Travel places around the world - Update till 2019

Some update on last travel which is in 2019, then we had MCOs in 2020, 2021 (lifted around July).

2019 : UK @ London - with the family
            and France @ Paris (Winter trip that has no snow)- with the family 

So grateful for the opportunities.. Am looking forward for more travels to come. Am saving my annual leave for this. 

Just a bla bla

It has been a longg time since I last blog. 

Just to note that it is the Covid19 pandemic now all over the world. Started roughly March 2020 till now. We had the MCO  1.0, MCO 2.0. We've seen cases as high as 15,000++ a day, down now to 4-5k a day. Most people in Malaysia have been vaccinated. To date it is about 97-98% of adults population. 

TRAVELING: 

For me, traveling and going out nowadays have been quite scary and cumbersome activities. We have to be mindful for every single thing that we touch, move around, who we contact with etc. Having heard of so many people affected by c19 can sometimes be too overwhelming. Alhamdulillah Allah is there to take care of us, must pray & doa hard each day. 

PEOPLE AROUND US:

Just a way to release some mind off onto this blog.. 

One needs to be positive on things that happens around us. Me being quite a high anxiety person can easily worry for each bad news, especially those related to health. For me, it takes high high positivity to manage that department. 

Another is on managing our relationship with people... Am talking about a person who has hurt you to such extend that it happened many2 times. A person who likes to badmouth you, whenever she gets a chance, just because she feels less superior when you are around and her own competitive nature for recognition & praises from superiors & everyone.. oh I don't know. As much as I want to forgive, it is difficult. I know it is not good, but once bitten twice shy. And it is not ONCE, it has been many times..! I just could not get how can someone be nice to almost everyone but treated you so bad as though you did something really wrong to them. For sure, yes I have done wrong by... making her feels less superior..!

As much as I want to brush away the negativity, I can still see the eyes rolling and the past events. Oh well, moving on, I'll let the time passed for I hope one day I can forgive entirely. But till then, it serves as a big lesson learnt for me to never ever forget & to always be careful for such so called 'friend'.

Ok that's all for now. Just need to vent out these feelings.. #courage #loveyourselfloveyourfamily

Travel places around the WORLD (outside kpg halaman mesia)

Okay, it's time to recall all the places we went outside Malaysia..
So fortunate, so blessed for the opportunities :-)


2007 : Thailand @ Bangkok - mama's biz trip (SPE ATW)

2007 : Scotland @ Aberdeen - mama's biz trip (Offshore Europe)

              Stopover @ Paris (KL-Aberdeen), @ Amsterdam (Aberdeen-KL)

2008 : Italy @ Rome - mama's biz trip (EAGE conference) + leisure with the family

2008 : Norway @ Brygen - mama's biz trip

              Stopover @ Amsterdam

2009 : Germany @ Dortmund - mama's biz trip

              Stopover @ London 

2009 : Qatar - mama's biz trip - meeting my senior, MIO who worked at Qatar Petroleum

2010 : Singapore - with the family

2011 : Scotland @ Aberdeen - mama's biz trip + leisure with the family

              Stopover @ London (Buckingham Palace)

2012 : USA @ Houston (Texas),Alamogordo, El Paso (New Mexico),Chicago (Illinois)
           -mama's biz trip 

2012 : Hong Kong - with the family

2013 : USA @ Houston - mama's biz trip - Solo trip

2013 : Indonesia @ Bali - with the family 

2013 : Korea (Winter trip) @ Seoul- with the family - 1st time using MATTA fair pkg

2014 : USA @ Houston - mama's biz trip

2014 : Thailand @ Krabi - with the family

2015 : Singapore - with the family 

2015 : Singapore - mama's biz trip

2015 : New Zealand @ South Island (Spring trip)- with the family

2016 : UMRAH @ Mekah, Madinah - with the family

2017 : Vietnam @ Ho Chin Minh - ladies trip with TKCians
2017 : Indonesia @ Jakarta - mama's biz trip with Aisha
2017 : Pindah rumah Halamanda @ Dec 2017.. jimat2. We just went to Cameron Highland bringing Haris right after collecting PT3 results at Semashur

2018 : Indonesia @ Bandung - ladies trip with the 'cuse (Syracuse geng)
2018 : Japan @ Osaka, Kyoto (Autumn trip)- with the family 

New Zealand - Day 4 (Dunedin - Gore - Te Anau)

It's Day 4 today..!

We checked out Adrian Motel, Dunedin @ 10 am
'Home'made breakfast menu for today: Salmon Sandwich
I prepared lunch & packed for our stopover in Gore, later in the afternoon. The menu: Rice, telur dadar, timun & heat up the curry from the Aroma restaurant yesterday

Places that we went at Day 4:

Here's the list in summary
#1 - Forsyth Barr Stadium & Railway Station, Dunedin
#2 - Lake Waihola - the black swan lake
#3 - Gore - the Guitar statue
#4 - Edendale - to search for Tulips, but found Peoni flowers. Love2..!
#5 - Te Anau 

 #1: Forsyth Barr Stadium & Railway Station, Dunedin
1st stop after checking out was the Forsyth Barr RUGBY stadium, hoping to have a chance seeing the All Blacks practice. Hmm, unfortunately the stadium was closed & no All Blacks on sight. Sighh, pity Haris...

Next stop was the famous railway station at Central Dunedin. Very near the Cadbury building. A very iconic & gorgeous railway station indeed. Sgt cantik..! It has the Sports Hall of Fame which of course featuring the sports that New Zealanders love most, rugby..! Here, you could learn on All Blacks' histories alongside displays of many trophies & memorables.

You can see the Cadbury tower where we had the chocolate 'shower' 

 

  

 

All Blacks merchandise & memorables

Deena model depan train :-)

Ok, it's time to go out of Dunedin. a beautiful town with many interesting places -famous for being the Cadbury town & of course, having the world's steepest street.

Here are some of our views on our roadtrip from Dunedin to Lake Waihola.. love much..!!

#2 - Lake Waihola - the black swan lake

Now, we are heading to Gore, and while on it, had a stopover at Lake Waihola, the black swan lake, in the hope to see some black swan? Not sure whether it's a fact, seasonal or just a myth? Nonetheless, the scenery was totally breathtaking, just like the rest of South Island..💓

White beautiful seagulls happily flew around the lake. Felt very serene.. 

Hmm, no black swan at sight. In turn, we had the ducks & seagulls 😍

The loves of my life 💗💖💖

On the way to Gore we passed through this area called Bathucha (?). We actually were detoured to this kampung area, as "instructed" by our Navman GPS. It was a blessing in disguise. Had it not, we wouldn't have passed through this lovely lovely small village road (so raw..with gravels. hehe). And because of that, we had the opportunity to see the sheeps up close together with the offering of a very beautiful backdrop of the south island valleys. 

 

#3 - Gore - the Guitar statue

We reached Gore a little late, at 2.30pm. Never mind.. Wouldn't wanna miss the beautiful views and the short stops to be up close and personal with them sheeps right? Kids were happy & we were happier of course..

A little bit about Gore that we knew. Gore is famous for its big guitar statue.  We also found an interesting automatic modern toilets with Wifi..! It was cold when we arrived. The temperature was at 10 deg C & was raining. We just couldn't go out in the cold, so lunch in the car it is. Oh, we had this one quite frightening experience while having lunch. We heard a long long loud siren like the  warning sound of an earthquake. One of those sirens from the hollywood movies we saw on TV. Nasib baik bukan.. we were lucky. Alhamdulillah..

10 deg C @ 2.29 pm - Gore

Lunch: Rice, chicken curry tapau from KL Aroma yesterday, some omelette & zucchini. Yums sgt coz it was a colddd dayy. 

Automatic public toilets with wifi..! Yahooo. We didn't buy any internet pkg so free wifi is a yeay..! 

#4 - Edendale - to search for Tulips, but found Peoni flowers. Love2..!

So now it's mama's mission to look for Tulips. I knew it was a slim chance since it was too cold for tulips but I'll take my chance & look for those tulips' garden anyway. We found Triflor which is an actual tulips garden but well, there was no tulips at sight. And mama was not the only one looking for tulips in this cold weather apparently... we met an Indian couple having the same mission. hihi. And so we sort of konvoi in search for those tulips..! yeah. haha. 

See, there it is..! but no tulips anymore mama. Read that it may have finished harvested by end Nov. And we were just a 1-2 weeks late..

So the search for tulips led me to the Peonies flowers farm instead. Later when I was back in Malaysia I found out that they are those famous flowers featured on the potmeirons.

Me & those Peonies 😍

Kids & hubs dlm kereta tak nk keluar sbb sejukk

And so we continued our journey to our final destination of the day - Te Anau. Oh & guess what.. our GPS decided to give us some challenge & die off on some features. Luckily it was able to detect road names along the way. We did our homework with Mr Google earlier so we could still manage. Fuhh. 

As evening comes, the temperature went to 7 deg C. brrrr. 

yeay..! Te Anau here we come..!

#5 - Te Anau 
And so we were finally here at Aden Hotel. Can't wait to rest & have dinner. I cooked Nasi Lemak for tonight. Everyone lapar sebab sgt sejuk already.

Comel kan.. Beautiful mural 😍

Our room.. Lovely kan? 

Heated blanket. How cozy...

Mama's territory.. the kitchen overlooking a small garden & laundry room

Nasi Lemak siap..! 

New Zealand - Day 3 (Oamaru (Wallaby Park)-Mouraki Boulders-Dunedin)

It's Day 3. Today's final destination is Dunedin & Cadbury World..!! Yumss

We checked out Avenue Hotel, Oamaru @9.30 am.
'Home'made breakfast menu for today: Bread with Scrambled Egg & Cereal.

Our SUV parked right infront of our room @ Avenue Hotel

Tips:
Timing is important when you are in a road trip kinda holiday. Plan well.

Places that we went at Day 3:
Here's the list in summary
#1 - Wallaby Park, Waimate
#2 - Mouraki Boulders
#3 - Dunedin - Cadbury World, Baldwin Street (World's steepest street)

 #1: Wallaby Park, Waimate
We headed back to Wallaby Park since it was near closing time yesterday when we arrived. The place is open @ 10am. Deena really wanted to pet the wallabies. Let see how close she can get :-)

Where's Deena? She ran away. haha.! She tried to feed the wallabies but they got too close & mcm kiss2 her hand. Deena ckp dia nk gigit mama..! So she shy away. :-)

Happy face...!  able to hold the wallaby baby.. :-)

One group photo with Gwen, the owner 

We had a lovely feeding session with the wallabies, which were so tamed..! And we were very fortunate to meet Gwen, the owner of the place. Deena & Haris got to hold the baby wallaby handed by Gwen herself. Such a friendly lady with so much passion for wallabies. She first got the orphaned ones way back in 1977 & then decided to open the Wallaby Park for public viewing in 1999 & this time she decided to charge visitors for some small fee, having seen such interest from people visiting Waimate. Well, she needs to maintain the place clean & feed them wallabies well right?

From Waimate, we passed Oamaru again.. Some photos for your viewing pleasure..

The scenery from Waimate to Oamaru

the town that we passed through

& then we decided to stop at this really cool place - steam generated train called Steampunk? 
Saw this place earlier at the late evening when we went to the penguin place.

#2: Mouraki Boulders
Ok next stop was Mouraki Boulders which is just 500m from the main road. However, to see the boulders which are actually round beach rocks, you have to hike for about 10 min from the beach entrance. However, in the interest of time, we didn't go up to the boulders part.

#3: Dunedin
Ok finally, the last stop for the day, Dunedin, the cadbury town..!!
We arrived Dunedin at around 2.20pm & straight away head to the Cadbury Factory or I think it was actually called the Cadbury World. We took the 2.45pm tour.

During this tour, no camera, hp and handbags allowed..! We had to keep them in the lockers provided. I guess they do not want people sneaking out those chocolates..! hehe.

Ok, so no physical pictures in the factory itself peeps. Sorry. They are all in our memories though. "Sweet chocolatey memories".

The activities during the tour:

• Free tasting of the hot, freshly cooked chocolate - with the choice of sprinkles -from oreo, to jelly beans to pretzels. So many choices of chocolates - dark chocolates, white chocolates, milk chocolates...Sedap nya la hai pretzels with chocolates, where the salty-ness of pretzel combined with the sweetness of chocolates. Yumss..! 
• Explanation on the history of Cadbury & the see no touch display of the varieties of Cadbury products
• The highlight of the tour was the chocolate 'spill' from the purple silo..! 1 ton of chocolates pouring down just like that..!
• and of course, last but not least, the Cadbury shop..! We saw lots of products which we have not seen in Malaysia's market. And a lot of these varieties contained mashmallows..! lots of them. I did asked on the halal-ness of the products & they showed me the Halal cert :-)

It's already 4pm & so the next activity.. checking in to our motel- the Adrian Motel, Dunedin . It's a modern motel, bit pricey but very comfy. 

Okay next it's the Baldwin Street famously known & declared as the World's Steepest Street..!

Dinner at KL Aroma for beriyani. Owner of this halal restaurant in the town of Dunedin is not a Malaysian. He's a Sri Lankan. Price for each lamb beriyani & nasi lemak = NZD 14.90. But sekeping roti canai costs RM 2.50 (ok, kena convert to NZD ya. ngee)

And of course, time to replenish our grocery & so we went to our favourite place... Pak n Save..!!