Today is the 1st
of Ramadhan and it is the month of fasting, intensive prayer, sacrifice and Divine
worship. Throughout this month Muslims fasts during the day in the true sense
of the word, that is, he had merely denies himself food and water, but as
explained by Holy Prophet Muhammad (S.A.W.), exercises strict control over his
tongue, eyes, ears, thoughts and deeds and does everything possible to seek the
pleasure of Allah (SWT).
Insha Allah we will
all go through these challenges with victory.
Time flies. Tini has
been married for more than a month and her absence at home is obvious
especially to Yanti who has been sleeping with us since then. I guess she’s not
used sleeping alone. Anyway ‘life’s like that lor ‘- children grow up, get
married and we move on.
Fortunately we have
baby Sofia at home. She keeps us handful with her little antics. Seeing her
after work is a joy, with her ‘forever smiling face.
with Mot the cat
Friday, July 06, 2012
Road to Mt Buller covered with ice
We had another family trip to
Down Under last June, a day after Tini’s wedding. It was planned in such a way
to maximize the school holiday period.
Well metaled road
This time we flew to Sydney and drove all the way to Melbourne and up to Mt Buller covering about
1,700 km of road, track and ice.
Track road
There were 10 of us plus baby
Sofia in this trip. She was well behaved in the plane, not her first anyway.
Sydney boasts a modern city and beautiful
country side. As it was winter, the weather was rather chilly and many of us
had to put warm clothing and gloves. We stayed in my cousin’s house while in Sydney and it was a home
far away from home with her preparing breakfast and stuff everyday. She even
cooked ‘kueh lopis’ for us. What a good host she was.
Lunch when we arrives at my cousin Chomel's place
After dinner with Sharom - Chomel's son
In front of Chomel; house
We stayed with her for 3 nights and after that drove down to
Melbourne
stopping overnights in towns along the way. The long drives and stopover was an
experience by it self with beautiful meadows and breathtaking sceneries.
Visit to Hunter Hill
Me and Man
At Blue Mountain
Little Sofia with Maris
Group pix at Batemans Bay Resort
Stop over before Eden
Mulyadi with the ice covered car
Fixing the chain to the wheel
Yanti scraping off the ice
Fahmi fixing chain to another car
But
the highlights of this trip were the nights in Mt Buller, the Australian
Alps. It was one of the few mountains in Australia that is snowing during
winter.
Mt Buller is 220km from Melbourne and would take 3.5 hrs non stop of
scenic drives. We left the hotel in Melbourne
at 8am and arrived in Mansfield (small town at the bottom of Mt Buller) around
12pm. After stocking some food items and wheel chain (a requirement during
winter) for the car we start our drive up the mountain.
The road was clear and dry thus our car was not fixed with
the chain. We had to park the car half way up the mountain and took a van taxi
to the resort. Our apartment was huge with 3 bedrooms, kitchen and a huge
living room and it sleeps 11 people. It was a beautiful place facing the ski
slope. Upon check in, snow starts to fall and it gets heavier during the night.
The next morning we the whole balcony was covered with snow and more snowfalls
through out the day.
The Pros
The Pros
The semi pro
The young ones were enjoying themselves taking lesson and
skiing. The not so young ones just stayed in the apartment watching TV and
playing with baby Sofia. Or the very most enjoying the snowfalls and play
snowballs at the courtyard. There was even a toboggan competition with only 2
participants taking part. There was no winner though.
.
When we left Mt Buller after the 2nd night, we
had to fix the wheel chain and this was a real challenge to all. We took almost
an hour to fix them under heavy snow falls. Our cars were covered with thick
ice that needs to be scrapped off the wind screen. That was a great challenge
and experience.
After Mt Buller, we were back to Mellbourne for another 2
nights before flying home. We get to visit another relative in Geelong. There, she cooked for us Nasi Lemak,
Nasi Beryani and my favourite epok epok.
This fun and wonderful trip will never happen without the
understanding and tolerance from all family members. Hope we can do it
again in the future. Thanks to all.
Last April I took a short trip to Hong
Kong. Was thinking of going since early of the year to enjoy the
winter but either could not take a break from work or flight was full. Finally everything
was in place, with available flight and a long weekend and that was in late
April, early summer in Hong Kong.
This trip was actually for my 2 daughters who have never
been there. And for Tini, this will be her last travel with us before her
marriage.
We took a morning flight and
arrived in Hong Kong at noon. Weather was
quite warm and without a fix itinerary we took a bus from the airport to the
city so that the 2 girls could catch the scenery along the way.
With so many things to do and prepare I couldn’t find the
opportunity to update this blog and without realizing 3 months had already past.
There was a trip to Hong Kong, a trip to Australia and the biggest one was
of course my daughter Kartini’s wedding. Yes all in the last 3 months.
Kartini’s wedding was early this month and preparation was
made since mid last year. We engaged the same wedding planner as we did for my
son in 2010. Although the fee is on the higher side we still engaged her. After
all, she knew our expectation. Alhamdullillah, the event went smoothly with
helps from family members and siblings.
It’s not easy to let go Kartini after so long with us. I
recalled the evening of her solemnization, I was happy for her and yet sad
knowing that she will leave us to lead her own family. It was worst when her
in-laws came the next day to fetch her home. Bidding farewell and seeing her
walking away was a heart pain. Unknowingly tears flowed down my cheek. I
guessed all parents would feel the same.
Anyway, she will be back to celebrate her birthday with us
tomorrow. Yeaahhhhhh.
Happy Birthday Kartini. May you be blessed with happiness
and good health.
It was a long week ends with soooo many plans. 1st plan was to go KL by coach unfortunately tickets were sold out for Friday trip. Next, go to Tanjung Balai but the kids thought it was not a fun place for the week end.
So, a trip for 2 to Hong Kong was planned. Unfortunately, flight on Friday was sold out. Urghhhhhhhh.
Friends suggested a drive up to Cheratiing. But I do not want to be squeezed in a massive traffic jam expected at both CIQ due to the long week ends especially coming back to Singapore on Sunday.
But we need to get away………………..
Finally every one agreed that we should stay somewhere nearby so that we can come back early on Sunday avoiding the expected congestion at the causeway later part of the day.
And the chosen place………Austin Hills Golf Resort with its cavernous standard room with 2 king size beds and enough space to fit another 2.
I was up at 4.30 am for the usual round of golf and by 5.30 I was on the road to Pulai Spring with the usual kakis. The weather was fine when we first tee off at 7.30 but it gets darker afterward. It started drizzling after hole 8. By the time we putted at hole 16, it began to rain heavily so the game had to end there. Nevertheless, it was a good and enjoyable game.
Me and Eric at Pulai Spring
Wifey and my 2 daughters came to fetch me and we drove to AustinHills to check in at 3 pm. We were joined by other family members (sister and hubby, my son, daughter in law and of course the little one Sofia) in later part of the afternoon.
The room in Austin Hills
Austin Hills
Makan time at Pappa Rich
Wading time with little Sofia and Tini at Austin Hills
Time flies. I am almost six months into my 2nd career. Although work life has been tough, it’s still manageable and so far so good. Nevertheless, time on the green has been reduced tremendously. Hope it gets better with another partner joining me now.
