Restroom

Last weekend, we had our dinner @ETH. Luckily we arrived early. The place was packed with customers by 8:30. Full house! There some customers waiting with patience for their seats. Then suddenly Afiq asked me this.

Afiq : Ibu, kenapa dia orang ni tak nak makan kat dalam tu?

Ibu : Dalam mana?

Afiq : Bilik rehat tu.

Ibu : Bilik rehat mana?

Afiq : Yang tulis restroom tu.

Ibu : Ohh.. bilik tu (dengan muka yang serius). Entah, diaorang tak perasan kot. Afiq try tengok, kalau kosong, kita boleh lepak-lepak dalam tu.

Afiq sepantas kilat berjalan ke 'bilik rehat' and to my surprise, followed by the other 3, berebut2 siapa nak sampai dulu. Time tu aku dan Mr. Right dah terkekek-kekek. Few minutes later, they came out from the 'bilik rehat'.

Ibu: Amacam, okey tak bilik rehat tu?

Afiq: Okey sangat-sangat. (dengan muka bengang)

Qish: Itu toilet lah, bu.

Ibu: Ya ke? Tapi tulis 'bilik rehat'.

Qme: Ibu nak menipu! (nak menipu memang magic word dia)

Ibu: Dah kata restroom, so bilik untuk rehatlah....

The moral of the story, jangan 'terlebih sudah' mengajar anak jadi translator!

Eleven, simple but meaningful.

11 July marked the day. 11 years ago it a was the final match for World Cup, France Vs Brazil. I watched the final from my ward. Now, Afiq turns 11. Dah bujang anak ibu. Since lately ibu sibuk sangat dengan macam2 hal, ibu tak sempat nak prepare something special for you, so sorry dear. But ibu bawa Afiq & the whole family makan2 at this special place.

Eiman's Tomyam House @TTDI.

Bday boy... happy bday to you, dear.

Afiq, I was planned to order your favourite cartoon character, Transformer's cake, but it seems that Aunty Yatt is so busy with her cakes. Then, I only managed to order these cupcakes from Aunty Mai dan the tarts from Aunty Wan.

Afiq's favourite dish... nasi paprik special.

Memang special dan sedap.

Danial's favourite... kuetiau kungfu!

Wacha!

My favourite! Tomyam Eiman... memang sedap.

Siap ada ketam lagi.

Nasi goreng black pepper!

Yummy!

Muzium Padi

Gunung Keriang aka Gunung Kristal. The popular crystal stone was originated from this mountain. I still remember, I came here once with my MIL to see how the natural crystal excavated from this mountain. Soon, there will be another new attraction at the Gunung Keriang's foot hill, the Tradisional Village.

This place is a new attraction in Alor Star, Kedah. Bila Did (sepupu Mr. Right), suggestkan kami ke Muzium Padi, aku dah terbayang suara-suara sumbang anak2.

"Boring la, bu. Tempat ni tak best la, bu. Bila kita nak balik ni, bu? Kena jalan semua tempat ke, bu?" Itulah suara-suara sumbang bila pergi ke tempat yang membosankan mereka. Dont judge a book by it's cover. Tapi frankly speaking, tengok design bangunan pun aku dah boring!

This Paddy Museum is not just an ordinary museum. What is so great about this Paddy Museum compared to other museums? I'll tell you later. This museum is located just nearby Gunung Keriang.

This Paddy Museum idea came from Tun Mahathir. Tun memang ada vision 2020, kan? According to the person in charge, khidmat pelukis Korea digunakan untuk menghasilkan lukisan dalam muzium padi ni. It took them 2 years to do some research and 6 months to complete the paintings. Lukisan tu memang cantik, nampak real, nampak hidup.

The main attraction in this museum is the art paintings, we are talking about a large scale artwork here. Bukan lukisan yang digantung ya! Selepas bayar tiket, kami pun menuju ke ruang tangga gelap, surroundingnya macam masuk gua. (gua lagi!). Laluan tu menuju ke bahagian atas kubah.

Sesampainya kami di tengah kubah, kami tergamam! Bayangkan anda berada di dalam kubah, di tengah-tengah kubah berpusing. Kami berdiri di atas platform bertingkat. Terasa macam berdiri di satu kawasan tinggi sambil menikmati permandangan yang cukup mengasyikkan. Suddenly the platform stops! Actually platform tu yang berpusing 360 darjah, bukan kubah!

A very beautiful scenic view from this high rise platform. You get to see paddy fields, mountains, villages. The entire scenic view could actually remain unchange all the time! This is because they are just paintings on the wall! The place is exactly like standing in a medium room and stare at the wall!

This 360 degree view is just a painting. But it looks real, 200% real! You guys should come here and experience it by yourself. Like this scenery, it's a wall painting. The painting were so real, I could hardly find any flaw on it.

Ingat tak tentang suara-suara sumbang tadi? To my surprise, tak ada seorang pun anak2 aku yang bersungut. Kesemuanya leka menikmati lukisan tu. Masing2 cari 'pot' sendiri. Tempat ni selamat untuk budak2 so aku biarkan saja diaorang explore.

You can sit down or just standing on this rotating platform to view the scenic beauty of the paddy fields. This platform will rotate in circular motion slowly. You guys should try this!

Nama pun Muzium Padi, kan? Dah tentu semua di dalamnya berkaitan padi. Termasuklah chandilier yang ada lukisan pokok padi. Dinding dalam exhibition hall pula menggunakan sekam padi. Dinding luar bangunan pun berukiran pokok padi.

This is their way to say thank you sebab bawa mereka ke tempat yang lain daripada yang lain.

"Dont worry. Tiap kali balik rumah Tok Wan, kita mai sini lagi naaaa...."

Then we went down to the exhibition hall. Kami lepak sini kejap untuk menikmati pula pemandangan di luar bangunan. Actually lukisan dinding tadi itu menyerupai kawasan yang ada di luar bangunan muzium ini. Meaning, you can see the fake scenery inside the building and live scenery outside of the building. To teachers out there, try to make a trip to this place with your students.

Inilah budak2 kota yang tak pernah masuk sawah, tengok pokok padi, termasuklah ibunya sekali! Tapi ibunya tak berani turun dari kereta sebab takut lintah naik ke kaki.

King of fruits! Mujur dalam pagar....

The Jetty...

From Timah Tasoh Lake to Kuala Perlis Jetty...

Kuala Perlis Jetty is one of the three major departure points for Langkawi Island. I'm very sure this ferry is from Langkawi. We reached here at about 5:30pm. We planned to take an early dinner.

I'm not sure what place is this, but it looks like a floating restaurant or a row of stalls, maybe. It still closed to public. This pic was snapped by Afiq.

Mr. Right in action. For some men, a car is their second wife. But to this 'photochoholic' person, his camera is his second wife. I'm not allowed to badmouthing about it, I've to take a good care of it, we have to live under the same roof and the worst part is they mingled right under my nose!

The sea at low tide also makes a picture-perfect setting. From here we can watch the fishermen returning with their catch, these two girls are busy collecting cockles, clams and mussles maybe.

This place is not far from Kuala Perlis Jetty. It's a good place to relax at dusk and watch a spectacular sunset. Time ni air masih surut. This seafood food court was recommended by Zan, my friend. I called her, asking about a place to eat. She and her husband, Wan, orang Kuala Perlis.

"Zan, lain kali hang balik Perlih, hang mai makan sini, no. Gerai no. 3 & 4, memang sedap. Berbaloi-baloi! Kali ni aku plak rekomen kat hang!" Hehehe...

Kuala Perlis seafood foodcourt facing the sea. Here you can get reasonably priced seafood including grilled fish, crab, squid. They are grilled on the spot and the aroma carried by the sea breeze is irresistible. "Bila makanan nak sampai ni?" Nampak tak muka aku dah ketat semacam jer tu?

On our way here, I could hear my tummy rumbled. An hour later, we had cleaned plates of siakap tiga rasa, grilled squids, nasi goreng kampung, boiled cockles, prawns, etc. It's delicious. Indahnya kalau selalu dapat makan di tepi pantai macam ni.

Stunning sunset in the horizon.

The sun was just touching the rim of the sky, this is a nice sunset I witnessed there.

This is the Night Bazaar in front of Putra Brasmana Hotel. This bazaar overshadows the locals' fav shopping place, Padang Besar. Nothing much here actually. But I managed to buy my new handbag here.

My Dear Phones....

I'm not crazy over handphones. Being a handphone user for more than 10 years, I never experienced losing a handphone till this day and been using six handphones from various models.

This was my first handphone. Nokia 2140, priced at RM1100. I still kept the receipt, bought with own salary. It's big though but during that time, this was the smallest model. Can you imagine that? Back then, I'm not keen on using handphone. I bought it bcoz my Mr. Right asked me to. It's easy for us to communicate, he said.

After few years being a faithful user, I bought a new one. I gave this Nokia to my brother reluctantly. Sadly, after few months, I found out he lost it at the telephone booth near to my house!

This was my second handphone. Motorola Startac V6, priced at RM2400. Same mode of payment, my salary. At that time, this was the slimmest flip phone in the market. Reason for having it, stylish! I used to hang it around my neck together with my office tag when I'm working.

After a few years (few years here, I mean 4-5 years), I decided to change to a new handphone again. And as a loving eldest sister, ( hahaha) I 'donated' my Motorola to my sister. I forgot to mention here. RELUCTANTLY... again!

I made her promise to take a good care of my beloved Motorola. She kept her promise until one day, she broke the phone into two while using it. It was a disaster! When she broke the news to me, I was speechless. She is my flesh and blood, but that handphone was so precious to me.

I was heart-broken then. I decided to buy a cheaper handphone. If something happen, I won't feel bad.

Nokia Butterfly was my third handphone before I switched to Nokia 3120, my fourth. Both priced below RM1K each. BTW, I didn't give away both my Nokia to anyone. I still have it with me until now. I learn from mistakes. I've been using this Nokia 3120 for quite some time. I take a good care of it, both.

Then, on Dec 2004, my hubby bought me a Motorola PDA E680, priced at RM2400. I love this phone. I have been using this for almost 5 yrs now and I'm not planning on buying a new one. I'm very comfortable with it's screen eventhough the keyboard is small. I need to use the Stylus (pda pen) to be able to type.

But this phone is giving me problems since new year. I can't hear people talking on my phone. Sometimes, it does not ringing or vibrate at all. Out of the blue, I received dozens of missed calls and smses! What a pain! My Mr. Right's magic word is "Buy a new phone". It's not that I don't want to buy a new one but this is my favourite, my most reliable favourite phone and I still need it.

Finally, I can't stand my E680 anymore! My final decision.... buy a new handphone!

This is my latest phone, my sixth phone. I just bought it last week. Sony Ericsson W880i, the cheapest phone I ever have, priced at RM400. (Tak sangka, ori ada semurah ni). According to the salesperson, nowdays dah tak ada underground phone bcoz dah senang nak dapat cheap branded phone.

It is one of the slimmest phone in the market, as thick as a CD case. Making my E680 looks like a brick by comparison. Other aspect of the phone that catch my attention is the buttons, a rice- like protuding design.

And I don't know how long is the life span of this phone. But if I want to get a new phone ( probably another 4-5 yrs from now), I'll definitely get the kind that I've never use before. Slide phone!

Eventhough I've four handphones, I only have one contact number. That number was sejak azali lagi. I'm loyal to that one number and the service provider, Celcom. Historically, Celcom was started as Emartel (MR Tel).

Unlike some people that have one handphone with four contact numbers and different service provider. For example, my sister, she has two handphones and two contact numbers and two service providers, Celcom & Maxis. Until now I dont understand why on earth she needs two handphones! I guess, if she breaks one handphone, she has the other one to use.

Food for thought...