Mama(n)datory

I've been seeing quite a number of posts of this festival Arts & Lights on my Instagram feed since the month of November but just couldn't bother to check what the hype is all about. My guess was 'oh just another one of the instagrammable hipster location for the cool kids'. Beautiful pictures, nevertheless.

Pictures are from their website

I am currently in pain.

I accidentally pulled a muscle whilst lifting Sofia last night and it hurts pretty bad that I barely managed to get any sleep last night. The pain is excruciating from my waist down right to my left knee, and I even feel a twitch and numb toes every now and then. It is painful to move/sit/bend and it even hurts when I sneeze.

I have to forgo yoga and lifting Sofia/things for at least a few days or could possibly be weeks. Sad, really.

Amidst that,
It is a glaring hot day but such peaceful moment I'm having right now. Kids are taking their afternoon nap altogether at the same time, hence a little update on this blog.

Three.

Three kids under my care since yesterday. One of my nephew is here with us since the nursery is closed for the year-end holidays. Not a big deal having another toddler in this house, really, but I'm still not ready for a number three.

Less dramas for at least a couple more years please.

Do you want another sibling? A baby brother or another baby sister?

 I popped that question to Mayesa this morning.

Yes, I want a baby brother. Not like this Alif, but another one, just a baby boy.

LOL. She got stressed up a little this afternoon having to look after the two 2-year olds who are a handful, perhaps that was why she gave me such an answer "..but another one".

Not anytime soon. We're all not ready.

My dad originates from Johor. Johor Bahru(JB) is basically his hometown, where he grew up and where he went for his education. Most of his (our) relatives are still around living in JB so the town is definitely not foreign to us.

So our final trip of the year, which was to JB actually commemorates the wedding of one of my cousin, as well as to end the year with one last family holiday before Mayesa starts her pre-school in just another two weeks time.

The wedding was lovely. Most relatives were present to celebrate the couple, but I had to leave early since the little one was all cranky for milk.

We checked into Pulai Springs on the first night and moved to KSL Resort on our second night in JB. I really wished we stayed a little longer in Pulai Springs though, I just love how relaxing the environment there, how it accommodates little kids with tons of activities and the location was not that far from town either. I wouldn't mind staying a little out of town once in a while, realistically speaking.

Food.
You can never go to one place without having it's local delicacies.

I can never get bored of this dish, kacang pool.

Roti naik from Tok Ayah's bakery. Still a favorite, dip it in hot Milo.

Simple dish at its best. Siakap sisik at Kedai Makan Rahmat in Pasir Gudang.

Johor has tons of great food. Laksa Johor, kacang pool, nasi bryani, roti naik, mee rebus, burasak, siakap sisik, asam pedas, ABC, sup gearbox, lontong, murtabak; you wouldn't want to miss having any of it when you're in town. I had most of what I've put in the list so I can safely say, I'm good for a few months out of Johor for the time being. <3

A night out at Danga Bay Park, every time we're in town.

With kids in tow, there's hardly any chance to avoid going to a theme park when the kids see one. So we did just that and forgo my initial plan to bring them over to Hello Kitty town. I just couldn't brain the amount we have to pay for the entrance fee to bring the kids to a park mainly to see exhibits, try out a few activities and watch a Hello Kitty performance. The girls don't even familiarize themselves with Hello Kitty to begin with, so do I.

We might just plan to cross over to Singapore to better head for the Universal Studio on our next trip down South. Definitely more worth going there than Sanrio's to our best interest now that both girls are big enough to explore and experience a bigger park.

When's the next trip? God knows, sooner or later. In shaa Allah.

Excuse me for neglecting my blog for more than a week now. I just didn't get the privilege to use my laptop to blog since the girls have been hogging on to it to watch their shows almost every single day now. On other times, I'll mostly be on my feet doing chores and stuff. So tell me how do I blog more often now? Yoga even. I've left my mat for 3 days now and only managed to squeeze in a little stretching in between settling whatever I have to settle with.

I am beat.
Definitely.

Thus, no party for Sofia.

Yes, my second daughter - Sofia, just turned two few days ago. We first thought of organizing a birthday-do for her since we didn't throw one for her first birthday, unlike her sister who's had quite a big-do for her first.

Plan didn't fall through.

We instead had an impromptu dinner with (almost) everyone in my family and a cake cutting session at the end of it. Two nights over at my parents for the girls get-together with their cousins, and that was it.

No, that's not all of it.

We decided to bring the two girls to Johor Bahru this weekend. In conjunction with my cousin's wedding reception there on Saturday, we thought of extending our stay as a little holiday treat for some fun in the sun (precisely the swimming pool) and good food.

Yes, she gets to go on trips instead on her birthday. Birthday in Krabi last year, and birthday in Johor Bahru this year. Don't get me started on where we'll be heading to for her third birthday next year. 0_o

And I just realized that we started our 2017 with a trip down South to Johor Bahru, and ending the year with a final trip again to the same destination. Three, or was it four trips to Johor Bahru altogether this year alone.

Oh, how time flies. We are already reaching towards the end of the year. What a journey it was this year, a little of ups and downs of everything. I shall next do a recap of my year and a list of what to expect in 2018, yes?

Till then. Have a great weekend to all! I'm going to start packing for our trip and hopefully manage to fit in a session back on to my yoga mat in the evening. Ahhh my body is stiff as a log now.

Since the host of our homestay is heading to town that morning, he offered to drop us off at our next hotel instead of us getting our own Uber ride. We agreed and immediately pushed off to Kuching town right after breakfast.

Right by the riverside

The cat statue located just outside Grand Margherita hotel

It was still early for check-in so we figured we should just dropped off our luggage at the lobby of Grand Margherita hotel and walk over to DP Gula Apong ice cream shop. Unfirtunately we were told by the shopkeeper next door that the shop does not operate on alternate Mondays and so happen that we came on that particular Monday. We proceed to walk a little more towards Chong Choon cafe for Sarawak Laksa eventhough we've just had our breakfast. No ice cream, no problem. Sarawak Laksa -not to be missed delicacy ey so why not?

Sarawak Laksa at Chong Choon's cafe as recommended by the hotel's receptionist.

Just to kill off some morning time we decided to visit the Chinese Museum next since it's just a short walking distance from the hotel. I'm not one who's particularly interested in museums, in history or that sort so it was just a quick in and out for me. Boleh lah dari tak visit langsung kan. Good that it's free entry. It started drizzling when we were done with the museum anyway so we went back to the hotel to finally check in to our room.

Super-quick tour of the Chinese Museum

Cool decor in the Feast & Furious cafe

We walked again to DP ice cream that afternoon just to try our luck in case if it decides to operate a little later in the day but to no avail. *chuckles* Feast & Furious cafe was just right opposite and a cup of hot tea in the drizzling weather seemed like a good idea so I ordered that whilst the girls had their fair share of food and drinks before they had to make a move to Borneo Convention Centre Kuching for their registration to attend WiEF conference happening on the next following days.

Yes, that was Mun's initial agenda in Kuching. I'm just here to join her for a short trip to explore nature in Santubong since both of us have never been to Sarawak prior to this trip. Menyebok je saya ni for a short break from my mommy responsibilities.

I decided not to follow them there and instead went for a jog along the riverside. Merely around 2km I think, to and fro hotel to the Golden S Bridge. Managed to only do a round of jog since it started to drizzle once again so I went up to the room and continued on with a little bit of yoga.

I had the opportunity to meet some of Mun's friends who are in town to attend the conference and decided to have dinner together. We had a table full of seafood over at TopSpot which happens to be the talk of the town for the best seafood in Kuching. It was good and reasonably priced too. But frankly, I prefer the seafood we had the previous night over in Kampung Buntal in Santubong compared to the one in TopSpot; Mun thought the same too. So yes, if you happen to be in Kuching please do consider to take a short drive to have your seafood dinner in Kg Buntal. You definitely won't regret it.

Dinner at TopSpot seafood on Level 6, UTC Kuching premise.

A little fact that I obtained from one of the girls who now resides in Kuching: there's no Gardenia breads in Kuching, and chillies in Kuching are bland in taste. She normally brings back a whole lot of Gardenia breads and cili padi whenever she goes back to Peninsular - Shah Alam to Kuching. No wonder I couldn't find a single loaf of bread in Damai Central's 7Eleven.

I managed to catch a  quick breakfast with some of the ladies on the very next morning before they went off to the conference. They left, but I continued on with my breakfast buffet and was joined by a couple of them who decided to go to the conference a little later.

I then went up to the room to packed my bags, and decided to once again walk up to the ice cream shop. Woohoo finally it opens! Rezeki dapat juga merasa. I had two servings, mind you. To me, it tasted kind of like horlick-y and cendol-y..LOL..but yes, it tasted good!

The famous Gula Apong Ice Cream. Heard that they've opened a branch somewhere in KL now.

So that was basically my trip to Kuching. To those who told me that "you'll easily get bored of Kuching, there's nothing much to be done there" I am objecting to your statement, I love Kuching and whatever it offers, especially Santubong! Santubong is just love! Love terox!

I can definitely see myself visiting Kuching again in the future, in shaa Allah I will revisit.