So kitorang pun balik solat kat hotel... balik solat cepat-cepat, Amy pun tak sempat mandi, tukar pampers aje.. So terus keluar balik pergi ambik shuttle pegi Disneyland.. Masa ni dah gelap dah sikit Hong Kong.. So sampai-sampai Disneyland, terus kami menuju ke Buzz Lightyear Astro Blasters.. Sambil-sambil tercungap-cungap berlari tu, i ternampak pulak Buzz Lightyear.. heheh kena bergambar dulu.. Wajib nih.. Ride2 ni kat Genting pun boleh main.. So kitorang pun bergambar la dengan Buzz Lightyear.. And then baru masuk Buzz Lightyear Astro Blasters.. Yang ni duduk dalam car ride, sambil tembak2 huruf Z pakai pistol laser yg disediakan dalam car ride tu.. Masa tu rasa macam terer giler je menembak, dapat la dalam 20 000 points.. bangga je..  Ingatkan dah hebat giler dah, sekali tengok Asno punya points 200 000... benci betul.. tak best ah main game tembak-tembak ni.. heheh...

  Dah habis main Astro Blasters tu, kitorang pun masuk Stitch Encounter.. Pukul 6.30 punya show.. Terpaksa la masuk yang Chinese punya version.. Ada ke orang yang jaga counter tu suruh datang esok, untuk tengok yang English version.. banyak la dia punya esok.. ingat free ke datang jauh-jauh.. heheh, so chinese pun chinese la, tak kisah la.. masuk dalam tu, cool jugak la, although tak paham pun apa dia cakap.. stitch tanya-tanya soalan dekat audience, then dia siap boleh ada conversation dengan audience.. Wonder jugak cemana dia buat ni.. Maybe ada orang yang jaga dekat belakang screen tu, and pause gambar stitch masa audience jawab soalan.. maybe..   

 And then lepas tu, kitorang terus pergi ke fantasyland... Main madhatters teacups.. Yang ni macam ride yg duduk dalam teacups, and then boleh pusing-pusingkan handle, and teacups tu pun pusing sekali... Yang ni I suruh Asno naik dengan Amy, I naik kereta lain.. Mana tau kot2 I excited pusingkan handle, sekali Amy tercampak keluar ke.. naye je.. So Amy naik dengan ayah aje.. Safe sikit.. hehehe...

    Ok, then dah dekat pukul 8.. So kitorang pun pergi depan Sleeping Beauty Castle, nak tunggu fireworks untuk kali kedua... This time dah ready dengan tripod, nak buat nightshot takut gambar goyang.. Memang best sangat fireworks ni.. Rasa sedih sangat bila ingat esok tak boleh datang balik.. So kami pun enjoy the fireworks while we can, sambil-sambil dalam hati cakap, harap2 kami boleh datang sini balik nanti.. InsyaAllah.. It has been a wonderful moment, especially when we enjoyed it all together as one family.. Tak boleh dibayangkan perasaan tu.. Being with the people you love, enjoying the moment.. Sedihnya, nanti balik Vung Tau dah kena balik ke alam realiti.. Takde nak enjoy-enjoy.. Abang kena pergi offshore.. sedih2.. takpe la, ada rezeki kita datang balik.. Maybe Disneyland somewhere else pulak, kalau ada rezeki lebih.. :)

    So habis fireworks tu, kami pun jalan balik through main street USA... Kali ni I bershopping habis-habisan.. Beli banyak fridge magnets (I mmg kumpul banyak fridge magnets), and then souvenirs kecil2, for my display cabinet. Then ada jugak beli Mickey yang tulis Hong Kong Disneyland, I memang minat stuffed toys, yang tulis nama-nama tempat ni.. Pastu ada la jugak beli sikit-sikit barang untuk Amy, beli pinggan plastik satu set siap dengan cawan and fork and spoon yang tulis minnie yang comel.. heheh.. Ingatkan nak carik birthday present untuk Amy, tapi Amy macam tak minat nak pilih, dia minat nak pegang semua benda aje.. So takpe la, lagipun still boleh cari dekat Hong Kong.. Then kami pun balik ke hotel, order room service, then tidur... zzzzzz..... :)

Nina

   At first we thought we're going to start the day early. So, lepas solat Subuh, mula-mula ingat nak get ready, tiba-tiba we checked the disneyland brochure, cakap park bukak pukul 10.. Alamak... time tu baru pukul 5.30.. so apa lagi, kami pun sambung tidur balik.. So dalam pukul 8 pagi, I woke up.. mandi-mandi semua, then nak get ready.. tengok dalam beg, alamak.. Amy nak pakai baju apa hari ni? Banyak baju nak kena hantar laundry (when you have a baby, you'll know how much clothes a baby needs).. So pikir punya pikir, tiba-tiba teringat, dekat lobby ada Disney store.. Ayah and Amy tengah tidur lagi, so mama sneaked out, and went downstairs to the Disney store.

    Masuk-masuk Disney store, nampak satu t shirt cantik warna merah.. ok lah, so ambik satu untuk Amy.. then nampak lagi satu pulak t-shirt dress warna pink.. comelnya.. nak beli, takde saiz pulak..so ambik satu warna biru.. ok, settle.. alamak, lepas tu nampak tshirt banyak yg cantik2.. berkenan pulak tengok yg warna shocking pink... hehe ambik lah satu untuk diri sendiri... pusing2 kedai, nampak pulak headband bentuk Minnie's ears.. ok, I'll get that one too.. baru nak pergi ke kaunter, tiba-tiba terfikir, alamak.. kesian ayah, mama dgn amy ada baju disneyland.. tak belikan pun untuk ayah.. so ambik satu tshirt untuk ayah... so ok, then.. i paid for everything, lady dekat kaunter cakap boleh dapat satu bantal Tigger dengan harga RM 20.. So boleh lah... Beli la bantal tigger satu.. heheheh...

    Proud with the things I bought, I went back to the hotel room.. Masuk-masuk tengok Asno dah bangun, I gave him his tshirt.. heheh, he saw my big plastic bag of shopping stuff, but he didn't say anything... god, I love him :) So lepas tu I woke Amy up, get her into the bath, and got her ready.. Alamak dah pukul 9.30 .. So we quickly went downstairs for breakfast.. We already booked breakfast in advance, (if you book through the internet, you will get 30% discount.. hah..clever me :D) There were lots of food available, waffles, pancakes, hashbrowns, cereals for Amy, there was even a sushi bar.. So we quickly ate, and hurried to get to the shuttle station.

    Then kami pun naik shuttle bus, pergi ke Disneyland park. Masuk-masuk park, tangkap gambar lagi.. :) Tengok-tengok line untuk bergambar dengan mickey panjang betul.. nasib baik dah ambik dah semalam.. so we all went to Main Street Station, nak ambik train untuk pergi ke fantasyland. Naik train tu, dapat la lalu dekat adventureland, on the way nampak la binatang-binatang zebra, gajah etc...

    Sampai dekat fantasyland, nampak dalam banyak characters around for people to take pictures.. So apa lagi, kami pun pergi la bergambar.. When you have a toddler with you, you can just imagine how happy they are when they meet the cartoon characters live in front of them.. Mula-mula pergi dekat Minnie, ambik gambar jap.. Then ambik gambar dengan mickey and pooh... Alamak, time ni terlupa pulak nak kasik autograph book yg beli semalam.. Hmmm takpe la, nanti petang-petang boleh pegi lagi.. Jalan depan sikit, nampak Goofy pulak.. So bergambar lagi..:)

     Lepas tu kami terus pergi ke Winnie the Pooh ride.. Ride ni macam story book, along the way ada la characters dari cerita winnie the pooh ... Paling best masa tigger keluar, our car pun turut lompat macam tigger.. heheh.. best.. mama pulak time ni, tak berapa nak enjoy the ride, sibuk nak ambik gambar... so bila keluar2, tengok gambar mama dekat skrin, alaa.. mama tak pandang camera pulak.. so tak beli la gambar dalam kedai winnie the pooh.. takpe, nanti kita datang balik, just nak dapatkan gambar :)

    Then lepas the winnie the pooh ride, kami pun beratur nak masuk Mickey's philharmagic.. Yg ni dia ada provide 3d glasses.. Bestnya datang time bulan May ni, takde orang sangat dekat Disneyland.. nak masuk mana-mana show/ rides tak payah nak beratur pun.. Yang show ni best, kita boleh nampak macam characters tu ada dekat depan mata... then bila part Donald bukak champagne, siap ada macam blueberry dalam dewan tu.. very nice.. heheh...

    About one hour later, habis show ni, kami pun jalan menuju ke main street... Amy masuk baby room kejap, tukar nappy.. keluar dari nappy room nampak Mulan dekat tengah main street.. So sempat la bergambar kejap.. And then kitorang decide nak pegi adventureland lagi sekali.. nak naik boat ride lagi sekali, nak experience waktu siang pulak.. semalam dah experience time malam... Masuk-masuk adventureland, jumpa pulak pirate mickey.. Takde orang pulak time tu.. Memang rezeki betul.. So ambik la gambar dengan pirate mickey... And then kitorang pun naik la boat ride tu, macam semalam jugak..

    And then dah dekat 1.30, almost time for the Lion King's show.. On the way pergi Lion King's show, beli air kejap.. air coke satu HKD 15 (RM7.50) .. Nak buat cemana, beli je la kan... And then beli satu pop corn.. So kami pun tunggu dekat entrance nak masuk lion king's show.. Bila dah masuk aje dalam dewan, tiba-tiba baru perasan, alamak.. Amy berak pulak dah... dahla busuk pulak tu.. aiseh... show dah nak start dah ni.. dalam dewan tu pulak takde toilet.. nasib baik orang tak ramai, kami pun pindah seat yang jauh sikit dari orang lain.. heheh, terpaksa la Amy tunggu sampai habis show baru tukarkan pampers dia.. Sorry sayang :) Lion King's show ni best, cerita pasal dari Simba kecil sampai dia besar.. My filipino friend told me, yang berlakon jadi Nala tu is a famous singer from Phillipines.. In fact ramai cast dalam Hong Kong Disneyland tu Filipinos.. She said when Hong Kong Disneyland initially opened, memang jadik issue, sebab ramai famous singers from Phillipines semua lari pergi Hong Kong Disneyland.. maybe they get paid better there.. :)

     So, habis lion king's show, kami pun pergi ke Tomorrowland.. Kat sini ada food court.. on the way pergi food court, nampak kereta autopia tak ada orang.. So bergambar kejap dalam kereta... Then tengah-tengah tu, tiba-tiba kami dikejutkan dengan Goofy pulak , datang tiba-tiba aje dari belakang.. Amy dah blushing dah bila Goofy datang.. So bergambar dengan Goofy pulak... Nak mintak Goofy sign autograph book Amy, tapi Goofy basah, baru lepas main air dengan budak-budak dekat tomorrowland.. Takpe lah, nanti boleh jumpa lagi Goofy.

     Then kitorang pun pergi ke food court, beli satu fish burger and chips.. then kitorang pun berjalan balik ke main street... Parade dah nak start, pukul 3.00... so, kitorang pun pergi cepat-cepat nak book spot.. So that boleh duduk depan-depan masa parade.. Parade dia best sangat, still teringat-ingat lagi lagu parade dia.. Ada toy story punya truck, chip and dale, mickey, donald, little mermaid, snow white etc, and banyak lagi..

     So habis parade tu, Amy dah mengantuk sangat-sangat.. dia pun tertidur dalam stroller.. Masa dia tidur tu, ayah pun ambik chance pergi masuk space mountain... Mama pulak pergi jalan-jalan masuk kedai Buzz Lightyear.. Habis ayah naik space mountain, dia cakap pening kepala pulak.. heheheh... dah lama tak naik roller coaster.. so mama pun ikut ayah pergi kedai space mountain, nampak ada gambar ayah dalam space mountain..so kami pun beli la satu gambar.. mama pulak beli satu frame gambar sleeping beauty castle.

     Oleh sebab Amy still tengah tidur lagi, so mama pun suruh ayah pergi naik autopia... yg ni car ride, kita kena control sendiri kereta kita.. Pregnant women and babies tak boleh masuk ride ni.. So takpe lah, sambil tunggu ayah tu, mama pun pergi la shopping lagi, cam biasa :)

    Habis ride autopia, kitorang pun pegi checkout show stitch encounter.. Tengok-tengok english version dah habis dah.. dalam brochure dia tak cakap pulak pukul berapa.. yang tinggal chinese version pukul 6.30 nanti.. so takpe la, chinese version pun tak kisah lah.. Then kami decide nak pegi jalan-jalan dekat fantasyland, kot-kot ada characters, boleh mintak autograf untuk collection Amy.. So dapat la autograf Minnie, dengan Chip n dale... Mickey mouse ramai orang pulak.. takpe la, esok pagi nak jumpa mickey lagi..

   Then dah dekat pukul 5.. nak kena balik hotel nak solat.. so kami pun jalan la pergi ke main entrance... Ambik shuttle bus pergi hollywood hotel... Sampai bilik hotel, solat kejap, salinkan Amy baju, then keluar balik...Sambung balik jalan pergi Disneyland :)

 To be continued .......

Nina

     Flight dari Hanoi 11.05 am. Arrive at HKIA at 2 pm (local time) - Hong Kong time cepat 1 jam dari Vietnam , which means HK time sama aje dengan Malaysia. So, flight Hanoi -HK ambik masa 1 jam 55 minit. everything went smoothly dekat Hanoi airport,  although there were many people at the check in counter, we managed to cut the queue, because I was pregnant and I had a 2 year old with me.

    So, masa sampai HK, we checked out from the airport. Airport HK canggih, lebih kurang KLIA, maybe canggih lagi. Sampai-sampai dekat airport, jumpa one group of Malaysian students rasanya, sebab nampak ada sorang tu pakai baju UITM, diorang insist nak bergambar dengan Amy. So bergambar la kejap :) . Dekat immigration counter ada infrared thermometer, the visitors kena pass through the thermometer, maybe they need to check our body temperature due to SARS a few years ago. Building airport ni best, sebab ada 2 building, building sebelah ada satu shopping mall, nama dia Sky Plaza. So sebelum ambik teksi pergi hotel, kami pun jalan-jalan dekat Sky Plaza dulu, cari makanan, kot-kot nanti dekat Disneyland makanan sure susah nak dapat and mahal. Jalan punya jalan, opps ternampak pulak Krispy Kreme Doughnuts punya sign. Cari punya cari tak jumpa pulak. Hmmm takde rezeki. So end up we bought ourselves some fishburgers, and we took a taxi to Disneyland. The 20 minutes taxi ride costed us HKD 120 (approximately RM60).

Bergambar dekat Sky Plaza   

Our hotel - Disney Hollywood Hotel - the cheapest room rate is around RM500 per night

   Sampai-sampai terus kami pergi ke Disney Hollywood Hotel. Dekat Hong Kong Disneyland ni ada 2 hotel, satu lagi nama dia Hong Kong Disneyland Hotel. Yang ni mahal, nampak pun more elegant and classy. Room rate paling murah pun dalam 900 ringgit kalau bukan masa peak. Kami dah book siap-siap Hollywood Hotel before datang, senang aje, pergi dekat website and boleh buat enquiry or reservation terus. So sebab dah book awal, check in pun tak ambik masa lama. Masa booking tu, kami dah book siap-siap park tickets, breakfast vouchers semua sekali, so masa check in tu, diorg kasi semua ticket sekali. Very efficient.

     Then masuk bilik hotel, cantik bilik dia.. Katil ada headboard gambar mickey, ada flat screen tv yg boleh masukkan sd card, toilettries bentuk telinga mickey. Paling best sekali ada 2 bathrobe untuk mama and ayah, and ada satu robe kecil untuk Amy jugak. Then slippers pun ada 2 besar, satu kecik.. Very nice.

Our room with the mickey and minnie frame at the headboard

Slippers untuk Amy

Bathrobe untuk Amy.. comel giler

   So, after refreshing ourselves, kitorang pun keluar pergi Disneyland. Tiket semua dah ada, so terus masuk aje. Masuk-masuk mainstreet USA, terus nampak Mickey and Minnie, tak ramai orang pulak tu. So beratur tak sampai 5 minit, dapat la bergambar dengan Mickey. Depan sikit ada Donald and Daisy pulak, so tangkap gambar lagi. (This time of the year Hong Kong summer.. So people expect it to rain heavily, tu yang takde orang tu) . Alhamdulillah, 2 days of our visit, tak ada hujan pun. Nasib baik..

Emilia bergambar dengan Mickey.. Tengok tu, happy betul dia

So, lepas tu pergi terus ke adventureland. Before kami datang, ada juga kawan yang beritahu kanak-kanak tak boleh masuk rides di adventureland. Tapi bila sampai, tengok most rides boleh masuk dgn babies kecil .Alhamdulillah. Rasanya Hong Kong Disneyland memang direka untuk yang berkeluarga bersama dengan anak kecil. So we took a raft towards Tarzan's tree house, dalam tu ada la patung tarzan, jane, and along the way we could follow the story, dari Tarzan kecil, kena attack dengan cheetah, sampai la dah besar just like in the movie.

Dalam raft nak pergi Tarzan's tree house

Dalam golden mickey's show

  Then we went to watch the golden mickeys show. Show start pukul 6.30 petang. This show is quite interesting, broadway show about the walt disney cartoons macam little mermaid, lilo and stitch, tarzan, aladdin, beauty and the best etc, Yang ni Amy memang enjoy sangat-sangat. The show finished 30 minutes before the fireworks show started, so kami pun pergi naik boat ride dekat adventureland. Dalam boat ride ni, sambil-sambil tu boleh la tengok kiri kanan, ada hippo, gorillas, elephants, ada pirates, ada red indians. Dekat nak last-last tu ada macam explosions, siap ada terbakar kiri dan kanan. Asno cakap kalau Disneyland Orlando rides dekat adventureland dia lagi dangerous. I guess babies tak boleh naik. Tapi yang Hong Kong ni, entertaining la kalau untuk family, kalau yg bujang-bujang tu maybe memboringkan sikit la.

       Ada a few more minutes before the fireworks show start, so kitorang pun naik la dumbo the flying elephant ride. Yang ni ride budak-budak la, sesuai la untuk babies. Habis tu, kitorang terus pergi depan sleeping beauty castle nak cari spot utk fireworks show, and then tengok fireworks and laser show. It was a really beautiful moment. Masih terngiang-ngiang lagi lagu "a whole new world" masa the final fireworks tu. Very beautiful.

      So, habis fireworks, kitorang pun jalan balik. On the way balik tu, singgah kedai gambar dekat main street USA, and tengok gambar-gambar yang we all dah ambik dengan characters that day, so beli la satu gambar besar masa dengan mickey and minnie. Which costed HKD 100 (RM 50). Lepas tu kami pergi ke shuttle station and ambik shuttle balik hotel.

     Sampai dekat lobi hotel, jumpa pulak Donald Duck. hehe. Bergambar lagi. So sebab dah letih, kitorang decide nak order tuna pizza aje dari restaurant dekat hotel. Sambil-sambil tunggu order tu, Amy pun dok jenguk-jenguk Donald. Tiba-tiba masa Donald tengah leka borak dengan kawan dia, Amy datang dari belakang, terus tarik ekor Donald. hehehe... Kelakar betul. Dua-dua terkejut masa tu.

     Lepas dapat makan pizza, kami pun balik ke bilik, mandi and solat, then terus zzzzzzz flat sebab esok nak berjalan banyak lagi. Gambar-gambar boleh tengok dekat sini, http://enina.fotopages.com

Cheers (from Vietnam now :(  )

Nina

How to decide with whom to be married to?

You have to seek for someone who likes the same things than you do. If you like soccer, then she also has to like soccer so she can bring you french fries and beer. (Alain, 10 Years old)

One doesn't decide for herself whom to marry, God decide for you long time before and when it is your moment God will tell you.(Kirsten, 10 years old)

Which one is the best age to be married?

The best age are 23, because that way you know your husband at least for ten years. (Camille, 10 years old)

There's no best age to be married. You have to be really stupid to get married.(Freddie, 6 years old)

What have your parents in common?

That none of them want more children.(Aure, 8 years old)

What people do on a date?

Dates are for fun, and people must take the chance to know each other better. Even boys have interesting things to say sometimes if you listen to them carefully.(Linette, 8 years old)

In the first date you have to say interesting lies so you can get a second date. (Martin, 10 years old) ----> so true.

What would you do if your first date goes wrong?

I will go home and I will make like if I was dead. Then, I will call the news and  make them publish my mortuary note. (Craig, 9 years old)  --> Pretty shocking if you ask me

When can you give your first Kiss?

When the man is rich. (Pamela, 7 years old)  --> heheh, this girl is funny

When you kiss a woman, you have to marry her and have children with her, Is life yo!(Henry, 8 years old)

Is better being married o single?

For girls it is better to be single. For boys, they need someone to clean for them.....(Anita, 9 years old)   ----> no lahhhhhh....

And the best one

What you have to do to make your marriage a success?

You have to tell your wife she's pretty even if she looks horrible.(Richard, 10 years old)  ---> hahahahaha

p/s: Can't wait for Prison Break season 3... The suspense is killing me... :)

    Two and a half years ago, this conversation took place :-

(In london)

Nina (5 months pregnant at that time): Abang, Jom la kita pegi Paris. Boleh naik train aje pegi Paris.

Asno: Buat apa kita nak pegi Paris, bukannya ada apa pun kat Paris. Jalan-jalan aje..

Nina: Kita boleh pegi Euro Disney... (cubaan memujuk..) 

Asno: Kita nak pegi Disneyland nak buat apa pun.. Lainlah kalau ada anak nanti.. Baru la seronok.. Kita tunggu baby besar sikit, nanti kita pergi la.. (pointing towards Nina's belly)

Nina: Tapi kalau time tu, kita kan kat Malaysia... nanti jauh la nak datang Paris pulak... (make a pouty face)

Asno: Takpe, nanti kita pergi Disneyland Hong Kong. Diorg nak bukak baru punya kat situ...

Nina: Okayyy (big smile back on face)

Yup, true to his words (Asno is always true to his words, that's why I never have problem holding on to his promises), Asno will bring me and Amy to Hong Kong Disneyland this May !! Cool or what.. I'm so excited about this trip, and I'm sure Amy is too, once she gets a glimpse of Mickey. Yeayyyy!!! we're going to Disneyland.. We're going to Disneyland.... (me singsong while dancing a Chandler dance...... )

Nina

    Before we moved here, I've always felt worried whether would I be able to fit in, or would they judge me because of my 'tudung' . At first, when we first had our tour around the town, going around the beach area, the people were staring at me, as if I had two heads. And people kept coming to us, talking in vietnamese, but we didn't understand a thing they were asking about.

   But that was one and a half year ago. Now, there is no more staring. I think they've already used to seeing me around. In Ho Chi Minh city, wearing a tudung is not something unusual. Sometimes when we were walking in HCMC, we hear people call out to us "Malaysia!! Malaysia!!" . .They recognize us as Malaysian.. But now, most people in Vung Tau can also recognize me.. I'm always being addressed as "Madam Ma Lai" - (Malay Lady).. heheh kind of flattering though.. I feel like I'm representing Malaysia in Vung tau or something.. But I'm proud to be a Malaysian, especially when people said good stuff about Malaysians, e.g this one friend of mine said that Malaysian people are very nice and friendly. And another also said that Malaysians are well hearsed in English. yup.... that's true...

  What I've learned by being in a totally different country with totally different cultures and beliefs, we just do what we have to do. Stay true with our principles. There's no need to change ourselves, no need to be ashamed of what we believe in. In fact, the more we hold on to our principles, the more people will respect us. Sometimes when I do find it difficult to find halal food etc, but when I think about the vegetarian people for example Asha Gill in Discovery Travel and Living (yes! she's vegetarian!!!) they still manage to travel around the world and not finding it a little bit difficult with food. And us, at least we can still go for seafood :) So, why complain? :P

   Anyway, just something that I've hold on to, ever since I started living in a foreign country and making friends with people all around the world. There's a firman Allah, ' If you're ashamed of Me, I'm more ashamed of you' . So do we want Allah to be ashamed of us? Something to think about :)

Nina

   On Tuesday, 5th December 2006, at approximately 4 pm, the city Vung Tau was struct by the disasterous typhoon Durian. The day before, we had known that there was going to be a supertyphoon coming to Vung Tau. On monday,my maid told me that it was going to hit around 6 pm and Asno said his colleagues informed that it will arrive around midnight or early morning. Later that evening, nenek messaged on my YM, telling us that she heard from the news in Malaysia that the typhoon was going to struct Vung Tau, and insisted that we get on the taxi and get back to Malaysia asap. But considering it is already too late (it was already 6pm in the evening) plus it is quite hard to travel in the evening, because we would need to go to HCMC first, then only take the flight the next day. And plus Asno is also still working in the office, and it doesn't seem quite right to go back to Malaysia and leave him alone in Vung Tau, so we dismissed the idea. But I told nenek to doakan kami di sini, praying that we would be ok. So nenek told us to sleep together that night (Amy usually sleeps in her own room) and pack a light bag for Amy just in case of an emergency.

   So that night, everything was going on as normal, we slept together tiga beranak in Amy's bed. Around 4 am, Amy who usually slept through the night, was suddenly very cranky. She didn't want to sleep, and kept on crying. And I, who at first thought we could just sleep through the storm, found it very difficult to sleep with a cranky baby by my side. So we just sat on Amy's bed, listening to the roar of thunder outside the window. There was a lot of noises from the third floor, we could hear something happened to our roof. Then Asno suggested that we move back to Mama and Ayah's room. But as we sat on our bed, suddenly the windows started to open by itself, and a gush of really heavy wind started blowing into our room. Asno tried to close back the windows but the handles broke because of the strong wind, so we just left it as it is, and move downstairs into the living room.

    At this stage, our third floor has started flooding, sending drips of water to our first floor. We had to move everything that was on the floor to higher places. Amy's play room also started to flood. To distract Amy, who apparently didn't understand what was happening, we turned on the TV in the living room for her to watch. And despite the horrible sounds that are coming from the top floor, we didn't dare to move from the living room. Furthermore, the door to our room was now impossible to open, because of the heavy winds are now moving in freely from the broken window.

     There were a few terrifying noises from the top floor (luckily, our house was a 3 storey villa) so only the third storey was flooding with loads of water, and rest of the rooms were left unharmed, only flooded a little bit here and there, but none of our things were badly damaged. So, we just sat there in the living room while watching the storm from the window. The storm went for about 3 hours and then stopped, followed by a heavy rain. So around 7 am in the morning, after everything went back to normal, all of us went back to sleep (luckily Amy's room was unharmed) and slept soundly until around 10 am. Nenek tried to call our house for a few times, and was worried sick because we didn't answer the phone .. But after we woke up, we quickly turn on the internet to let our families in Malaysia know that we're all safe and sound.

        So for the whole of that day, the electricity was cut off, and there was no reception on our mobile. Apparently our area (around the back beach area) was one of the safest spot, probably due to we're blocked by Small Mountain. A lot of houses in the front beach area was badly damaged, and most of my expatriate friends had to stay in a hotel for a few weeks, until their houses were fixed.

       This had been an unforgettable experience for us. Especially when we learnt about the unfortunates like the poor people in Vietnam. It was reported that 51 death were from Ba Ria Vung Tau, apparently I know one of them. Maggie's guard,(Maggie is my chinese friend) died in the typhoon. Unfortunately from what I've heard, he was so scared staying in the guard house, so he tried to run out for shelter, when he was crushed by a big tree and died on the spot. It was so sad, maybe he was too scared being in the storm, and tried to get a safer place. My maid's roof was blown off, so she had to stay in a house without a roof (luckily the bedroom roof was untouched). It was so sad for the poor people, because the damage was bigger, due to the houses are less stronger and smaller.

       Alhamdulillah, this experience had been a great one for us, because this time we didn't just read the news from the paper or watch it from the tv, but we experienced all this with our own eyes. Luckily we didn't lose or were harmed, we hope that we will always be protected by Allah and guided in the future.

Nina

A few people asked me, "Eh, ko dah hantar Emilia pegi nursery ke? " or " dia ok ke pegi school, tak nangis ke?" .. Actually I had to make some corrections, it is not a real 'school' as people call it.. it is actually a playschool, where the mums are also supposed to be there.. And it only took about an hour and a half for twice a week.. hehe and it's not a real school , just babies playing together that's all..

At first Emilia didn't understand the concept of school.. She didn't like it when the teacher calls her name, or talks to her.. Maybe because she is too used to clinging to mama, she's not used to talking with other people except her mama, ayah, co hien (our maid), and families in Malaysia.. But after a few times going, i see an increasing improvement in her.. She doesn't scream so much anymore, she can laugh when the teacher sang her favourite songs (" When you're happy and you know it" and "where is thumbkin? ").. It was quite a nice change of scenery for both Amy and mama, because this is the first experience for mama too.. After Emilia was born, I didn't have a chance to send her to the nursery, because I was too cowardly to send her to some stranger.. I had to beg my family to take care of her while I was working.. (my mum's house wasn't too far from mine).. So like Emilia, mama is enjoying playschool very much too..

There was one time, I met an Australian guy outside the school.. (he was waiting for his son and wife).. He modestly asked me " where are you from? " and I answered "Malaysia"... And he out of a sudden spoke to me in Malay! This is real malay.. He was talking malay in the correct sentences.. (although from the pronounciation and the slang gave away the fact that he is a foreigner.. obviously! ) .. But it was quite surprising.. I was shocked.. First because I never met someone 'mat saleh' who can speak malay before'.. secondly, I've always thought of Malaysia as the country that is so easy to go to.. People can get around without the need to learn Bahasa Melayu.. people all around can speak English very well.. And his sentences was very funny ..he said something like "saya dulu duduk di Jakarta 2 tahun.. lepas itu saya tinggal di Malaysia 6 bulan.." and "Ini anak awak? Sangat cantik".. hehehe.... It was really weird to me, but after he explained that he was from Jakarta.. that made everything clear..

A lot of people I knew who was trasnferred from Jakarta, (e.g my Singaporean friend Amanda and Asno's manager's wife from Bombay,India) they can speak bahasa melayu pretty well.. I met a few people who spoke the language quite well.. probably because indonesia, just like vietnam is quite difficult to go around without knowing their local dialect.. Just like me, learning the vietnamese language where I dont know if I'm ever going to be good at.. haha

A lot of people asked me when are we going for the next baby? haha.. good question.. but we're enjoying ourselves first.. plus Amy is sooo much easier to handle now, so I think this is the time for us to chill out.. before BOOM another baby comes out.. But anyhow, everything is already fixed for us.. We wouldn't mind if Allah decides this is the right time for us.. We will try to do our best to keep and take care of this amanah as well as possible...

So that's all for now.. Anymore news will be updated later...

Signing off

Nina

Today we'll be off to Penang, just for a short getaway together.. It has been a while since we've had our time out together. While we were in Vung Tau, Asno has been very busy with his work, he did not has much time for us. He worked day and night, and when he didn't have to work day and night, he was offshore.... :( ... and he was offshore for a very long time, sometimes up to 3 weeks.. So we decided to have a short break by ourselves, and head north to Penang (tempat mama n ayah mula2 bertentang mata dulu) hehehe... and celebrate his birthday...:)

I'm always grateful for what I have now, I have a very kind and generous husband, a well behaved and cute little girl, and everything a girl could wish for.. Tomorrow will be Asno's birthday.. Happy birthday Abang.. The kindest, nicest and most thoughtful person.. Thanks a lot for everything you have done for me... I remember the time when he saw that I'm interested in photography, he went out and got me a digital SLR (without me having to ask him.. heheh), and then there is the time when I was obsessed about exercise, but couldn't go out to exercise with my friends, because I had to take care of Amy, he went out and bought me a treadmill, so that I could exercise from home. And then the time when I had this crazy idea to start mybayi.com, but didn't have a single clue about website design, he stayed up all night to make me a template for my website.. Although he had so much work in the office,he is still willing to help me with my crazy ideas.. And he also had been working so hard in the past year, there are times that he didn't sleep a wink at night, and went straight to the office the next day.. And also the times when he had jobs offshore, and worked straight for 48 hours or more without sleep..But he still did it, with full responsibility and determination..

I'm very proud to have him as my husband, and I would not change anything that I have in the past 2 years.. I know I haven't been a great wife for the past 2 years, but I hope we will have more beautiful days ahead of us, and hopefully we will be able to spend our old days together.. Maybe bila anak-anak dah besar nanti, kita boleh honeymoon balik.. heheh... pegi travelling ke? boleh ke? hehehe... anyway, I love you so much, and thanks for everything that you have done for me.. Emilia loves you too... Happy Birthday, ayah!!

Nina