Chinese New Year Holidays

The hubby had 2 days off for Chinese New Year so we headed for Bukit Mertajam, Penang to visit his mom.. Since we were travelling from Kuala Terengganu, we used the north route traversing through Kelantan (Jeli) Perak (Grik) and Kedah (Baling - Kulim) to reach BM. We have been through this way before a number of times and every time I was hoping we would encounter a herd of elephants crossing the road.. but noo, we weren't that lucky! Here's the signboard which we would see along the way warning about elephants crossing:

Anyway, nothing ever exciting happened on the 8-hour drive... Some pics from the 'kampong' - not as merry as Hari Raya where some if not all of the hubby's siblings and families converge to celebrate at the family home:

Typical kampong house, lots of trees

Flowers planted by widowed sis-in-law living with mom-in-law

Natinal flower of Malaysia - the hibiscus

'Cat's Whiskers' - herbal plant

These plain white beauties smell heavenly..

Rambutan trees around the house bearing fruits!

Still green pineapples

'Bunga Kantan' - an essential ingredient for 'Laksa Penang'

White chilli - don't be fooled by its milky colour; your mouth will be on fire if you bite it

On our way back home we spent the night at a hotel in Kota Bharu, Kelantan, continuing the journey back to KT the next day:

Kelantan River: taken from hotel window

Dawn breaking..so calm and peaceful..SubhanAllah!

What are these guys doing with those iron scraps, you may wonder..

Ta..da...amazing isn't it? Robotic figures made from those scraps

Really creative..MasyAllah..we happened to park near the Kelantan International Trade Exhibition and these are made by students of Giat MARA, Pasir Mas 

This is a petrol station in Bachok. Second time we stopped here for prayers because of the neat surau in its compound

Clean and tidy

Shiny white doors

All sparkly and chromy in the bathroom

Only one complain - the glass door by the side, no privacy for the Muslimahs..

And hey what's this? Goolwa cockles? No, it's Tok Bali cockles.. we saw these on the way, bought some and they tasted just like Goolwa cockles (maybe the ones in Adelaide tasted wee bit better because we picked them ourselves..)

Umayr and Ammar

Today I'm just going to post some pictures of my lovely grandchildren. Stayed with them for about 10 days while we were in Australia. Here goes:

Ammar: 1 year 3 months

Hates being tied up to a buggy but ok in the trolley..

Big brother Umayr: loves trucks and large vehicles; his favourite - an 'ex-ca-by-ter' (you can't get more Australian than that)

Sleeping like a baby..

Changing the tyre..just like dad

Wait..it's my turn

Playing together-gether

Ammar: Now, how do I turn this on? Umayr: As if I'm gonna let him drive!

He had some eczema on his face when we arrived but got better after applying some Vaseline (petroleum jelly)

A helping hand from big brother (strawberry-picking)

Yummy..strawberry..

Let's have a taste..

Mmmm....

Nasty...

Happy Umayr

I'm gonna be like my Jed and ayah

His favourite expression when quizzical

I LOVE the sea..

me: I have absolutely no idea what this means..

Here are some pictures I got together using an apps from my phone (PicsArt). No creativity needed, just follow the instructions and tap what you want...

Miss you babes!

52 Today and Back Home!

The first person who (pre-)wished me happy birthday was the lady at the check-in counter at Melbourne airport yesterday.  Yes, I’m 52 today and back in Malaysia, home sweet home. Our flight yesterday was at 10.35 am (Melbourne time) and we were there by 8.30.  The counters were already crowded with Air Asia passengers to KL queuing to check-in.  We were actually loaded with stuff and I had a sneaky feeling that we might be over the limit for baggage. And I was right….We were asked to repack our luggage (how embarrassing) and to make sure we weren’t over the limited weight. Actually the hubby had underestimated the strictness of these budget airlines on weight limits especially for flights from Australia (compared to from Malaysia). They even weigh handbags for God sake! (seriously) Anyway, we ended up leaving 2 boxes of Corelle at the baggage storage for Hamzah to pick up later on. What with all the re-packing and rushing to the baggage storage (downstairs at Arrival) and then to screen hand luggage and after that immigration.. we were definitely out of breath by the time we boarded the aircraft! The plane actually took off 5 minutes after we sat down… (though there were a few people later than us I might add) Whew, 2 days ago we nearly missed the train and now the plane. All these rushing about is certainly not good for my poor heart, and I’m 52 already – a senior citizen (OMG are they going to let me go on the public transport  at ½ price now…not if I keep missing them). Anyway we arrived safe and sound at LCCT around 4 pm and the daughter picked us up. This morning I was up and about by 5 and even though it's nearly midnight, I'm still wide awake (God isn't it about 3 am in Melbourne! I should be sound asleep by now). Some pics of interest:

Crowded airport

We were early ok

Everybody has boarded!

Not our plane

Dear Mr. Fernandez, would your flight attendants please wear longer skirts or better still, pants? Other than that, no complaints at all..

Alhamdulillah, sweet home!

Waiting for daughter to pick us (hot, hot, hot)

Daughter arrived just before I melt in the heat..Thank God

Loading the car with our bags...lucky everything fits in