Malaysian Wife, Australian Life

First & foremost, a very Happy Islamic New Year, Salam Maal Hijrah all! Another year has gone and I've let my blog go without a post for about 6 months now. Bad, I know.   I'm bursting with stuff to tell. So much has happened, good & bad. I really do want to update. Seriously. Ask Michael. See, most days, he'd ask me what I'd be doing for the day and most times my answer would include 'update my blog', among other things. Then today;  Michael: What are u doing today?  Me: Update my blog..  Michael: Ok wait, REALISTICALLY, what are u doing today?  Chet...  Maybe it's the new year, maybe it's just wanting to prove him wrong but here I am, baby!  Right now, we're actually in Khao Lak, Thailand, about 2 hours drive from Phuket town. Khao Lak is the area in Thailand most affected by the tsunami 9 years ago. I didn't know this before I got here. I knew Phuket was badly hit but I thought more Patong beach area etc. But i...

Last week, we went to Bandung with my sister & her family, along with my parents. It was short but quite fun. All we did was shop shop shop!  Michael was not so keen on Bandung in the beginning because of his 'got to have beach' policy for a holiday. But he went along with it anyways because he's never been there & we wanted go with my family. So he was happy to let me shop. He was all 'you shop lah , I'm ok, I don't need anything'. 'They're asian sizes anyways, there's nothing for me' bla bla.  So, shop we did..like crazy.  Well..actually. He did..like crazy. Apparently there was a lot of Michael sizes and he ended up with a lot more shopping bags than myself & the kids :p I was not so crazy lah . I am pretty hopeless when it comes to shopping for myself. I take too much time will little success & I am also easily distracted with kids' stuff. We did our shopping at Pasar Baru, Rumah Mode & some of the...

Our friends from Sydney, Ces & Reanne, have left us this morning. It's been great having them around. Bit unfortunate that they're both a bit sick on and off. And few days before they left, even Michael got sick too. :( However last weekend, right after they got back from Gili, we did get to go away and spend some time together. We went to Lembongan Island, about 20-30 mins boat ride from Sanur beach. I'm not a big fan of boat rides, especially more so now that I'm pregnant. I wasn't sure how bad my sea + morning sickness would be even if it's just a short 20 min ride. But I was assured that the tide's low and the boat ride's fast and smooth etc. Plus the fact that Michael has already booked a 2 bedroom villa in one of the nicest resorts in Lembongan, so I sucked it up and went along. The moment we arrived at the boat office, we felt like we're on holidays already. Complimentary drinks and being chauffeured for 2 mins from the office...

Grandma & Poppy are here!!! As well as Aunty Jess, Uncle Adam & Uncle Xakk - a very close family friends of the Laidlers - ALL in Bali! woohooo! And who's enjoying the attention very very much???? ngada-ngada je kan? showing off her swimming skills to grandma kicking around with Aunty Jess & Uncle Xakk We just spent the last 4 days in the very beautiful secluded amazing island called Gili Meno - the one mentioned in the last chapters of the book "Eat, Pray, Love". (if you still haven't read it just go to the bookstore and have a peek at the last few pages!) There are 3 most famous Gilis in Lombok - Gili Trawangan, Gili Meno, Gili Air. Trawangan is the biggest and the most happening, some say it's getting more & more like Kuta. Gili Meno is the quietest and most secluded one, suitable for honeymooners, some say the most beautiful one too. Gili Air is somewhere in between. It's a 3-4 hour boat ride from Sanur OR a 1/2 hour fli...

We just had a 4-day weekend. Sometime last week Michael told me Thursday would be a public holiday. Didn't really know what it's for but it means him not going to work, so, WOOHOO! Not just that, he also said Friday's off too. Apparently, at the last minute, the Government declared Friday a public holiday as well, just so they'd get a loooooong weekend. How super duper cool is that? ( sukati2 declare cuti, I like! ) Double WOOHOO! Only when I went to pick up Ayisha at school that the teacher told me the Thursday off was for the Ascension Day of Jesus Christ. There's a LOT of public holidays here in Bali & most I've never heard of before. Eventhough Im not working and it's just another day for me, I still get pretty excited when it's a holiday. So again, WOOHOO! So for the long weekend, we decided to go somewhere in Bali that we've never been to before. We picked Lovina Beach at Singaraja (just found out used to be capital of Bali), up north, ab...

Bonjour Madame/Monsieur, Bonsoir, Merci, Au Revoir! We're back!!! Tho i did manage to speak more than the above French during the trip before my notes were accidentally destroyed by melting easter eggs in my pocket, those were the only ones that i still remember. :p Paris....ahhhhhhhhhhhh :)))) Eiffel Tower at night - marvelous! It was an absolutely amazing city with so much to offer. We spent the first 2 days taking on as much of Paris that we can and the next 7 days exploring the French Riviera including Nice, Monaco, Cannes and even San Remo in Italy. We then came back for one last day in Paris to catch up on whatever we might've missed and experiencing the Tower at night before heading back home. We were totally blown away by the whole experience. I love it, love it, love it so much. Love the breathtaking sights, love the old history rich buildings, love the making-u-drools food, love the many lil charming shops at the marches, love the beautiful men (and women)...

We're going away again tomorrow! Very excited but a lil nervous as it will be Ayisha's longest flight. Altho she's been pretty good on the plane, this time it'll be about twice as long as the longest ones she's been on so far. So I wanna make sure that I've got everything we need to hopefully avoid any tantrums from either the child, the mum or even the dada. Here goes: 1) Barney, Dora & Singsong DVDs - check! 2) Snacks - Check! 3) Hundreds of Stickers & Coloring Books - Check! 4) Favorite Story Books - Check! 5) Ointments & Medicines - Check! 6) Pooh - Check! For the past week I've been trying to phase out Dolly, Lucy and other big non-fluffy dollies of hers by hiding & keeping them away from her. Left her with Pooh because it can be easily squeezed into our carry on bag and works wonderfully as her pillow on the plane. 7) This one's kinda super important! 'Rararara Me' - Check! Check! Check! Oh, by ...