Friday 19 December 2008

Balik Kampung...

Boarding the Aeroline at the One Utama bus terminal

Singapore here we come

On the bus to Singa-Pura: Front row (L-R): Adel Hakim, Hafizuddin & Jazlan. Back row: (L-R): Nuraina & Liyana (partly hidden), Amalina and Shaira Nur

Ibu-ibu glamer kepada anak-anak teruna dan dara. L-R: Norlin, Nuraina and Raja Amelya (a good friend of Nuraina, who has been accompanying us on our annual trip.)

Ayra Qistina: Yaay! Am gonna visit tok mommy's kampung.

Are we there yet?

Finally! We're here ...at Nek Busu's

The whole bunch of us about to enter the lift to nek busu's flat on the fourth floor

Lunch at Nek Busu's (Cik Ah's Bedok Reservoir HDB flat). L-R: Lalin, Nik Aina Sofia, Sara Hamidah, Shaira Nur, Adel Hakim (partly hidden) & Norlin

My brother, Hamed & family. Next to him is his wife, Farah Chin Abdullah. Sitting infront are his daughters, Ellysha Nur (L) and Julia Nur (R)

Lepaking at Cik Ah's after lunch

Dinner at Swenson's which is about 10 minute's walk from our hotel. We had to book a table (give the exact number of people coming) otherwise you have to queue up for about 20 minutes before we could get in. Picture, L-R: Adam, Tok mommy, Norlin, Shasha Marissa, Sara Hamidah, Nik Aina Sofia (standing), Khairena, Jehan, Shahriman and Heiqal.

The Paragon on Orchard Road all lit up for Christmas

At the hotel lobby before leaving for Sentosa Island on Friday (2nd day)

From left. Haris (holding Sharmine), Adam, Sonia and Heiqal having a dip in the hotel pool.

Jehan feeding the hungry stingray at the Underwater World.

That, my dear, is a turtle.

The amazing phases of shark embryo development. The shark embryo can seen wriggling right before our eyes. That's Jehan and her daughter, Ayna Larissa.

Ayna Larissa: Yaay, I'm here at the Underwater World!

Taking a rest before proceeding to the Dolphin Lagoon. Top pic:Lil Sharmine . Front row. L-R: Nik Aishah Sonia, Adam, Nik Adam Haris and Ayna Larissa.


The bus which took us from the pick-up point at the Underwater World to the Dolphin Lagoon, about one km away






The tahlil (on Sat, Dec 13) at my niece's residence in Teluk Kurau was followed by lunch and later high tea. From left: my sister, Norlin, my niece Runis, yours truly, Nong, my cousin's wife and her youngest daughter.

My cousins & nieces who missed us earlier at the tahlil called on us at the hotel the night before we left for home.


All ready to leave Singapore for home after a four-day stay on the island.



Ho! Ho! Ho! Santa Claus - who gave lil Sharmine the fright of her life - bade us goodbye at the Waterfront harbour just before we departed for home.


Been meaning to blog about this but was caught up with more urgent matters. And I haven’t been feeling too well after the trip. On top of that I had to take my significant other half, who didn’t accompany us to Singapore, to see his doctor and for his physiotherapy sessions at SJMC. He has been unwell having suffered a slip disc three weeks before the family trip to Singapore.

The programme for the three-night- four-day stay in Singapore for the 28 of us - adults and children - was prepared by my youngest sister, Nina.

The five-hour-journey with a stopover at Pagoh in Johore was smooth. The children occupied themselves by watching video in the lower deck, playing with their psp or listening music from their i-pod.

We arrived at the harbour front in Singapore on Thursday afternoon (Dec 11) where three coaches were waiting for us. We boarded two and headed for my aunt’s (Cik Ah) place in Bedok Reservoir where lunch had been prepared for us . Nina and my son-in-law, Shahriman, took the third coach with our luggages, 38 altogether, for York Hotel in Mount Elizabeth, where she checked in on our behalf before joining us later.

Except for the visit to our aunt’s, uncle’s at Marine Terrace and tahlil at my niece’s place at Teluk Kurau, we had ample time to go shopping.

But unlike my sisters and the older nephews and nieces, who had helleva time scouting for bargains in Orchard road, I stayed at the hotel most of the time.

I ventured out to Swenson’s - down the road from our hotel - only to have dinner and breakfast. I guess age is catching up on me. I tire so easily.

But I acompanied my sisters, Nina, Lalin, my daughter, Jehan, her hubby and the younger ones - my grandchildren (three), nephew and nieces (eight) - for a half-day trip to the Underwater World in Sentosa Island, a popular island resort, on the second day of our trip.

Opened in 1991, the living museum has more than 2,500 marine and fresh-water animals of 250 species from different regions of the world.

The oceanarium is underground and has an 83 metre long travelator that moves visitors along a submerged glass-windowed tunnel from which they can look at an array of marine life including a coral reef, stingrays, moray eels, turtles, sharks and other fishes.

The trip to Underwater World also included a visit to the Dolphin Lagoon which is home to some Indo-Pacific humpback dolphins, also known as the pink dolphins.

We left Singapore at 3pm on Sunday by Aeroline and arrived in KL at 8pm - exhausted but happy to be home.

20 comments:

Anonymous said...

welcome back tommy. I know it must be tiring, tapi mesti gembira jumpa saudara mara setahun sekali.

I am sure the kids must have enjoyed themselves tremendously, esoecially the visit to Sentosa Island,

Anonymous said...

Hi,

Looks like you guys had such fun. Must be wonderful to back in your "kampung", if you can call a city a kampung.

Anonymous said...

Tok Mommy,

Do you & your siblings always travel together?

I could see that you all are very close...travelling in a big group.

From the pictures, I know you all had a great time.

So envious. By the way, is it expensive to stay/visit Singapore?

puteri said...

Salam Kak Ton,

I read at kak ena’s blog that there aren’t that many eateries around the area you all were staying. Strange innit?. Like that susahkan?

I haven’t been to Singapore for years. With the exchange rate now - don’t think I can afford going there. Must be very expensive duduk di hotel. Lainlah kalau kita ada saudara mara, boleh tumpang.

Lagi pun, pergi ke Spore kalau tak shopping tak sah. Nak sight see pun, I rasa kita di sini lebih banyak tempat yang lebih menarik.

Tapi nampaknya, you & your adik beradik & anak beranak seronok betul bercuti di kampung.

maria a samad (kak ton) said...

Hi adik,

At my age...tak larat nak pi jalan-jalan dan ber-shopping lagi. Cepat penat.

Tapi dah janji my grandson, Adam, that we would be going to Sentosa Island tengok segala jenis ikan.

Yes, the kids were excited at the thought of especially seeing the pink dolphins.

They enjoyed themselves very much. Kids being kids, tak tahu erti letih, kan?

Maybe tahun depan bawa dia orang pi zoo and the bird park in Jurung.

maria a samad (kak ton) said...

Hi Anon 2:25am,

Its indeed ironic to balik kampung when there is no kampung to go back to.

Although my kampung, Kampung Melayu, may no longer exist, I still have many relatives, cousins, nieces,an aunt and an uncle still living in the country of my birth.

Yes, it is nice to go back and see them. But I do feel a tinge of sadness every time I go back - no kampung and most of the elders are gone.

Anyway, thanks for dropping by.

maria a samad (kak ton) said...

Hi Seri,

I know that there is a Sri who used to frequent my sister's blog. Are you the same person?

Anyway, yes, we do travel together - my siblings and I - especially to Singapore and when we visit our cousins (some of whom have settled down here) during raya. It is fun.

It wasnt that expensive to travel to Singapore simply because we stayed at my aunt's place in Bedok in the past.

But now she is getting on in years and is frail and our respective family has expanded. At least, then, our accommodation and food was taken care of.

But it's not fair to burden her.

Kalau pergi Spore nak shopping, bawa berapa banyak suit pun tak cukup. Depends what you looking for. Certainly Spore is a shopper's paradise. Barang mahal because of the exchange rate.

Tapi we go there to see our sanak saudara.

maria a samad (kak ton) said...

Hi puteri,

Memang betul tu, tak banyak food outlets atau food courts at shopping malls, unlike here, in KL. And all the eateries are always packed. Macam we all pi makan di Swenson's near our hotel. Kena buat booking otherwise kena queue up for abt 20 minutes.

Of course, we could go elsewhere like to Teluk Kurau and the Geylang areas, but they are out of the way.

Di sana (spore) ta ada mamak stalls. That's something we miss so much. Susah nak cari roti canai and teh tarik for breakfast.

We didnt have that problem when we were staying at my aunt's place in the past. Home-cooked food was available 24 hrs.

Kalau nak go shopping tak payah datang ke Spore.

Banyak barang yang ada di sana boleh dapat di KL. Cuma di Spore tu ada choice sikit - such as branded goods. Again, it depends on what you're looking for.

As for me, am not too crazy about shopping, certainly not in Spore. Buang duit aje.

Dulu lain, kita ta ada Metro, Yaohan atau pun Ikea. And the exchange rate then (in the 80s) was SGD1:RM1

In fact our shopping complexes di Kl lebih menarik dan besar - like KLCC, Mega Mall, 1 Utama, the Curve, Pavilion.

Oh, fasal tourist destinations, kita memang lebih banyak tempat yang lebih menarik. No denying about that. Cuma dia orang pandai menggunakan daya penarik.

Take the "nite Safari" where we went to last year. Bukanlah hebat sangat. But the place is well run & maintained. Sungguh teratur.

That's something we can learn from them.

Anonymous said...

hey sis
i read your blog on a regular basis, its a pity you visited the places i used to live in-----minta maa'fah ( hope the last word is the correct spelling) but we are all are the same -----got relatives living in malaysia too.
i am a cahtolic, ,my lat wife wife hindu, supposed adoped gramd ma a malay from kelantan converted to my religion---------DAMMMMMMM ( SORRY (but she is still my nenek sayang mu).
cut our body wherewhere but the blood is still the same ----red.
MAY GOD BLESS YOU AND YOUR FAMILY.
silpped disc-----chari uruit????(massage) (malay, chinese, indian no big deal right)?
haven't written in malay for a longgggggg time but am a true supporter of yb prk------ havent met him still --dont plan to live live so long-------hey i am a positive thinker.
love marina (as a sister) but hate her father.
TAKE CARE SIS
julian from the little red dot

Anonymous said...

Actually, there are mamak restaurants in Singapore but perhaps you did not get the chance to visit any. These are 24 hours restaurants and mainly located in housing estates like Tampines, Bedok, Woodlands, etc, and also around Geylang Serai area.

maria a samad (kak ton) said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
maria a samad (kak ton) said...

Hi Singaporean,

I should have clarified that there are no mamak stalls near where were staying.

The areas you mentioned are too far & out of the way...for us to have roti canai and teh tarik.

Maybe ...the next time we're there we’ll look out for these mamak stalls/restaurants.

Thanks for the info & for dropping by.

mekyam said...

dear kat ton,

belated selamat raya haji!

sorry to hear that both you and abg ani aren't in top-form. hope you are both better now.

those are lovely photos. at the risk of repeating myself everytime i see pictures of your family members, i have to exclaim "what a goodlooking family!"

anyway, that trip looked more like an invasion. the tiny island must have sunk a bit those 4 days. ;D

p.s. pls tell handsome abg med that i'm so delighted to finally get to see what he and his family look like (esp the cheeky julia). needless to say, beautiful wife and beautiful daughters!

maria a samad (kak ton) said...

My dear Mekyam,

Selamat Hari Raya to you yang berada di perantauan. Hope you had a good one.

Well, I' much better now after after a good rest and Abang Ani’s back is improving following the physiotherapy sessions at Subang Jaya Medical Centre.

----------------------------------
“....at the risk of repeating myself everytime i see pictures of your family members, i have to exclaim "what a goodlooking family!"...”
-----------------------------

Oh Mekyam, you’re so generous with your compliments. The thing is we’re all photogenic – perpatah Melayu "Indah Khabar dari rupa".

You know-lah pictures can do wonders to one’s look. And in our case, they make us look better than we really are. Lol!

---------------------------------

"...anyway, that trip looked more like an invasion. the tiny island must have sunk a bit those 4 days. ;D..."
---------------------------------

Maybe not the island – but certainly the hotel. We occupied almost the whole of the hotel fifth floor. For four days it was like home to my nieces & nephews. The younger ones were running about - from room to room - and the two bibis we brought along had to constantly watch over lil Sharimine (nina’s youngest) and Ayna (my youngest granddaughter) in case they run to the lift.

Abg Med will surely be flattered by your compliments. He takes after my dad in looks, except that my late dad looked more middle-eastern.

Cheeky Julia, who’s studying in N. Zealand, is actually on vacation. She’s going back there in late January.

Thank you, Mekyam, for dropping by.

Anonymous said...

Dear Kak Ton,

Please excuse my tardy comment, have not been "on line" for a while.

Great pics choc-a-bloc with good looking people, young and old. Looks like a great family get-together to me. I'm sure you all had a fun time in Singa-land.

maria a samad (kak ton) said...

Hi sesat,

Oh yes, we certainly did, especially the children. They had a whale of a time.

We always look forward to the end-of-the-year trip to Singa-land to meet up with our relatives and catch up with the latest... gossips. Lol!

Credit for those great pictures should be given to my sister, Nina, my two nieces (Khairena & Marissa, who are kak Olin's daughters) and my daughter, Jehan.

I downloaded them from their face book.

Thank you for dropping by, sesat, and here's wishing you a Merry Christmas & a Happy New Year.

Sabran Hindi said...

What a pity. If you guys have done your homework, you will enjoy yourselves more than u did. Along the stretch of Geylang you will find multiple choice of 24-hour mamak stalls with the best prata and the teh or kopi tarik that will make you stay till the wee hours of the morning. Go to Changi village for an array tasty and cheap halal hawker food. We also have Bedok Corner and Simpang Bedok to fill you up. Then iff you are looking for genuine branded goods like Louis Vuitton, Prada, Todd's, Gucci etc, Singapore is the best place to buy. Very very much cheaper than Malaysia. You should also buy your laptops, cameras and other electrical goods in Singapore because Malaysia is very very expensive! We have huge shopping centres that will make you wish you had a car to drive you within the shopping centre like Vivo City. Try the largest Ikea Store, Courts and Giant in Tampines and you will begin to realise that you need to have 5 Ikea's, 5 Court's and 5 Giants in Malaysia to match those that we have. All under 1 roof! The night safari is of course a let down. Even we Singaporeans would not waste our money to see the animals doing nothing but yawn. Just spare a full day and visit our Zoo. Sehari pun tak cukup nak betul-betul tgk exhibits yg kita ada. All in all you've missed out a lot. Better luck next time and you are welcome again and again to our island country :-)

Anonymous said...

all your names SOUND funny&strange
4 malays lah !! i tot malays are :
'ali,ahmad,fatimah,khatijah,nafisal,
abdulah,razak ....' ! why ah, mommy ?

Anonymous said...

Tok Mummy,

Where has this moron/anonymous been all these years? What? Malay names are only confined to Khadijah,Razak?? But what the heck! I'm sure she/he is a Saodah @ Odah or Sameon @ Meon and name her/his kids are either Daud, Mansor, Sapeah. Expand your horizons, pls ...

- Sabrina Melissa

Anonymous said...

akak! i love reading about your annual trips to singapore. you have a lovely and wonderful family. seronok tengok everyone having so much fun despite the 'obvious appearances' hehehe .... know what i mean? adam dah besar!!! and your two little cutie pies are growing up fast.

oh, and i hope your other half gets better soon. slipped disc is no fun. i should know. :(

you take care too. luvya akak!

-uknowwhoheheheh