Putrajaya Fiesta

Hot air balloons hovering Putrajaya city

On the overcrowded Seri Wawasan bridge

WOW, I'm on a roll here! One update after another. Anyone out there complaining? Hmmm? No? Phewwwhh! (Perasanzzzz)

I finally get to see a hot air balloon, first hand. How I wish I was IN one of them, though. Not cheap, I hear. 

Two years ago, everything was planned perfectly. I even asked my sister to tag along. Alas, in the end, Dini fell sick. So the one who was the most eager, had to be left behind. Tak ada rezeki.

Last year, we missed it. But this year, thanks to my hubby's rare initiative, we were finally there at the 4th Putrajaya International Hot Air Balloon Fiesta. But my, oh my, the crowd was immense and the traffic was massive! We took more than half an hour just to get to the bridge alone! The kids grew restless in the car and I started to feel nauseous.

At around 6.45 pm, we could finally hop off our car. While he patiently went to look for a parking spot, we enjoyed the view from the bridge. 

I was frustrated that we arrived late, sebab nak kena rush solat Maghrib lagi, but the minute my eyes set upon them beautiful giant balloons from afar, my spirits started to lift up. I was always drawn to colourful things, but a humongous balloon? Now that's something different - double, triple the excitement. At that moment, I wished I had a more powerful camera. My zoom lense wasn't zoomy enough. :D

We missed out on witnessing other types of the uncommon shapes of balloons; some shaped like a birthday cake (the kids would surely love to see that!), some are shaped like a kiwi bird, a cat, and many more. Apparently more than 26 balloons from 13 countries compete in this annual event. I wonder who wins...

Enough babbles, here are my humble captures. I may have gotten a little carried away with some of the editing. Blah.

This plain white balloon impressively stood high on its way to fly

Behind them, the flattened red-blue canvas thing
is about to be blown up

Irfan mula panik sebab belon tu makin besar

Kecik, kecik... besar, besaaaaaaarrrr....

Two other hot air balloons at another corner

My current and future bodyguards.
Favourite picture of the lot because of the warna-ful elements

The loooooong walk

This unusual shaped balloon got the most attention

Irfan got the best view from the top of his father's shoulders

These tiny balloons were going at RM5 each

They each got themselves a cool bubble gun

A tiny angry bird balloon against other hot air balloons in its background

Bye-bye balloons! We'll be back.

The saddest part of the trip was, I know for sure there were many who obviously neglected their Maghrib prayers. It is becoming so common lately. Tak takut ke diorang ek? Kalau bala turun, tak pasal2 semua orang kena. Pesta tu berpesta jugak, tapi solat aje lah. Tak susah pun. Kena usaha sikit je. Keindahan dunia ni bukan nya kekal. Syok sekejap je. Benci betul tengok semua2 ni. Such a spoiler.

Temporary Ailment

The warna-ful* prescribed medicines

I was given 3 days medical leave by a doctor yesterday coz I've got tonsillitis; inflamed and infected tonsils. No wonder I've been feeling weak these last few days. And I thought it was because my three kids took turns in falling sick for the past week.

If your sore throat feels more severe than usual, it's most likely you've got this as well, not just any normal symptom of a fever which I initially thought.

The young and handsome doctor by the name of Dr. San (seriously, he looked like a Taiwanese movie star) took the trouble to take a picture of my throat with his i-Phone and explained the disease to me. Of course I only understood half of what he said; not because I was distracted by his looks, but because I was dizzy & tired due to my low blood pressure (90/70); the numerous medical terms that he used did not help either. Throat redness, whitish spots, swollen tonsils, you name it, I have it all, so it's more or less an easy diagnosis for him.

No, that's not my throat.

Rasulullah pbuh has said "If Allah wants to do good to somebody, He afflicts him with trials." (As narrated by Abu Hurairah) So, Alhamdulillah, this means Allah loves me. ♥

In between my home rest and naps, I tried this. Don't you think it's cool?

*Warna-ful is a term Dini often use to describe colourful :)

Marked History

I miss photographing (is that even a proper word?). I miss admiring the pictures I take. Haha, that sounded so cocky didn't it? Macam la pro sangat. But yeah, it's been more than a month since I last clicked on the shutter release button of my camera. 

On another note, my children and I had a fair chance at stardom for one day towards the end of last year. It was such a sweet surprise and memorable enough to close our year. We appeared in Berita Harian on 13th December under the Ratu section, page 22 to be exact. 

It was a feature on the "Paint for Fun" program which I signed up for the kids as suggested by Muna, my neighbour. Held at Jeumpa D'Ramo, a bungalow hotel, or some call it a guest house, that is meant for tourists (or even locals) who wants privacy or tranquility in KL, particularly Bangsar. 

The caption for our picture was "Huda membawa tiga anaknya menyertai 'Paint for Fun'". Okay, that was true. In the article however, they exaggerated a little from what was actually interviewed. Media, they tend to be that way, don't they? But I'm glad nonetheless, coz they made me sound like a good mother :D

The organisers even had a competition in place; winner for the best painting gets to stay in the hotel for 2 nights with family members. Although my kids' art did not catch anyone's eyes, but MY own eyes were satisfied with the event as they get to freely paint as much as they want, played with the colours and be messy as much as they liked, AND eat the prepared fingered food while they're at it! Talk about total freedom. 

Dini looked so serious while painting

Ikhwan dengan Irfan paling comot berbanding yang lain-lain kot?

Khusyuk sungguh melukis

Some of the other participants and paintings

Inversed Effect

On a train trip to Uetliberg - the highest top of Zurich, Switzerland

The bigger the workload, the draggier I am. The closer I reach to the deadline, the lazier I become. If only the effect was exponential for me.

But this happened many times in my uni days; I remember feeling sooooooo EXTRA sleepy every night before an exam is due on the very next day.

When the majority were staying up late for last minute studying, I could seldom keep my eyes open and slept way before everyone else. Ha lepas tu, baru nak menyesal esok nya, sampai nak terkencing2 bukak buku luar exam hall, hehe.

Like now, when I should be finishing my outstanding reports, instead I'm either in the mood to blog, to shop, chit chat or just sleep away somehow hoping that all the pending stuff for the upcoming meeting next week will magically complete on its own.

I find myself daydreaming about past vacations; how I wish I was in any of those places right this instant....

Either ride on the famous gondola along the canals of Venice, Italy

Or be on top of the cool mountains of Mt. Titlis, Switzerland

Or breathe the cool fresh air in a garden full of flowers as far as the eyes can see in Korea

Or para gliding in Bali, Indonesia (yes, that's me)

Or snorkel in the clear waters of Perhentian Island, Terengganu (yes, that's me again)

Or even read a useless entertainment magazine on board a Eurostar train to Rome, Italy

Or best of all, ride on a Mini (top-down) along the harbours of Sydney, Australia 

Big sigh...

The Past - Part I

DECEMBER was the most significant month of all throughout 2011, and yet the number of posts I managed to squeeze was... just ONE. Teruk betul. 

A cousin got married and most importantly, MY BEST FRIEND also got married! How could I have left that out from this almost-forgotten blog? Sorry Do, you know my excuses are never lame, right?

And you know what, I'm soooooo glad I went through the endless traffic jam on that Friday rush-hour along with an empty tank just to reach to you and witness your glow on your most special day. I love you so much! You looked beeeeeeeautiful!

I pray for every happiness, every loyalness, and every greatness for you and sweet Adil. Not only he's an extremely good cook, he's also such a gentleman; InshaALlah he will take good care of you. At least you won't have to worry about handling a typical Malay man's general characters. ;-) Thanks to Aisyah too, sebab sudi temankan aku sampai aku balik. Bila lagi nak jumpa ni? Nak tunggu next wedding pun, semua dah kawin dah. :-D

16 December 2011, Bandar Baru Bangi
Adil and Dora - just after their nikah

Among her uni and school friends 

18 December 2011, Dewan Gemilang UKM, Bangi
Beautiful couple, beautiful setup, beautiful cake, beautiful day!

My family with the newly weds

The same wish goes to my cousin Aqeel and his sweet wife Nadia. Aqeel and I are not that close, our age gap is huge, but nevertheless, nasihat kak huda, jaga lah nama keluarga arwah Mok Kg Sireh ya... Be a loving husband, be a good leader, play a major role in your new family, try your very best to follow the ways of Rasulullah, only then can you expect your wife to be equally good to you. I'm not a feminist but I think it's a fair advice. To be married young is not a bad thing, it's even encouraged in Islam, but in any marriage, you can be sure that you'll be tested with all sorts of challenges ahead. Semoga tabah dan bahagia sentiasa. Amin. 

4 December 2011, Masjid Kg Melayu Ampang
Penyerahan hantaran, sarung cincin

The pretty little princess-wannabes

4 December 2011, Bora Ombak
The beaming couple arrived for their wedding reception

10 December 2011, Taman Berjaya
The pretty moms :D

Dini also turned 4 years old on 27 December! We sort of had a mini bash at home two days before that, on a Saturday afternoon, together with her cousins Alya and Damya as well as Wafa and Fatin. There were less than 15 of us, including the toddlers, but it was enough to drain my energy for the day hahaha. Yet somehow, the whole thing made me happy and whole, seeing the happy children's faces, their squeals and laughter. Thank you An, for your wonderful plan. 

The setup

The birthday cakes

The birthday girls
Damya (7 years old) and Dini (4 years old)

The twin busy-boys;
who were only excited of the colourful balloons and goodie bags

Spraying party strings and foams - sponsored by An

Alya, Wafa and Faatin

Not easy to get kids jump up at the same time

Hoooooooray!!! Think they had a good time.

Oh and in between the heavictic (heavy + hectic) schedule of this particular mama-blogger, she still managed to meet up with her school frenzies for a brief get-together, supposed to be an hour brunch but ended up to be a 3-hour eatery and chit chat! It felt soooooooo good to be able to do that sometimes. Thanks to our spouses for being such a sport and allowing us to do so.

At Delicious, Bangsar Village

Thanks to Aiza's five-ringgit-mini-tripod for this pic!

These three kids are so cute and adorable. Wait, I mean two. Hehe.