Imagine my excitement when my husband suddenly told me that we’ll be spending the weekend in Gold Coast.

“Gold Coast? REALLY??”.

Uhh no, not really. Not the one in Australia, at least.

He actually meant the one in Sepang. Pfft. I mean, that’s like saying, “Let’s have KFC for dinner tonight” when he actually meant Kelantan Fried Chicken instead of Kentucky Fried Chicken. -_-

But anyways, we stayed at the Golden Palm Tree Sea Villas in Sepang Goldcoast a few weekends ago and I was amazed! The view was breathtaking and the sea villas are built in the shape of a palm tree that stretches out almost one kilometer into the sheltered waters of the Straits of Malacca. It looks somewhat like the one in Dubai, isn’t it?

Image googled

Villa atas air!

The villas are located far away from the main lobby and
there were buggies to take you right to your villa’s doorstep

The sun was scorching hot…

We stayed in the Travelers Palm Villa which is a 1-bedroom villa.

You know the thing I love most about hotels?
The bathroom!

There were lots of fun activities including land sports, water sports and fitness.

Since it was only a short getaway, I only packed our stuff at the very last minute – right before nak bertolak. And I forgot to bring so many stuff including our iPhone charger, the kids’ bottle brush, bottle cleanser, contact lens solution and my scarves! So yeah, I wore the same scarf pagi petang siang malam masa kat sana, with my brown, yellow and pink top. Can you imagine that? And can you imagine how I washed my kids’ bottles? With a toothbrush (thank God I always pack a hotel toothbrush in my luggage)!

I am never gonna do last-minute packing ever again.

The infinity pool. Or at least, it looks like one.
Oh wait. It is, isn’t it?

My kids had a lot of fun in the water.
I feel like joining them but I didn’t bring extra scarf, remember?

We had buffet dinner at Bila-bila later that night, which was located at the Resort Club House. It was a major disappointment! We were there at about 8.45pm and the food was almost finished. There were not many choices too. And not only that, the service was poor. The waiter didn’t bother to clear up the plates on our table. I wasn’t expecting that, especially from a 5-star resort. It’s the worse buffet I’ve ever been to.

The only food yang sedap is the grilled beef with black pepper sauce.

But thank God breakfast was a lot better.

Waiting for the buggy ride

We wanted to watch the sunset but the kids were so tired, we decided to stay in.

Overall it was a great getaway, except for the buffet dinner. It’s a perfect place for a holiday retreat to relax and unwind or a quiet romantic getaway with your spouse. I feel like I was in an island, far far away – like in Maldives or something!

Before I begin, let me warn you that this is a picture heavy post!

Oh, we did not go on a round-the-world trip if that’s what you think (altho I wish we would, someday ;p). We went to Universal Studios Singapore! We actually had a wedding to attend in Johor Bahru so dah alang-alang tu pergi Singapore sekali. At first we were thinking of going to USS by bus, but thank God we didn’t – what with a baby and a toddler and a stroller and everything, it’s too much of a hassle. So we drove there instead. Getting in and out of Singapore by car wasn’t as leceh as we thought (refer here if you want more info).

We arrived at USS at around 11 am and it was already packed with people. I wasn’t expecting such crowd because it was on a weekday….

In case you’re wondering who took that picture of us… it was my sister-in-law. We were more than happy to let her join our trip – two of us can take turns to go on the rides while the other one can look after the kids. Good plan, no? ;D

There are 7 main attractions there – Hollywood, Madagascar, Far Far Away, Lost World, Ancient Egypt, Sci-Fi City and New York. The beautiful architectures and buildings reminded me of Disneyland, but a smaller version of course. Or maybe it’s more like Movie World in Gold Coast, Australia kot. Entah la labu… They all look pretty much the same to me! ;p

The street of Hollywood

Guess who did we bump into?

Po, the Kungfu Panda
(Ayra was scared of it tho. Meronta-ronta!)

And umm… Mrs. Woodpecker?
(this must be Woody Woodpecker’s wife)

Madagascar!

When you have kids, of course the first ride would be… the carousel!

It’s the only ride yang Raina main that day.

It was noon and we haven’t had our lunch yet. So what happens when you go on a merry-go-round with an empty stomach? Perut pun jadi merry-go-round! We were famished (and a little dizzy from the ride) so we went to look for food. We walked to Far Far Away, which is not really that far actually ;p

It’s great to know that there are a few Halal-certified restaurants in Universal Studios Singapore. There are also surau and Baby Centre, located near the entrance. There is no ablution area in the surau tho, so you have to take wudhu at the nearby restroom.

Food is expensive, but that was expected.

Had Fish Wraps

This lil girl is more interested with the criss-cross fries than her food

After lunch, we went to watch Shrek 4D and the Donkey LIVE shows. They were quite entertaining but for Shrek 4D show, we had to sit at the stationary seats since we were with children, so we couldn’t feel the rocking effect of the seats.

Royal Cuteness

Didn’t go on any rides at the Lost World

The Canopy Flyer looks fun tho.

And then we arrived in Egypt!

Hello super tall sexy man

Revenge Of The Mummy is my favorite ride of all! It’s the only “grown-up” ride I rode that day. Hubby waited outside with the girls while me and my SIL went for the ride. It’s an indoor roller-coaster and the darkness just makes the ride unexpected and thrilling. Best!

Babies are allowed on this Treasure Hunter’s ride tapi malas
because the waiting time was 25 minutes.

Battlestar Galactica in Sci-Fi City. It’s the tallest pair of dueling roller coasters in the world!
But I will never ride on that kind of roller-coaster. Not in a million years.

Just look at that, tergantung macam tu. Scaryyy!

New York

There were various funny hats on display outside a shop that sells hats and accessories. I wasn’t sure if they were for sale or for photography purposes but everyone else were trying them on and taking pictures so we did too!

Went inside the shop and there were funny sunglasses too

And hats for kids!

Buatlah macam jalan sendiri ;p

We ended the trip with a little bit of shopping at the Universal Studios Store.

I remember buying “World’s Greatest Super Boyfriend” trophy
from Disneyland Paris for my then-boyfriend, now-husband.

It’s my turn to get a trophy. Wait, make it two! *ehem*

These Betty Boop hair brushes are so cute!

Ayra had her eyes on something

Teddy bear!
And she refused to leave the store -_-

She was even more excited when she saw this human-sized kitty cat, Puss In Boots!

“Cat! Cat! It’s A CATTTT!”

We spent almost the whole day in Universal Studios Singapore but there are some rides and shows that we missed/didn’t ride. Turned out, the official Grand Opening ceremony was on that day and because of that, the USS closed earlier than usual – at 6pm.

Overall it was fun. Would love to go there again and ride on the ones that we didn’t manage to!

We had never been on a holiday trip ever since Raina was born… until last weekend. My husband’s board-game friends (yea they hang out like once a week to play board games!) organized a family day trip at Wadi Samrah. It was the shortest trip we’ve ever had but it was amazing!

To be honest, I’ve never heard of Wadi Samrah before. When my husband told me we were going there, I was like, “Wadi what? Is it in Indonesia?”. I was picturing an old man named Pak Wadi, in a batik-print Javanese hat. Suka hati!

Turns out, Wadi Samrah is the name of a private resort in Janda Baik. And boy, the place is so beautiful! It’s perfect for families because everything is there. There are two villas, swimming pool, jacuzzi, children’s playhouse, Samrah tower, barbeque area, etc. I didn’t manage to snap pictures of the whole resort tho, but you can view more at www.wadisamrah.com.

Ayra was talking to her Tok Ummi on the phone nak beritahu dah sampai!

My sister-in-law joined us too

View from our bedroom. Can you see the river?

Yeap, there’s a river behind our villa!

That is the children’s pondok. There are toys inside!

Lunch

“Ants! Ants!”

TV room

The guys spent most of the time playing board games! I was thinking that I could probably join them if there was Scrabble but no… these were the kind of board games they played:

Got car-racing game also ok!

This is the dining area.

We had barbeque!

Baked potato with cheese and mushroom

Barbecued lamb. Yum!

The next morning, we went for a swim in the river. Well, I didn’t actually swim la – just my kaki. The water was icy cold! Ayra takut mandi sungai (probably because it was too cold), but not Raina. That little girl loves water!

She’s trying to pick up the pasir

Seksi bebeh

More board games.

The children had their own activities too.

Coloring

Playing bubbles

Exploring the area

But this lil one just wants to hang out with mommy

Pakcik eskrem datang!

Can you believe that was my first time eating roti ice-cream?? Not bad.

And just look how cute are these girls, hanging out together enjoying their ice-creams!

Ahhhh…. It feels great to be able to get out of the city once in awhile and surround myself with tropical greenery and fresh air. I miss the place already!

Some people are afraid of cats. Some are afraid of dogs.

Me?
I’m afraid of birds (and no, it’s not funny).

I was once chased by a crow when I was a kid. I was on my way walking to my class when I saw a crow digging into a pile of garbage in the middle of the assembly area, just a few feet away from me. I thought to myself, “Eee yuck, makan sampah!”. And then as if the crow could hear my thoughts, it started to chase me! Stupid crow.

I started running frantically to the nearest classroom, with my hands covering my head. It was scary. Thank God nothing happened to me. But ever since that incident, I am not fond of birds. Especially crows. I hate crows.

But guess where did I went to the other day?

KL Bird Park!

But there were no crows so it was okay.

We wanted to take Ayra to see the animals because the only real animals Ayra has ever seen are cats and dogs. And cockroaches, if you count them as animal. We were actually planning to go to the zoo, Aquaria, as well as the bird park during the Chinese New Year holiday but only managed to go to the latter one. But that’s okay. There’s plenty of time to go to the other two places! (Did you know Martha Stewart went to the KL Bird Park last year? Saya baru tahu).

My sister-in-law joined us too.

So the KL Bird Park is actually the largest free-flight walk-in aviary in the world. The birds fly around freely! There are birds on the trees, on the trails, in the pond, on the fence; there are birds EVERYWHERE. I was scared they would attack or chase us because they are mostly wild birds! But just as long as you don’t kacau them, then they won’t kacau you.

I thought these birds were statues because they just stood still.
Rupanya burung betul.

Ayra wanted to touch the bird and I shrieked no!

Koi pond

You can buy this fish and bird food to feed them.

There are so many types of birds we saw including parrots, cockatoos, hornbills, flamingos, storks, black swans, ostrich, emu, cassowaries, owls, eagles, etc…

But my favorite bird of all is the peacock. I think it’s the most beautiful bird and the colors of their feathers are absolutely stunning! These photos just don’t do justice.

They too, roam freely around the park (even on the trees)

Showing off!

So. Beautiful.

Waterfall Aviary

“Pish! Pish!”

There’s a playground too.

And yes that’s me on the swing. Lepas gian!

Ayra tunjuk perasaan nak main slide lagi

But finally calmed down when she saw these cute chicks and ducklings.

Now this is pretty interesting.

It’s an incubator for hatching eggs
and those are newborn chicks! Awwh!

We spent about 2 hours at the bird park and unfortunately, we didn’t get to watch the bird show at the Amphitheater. But we did took a photo with the birds. I mean, what’s a trip to the bird park without a photo of you with the birds, right? Even if you’re afraid of birds, like yours truly.

Yes, that’s a freaking hornbill on my lap. And it’s almost as big as Ayra!

I’m still afraid of birds tho.

We took a short trip down south to Johor Bahru last weekend. My husband had a meeting with a client of his and I decided to tag along because it would be my only chance to go on “holiday” before the baby pops out. It was the shortest holiday ever!

Hubby will always let me choose which hotel to stay in sebab dia tak mahu bertanggungjawab kalau hotel yg dipilih turned out tak best. Dia tukang reserve dan bayar. I’m not really fussy when it comes to choosing hotel tho. I mean, it doesn’t need to be a lavish 5-star hotel (although that would be really nice). I just want a nice hotel with nice deco and interior (modern contemporary would be a bonus) and a tub. And preferably a king-sized bed since the three of us are bedmates now. You know, somewhere nicer than my own room.

Ok so maybe I am a little bit fussy when it comes to that. Are you?

Anyways, we stayed at Thistle Hotel (formerly Hyatt Regency Hotel). It’s a fully refurbished hotel with nice interior and everything…

But they don’t have WiFi! There is high-speed internet access but you have to pay for it.
Hmpphh.

The first thing we did when we reached JB was… finding a place to have lunch! I asked for suggestions on twitter and most of my followers suggested Restoran Singgah Selalu, so we decided to give it a try (gotta love Twitter!).

There were a lot of choices of lauk-pauk.

And like, 20 kinds of fish!
Ok I’m exaggerating. But it was a lot. Rambang mata.

Had kuah masak lemak, ikan keli bakar, kerabu mangga,
sayur apa entah (but I love it) and sambal belacan.

Hubby went for his meeting after lunch, leaving the both of us at the hotel and I was thinking of resting and taking a nap since I didn’t get enough sleep the night before. But Ayra was too busy exploring the hotel room; lari sana sini, masuk keluar bathroom, checking out the closet, tong sampah and drawers, testing out the phone, main langsir, bed runner, etc. Ahh kids!

She took the hotel bed runner and draped herself in it.

At last she managed to sit still watching some cartoons on the telly.

But not long after that, hubby was back and it was already 6pm. So off we went for a swim!

I didn’t want to bring my bag because I was afraid it would get wet so I wore my Marshmallow Envirosax bag to the pool. I told you it’s useful not only for groceries!

In case you’re wondering why I looked kinda pale, it’s because I wasn’t wearing any makeup.
And I didn’t get enough sleep, remember? ;p

Back at the hotel, Ayra had bubble bath with me
(and she had a taste of the bubbles!)

She used to call bubble, “bubba bubba”.
But now she knows how to pronounce it right: Babel.

Then came the next mission to find food for dinner. We went to Danga Bay street mall… but there was nothing interesting. Spent almost an hour there, looking for some place to eat.

It was 9-ish pm and I was tired and famished and almost cranky (I hate to be cranky on holiday) so we went to Restoran Singgah Selalu again sebab malas dah nak cari and because it was quite near to our hotel. The place is more happening at night.

And we discovered a play room! How genius!

I think all restaurants should have a play room/area for kids supaya tak kacau parents nak makan. It’s really challenging to bring Ayra to any makan place now coz she can only sit at the table for a good 5 minutes. Lepas tu mula throw tantrums (and throw everything else that she could get her hands on).

So while Ayra was happily playing, we had our dinner in peace. We opted for the 3-4 persons meal set because I wanted sotong goreng and sayur kailan. I was too hungry to choose the lauk from the long list of menus. Amik set terus senang. Hee.

The food was okay. It would have been better if the Sup Rumpai Laut
is replaced with Tom Yam.

The next day we checked out, went to Jusco Tebrau City, did a bit of shopping and head back to KL (didn’t wanna miss the Maybank Treats Fair at MV ;p).