no help for my too-lenghty-of-1year-old-infant. He'll sense it every time we try to put him in, and will burst with yet another cries.
Long story short..after few hours, we arrived safely with no serious turbulence .. hooray!

Bagan Lalang
2nd days in Malaysia, we went to HM seafood restaurant in Bagan Lalang, Sepang. It was my plan for my side of family get-together. I chose the place via the recommendation that I got from the internet. I didn't realized that the place was quite far. But okla.. worth the travel n trouble :)
Food was nice.. and reasonably priced. We got all there is on the menu for our big feast, and yet harge kiteorg makan beramai-ramai (there were 13adults and numbers of nieces n nephews) murah dari macam harge makan kat TGIF kat doha utk 5adults.

So for those yang blank taktau nak makan ape whilst in KL/Selangor.. go to Bagan Lalang.. no need to go to Melaka anymore. Here's their website for more details; http://www.hmsribaganlalang.blogspot.com/ 

yummilicious seafood - demm i miss u!

While you are there, do try out their famous pepahat masak cili.. for me ok ok la.. but tgk tak sampai 5 minit dihidang.. dah licin.. so must be super-delicious to others :)



JPO
The next day, we made our way to Johor Premium Outlet. Yeah yeah I know.. so many people are overly excited about this newly opened branded outlet in Malaysia, and have check it out with their full swing of reviews. Well.. doesn't hurt to add another one from me.
I was excited ever since I was in Doha, preparing our long list of itinerary and things to eat when I heard that the first phase of the outlet is finally ready to public.
But my excitement went down a little the minute I arrived - I saw too crowded a place. (Well I am famously known to hate crowds, well not THAT famous hehe)
The outlet is new, and not running in full swing yet, so I guess we hafta cut some slack for any of it's down-sided.
In term of shopping, mainly in clothing- looking for sizes are a real challenge and there aren't that many choices anymore, maybe due to the fact that when we arrived, the so called super-mega sale just ended days ago.. so what left is just either too expensive stuff or too ugly and not that many the "in-between".

Don't judge the crowd by this picture :P

Dalam duk susah nak carik tu, dapat jugakla rembat sepasang CK (NOT Calvin Klein hehe), a wristwatch, pairs of baju kecik, a suit for him and some jeans n tops for the kids. Not bad.. jadilah sikit-sikit.. kang kopak pulak kan. Hehe.And the wristwatch nye price is not too bad.. berbaloi beli.. cam tak jauh beza ngan harge kat US.

But one thing that I still can't get my mind off was the time when I dengan slambe badaknye masuk Burberry shop from its upper-side entrance to find rows of people queuing in agony at the lower-ground entrance. What the?! Klaka.. why queue on the first place? Pastu buat dua entrance lak tu.. and jage satu side je.. kesian mereka2 yang tertipu.. (luckily wasn't me) hiks..

And yeah another good point of having this outlet in Malaysia is finally ade proper surau, and most of the salesgirl/salesman are from Malaysia, so sonang nak cakap lam BM.. kalau tak bergulung lidah den nak bertanye hehe..(seb baik takleh tawar menawar je.. :D)

After few hours, we left to Pulai Spring Resort, that was suppose to be near and convenient for a stay nearby the outlet, but I find it to be rather contrary.. Tapi, sebab kiteorg bayar harge promosi.. tak banyak komplen la.. duduk ajela.. hehehe

Melaka
The next day, we made our way to Melaka. Konon-konon nak jalan-jalan cuti-cuti malaysia.. wanted to bring the kids to see the Taman Mini Melaka, A famosa, and tempat-tempat yang sewaktu dengannye. That night we even ride the boat along the Melaka River.. bes sangat.. the view is fantastic at night! They've cleaned up Melaka well! I specially like the rows of rumah melaka village and the graffiti paints of Melaka well known legends and such. Such a beauty! I'd say even better look than the ever so-famous gondola ride in Venice.

Next day we when for a tricycle ride or also locally known as "beca" around the city (well not quite around the city, just few tourist attraction site). Myra and Maqeel got really excited..posing here and there for pictures (which we still kept in our laptop.. so god knows when that'll be out to public haha).

I love going to Melaka now, the place is not only historical, but also well kept and clean. The only thing that I didn't get to do following my itinerary was our visit to Taman Mini Melaka.. sadly they closed for renovation. I hope we get to go again during our next break in hari raya (yup! we are going back for raya this year..yay yay insyaallah).

Around KL
One day, we brought the kids to see KLCC, KL tower and around the Perdana lake to see the Tugu Negara, along with their two cousins. It was a fun outing. The first experience for their cousins too. yeah, I understand.. nobody will tot about visiting this place while living in Malaysia, but now that we are out, tot they are pretty interesting place. Next time, we'll go to the Zoo Negara, Istana Negara n all k Myra, Maqeel?

Thunder n lightning everywhere.. but luckily it didn't rain

That night, we went to Wong Solo Ayam penyet in kampung baru. Oh man, why is that nobody ever tells us that kampung baru is no longer safe for feeding! Maqeel vomitted horribly that night. And not until afternoon, we discovered that most of us too were poisoned resulting with diarrhea and stomach pain! I hate WONG SOLO! Remember guys.. be careful with this place! We ate the (delicious self-made chili in the bottle, but ended up with food poisoning.. so i guess the chili must be old)

Jump around! (yeah lucky two who didn't get poisoned)

PENANG
The following day, is the day to travel to Penang. We've already booked our hotel in Penang, so despite not feeling good.. we had to proceed with our journey to Penang. Poor aza, she had everything ready and excited to bring us to all interesting places in Penang, but we ended up not being well enough to enjoy :(
Not even had the appetite to eat all sort of food in Penang. I'm sorry Penang, maybe some other time we'll meet again k?

Nonetheless we didn't left Penang empty handed, got the chance to visit Rumah P.Ramlee, Toy Museum and Hard Rock (why is hard rock becoming places of interest for Malaysian i don't know??? tapi mestii sume nak gi situ n buy a souvenir.. are we somehow being brain-washed by it??? Pelik tapi benar). Mengagahkan diri untuk pergi jugak jalan2 even sikit sebab pikir, bile lagi?

I don't have any picture of the interesting rumah P.Ramlee.. will upload it once I got it transferred.For now, tgk gambo the brain-washed keras batu jela.. hehe

"Keras Batu"