VUON XOAI FARMSTEAD..

Oh.. rainy season..!! Syoknya.. minum kopi cicah biskut kering belakang dapur. Tapi network la teruk. Susah nak surf etc. ..Last week pulak ada earthquake further north near Hanoi, capital of Vietnam. Ada pulak kacau cable2 ni. Eh eh.. hubby kata ada pulak rumours kami kena balik for good..!! Hhmm.. mixed feelings ni. Excited pun ya, sedih pun ada, tak nak balik pun ada.. Banyak sangat alasan & sebab2 nya.. Tak pe la, tak confirm lagi (as always..). Tak payah pikir lagi. Last Friday, hubby noticed ada tempat lepak baru on the way to the plant last week. So, kami pi la recce semalam.... 40km from city centre... PI DAYTRIP JE...

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Tak sabar2 nak naik depa ni, RM10 je naik ni, round the whole area..

* Ada swimming pool.. bagus ni..

Tennis court too..

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Fishing ponds..
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Restaurant.. very cozy..

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Crocodile farm..

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Ada hati nak tunggang ostrich, nak ambik gambar dekat pun takut..!!! Aparaaaa..

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Diternak untuk dagingnya..????

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Beruang2 tido time ni.. paneh mak ooii..

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Depa ni bagus, nak develop satu2 kawasan tu, pokok mesti jaga. Tak de nak cantas dulu, macam tempat kita...

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Camping & BBQ area...

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Ada jugak padang bola/futsal...

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Orchid nursery...

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Entrance to guesthouse... boleh la weekend lepak sini..

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Ini amoi banyak kacau, nak shoot gambar lanscape, eh eh.. nak masuk jugak..

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Boleh sewa basikal jugak... it's fun..!!!

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On the way balik, nampak another tempat rekreasi...

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Grass Ski..mesti try but not this time la... tengah paneh berdentum...

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BUSY, BUSY & BUSY...

7 MAY 2007

Zharif turns 7 today..

" To the son-shine of our lives...

Who make our everyday a special day,

with his warm smile...

Wishing you all the happiness life can bring.." Birthday gift (the Spidey bottle holder) from Aunty Elle, Zharif likes it so much. Brought to school for his "show & tell" turn ( + showing off laaa...), telling everyone that it's very expensive because it's from Singapore.. The Barbie pouch belongs to Marsha & the Briyani pack was a lovely gift from lovely Kak Elle.. Thank you so much for the wonderful gifts Kak Elle, it was so thoughtful of you.. Sini nak pi makan briyani.. mahal tau..!!! Sekali makan for 4 of us, ada dalam RM100 tau.. So ini pack kena kasi simpan & masak jimat2... Restauranters here claimed briyani spices kena import from Pakistan, India bla bla bla... bestnya dapat briyani pack ni..!!

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I can't organize Zharif's birthday party today as the school will be organizing "Swimming Gala" for the Junior students. It's not a swimming competition, but only a swimming fun day, for the kids to show parents how confident they are in the water. But some did show their speed & skills..
Zharif, waiting for his turn.. Briefing from Mr. Jones..
He made it.. only one lap's allowed..
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8 MAY 2007

Malaysia Cultural Lunch was organized as part of the school's Parents Teachers Organization activity. This is the first time ever for us, the Malaysian Parents to prepare such an exclusive (konon2 la) lunch & cultural show.. (p/s-I was unable to update blog/hop2 because of the preparations etc, aiyaaa penat gila..) Bravo to all the Malaysian Ladies involved, all the guests loved the traditional scrumptious food (we cook all the food ourselves - cut costs maaa...), the ambience (with slideshow, traditional dance from 2 "mums") and the deco (thanks to Tourism Malaysia).. We had nearly 50 guests from various nations, plus the Principals from High, Elementary & Junior school. Sorry, not enough pictures to upload.. later maybe, if I can get some from my friends..
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9 MAY 2007

Zharif & Marsha's Birthday Party & Ladies' Gathering..

Foods (desserts ni..), yang frozen tu dah prepare in advance dah, since last week.. Chocolate cake yang depan tu, a friend gave it to my children (mahal woooo..), so my 2 cakes yang sempoi but colorful tu dah pindah belakang laaa..
Main dish corner.. close up gambar ada banyak kekaburan.. ada la Spaghetti Bolognese (budak2 makan..), Karipap, Popia, Risoles, Keria..
Aunty Janet was there (all day long..) to assist the children..singing & cutting the cake bla bla bla.. We couldn't wait for others as some had to attend after school activities.. as always we started the party once Zharif ( & Marsha too) arrived from school.. they have 85 friends (Malaysians plus lain2 too...) invited for today's party..!! One shot maaa...

Parents corner... (2 guys tu, sempat drop by after office hour but poor hubby tak dapat balik cepat, nak cuti pun tak dapat, as always laa..), Zharif & Marsha did ask their daddy when they saw the uncles... Poor them..but they had fun with all the friends..

Kids corner.. ada TV (with lots of kids' channel) ok la.. It was raining (now rainy season) & therefore some kids prefer to stay indoor. But some ( ramai.. ) dapat lari keluar.. (most of my friends live in a service apartments & therefore the kids don't have enough space/area to play like cycling, playing basketball ka, skate-board ka, roller blades ka etc macam kat compound we all ni...
Zharif & Marsha with their gifts... rezeki depa la dapat hadiah tu. It was actually a gathering for all... ladies and children and I didn't expect that they will come with lots of presents.. I have been missing lots of friends, semua busy je etc.. and I thought this is the chance for all to catch up with each other.. YES, we did.. I was so grateful that some did make an effort to come though they live quite a distance from my place.. AND LAST NIGHT, SAYA PENGSAN AGAKNYA & TIDO LELAP HABIS....!!!! Tuhan je tau sakit nya badan ni.. nak postpone party tak boleh sebab banyak hal lain.. ALHAMDULILLAH semua berjalan lancar..

GREAT TIME... HO TRAM @ BARIA, VIETNAM

Vietnam commemorates 30th April every year as Liberation Day.... (when U.S. imperialism suffered its most outstanding defeat in history from a poor agricultural country in Southeast Asia...). 1st of May is Labor Day holiday. Last month, the government annnounced another public holiday to memorialize the death of King Hung (zaman dolu2..) and therefore there'll be long weekend 28 April to 1st May. Some schools were closed on 26th April but some couldn't (only for this year) due to commitments with IB exams etc with high school/college students plus other matters that couldn't be postponed etc. Mostly took leave on 26th April (for those with primary school kids) and travel out of Vietnam. Huhh... we plan to go somewhere (out too) but as always laa... hubby's committed to his workload. Some frens organized trip to Cambodia, some left for Bangkok, Singapore and KL for the 6 days break (ponteng anak sekolah tu). We were stucked here, but hubby managed to get a room FOR 1 NITE ONLY.. (check in on Sunday 29/4) at a new resort about 40km from his plant in Baria (almost like Kerteh with lots of Oil, Gas & Petrochemical plants) which is 130km away from Ho Chi Minh, the same route he travels everyday. Tak pe... janji not in Ho Chi Minh.. Here in Vietnam, if it's public holiday, all the public attraction spots (parks, waterparks, beaches etc) will be packed with locals and foreigners are advised not to pile up the places.. but cannot one la... this is the time to get away too, what what whaaaaattt... esp untuk hubby yang jarang2 dapat menikmati percutian tu...
   The journey, clear sky here but was cloudy before (now rainy season)... Welcome to Ho Tram-Osaka.. Our seaview bungalow... There's TV set too.. good, kids can watch their CDs at nite.. Tea/grooming corner.. The bathroom.. (nice and cool, but tiring as I have to accompany kids everytime they need to do business here... becoz can see the sky one maaa..) Marsha said it's her house.. not a bed.. The nearest beach to the city with clean & white sand.. wallaaa..!! Enjoying the sand.. Hantu2 air.. Pool with slides too.. how fun, for the kids laaa..!!! Yeeyyy!!! Finally... Marsha can swim without floats!! Jacuzzi at nite.. gosh.. aren't u guys cold?? They are hantu2 air.... Poor mum & dad, mana nak tido ni..?? How can they watch movie with the net dropped tu..?? Aiyoooo... Took a stroll the next morning, saw this round basket boat with traditional fishing equipments used by the locals.... cheapest boat/method they could use to catch fish at the sea.. Carrying the boat to the sea.. Push it to the water..Off they go.. to earn some $$ and food for the family.. Where are all your pyjamas, guys..??? From the beach, to the pool.. maaannn what's Marsha doing back there?? A new way to relax your mind & body perhaps... dip your head in the water.... Trying the kayak before checking out.. Bye bye.. we'll definitely come again.. Marsha cried once we checked out.. she wanted to stay.. Ha ha... it's supposed to be a 2 hours journey.. we made it nearly 4 hours maaannn!!!! Just look at all the motorcyclists, they occupied all the roads, all the time.. there are millions of them, 8 millions in Ho Chi Minh alone. Ouuuch.. but we had great time in Ho Tram though it was only a nite stay...