The Kay Brothers : Cheeky Defined!

just wanna tell you about my kiddos. khaleef and kahfi are sporting specially made t-shirts from saudi, bought when mr. khairul was there last year.


scene I
khaleef : mak, what's that? (the tone is like testing me, rather than questioning or wondering)
me : lion.
khaleef : no.
me : lion lah.
khaleef : it's a mommy lion. (because the stuffed animal is without its mane - oh ye lah! memang singa betina la tu!)

scene II
khaleef was looking out the window when a bird flew by.
khaleef : mak, it's a bird. and a fly.
me : yes, birds fly.
khaleef : no, mak. it's a fly.
me : (thought i wanted to fix his grammar) not 'it's a fly.' -birds- -fly-. birds fly.
khaleef : no, mak. it's a fly. fly. fly. fly.
me : (frustrated, but finally saw what he was pointing at - a fly at the window! la, lalat rupanye!)

* * *

kahfi can
...say "bye bye" - and wave!
...say 'eih?' while making a phone action, puting his palm up his ear!
...main kejar-kejar with his abang!
...run away when he took something (like remote control), and when cornered, he would smile cheekily, and actually hand over the item he took, without fuss!
...eat mandi rice!

* * *

a short posting today. sakit belakang! enjoy your long weekend, guys.

Go Travel, Then Blog!

another article of mine is up on mombloggersplanet! it's for bloggers, and travellers and one who likes to mix up both those titles. so for travelling bloggers, enjoy my rhyming words for your reading pleasure!

to the far reachest of switzerland, or to the neighbouring thailand - make your travel-blog postings extraordinary. make it personal, or make it informative, or make it a picture-travel-logue - but never make it ordinary!

click on the picture to read my poem!


i've not been too long in this blogging business. i just started in 2008, when my life changes as we moved to dubai and i started becoming a stay-at-home-mom. so there were so, so many trips and travels that i didn't blog about.

i felt so rugi looking back at my holiday pictures because i forgot so many interesting details about that particular holiday. after korek-korek, i'd like to share with you some of my holiday destinations, with a few great memories to share.

with that i would like to thank my abah and my cookiedough for all the trips - i'm so lucky to have a father and husband who enjoy travelling!

* * *

where : great ocean road, victoria, australia
when : circa 2004
who : with abah and my youngest si azi
what : most beautiful, scenic coastline drive ever. sepanjang jalan nampak batu-batu besar di tengah lautan - grotto (caves in the middle of sea), the 'twelve apostles' (12 huge standing rock formations)
memorable moments : it was extremely cold, and we weren't prepared in terms of our clothings! however, the view was oh, so breathtaking. cantik ya amat!
tips : check the weather forecast first before going!

* * *

where : musandam, oman
when : jan 2010
who : with mr. khairul, my boys and in-laws
what : dhow cruise along scenic rock mountains, and the high possibility of seeing dolphins
memorable moments : hanging out on an arabic dhow, enjoying the magnanimous sight of the rock mountains. and the sight of the jumping dolphins were priceless! oh, and also learned a new word, 'fjord' which are rock mountains.
tips : don't worry if the dhow moves when it sees doplhins in a distance - they just want the dolphins to swim along with the boat!

* * *

where : melaka, malaysia
when : circa 2006
with : mr. khairul and khaleef
what : historical city which is listed as UNESCO world heritage sites, a magical place to go back in time during the malaccan sultanate period
memorable moments : our first full-fledged family vacation. also, got to know the BEST ikan bakar place in the world - sg. duyung.
tips : if you got lost, ask the locals for directions. very helpful. one of them actually rode his bike to lead us to sg. duyung!

* * *

where : sovereign hill, ballarat, australia
when : circa 2004
with : kak arin (driver), kak laily, and the rest of melbourne msia hall girls
what : an open air museum with a whole town re-created to look like scenes from the 'gold rush' era, where gold was first discovered in ballarat. the shops, furnitures, roads, people all look like they came from the past!
memorable moments : digging for real gold at one of the man-made creek in the middle of the 'museum'.
tips : nak jimat, bring your own sandwiches and drinks. also map your way well as you walk so that you cover every single stop including the comboy 'schools' and 'bowling alley'.

* * *

where : sky tower, auckland, new zealand
when : early 2005
who : with abah, syimot, syidot and azot. i think yong didn't join because she just had baby haqeem.
what : an observation tower in the middle of auckland CBD, the tallest free-standing structure in the southern hemisphere, the 14th tallest in the world.
memorable moments : the main observation level has a particular spot on the floor which has a 38mm thick glass section, giving a view straight to the ground! scary gile berdiri atas glass tu! also, met a group of 4 japanese girls who wanted to take pictures with us! comel diorang!

* * *

where : pulau perhentian, terengganu
when : early 2008 (first trimester with kahfi)
who : with mr. khairul and khaleef
what : white sandy beach, and crystal-clear water where snorkeling is one of the best experiences with beautiful corals and marine life.
memorable moments : well, for mr. khairul, it's diving into a 3-storey deep ocean sea-bed with baby sharks, 'nemo' and many more. also, finding out that turtles can actually swim really fast! for me, the boat ride to the pulau was super-scary - the strong waves made the ride extremely bumpy so i was very, very afraid that khaleef might get flung out, or i might have a miscarriage since it's quite early in the pregnancy!

* * *

where : sydney, NSW, australia
when : circa 2001
who : the whole family, including mak!
what : 'the harbour city' is the largest city in australia.
memorable moments : visiting sydney opera house, one of the most famous performing arts centers in the world, already named one of UNESCO world heritage sites because of its unique design. there's no mistaking when you see the bangunan cabang-cabang surrounded by water.

* * *

where : singapore zoo
when : 2007
who : mr. khairul and khaleef
what : personally to me, one of the most beautiful, cleanest zoos i've ever been to - and that's very important!
memorable moments : naik bas gi singapore! we drove to johor, parked our car and took a bus there. also the sight of the albino tigers and just being there with a very excited animal-lover khaleef!

* * *

so, any trips planned for the year? don't be selfish la - share your wonderful or klaka experience with your readers!

A Day in The Internet

out of my mind. be back in a minute.


meanwhile, enjoy this interesting graphic representation of 'a day in the internet'. source from here.

Kay Girl or Kay Boy?

yes, we're expecting the third one any time soon. and i already know whether it'll be a 'bin or binti khairul!' shocking, or expected? hihi.

but before i reveal the gender, here are some well-wishes via facebook that i would like to keep in memory...thanks everyone!

* * *

so will the boys get a baby sister or a baby brother?

kahfi & khaleef busyuk tak mandi lagi

i will tell you a story first :

we just bought a home in the shah alam, right before finding out that we have to move to dubai. it's so sad that it's ready to be occupied, but we're all the way here. my abah is taking care of it for the time being and i just can't wait to go back to malaysia for good to furnish that house!

well, in that house, i have designated two rooms upstairs for my kids. and i told khaleef this :

"if the baby is a girl, then you would have to share a room with kahfi, because the girl would have a room for herself. however, if the baby is a boy, then kahfi has to share a room with the baby boy, so you could have a room all to yourself because you're the big brother."

now, the question is - will khaleef has his own room, or does he need to share? find out in another posting! nyeh nyeh!

Golf Goofballs

mr. khairul is a golf-nut. i'm not.

oh well, to be fair, let's just say that mr. khairul is (was) a school jock and i'm a kaki bangku - him having been a school swimmer and indulging in all sorts of sports like rugby, aikido, squash, cycling and cross country! me, on the other hand tried very hard to ditch my school's weekly sports meet! the closest i got to running for long hours was for the UDTA! (ujian daya tenaga asas).

on the matter of golf, i ONLY played a little bit of it after knowing mr. khairul. here's an exerpt of a very old writing in my very ancient friendster-blog, on 'me-playing-golf', or whatever you call it!

to me, the definition 'playing golf' is standing on what looks like the rubber mat under your feet when you drive, positioning yourself to a considerable stance, stuck out your butt while placing a golf club neatly on a fake grass box approximately few microinches from a golf ball. look straight at the ball, flex your arms, then start hitting the damn ball. and watch where it goes.

i play kat driving range je!

i used to hate golf. it is THE most boring game ever! you hit you walk you hit you walk. but playing it (again, refer to MY definition of ‘playing golf’) is something else altogether. try it.

during my first few trys i ended up hitting the ball to just few meters away and it went skewing flat instead of looping up. but lemme tell you, that feeling, that wonderful feeling of total satisfaction is yours when you see the ball finally go up, up and away…

an additional sound when you hit the ball is a bonus.

* * *

warming up before swinging those heavy clubs

when his family was in dubai, mr. khairul really wanted them to have at least one session of one of his favorite sports - golf. he took them to one of dubai's driving ranges to shoot some balls.


asrar, mr. khairul's bapak and youngest sis sofia all tried their hands on the game. some with flair, (mr. khairul's bapak played tennis back in his UM days), and others with disastrous results!

* * *

kuah tu nak ditumpahkan kat nasi jugak!

naturally, mr. khairul wanted his son to share his passion. and it looks like an effortless pursuit, because khaleef showed great interest in golf already.

however, personally i know his favorite is still football! kick kick kick!

khaleef demonstrating his swing

below are the pictures from our days in malaysia, taking a two-year old khaleef to a driving range to expose him to golf from an early age. he looked so tiny and comel sangat!

* * *

really interesting shot taken by mr. khairul's sis tina. a golfer taking a break to have his obligatory solat in the middle of the golf course.

and i'll leave you with that...

Paul Cafe @ The Walk, JBR

there was one weekend when mr. khairul drove the whole family to al-ain zoo. his maklong, kahfi and myself stayed back. determined not to let the weekend go to waste, maklong and i took a stroll along JBR (jumeirah beach residence) 'the walk' which is just a stone's throw from my place.

hungry, and about lunch time, maklong treated me to a yummy lunch at paul cafe, one of the most crowded cafes i've ever seen. there's never a time where only one or two table occupied. even on weekdays, the place would be reasonably full, what more on weekends - packed, with a long line of people waiting to be seated!

with so many other cafes along 'the walk', people still go for paul cafe! ntah ape yang best! curious, we too joined the line and waited for our turn to be seated.

paul cafe @ the walk, from above

if you're looking for paul cafe at 'the walk', it's a corner place right below 'cone street gelato'. walking from the 'sheraton' end where KFC and the pizza place 'nepolitana' are, you wouldn't miss the sight of big cream-colored table umbrellas with the word PAUL in huge capital letters.

its color scheme spells simplicity and class - black and cream, with rattan seats and chequered flooring on the inside.


yay! with the nice cool weather, we opted for a seat outside, and got one strategically placed near the 'entrance' with an enjoyable view of the crowd passing by, and the sea breeze caressing our face as we lepak at this most sought after cafe - 'paul'.

* * *

hmm. ape yang specialnya paul ni sampai packed gile?

judging from the menu, i don't think it offers anything uniquely different from any other french cafes - the usual sandwiches, soups and italian food with fancy names that basically means either pizza, lasagna or pastas. other than that, it also has the chicken and fish fillet meal for the more hungry lot.

butter, the bowl of mushroom soup, and the basket of french bread

as starters we ordered a bowl of hot mushroom soup, made fresh from the paul kitchen. we ordered one, and asked for an empty bowl. seriously cukup for two. tak membazir, and jimat! hihi.

the soup was served with a basket of french bread - very soft flesh with very hard crust- perfect to be dipped or drowned in the mushroom soup (which, i must add - a bit salty!).

i was particularly fascinated with the cute little container they put the butter in. comel!

* * *

kahfi meragam at first, begging to be let out. now that he has mastered the art of walking, he sees no point in us making him stay put in his stroller!

so we took him out, and asked for a baby chair. paul cafe has the classiest baby chair i've seen! lawa gile baby chair dia! it looks very comfy, and certainly snug and safe.

i like baby chairs with very little space in between the back of the chair and the 'table' - because then the baby would really be confined between those space, with little room to wriggle and fall out from the high chair.

most importantly, kahfi did look like he enjoyed being seated that high up, and at the same eye level as the adults for a change!

* * *

ah, our main course had arrived.

we waited reasonably long - well, long enough to realize that, "eh, lamanye?" our first 'carnage' was this chicken-potato-mushroom lasagna, served with a plate of supposedly 'fresh' salad, that doesn't look all that fresh. crispy, but could've been more fresh.

the lasagna was excellent though. the combo of chicken, potato and mushroom was just right, what more with the generous use of cheese. nyummy.


we also ordered this tuna sandwhich, made in french bread. it looks appealing and fresh, but we had to tapau. we were too full after finishing the delicious lasagna. further more we had already started on the equally filling mushroom soup.

it was a great lunch indeed.

* * *

before leaving, i went in to check out the dessert they have on display at the counter. typical french pastries and an assortment of cakes all laid out pretty and nice, to entice the tastebuds.

inside paul cafe was made to look like a french kitchen - with pots and pans hanging over the walls, flour and herbs to make bread lined the cupboard behind the counter. breads are placed in baskets on the shelves, and the waiters and waitresses wore white chef-like garb to complete the picture.

* * *

ah, oui - this is one authentic looking french cafe, but with the a-little-too-salty mushroom soup, the less-fresh salad and usual fare in its menu - i think people crowd the place for its already famous name.

to me macam nasi lemak antarabangsa la kot. gile popular. but personally to me takde la sedap sangat. makcik gerai kat depan giant puchong lagi sedap nasi lemak dia. pakcik taliban kat ipoh pun sedap gile lagi nasi lemak ngan sambal sotong dia. tapi sebab nama kan?

paul cafe. wanna know what's all the fuss about, try it!

Who Are Your Favorite Superheroes?

do you have a favorite superhero? naah, don't give corny answers like "my dad is my superhero" - because of course he is! he's our first ever super duper hero who is always there for us!

but i'm talking about the superhero in the imaginative sense - the comicbook-tv-movie-cartoon superheroes!

my favorite superheroes of all time are dean cain's superman, zorro and fox mulder (eh, fox mulder superhero ke?) oklah. superman and zorro. hihi.

dean cain as superman!

i mention dean cain's superman, because there are a few supermen in the tv screen and i don't necessarily like them all! christopher reeve's superman is sweet, gentlemanly but not sexy enough! haha. brandon routh's superman in the latest superman movie is handsome but he's trying too hard to act like the legendary christopher reeves that he came off as unoriginal. tom welling's superman in 'smallville' is cute - but face it - he's too cute to be super - muka pretty boy sangat!

supermen of tv and movies

so that's why my fav superman is dean cain - handsome, gentlemanly, funny - a sexy hunk with a romantic heart as well! i never missed an episode when it was shown back in my school days. i love him also because dean cain didn't make his clark kent a nerd and clumsy. his clark kent AND superman are equally attractive!

oh, forget your lawak bodo of pakai spenda kat luar - with those buldging biceps in all the right places - it's sexy!

* * *

duncan regehr as zorro in the tv series

my next favorite hero is zorro. oh, man. he's the don juan of all superheroes! devilishly handsome, perfectly charming, with the debonair of a perfect spanish gentleman.

and admit it - he has the most practical costume of all superheroes - you normal guys would wear it to a party, yah? all-black garb, normal shirts and pants with a black cape and black hat - coolness.

of course, the ultimate sexy-factor in zorro is his sword-fighting skills. total awesomeness. he doesn't need superpowers from his home alien-planet and he doesn't need nifty gadgets - he only relies on his trusted sword to fight bad guys and cross some z's on them!

swashbuckling never looked so sexy when zorro is around!

* * *

i thought about superheroes only because my article on superbloggers just came out on mombloggersplanet yesterday! when you think of the traits needed to be a superhero - like skills or superpowers, having a sidekick, performing good deeds and having a secret identity and costume - you can also relate it to blogging. how so?

click on the picture to read further!

* * *

ben10, ultraman and spider riders - khaleef already has his favorite superheroes. may he grow up to perform heroic deeds for his friends and families; agama, raja dan negara!

Sofia Anwar, Enid Blyton and Roald Dahl

mr. khairul's youngest sister sofia is 9 going on 10, and she loves to read. looking at her passion in reading, i remember myself when i was her age. young, imaginative, and enjoy going into those fantasy world of illustrated words in books.

i forever give credit to my mak for encouraging this reading habits upon her girls, and abah for his never-tiring efforts bringing us to ipoh tun razak library for our weekend books indulgence. i know abah was a very busy man at work, and yet still find time to bring his girls to the library every weekend!

i hope as parents, i too can spare some more time to read with my boys, and mr. khairul would fit a 'library time' in his busy schedule.

sofia in abaya while in dubai

with the current rush of technology - mtv, disney channels, x-box and wii - i see that sofia can still steal some time to just sit in a corner, deep in the pages of her book. i hope her nephews khaleef and kahfi followed suit and enjoy indulging themselves in books too!

sofia said she likes enid blyton - as any typical book-bug, a kid definitely need to start with an enid blyton book - or at least read some of them as their first few full-fledge reading. enid blyton is the master storyteller of children's stories, adventures and fantasy.

i think if i see any fairy or goblins story, or a 5-sekawan adventure - it's definitely written by enid blyton. gile la dia tu. ntah berapa ratus buku dia dah tulis!

personally, i don't fancy her asrama stories like malory towers and such - instead, i enjoyed more of her fantasy and made-believe stories - like the wishing chair, and the magic tree with different world in clouds stopping by up the tree.

don't get me wrong - i LOVE enid blyton, but since sofia has already read a lot of blyton's work, it's time to introduce her to another master storyteller of children's stories - roald dahl.

man, enid blyton is like mother teresa compared to this more cooler, quirkier and funnier children book writer!


so i bought her one of my favorite roald dahl's books - 'the witches' for starters, because she's too 'old' for 'the enormous crocodile' which is also my favorite! before she's even done with the first chapter, she's already loving it! well, what's not to like?

the first chapter itself describes how difficult it is to recognize a witch in the street, because supposedly, witches aren't the typical wore-black with brooms and long pointy hat! in fact, witches can look like the lady sitting next to you in the bus, or it could even be your nice-looking school teacher! roald dahl's 'the witches' tells a story of a boy who stumble upon a secret witch convention...

oh well, roald dahl is sofia's new favorite author!

...and mission accomplished!

Bab Al-Shams : Doorway to the Sun

my in-laws have gone back to malaysia, but there are still too many stories to be shared, and trips to be written about.

one of it was our visit to the exquisite desert getaway - 'bab al-shams' resorts, translated as the 'doorway to the sun'. now, we didn't stay here ok - some reviews stated the place as being 'overpriced' but i guess with its hyped-up sand dunes desert-front view and a very private recluse, it is to be expected in dubai!


to get to bab al-shams resort, we drove for 40 minutes or so, through what seemed like an endless miles of nothing but a long road along the bare desert - that's how exlusive and private it is. the resort is really like an oasis in the middle of the brown desert.

macam orang yang sesat di padang pasir tiba-tiba terjumpa satu mahligai arab!


it was really beautiful inside! the lobby was made to look like the main hall of a villa. in my heart i was like, "macam ni kot dalam rumah arab-arab kaya.." the furnitures, the wall decor, the vase and carpets all have that rustic old arabian feel to it.

* * *

once we walked out of the lobby and into the pool area, it was even more gorgeous! the buildings are light brown clay - a reminiscence of the once in old bastakiya. they're truly fashioned like those old arabian houses, with palm trees and archways that leads to nooks and corners.


there's a really cool life-size chess board near the pool, so mr. khairul and his dad had fun 'trying' to look like they're seriously thinking of a next move!


the lawn beside the pool was decorated with cactus plants of all sorts and sizes! round thorny ones, long straight ones, little oval ones, and the ones with a lot of cabang!

* * *

mr. khairul's mak and bapak having a romantic time at the desert

now, the concept of staying at a room in bab al-shams is that every room will have a view of sand dunes of the surrounding desert. this idea is fit for those looking for a change from beach-view or mountain-view. the next civilization is probably 40 minutes away, and the desert itself will be quiet in the dead of night, unlike the sound of sea waves.

so it's a real getaway in its truest sense!


the place is simply gorgeous, especially if you're into classic arabian setting in your surrounding as well as in your room. also, if you don't mind staring into nothing but sand and palm trees as far as the eye can see.

gorgeous yes, but - it is too expensive for us!

* * *

on the way home, we saw a family of camels! mommy camel with her two babies, munching wild grass across the fence where they were. mr. khairul's mom petik some, and fed the mommy camel.

as if knowing that she's part of the shots we took, she stayed put while we take pictures, and once we walked back to the car, she walked away from the fence too!

terima kasih puan unta!