Bali Day 1, Part 1

ever since the husband completed training a couple of weeks ago, he has A LOT of free time on his hands. since the children were still on school holiday, he decided to bring the elder two for a short swim-holiday. my kids are swim freaks, berjemur under the sun until hitam legam and they still won't care haha.

so were up bright and early at 5am, got the kids ready and left the house at 6am. the night before was total chaos as i hadn't finished packing, and it had to be the day that the old trusty refrigerator decides to break down on us. we had a bit of a chore on our hands to try and 'save the veggies' (we went holidaying in Cameron the day before) and especially with very limited fridge back-up (we only had a standalone freezer) so we turned down the thermostat on one freezer and made it into a makeshift 'fridge' while waiting for someone to come repair our fridge the next day.

well anyway, this was our first time flying on standby; unfortunately wrong timing as it was school holidays, therefore most of the flights were full (sweat). the 9am flight was full, so we had to wait for the next one three hours later (MAS flies to Bali three times a day, did you know? lol. the crew don't have night stops there unfortunately, boo). it happened to be that there was another family of 5 also waiting on standby for the flight to Bali, so it's 4 of us against the 5 of them hahahahahahah what were the odds that there would be NINE available seats on the next flight?

ZERO to NONE i tell you!

the lady behind the counter told us the 3pm flight was overbooked, and the next morning flight was also unavailable. all nine of us were on standby for the noon flight but there were only three available seats. the husband was already thinking that if there was no other choice, the kids and i would fly first, and he'd catch the next available flight (say whaaa....?). but then he had the bright idea to request jump seat for himself (a friend he met earlier this morning requested for jump seat to KK but the flight was totally full), so off he went to seek the Captain's permission. the husband flew with the Captain once many months ago; apparently he wasn't too thrilled about having an extra person in the cockpit, but after much pleading he finally relented (yay!).

i kinda felt bad for the other family though. but their party wasn't able to fit into the noon flight anyway; and she also told me she's gone for holiday many other places before this, so kasi can kat kitorang la, ok? hee~~~~~

waiting standy

i actually got a seat at the emergency exit while the other two kids got a seat together at the back. but the lady who was supposed to seat beside them graciously offered to exchange seats with me since she was traveling alone and didn't mind the change. i'm so grateful for her kindness!

MH851 KUL-DPS
time to destination: 2 hours, 49 minutes.

off we go

the mandatory winglet photo

we had the option to choose either fish+rice or roti-canai+chicken curry; the two kids chose roti canai so i took the other dish (and guess who had to finish the leftovers? lol). i practically had to force them to drink thousands of miles in the air pffffft such picky eaters *roll eyes*. there wasn't much interesting in-flight movies to watch, so i randomly picked Four Christmases; the other two decided on watching Despicable Me *roll eyes again*. they can watch this at home, why watch the same thing again??? lol oh well.

to kill time #planneraddictmalaysia

we arrived around 3.50pm in Bali! after going through immigration, we took an airport taxi to our hotel. the husband opted to take the Bali Mandara Toll Road (we had to pay 11k extra) to avoid the heavy traffic (o.m.g. traffic here is horrible!). the husband chose The Laguna in Nusa Dua as our holiday stay, as the hotel was under Starwood Hotels. we were greeted with air jamu welcoming drink which nobody liked except me (so i had to finish all four of them hahahahah).

buat2 minum tu, in the end i had to finish everything haha

we checked into Room 311, with an awesome view of the swimming pool. urmm there's actually seven different swimming pools in The Laguna, so take your pick. did i tell you the room was awesome? the kids were thrilled that there was a bathtub (he-llo! why chill in the tub when you have a choice of seven different swimming pools to chill in????).

awesome fluffy bed

wish they had a couch instead of... that.

the usual desk, tellv and minibar

balcony with a wonderful view of the pool below

the bathroom

marble flooring is freaking cold

toilet selfie!!! cc. Ariep =P

welcoming note & snack

while the husband decided to chill in the room and wait for the luggage to arrive (and officiate the fluffy bed), the three of us decided to do a bit of exploring on the hotel grounds. the kids wanted to see the beach. the resort was so big i had to take a photo of the resort map so that i didn't miss anything (or get lost lol). it started to drizzle when we were walking around. the hotel provides umbrellas but i didn't find out about that until we were heading back to our room.

Resort Map

for those whose rooms were on the ground floor they had direct access to the pool via their balcony. just open balcony door and jump straight in. lol. photos does not do justice to the place. it really is gorgeous in real life.

direct access to the pool

one of the seven swimming pools

artifical 'beach' within the pools

the children's pool

the beach wasn't bad, but it didn't really fit the 'white sandy beaches' description as the husband was hoping it to be. but it wasn't overcrowded and clean, so i'm ok with that. i noticed there were wave breakers further out at sea; you could observe waves breaking against some invisible barrier before it reaches the shore (i'll have to check this out later). i told the kids to wake up bright and early tomorrow if they wanted to do some swimming.

Nusa Dua Beach

evening walk on the Beach

mission accomplished

like... finally.

#flymas #malaysiaairlines #flyingwithwings

jumpstreet pj

i was unwell that day - technically i still am - but the husband wasn't around and the kids were getting antsy due to the long holiday of doing absolutely nothing (apart from playing the ipad as long as it had battery life and sleeping late at night doing goodness-knows-what T_T). so i decided to bring the kids to Jumpstreet. a few of my friends have been there but i was a bit skeptical on whether the kids would be entertained or not. i remembered asking Dayana awhile ago on whether she would be interested in jumping around. she gave me a big fat NO. hahahhahahahhaha.

so without thinking much i bundled up the three elder kids into the car and drove to PJ. Jumpstreet was situated nearby to Jaya One rupanya - where i always get my washi fix at Stickeriffic! lol.

we went during off peak season; entrance fee was RM22 (gst included) per person per session, free for children below the age of 3. but we had to purchase their Jumpstreet non-slip socks at RM5 per pair. if i ever decide to bring them here again, i must remember to bring along the socks.

each session lasts for one hour, which starts and finishes at the top of the hour. we arrived just in time for the 5pm session. at this hour there were barely any one else apart from us and a couple of other kids jumping around. we didn't have to bump bodies with other people! =D

before the jumping commences

i thought Sophia would enjoy jumping around, i apparently was wrong. she wasn't used to the trampoline, and of the ripple effect of others bouncing all around her. she was initially terrified! lol.

it's much safer on the ground, Mommy

but she eventually got the hang of it and started 'bouncing' around all by herself without any difficulty. i took a few videos of her but haven't uploaded it yet. the other two, on the other hand, started bouncing all over the place.

The Cage was a dedicated area for kids below three, to be accompanied by a paying adult. so we spent most of the hour here, while the other two occasionally explored The Foam Pit - a pit filled with thousands of soft foam cubes, and the Slam Dunk, where you could dunk basketballs, of course.

when time was up, guess who didn't want to go home? LOL.

i'm wayyy to old for this. i ended up with a splitting headache for jumping around too much, hahahhahahahah.

oh, the kids made a new friend, i think his name was Benjy. here they are posing at the mandatory Jumpstreet wall together:

and since we were so close by to Jaya One, we decided to stop by Boat Noodle for a quick bite. did i mention that Aunty Daisy followed us too? she came as a spectator of course. LOL.

i left the kids at Boat Noodle and dropped by Stickeriffic to purchase a Christmas-themed washi for my December layout. i couldn't find any Christmas themed stickers though =(. i didn't know Reet wanted the same roll of washi too, i just touched-and-go because the store was gonna close at 7pm and didn't want to drag the troops along.

merry Christmas!

still another month of school holiday and i'm out of ideas on how to entertain the kids. haha!

Jump Street PJ
8A, Jalan 13/6, Seksyen 13,
46200, Petaling Jaya,
Selangor

Tel: 1800 88 JUMP (5867)

Opening Hours:
Sun-Thurs 10am-9pm
Fri & Sat 10am-10pm

hairbydaisydee

from this:

to this:

i loved it so much and it actually stayed in place (as in did not unravel) that i sported this head for 2-days straight

HAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHA

i'm now thinking twice about whether i should get that haircut.

my gula baker

one fine day, i came across this in instagram:

and immediately sms-ed the number to register Dayana. haha.
she did mention that one of her ambitions was to be a baker, hoho
but the last time i asked her and Dinara to bake cookies with me, both of them ended up MIA and i found them upstairs snoring on my bedroom floor T___T.

apparently Gula Cakery was only 15 minutes from the house. been meaning to drop by to try their awesome food (their cakes i hear are awesome, the last time they had a bazaar at SACC Mall they were sold out by the time i arrived, sobs). sil has taken classes before with them and has nothing to say but good things about them. so i is smitten!

the little monster at the start of class:

while waiting for her to finish, i headed upstairs to their cafe. Sunday was nasi kerabu and kuey teow day. but since i was alone and have never tried their cakes before (i've been dying to try one since like forever), i decided on a slice of Peanut Butter and Chocolate cake + a pot of hot tea.

... and did a bit of crappy journaling with whatever things i had in my bag.

i forgot that Gula Cakery had a small section in the cafe specially designed for kids; i left the other kids at home because a) i didn't want Dinara to feel left out because she wasn't registered for the class, and b) too many kids in a restaurant + no form of entertainment = no peace for Mommy.
i'm coming again next time with the kids, Nani.

3.30pm i went downstairs to see what had become of my little baker. Nani told me she was really quiet but followed whatever she was told to do. Nani asked me if Dayana bakes at home, or if she was the one that had wanted to take the class; i told her NEVER (IT WAS ALL MY IDEA) hahahhahahah.

see my daughter's expression? so much enthusiasm there.

Nani was/is really awesome. she oozes with so much enthusiasm it's hard to hate her. haha. she has this never-ending positive vibe that really works for her. did i mention to you that it's infectious as well?

Dayana was happy to take a photo with Nani:

and by the end of the class she was really excited over her cupcakes.
btw, that background reminds me of that pink sprinkle washi i have at home. LOL.

school holiday's coming up and i'm gonna have to think of ways to keep the kids occupied other than being in front of the iPad all day. she managed to learn from Daddy on how to hook up the iPad display to the tv, so she's been watching youtube all day on the big screen T___T.

Gulacakery
11-G & 11-1, Jalan Anggerik Aranda,
BG 31/BG, Kota Kemuning,
Shah Alam, Selangor.

Opening Hours: Tuesdays to Sundays 12-8pm (unless revised otherwise)

mcD nanoblocks

trying to own the whole collection was a pain in the ass, really. you couldn't even begin to imagine just how many crazy people are out there who actually collects these stuff. some even bought to resell them for a wayyy higher price than the original RM6. cray cray.

me? i'm not a collector. i don't even own a nanoblock prior to the McD edition. i just bought them because the burger was cute. and you can't just stop at one, could you? might as well own the whole collection. LOL.

Lita is the person i blame; if it wasn't for her i wouldn't know about these blocks. and then Dayana la yang sibuk to remind me to go get all the nanoblocks at every single release. haha. unlike the usual nanoblocks which you have to assemble yourself, the McD nanoblocks come in one piece. i guess that's why my bil joined the bandwagon too late, he didn't know they were nanoblocks! (i did ask him too search for them in Miri, apparently orang Miri pun gila collect lol).

1st release, the French Fries and the Big Mac

a few days after its release these blocks were still readily available; apparently Malaysians didn't know about this fantabulous offer yet =P. i bought an ice cream cone just to purchase the nanoblock (haha with any purchase maa), only to find out that the burger wasn't available. no worry, that night when picking up the husband at klia, i made a detour to McD to get the burger, i even managed to get another one for my friend as well.

2nd release, the mcFlurry and Apple Pie

i left for work extra early that day to go line up at McD downstairs, haha. but i wasn't the only one, there were many others who already beat me to it. it wasn't the kids, but rather, almost every single adult dining in had a pair of nanoblocks on their tray. i had to purchase two breakfast sets because i was also buying one set for my friend.
then later another one of my friend called saying the McD in her area sold out already, could i kindly find a set for her as well? T__T. downstairs was already sold out by lunchtime but luckily i was on half day that day so i managed to get a set for her in my neighborhood. even my brother managed to get me an extra set after his class (for another friend of mine) (i have three other crazy nanoblocks friends just so you know). again, at this time i'm guessing that people still haven't got caught up in the craze.

3rd release, the Cold Cup and McCafe

for this release i purchased my set on the way to klia while sending the husband to work. i drove-thru, and they told me that you could only purchase one set of nanoblocks per receipt. so i was like ok, yay i oledi got mine no need to worry. then my friend called me up to say the drive-thrus at her area sold out again because they released the nanoblocks since midnight (wth). so in the evening i tried calling several outlets but they told me they were all sold out T___T, even the outlet i bought mine from. but by some miracle another one of my friend managed to get an extra pair from Setia City Mall. haha. i was one set short though =(
the McD guy on the phone told me for the last release, i should drop by early as only limited quantities were available. (and so we start to question them (as how we love to question dUCk), how many were released??? 10??? bahahhahaha).

4. 4th release, the McD Restaurant

and so by this time you should know that everyone knew about these nanoblocks. even my boss pinged me at midnight to show me the queue forming at the outlet he was at (naturally, he was one of the crazy ones too hahaha). i was ASLEEP at the time, luckily the phone woke me up so without bothering to get dressed, i got into my car and drove to the nearest drive-thru. so ok la, the crowd at the outlet i went to wasn't as bad as the one my boss was at, so by the time it was my turn i managed to get one for myself, whee (the guy told me that only 4 was left, and didn't i go around a second time to get these nanoblocks? T_T) (no, i did not haha).
i think by 3am most 24-hour outlets were sold out already, lol.
i had to pickup my passport that morning and there was another McD outlet downstairs that hadn't yet open, but a small crowd was starting to form at the doors. since i didn't have to wait long at JPN, i went to join the crowd, lol. there were some people crazy enough to line up a second and third time just to get more nanoblocks, gigih ok. managed to get extras for my friends too. luckily they belanje me makan for doing this, hahahaha.

so, here's my Dayana's whole collection of McD nanoblocks:

Lita's collecting the Lego series from Shell, and asked me if i wanted to join in...?
er, maybe next time haha.

p/s. muak with mcD right now!

Emma turns 6 months

my Emma finally turns 6 months today! she was up early today because Daddy had to prepare for a 7am flight this morning.

and yes, as what i did with the other older three, i gave her her first taste of solids - rice cereal + breastmilk. i've forgotten which fruits/veggies are suitable to be given to her at her current age; must make a point to look it up later. forced the little one to eat this morning before mommy goes off to work just because Mommy wanted to take photos. struggle tu. haha.

this is her muka inesen duduk dalam bumbo seat =D. that seat has been in service for all my kids, it's practically the same age as Dayana, haha. its state has deteriorated much, but still usable. janji Emma doesn't bite the bumbo seat, sudah. bibik used to stick colorful stickers on the seat as a distraction for Dayana, i think in between the Dinara-Sophia era either one of them managed to peel them off. i dunno where the detachable tray is though. that one was rarely used to begin with.

eksaited pulak minah ni makan.but then again from the way she's putting everything in her mouth (including my ipad), and even trying to grab my peanut butter sandwich at one occassion T__T aaaaand from the way she voluntarily opens her mouth, i guess you could say she's ready to be stuffed with food, lol.

.
lol tengok kakak Sophia so considerate in accommodating her little sister. most of the time, that is. other times she's busy stealing Emma's toys because they seem much more interesting than her own -_____-

Sophia talks

Sophia's current vocabulary:

i donno

"Sophia, where are we going?"
"i dunno." with full conviction.

no

"Sophia, have you eaten?"
"no." shakes head.
"do you want to eat?"
"no." serious face.

gimme

this is whenever she wants something by force. with hand gestures.

look Mommy look Mommy

doing something that warrants my attention persistently especially when i am in the middle of concentrating on something else.

mine!
 
gile kuasa over there. especially when it comes to fighting with Dinara, and especially when being overly possessive over who gets to cuddle Emma.

ha'-ki

means: hug kiss. requested each time before going to sleep. when i mean sleep i mean finally spacing out after too much iPad at 3am T_T.

daina!

Dayana and Dinara are both labelled as this. lol

kakak nini

both bibiks have been christened this name. apparently the other bibik's name is hard to pronounce.

i remember me trying to teach her how to say her name (so-fee-ya) awhile back. later on whenever we say the word "so?" with Sophia in the vicinity, you could hear "so!" being echoed out of nowhere, haha. that's our little parrot.

so yesterday we tried asking her to repeat a few words after us. yesterday during our family outing at Pyramid i realized that she had trouble pronouncing 'balloon'. she loves balloons. she could spot on distances away.

(warming up with words that she knows how to pronounce).

"say shoe".
"shoe!"
"say bubble". (one of the first words she was able to say due to her fascination in them).
"bubbel!"
"say balloon".
"BA-MUM!"

whaaaa...? the elder two burst into fits of giggles.
after numerous tries, we still couldn't get her to pronounce balloon correctly.
balloon was still ba-mum.
oh well... maybe next time, lol.

doll-up sesh

Daisy stayed over for a couple of days last week so i pestered her to teach me how to use makeup. i seemed to have accumulated so many types of cosmetics over the years; some of them half-finished, some of them barely used (because i decided that the color wasn't meant for me), some of them gotten free. and being the true hoarder that i am, i so sayang want to throw them out, even though i think most of them have already reached/exceeded its expiry date. hee~

due to limited storage space, i categorized my makeup into three categories in separate pouches: face, eyes and lips. so the first thing Daisy did was to go through all my makeup: to separate the ones that were old and expired. my eyes were round like saucers as she tossed the to-throw items into a separate pile - dried-out liners, old lip balms and lip colors, makeup packaging ("JANGAN SAYANG-SAYANG", she says. "MAKEUP IS MEANT TO BE USED", she says. LOL). i did sneak a couple of them back into my collection afterwards (eep), a few i gave the maid, and a little i threw away.

next thing was to show her my measly brush collection; the ones by Artistry i received as a wedding present, the rest were randomly bought along the way (Elianto - cheapest option at the time :P).

Elianto & Artistry. the Stila is new.

appalled with my stash, she took me brush-shopping at Pyramid. there was a shop at one wing of the mall that sold quite reasonably-priced no-brand brushes (as opposed to the crazily-priced branded ones). she even helped me label them as well (HAHAHAHA). i was pretty sure that Daisy got A in art class during high school; i was right.

so... my current brush collection! good luck to me in using them, bahahahhahaha. i'm currently loving the powder brush, it's so big and fluffy! goodbye, lousy sponge! kah kah.

my brother says i'm preparing to go fossil hunting T___T

pouch by Artistry

there's too many steps in makeup, i actually had to take notes. her first experiment was on my maid, who was so ecstatic with her dolled-up look that she did not wash her face until hours later, HAHAHAHAHAHAH (i actually did that too after my first lesson, which ended in me having a zit currently brewing at my chin, CHIS).

then Daisy taught me how to create a look based on whatever makeup i had in my collection. so much hard work, i tell you. triangles and trees and lines. this shade and that shade, heck i tried swabbing three different foundations on my face and i could barely see the difference. and do you know how hard it is to create the ultimate eyebrow??? summore got two eyebrows, so kene la be identically drawn kan? =P~~~ i almost wished we could just stencil eyebrows instead.

first attempt under Sifu Daisy's tunjuk ajar

because of her i have a bunch of items on my 'wants' wishlist =D. but i do need a good concealer, i have horrible dark circles that i desperately need to hide. she complained that most of the colors of foundation and concealer that i had in my collection were all too dark for me. i tak puas hati when she said that the husband was fairer than me, chis. he used to be dark-skinned until he 'expanded'. i have this theory that people grow fairer as their skin expand. hahahahahah true or not?? =P~~~~

oh i bought a makeup case to keep everything in! the husband said i could, yay! not the professional kind, that would be too extreme. we went into Inglot and found a box costing rm500+, and i was like T______T. i finally bought the case at the same shop i bought my brushes, they were having a sale and it was only RM95. ok la, i could fit all my stuff into it, and it wasn't too heavy so i could lug it around the house if i had to. aaaaaand it was PINK!

you know how excited the husband gets whenever he brings home a new gadget? well that was the same thing with Daisy and me (well, Daisy mainly hahahha) when we reached home - semangat nak unbox and terus simpan all the makeup inside. LOL

awesome bag to house all my junk

i finally got my Sephora Black card too. guess what i splurged on?

to justify, i was eligible for a 10% discount and Daisy told me that the Naked On The Run palette was suitable for lazy people like me, hahahhahaha ("untuk orang yang malas mekap", in her words T_T). the only downside to it is that it came with no brushes, phooey. i also bought two lippies - awesome Urban Decay Matte Stark Naked which i mix with a bit of Too Faced Melted Velvet for a bit extra color. i actually asked some random woman in the store what lippie color was she wearing on her lips ok -____- haha. that clear Stila tube in the photo is lip primer (i wanted the Too Faced brand but they were sold out).

can you believe Daisy has only two lipsticks for her personal use? T___T. i have wayyy to many to count!

btw, follow my favorite friend Daisy Dee on instagram @weddingfavour_dee; she does makeup, hairdos, and even personal classes. i'm always amazed at her hair masterpieces =D.

ok sekian kisah mekap untuk hari ni. now if only someone could recommend me a skincare product that can make my skin look brighter and more radiant =P