Day 2: Auckland, NZ

DAY 2: 15.09.2015 (Auckland, NZ)

Onboard flight menu were served around 11pm and 2 hours before the arrival time. Alhamdulillah we were safely arrived in Auckland at 11.50am local time (Malaysia time: 7.50am). Both kids were well behaved in the 10 hour flight (they slept for a good 8 hour straight and woke up for games and foods). The weather was 13’C when we arrived and we had to fill up the Arrival Card at the airport sebab MAS lupa nak sediakan! Pffft.

After claiming our luggage and went through the customs clearance (some friendly interview before last luggage screening to Arrival Hall), we quickly search for free phone booth to call our rental car (NZ free phone untuk call NZ free phone numbers). The luggage claim and customs clearance took about 1 hour 50 mins. Sebab kami kena isi Arrival card, masa tu sampai another flight from China so queue nak ke customs clearance pun dah panjang sob sob. They didn’t provide for any fast lane for family with children or for disability person macam di Australia. Sigh.

We went to Relay shop to buy our simcard (2 degrees) for NZD30 (NZD5 for the card and NZD25 for reload calls) and later baru jumpa Vodafone. Jadi beli another simcard for NZD49 with calls and 4GB data. Actually simcard 2 Degrees don’t come with data service unless kena call them to activate and they will deducted NZD16 for 1GB data activation.

Next, we went to gate 11 to wait for our shuttle (our rental car depot was just 11 minutes away and it provides for free shuttle service). Hubs sempat beli Mc Fillet for us sebab kena lunch on the go memandangkan kami dah lari dari scheduled time (flight delayed, long queue for customs clearance, kena isi Arrival Card etc) sebab nak ke Hobbiton. We rented out our car from Omega Rental Cars and bila sampai kat depot kena sign kertas kerja sikit, bayar balance of booking (they took 10% deposit when we did the online booking), check kereta inside and out, installed car seat and booster seat (they will help you to install those), set the GPS and we were good to go. Oh, when we booked the car online, kami pilih untuk return kat airport tapi bila diorang tahu yang kita will spend a night at Ibis Budget Auckland Airport Hotel, they suggested to just return it at the hotel and deducted NZD36 for ‘After Hour Return’ at the airport sebab Ibis bagi free parking, so yeay! The rental car (Mazda Demio Auto – compact car) costs us NZD132 per day rental, inclusive of day rental (NZD61), GPS rental (NZD12), After Hour Return NZD36 – deducted sebab kami return kat hotel and Drive Easy Premium Excess Car Cover insurance (NZD23). Shuttle service and both car seats adalah FOC, so yeay again!

*TIPS ON RENTAL CAR: adalah sangat penting to survey kereta sewa yang bagi kemudahan shuttle if their depot is outside the airport area (kebanyakan yang tersedia di airport itself harga mahal dari depot yang kat luar dan tak ada yang bagi FOC for car seats / booster seats sepanjang aku buat research), kena cari yang bagi sewa GPS and car seats (if you have kids with you) murah or affordable or FOC lagi bagus dan sila ambil full insurance to cover sebab if anything happens (nauzubillah), the excess cover jadi sangat mahal. Juga kena baca terms and conditions on ‘After Hour Pick Up and/or Drop Off’ if kita plan nak sewa kereta outside their working hour. Ada yang company charge mahal, ada company yang charge murah and ada company yang tak provide langsung on this particular policy. Initially kami pilih nak return pukul 11.30pm sebab tu ada fee on “After Hour Return” sebab kena bayar parking fee kat airport. A bond of NZD2,000 by credit card akan diremitkan masa nak ambil kereta and lasted for 3 months sebab diorang akan hantar saman kepada kita if any, and will deducted from the bond straightaway.  

Khayra with our rented car – Mazda Demio Auto (compact car)

Kami bertolak dari Omega Rental Cars depot to Hobbiton, Matamata NZ around 2.20pm and sangat sangat sangat berdebar sebab the journey will take about 1 hour 50 mins and the last tour adalah at 4.30pm. Kalau terlambat sikit atau salah masuk jalan, memang for sure kami tak sempat kejar the last tour of the day and the speed limits adalah 100km/h sahaja. Kalau laju sikit the GPS akan bagi signals on speed limits. Fuhh. The speed limits in town area adalah about 50km/h atau 80km/h sahaja, memang nak nangis dah masa tu. Haha. Oh kami lunch on the go je haritu and Alhamdulillah both kids sangat well behave. Agaknya berdebar tengok parents diorang cuak nak kejar masa dan nak ikut the traffic flow. We already have an email confirmation on Hobbiton Tour at 4.30pm dan sepanjang jalan berdoa je moga Allah permudahkan urusan kami. We reached at the Buckland Road around 4.10pm and nak mencari The Shire’s Rest Café pulak satu hal. *Nangis* Memang Hobbiton ni tempatnya masuk ke ladang yang jauhhh ke dalam and krik krik krik juga. Hehe. Akhirnya jumpa The Shire’s Rest Café at 4.20pm and hubs dropped me off kat depan café and dia pergi cari parking. Aku apa lagi buat mini marathon lari masuk dengan harapan they still can give us a chance to redeem our tour tickets based on the email confirmation.

Alhamdulillah, alhamdulillah alhamdullillah they still accept our late check in dan tickets were then issued to us. The tour will start tepat jam 4.30pm (we were supposed to check in 15 mins before the tour departure, tapi Alhamdulillah rezeki kami haritu sebab still dapat check in). I went out to get my kids and hubs when suddenly I heard nama dipanggil.

“Wahidaaa, Wahidaaa!”

God. Macam mimpi ada orang kenal aku kat Hobbiton. Bahahaha :P

Rupa-rupanya Nik Fara! Apalagi kami berpelukan macam lama terpisah (memang tak pernah jumpa since we left Law School of UiTM in year 2005). Memang tak sangka jumpa dia kat situ sebab we plan to meet kat Southern Island kalau berjodoh. Then nampak my husband and my kids datang rasa nak peluk my husband cos we could make it to Hobbiton tours. Alhamdulillah *star jump* Haha. Sempatlah berbual sikit dan ambil gambar dengan Nik sekeluarga. Jodoh betul Allah temukan kami kat NZ walhal kat Malaysia tak jumpa langsung. 

With Nik Fara and her family at Hobbiton Movie Set, Matamata, NZ :D

Then bas Hobbiton Movie Set Tours datang tepat at 4.30pm and kena naik bas untuk ke movie set of The Shire, Hobbiton. Masa tu baru perasan husband tertinggal kasut Hafiya, apalagi memang kena dukung for the whole tours (about 2 hours) budak 14kg. Ticket tours adalah NZD75 per adult, NZD10 for child 5-9yo and FOC for infant 0-4yo. TIPS: Masa booking must state ada infant atau tak cos a ticket will also be issued even for infant.

Overall aku tak faham sangat (kahkah!) sebab tak pernah khatam cerita LOTR and The Hobbit (balik Malaysia baru buat DVD marathon, hish) tapi tengoklah sikit-sikit but I could feel that my husband was really enjoying the Tour sebab dia paling banyak bertanya (kahkah) to our tour guide yang memang very expert bab Hobbiton and LOTR movie. Part of his birthday treat lah kiranya ni and I’m glad that my husband was really enjoying it! :D The whole movie set was really nice macam nak nangis pun ada. Subhanallah. Hikmah kami ambil Tour at 4.30pm when we managed to experience the movie set (with a close up visit to all 39 Hobbit holes) juga pada masa hari dah gelap. So beautiful dengan tanglung dan lampu warna warni at 6pm.

Entrance to Hobbiton movie set

Samwise Gamgee’s hobbit hole *am a big fan!*

The Tour also includes a free flow drink (Ginger Beer – non alcoholics) at The Green Dragon Inn café. Rasa ginger tea yang ada gas. Bahaha. The Tour ended at 6.30pm and kami ke souvenir shop untuk beli souvenirs (the souvenir shop tunggu group kami sebelum tutup sebab group kami adalah the last tour of the day). Oh, masa tour tu kami sekumpulan dengan a few groups lain and ada berkenalan dengan a Chinese family group from Singapore. So bolehlah kita tolong menolong ambil gambar family masing-masing sebagaimana di atas. Hehehe.

Hafiya inside The Green Dragon Inn Cafe

The Hobbiton Movie set at 6.15pm during end of Winter

Next, our journey back to Auckland at night (around 7pm) and sampai Auckland kami kena refill minyak kereta (NZD44) and adalah disyaratkan isi minyak full tank before return kalau tak akan kena extra charge, bought mineral water from the convinient shop and balik ke hotel to check in at 9.15pm. Kami pilih Ibis Budget Hotel Auckland Airport ni sebab dekat dengan airport dan tak mahal sangat to stay for an overnight. Nama je budget tapi besar juga with king sized bed, toilet and shower and spacious room. Masa survey hotel ni ada juga komen kata kecik tapi bagi kami OK je, no complaints at all. The receptionists were very helpful and process nak check in pun laju je. Parking space available for FOC in front of the hotel, it takes 15 mins walk to the airport, and ada shuttle bus (Yellow Bus) right in front of the hotel mengikut scheduled time, what’s not to love kan? We got a pretty cheap deal for this hotel for RM181.00 and we booked through Agoda.com.

Malam tu kami dinner maggi, roti and waffles je sebab most kedai dah tutup at 9pm. Sebab tu berguna bawa maggi kalau travel. LOL. Malam tu juga I cooked fried rice untuk breakfast esok pagi guna traveller cooker tu. Mudah sangat, Alhamdulillah. Then kami rest and tidur even aku tak boleh tidur sebab time difference. Tsk.

Day 1: Malaysia - Auckland

Bismillahirrahmanirrahim,

DAY 1: 14.09.2015 (KT – KLIA, Malaysia – Auckland, NZ)

My hubs birthday! Happy birthday to my dearest husband! Behold for the next awesome adventures in NZ :D (Kami purposely booking flight tickets tarikh ni untuk celebrate sekali birthday suami walaupun dia yang keluarkan duit. Wiwiwiwi, thank you to my dearest hubs! :D)

Both of our parents sent us off to the airport and we had big breakfast together that morning before catching up our Firefly flight to KL (masa tu paling murah about RM400 for 4 persons one way tapi kami booking MAS balik dari Auckland – KLIA - KT) and landed at Subang Airport at 12 noon. 

At Subang Airport – bad haze day :(

At Mitsui Premium Outlet for lunch with my bestie, Linda together with her family :D

My BFF Linda and her husband, Zul had volunteered to pick us up from Subang Airport (they both apply cuti on that day terharu sangat sayang kau muah muah muah!) and we went straightaway to KLIA to check in our luggage. Then pergi melencong to Mitsui Premium Outlet for lunch and went to Putrajaya untuk jumpa Zmah dan Bon yang juga apply cuti pada hari tersebut, yeay! We planned to surprise my hubs for a small birthday celebration where Zmah buat brownies yang sungguh lazat (yums!) along with other foods. Kami sempat mandi, tukar baju, rest sekejap dan kasi the kids main puas-puas dulu kat rumah Zmah pada hari tersebut (and habiskan tenaga, hihihi) sebelum naik flight 10 jam nanti. Such a happy day to spend time with your besties before starting our long haul journey that night to Auckland. Terima kasih kawan-kawan yang disayangi for your hospitality! 

Yummy (surprised) Brownies baked by my bestie, Zmah for my hubs' mini birthday celebration :D

At 6.30pm Linda and Zul sent us off to KLIA and we performed our solat Maghrib and Isyak including solat sunat musafir at KLIA before boarding our flight to Auckland at 9.45pm. Our flight was delayed by 20 mins due to bad haze. 

My little girls – ready for (another) traveling adventure with us :D

Preparation NZ - Part 2

Part 2

What's not to love about packing? LOL. Ada je orang tak suka packing, kan? But as for me, I love love love packing my own things (and my family stuffs) especially when we are going to travel! *star jump*

The thing is, sebelum memulakan packing – MY OWN completed itinerary must be ready before hand. So kalau korang ada rezeki tengok my own itinerary, you will find things to do day per day basis. So bila packing, senang nak budget apa nak bawa, baju mana yang sesuai nak pakai, baju mana lebih selesa etc. The reason I start to pack early adalah kerana tanak kacau baju atau perkara yang nak dibawa supaya semua dah set aside. Complicated perempuan ni. Heh.

So this is how I pack – dengan menggulung baju supaya save space dan senang nak cari. It works, peeps. Trust me.

This is how I pack Hafiya’s diaper (the reason why kita tak seriously PT her before pergi NZ, sebab risau cuaca sejuk. Haha). Memang guarantee save space. No need to buy extra diapers kat NZ haritu sebab memang dah buat maths siap-siap. Actually ada banyak je jual and senang nak cari kalau tanak bawa banyak, OK? Tapi kena fikir on exchange rate kalau nak beli.

Bring packing to another level – dengan tanda siap-siap baju yang nak pakai ikut hari mengikut scheduled activities and places to visit. Ini memudahkan sangat sebab nak jimat masa. Banyak benda nak buat actually especially waktu pagi. Nak prepare breakfast, nak siapkan diri kita and the kids, nak buat bekal, nak set jarak masa perjalanan, nak checking out the Motorhome itself, nak ambil gambar or doing photo shoot etc. So bila dah mark siap-siap macam ni, dah cross one item to think atau untuk dibuat pada waktu pagi. Haha. Oh, on another note – tak perlu bawa baju banyak sebab kat sana ada laundry service so sangat mudah. Macam kami yang sewa Motorhome, setiap holiday park memang ada laundry room yang boleh digunakan with minimal charges (not more than NZD8 for both washer and dryer).

 Antara barang penting to pack:

1. Botol air kosong for toilet use. As you know toilet kat NZ tak ada pili or bidet shower, so botol air kosong is an essential thing to pack. Boleh beli saja kat sana kalau tanak bawa dari Malaysia. I use this kind of bottle sebab it works as bidet – the spray type, so lagi senang.

2. Kids’ medication. I packed them in a transparency bag / pack supaya senang nak cari and for customs purposes – this is very important waktu nak screening.

3. Liquid medicines – I purposely put them in a small padded bag supaya senang nak cari and this will go inside the luggage. So senang nak protect from pecah. Standard ubat such as motion sickness, flu, fever and colic I dah set aside dalam hand luggage in case of emergency. I made a long list on medication that I bring untuk memudahkan customs checking.

4. These are the essential things to use on the plane for example: tooth brush and tooth paste, wet wipes, tissues and essential ubat yang perlu guna and in case of emergency. This pack is a different set from the one inside the luggage. Nampak tak I take packing as a serious thing? Kahkah!

5. Kompas atau Qiblat Direction. Kami beli dengan harga RM15. So useful when travel.

6. Daily disposable lenses. D’uh.

7. Bepanthen – this will always be in my hand carry and inside my handbag (tapi kadang terlupa kalau tukar handbag. Hehe) sebab berguna for my kids. Kami guna in most situations i.e bila terkena gigitan serangga, bila ada minor scratch, bila kena gatal-gatal, bila kulit merah-merah etc. Work wonders for my kids dari mereka kecil. Alhamdulillah.

Next, food packing! First and foremost, I packed my food inside a zipper plastic bag untuk elak dari pecah atau mixed with other items. Kebanyakannya pun adalah Brahim’s dan Adabi punya paste. Kami bawa juga beras yang 2kg incase tak sempat shopping masa first sampai sebab mengejar masa. FYI prohibited foods in NZ adalah segala jenis meat, honey, dairy products (except susu tepung kanak-kanak dan membawa kanak-kanak bersama), fresh fruits etc. Boleh check out their website untuk prohibited foods and items in NZ. Again, I have prepared a long list for foods yang dibawa in case they query masa customs check. Tapi sebenarnya apa yang penting adalah kita declare semua barang yang kita bawa dan masa sesi soal jawab dengan kastam, just bagitau apa kita bawa dalam beg dan nyatakan tiada barang terlarang seperti yang dinyatakan di atas. Insyaallah boleh lepas. Jangan mengelat tau sebab ada screening nanti before keluar ke Arrival Hall. I also brought a portable traveling rice cooker with me (sometimes be called as electric lunch box) yang I rasa sangat berguna for us in NZ. If you noticed, I also bawa paper plate sebab plan nak picnic so macam senang je pakai buang. Benda tak berat bolehlah consider untuk dibawa ya untuk kegunaan kat sana :P (plus point kalau naik MAS sebab luggage 30kg per person). We have a total of 120kg of luggage and yeay for the comfort feeling on doing the packing! :P

This is what I love the most about packing; my kids stuffs. Actually they will pack their own stuffs in their respective bags tapi ini kira surprise things yang akan didedahkan (yes, it is a secret mission. Lulz) to them in any emergency case disaat diorang bosan atau cranky. Haha. Kena fikir lebih sikit kalau travel with kids. I called this as “Kids Happy Pack” and I packed them inside small zipper bags so senang nak bawa dan capai nanti. Ada stickers and sticker books, activity books, colouring books, doodles books, note books, colour pencils and crayons, stamp pens, small legos, Shopkins, mainan masak-masak and other toys. Semua ni I bought in mini sizes supaya senang nak pack. I also bought a few biscuits in mini sizes (individual packs) for them kalau travel. Sorry, the OCD inside me just came out by doing these for my kids. Haha!  

So next, will be on the itinerary itself. Stay tuned. 

Preparation NZ - Part 1

Part 1

The idea nak pergi NZ adalah sebenarnya sebab my husband nak sangat try Motorhome. Masa tu kami hanya tahu term “Caravan” je, so tak apa, sebab tu kena travel banyak so that boleh menambah ilmu alam. Kekekeke. I will divide this entry into a few parts, so selamat menambah ilmu! :P

TRAVELLER BLOGS AND RESEARCHES

Kami start baca pasal NZ and landed on blog Kembara Sang Kancil. Seronok baca blog Encik Faizal ni yang sangat details sebab dia pun sewa Motorhome. Then I started emailed him (dan juga PM) sebab ada a few questions nak tanya. Alhamdulillah, dia jawab dengan baik. Terima kasih sangat! :D

Untuk trip NZ ni memang banyakkk kena membaca sebab kami plan nak pergi sendiri tanpa agensi pelancongan. Ada anak-anak kecil ni sukar sikit nak komited dengan masa yang orang tetapkan, jadi baik kita chillax je ikut convenient kita anak-beranak. Sebelum ni pernah pergi dengan travel agent to China and Turkey tapi masa tu anak sorang so rasa boleh lagi kejar masa, ni dah dua orang anak, rasa lagi best plan sendiri. So I started kumpul itinerary orang Malaysia yang dah pernah jejak NZ. Antaranya Kaki Berangan, Cik Safura, Neena Anuar and a few bloggers lain. Memang memberi panduan maklumat yang bagus traveler bloggers ni. Appreciate every detail in their blogs. Then kami start rangka jarak dan perjalanan dan apa aktiviti kami nak buat kat NZ.

Kitorang pun pernah pergi MATTA Fair untuk tahu lanjut pasal motorhome ni dan secara tak langsung rezeki kami terjumpa booth Ahmad Caravan. Kitorang ada juga tanya quotation dengan diorang tapi tak buat booking pun, cuma dapatkan maklumat penting pasal motorhome ni sebab masa tu flight tiket belum beli. Sebelum tu dah tahu sikit pasal Trip Adik Beradik dan Trip Kekawan yang juga buat travel by motorhome / caravan ni.

FLIGHT TICKETS, PASSPORT AND DRIVING LICENSE

Nak dijadikan cerita, sebenarnya plan asal kami nak pergi bulan April, 2015 dengan both sides of our parents. Tapi masa nak booking bulan January tu, my Tokki was not feeling very well at that point of time. So my parents berat juga nak bagi komitmen nak travel jauh. So kita dah cancelled terus plan April (autumn). Fast forward, masa akhir bulan 4 (at that time 80% itinerary semua dah siap), kami dapat tahu MAS ada buat online sale, so saje je aku gatal tangan tengok tickets to NZ and Alhamdulillah, rasa affordable, terus bentang proposal kat Menteri Kewangan kami, a.k.a Mr. Husband. Hehe.

Lepas bincang balik dengan our parents and diorang macam tak confident nak naik motorhome, then we agreed to proceed sebab dah dapat date yang Khayra tak perlu ponteng school lama sangat in September. So waktu kami berkobar-kobar nak booking pagi hari sebelum pergi kerja, tengah key in segala data for booking TAPI …

Jeng jeng, passport Khayra pula expired! Huwaaa. Nangis kejap sebab dah bersemangat waja semua kan. Pastu kita risau harga tiket akan naik nanti. So pada hari yang sama, lepas ambil Khayra dari school, terus pergi renew passport and hari yang sama juga pergi tangkap gambar passport Hafiya untuk renew gambar sebab gambar lama masa dia umur 5 bulan. Petang tu juga bawa both kids pergi buat urusan di Imigresen dan Alhamdulillah semua settle.

So kami try booking semula esoknya sebab malam tu ada hal (macam-macam hal), dengan berdebarnya tengok harga sebab memang dah confirm akan naik sikit, tapi Alhamdulillah, harga turun pula by RM200! Ya Allah, rezeki kami lah pagi tu. Ada hikmah kan dengan apa yang jadi the day before.

Oh, pasal tiket flights ni, kami dah start survey dari January kan, sehingga membawa ke MATTA Fair masa bulan Mac etc. So bila compare dengan harga yang kami dapat masa online sale, rasa macam within our budget, sebab tu kami booking terus. Dan kami memang nak pilih MAS sebab the only direct flight ke Auckland. Yang lain kena transit dan ada yang transit up to 28 hours of total flights and transit, rasa macam tak mampulah nak transit lama-lama with the kids tagging along. Memang harga flight transit is way cheaper tapi if solo traveler atau without kids, maybe boleh consider. Tapi kena put in mind that kalau transit, kena tambah hari sikit (dan kena apply cuti lebih kalau yang bekerja, kena obtain Visa kalau transit di Australia (Melbourne, Sydney) dan China, dan kena fikir kos nak melanggut lama during transit serta faktor-faktor lain. Macam kami yang sedar diri hanya kuli biasa dan bukan big boss, kenalah consider banyak benda especially bab cuti dan kerja dipejabat yang milik bos kami. Hehe.

FYI, Visa tak diperlukan di NZ just isi borang Arrival and Departure sahaja dalam plane atau di airport nanti. Driving license kita boleh digunakan di NZ dan tak perlu International Driving License or Translator Letter dari JPJ dengan syarat lesen memandu kita perlu yang ada cip yang latest sebab dah siap-siap ada English translation kat belakang (kaler pink).

My kids – during nak renew passport and renew gambar passport :D

ITINERARY

This is the most crucial part (bagi aku). Sebab kena buat banyakkk research pasal tempat nak pergi, jarak perjalanan, aktiviti nak buat, holiday park atau accommodation to stay, kereta sewa, tempat makan halal atau kedai yang jual makanan halal (raw food material or cooking food material), child friendly environment, child activity etc. Ni paling lama nak siap dan paling dramatic sekali sebab ada banyak insiden berlaku. Haha. Siap menangis dan hampir nak give up pun ada. Haish. Tapi semua ni kenangan, so ada manis dan ada pahit nak ditelan. Ecewah. Ini akan aku go into day by day nanti in my next entry.

On a small note, kebetulan kami pergi NZ tu sekali dengan kawan masa U*iTM iaitu Nik Fara. Tak plan pun pergi sekali tapi lepas booking tickets baru tahu sama tarikh cuma Nik pergi 14 hari dengan family dia dan kami hanya pergi 10 hari. So masa buat itinerary, ada juga bertukar-tukar info dengan Nik.

HALAL FOODS

Actually kat NZ banyak kedai dan restoran makanan halal, especially in town area so no need to worry too much. Mostly kedai ala Turkish (hello kebabs and salads! Yums) and from Middle East dan portion agak banyak. Biasanya kalau kami jumpa kedai Halal, kami akan order 2 main meals je for 4 of us. Most of Nandos kat city town area pun Halal. Kalau nak beli raw food material, boleh ke PaknSave dan cari jenama ayam Brink’s NZ Chicken. Product authentic and certified Halal by FIANZ (Federation of Islamic Association New Zealand). Masa tengah research pasal ayam Halal di NZ, a few blogs kata kena potong ayam sendiri into small cuttings lepas beli sebab most ayam Brink's jual seekor terus. I was a bit berdebar jugak masa tahu tentang hal ini sebab kalau beli ayam kat Malaysia pun, I request potong kecik siap-siap terus, inikan nak potong dari seekor into small parts tu macam alahai, tak kuasa. Haha. Dah siap plan nak beli pisau besar kat sana kalau tak disediakan inside our motorhome. Tapi bila kami beli groceries kat PaknSave Hornby, Christchurch, Alhamdulillah they did sell yang dah potong into small parts (thighs, drums, skinless breasts, whole legs etc) siap-siap dan ada juga yang dah marinade. Nak melompat happy pun ada masa jumpa tu. Hehe. So you can read more on Brink’s NZ Chicken here. Untuk seafood macam sotong dan udang, they did sell yang already packed and frozen, dan ada yang jual per kilo so bolehlah beli mana yang sesuai. One thing to consider, kalau masak lebih jimatkan masa sebab nak locate kedai Halal dan cari parking pun makan masa. 

CURRENCY EXCHANGE AND CREDIT CARDS

Kat NZ guna NZD (New Zealand Dollar). Masa kami dapat quotation dari a few Motorhome company, hampir semua darab 2.9 dan masa bulan Ramadhan (bulan Julai) masa kejatuhan matawang dunia, kami tukar selambak siap-siap dan dapat rate 2.6! The lowest kami dapat masa tu. So kalau kami tukar sekarang dengan NZD yang masih berbaki, kami untung lagi! Credit cards especially Visa and Master Cards boleh guna in most kedai and petrol station and they rarely accept American Express (AMEX) kat sana. American Express langsung tidak diterima di mana-mana petrol station.  

Photo: Hafiya and tempat kami tukar duit NZD.

WEATHER

Kalau ikut general weather di NZ, September dah masuk Spring tapi sebenarnya September will still be regarded as end of Winter. So masa kami pergi still boleh pergi main snow di Coronet Peak (opens in June – October only) and still banyak tempat ada pemandangan snow capped mountains. Indahnya, Subhanallah. Di Auckland (Northern Island) masa kami sampai dalam 13’C and in Southern Island around 10’C and below. Gigil jugalah waktu malam hari. Brrrr. Please take note that during Summer (December – February) will be regarded as peak tourists season hence most accommodations and rentals akan mahal. They regarded this time as expensive months.

PACKING

If you know me very well, you will know that I always take packing as a serious stuff. Kahkah! Even nak pergi KL je atau staycation pun akan packing dengan teliti and I always hope that I could bring the whole house! Bahahaha. If nak ke overseas, I usually start to pack a month earlier and this is a serious commitment, guys. No kidding. Kena fikir packing for 4 orang jadi kenalah start awal and siap ada checklist, hokey? Haha. My BFFs will surely faham my stand on this thing. Hehe. For this trip, kami bawa 4 beg i.e: 1 bag pakaian (the biggest size but lightweight luggage – 25kg), 1 beg for foods (cabin size luggage – 15kg), 2 backpacks i.e small size and hoversack 120L (for convenient storage and for our winter jackets). More details on packing will come up in Part 2.

Our luggage.

I will stop here for this entry. More to come insyaAllah. Doakan I ada masa to write down everything, to watermark my photos dan juga mengarang entri berikutnya. Hewhewhew :P

Salam Tahun Baru Hijrah 1437H!

Post Holiday Syndrome

We just came back from our NZ trip about 2 weeks ago and the withdrawals syndrome still there!

And I am here stuck with my own workloads, the firm’s auditors, the deadlines and my role as a working wife / mom *cries a river*

I know, I promised with some of you a longgg entry (and more pictures, yeay!) about our recent awesome trip to NZ (Subhanallah, it was a great one for us), but please bear with me as I am trying my best to put in every details here. Indeed, I am working on it. 

Sabar ya kesayangans! :P

Activities For Kids (8)

We love books and it is no doubt that kami adalah the book hoarder! Haha. Kalau gi BBW tu memang rasa bahagia semacam bila dapat beli buku murah :P

I noticed that both of my lil girls also love books as much as we do. Ini antara koleksi buku-buku Dora yang both Khayra and Hafiya sayang sangat. I love the Ready – To – Read book series tu, sebab kreatif juga penyampaian dia untuk kanak-kanak membaca. So far memang semua hasil belian kat BBW. Kalau jumpa series ni, memang wajib beli. Hafiya tiap-tiap hari ambil buku ni nak baca.

Aktiviti seterusnya is Alphabet books for Khayra. Balik school, dia kena tulis huruf and it stands for what and kena lukis dan colour. So ibu dia atau abah dia kena jadi teacher, kena tanda buku tersebut. Haha. We keep on monitoring her handwriting, so kalau tulis cantik akan dapat star. To make it more fun, I bought several patterns of Reward Stickers and Reward Stamp for them. So bila diorang buat activity books, bila dapat Reward Sticker, happy sangat budak-budak kecik tu. Ni sebagai umpan juga supaya dia buat kerja sunguh-sungguh – psychology :P

No doubt that this mom a.k.a teacher at home also a sticker hoarder :P

(memang hobi dari kecil suka kumpul sticker. LOL)

Ibu pun ada buat aktiviti ni masa sekolah rendah, ukir kat potatos and chop chop chop. Masa dalam gambar ni, Khayra was about 3yo+ sebab adik Hafiya kecil lagi to join. Masa ni juga kita ajar about shapes, so I ukir potato tu bentuk triangle, rectangle, square etc.

Ini koleksi peribadi Khayra yang paling dia sayang – figurine Princesses, Elsa and Anna, Sofia The First and comes with two clip on dresses. Memang kusyuk kalau dia main ni. Now Hafiya pun join sama dah main sekali dengan castle yang Pak Long diorang bagi for birthday present :D

Ini aktiviti baking dengan Khayra – buat chocolate cupcakes. Suka sangat dia bila dapat decorate cupcakes sendiri.

Sekian sahaja untuk laporan bergambar kali ini :D

Admitted: Kay Tee Ess

Khayra has been admitted in Kay Tee Ess (K*TS) on 25.08.2015 until 27.08.2015. It all started on Monday - after attending her music class, I noticed Khayra batuk. She slept as usual at 9pm; my daughters' usual time to sleep during weekdays. At 12am she woke up and cried sebab katanya tak selesa nak tidur. I put on some vicks and she went back to sleep again. At 2am she woke up again, feeling discomfort and we decided to bring her to Intan straightaway. She went to Intan with hubs and I stayed at home with Hafiya sebab Hafiya tidur and hujan renyai. We thought it would be hassle if angkut semua pergi. Hubs WA and told me that Doctor kata just batuk kahak and gave her a round of nebulizer. At this point, we were informed that her lungs and everything was clear. Alhamdulillah. Back from Intan, she slept soundly but at 4am she woke up and cry; feeling discomfort again. I tried the stim wap technique (air panas + a few drops of minyak herba bayi Amway) and alhamdulillah she was getting better - no more chesty cough at that moment (she threw up twice and felt better so she could sleep well after that).

We decided not to send her to school that day and she stayed with my mom as I cannot take leave (appointments, advise to release yada yada yada). I went to send Hafiya to school and decided to go to Khayra's primary school for next year as we need to confirm on the acceptance as soon as possible.

At 9.30am, I received a call from my mom and she told me that Khayra was feeling uncomfortable, her coughing was bad and she was crying. Hubs was having stand down for his trial and we texted each other and decided to bring Khayra to Kay Tee Ess. I went to office for half an hour to reschedule my appointments and to pass a few tasks to my staffs. My mom and my younger brother brought Khayra to Kay Tee Ess and we met there.

We met the Pediatrician, Dr. M*ohammad S*alehuddin and after checking up on Khayra's condition and listening to my story, he seemed not happy. He brought us to initiate the nebulizer and in the midst of it, he said that he wanted to run a few tests, to do the x-ray, blood test and to admit Khayra straightaway. I macam redha je at that point of time so we went for registration and they gave us a single ward at Level 3.

Day 1

Nebulizer was initiated every 1 hour for the first 3 hours followed by every 2 hour until day 2. Magnesium was given in the evening together with Singulair 4mg. PCM suppository was inserted as she was having fever at 10.30am (38.4°C). Drip injection at 2.00pm inserted for antibiotik every 12 hour and Hydrocort for every 6 hour. Blood tests were conducted. Several rounds of Paed's and nurses visit. At 12 noon : her temperature was 37.8°C.

(I jotted down everything here, please excuse this paranoid mom)

I immediately applied for leave from Dato' Boss and notified Khayra's teacher, her daycare and our closed family members.

Hubs came during lunch hour and I went back with my mom to pack things for our hospital use. I came back at 3.00pm and hubs took care of Hafiya at home.

The day marked in my diary - my first day in my life sleeping in the hospital ward for accompanying a patient (sleeping in the ward twice for labour didn't count ya). As the neb and the medicine were scheduled for specific time, we didn't really get proper sleep that night.

We were informed that from the x-ray and blood tests, there was lung infection. However test for Mycoplasma was negative. Khayra has been admitted for 3 days in November, 2013 and had been diagnosed with Mycoplasma infection. More on Mycoplasma can be read here.

Admitted in 2015

Admitted in 2013 - Mycoplasma infection

Admitted in 2015 - playing with Shopkins :P

Day 2

In the morning - nebulizer was initiated for every 2 hour, PCM for every 6 hour and Hydrocort for every 6 hour.

I went to the office at 10.00am and hubs took turn to accompany Khayra. Met a little 2yo boy at the lift and he asked me to carry him - according to her mom, he was being admitted for kidney's infection and it was his 3rd day in the hospital. When I entered the lift, air mata dah bergenang sebab kesian and at that particular moment I was missing Hafiya badly as I didn't get to see her since we checked in hospital yesterday. Settled a few tasks in the office and went back to Kay Tee Ess during lunch hour.

Paeds visit : still feverish, her lung was in stable condition (before this macam saluran sempit and causing breathing discomfort). Neb was reduced to every 5 hour, PCM for every 6 hour, Prednisolone 3ml and Singulair 4mg in the evening.

Hafiya came for a while during the evening to meet me and she cried loudly when we bid goodbyes T_______T

Since the medications and nebulizer were reduced to a longer time, we had good sleep that night. The drip at Khayra's hand was removed sebab tangan dia bengkak sikit and later on she just took the medicines via syringe.

Day 3

Prednisolone (paru paru) 3ml (corticosteroids)

PCM 4ml

Singulair 4mg

Antibiotik 5ml (Cephalexin 250mg Syrup)

Nebulizer (every 5hour) (ventolin)

Khayra's condition was recovering. Hubs went to see Mrs. W to update on Khayra’s condition and asked on her syllabus. We were discharged from ward after taking neb at 8pm. Having said that we have been scheduled for an outpatient treatment (nebulizer) 3x a day (8am, 4pm and 10pm) for three days and follow up with Paed as soon as the nebulizer’s schedule was completed.

From Paed’s examination, it was concluded that Khayra was diagnosed with “Billateral Bronchopneumonia changes with pulmonary hyperinflation and air bronchogram”. More on Bronchopneumonia can be read here

We were scheduled for next appointment on this coming Sunday and during our previous visit, the Paed gave another antibiotic (Klacid) as Khayra was still having fever (on and off fever).

We wish to thank our family members who always be there for us especially our beloved parents. Thank you for those who called, texted and dropped by to visit Khayra. Thank you for all your prayers.

I missed this Lil Girl, Hafiya a lot during my stayed at Kay Tee Ess. Tahap nangis sikit. Tsk.

Semoga Allah ampunkan dosa-dosa kami kerana anak kecil kami masih suci dari dosa.

Wordless Wednesday : Dryer

Potty Training (PT) - Hafiya

Hai. We are currently going on the phase yang semua parents akan lalui with their children; potty training (PT). Wohoo! *acah-acah suka*

Image : Googled

Hafiya is yet 3yo, nanti bulan Oktober baru genap 3yo. Kami plan nak train masa 3yo so within 2 months before year 2016 rasa dah boleh complete trained (ini plan kami) – in case nak hantar playschool yang mewajibkan dah potty trained, so mudah sikit.

However, for the last 2 weeks – Hafiya macam dah automatic nak buang air dalam toilet. She actually the one who asked for it.

“Ibu / Abah, nak gi toiyet (toilet)” 

She told us whenever she needs to go to toilet especially bab buang air besar. Dah 2 minggu Hafiya buang air besar dalam toilet. So cool sebab tak perlu kami train dah. Hehe. Rasa macam dah lepas satu stage yang agak berpeluh kan. Pheww.

The thing is; we do not take this seriously and she is yet to be 100% diaperless. Rasa macam kecil je lagi nak diaperless – and oh my, she’s growing up so fast *sobs* We have a big plan in September, so sebab tu kami lek lek dulu nak train secara serious. We do hope when it comes to the real deal, Hafiya can go through it dengan jayanya. Amin amin amin!

Dulu masa Khayra, kami start train masa 2yo plus juga and by the time nak masuk play school for 3yo – masuk An Nur (tahun 2012 dan wajib dah PT) dia dah completely diaperless waktu siang hari. Malam je kadang kami still pakaikan tapi after 2-3 weeks pakai malam sahaja, dia dah complete boleh tidur terus tanpa accident PROVIDED sebelum tidur wajib pergi toilet. Masa Khayra dulu, kami tak kejutkan malam and masa 2-3 weeks train yang malam sahaja pakai diaper, diaper dia kering je sampai pagi. Oh, tapi Khayra during PT tu about 2-3 months juga kalau nak buang air besar, dia nak diaper, so kami ikutkan saja dulu sebab no rush. At that time, if letak atas toilet pun dia takkan berak unless pakaikan diaper. Memang diaper Khayra dulu ada satu ketika was just meant for berak sahaja. LOL. Stage berjaya buang air besar dalam toilet was when her Mak Ngah bagi present potty Fisher Price yang ada musical semua tu. Lepas tu terus sukses! Hehe.

Hafiya ni pun diaper kering dah dari malam ke pagi, tapi kami bagi chance dulu lah. This hits me sikit sebab when we went through this dulu with Khayra – we were so ready for having another child. Hehe, lek lek. Oh, Khayra dulu masa tengah PT ada 1 kali accident sebab dia cakap nak shi-shi tapi I was busy on the phone, jadi selepas itu selamatlah mengelap dan mengemop lantai sebab dia dah shi-shi. Haha.

One thing on PT Hafiya yang kami akan kenang sampai bila-bila when Hafiya said this:

“Bye bye poo poo. Poo nak jumpa ibu dia, abah dia, kakak dia” … when we flush the toilet together. Haha! :P

So wish us luck with Hafiya soon! :P

Cerita Raya 1436H (2015)

Hai. Dah 30 Syawal jadi nak cerita pasal makan-makan Syawal kami. Lazimnya, setiap tahun rumah my parents akan prepare foods for second Syawal sebab ramai sanak saudara dan rakan taulan dah tahu kita ada kat rumah masa Raya kedua and my mom akan sentiasa hidangkan makanan yang dia buat sendiri macam nasi lemak, nasi kuning, nasi minyak, soto, pulut gaul nyior, pudding etc.

For the past 3 years, my contribution adalah on dessert table. Not that much pun sebab almaklumlah I ni amateur baker. Baking pun 2-3 kali setahun. Hewhew :P

Ini chocolate cakes and fruity bread butter puddings for Raya kedua at my parents’ house last year – sendirian berhad dan idea pun spontan je buat mana bahan yang ada kat rumah.

This year, I made mee tomato (8 bungkus mee) with its condiments (limau nipis, cili potong, cili jeruk, bawang goreng, telur rebus, sayur sawi celur), kek coklat 2 biji and 4 biji pudding roti with vanilla sauce for my parents’ Raya open house. Seriously penat sebab masa first day Raya dah letih from visiting, balik rumah terus masuk dapur untuk preparation Raya kedua. My mom made nasi lemak dan hidangan kuih muih, my brother and SIL tempah Singaporean bihun dan satay. Bila semua habis dimakan, hilang rasa penat dan rasa berbaloi memasak. Teehee. As usual, rumah Umi dan Abah kami penuh dengan tetamu sampai petang.

Ini cerita during Ramadhan pula : A week before Raya, kami pergi KL sebab hubby ada kes. Kami ambil peluang booked ticket flight (it was Firefly Zero fares, Alhamdulillah rezeki kami 3 beranak, we only paid RM100 for 3 persons) and met hubby there. He went to KL 3 days earlier before us. Masa booking ticket flight tu langsung tak teringat FF provides for double seats jadi a bit berdebar sebab kami 3 orang. Risau Khayra tanak duduk dengan stranger *urut dada* 

Tapi Alhamdulillah, it was a smooth journey, both kids bagi kerjasama, the cabin crews were nice and very helpful to us and the other passengers pun sangat memahami (as there was change of seats sebab nak bagi Khayra sit next to me yang dipisahkan dengan isle). I was so proud of you, Khayra :D (sebab tahu my girls are very clingy and it is a big NO with strangers). The lady yang sit next to Khayra sangat baik. Alhamdullah, Allah mudahkan segala urusan kami that day =)

Alang-alang dah kat KL, Zmah suggested for buka puasa together and she did all the bookings at Sime Darby Convention Centre. We met the next day and it was a huge buffet spread and we were among the guests yang terakhir balik. Hehe. Kami dah siap bagi duit Raya siap-siap dah and as usual kami ni kalau jumpa kalau tak bergelak ketawa – it was so not us. Haha. Thank you, hubs for these candid moments. Ni gelakkan Zmah buat muka toye masa first ambil gambar and we couldn’t stop laughing after that. Mak-mak orang dah ni tapi still macam ……. (*isi tempat kosong*) :P

Our kids – they can click together sebab dah selalu jumpa dari kecil :D