so the 1st quarter was hard but not the hardest lah. surviving 12 weeks without contribution from the other half was a challenge.

letting go of the car was the best decision it seems. but not when it comes to Hari Raya! Renting one is a darn hassle lah!

how did we get thru it eh? Looking back, I seriously don't have a clue but we got over that, miraculously. Yey! Walhamdulillah

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moving forward, things begun to ease towards the 2nd quarter of two-oh-one-one. :)

a travel buff that i am, kiddos and i managed to take a ride to Pahang (Bukit Gambang Resort City) with Abg Ngah and family. a brief stopover at Teluk Cempedak was a breathtaking experience. I love the serenity of the open sea. Kids had a good time picking shell by the shore. Waves at Teluk Cempedak were quite rough, not suitable for swimming though.

Hubby couldn't join us due to his work schedule.

thereafter in May, right after kiddos mid-year exam, we flew to Sarawak. Yes! Just the 4 of us!

5days and 4 awesome nights in a the spacious Riverside Majestic hotel room, a day of sun-soaking time at the uninhabited Pulau Satang (private trip which I arranged with the owner of the island, an island trip i never regret), a visit to the Bidayuh Longhouse, Sarawak Cultural Village, good food, good movies (Nur Kasih, Karak, Kungfu Panda 2,) Sepilok orang utan rehabilition centre, good food..heheh.

just having an amazing good time with the family

so happy to see the kids' happy, appreciative faces

May also saw a good friend of mine performing Umrah for the 1st time

Kak Lyn and her loving parents set off a day after we returned from Sarawak. i took leave to see them off at the airport. :)

then in June, on the same day that Kak Lynn and her parents returned from Umrah, i had a short trip to KL with the rest of the family members for a wedding. i managed to do some hari raya shopping for the man, his son and daughter. hehehe

if all the above is not what I called blessings, i don't know what kind of person i am lah dei!!

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3rd quarter of this year was the most exciting, yet! For the 1st time, I visited North Asia - Korea, The Land of The Morning Calm with nephew Khai, his friend Jackson, Kak Lynn and Busu Banun - 3 ahjummas and 2 dongsaengs. hahahaah....strange combo indeed.

10days 8nights all-girls experience....awesome.

upon reaching Incheon airport 2 hours before midnight and Arex ride with the 5 of us, the bujangs and mak daras had to part ways. we alighted at Gimpo Airport - part of our continued journey to Jeju Island at the south. while the bujangs continued their journey east to Daegu

what evolved next was nothing short of a thrilling and gerek experience ever. something which a group of teenagers would say FUN, Da bomb experience.

now, it never occured to us girl, or at least to me, Gimpo airport was totally the opposite of Incheon.

while the latter, being South Korea's international airport was always bursting with life, bustling with the arrivals and departures 24/7, the former is the total wacky opposite.

totally devoid of all human activities at night, the airport is as good as unoperational.

Gimpo Airport closes at night! didn't know when the last airport activity ceased at Gimpo but when we reached there at almost midnite, airport's light was off, dark and quiet...the graveyard quiet kind. we were in twilight zone. kahkahkah

we should have stayed at incheon airport and checked ourselves in a jimjilbang and make our way to Gimpo airport the next morning to catch our 7.30pm flight to Jeju

but, considering the distance from Incheon to Gimpo and the early morning flight we had to catch, we thought it safer to just slack and rot @ Gimpo. and so....slack and rot we did at Gimpo!!! kahkahakhaa......gerek ke per?! here's the rundown of all the happenings at Gimpo

1) found a gerek spot to call it a night at the corner of an arrival hall, near the restrooms

2) was truly exhilirated when the toilet flush comes with the auto-clean-you-know-what system. hahaah, ghairah gitu!

3) managed to clean ourselves up a bit (janji tak bau tengek tahap melampao dah kira ok lah tu), took our wudhu' and did our maghrib and isya' jamaa' at the corner which we've chosen to be the best spot for us the 3 ahjummas. konon. :)

4) even managed to have a simple dinner of cup noodles which we brought all the way from our country, filled up with the water dispenser located all around the airport, very convenient...Korea airports are cool)

5) experience kener halau by the ahjusshis!

while gorging down on our noodles coupled with sometimes loud giggles from us 3, we couldn't help but got noticed by 2 airport security guards. we were asked to leave the premise asap. we pleaded for 5mins grace - wanted to finish our noodles first...buying time. :)

6) not long after that, the same ahjusshi came to ask for our passports. we obliged. Busu told him in staggered English that we are from Singapore, tourists heading to Jeju Island on a 1st morning flight..yadi yada yada. i think he took pity on us and soon after relocated us to another spot in the airport itself where he could keep a watchful eyes on the 3 mak daras. hehe

thank God we didn't end up sleeping outside the airport!

7) and so that was where and how we spent our 1st night in Seoul, Korea - The Land of the Airport, oops Morning Calm.

*giggles*

2days spent at Jeju Island was insufficient. gotto make a comeback visit, with kiddos next time InsyaAllah