Port Dickson 31st Jan - 2nd Feb 2011 Part 2 - The Pools & The Beach

'Syarat sah' bercuti di fikiran anak-anak Kak Mon ada 2 perkara: -

1. Tempat itu mustilah ada swimming pool yang selesa. Especially children's pool. Senang diorang nak practice skill swimming yang baru nak berkembang tu. In addition to that, haruslah ada wadding pool sebab Adam masih terlalu rendah nak masuk children's pool. Corus has children pool yang agak besar berbanding Avillion and Corus ada wadding pool, but not Avillion. Score - Corus 2 against Avillion 0.

ni kolam kanak-kanak. kedalaman 0.75m. taken on Monday. lengang!

pandangan sisi dari side kolam dewasa. kedalaman 1.2m

2. Tempat itu mustilah berdekatan dengan pantai. Kakak punya hobi ialah mengutip dan mengumpul seashell while the boys boleh main pasir, building volcanoes, castle and main air laut. So semua orang gumbira. Anak gumbira, mak pak pun gumbira sebab anak-anak tak bergaduh2. Nak berebut pasir? Mungkin tidak. Nak berebut air laut? Mungkin jugak tidak kan. Seashell? Tak kot sebab Kakak aje suka kutip, the boys don't. Pantai Corus faaaaarrrrrr way better dan bersih from that overrated Blue Lagoon (which is muddy, banyak sampah and banyak batu) Score Corus 1, Blue Lagoon 0. It's a tie between Corus and Avillion. Maybe kalau hotel's private beach ni terjaga sikit. Blue Lagoon tu all people can access so that explains why tempat tu kotor kot? Ada tong sampah pun, nak jugak buang sampah merata.(adakah masyarakat kita ni pengotor??)

sun down on Tuesday. it was near Maghrib that time. kalau arwah atuk tau ni, harus dia hambat balik. memang pantang besar dia kalau dekat2 Maghrib masih di luar.

sunrise on Tuesday. it was barely after 7am that time.

On the day we arrived, sebaik saja settled in, my kids terus aje terkam 'tong baju swimming'. I have this tong in which I dump in swimsuits, goggles, sunscreen, caps and 'baju tuala' (ala, robe yang cam tuala tu, hapa ke nama ntah).

Kakak dah boleh berenang but not for long. That's why Kak Mon tak berapa bagi dia masuk pool dewasa unless under 100% close supervision abahnya. Dah pun abahnya sibuk nak berenang sama, she ended up most of the time dalam children's pool. Abah boleh berenang, Ummi x perlu risau.

all smile. kalau jumpa pool memang sengih manjang lah dia.

Iman masih belum boleh berenang. He's making progress in the sense that sudah berani menyelam kepala for few seconds. Fully submerged. So keje dia adalah ulang alik from tebing to tebing then menyelam sambil buat aksi-aksi shark. To normal kids it may looks like nothing but for special child, keberanian untuk menyelam is a big milestone.

sedang cuba buat aksi berenang (tengok kakinya)

Adam pulak kat wadding pool. Maybe sebab dia sorang je kat situ, he was not that excited. Main kejap-kejap aje. Tu pun dok 'berenang' kat tangga je.

Lewat petang, me and Tebby menangguk budak tiga beradik from pool. Dah masuk bilik, mandi semua, menggelupur lapar. Tadi time berenang, berendam riang tak ingat nak makan. Nasib Ummi bawak bekal.. lapik perut sementara Abah pegi cari nasi.

Oh ya, Iman sibuk nak 'kelangkung'. In fact dari masa kami menginap di Ulek Beach Resort lagi dia dah merengek nakkan 'kelangkung'. Lagi tak dapat, lagi tu lah dia mengongoi 'nak kelangkung, nak kelangkung' Nasib baik nak, Ummi takde ilmu 'pelangkung' :D. So lepas melawat PD Ostrich Farm (ni Kak Mon stori mai in Part 3 k), we made a pit-stop near Sri Intan (fimiliar?). Dah tak jadi pulak nakkan kelangkung, dia tengok Kakak beli kick-board, dia pun nakkan kick-board. Adam yang beli kelangkung. Lepas tu tapau nasi ayam. With my kids, adalah lebih aman untuk makan di bilik atau di bawah pokok daripada makan di kedai.

Jom tengok foto-foto berenang edisi Selasa pulak.

eldest two. taking off with their kick-board

coming back. see, how happy they are.

see that girl in yellow kelangkung? Iman dok berkawan dengan dia. sorang cakap melayu, sorang cakap mandarin (muslim I think, mak dia bertudung litup and dok panggil this girl 'Azma') After the girl changed and nak balik, she came back, called up Iman and waved goodbye. Adoiyai Iman.. ni kalau nak meminang kena ke Tanah Besar nih :D But I am glad he's making friends easily.

Adam (he, he). Masa kami semua ke pool dia nap. Dia bangun aje terus melalak. Sampai kat pool melalak lagi. Hantar balik bilik pun melalak lagi.

Kalau dah ke pantai, haruslah bersuka ria di pantai jugakkan. Kakak sibuk kutip seashell. Dah berkotak-kotak dah kat rumah, dia pi kutippp lagi. Sebagai ibu, Kak Mon sokong aje minat dia as long as benda yang dia buat tu tak salah dan tak menyusahkan orang lain (eh, tiba-tiba ayat skema). As I've said, pantai kat Corus tu lebih bersih dari Blue Lagoon. Cuma pantainya pendek aje. I'd rather pantai pendek from having to move around litter di pantai yang panjang. Jom layan gambar.

the kids. main kat tepi lagoon. ni directly depan bilik. convenience kan. but here no beach.


this beach is on the left side of the resort (our rooms belah kanan).

Acara mengutip air laut (bila nak habis Iman??)

Acara mengutip pasir (again, bila nak habis Adam??) Sampai termuncung-muncung mulut tu :D

Iman, writing his name in the sand

Sedap-sedap aje mengata Avillion lah, Blue Lagoon la, jom tengok Kak Mon punya stori masa pegi piknik kat Blue Lagoon di sini and bercuti di Avillion di sini. Kalau nak tau cerita pasal Ulek Beach Resort, sila ke sini ye dek non dek non sekelian.

Port Dickson 31st Jan - 2nd Feb 2011

We went to Port Dickson last week, right before people swarmed in sempena cuti CNY. From 31st Jan - 2nd Feb. First day tu cuaca tak berapa cantik, tho it wasn't raining, agak mendung (mendung tak beerti hujann, yakinlah itu satu cobaan.. la la la). Another 2 days cuaca sangat baik. In fact ada masanya cam terlalu panas. Kalau hujan kena stay indoor kan. Tapi kalau panas still boleh keluar mandi-manda or melawat-lawat.

I booked a Junior Suite at Corus Paradise, which I thought would be perfect for us. Ground floor, facing the lagoon. Don't be fooled by the lagoon in the website. It is not as blue green as it seems. Murky that it even crossed my mind dalam tu got buaya. I tried to get a 2-rooms-apartment tapi dah last-last minute, wherelah got anymore available kan. Except those yang ratenya more than RM500 semalaman. Plus I need apartment yang ada buffet breakfast. And no homestay please sebab kadang-kadang saya nak orang kemaskan katil dan bilik. Kalau homestay kena buat sendiri kan? Eksyen eh? Kena berjimat since there's quite a dent after budak-budak masuk sekolah plus baru ambik maid. But not willing to forgo the convenience and comfort. Howlah?

our bilik yang ada baju mandi bersidai kat balcony plus the other room to the left

Once I got in the room (103), I was suprised that how small it was. Well, kalau nak cramp together, bolehlah but to pegi cuti-cuti is to santai-santai kan. Dalam gambar kan main lagi cam besarnya. It has a seperated living area but TV only got dalam bilik. They should've put another one in the living I think. Yang besar dan selesa is bilik air but berapa lama sangat spend masa dalam bilik air kan? Before my kids ruin the bed or use the sabun or minum air dalam fridge, I requested for connecting rooms. Bilik sebelah, 104 is connected to room 105. So we took them. 104 has a king bed and 105 has 2 queen beds. Perfect for the 6 of us. Me and Tebby and Adam would sleep in 104 while Iman and Kakak would sleep with Bibik in 105. Last-last Adam and Iman slept with me and Tebby in 104 (kacau daun betul..) and Kakak shared a bed with Bibik. The lodging cost sudahnya more than kalau we ols pegi kat that RM500-semalaman room.

Anyway, the tap water, even after boiling it, rasanya sangat tak sedap. Macam sesuatu. Do bring your own air minum. Setakat 2 botol kecik dalam fridge tu, sorang pun tak cukup kan.

Oh ya, I got sarcastic with one of the staffs barely 1/2 hour being day. Balcony was dirty, muddy with sand and even cigarette butts. A lady came and told us, memanglah kotor sebab baru lepas hujan. With an irritated face. I went like ' oh, i didn't know it rains puntung rokok over here'. She went and cleaned the balcony quietly. Maybe she cursed me but I didn't know that. I should've also added 'sand' and 'mud' to the 'puntung rokok' in my first ever sarcastic ayat for the year.

the room, to the left is the connecting door to bilik sebelah


to the right is tempat beradu the king and queen (and the knights) *sigh*

Albeit being too small and ancient (sila tatap gambar, tempat itu nampak berusia kan?), the best part about our (rented) rooms were, they open directly to the beach and sea. Sangat sesuai for families with small kids. Pagi-pagi depa keluar main pasir depan tu, petang-petang makan-makan kat situ. And we watched them from the balcony. That, I like. And direct access to the swimming pool. That, the kids like. Bibik pun santai-santai depan tu sambil teringat kampung halaman (agaknya la). Plus, we can sidai our baju berenang kat balcony tu.

korek pasir tepi lagoon depan bilik. Kakak kata, kalau kita kaya kita boleh buat rumah macam ni.




anak-anak yang kelaparan sedang makan kat bench, again tepi lagoon, depan bilik.

Adoiyai, Kak Mon ngantuk pulak. Sambung esok la yer. Pegi PD pun ada Part 1, Part 2 and ntah-ntah Part 3, kalau ke oversea alamatnya boleh tulis buku barang 2,3 volume kot he he.

8-4-2, Dari Kijal Ke Dungun

Last-last kat Ulek Beach Resort Dungun!

To summarize them all, it was a '8-4-2' holiday.

8 for RM800 per suite per night at Awana Kijal. This was our initial booking. Bibik was still with us at the point of booking. Demi menjaga kesopanan dan kesusilaan, we usually book a suite (with bedroom inside the room). Little that we knew she planned to run away (*^$#!$% - I am still holding grudge). Before I could cancel, Awana called up apologizing cause the suite we booked earlier, udah masuk air, banjir sebab hujan berhari-hari non-stop. We got another room.

4 for RM400 per room per night at Awana Kijal. The room we were transferred to. She asked if it was alright. I said okaylah since my Bibik baru je lari dik, so we don't need a suite no more. Sempat lagi dia gelak before apologising again.

And there we were, all packed in 2 suitcases (I'm a heavy traveller due to my pathethic-ness), 2 plastic boxes (filled with toys, books, crayons, swimsuit, goggles, bathrobe) and 2 bakuls of food ration. And sepeket diapers pet-pet yang masih belum dibuka. Kalau boleh nak bawak tilam dengan bantal sekali, seriously because I rarely tidur lena other that at home. The kids made sure I pack along their swimsuits, goggles, bathrobes and sunscreen. They even brought along kain selimut dari rumah. Need not say whose trait that is kan. Pretty obvious. And off we went.

Remember that wedding we intended to attend? Well, we did attended. Tebby met a friend there, who was staying in Awana. He told us the swimming pool is closed sebab masuk lumpur. With all swimsuits, bathrobes, goggles and sunscreen, what is life without pool right? We made a confirmation call to Awana (on the swimming pool) and later cancelled off our booking. We then frantically searched for another hotel, further back to Cherating (none - Impiana, Holiday Villa, The Legend and the likes fully occupied). Then we searched further up and found Ulek Beach Resort on the net. Masih ada kosong and we booked a room right away.

RM200 per room per night in Ulek Beach Resort. Small resort and sangat tak ramai guests. Okaylah jugak, quite nice.

The room came with a queen bed, TV, fridge, aircond, fan, tingkap boleh bukak (it's like a house actually), water heater and a jacuzzi! The door near that jacuzzi can be folded and we could 'jacuzzi' while menghirup udara luar. The kids done that. I dare not, despite the wall.

anak-anak ku, depan bilik kami, MS 02

jacuzzi you ols. sambil gosok gigi. sampai nak melimpah2 air dengan buih depa kerjakan. pintu belakang tu la buleh bukak.


permandangan sebahagian dari bilik. excuse the mess, baru masuk bilik, anak-anak dah sebok korek beg, korek mainan, korek makanan

Item paling penting.. swimming pool. One adult pool (bukanlah saiz olimpik yer, kecik aje) and one kiddy pool. Kakak and Tebby in adult pool while the other two in kiddy pool. Ummi hanya menonton while resting atas kerusi kayu yang tak berapa nak selesa. Sebenarnya bulan baru mengambang, I dare not masuk berendam.

puteri kolam renang. makan hati ai tengok dia dah pandai swim


kuak lentang lah pulak...


Iman says 'I can swim'.. more like menggelupur sebenarnya. it took him ages untuk berani selam kepala dalam kolam.

my boys

Next day, before checking out, pegi beach depan resort. Kakak nak collect seashell and the boys made 'volcano' out of sand. Yang tak bestnya pasir kat sini kasar-kasar. But easier to get rid off from baju anyway. Then we had one more dip in the pool and later checked-out.

seashell collector. she secretly wished to stumble upon dino fossil. really? well, you never know..


Iman, always busy


Adam

the boys and their volcano

their father and suspected someone's silicon implant! :D
i told the boys, ni hingus ikan paus ni, besar amat. they went 'euwwww'!

Awana Kijal.. Here We Come

It's nearing end of school holidays already. We haven't gone anywhere yet. Budak-budak dah restless, especially Kakak. Kawan-kawan dah merata pegi, kami masih terperuk di KL. Takat ke MidValley, Mines, IKEA tu semua tak masuk definition as holiday. We have to go somewhere, with swimming pool to be exact. That's Kakak's definition that we all have to comply to.

En Tebby pulak ajak balik kampung. To make everyone happy, plan nak singgah di Awana Kijal, overnight. There's a wedding we would attend in Kemaman so kira almost perfect la plan tu. Lepas wedding, check in. Then terus serang swimming pool.

Anyway, now that we don't have a bibik anymore (and yet), I acquired back my middle seat for long journey. Perfect. To manage the other 2 at the back seat and to layan the driver in front. Not forgetting Adam whose seat is beside me.

Ladies and gentelmen, our 'on-board' movie for today is Tinkerbell. Kakak immediately lighten up. Iman *yawn*, Adam *otomen* *otomen*

En Suami, you nak air? Would 100Plus be okay? Some more cheezel? Want roti kaya? We also have cheese sausage if you want it.

Adam yang tak puas hati he has to sit in car seat. Sori Dik, tiket kat belakang for 2 persons only. Dia nak join Kakak and Iman kat belakang. Please remain seated and fasten your seat belt at all times. See, muka masam, hisap puting comforting himself.

Two at the back seat. Cosy huh? Kept on ordering keropok la, air la, suruh tukar CD la.

Will update more. Tunggu ya.

welcome back sunshine!

buah hati pengarang jantung (gambo lama)

The kids are back with us now.. yesss.

Komen Syikin, which I think most of us, mom, will agree.
"ummi..saya pernah berjauhan ngan anak2 sampai 3 minggu. betul segala citer dlm entri u tu, bila anak2 tak de, no mood maa..walhal masa tulah kita nak relax drp buat susu depa, basuh berak kencing depa, drp dengar bising depa bergaduh..tp tak blhlah, mcm kehilangan. n bila depa balik, haha..rasa nak runtuh bumbung rumah ngan keletah depa."

Kami pulang menjemput hari Jumaat lepas, selepas waktu pejabat. Sebenarnya Ummi agak ‘gusar’ memandangkan mdh harus hadir mesyuarat dengan kumpulan kerja barunya. Mesyuarat bermula jam 4.00ptg, waktu pulang pula jam 5.00ptg. Alhamdulillah, jam 5.45ptg kami bergerak meninggalkan bangunan pejabat.

Sebelum bertolak, kami menjengah a coffee joint yang baru dibuka di Ground Floor bangunan ini. Untuk 2 coffee dan 2 jenis sandwich ~ harganya hampir RM40.00! Wahh, untuk orang-orang yang tak biasa (macam diriku ini), terkejut juga ya. Memandangkan Ummi berpuasa, kami teruskan membeli supaya tak perlu lagi singgah menyinggah nanti. I had my first taste of coffee-with fancy name. Masa nak order tu I actually asked which one was kopi-O equivalent. I concluded, it is not good for daily indulgence. For one thing, the coffee is thick and I think caffeine-rich (takde tulis de-caff di mana-mana pun) PLUS, it’s gonna hurt your pocket. Take for example, my kopi-O equivalent, could’ve paid for my much-needed-cuppa for 5 ½ days and the sandwich I bought for myself could fare my 3-days breakfast. I must admit the sandwich was wholesome. Ingatkan nak buat lapik perut sementara sampai ke kampung, bila tiba, perut dah kenyang amat.

Anyway, perjalanan kami agak perlahan. Sesak di Keramat. Sewaktu melepasi tol Gombak, malam dah menjengah. Kami pula tak biasa berjalan jauh waktu malam, ditambah pula dengan hujan renyai-renyai. Bak kata boss lama Ummi, biar lambat sampai, jangan tak sampai langsung. Hampir pukul 9 malam baru sampai di kampung. Disambut dek jeritan gembira si kakak. Melompat ke atas ke bawah, bertanyakan ole-ole untuk dia dan sebagainya. Si Iman, seolah-olah baru tersedar dia dah ditinggalkan! Dia menjenguk kami dan sambung berlari ke sana sini semula. Bila nak didukung, dia kepitkan ketiaknya tanda tak mau. Kakak cukup puas hati dengan rantai berloketnya. Digayakan dengan serkap rambut bertiara. Malam itu juga barang-barang dagangan dari Seoul dibentangkan dan ahli-ahli membuat pilihan masing-masing. Adulahh, bila dah dipelawa sebegitu, banyak pulak komennya, eh yang ini kenapa dibeli besar sangat, yang ini kenapa tak beli lebih sikit, beg tangan tu takde extra-extra ke? Kain ni bunganya kenapa kelabu? Geram juga kita ya. Waktu seminggu di sana, bila ditanya nak apa, tak ada pulak kata apa-apa. Paling hebat pun jawapannya – belilaahhh apaaa apaaaa punnnn. Lewat malam, we took over from them (tak boleh jawab komen-komen sebab diorang ni dah banyak berjasa menjaga budak gonek berdua tu!) yang dah 2 minggu tidur depan TV menemankan anak-anak Ummi. Dapatlah peluk cium anak-anak. Dapat bau masam kepala anak-anak berpeluh. Bliss…

Oh ya, che abang Ummi kena allergic lagi. Last time it was the perfume. Kali ni bermula sebelum kami ke Korea tapi tak teruk. Sewaktu di Korea badannya naik gatal-gatal. I blamed the blanket hotal yang berbulu-bulu while he blamed the wheather. Keadaan tak banyak berubah selepas kami balik dan malam semalam hampir jam 12 tengahmalam dia kejut ummi (ingatkan nak apa.. he.. he..). Rupanya dia tak boleh tidur dan gatal-gatal semakin teruk. Habis merah berbonjol-bonjol seakan kena gegata (orang terengganu kata naik ‘berbedang’). He blamed his indulgence makan daging kenduri banyak sangat semalam while I blamed the new fabric softener. For what I know, allergic ni tak konsisten. At one time you could scratch your skin out lepas makan udang while at other time, you won’t. So, pagi tadi dia ke klinik and dapat MC. Selamat berehat yang.

Oh ya, pagi tadi si Kakak mood ceria ke school. Siap minta dimandikan sebelum pergi, katanya ‘Kakak big girl dah Ummi, kena mandi kalau nak gi school’ Iman pula, seperti dijangka, melenting-lentingkan badannya tak mau ditinggalkan dengan pengasuh!