Ambitious August

Yes, all very ambitious ppl took it to the streets. We had high hopes.... Let's see were this step will lead all of us to..... For a better country, better future for the next generation.

I hope 10 years down the road, we are NOT still taking it to the streets bcoz we are still ruled by the same party... sigh!

Jolly July

Kind of a Jolly month.... dont have much to concentrate on.... then Aug, SEPT, OCT n Nov will bog me down... but of coz by mid NOV I am an excited soul... muahahahahaha.... mid NOV come to me FAST!!!!

Merry Malacca

Merry Malacca

Its June... which was supposed to be an exciting month, but unforeseen things happened....a sudden loss in the family (inlaw side).
N so the pics of the dulangs that I promised in this month's blog also will not be up since the function is cancelled.
We also cancelled our Siem Reap holiday ....... but there is always a next time... we shall plan again :)

So once everything was settled, we just took a short break to Malacca as its still our birthday month and a short getaway would be good enough for us.

As it was a last minute booking, didnt have time to do any research, just booked whatever hotel that was available, but........................we were in for a great surprise!

So on Sunday Morning, we set out on a slow drive to Malacca, on the way there, we tried to change our Siem Reap flight tickets date so that it didnt get burned but the PIC checked on system and said it was not worth it, better to just pay for new tickets for our next holiday. Alright, redha je la kan.
We had an exciting ride to Malacca with the kids. Check In was a breeze. Pics of hotel below:

Swiss Garden Hotel

We were in for a pleasant surprise... Cozy Room with all necessities... brand new lagi

Deluxe Rooms come with Luxurious Deep Bathtub

 

Magnificient Views from our Balcony

 

Night View

Some of the rooms come with sea view

Sea View

 The best part of the hotel was the swimming pool.... oh my God... Heaven for Kids...

this is only 25% of the pool....N that room in the middle of the swimming pool... its a fully equiped Fitness Center.... Mind Blowing!

I lived in Malacca for 4 years and we have been here with kids for holidays, so we didnt go out much. We just lazed around and enjoyed the facilities at the Hotel. Celebrated Deleeina's birthday:

On the last day, we went to the Taming Sari. It was a beautiful weather, so we had great pics to show.

Hehe

I loved the weather soooooooo much that enabled us to take pics like this

Signing off... till next post.... bye.

Mayday

It's a busy May... Preparing trays for niece puberty function in June... Haha biasala excited to do this kinda stuff... Pics will only be out in June after function.

Breastfeeding : Weaning

Weaning - 💃🏻Hooray or 😭HuHu or 💥Hoo Haa or 😱Huru Hara

Hahaha .... mixed emotions actualy. Its been long since my last post on Breastfeeding. It went on smoothly and I had nothing else to add to my post.

I wanted to wean D2 at 1.5 years but whenever i spoke to her about it, she gives me the hand... or a loud NO! or she just changes the topic. I tried again when she was 2 and same reactions, but I just continued talking about it to her every now and then so that she understands that she can wean anytime she wants, I am giving her the time and when we she feels she is big enough she can stop.... yeah many ppl told me she might just continue till 7.... haha....I loved this journey but not till 7 years... noway!

Earlier this month , on Tamil New Year (14 April 2015), at night, before her feed, she told me "Amma, baby big gal ready. Deleeina no need Amma susu...." I was shocked... I praised her and pat her to sleep. In my mind, still skeptical .... its too good to be true.... she will surely ask again tomorrow. BUT... SHE DIDNT. Thats when all the emotions hit me... dont know whether to be happy or sad coz I am not gonna get another chance to go through this journey again.... its the last... FOREVER.

Tamil New Year 2015 - The day she decided to wean

I enjoyed my breastfeeding journey with both my kids and its time to say bye to this journey which has given us, all four of us including their daddy who supported so well,  so much of memories.

Plain Palembang

Before we begin, let's spend a second on mini mini part on the history of Sumatera province, Palembang, its Prince Parameswara and its connection with Malaysian state Malacca and its sultanate's.

It is said that around 1290's when the Singhasari Empire brought down Srivijaya to its knees, the King of Palembang and his Prince(believed to be Parameswara), both of Srivijayan Empire fled to Temasek (Singapore). There he killed the ruler of Temasek and ruled for 5 years. This angered Siam as Temasek was under Siam and they attacked Parameswara. Parameswara then fled to Malacca and built an empire there. In the 15thcentury Malacca became the regional maritime power and strongest sultanate in Malaya. In Summary, the last Srivijayan King is the first to form Malay Sultanate.

Deciphered from Wikipedia.

Here are some tips if you plan to visit Palembang: accept the fact that there are no mountains/beaches/farms/petting zoo or any nature attractions within Palembang or even less than 6 hours journey out of Palembang. Nothing at all! So, you can do what the Palembangers do best - hit the malls to escape the scorching heat.

If you have the time to spend 6-8 hours (one way) journeys , then you should go to any of this 3 places:

1. Gunung Dempo in Pagaralam

2. Danau Ranau in Lampung

3. Pulau Bangka & Belitung

Since we were always tiring ourselves during holidays, we thought lets just have a relaxing holiday by lazing in the hotel.

Of course, we still did push ourselves to check out nearby attractions which proved why there is so little info about them on the net. Because the attractions are plain. Nothing much, really.

First day, check in to Aryaduta Hotel. Birthday boy gets a suite retreat where he can laze around in comfort. 

Although 5 Star, the suite is a little outdated, but definitely 5 stars for their service. They exceed your expectation with their services. Suite comes with basic amenities, bathtub, mini bar, dolce gusto for coffee lovers...mmm. They have swimming pool for adults, for kids and a jacuzzi too. 

Breakfast spread was good with mixture of local and western with egg corner and fruits and salads too. 

This hotel is just beside Palembang Square, a big shopping complex with Carrefour as its anchor, very much like our Summit in Subang. 

Hotel Aryaduta's Convention Center on the left and the rest is PS Mall.

Anyway, there are plenty of malls all around Palembang u can spend your days in. For more upscale shopping, there is Palembang indah Mall with a HUGE play area for kids at 3rd floor. 

In the evening, we tried taking a walk around Ampera Bridge. It's a place for people watching, but when you are the only foreigner there, you become the 'watched' ones ... Lol. It seems like they just assume their tourists are from US and so they think we are from there too. When we speak Bahasa Indonesia, their jaw drops. 

Oh well, still better than Bali and Jogja where people, usually school children want take pics with me saying that I look like a Bolly Actress. LOL don wanna say her name, she will puke blood. Haha or maybe people there only know that one actress.

These are the pics taken around Ampera Bridge:

Clockwise from Right: Pancuran Bundaran, Jambatan Ampera, Colourful Trishaws, Monpera & Benteng Kuto Besak. All within walking distance around Ampera.

We had our dinner at Riverside with view of Ampera. Food was good here, priced like Malaysian Seafood Restaurant, definitely recommended if you are looking for good seafood at Palembang with view.

Children tired after having fun in the water...i soooo love our stroller.....they can continue to sleep (as they are really very tired) while we enjoy our food

Next day, we tried to visit at least 2 of their attractions. One was Punti Kayu a forest of Pine trees. They also have outbound activities like flying fox and children playground, but nothing much to shout about. You get to be with nature, with monkeys walking around in their own wilderness. They won't disturb you for food coz afterall they are at home. Only if you start feeding them, then they will start to expect the tourist to be giving them food, and this is how we disturb nature. 

I love nature, but no, this place did not fulfil anything. I would tell you to just laze in the hotel or go to the mall.

Then, we still tried to see if there is anything interesting at Museum BalaPuteraDewa. Afterall, this is where Malaysian history starts. There are lots of artefact here, nicely preserved. They even allocated an area for Malacca History. 

Traditional Rumah Limas at Backyard

Entrance of BalaputraDewa

This place is nicely maintained, its just sad that there are no visitors even on Saturday. The only problem we faced was it was difficult to get taxi from here. We depended on bluebird for all our rides, but someone has to make the call to bluebird. So usually the hotel will call to pick us up from hotel and we just flag down a blue bird for the road to go back. But there were no empty bluebird travelling on the road near the museum so it was a long wait. So its best to have bluebirds number and call them from to pick up after the museum visit.

After that, we decided, forget about places of attractions and lets just relax and enjoy a tireless vacation. 

We also managed a reflexology at Kapri Refleksi, 4 mins away from hotel (by car). It is recommended - only 75,000 rupiah for 1.5 hours of reflexology. They also massage the head, shoulders and back and also with a hot pack. 

haha.. pic taken by D2 of hubby as we were busy being massaged.

And complimentary red beans porridge with tea/coffee. A good retreat. Kids kept themselves occupied in their wonderful stroller so we got a peaceful 1.5 hours of massage. 

There is another place that is worth a visit with kids during weekend, the Kambang Iwak Park. There are so many activities for kids. They even have bicycle for 4, which means parents and kids can cycle together around the park. So many park activities for kids other than the slides and see saw.

Kambang Iwak Park

We ate at a restaurant nearby . Restaurants here have some view of the park. 

View from restaurants in front of Kambang Iwak Park

Since there are no info on the net as to where to eat with good food and nice view, the only two options would be around Kambang Iwak (view as above) or around Ampera(Riverside resto or Kapitan). There are another two places with views inside their restaurants, which are Pondok Kelapo and Rumah Makan Seri Melayu. 

Pondok Kelapo

So, my advice would be if you go to Palembang, just laze around and spend time retreating yourself and enjoy good food instead of traveling to places of interest as there is not much to see around here. The malls are a good place to escape the heat.

Journey of a Pilgrim (v) : BSP @ Isha - by Nethianathan Krishna Kutty

It's been a long time since my last post. I just came back from Bhava SPandana @ Isha. I would not be sharing anything from the course as it is just too beautiful to explain in words. It is something that you should experience yourself.

My journey began at 4.30am by aerobus from Klang to KLIA2. Flight at 07.40am reached Trichy at 8.50am local time. Took an auto to Central Bus Station and took the 10.55am bus to Singanallur that reached Coimbatore at 4.10pm. 

After nearly 12 hours of journey, took a nice shower and went for a stroll. Coimbatore town is not bad. Lots of shop selling home appliances. RS Puram is a better place to walk around with eateries, clothing shops and other shops.It is brightly lit and nice to walk around at night. I had light dinner and slept early. I also prepared my 'homework' for the BSP course.

Next morning, got up early, checked out, had breakfast and went to catch the bus at Gandhipuram bus stand only to find out the 9 and 9.10 bus to the center did not come. The 10.10 bus was overcrowded. I joined with other guys who were taking taxi to the centre. It cost me Rp 286, but had a comfortable ride. The bus would have only cost me Rp 14. 

Then it was days of BSP which did change my perception of the environment I am living in and my relationship with the universe. Again, words can NEVER describe this course; it is something you have to experience it yourself!

I left Isha Centre a day after the course ended. I made use of the time in Isha to indulge in Dhyana Lingga and also the Theertha Khund.
Next day, reached Gandhipuram at 1.30pm, stayed here for 2 nights. Spent my time walking around the streets of Coimbatore. Also started reading Mystic Eye and could relate with so many things experienced in BSP. Next day, early morning, took bus to Palani from Ukkadam Bus Stand. It was just my luck, I got the chance to visit Lord Muruga @ Palani just 2 days before Thaipusam. Bus from Ukkadam at 7.10am reached Palani at 9.50 am. Palani was so green as most of the area is covered with paddy fields. Had quick bite at bus stand and just walked to the temple. A guy approached me and told me he is a guide, he brought me to a shop to get prayer items. At first, they told me it is only Rs360 for basic prayer items. Knowing all their tricks, i told them beforehand that I dont want any hidden cost. But still they ended up adding garland, coconut and other items and quoted Rp1500. I didnt like this, as I already mentioned beforehand, then they told me the Rp360 is only for milk! I refused to take it. They tried to compromise by reducing the price. I told them this is why their name is already tarnished on the net. Why cant anything be straight forward? Why all the hidden charges?
Then a lady followed me as guide and explained to me at lower temple  itself. She told me it is not necessary to buy the costly tickets at the main temple on the hill. It took about 30 mins to complete prayers at lower temple. Started climbing the stairs at 10.50am and reached main temple at 11.20am. Very steep stairs and few rest areas. I just paid for Rp20 ticket (normal, non expensive one), and managed to see Lord Muruga by 11.50am. As the crowd was moving slowly, I could see the Lord for good 5 minutes. Good vibrations, nice feeling. Came out, bought some prasadam for home and took nice pictures from on top. Took about 15 minutes to get down. I was at the bus stand by 1pm, and took the bus that was about to leave for Coimbatore and reached hotel at 3.30pm.
After shower, went out for final shopping at Chennai Silk and Sree Devi. Had dinner at Gowri Shankar Restaurant. Took a slow stroll and enjoyed the lively streets of Coimbatore before i pack my bags to leave.

-NETHIANATHAN KRISHNA KUTTY-

'The greatest thing in your life is that you are alive and throbbing right now. Everything else is secondary...'