Letting Go 28 September 2010

Tuesday am
While waiting for En, @Anne Musikschule, a magazine caught my eyes.  A day before, a friend told me " I was too hard on myself as a friend and a mommy". That statement linger in my mind. And a couple of days back, I was bruised from an unpleasant incident and was 'away' for days.  When I flipped thru the magazine, I came across this,

Letting go is not to stop caring - it means I can't do it for someone else
Lettting go is not to cut myself off - it's the realisation that I can't control another
Letting go is not to enable - but to allow learning from natural consequences
Letting go is not to admit powerless - which means the outcome is not in my hands
Letting go - is not fo fix - but to be supportive, it's not to judge - but to allow another to be a human being
Letting go is not to deny- but to accept
Letting go is not to regret the past - but to grow and live for the future
Letting go is to fear less and live more.

excerpt from The Plain Truth magazine - Jul-Aug, 2007.

Is it God helping me out here ? :)  Letting go. That's it. I AM BACK.  

Makan makan in Melaka 25 September 2010

My favourite 'Putu Piring'. oohh uumm

Wanna try?  Map

Chicken Rice ball - this place is filled to the brim by the local residents. It is so much cheaper than those at Jonkers St.

645am to 3pm. Closed on Thursday.
BB-376 Taman Melaka Baru, Batu Berendam
016- 6688 381

From Air Keroh toll, go straight at Jalan Air Keroh. Turn right at the signage to Batu Berendam, at a traffic light.
Go straight till T junction. Turn right. Then follow by first left turn.
Go straight till you see restaurant on your right.

Around Jonkers, Melaka 25 September 2010

Saturday 230pm

Our last visit to Melaka was 3 years back. Now, there is a boat ride along Malacca River and a newly built fort next to it.

I took a short trishaw ride with EnHui. RM15 for 15minutes. It was En's third ride and yet, it amused her very much. Hui asked "What is a trishaw?  

Jonkers st never fail in entertaining us, with varieties of stalls and performances. Unfortunately, it rained not long after we arrived.

The Hainanese Association had a lantern parade with lion dance, along the street creating a human jam.  

Baba and Nyonya Museum 25 September 2010

Saturday 1pm.

It is located at Jalan Tun Tan Cheng Lock, parallel to Jonkers St,comprises of 3 townhouses. It gave a sense of warmth, homey feeling, like visiting a friend, more than a museum.

Entrance fees is RM8 for adult, and RM4 for child, with or without a tour guide. No photography is allowed.

Butterfly and Reptile Sanctuary, Air Keroh 25 September 2010

Saturday 930am
Direction, first left turn after Air Keroh toll and follow the sign.
Entrance fees - adult RM5 children (5-12) RM3.

 There are so many types of lizards on display. Hui made sure she didn't miss any. I was suprised to see some white handed gibbons, as it doesn't belong to insect/reptile group, in a pathetic small enclosure. There are also birds, binturong, otters, slow loris, koi fishes etc over here.

En, trying to grasp a butterfly. And she ran off seeing the giant milipede.

The star tortoise was taken aback when En tried to touch his legs.

En bypassed all the snakes exhibit, except for this yellow one. It is the only snake that she is not scared of, she said.  Hui, on the other hand, sticked out her tongue to scare the snakes off. ;p Smooth coated otter slept like a log.

Grandma's birthday bash, Melaka 25 September 2010

Saturday 930am

It was a short and sweet drive to Air Keroh, Melaka, which took 2 hours. We put up at Kings Apartment-hotel.. A cozy and affordable place for a big group like us, 19 people! It has a small wading pool but enhui didn't get to splash on.

           

Coffee-tea making set and complimentary first 6 bottles of water. Right- living room

First room and its attached bathroom. (the toilet flush malfunctioned but rectified by housekeeper immediately)

The second and third room. All rooms have attached bathroom.

Mom's birthday cake.  I am the one who hold the fondant figurines with both thumb and index fingers! We have had a fabulous time, figuring out who was who and everyone seems to admire these figurines and had a good laugh about us (my siblings and I vs figurines). Mom is the one in red dress!

Mid Autumn Festival with neighbours 22 September 2010

Wednesday 9pm

Enhui joined the neighbourhood children, lighting candles and walking with lanterns.
Sitting down, observing the two of them, mixing with the mandarin-cantonese speaking children, brought me a sense of warmth.

I felt so much at home, with everyone speaking my mother tongue.

The Academy of Pastry Arts Malaysia 21 September 2010

Tuesday 10am
After a hectic Monday, the wisest decision is to say 'No' to the visit of "Academy of Pastry Arts Malaysia" the next early morning. There is a free demonstration on how to bake croissant. Somehow, I feel guilty of not bringing En there. So, we went.

The visit turned out to be great for En. She enjoyed herself among

 adults from all sort of baking background, observing and listening to their conversation.  Hui didn't enjoy watching the process as the area was hot. She cried and requested to go home.   

This was the beginning where Hui sat happily on the armchair, watching the baking video under a cooling aircond.  Right- butter/milk used in the baking.

The museum of History and Ethnography, Melaka 26 September 2010

Sunday am

Picture- The artifacts which was unearth in 2008, contained bone fragments.
When we visited this museum in 2007, the air cond wasn't functioning well.  Today, the condition is still the same, except for the galleries upstair. Nevertheless, it was a great place to visit. Entrance fees RM5 adult. RM2 child. Located next to Dutch Square.

Vitagen Health Educational Tour 20 September 2010

Tuesday 230pm

 Left- Little En at Vitagen Factory function room in year 2008, when she was 4.

Today, we paid the second visit. In the morning, I told her to look after herself and walk within the RED (I can't remember the color and assumed is red) lines inside the factory as mommy needs to care for Hui. She corrected me " It's not red, it's yellow ". 

Lo and behold, En is corrrect!

We were briefed the rules & regulations before walking into the factory and the custom relations officer mentioned "walk within the yellow lines", my jaw dropped.

Walking two by two to the factory with our hair cap on! En paired herself up with Danika.

The customer relations officer gave us a briefing on the product before the refreshment. Hui walked up and down, wondering when she could drink the vitagen!

During the introduction talk, En being the talkative one, was the target of the speaker when came to questions. "What are the flavours?"  En who wasn't listening, answered "All the flavours! I love all ". "What do you do before you eat?" etc. And when the question "What is bacteria?" was raised, without a second thought, she had a go !



Kids will take a chance. If they don't know, they will have a go. They are not frightened of being wrong. - Sir Ken Robinson.

Itinerary

2:30pm - Arrival of visitors at Cotra Enterprises Sdn Bhd (Function Room)
2:35pm - Introduction of the Company and Products
2:50pm - Video Presentation
3:00pm - Plant tour for VITAGEN
3:30pm - Refreshment / Question and Answer
4:00pm - Special Token to Visitors

To make an appointment for a visit, email elina@cotra.com.my 03-7955 4388. A mininum of 30 pax required.

Bukit Melawati, Kuala Selangor 19 September 2010

Sunday 9am
It was an impromptu trip when I stumbled upon a blog on Sunday 1am, where it mentioned about Silver Leaf monkeys at this hill top which are friendly towards human. En has been asking where and when she can pat monkey, after being stopped numerous times from touching the long tail macaques which can be aggresive and violent.

Approx 50 mins drive to Bukit Melawati from Sg Buloh. At Kuala Selangor, look for Bukit Melawati /Taman Alam signage.
On weekends, you can't drive your vehicle up the hill. Going up the hill can be done by taking the tram ride (RM3 for adult & RM1 for child above 4) or walking. The tram ticket booth is located at the foot hill, right beside the "Selamat Datang Ke Bukit Malawati" arch.

We walked and it took 15-20minues to reach the top. There are lots of long tail macaques roaming around the area after the Royal Mausoleum.

Left - Lots of angsana fruits. We bought some long beans to feed the monkeys from this uncle, where he shared his experience and knowlege on the Silver Leaf monkey. One bunch of long beans is RM1. And when we bought the second time, he gave us three bunches for RM1. Uncle said "The lion and cobra statues will keep away the monkeys from snatching his beans"

There she is, finally got up close with the langurs. :)

Hui observed for a while on daddy's shoulder. When she deemed it's safe, she joined in.  

Hui and the langur. :) 

Left -The infant is orange in colour, being held tightly by dear mom :)  Right- The monkeys would keep taking the long beans despite that its hand is full!  There are two groups of Silver Leaf monkeys and they are territorial among themselves.

Altingsburg lighthouse. You will find two museums on the hill top, Kuala Selangor District Historical Museum and Traditional Art and Games Museum.

When we asked a tram passenger, where we can purchase a ticket to go downhill, she said " It is the same ticket she bought when she came up". As we walked uphill, we didn't have any tickets. We hopped on board anyway. The tram went down and it went on to Galeri Ikan Air Tawar which is about 500m from the foot hill. We hopped out. This gallery displays variety of fresh water fishes, birds, porcupine and an iguana. There is also a gallery on traditional and modern fish traps. Taman Alam is situated next to this place.

On board the outgoing-tram, I saw a placard at the gallery main gate, with the entrance fees info where adult is charged at RM2 and child RM1. No one on board pay for the fees as the tram would just zoomed past the entrance in and out! The tram stopped at the foot hill and we drove to the nearby Pasir Penambang fishing village. 

Right photo- enhui with their so-called flying dragon (toilet paper).