Little Girl, Big Attitude

A conversation between a 60-something woman & a 2-something girl:

60+: Ayisha, jom sembahyang (let's pray)

2+: *shakes head*

60+: Look,  telekung Ayisha ni, jom sembahyang (here's your prayer headcover, let's pray)

2+: *shakes head*

60+: eh....jom sembahyang jom (let's pray), you can wear this, pray with me

2+: *shakes head*

60+: come Ayisha (shoving the telekung to her)

2+: I PRAY ALREADY!!!!

Isk isk isk...ok, she did already pray...but the day before lah! 

She then followed my mum to her room, took her praying gear & showed it off. Sabo jek.

She's been busy helping Cik Limah with the door gifts for the wedding, especially the ones for the kids. But she only agreed to help after Cik Mah made a deal - '2 chocs in the pouch, 1 choc for you'. She stopped after she's got 4 chocs, 3 with supervision and 1 without. Sneaky Squeaky!

Michael is still in Bali and will be joining us in a few days. Ayisha's missing him so much, asking for him whenever she remembers and whenever I scolded her. I think she dreams of daddy a lot too cause she woke up from a nap saying scary things like 'let's go outside. Daddy's here, sleeping in the garden'. Erk!!! Goosebumps!

Can't wait for Michael and the rest of my siblings to arrive in this next few days!

Back for 2012 Wedding of the Year

Ayisha & I are back in JB.

This time, for my baby sister's wedding!!! Auwwwww!!! I still can't believe my kanak-kanak Ribena sister, Limah, is getting married. But she is, in a week's time.

It might not be a Twilight wedding with super hot Cullens as she dreamed of but I'm sure it will be 10 times more incredibly awesome especially with us super-hot-non-white Hasmonis. :p

with her equally cute kanak-kanak ribena soon-to-be groom

Entertaining Guests Before & After Sydney

Michael’s been giving me a hard time about writing things in my blog like “which I’ll talk about later” or “will blog about soon”. To him, it translated to “never going to happen”. He still feels this about our Paris trip, which I truly hope & believe that I WILL blog about…someday lah :p But for now, to prove him wrong, I’ll talk about the cool places we went to with our guests recently, that I said I would in my previous post. Tee hee…

Our friend from Sydney, Ronny, came to visit with his gal pal Reni (Ronny & Reni..hehe). We’d always try to see him when we’re back in Sydney so this time, since he’d be traveling around Bali whilst we’re in Sydney, he decided to come stay with us for the week before we left. They’ve both been to Bali before so their trip was mainly about hanging out with us, especially for Ronny & Michael, to have some good quality guy-time together.

One touristy place that we did do together and which I’d totally recommend people do, was to GWK Cultural Park. If you’ve never heard of this place before, I’m sure you’ve seen the picture of it associated with Bali at least once before, especially on one of those touristy postcards. It’s the picture of the big statue, the GWK – Garuda Wisnu Kencana.

familiar now? 

We’ve passed this place & heard about it a few times but we never got around to go see it. The park, what used to be an abandoned limestone quarry, is so huge and breathtakingly beautiful. There’s different laneways & stairs to get to the different statues, accompanied by related stories of the rich history & culture written on the stones around the place (and by the tour guide on the loudspeaker :p). When you get to the very top, the view is simply amazing. (Note: I hate stairs, but this place I really didn’t mind!)

If you haven’t seen any of the famous dance shows in Bali like kecak & barong, you can come here and watch it at one of their theaters, for free. They have different shows at different hours so might be worth checking beforehand. 

Ha was so excited to meet the dancers

There are lots of places to eat from little warungs to big restaurants as well as different souvenir shops. There’s also other interesting stuff to do while you’re here like riding on a segway and flying fox. So it could be a full or a half day trip for the whole family, covering a lot of different things.

The boys enjoyed their segway rides and Ayisha had too much fun chasing them around this massive open space park.

best buds

boys will be boys..they're riding for ages!

Squeaky had a turn too!

Ronny enjoying a creambath in our fav spa in Ubud

when in Ubud, go Sari Organic!

View at Sari Organic after dinner..walking back after sunset not recommended - too dark!

When we got back from Sydney, guess who came to stay with us?

Ronny (without Reni) again! They went to Gili and Jakarta while we’re away and supposed to go back to Sydney on the day we arrived in Bali. But Ronny decided he still hasn’t had enough Michael-time so he changed his flight and stayed with us for another week.

It was loads of fun having him around. Ronny is one of the most likeable, fun & generous people I’ve ever known, even Ayisha had a great time with Uncle Ronny. He’s one of Michael’s friends that I am very comfortable being with & talking to about anything even without Michael around.

On the last few days he’s with us, we took him to White Sandy Beach in Candidasa.

Michael & his beach babe

Ha with her baywatch dudes

It was too much fun we ended up staying there much longer than we planned. Initially we wanted to take him to Aquaria but at the last minute Michael found a great deal at Nirwana Resort for 50% off, so we tried there instead.

It was MAGNIFICENT!

There’s really nothing wrong with Aquaria but this place is just so much better, we love it! The whole place is lots bigger and gives a different relaxing vibe. The rooms, the pool and the restaurant are more spacious and that little bit nicer.

inside our room 

from outside

pool time

awesome pool view

The only minus was that the food was not as great as Aquaria. We did have some late night room service (ice cream & chips :p) there and breakfast was included (even for Ayisha!) and they weren’t too bad. Actually, their French toast was quite excellent, very thick and goodylicious. They’re soft & fluffy inside and crunchy on the outside, drizzled with icing sugar & honey…yummmmmmmmmmm.

Other times we would explore other cafes around Candidasa. The first we tried and one that I was pretty excited about, was The Dining Room, ranked #3 in Candidasa. We passed it everytime we went to Candi. I was always curious to go as the place looks so very inviting, with the hot oven pizza out front and the open space dining, we can see the lovely décor and beautiful setting of the place.

The Dining Room interior

It started off pretty good, with a lovely Mediterranean welcome and feel. We're served with complimentary yogurt drink, bread with hummus and cold towels. Service was excellent, menu not too pricey. But….the rest of the food was not as expected. They weren’t bad but it just wasn’t satisfying. Maybe I expected too much but I was glad we went there; at least I know what it was like and not just drool when we passed by next time.

Feeling quite bad for dragging Michael & Ronny to the Dining Room, I googled for the #1 place to eat in Candidasa and hoping our next dining experience would be much better.

Vincent’s was listed and it hit the mark in every way possible. The place was not as grand as The Dining Room but it’s still very inviting and looks so very comfy and relaxing. The service was top notch; the waiter memorized our plentiful order and got it all right. Service was prompt, price was reasonable & the food was EXCELLENT!

I don’t know if all restaurants in Candi do this but we were served with complimentary food here as well. It was just hot dinner rolls with garlic butter but seriously, this alone was so much more satisfying than the whole meal from the previous night. From then on, every single thing that we ordered – drinks, appetizers, mains & desserts were just ooohs & aaaahs and ‘you gotta try this’, ‘no, try mine’ moments. I know the act of swapping plates at public places are sometimes frown upon and we know people who doesn’t share food, even with their spouse (other than Joey Tribbiani :p) but we do it all the time. At Vincent’s we were swapping more frequent than normal because we both didn’t want to miss out on the other’s dish, I think we might’ve embarrassed Ronny a lil bit. Isk...

My favorite?

The Crème Brulee!!! It was by far, the BEST I’ve had in Bali..possibly better than the ones in Paris (eeeeeeek…have to go again to be sure :p)

See, after coming back from Paris, I was constantly craving Crème Brulee (ngada2) so would order it everytime we went out to eat if it’s on the menu (very rare). But none ever came close. Normally you get the crème caramel version and even that I think the instant ones you get from the supermarket are way better.

So when we saw it on the menu at Vincent’s, we just HAD to try it. Served pretty generously in a soup bowl, topped with that crunchy sugar bit on top that excites your tummy when cracked with your spoon and oh-so creamy on the inside – it was perfect. We went back the next day for seconds!

Didn’t get a picture of it but here’s one of Ayisha’s dessert – chocolate mousse cake, which was heavenly as well.

It was a very short stay at Candidasa but it was a very much needed & rejuvenating holiday indeed. Vincent’s, I’ll be baaack!

Dora for Squeaky, Edward for Me

Our Christmas joy,

Ayisha's:

Dora overload

Mummy's:

Edward overload

Not as much as Ha's but I also did get a movie voucher from my Kris Kringle to watch Breaking Dawn, finally! Woohoooo! So that alone is worth more than 1000 Dora, sorry Squeak! :p

Lucky for me it was still playing in Sydney while we're there. I tried to watch it in Bali with my girlfriends but the whole cinema scene here is not so happening lah. They couldn't even tell what's going to be screening until the day itself and no bookings are allowed. I was making peace with the idea of watching it on DVD later on but I guess I was destined to watch Mr & Mrs Cullen's wedding on the big screen - "Thanks for waiting, Edward" (echeh..kikiki, over gile!)

I went with my sister, Wa, who also got her ticket from her Kris Kringle. There's only 6 of us in the cinema, plenty of room for us two to drool & hyperventilate throughout the movie. I enjoyed every single bit of it. Part II, hurry up already!!

Yuz, Wa & I were talking at Xmas about how we couldn't understand why some people dislike Kristen Stewart so much (this includes Michael, he couldn't stand her!) We thought she's just such a natural beauty. We were looking through the book that I got above (from my MIL btw - I know, she's pretty cool) together like a bunch of schoolgirls. It was full of big, colorful photos of scenes & behind-the-scenes from the movie. Kristen was looking all perfect in each and every one of them.

Anyways, the book also included interesting facts (for us Twihards :p) like how not only Stephenie Myer, the author, made a guest appearance at the wedding;  the screenwriter, the producer & the art director I think, were also there and they came as 2 couples - one supposed to be friends with Charlie from work and the other Renee's friend from school. :p

Also the fact that the scene where Bella fell awkwardly just before giving birth & caught by Edward, that was not Kristen Stewart but a life-size doll of her.

And, the birthing table was one of the 4 available in the world, the latest & most hi-tech one, cause you know, Dr. Carlisle Cullen only wants the best. :p

And and, it also gave out some little details about movie Part II that includes the creation of the honeymoon house!!

Obsessed, I know. Ok lah,  I'll stop now. Till Part II, or till the original DVD of Part 1 that may include deleted scenes & special features blah blah..hehehehe

Happy Australia Day!

Our Chinese New Year Hols

Like Malaysia, Bali embraces a lot of celebrations (read: public holidays). But instead of getting a week long school hols & 2 off day at work, we only get 1 for Chinese New Year. There’s not really much going on here except for the mandarins, lion dancing and fireworks. Even our Chinese friend (err..we only have 1 here) didn’t celebrate it so it’s just a long weekend for us.

So what did we do?

I started by sending Ayisha to Peekaboo with a babysitter – her teacher from school so that Michael and I could celebrate our belated anniversary.

What were Michael & I up to?

We went B.O.W.L.I.N.G!!!

I know it's blur but I wanted to remember that I won by 1 point :p

Way back when it’s just us, we went bowling all the time. Michael & I, we’re not very sporty. You know how you hear of couples that run together, go to gym together, cycling together etc.? We’re not them. We can play sports, never particularly good at anything (me that is) but our definition of tennis is Michael hitting he ball to my direction while I remain static in one position and just move my arms. Fun!

So bowling is one ‘sport’ that we both truly enjoy with each other & it can get very competitive too. So that day was a lot of fun! I could’ve played more than 2 games but I didn’t want to overdo it, what with my clumsy-when-pregnant self. Plus, Ayisha’s only away for 3 hours and we wanted to do lunch. So we did and tho we thoroughly enjoyed our quiet time together, we can’t help talking & thinking of Squeaky lah. We’re so used to having her around all the time, it’s a bit weird.

We’ve never left her with a babysitter before so I thought sending her to Peekaboo would be fun for her, even without mummy & daddy. I was wrong. Her teacher said she didn’t play anything for the whole 3 hours. Just clinging and asking for us. Poor Ha, she couldn’t wait to get out of Peekaboo when she saw us. ☹

I don’t know if it’s got anything to do with us leaving her but the rest of the weekend, she was extremely well behaved!!

We then went to Ubud. I booked Michael in for a pampering session at Alam Wangi Spa. He said it was a pretty weird experience for him. I didn’t know where the place was so a dude on motorbike picked him up (motorbikes in Bali = scary) and they went through some back alley into the Monkey Forest (monkeys = double scary for me). But once he was there, the same dude gave him one of the best 90 min massages he’s ever had. After that he was served with drinks and cake by the pool, totally relaxing. He even felt good long after the massage. So…Phew!

Our anniversary ended with a nice dinner at Kafe Batan Waru. The food and the service at this restaurant are excellent. It was packed but the service was still prompt. Their menu boasted the best gelato & sorbet in Bali, so it would be silly not to try!

We ordered the chocolate gelato & mango sorbet and OH MY GOD!!!! They are truly, THE best I’ve ever tasted and we’ve tasted a LOT. Mango sorbet is Michael’s favorite and chocolate is Ayisha’s (and mummy's!) so every ice cream stop that we do, it’s almost always chocolate & mango.

The texture’s just so different from the rest, extra smooth & soft & creamy, doing just wonders in your mouth. The mango flavour is very subtle and yet extremely satisfying and the chocolate one is just so choc-a-bloc full of choc flavour. I can eat scoops & scoops of it, everyday. So if you’re ever in Ubud, go to this Café even just to order a scoop of gelato or sorbet.

"I'm in heaven.."

Happy Anniversary babe!

Another reason that we’re in Ubud was to meet up with our friends. Michael’s friend was staying there for her holidays and my friend was also doing a daytrip to Ubud that same time and due to time constraint, we decided to bring everyone together to our favorite restaurant – Sari Organic.

It was a very short get-together but it’s so good to see Odie again. She’s still the same as I last saw her. How I wish she’d stay longer so we could catch up more! Michael’s friend, Yin, I don’t really know but she's lots of fun, I wish we could spend more time together too. The short time that we’re all together, we got along so very well so it felt so rushed and sudden when we had to say goodbyes. We hope they like Sari Organic tho ☺

Odie & Yin with their respective partners..n food!

the walk is always nice

The next day, we decided to take Ayisha to Peekaboo again. This time, mum & dad stayed. She was not sure in the beginning, clinging to Michael with no smiles. But when we’re all in the play area, she was off to her usual cheery self. More exciting for her, not long after we arrived, guess who showed up????

Her best friend Freyjah!!!

that's her!

and her equally cute sister, Freylah

daddy having too much fun

busy busy!!

So eventhough it was a day off school, she still got to play with her best friend. She was there with her little sister and her mum & dad. So we had a good time catching up with her parents too. It was such a wonderful surprise, as it wasn’t planned at all. This time, Ayisha didn’t want to leave. :)

Ending 2011 & Welcoming 2012 in Sydney

We're still here! Still in Bali and we're all doing good :)

I thought about blogging all the time but we've been super busy. We spent the last week of 2011 and 1st week of 2012 in Sydney, celebrating Christmas & New Year. I was out of touch with the internet world almost the whole time we were there, it was that hectic.

The week before and the week after Sydney we were busy entertaining guests in Bali. We went to some cool interesting places together which I'd talk about sometime soon yeah. Then this week we were just getting back into our Bali routine - Ayisha back at school, Michael back at work and me back at doing household chores ie. organising my cleaner, gardener, pool, rubbish & laundry dudes (slap me, slap me now).

Sydney was so much fun. We did a lot of stuff and we couldn't believe 2 weeks went by just like that. There's so much to write about and share but I'm just going to sum it all up the best I can with loads of pictures.

Whenever we're back in Sydney, the priority is always to spend as much time with family. But it's always hard because we'd try catch up with friends too and do a lot of other things during our short stay there. This time, we really tried our best to do almost everything with family. Never enough tho, but there's absolutely no shortage of loving for our Lil Miss Squeaky who enjoyed every bit of it. There's plenty of special moments & memories shared with a lot of...

Baby Jack time:

Check out our cool curls yo!

One is blonde and the other brown but they're so much alike!

Picnic with Aunty Vicki & Uncle Darren, waiting for Christmas Carols

Jack, a year younger than Ayisha, is such an awesome little kid. He gives great hugs & kisses and he's just great with everyone and anyone. I love spending time with him & can't believe we're missing so much of him growing up!

Abbey time:

They do a lot of dancing (or rather jumping :p) together!

Smile!!

Abbey, a year older than Ayisha, is a very grown up little lady. She talks with such amazing expressions on her face and they both jumped with joy everytime they see each other. They do have problems with sharing sometimes, especially with the many new Christmas toys around. But it's all in the name of luuuurve as there's plenty more hugs, kisses, giggles and special girly times between these two.

Grandma time:

Ayisha got spoilt by grandma a lot a lot! Enough said ;)

Poppy time:

Poppy's stories are the best! He read every single word - even the thick books :p

How cute is Jack??? heheh

Then, there's Christmas at the Laidlers. Ho! Ho! Ho!

My sister Wa who's living in Sunny Coast has been joining us for Christmas this past few years. This time was extra special as her husband & new baby got to join us too. It means a lot to us as we got to see baby Aariz for the 1st time and we're so proud to be the 1st ones in the family to get to enjoy him! He's super chubby and oh-so-cute. Ayisha LOVES him. :)

Christmas eve - checking out the neighborhood's lovely Xmas lights & decorations

Fake snow's so much fun!

Christmas day at my inlaws has always been so wonderfully crazy and joyful. It started really early with a big breakfast of muffins, crumpets, bacon & eggs (we drove straight to our halal butcher for our beef bacon after arriving at the airport!)

Ha with Abbey & her breakfast plate

Then there's the overflowing presents eventhough we have Secret Santa/Kris Kringle organised. We just couldn't help it. It's more and more becoming about the kids now, everyone just couldn't resist. There's so many cool toys out there for us (oopsy, the little ones) to play with nowadays.

this is just half of the presents

Ayisha was pampered with presents after presents from everyone - with a whole lot of Dora, from Dora Princess dress and pyjamas to soap & lotion & travel pack bag and loads of crayons, colors, books & stickers and a whole lot of purple stuff too, surprise surprise!

..and we're just getting started. Check out all the Doras behind daddy!

After presents we do the next best thing - more eating! Christmas lunch has always been so satisfyingly wonderful with everything on the table - stuffed turkey, 7-hour lamb, roasted chicken, fresh prawns & oysters complete with accompanying side dishes of potatoes, salads etc. This time was no different. I didn't get to take good pictures tho - too hungry!

After the mains, the whole table has to be cleared for the plentiful yummy DESSERTS!!!!!! This time, my good friend Yuz joined us for Christmas. She brought Baklava from her special Lebanese shop that was just the BEST I've ever had. She bought a plate for me last time I was pregnant and this time my tummy got lucky again!

There's also my favorite South African dessert with layers & layers of chocolate, cream & special S.African biscuits by our friends - Cindy & George, who's been joining us for Xmas every year, now with 2 kids - Bella & baby Michael.

layer cake between the coconut balls & cookies - table's not full yet!

Then there's my MIL's yummylicious fruitcake  - with lots and lots of custard and I made trifle topped with the awesome-licious fresh summer fruits & berries!

From then on, it's just all you can eat, all day long - perfect day for stretchy pregnancy pants :p In between, all we did was just relaxing, playing games and just chilling & chatting. This year, we have Abbey's bouncy castle set up at grandma's backyard. Super fun!

Ladies' Tea Party - this tea set is the coolest. Thanks grandma!

Play doh fun with Abbey & Bella

Dora painting lesson with Aunty Yuz 

For our New Year's eve celebration, we all agreed that we didn't want to do what we did last year - half asleep waiting for midnite in front of the tv.

So my SIL, Vicki organised a popcorn & pizza party (Laidlers received a super cool popcorn machine & we all received a pizza oven from my MIL!) at her new place, which we love so much! She hosted it so well, with a lot of fun games to keep us up till midnight.

6 hours till midnight - popcorn, chips & dips

Laidler boys behind the fresh DIY pizza ingredients

Laidlers' close family friend, Anna Maria with the pizza ovens

Mine with LOTS of cheesy goodness

Kids' fireworks - 3 hours till midnight

It ended it with an extraordinary cake that came complete with your fortune for the new year. It was a pretty great start to the new year, thanks Vicki!

In between the Christmas & New Year celebrations, we managed to squeeze in a few things together including:

A visit to the tram museum just 5 mins from grandma's. No, we're not using our kids to get on old tram rides!

Another day was spent on a real train ride for a full day in the city. I've always wanted to go the very famous Fish Market. So we went there for lunch and got ourselves a seafood platter. The lobster & oyster mornay were sooooooo gooooooood!

We had extra large chocolate covered strawberries for dessert. I bought one each for everyone. Big, big mistake! Ayisha ate MINE as well..pergh...

Note to self: Ha = 2 person when it comes to dessert, just like me

Later that day, we stopped by Town Hall to see the Lego Art Exhibition showing in the city. We thought we would get to play with the blocks but it's more an artsy fartsy kinda thing. Pretty cool stuff tho..

Daddy promised I'd see some kangaroos this time round, Lego osso can lah...

we did get to push some buttons at the Lego shops

Hafta be quick or daddy's gonna take over!

We also spent some time at Darling Harbour which was splendid. I always get a nice warm fuzzy feeling when I walk around Sydney and see the Bridge, the Opera House & the Harbour. Haven't been here for a while and it's changed so much. They have a big playground area  that includes excellent water play and carousel. Great for taking the kids on a day out in the city!

Lesson learned, no sharing when it comes to chocolatey creamy stuff - thank God for $1 babycinos!

Another day was spent catching up with my friends in Sydney that was set up ages ago. We met at Azi's new awesome place in Balmain. It was a superfine day with great company & extremely delish food!

Getting crafty with aunty Azi

My trifle looks so plain next to Azi's crazy yummy cheesecake that melts in your mouth!

pool time with baby Aariz

Another day was spent visiting family in Kiama - the Laidlers' favorite holiday spot. We spent all day with Tom's aunty and her family and had a truly fantastic day.

Getting in touch with his feminine side on his pink floaties

Another thing that's been keeping us busy in Sydney was our house that we left behind. Our friend that's been looking after the house all this while had to leave. So we had to clear all of our stuff and do lots of cleaning, to get it ready to be rented out properly. It sure brought a lot of memories as it was our first home together as a family. Ayisha got to spend the 1st 3 months of her life in this house. We were extremely homesick. Definitely made us stop and think about moving back in!

Ayisha helped with some of the cleaning but at the end of the day...

...it was hard work!!

 saving the last chip in my mouth for later

It's been a crazy 2 weeks so she didn't have a lot naptimes. But a kid's gotta do what a kid's gotta do!

Do Not Disturb

Quiet time before bed, watching Dora Princess with her 'princess veil' towel - made specially by grandma

time out on her favorite bean bag

All in all, it was a perfect ending to 2011 and an exciting new beginning to 2012. We left Sydney with 3 bags full, with a whole load of Timtams and one  30kg bag full of Ayisha's Dora and toys.