Istanbul Tini Datang - My Solo Trip to Istanbul, Turkey

Baru - baru ini Tini berpeluang ke Istanbul, Turkey untuk menghadiri satu Radio Conference.
Tini belum pernah tinggalkan anak-anak sejak Kefli dilahirkan , sebab Kefli masih menyusu badan.
Berlainan dengan Kakaknya, Kaseh yang putus susu selepas 6 bulan, Kefli menyusu hampir 25 bulan.
Al maklumlah orang kata sebab boys ni attached libel dengan Mama dia.

So, trip saya ke Istanbul merupakan titik tolak permulaan transisi dari susu badan dan susu botol.
Berjaya juga sebenarnya , sebab selepas Tini pulang dari trip 4 hari 3 malam tu, terus Kefli merasa kekok untuk susu badan.

Tini sempat shoot trip say ke Istambul, jom jalan-jalan ke sana bersama Mama O Travel by Tini Ariffin, check it out, jangan lupa like dan subscribe tau !

Siloso Beach Resort, Singapore!

Oh wow! Raya sakan this year. Raya these days got a lot more exciting for me. Since i got Kaseh and Kefli, they brought so much joy into our lives especially during Eid. This Raya we
did three states in 7d/6n. We did the usual Raya visiting in Johor Bharu my husband's hometown, holidayed in Sentosa Island , Singapore and made a pitstop in Malacca on our way back to KL.

We were in Johor Bharu for for 3 days, Singapore 2 days and Malacca 1 day. My husband hails from JB thus this is where his kampung is, the usual visiting happens around JB, Pasir Gudang and Pontian.

This year we decided to make a trip to Siloso Beach Resort, Sentosa Island ! We got our parents to join us and my elder sister planned the whole trip.

We Malaysian loves to go for holidays in big groups, well as for me , the more the merrier. At least our kids ada geng ! Not many Malaysians are aware of Siloso Beach Resort. Most would probably choose Hard Rock Cafe over this hotel, i personally like Siloso because it faces the sea, and we get to play by the beach.

My daughter Kaseh us no where to be seen because she'll be with her cousins most of the time. This is the main disadvantage of holidaying with other family members, my daughter will most likely choose to hang out with Aidil and Amyrah. Here the three of us hanging out on Siloso Beach. Great coffee but expensive lah and great company. Kefli is a natural beach bum, we start em young.

For us Malaysians, Singapore's strong currency makes this island seems unattractive as a holiday destination. Plus, Sentosa Island is mostly reclaimed , so we feel there's no good reason why we should spend our holidays here. Plus we get value for money holidaying on Islands such as Perhentian, Redang and Sipadan in our homeland.

But i must say that, this Beach Resort is very clean and well kept plus there's so much to do.
If you are looking for a fun filled and pack with activities for kids, this is where you should consider to go. From Aquaria to USSR and water park and sports, there!s si much to do on this Island.

While we were there, we decided to pay the Zoo a visit. I heard so much about Singapore Zoo.

Adults and kids alike will enjoy Singapore Zoo. Malaysian Zoo need no go far to find a case study, this Zoo is beyond expectation and should be use as an example for our local Zoos. I am particularly mazed with the crocodiles sanctuary, the biggest croc i have ever seen in my life!

Flamingos, polar bears, elephants- the Singapore Zoo is divided into different section. Entrance fee is SGD 28 per adult. I highly recommend that you buy online prior to visiting the Zoo.

Siloso Beach Resort's pool is one of the best feature of this hotel. It's huge and is surrounded by trees and nature, a nature sanctuary just within minutes of the hustling and bustling of Singapore city. We had an awesome time , but the exchange rates makes me think twice before visiting this resort again .

Keropok Lekor Adventure in Cherating

After lunching at Singgalang Jaya nasi padang in Kuantan, we make our way to Cherating. The journey takes about 45 minutes. If you drive straight from KL it will take approximately 3 hours, almost the same duration to Kuantan. So it works out faster if you head straight to Cherating and don't stop in Kuantan, like we did. Anyways we planned this trip that way so that we'll be able to enjoy both Kuantan and Cherating, greedy right?

The journey was ok, we drove along the coastal line, the scenery was mainly the beach and the kampung houses along the road. Occasionally i hear Kaseh say "Mama lembu", no she don't mean that I'm a cow , but she just spotted a herd of cows, lazing by the road side. A nice change from "Mama! Tractor!" Along Kota Damansara road. I' am glad she is seeing these animals in real life now, as to just learning them in books.

Swinging from one tree to another at Impiana Resort, Cherating.

We arrive at Impiana about 2pm, great timing actually, cause as we checked in , other holiday maker started to arrive, nasib we got our room already. Guess who officiated the king size bed?

My little princess taking her afternoon nap.

As soon as Kaseh woke up we wasted no time, we explored around the hotel. First stop is the beach !

This is my signature pose, it's really challenging to do :).

The sand is a bit yellowish, but nevertheless clean and quite. I don't recommend anyone to swim in this beach, cause the waves are really massive and can be scary. It's dangerous, and you can see that the resort have raised RED flags along the beach, indicating that, it's dangerous to swim.

Tip 1: Follow the flag's warning. Don't swim when the red flag is up. No kidding ya, the sea is really unpredictable even if you are a season swimmer.

We head straight to the pool after the beach and spent about an hour by the pool.
This is Kaseh's first time swimming on her own without clinging on to any of us. What a proud moment for me cause she's finally learnt to waddle with the help of the swim jacket.

Tip 2: if you want your kids to learn how to swim, you gotta swim or at least be in the pool with them. I first brought Kaseh to the pool when she was 4 months old, i got her a baby warmer from mother care, and dipped her for 10 min max. You don't want to soak them too long. And it got longer and longer as she grow older. Now she can in the pool for up to 1 1/2 hours, and can stay as long as you allow her. But of course for me 1 1/2 is her max time.

It was gloomy thru out our holiday in Cherating, bohoooooo.

This is how Impiana looks like. It's a 3 story building with no lift. If you have elderly person with you, or you suffer from back pain and can't walk, or you are simply lazy.....

Tip 3: Request for a room on the 2nd floor. It's the same level as the lobby and i think the nearest room to all facilities are 209 and 210.

Main hotel lobby.

The restaurant where breakfast is served.

That night we decided to have dinner here. Not recommended uols. Don't eat here please, MS Restaurant Cherating, is just horrible.

Why ?
1. Service is super slow
2. Waiters are really rude
3. We asked for sotong goreng tepung and they told us that it's unavailable like 30 mins after.
4. The drinks are really sweet.

I read other people's blog about places to eat in Cherating and i read that Peninsular Seafood and Sri Baggih is quite good, may be next time.

Kaseh battling it out with Ayah in congkak.

Breakfast buffet is pretty good. Point of difference is the roti bakar stall , which no other hotel serves, as far as i am concern lah.

This is a must try in Cherating, you'll find Keropok Lekor's stall abundant along the coastal road. Some argued that the ones made in Terengganu is better, but i personally think these from Cherating is all right too .

2D/2N wow time flies and it's time to head back to KL. I'm feeling kinda of sad because this is the last strech of long public holidays, there's non in March or April. Thus it also means that, bit susah to plan our breaks. But that won't stop me right ? Apa yang penting? Jalan-jalan :)

Thanks for reading XOXO!

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Our Last Min. Kuantan Trip on CNY 2013

We are on a roll man, travelling every weekend since we came back from Hua Hin. I am begining to enjoy a travellers life, exploring, eating, self claimed hotel reviews and of course the most satisfying objective is the time spent with my beloved family. There's only 3 of us , i think we need additional skippers to row the boat ! Ha ha but as my sister puts it, enjoy it while i can , bila anak dah 3 macam dia , yes the funs triples and the effort also triples.

So this CNY is a lil last minute actually. I don't like last minute holiday plans especially over a long break like this. Hotels are normally expensive, roads are jammed, eateries will be full and it's crowded every where. With all that in mind, we still brave thru and cook up some plans and we decided to go to Kuantan, cause staying at home in KL is no fun either. Boring kan?

At Teluk Cempedak.

With last minute breaks like this , you must also psych up your mind and lower some expectations, so here are my compromises for this trip.

1. Not staying in my first choice hotel.
I wanted to stay in Hyatt Kuantan for 2 night cause seriously it's the best hotel in Kuantan. We've never stayed there before but my mother and my sister once said that if it's not Hyatt, then there's no point visiting Kuantan - sampai macam tu sekali :).

But the hotel is fully booked. So apa nak buat, sebab kami last min kan. It's ok, lower your expectations remember ?.

2. Not staying in your 2nd choice hotel for the whole duration of your trip.
The next beach resort is either Swiss Garden Spa Resort in Beserah or resorts in Cherating. Swiss Garden pun penuh. Ha ha tak pe, luckily for us Impiana Resort, Cherating still have rooms but only available for one night! I did not want to miss out the opportunity, the more i contemplate, i might lose the room. So i booked via Agoda. Satu malam pun satu malam lah , apa yang penting? Jalan-jalan !

3. To creatively craft your holiday, to suit your need with limited resources and budget.
Sol pulak insist on 2 nights, he thinks that the driving up to Kuantan is not justified if we stay there just for one night. So sebab i dah malas dah to do all the arrangements,it's up to him to find a hotel in Kuantan the night before we check into Impiana Cherating.

He found a new hotel called Rocana Hotel, just opened for 7 months, still a few rooms available, good location not by the beach, right smack in the middle of town right opposite Berjaya Mall. Rate is at Rm 150 per night. Since my MIL ( mother in law) wanted to come along, we booked 2 rooms and brought my maid too for a free holiday.

The rooms are really spacious, i think is about 50 sqm. Rooms are new but limited facilities, no pool, no gym, suitable for business and families on transit like us.

We arrived at about 930pm that Sunday night, 10.02.13 and Kaseh officiated the king size bed.

View from the room, as you can see, Berjaya Mall is just walking distance away.

Buffet breakfast isn't fantastic, most of the food finished by 9.15am. Breakfast ends at 10.30am. It's kind off disappointing, but may be they are under staff over the CNY break. I am giving them the benefit of the doubt, but if normal days pun macam ni then, the buffet breakfast is not worth it, you are better off pi makan kat di many yummy Kopitiam that offers really good east coast breakfast selections such as nasi dagang, nasi minyak, laksam, roti bakar and malay kueh mueh, close to the hotel.

After breakfast, we head to the famous Teluk Cempedak, baru pukul 10.30am dah ramai
orang.

There's a square as you enter the beach side, parking is at Rm 2 perday. There's plenty of places to eat including a drive thru Mcdonalds, KFC and Cha Time. Someone told me that this Mcdonalds is the higest earning McD in the whole of Msia. Don't quote me cause i hear rumours say so.

Along the TC you can walk on the bridge that takes you to another beach. I noticed tracks use for hikers and bikers are visible along side the bridge. Exploring the inner junggle of TC would be that one thing i want to do when we have the chance to stay in Hyatt Regency, Kuantan.
Amin :).

My daughter got really excited with the wave that she dived straight into it. A panicky moment for me , thank goodness i managed to scoop her out , we both got drenched. Kaseh got a new set of clothes where as i am just glad that she and my ipad mini are unharmed.

I wish it was bright and sunny, kalau panas confirm lagi best !

Kaseh looking at the wave before she decided to dive masuk laut !

We enjoyed Teluk Cempedak very much, and would like to spent longer time here, but weather did not permit us to do so, kejap hujan kejap mendung. So we headed back to Rocana Hotel, checked out and move on to our next destination, Impiana Resort Cherating. Yohooo keropok lekor here i come!

But of course before we leave Kuantan, we must stop for lunch, since our breakfast this morning at Rocana was so so, we stopped at a nasi padang restaurant just opposite the mosque in Kuantan town. I'm so hungry and looking forward to some good food!

There's plenty of nasi padang restaurants along these row of shop houses, but we decided on this one cause the selections of lauk is more meriah.

Restaurant Singgalang Jaya.

I recommend - Sup Tulang, perut masak lemak, ikan siakap masak lemak merah,terung cili, sambal hijau and sambal belacan .

I'm not sure what Sol, MIL and Karimah took , but we all had a hearty meal including Kaseh who had a bowl of rice with sup tulang. Total bill came to Rm 40 including drinks!

We are now all geared up for Impiana Resort, Cherating.

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Katerina Hotel @ Batu Pahat, Johor.

Whenever we visit Batu Pahat , we always stay at Katerina Hotel. I read reviews in trip advisor that this hotel stands at no. 3 hotel to stay in BP with B&S boutique hotel ranked at #1. Well i have never stayed in B&S hotel before , but with the new refurbishment recently done at Katerina Hotel , i seriously think this hotel is worth staying in, pleasant and affordable and i think it should be the first choice hotel for anyone intending to stay in BP, it's in perfect location too !

The main lobby of the hotel , this hotel quite popular in Batu Pahat, but whenever we check in , it's very fast and we never have to wait in long queues unlike KS Hotel and resort in JB.

Although this hotel have been getting mix reactions from it's customers and was in the spot light for all the wrong reasons - some of you may recall the X rated video of Chua Soi Lek? Katerina Hotel deserves a chance before being judge. No lah no one paid me to write a review that is pro to this hotel, it's really my honest honest opinion. It's a nice hotel.

This is the newly refurbished room , rate at RM220 per night . You can opt or the older rooms which is ok lah , not too bad at RM 175 pernight.

Tip 1: when booking this hotel , be sure to ask for corporate rate, government rate or senior citizen rate , they would normally give those eligible up to 20% discount.

Tip 2 : i think i have mentioned this over and over again , ask for the king bed if you have young children with you, up to 2 adults and 2 young children can sleep on the bed!

The room offers basic facilities such as tea making facilities, hair dryer and a bath tub which i find covinient for Kaseh, as she loves soaking in the tub.

The newly refurbihed lift entrance that leads to the corridor to the rooms.

You may read a few reviews in Tripadvisor or may hear people say that this hotel is a bit spooky. Some reviewers also claimed that they have encountered some unexplainable experiences.

Well, this came to a shock to me , because i have stayed here many times and Alhamdulilah all my experiences was pleasant. I would be the most particular person when it comes to this, because when you travel with young children you need to ensure the security and the credibility of the hotel is tip top - that it is safe from all form of harm, even the unexpainable ones, if you get what i mean :).

Tip 3: when traveling with young children investigate and do a back ground check of the hotel . Avoid doggy areas and those areas that is known to be notoriously "keras". If you have no choice be prepared with surah and ayats from the Quran, download them to your phone or your lap top. Insya allah , Allah will protect you.

I love checking into hotels in Johor because you will get access to channels from Singapore and Indonesia, like this one.

We also ordered room service for Kaseh's dinner that night , i always make sure Kaseh eats her meals on time, even when we are travelling. It's ok for us adults to skip meals or delay meals time, please ensure your children have 3 proper meals a day.

Tip 4 : Kaseh's room service choice is the Kueh Teow Kung Fu at RM 15 per plate.

The pool side, relatively a small pool, the down side is that this hotel does not have kid's pool.

You can lepak and chill by the pool side.

I love working out at this hotel's gym. Usually there's no one there and i normally do 20 mins on the treadmill and another 10 mins of endurance work out. It's small but it's enough for me.

It's definitely not a hotel for your weekend getaway, not for honey mooners too. If you are on a business trip of visiting BP for some events like weddings, carnivals or even visiting relatives, this hotel will serve you well. My only complain is the that the buffet breakfast is nothing to shout about.

Tip 5:The buffet breakfast is not fantastic, thus if you don't mind letting it go, BP is a melting pot and there's plenty of breakfast food to look out for.

Tip 6: Book in advance, as this hotel is usually fully booked especially during weekends.

Another long weekend is coming, i dah gatal tangan to book my next travel. We've been doing a lot of travelling this month and Feb turns out to be a lil tight for us . The challenge is to travel on a budget, is it possible ? We'll be sure to check my blog over the CNY to see what budget travel we have planned for . Apa yang penting ? Jalan - jalan!

Thanks for reading! XOXO.

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Cheese Nan Terbaek kat Batu Pahat ?

Tak complete kalau berjalan dan tak makan -makan kan? Berjalan dan makan tu dah macam sinonim antara satu sama lain. So, alang-alang dah kat Batu Pahat ni, i pun ambik kesempatan lupakan dietku buat sementara waktu he he he.

Check out the Nan uols !

Batu Pahat ni memang terkenal dengan makanan yang best -best, i tak de lah kesempatan try semua , tapi bila ada yang mengajak tu saya jarang lah nak tolak . Mee racun, briyani gam, asam pedas, sate, mee rebus macam-macam ada kat BP ni, my favourite gerai kat Batu Pahat Walk ialah Sup Sitam , sebab saya ni pengemar sup. Tapi banyak kali kecewa sebab gerai dia asyik tutup aje . Kenapa ya ? Mungkin bukan rezeki saya, setiap kali ke sana, mesti tutup. Adoi, kempunan mak.

Kalau ada yang tak pernah ke BP ni , highlight hujung-hujung minggu begini ialah Batu Pahat Walk , ooooo you ingat Bukit Bintang jea yang ada walk ? Batu Pahat pun ada kay , so cool.

Gerai-gerai kat BP walk bukak sampai lewat, lagi lambat lagi ramai , orang Malaysia kan suka makan :).

Jadi, petang tu lepas wedding , one of Sol's uncle dah basuh kita orang, pasal satu kedai yang jual nan. The best nan in the whole of Batu Pahat katanya, cheese nan dia melt in your mouth and in your hands, kesimpulannya tak rasa macam nan , ternganga gak kami dengar ceria nan ni, belum habis nasi minyak hadam dalam perut, dah plan for next makan feista, tipikal :).

Lepas Maghrib, kami tiga beranak pun kumpul kat rumah Pak Raden, 3 kereta bergerak ke kedai yang jual nan tu , I'm not sure what it is called but i tahu kedai tu beberapa kedai selang daripada Renggit Coffee, well BP is not that big , i am sure you can find it.

Mamak terus susun meja untuk 15 orang kat depan kedai, masing-masing order nan, ada yang order maggi goreng dan bubur ayam, i am determined to try the nan , cause i've set my mind to it :).

Bahan-bahan yang digunakan .

I ordered the Cheese Nan and Sol ordered garlic nan, Kaseh share jew?

Review - i rasa nan dia ok , yes sedap sebab panas-panas. Tepungnya lembut, lemak berkrim.
Garlic Nan agak ranggup. Overall Nan untuk saya Ok, kalau datang boleh ke sini lagi tapi nan dia bukan tahap termimpi-mimpi lah . Kima atau minced beef cooked in curry , a bit too salty and kuah kari ayam dia pun boleh tahan lah , i had better curry kat kedai mamak lain . Teh tarik dia best sebab kombinasi yang sesuai , tea and milk .

Kalau ada orang BP yang tak setuju tentang review ni dan nak beri suggestion lain kat mana Nan lagi sedap , atau kat mana makan best , comment anda saya alu-alukan, mungkin next time i kat BP kita boleh makan sama ? I belanja lah :p

Ok , since the topic is currently on food around Batu Pahat , i nak cerita skit pasal this coffee place,

We buy our coffee here. I suka ice blended here , it's sedap and the price s competitive only at rm8.90, saa bandingkan dengan cafe kopi yang lain terutama dari negara-negara Kapitalis, harganya rm14, ramai jea yang sanggup bayar. A friend told me that he is paying premium cause he's paying for a lifestyle. Ok lah kopi is kopi, apa kurangnya kopi tempatan ? Support local produce kay .

Tak silap saya ada dua branch of Renggit Coffee kat BP, ni yang dekat BP walk tu , spacious area for meetings, chats, ada wifi ( tak sure free ke tak), and a selection of local delights.

Selalunya kami beli beberapa pack bawak balik. Both me and Sol are coffee lovers, sehari tak dapat kopi, mesti tak keruan.

So mana lagi best makan kat Bat Pahat ? Next blog , masih pasal Batu Pahat .Thank for reading XOXO!

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Our Mini Adventure to Batu Pahat , Johor.

It's Federal Teritory weekend! What a bliss , Malaysia is probably the only country with the most Public Holiday in the world ! Just last weekend i was in Hua Hin over the Prophet Muhammed's (pbuh) birthday and Thaipusam break and this weekend is FT day . Happy FT day to Wilayah Persekutuan, Putrajaya and Labuan . Anyways I work in Selangor thus i am not entitled to a day off , but I'm not complaing - we Selangorians have our fair share :).
Us at the wedding.

So, this weekend we are travelling too , no where exotic or abroad , a local trip to a southern town of Malaysia , Batu Pahat. A small town with it's own unique personality and charm. I have been to this town upmhteenth times , that's because my husband hails from Johor. Thus trips to the South is becoming common to me after i got married to Sol in 2009.

Which part of Johor ?There's no real specific area acctually, he was preciously based in Kota Tinggi, he got aunts in Pontian , grand mother's house in Johor Bharu - we go back to JB every Eid for the pass 3 years and an aunt in Batu Pahat - the main reason why we are here today.

Apart from going for short breaks, balik kampung and hoarding shopping malls such as Curve and Ikea, Malaysian specifically the Malay society loves loves to organise weddings over Public Holidays and School Holidays . That is why you will get most wedding invitations especially in Nov/ Dec( school holidays,Awal Muharam, Xmast, Deepavali and New Year), March - School Holidays and August - Eid break.

Yes , as i was saying we are in Batu Pahat for a wedding. A very distance relative wedding, but
Sol's family enjoys meeting up with each other and hey a wedding is a great reason to gather.

This is how my husband arrange our stuffs inside the car boot

I'm very anal , when i saw this , i had to re arrange it, cause i felt that the initial arrangement did not maximise the boot space to this -

Better right , don 't you agree ?

So on this lovely Saturday morning , we start off our journey at about 10 am with pit stops at Kota Damansara Petronas for fuel and KD's Mc Donalds drive thru for breakfast and off on to NKVE highway. Almost 3 hours journey , i know some people do it n 2 hours but bare in mind we have a toddler in the house ! And please adhere to the local speed limit. Here in Malaysia our speed limit is 110 km per hour on the highway.

Tip 1: Give buffer time to your journey when travelling with toddlers, make frequent stops so tht they won't get bored so easil. Bring books, games and toys to keep them entertained thru out the journey.

We stopped at Air Keroh, Melaka and Tangkak . You may find that Air Keroh R&R is a little too crowded , this is because there are 2 fast food joints located at the Sky Bridge Restaurants and Baskin Robbins is there too , so we stopped for food at Tangkak instead, it's less crowded and have a great selection of local food, tit bits, fruit and 2 baskets stalls !

Guava, durians, manggos,papayas , you 'll find most local fruits at Tangkak R&R.

A water feature with Kois , got Kaseh all excited.

A real hot and bright day in Johor , i love days like these, blue skies and sunny !

Most R&R on the NKVE highway have open concept toilets like these, and the quality of cleanliness have improved tremendously. It's common to have supplies of tissues at our R&R these days , thanks for keeping our public toilets clean :).

And we finally arrived in Batu Pahat just in time for lunch. I would continue blogging about it in this entry , but i think the wedding deserve a blog on it's own, catch you soon in the next blog and ya wait for my review on Hotel Katrina where we will be staying in Batu Pahat. Thanks for reading. XOXO !

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