Day 3: Sydney

DAY 3: 15.03.2016

(SYDNEY)

“Travel while you’re young and able. Don’t worry about the money, just make it work. Experience is far more valuable than money will ever be”. – Anonymous

Bangun pagi dan breakfast roti dan oats serta milo, bersiap sebab we are going to Darling Harbour today. Oh sebenarnya hujan renyai sikit sebelum Subuh so agak berdebar dengan cuaca hari ini sebab kami nak bergerak dengan public transport je. 

Average weather in Sydney, March, 2016

Average weather in Sydney, March, 2016

Dalam 8.30am, dah tak hujan tapi quite wet lah kan sebab baru lepas hujan renyai. So kami menyusuri jalan ke Circular Quay train station yang terletak about 10 mins walk from our hotel. Sambil berjalan, sambil ambik gambar sekali.

Bila sampai di Circular Quay train station, ada staff kat situ inform kami untuk cari staff kat atas sebab FIL guna wheelchair so nanti staff kat atas akan assist untuk naik/turun train. Dia dah siap-siap intercom staff kat atas untuk maklumkan pasal kami. Then bila naik kat atas, we found the staff dah siap tunggu dengan satu papan extension untuk mudahkan kami maneuver wheelchair masuk ke dalam gerabak train. FYI untuk yang wheelchair bound, kena tunggu kat gerabak yang tulis wheelchair atau ada penanda aras gambar wheelchair sebab senang nak masuk ke tempat yang dikhaskan. Dan disebabkan assistance dari staff di situ, maka pergerakan kami agak mudah sebab tak perlu angkat banyak wheelchair tu untuk masuk train sebab dah ada extension khas. Memang sangat wheelchair friendly kat sana, so no need to worry.

Nota: Jangan lupa swipe kad Opal sebelum ke train. Kredit akan ditolak siap-siap waktu kita sampai di stesen yang kita nak keluar.

Circular Quay train station

My parents in the train

Dah sampai Town Hall Station (kami pilih turun di Town Hall Station untuk ke Darling Harbour), kita akan melalui Queen Victoria Building (QVB) and memandangkan masih awal, maka kami tak plan tour QVB dulu so just singgah ambil gambar je kejap. Next kami kena jalan sikit dalam 10 mins ke Darling Harbour.

Queen Victoria Building (QVB) 

Our lil darlings got the name for their alter ego from here :P 

And this was the best picture of us in front of QVB. Haha.

So plan harini adalah untuk ke 2 Sydney’s Attractions i.e. Madame Tussauds Sydney and Sea Life Sydney. Kami dah siap beli ticket combo ni online dari Malaysia lagi. Bila sampai kat kaunter just pergi redeem tickets je. Jimat masa untuk queue beli ticket sebab kalau kena peak hour / weekend memang line panjang nak beratur. 

Got our combo tickets from here as above. Murah sikit dari direct website.

Lil Darlings at Darling Harbour :D

Oh the reason kami tak pergi Wild Life adalah sebab dah ada plan dengan haiwan-haiwan di New Zealand nanti dan sebab kami plan nak pergi lunch di Sydney Fish Market so kena budget time betul-betul. Kalau ambil 3 combo pass, memang tak sempat nak kejar semua before lunch time. Harini adalah birthday Abah Haris (my FIL) so ambil kesempatan nyanyi birthday di Darling Harbour. Pengalaman indah ni celebrate birthday jauh dari Malaysia. Hehe.

Both were singing birthday for their Ki (grandfather)

Queen E and the queen of my heart, my BFF, my mom :D

So first kami ke Madame Tussauds Sydney dulu. Last time when we were here in 2013 tak ada lagi patung lilin Prince William and Kate Middleton. Now dah ada. 

Our lil darlings with the famous couple :P 

Sebenarnya dah janji dengan Ayuni, my schoolmate masa STF dulu yang berhijrah ke Sydney ikut suami yang bekerja untuk jumpa di area Darling Harbour today sebab nak pass barang kiriman dari Malaysia. Bila kami nak masuk ke Sea Life after Madame Tussauds (we spent nearly 2 hours in Madame Tussauds), Ayuni said that she was on her way to Darling Harbour dari rumah. So kami plan masuk Sea Life dulu and agak-agak lepas Sea Life boleh jumpa terus kat luar nanti. 

Sydney Sea Life Aquarium

My beloveds inside the Sydney Sea Life Aquarium

So dah habis tour Sea Life (about 1 hour plus), we went out through Sea Life Café dan jumpa Ayuni kat luar. So masa ni sempat lah borak sekejap dan pass barang kiriman serta bergambar. Masa ni juga tanya Ayuni cara paling senang ke Sydney Fish Market untuk lunch (sebab last time masa kami datang tahun 2013, kami tak berkesempatan pergi ke Sydney Fish Market).

Ayuni, Muslim, Wahida and Khayra :D

Sempat bergambar kenangan keluarga with Ayuni and her son, Muslim.

Kami perlu menyusuri Darling Harbour untuk ke arah Hard Rock Café Sydney sebab perlu menaiki Light Rail to Fish Market. Masih boleh gunakan kad Opal untuk Light Rail ya. Sementara tunggu hubby masuk ke Hard Rock Café sekejap, kami lepak-lepak area depan tu dan bagi makan seagulls yang memula friendly je bila bagi makan. Lepas tu mengganas bawa semua kawan-kawan dia datang nak makan sama sampai kami semua annoyed. LOL!

Check out my mom's and Hafiya's reaction bila seagulls mengganas. LOL!

Dari Light Rail kat area Darling Harbour (I can’t remember the exact station, tapi kena melintas jalan dari area mall situ ke Light Rail) kami akan terus ke Fish Market Station. Bila sampai kat sana just jalan sikit lebih kurang 10 mins ke Sydney Fish Market.

Sydney Fish Market

Doyles

So kat sini dah dapatkan tips dari Ayuni, boleh try makan kat Doyles and request for non beer batter untuk Lobster and seangkatan dengannya. Kami pilih-pilih menu seafood, ya Allah sungguh fresh kat sini dan ambil tempat kat area tepi harbour kat luar Doyles untuk makan tengah hari walaupun dah agak lewat dalam pukul 2.30pm masa tu. Cost kami makan berserta air panas dan sejuk, ada menu lobster, sotong dan seafood platter, fries, kids menu dalam AUD100+. Again, jangan convert. Pejam mata je sebab nak rasa makanan kat tempat orang, kan. Hehe.

Doyles - some of our catch that day 

Hubs with his lobster :D

From our makan place that day. 

Next, memula kami plan nak singgah QVB semula tapi sebab nak bagi parents rasa naik ferry, so kita cancel dan plan terus ke Circular Quay sebab semalam masa kita pergi area Sydney Opera House tu, my FIL tak ikut sebab berehat kat hotel. Jadi this time nak bawa FIL pula pergi melawat kawasan sekitar. Dari Sydney Fish Market Station light rail, kami ke Pyrmont Bay light rail station. Dari situ kena jalan kaki dalam 5 mins ke Pyrmont Bay Wharf dan tunggu ferry ke Circular Quay Wharf. Bayaran ticket Opal untuk naik ferry ni agak mahal berbanding train ride tapi untuk pengalaman, OK je lah. Dari Pyrmont Bay Wharf ke Circular Quay Wharf ada 4 stops. Adalah pengalaman parents naik ferry ride merentasi Harbour Bridge. Sungguh indah, subhanallah. Thank you Ayuni, for the suggestion untuk kami naik ferry dari Fish Market. 

Team lelaki and team kanak-kanak :P

Team ibu :P

Some of our photos from the ferry ride to Circular Quay Wharf. Subhanallah, indahnya ciptaan Allah.

So sampai kat Circular Quay Wharf, kami berhenti kat satu café minum sekejap dan makan buah. Oh, sebelum terlupa, untuk menaiki ferry ni, bagi golongan wheelchair ada extension khas yang memudahkan. Staff ferry akan tolong set up macam bridge kecik untuk laluan kerusi roda / stroller. Memang mudah. Next melawat sekitar Opera House semula sebab dah cukup korum harini.

Our complete family photo in Sydney *love*

(walaupun ada yang terlelap, lulz) 

Ni tengah gelak sebab kami cuba wefie dengan Opera House tapi tak muat nak masuk frame melainkan kami berlawak, kena dukung Abah Haris. Haha!

This trip mainly dedicated for them - our beloved parents. Love. 

Lepas tu makan aiskrim sebelum balik ke hotel. Harini Mama belanja sempena Birthday Abah (FIL).

Bila kami sampai di hotel, ada chocolates dan surat dari management Holiday Inn untuk pohon maaf pada kami sebab masalah teknikal aircond semalam. Wow bagus sangat customer service mereka ni. Good job, dan kami terharu sangat dengan servis bagus begini.

Malam tu lepas makan, hubby ajak keluar dating berdua sebab kami kononnya nak pergi kedai Lord of Fries seperti yang dicadangkan oleh Ayuni. Jalan punya jalan naik turun train, tanya orang bagai tapi tak boleh locate kat mana kedai tu, haha. Sejuk menggigil plak tu kat luar masa tu dan kami tak bawa data pulak sebab hubby terlupa bawa tab dia so tak jumpa Lord of Fries. Hampalah kawan. Lepas balik semula ke hotel, kami ke roof top hotel untuk tengok pemandangan sekitar yang sungguh awesome! Cantik, subhanallah.  

The picture didn’t do the justice sebab gelap. 

Picture was taken from the roof top of our hotel, Holiday Inn Old Sydney.

Gambar dari website - from the roof top.

Will continue on this trip soon!

Day 2: Sydney

DAY 2: 14.03.2016

(SYDNEY)

“Of all the books in the world, the best stories are found between the pages of a passport.” – Anonymous

We arrived in Sydney at 10.45am. Disebabkan kami bersama dengan wheelchair and stroller, kami diberi keutamaan untuk terus ke “Priority Lane” / “Assistance Lane” so tak perlu queue panjang untuk melepasi kastam dan imigresen. Beg kami pun tak dibuka sebab kami declare je semua dalam Arrival card tu.

Both kids feeling fresh after they slept for a good 6 hours in flight

Next, kami cari taxi yang boleh memuatkan kami semua ke hotel and lepas dah buat perbandingan dengan pre-booked taxi under private shuttle which cost us about AUD248, kami pilih taxi bermeter airport biasa.

Perjalanan dari airport ke hotel kami; Holiday Inn Old Sydney The Rocks mengambil masa about 30 mins (15km away) and the taxi fare is AUD115 one way. See, much cheaper dari private shuttle yang kami survey kat airport tadi. The key word here is: you have to be very rajin to survey anything and buat perbandingan. Sebelum keluar airport, kami pergi ke kaunter Vodafone untuk beli simkad. Kami beli yang data 4G dengan harga AUD40 dan jadikan ia sebagai hotspot untuk semua orang :P

My father at Vodafone counter, Sydney Airport

Our taxi which can fit all 9 of us and our super banyak beg! :P

Holiday Inn Old Sydney The Rocks

Tengah booking (and nego!) for our next travel to the airport i.e. our flights to Queenstown.

So we decided untuk deal terus dengan taxi yang sama untuk ke airport semula bagi penerbangan ke Queenstown supaya senang sikit since that driver dah tahu berapa banyak beg kami dan hotel mana to pick up. Nama taxi driver tu Mohamad and a very nice man. 

Kasilah chance admin rombongan bergambar pulak depan hotel. Hehe :P

With my firstborn yang tak banyak songeh bila travel.

Masa sampai kat hotel around 12.30pm, our rooms were still not ready to check in (supposed to be at 2pm). So lepas dah check in over the counter, kami boleh tinggalkan our luggage and used their facilities kat lobby (we were given a card to swipe the private toilets and showers). Then we decided to go for lunch and lepas dah research sikit, kami bersetuju ke Malay Village about 10 minutes away and located inside the Metcentre Building. Sebenarnya dalam itinerary nak lunch dekat Curry at The Rocks tapi kedai tu tutup pukul 2pm, so rasa macam tak sempat nak jalan ke sana dan nak mencari arah lagi.

Alhamdulillah food sedap dan harga kami makan dan minum haritu dalam AUD90. Okaylah, jangan convert. Kalau convert currency memang apa pun tak boleh beli / makan. Teehee.

Malay Village located inside the Metcentre Building, Sydney

First meal in Sydney :D

Sedap, alhamdulillah :D

So lepas dah kenyang, kami balik ke hotel, washed up and solat serta rest sekejap. Plan kami ke Queen Victoria Building (QVB) by train sebab dari hotel ke Circular Quay Train Station about 10 minutes juga. Memang dari hotel boleh nampak Harbour Bridge. Kebetulan masa kami turun nak ke station, aircond bilik macam tak berapa sejuk, so I went to the lobby and informed the Receptionist about the aircond and kami terus keluar.

Waktu sampai di Circular Quay, kami perlu beli Opal Card di Information Centre sebagai kegunaan untuk naik semua public transport di Sydney. Kita perlu top up card Opal tu kalau baki kad dah nak habis and tempat top up memang ada everywhere and tak susah nak cari. We decided to top up AUD20 each for adult and AUD10 for Khayra (child 5yo and above kena beli) dan Hafiya adalah FOC (tak perlu beli Opal card). Masa kami datang tahun 2013, there was no Opal Card and masa tu kami beli MyMulti Pass untuk kegunaan seminggu di Sydney. Kat situ juga kami check dan baru tahu yang QVB closed at 6pm and at that time it was around 5.30pm. Since macam rushing and memang takkan sempat nak explore QVB dengan tenang, kami decided untuk stroll area Circular Quay sahaja. So we went a bit closer to Opera House dan makan aiskrim serta bergambar. Hehe.

Nota: Apparently Sugar Cone and Kid's Cone adalah non Halal at Baskin Robbins. To be safe, beli dalam cup. Sumber: Nutrition Catalogue BR / BR Nutrition Information.

My lil family unit at Circular Quay, Sydney

Behind the scene of every perfect family photo with kids! :P Haha. 

It was good to be back here after 3 years :D 

Santai petang. Luckily our hotel was nearby and had a perfect view :D

Love this candid shot of my firstborn and my dearest hubs :D 

Same place, same persons, different year (2013 and 2016) :D

Around 7pm, we went to the Opera House souvenir shop for a quick souvenirs shopping. Mamat tu bagi less than 10 minutes je sebab dia pun dah nak tutup kedai so kena beli yang mana sempat grab je and then kami kembali ke hotel (it was just 10 minutes walk from Circular Quay / Opera House). Sampai hotel kami singgah kejap kedai bawah hotel untuk cuci mata (most jual souvenirs) and upon returning to our room, we realized that the aircond was fully functioning. Malam tu dinner kat hotel je makan nasi dan lauk segera

Stay tuned for another entries.

Day 1: Sydney - New Zealand 2016

“I’d rather have a passport full of stamps than a house full of stuffs.” – Anonymous

PREAMBLE

So, if you are following me on Instagram, you’ll definitely know that we just got back from NZ again and the best part is that, this time we traveled with our beloved parents from both sides.

For the record, this was not the first time we traveled together with both sides of parents after we got married. Our first trip was to Melbourne (2011), next was Turkey (2012) and lastly in 2014 we went for Star Cruise trip (Penang – Krabi – Phuket – Penang). We didn’t bring them last year due to my grandfather’s health condition (2015) and we didn’t travel together during I was pregnant with K and during K’s first year (2008-2009) and during H’s 1^st year (2013). In 2010, my PIL didn't join us to Jakarta. So that's a brief fact about travelling with both sides of parents since we got married. Hehe.

PREPARATION

We only have about 6 months from our recent trip to NZ last September (your may scroll my entries to NZ with Motorhome last year/2015). Since both of my parents and Hazri’s parents have never been to Sydney, kami plan pergi Sydney juga so dari sana terus ke NZ; Queenstown to be exact. Memandangkan kami membawa golongan warga yang lebih matang dari segi fikiran dan fizikal, maka kami memang tak bercadang ambil motorhome, just sewa MPV je kat sana nanti. Basically MPV with 11 or 12-seater dikenali sebagai Minibus kat NZ and that would fit 9 of us perfectly sebab MPV macam Alphard atau Welfire hanya muat maximum 8 orang, so we have to settle for Minibus terus.

Nota 1: Rombongan kami kali ini adalah terdiri daripada my parents, ibu bapa Hazri, my youngest brother and my little family unit.

Nota 2: Rombongan kami terdiri daripada 4 warga emas, 3 dewasa dan 2 kanak-kanak.

Nota 3: 1 wheelchair for my FIL and 1 stroller for Hafiya.

DAY 1: 13.03.2016

(KLIA – SYDNEY)

Kami ke KLIA2 dari DU dengan van yang dah biasa kami deal kalau nak pergi travel secara berjemaah begini, since first trip kami ke Melbourne dulu. Punyalah setia bertahun-tahun dengan van yang sama :P We departed from KLIA2 at 11.35pm via Airasia direct to Sydney. Memang sengaja pilih flight malam supaya kanak-kanak (dan ibu bapa) boleh tidur sepanjang 8 jam penerbangan. Kami dah siap tempah makanan dan preferred seats for this flights untuk keselesaan semua.

Ticket flights kami beli pada bulan November i.e. 4 months before the departure date. Ni dah habis survey dah ni so AA paling affordable and dah siap dengan luggage, preferred seat, insurance and meals compared to MAS dan lain-lain. Beza dengan MAS about RM1K all in per pax and flight MAS adalah pada siang hari, so kami terus pilih AA dan memandangkan masa penerbangan MAS dan AA pun sama 8 jam juga. Considering kami pergi masa school holidays, rasa OK juga price yang kami dapat tu.

Photos: My lil darlings just before kami ke balai pelepasan ke Sydney (gate P8)

Stay tuned for my next entries.

Activities For Kids (9)

Hello, berjumpa kembali untuk siri aktiviti my beloved kids. Banyak gambar actually so daripada tak upload takut hilang sobs, baik buat memori kat sini.

Bubbles play. Do it yourself konsepnya. Ni masa Ramadhan since bos isytihar office hour up till 4pm so bila balik and sementara nak memasak for berbuka, bagi diorang main dulu supaya ibu boleh fokus kat dapur :P 

Sand play – only at Tok Wan’s house. Hehe. Tok Wan ni sporting, siap simpan pasir khas untuk cucu-cucu main. Hihihi. Ni both tengah main masak-masak kononnya, siap dengan buah belimbing kecil dan bunga-bunga. Kalau rumah ibu, this is a big NO, okey? Hikhik. 

The moment kalau bagitau nak pergi PSI (kedai buku) bukan kepalang lagi gembiranya budak dua beradik ini. Ini scenario biasa kalau bawa mereka ke kedai buku :P 

Stickers and images – sticker tu kena tampal mengikut warna dan kod image tu. Fun juga bila dah siap sebab so colourful :D

Another series of developing motor skills for Hafiya dearie :D She loves it!

Firstly, Hafiya told me that her doll’s romper was dirty (there was a stain on the cloth). I told her that we will wash it later but to my surprise, she took her chair to the kitchen sink, climbed on the chair, took the small basin nearby, took the hand wash liquid soap and softener and washed it all by herself! Haha. That is the reason why this picture isn’t sharp as I was quickly grabbed my phone to capture this! :P

Beads and more beads. The day when Khayra and Hafiya managed to complete 5 bracelets using the beads for her friends. Sangat pemurah, alhamdulillah :D

Activity: Paint with Water Book (left) and Paper Crumpling (right). 

Paint with Water Book ni konsepnya just ambil brush water colour and plain water and colour. Bila kena air, the colour will come out and both of them akan cakap “waaaa, amazing!” Haha, macam magic! Terlupa nak ambil gambar after buat but yes, sangat fun!

Activity: Paper Crumpling. They have to crumple small paper sheets according to different colours and stick them on the image and next they will stick the wiggle eyes. Hafiya cannot wait to finish her art work and keep on asking bila boleh siap. Mencabar juga sebab banyak nak kena gumpal before boleh penuhkan jadi objek tu, haha.

Tadaaa! Worth all their hard work. *claps* :P

Perkongsian Amalan

Dah beberapa kali nak tulis di sini tapi asyik tertangguh. Risau nanti jadi pelupa terus. Terbaca perkongsian ini when I woke up at 3am during K’s first day to enter her primary school. Lepas baca, I woke up dan solat sunat Tahajjud, in which I believed the main reason why Allah gerakkan dari tidur yang lena that night.

Antara amalan-amalan yang perlu diamalkan. Might be worth sharing, insyaAllah.

PERTAMA:

Jika sebelum ini kita selalu buat Tahajjud 2 rakaat, cuba gandakan kepada lebih daripada 2 rakaat dan disudahi solat sunat witir.

KEDUA:

Solat Dhuha adalah kunci kepada rezeki dari Allah dan menolak kemiskinan. Cuba amalkan setiap hari. Rezeki dari Allah datang dalam pelbagai bentuk dan tidak tertakluk kepada wang ringgit sahaja.

KETIGA:

Amalkan bersedekah walau sedikit manapun jumlahnya dan walau apa jua salurannya. Kita tak akan miskin kerana bersedekah. Again, fahami konsep rezeki dari Allah sebagaimana point di atas.

KEEMPAT:

Hormati ibubapa. Selitkan doa untuk mereka setiap hari tanpa jemu.

KELIMA:

Bagi wanita, pakailah sarung kaki kerana banyak penyakit boleh didapati melalui kaki.

KEENAM:

Amalkan membaca Al – Quran dalam sehari walaupun hanya dengan sebaris ayat. Ianya mampu membersihkan hati.

There were other things yang dibaca tapi the above six adalah yang terlekat dalam kepala. I was so sentap bila baca tang sarung kaki sebab all this while buat dunno je tentang perkara ini sedangkan tahu ianya juga sebahagian daripada aurat wanita.

The next morning, terus pergi beli sarung kaki banyak-banyak. Moga istiqamah, hendaknya.

Ameen.

Hafiya Reads: Sea Animals

Videos were taken on 7^th December, 2015 when Hafiya was 3y2m. She loves the book so much sampai bawa tidur sekali :P  

Video 1: Sea lion, turtle, whale, starfish, crab, walrus

Video 2: Stingray, prawn, lobster, squid

Mommies Group

Just a quick update!

ONE: Recently with the new routines I am quite free after sending out Hafiya to school and that means I will be at the office as early as at 8.00am – usually the second or third to arrive after my account clerk and my other colleague (read: my husband – haha!). So there is a new weekday’s routine i.e breakfast with other mommies (read: mommies to Khayra’s classmates) before office start. This also includes a lunch date with them.

TWO: One of the mommies had created a Whatsapp group during the transition week (yes, we clicked with each other that early!) for us to discuss on school matters. This is so so so helpful. Some of us have already known each other way before the group was established, like I’ve known Dhalia, Rania and Zara’s mothers 3 years ago.

THREE: We usually discussed on the Teacher’s pesanan penaja, our mission to decorate their classroom, their homework, things to bring like abacus for Maths, whether they need to wear sport's attire for gotong royong programme, latest news on current issue like dengue outbreak in Terengganu (that is so scary, nauzubillah), things like where to get the mosquito patch or repellent and other necessary and unnecessary things! Haha.

FOUR: As the kids will go to sleep as early as 8.30pm, I will have more time on my own after that (read: I can do so many things especially the house chores without any interruptions hehehe). But I will definitely go to bed before 11pm.

FIVE: I am (obviously) always looking forward for the weekend to arrive. Like every day, I pray that Thursday or any public holiday will come early. Haha. (Not helping as today is only SUNDAY. Sob)

SIX: I love to spend time with the other mommies – we actually understand each other better and it is a big relieve to know that I am not the only one who always wait for the weekend to arrive. And as a reminder that I am doing just fine. LOL! :P

New Routines: Working Mom Dilemma #3

It has been several times that I tried to update my blog, pheww. It’s nearly a month we are in year 2016. How time flies. My weekday’s daily routine changed tremendously. Bahaha. In a good way, I hope.

Start my morning routine at 5.15am – the first one to wake up and the last one to go to bed; that would be my title at home (except that hubs sometimes staying up to finish his work or simply playing with PS4 or watching his favourite TV show teehee). Not complaining at all but I just wanna write down my new routine after having daughters who have entered a primary school and pre-kindy this year. Serious business, tehee.

As Subuh is a bit late nowadays, I will perform my Tahajjud and recite few pages of Al-Quran first. Next, I will prepare their bekal and breakfast (I usually prepare different food for their bekal and breakfast) and in between, I will prepare their school uniforms and clean up the kitchen. Then take my bath and perform Subuh prayer before wake them up.

“Assalamualaikum, salam sejahtera ke atas Khayra and Hafiya” – that’s how I wake them up. I always end up nyanyi lagu Faizal Tahir; “Assalamualaikum dunia, lihatlah semua..” Lyric of a song that stuck in my head masa pagi-pagi.

Next, we (yes, together with my hubs) will get the kids ready for school, eat their breakfast, prepare milk for Hafiya and we will also get dressed for work. By 7am, hubs usually will leave the house with Khayra first. I will do some ironing of the kids’ uniform for the next day use (except on Sunday as I already did that during weekend). I will usually leave the house at 7.20am.

After sending out Hafiya to school (which is before 8am), I will go either straight to the firm or join hubby or join my friends for breakfast. I will fetch the kids at 5pm and will go home to prepare dinner or we just tapau-ed away. Hehe. When I reached home, I will unpack their bags, cleaned up their bekal, checked on their time table for tomorrow, basuh dan sental baju sekolah (yes, I hand washed their school uniform sebab baru puas hati), make sure their bags are ready for tomorrow, getting them to bathe, checking out on their homework, doing revision with them, preparing for our dinner, cleaning up the kitchen, menyapu, doing the laundry if any, mop the whole house twice a week pheww tak larat nak tulis everything in here haha. But they will go to bed at 8.45pm and there will be a quiet moment to recite / hear surah pilihan before tidur. Before they sleep, they usually will say without fail, “Good night ibu and abah, I love you” to both of us.

Last week was the first week after transition week and we were slowly trying to adapt these new routines into our daily lives. Work in the office has been piling up as we have a few State projects to handle and meetings to attend. It is quite tough to do all these alone, but thank you Allah for my husband who always lend his helping hands to me. Thank you to my daughters for always say thank you whenever I cook for the family, say sorry whenever they did wrong and by simply listen to our bebelan or nasihat when we are having meals together at home.  

To my darling daughters (and my beloved husband): I am sorry for those days that I had lost my anger, those days that I’ve scolded both of you because I was too tired and those days I just wanna be alone for 10 minutes - where I will end up cried in my solat or cried in silence just before I dozed off. Believe me, I was not proud of it and I've tried my very best to control everything so that we will have the best moments in life together. After all I am human being, I do have my weaknesses.

These new routines eventually gave big impact on me when I have totally forgotten Khayra’s music lesson yesterday T_______T until her teacher texted me to remind about her class! LOL :P Ended up we were late by an hour! That was NEVER happened to me for the last 3 years. Other incidents happened last night where Khayra woke up at 1am asking for water and Hafiya cried in her sleep and I tak sedar langsung! Husband attended to both of them last night and I only woke up when my alarm clock rang at 5.15am! Pheww. 

TOO TOO TIRED, I guess. Hehe.

I’d like to jot down a few tips for #notetomyself reminder but maybe in my next entry. Till then!

Primary and Pre Kindy 2016

School session for 2016 officially started on 3^rd January, 2016. It marked as the day we sent our firstborn to a primary school. A briefing session by PK HEM, PIBG and Guru Besar and registration was held on 31^st December, 2015 (tak perlu pakai school uniform tapi kids kena hadir sama). Buku teks dan buku aktiviti diagihkan pada hari yang sama. On the same day, kita dapat tahu on penempatan kelas dan kenal-kenal dengan Guru Darjah. OMG lama tak guna perkataan Guru Darjah. Teehee.

I applied for 2 days leave untuk settle dan hantar both Khayra and Hafiya to school. Punyalah berdebar takut ada drama. Kami siap pesan akan keluar TV kalau Kakak nangis nanti malu, satu Malaysia nampak. LOL!

We bought a pinafore sebab masa nak beli baju kurung sekolah, tak ada size Khayra and even the smallest cutting from KPrimary (tried a few from Canggih, Professor etc.) pun tak ada size yang fits her. Petite sangat, kamu anakku :P Tapi sebelum cari yang dah siap, kami dah siap tempah baju kurung sekolah Khayra kat tailor sebab memang dah foresee tak ada size. Kalau ada pun yang lebih kurang size tapi akan banyak nak kena nak alter potong sana sini, so better toiler made saja lah.  

During a briefing session

First day of primary school for Khayra :D

So on the 1^st day, she wore a pinafore to school. I’ve checked with the school and they were allowed to wear a pinafore to school, but it was not that popular among the Malays in the school. She met her besties, Rania and Zara but they were in different classes. Dhalia, who used to be her classmate during 6yo in kindy, also in different class. She also met Umar but also in different class. Basically, there were none of familiar faces in her class. We were informed that Guru Besar made a few changes this year so there were top 3 classes for Standard One, followed by another 4 classes. Each class only had a maximum of 32 students compared to the previous year where there were up to 40 students in one class. Out of 270 applications to enter the school, there were only 220 students were accepted based on a qualifying exam they’ve sat in August, 2015. We were informed that only one class for Standard One for DLP (Dual Language Programme) and 1 class DLP for Standard Four.

So there was no drama at all during Khayra’s first day. Syabas, bettey! Haha. Pheww. It was a big relieved considering Khayra pernah menangis masa 1^st day for kindergarten dulu. Haha. During the recess (9-10am), all parents were allowed to come to school for 2 weeks during ‘Minggu Transisi’, we sat together with her besties and their parents dan kami ajar juga cara-cara nak membeli di kantin in case of anything sebab dah sediakan bekal dari rumah. Then, kami tunjukkan toilets and few other places yang sekitar kelas. They must be in school by 7.30am and the gate will close at 7.40am. 

On the same day, after Khayra dah masuk kelas pukul 8.00pagi, kami ke Hafiya’s school untuk registration dan penempatan kelas. Back to Khayra’s school at 9.00am for their recess time. It was quite packed for us that day. Pheww. Both of them were coming home with me that day since I was on leave. Sempatlah merasa jadi SAHM kan? Tehehe.

Recess time with her bestie, Dhalia and Ibu's homemade bekal :D

So the next day (4^th January, 2016), Khayra was so excited sebab nak jumpa kawan-kawan. She made new friends from her class (Damia and Batrisya) and during recess, she joined her besties Rania, Zara and Dhalia. It was good to know about this sebab kami dah kenal each other including their parents as well. Rasa selamat sikit. After sending Khayra to school, we went to send Hafiya to school. Ada drama pagi sebab Hafiya refused to wear the school uniform and claimed it was Kakak’s dress. The same kindy like Kakak, mestilah pakai uniform sama, kan? Haha. Kena lah pujuk sikit pagi tu. Heh. She was all good when we left the house, sent Kakak to her class, at the school compound and met new friends in class. 

At first, she refused to sit on the chair at her table in class, tapi lepas dah pujuk sikit, she was OK. Then, I slowly keluar dari kelas tanpa disedari but I did sent a signal to her teachers. Alhamdulillah, she did great and tak menangis langsung. Owh, my lil baby was so grown up. She just asked Teacher Nini, “Where is Ibu?” the minute I left her. Hehe. When I fetched Hafiya at 11.30am (school dismissed at 11.30am for the first week), she was all in her happy mood and later we went to fetch Khayra together.

Hafiya’s first day of pre kindy :D

Khayra with her besties, Rania and Zara – from playschool (3yo) to kindergarten to fardhu ain class to primary school :D

This photo was taken after their moms had breakfast together and went to check on them during recess time thereafter. Haha! They were finally be in the same DLP class starting 5^th January, 2016. Alhamdulillah! 
(L-R: Dhalia, Rania, Khayra and Zara).

*For the record: I know Rania’s mom personally and we are quite closed since Khayra 3yo. I know Zara’s mom when Khayra and Zara (and Rania) in a playschool when they were 3yo and 4yo but lost contact after that. However Zara joined Khayra and Rania’s fardhu ain class, so they were back together since October last year. I only got to know Dhalia’s mom end of last year at their kindergarten since Dhalia and Khayra were in the same class i.e. Mrs. W's class.

Third day of school, hubs and I went to send the kids together and as expected (we had a discussion on this drama the night before, haha!), Hafiya cried a bit when we left her that morning. According to the teachers, she cried only for less than a minute and was back to her normal self but a bit shy. It was so not her, haha! All in all it was a good start for Hafiya. I was not on leave that day but I went to check on Khayra during her recess time and checked on Hafiya at transit. Everything was fine, syukur Alhamdulillah.

So that’s all for now.

I pray that Allah will protect both of Khayra and Hafiya (and all of us including our family, Ameen!) and I pray that Allah will always guide both of you in whatever you do. Ameen.