While In Hongkong - Culture Shock

New places, will always come with new story. Starts from the habits of the native people and the culture. Some might be totally different with ours and very unique also. From my short trip to Hongkong and Macau few days ago, I found out some habits and culture that was totally different with mine, there are :

HKIA praying room

• Before we went to this place, we already knew that the challenge for us is to find a place to pray. That is also why we manage to not only stay nearby a mosque, but also to arrange the places we visits so we can stop by at the nearby mosque. All the day trip went well, until we are about to go back to KL and at the airport. My husband almost pray at the emergency exit, but then we find a different kind of sign in front of us. So the picture next to us is the praying room at HKIA. Since it is a praying room, so every religion is welcome here. The room supplied everything we need to pray, Qur'an and Shalah utilities, Bible, and other books that I don't know what it is. This praying room is at Terminal 2, just next to the Pacific Coffee and nearby Disneyland Store. So relief that HK have this place :)

• It is never written that we have to stand at the right side at the escalators or stairs or ways in HK. But that's the practice there, so just left your left side empty. People are always rushing there, they will take the left side to walk faster.

• I found an umbrella dispensers machine at the MTR Station. At the machine, we can find the excellence of buying the umbrella. And what is the most surprising thing for me is that the umbrella is under a warranty. The price for each umbrella is HKD 78. Should really grab one :)  

Cute Umbrella Machine

• Not to forget, Hongkong's street is so small. Actually I kinda like it, very easy to cross the street. Eventhough the streets are small, but the bus using the street are the big buses. Also, since they are using tram as one of they transportation mode, the streets are full with the tram's tracks. Just pay full attention to the traffic light because if you're not, it will be very dangerous. 

• Macau's currency is MOP, but we can use HKD to do transaction in this country. Don't care whether we are at the small shop or at the big department store. Even we can pay our transportation using HKD in this country. They treated the HKD just like they treated their MOP. Only it doesn't work the way around. In Hongkong, no one will receive the MOP to transact. So better finish the MOP before leaving Macau.

Also read here for more stories about Hongkong :

1. Masjid and Halal Food Tour

2. Hongkong Transportation Mode

3. Disneyland Hongkong

While In Hongkong - Disneyland

Our first destination in Hongkong is the Disneyland. The place where Mickey and Minnie Mouse and other characters of Disney stays. We consider to choose this place in our first day visit, because we just can not let this Disney things left behind and ended up not to visit it. Curiosity and also my son's request to see his "friends" was the of course considered as the main reason. 

How to get there?

Direction to go to Disneyland is everywhere. Very easy to find. Last time we choose the MTR. As I mentioned before, you can go anywhere you want from the Central station, that is why, I choose to give direction always from central. From Central Station, change to the Thung Ching Line MTR, and stopped at the Sunny Bay station. Sunny Bay station is the special stop for everyone who wants to go to the Disneyland. From this point we have to wait for the express train to bring us to the Disneyland. The ambiance here already feels like we are at the Disneyland. The express train windows are designed with the Mickey Mouse head, and the interior of this train also designed with Disney's character. The fare for this express train is HKD 21 (if I am not mistaken) and we can use our Octopus card to pay for this train. There are also other ways to get here, you can check it here.

Cute Disneyland Express Interior

Even this one coming with the Mickye's Head

Ticketing and Fare 

Given tips from my friend, we bought the ticket online. The price in buying online or direct is the same price. Last week price is still HKD 399 for adult and HKD 285 for child. But, just now I checked the website, the price already changed. 

Buying ticket online will avoid you from a long line and the probability that the Disneyland stop selling the ticket at that day, since the park is already full. Tips for you who paid the ticket online, please bring along the card that use to paid for the entrance ticket. The automagic counter will need you to insert the card, to printed out the ticket. Yes the name is automagic, and here is the counter.

Eventhough we're saved from the que in buying the tickets, but we still have to que to come inside the Disneyland. The gate person, needs to checked our bag one by one to ensure that we are not bringing any kind of food to the park, and also things that may caused danger. They even checked our small passport bag.

Passing through this gate, now you can enjoy the Disney world, do not forget to take the maps and the show schedule at the information board. 

What is inside the Disneyland?

At the time we was there, there are several attractions and shows that is under maintenance, but they still put it at the schedule. Fortunately we've checked the website before we go, so we do not waste our time to wait for the shows that will not happen anyway.

There is the Golden Mickey Show, considered as the Main show in this park. Unfortunately the show is on Mandarin speaking, so it hard for us to get the full concentration to watch that live show meanwhile we still have to looked at the subtitle on the right screen in front of us. My son who also can not read complaint about it, he barely can not understand the show.

toy story on stage

Other than that show, there are also The Mickey's Philhar Magic Show. We are given the 3D glasses to watch this show. The show is look alike with the Shrek's show in USS, the different is on the seats. The seats in USS moved along the show, this Mickey's show is not.

The other big show is the parade. It is a big parade. All of the Disney characters were there. For one with kid, surely do not missed this parade. They will be really happy to see the character waving and giving an eye to eye contact with them. 

 

One last show that we've missed is the Firework show. Bear in mind, if you bring kid to travel along with you, just follow your gut, when to stop to take a rest and when to keep on going. That time, my son was so tired, until he can not open his eyes. So before the fireworks start, we decided to go back to the hotel. 

Tips for Moslem

Disneyland only sell Halal food at the Adventure Land Area. In this area, there are two food court, one is halal and the other one is not. Please check first before entering the restaurant. The halal food restaurant sure have the halal logo in front of it. Food here is a little bit pricey, but it is worth it to buy. Details about the food is here.

I did not see any praying place inside the Disneyland, so just bring along the Sajadah and you can asked for a space to pray. Last time my husband did it at the Lion King show area (which is closed at that time). Eventhough the person who we did asked about the place can not understand what we're asking about, still she gave us a space to pray.

So this is it for the Disneyland Tour..
Enjoy!!

While In Hongkong - Transportation Mode

Hongkong surely has a complete and integrated kind of public transportation mode. All of the transportation mode are connected one to another from different point to point. Being a visitors to this country, there will be no such thing of getting lost. Not only because of the transportation, but also because of the complete information is very easy to find. 

Before go deep about the transportation mode, there is one important thing that needed to enjoy the comprehensive transportation, that is the Octopus Card.

Octopus Card

Octopus card is the name of the card that we need to have to travel around Hongkong. Named after the octopus, it describes the function of the card. Can be use for every kind of transportation mode also as a replacement for cash in lots of stores in Hongkong. 

The octopus card actually produced in several type, but for the travellers used, just buy the rent card one. The initial price for this card is HKD 150, contains of HKD 50 deposits and HKD 100 credit. After finished the travelling, we can got the refund for the amount left inside the card and return it, with HKD 9 charge if the time holding for the card is less than 3 months. The refund can be made at the customer services booth at the MTR station. 

If you decided not to have the Octopus card, taking MTR is no problem at all. Simply buy the MTR ticket at the customer service. But problem will occur if you are going to take the bus. The bus will not give you the change, so you must be ready with the exact amount of fare, or just bear the loss from paying more than the fare. 

Transportation Mode
Like I said before, that HK is doing very well in serving public transport not only for the citizen, but also for the visitors. The common public transport used are bus, MTR, taxi, tram and ferry. As the example, I will tell how we decided to choose our transport to get to the hotel from the airport. The airport actually provided all kind of transportation as I mentioned above. 

Airport Express

Airport Express is the express train that will only stop at the Central station and or the airport. Pros of using the airport express is because it is the fastest way to reach the Central station, only 40 minutes. The only problem in using it is, the train will only stop at the Central Station and we need to transfer to the different line to get to our hotel. With a lots of luggages, I strongly not recommend to use this way, because to get to the different line, we need to walk so far. Other than that, the fare for this train also quite expensive, it is around HKD 60  for a single journey. Can check the fare in this link.

Bus Stop..

Public Bus

There are a dozen of public buses that we can choose from the airport. The one with higher fare with less stops, or the one with the lower fare with more stops. The pros of riding the bus is with lots of luggages we do not need to go up and down the bus until we meet our stops, the fare is very cheap, last time it is only HKD 21 per person, and also we can see the city view by riding the bus. The cons is the bus will take about 1 to 1.5 hour to get to the places, but still it depends on the destination. The complete information can be find in this link. 

Taxi

Same with the bus, taxi also a hassle free way for a lot of luggages. The only thing is the taxi driver will count the luggages and put the extra charge HKD 5 to every luggage. The other thing with taxi is, we really need to know the exact address of our destination. Sometimes the taxi driver only know the area but not the exact building that we are looking at, so it will be much better to have the map to the place. 

Ferry

Ferry services from the airport only destined to Macau or Shenzhen (if I am not mistaken), so that is the reason why we do not choose this mode. But we did experiencing the ferry to Macau on the other day, also from a different harbour, called Hongkong Ferry Macau Terminal. The name of the Ferry is Turbo Jet. Will put the details in my Macau trip :) Other than that, the ferry also served us to come across Hongkong Island, Kowloon and the Outlaying Island.  

Tram
Other than all of that transportation above, they still have the tram called the Ding-Ding Tram. The trams journey divided in to West Bound and East Bound Tram. The tram start working on 5 am and will only stop at 12am. Even the rate is also cheap around HKD 2.3 per single journey.

For the recap, to go around Hongkong, we can choose the transportation mode that we want. I have been travelling using the bus, MTR and ferry. But my favourite one is bus, not to tell that I am too lazy to walk so far only to get transferred to the different line, but it is also much  cheaper compare to the MTR. And one main reason, for a traveller I really need to see the city, taking pictures from the bus, getting to know about the road and area that I passed through. 

So this is a wrap for the transportation mode in Hongkong!!

While In Hongkong - Masjid and Halal Food Tour

While In Hongkong is my travelling story about Hongkong. Will write it in a random way from my very own point of view.

I managed to stay at JJ Hotel, a small and nice 3 stars hotel, located inside the office building called Lucky Centre in Wan Chai district. When decided to booked this hotel, we checked for the hotel condition thru Trip Advisor, Booking.com and also from Agoda's visitors reviews. The reviews were good and the most important thing is the hotel is just 5 minutes away from a mosque. Since in Hongkong it will not be easy to find Halal food, so that will be the best choice to stay anywhere nearby a mosque. Usually in that area there will be several places selling Halal food.

This time we arranged our time so that we can visits 2 famous mosque in Hongkong. One which is nearby to our hotel "Masjid Ammar and Osman Ramju Sadick Islamic Centre" and the other one is "Masjid Jami' Kowloon". 

This Ammar and Osman Ramju, is a mosque and also an Islamic Centre. So despite the main function as a praying place, this place also has a library, learning centre, and even an Islamic canteen. This Mosque actually was a replacement for a former Mosque in Happy Valley. Built at 1981, currently this place is still nice and clean. 

Located at the 40 Oi Kwan Road, Wan Chai, Hongkong. It is so easy to find this place. 

By MTR

From Central MTR station, switched the MTR to Island Line and stop at Wan Chai Station and exit from the Southern Playground. From here, walk about 10 minutes to this place through the Johnston Road. 

By Bus

Take a walk from Central MTR station to Jardine House bus stop. Take the bus number 962, only 4 stops away, and walk about 2 minutes to the mosque. 

And for you who's craving for a Halal Chinese Food, this place is like a heaven on earth. They served a delicious dim sum, and meals with a reasonable price. For me the Red Bean Pau is my favourite. 

To get to the Islamic Centre Canteen, just enter the building and used the lift to the 5th floor. The canteen open from 10 am to 8 pm and for the dim sum, only until 3 pm.

The second Mosque that we've visited was the Masjid Jami' Kowloon. Located at 105 Nathan Road, only a minute away from Tsim Tsa Tsui MTR Station. This is the most busy area in Hongkong after Causeway Bay district. 

When we arrived at this place, it was a praying time. The mosque get the crowd at that time. Different people from different country come to this with the same purpose, to pray. I saw lots of Arab and India people go inside the mosque. 

While waiting for my husband to pray, I walk around to find the Halal food around here. And this is what I found in front of the mosque building. The big standing banner about Al-Maidah Kebab. Located at 13 G/F, Tsim Tsa Tsui Mansion, Nathan Road.

Unfortunately, somehow we can not find the place. Instead we are directed to a weird restaurant named Mughal Club. The place is at 2nd floor, Flat 2 11, Hai Phong Mansion. Weird because when we enter the building, downstairs the place just so nice, but after we go into the restaurant at the 2nd floor, the place is so small. No one is eating there except us. Scary at first, but then the people there is nice. Only the food is a little bit pricey and the taste was just okay. The view from the restaurant is also very poor. Am not so happy after all, but well that's the art of travelling. 

Another place that I also got the brochure in front of the Mosque is Ziafat. The place is at 6/F Harilela Mansion, 81 Nathan Road. While mentioning mansion to this places, please forget the mansion that we usually saw in TV, just totally different.

The other place that we went to eat is an Indonesian restaurant named Rumah Makan Sedap Gurih. This restaurant is located at the hook of Sugar Street Rd, Causeway Bay Area. The food is good, got a real taste of Indonesian's food. The visitors was not only Indonesian people, maybe the Hongkong residents also likes to eat there because the food and the price.

Other than this restaurant, actually there are lot of Indonesian and Halal food around Causeway Bay area, such as :

Blitar Cafe
Shop 201, 2/F, Causeway Bay Centre, 19-23. Sugar Street.

Warung Malang
Flat B-2, 2/F, 9-11 Pennington Street, Causeway Bay.

For the full reference of Halal food at Hongkong, can be found at this site.

And not to be forgotten, there is also one place at the Disneyland that sell Halal food. It is at the Adventure land area, just in front of the Jungle Tree. They served Indian food and also some of Western food like fish fillet. One set of the menu is in a huge portion, can buy 2 set menu for 3 people. The price for one set menu is around HKD 88, pricey but worth it because of the huge portion.

After all, the best thing for this travelling is, actually is not that hard to find Halal food in Hongkong. Even though we are very well prepared in bringing along our own food, it was also nice to try the local food there.

Read the next post  about Hongkong here.. :)

Kunjungan ke Shelter - Part 2

Kalau pada kunjungan ke Shelter yang pertama, saya menuliskan pengalaman dan perasaan saya mengenai kunjungan tersebut. Kali kedua ini, saya akan menuliskan tentang cerita yang saya dapatkan dari para tenaga kerja wanita tersebut. 

Ada berbagai cerita tentunya, tapi sekali lagi, apa yang saya tuliskan hanya ucapan yang saya dapat dari mereka, yang kemudian saya terjemahkan ke dalam bahasa saya, tanpa ditambah dan dikurangi. Benar atau tidaknya apa yang mereka alami juga hanya mereka dan Tuhan yang tahu pasti. Dan pastinya yang saya tuliskan juga tanpa maksud apa-apa atau menyalahkan siapa-siapa, hanya untuk mengambil beberapa pelajaran saja.

Cerita pertama adalah tentang seorang Ibu paruh baya. Ibu ini sudah berada di penampungan hampir 9 bulan lamanya. Cukup lama ya.. Bukan tanpa alasan tentunya beliau berada di penampungan sebegitu lama, melainkan karena sedang berusaha menuntut haknya yang dilupakan oleh bekas majikannya. Menurut ceritanya, si Ibu sudah tidak menerima gaji selama beliau bekerja di rumah bekas majikannya tersebut, hampir 4 tahun lamanya. Beliau tidak pernah disakiti secara fisik, makan tidak dibatasi, hanya saja setiap kali meminta gajinya, sang majikan hanya berkata nanti. Saat ini, kasus tersebut sudah masuk ke Mahkamah Tinggi di Malaysia. Ketika sang Ibu bercerita, dalam hati saya berharap, apapun masalahnya, semoga kasusnya cepat selesai. 

Cerita kedua datang dari seorang asal NTT berumur 22 tahun. Dia termasuk yang sangat aktif di kelas, cukup jago bahasa Inggrisnya. Penasaran, saya bertanya apa latar belakang pendidikannya. Ternyata dia lulusan SMU, ya pantas sajalah dia cukup pintar. Apa yang terjadi hingga dia bisa sampai ke penampungan? Singkat cerita dia datang ke Malaysia karena dipaksa oleh suaminya. Suaminya jugalah yang mempersiapkan semua dokumen termasuk passport untuk bisa masuk ke Malaysia. Karena memang tidak pernah bekerja sebelumnya, dan dia memang tidak sepenuh hati pergi bekerja, 3 bulan di rumah majikan buatnya terasa selamanya. Karena itulah dia lari dari rumah majikannya ke kedutaan untuk kemudian pulang ke kampung halamannya.

Ada lagi seorang anak perempuan berumur 14 tahun. Entah bagaimana caranya dia bisa sampai di sini. Menurut ceritanya dan teman-temannya di situ, dia dirayu oleh agen agar datang ke Malaysia untuk mencari Ibunya. Ibunya memang sudah lama bekerja di sini, dan karena keinginan bertemu dengan ibunya, dia ikut dengan agen tersebut. Anak umur 14 tahun, entah bagaimana caranya dia bisa memperoleh semua dokumen resmi untuk bekerja, seharusnya sih tidak mungkin, karena dia anak di bawah umur. Hanya bertahan satu bulan, dia tidak kuat bekerja, kabur ke KBRI dan minta dipulangkan.  Akhir dari cerita ini sepertinya berlangsung bahagia, karena dia sudah sempat bertemu Ibunya.

Karena waktu yang tidak panjang untuk bercerita-cerita dengan mereka, saya hanya berhasil mendapatkan tiga cerita di atas. Mungkin masih ada banyak lagi cerita yang ada di sana, hanya saja kesamaannya, adalah saat ini, semua yang berada di penampungan hanya berharap untuk dapat pulang dan berkumpul lagi dengan keluarga mereka di kampung halaman.

Ketika sesi mengajar selesai, kita semua berharap untuk tidak bertemu lagi 2 bulan mendatang, karena artinya mereka sudah berkumpul dengan keluarganya. Dan berharap, kalaupun bertemu lagi dengan mereka, dengan kondisi mereka yang sudah jauh lebih baik tentunya :)

-The End-

Financial Planning Talk bersama Ligwina Hananto

I am trying as hard as I can, to make this happen :)

Support me ya!!

Kunjungan ke Shelter - Part 1

Ini adalah kali kedua saya mengunjungi KBRI di Kuala Lumpur. Pertama kali adalah untuk melaporkan diri bahwa saya dan keluarga sekarang berdomisili di sini, sekaligus meminta surat pernyataan mengenai izin mengemudi yang saya gunakan adalah benar surat izin yang berasal dari Indonesia dan dapat berlaku di sini.

Tapi, kali kedua kunjungan saya ini, membawa misi yang berbeda. Saya ikut dengan teman yang pergi ke KBRI setiap 2 bulan sekali untuk sharing mengenai pelajaran Bahasa Inggris, yang sederhana kepada para tenaga kerja wanita Indonesia yang berada di penampungan, atau yang sering disebut dengan shelter. 

Para tenaga kerja yang berada di shelter  ini adalah tenaga kerja yang biasanya kabur dari rumah majikannya, dan akan segera dipulangkan oleh pihak kedutaan Indonesia, ke kota asalnya masing-masing. Ada berbagai cerita di balik kaburnya para tenaga kerja ini ke kedutaan, masing-masing berbeda.

Saya tidak akan membahas tentang mereka satu-persatu tentunya, tapi saya akan bercerita tentang apa yang kami lakukan di sana.

Mba Iin dengan Meals-nya

Pelajaran Bahasa Inggris kali ini bertemakan tentang Meals. Jadi pembahasan yang dilakukakan pun di mulai dari jenis makanan mulai Sarapan, Makan Siang hingga Makan Malam, sayur-sayuran, buah-buahan, dan conversation yang ada kaitannya tentang penyajian makanan. 

Sesi belajar ini diselingi dengan kuis-kuis dadakan untuk yang berani menjawab pertanyaan, maju ke depan untuk menuliskan bahasa inggris dari kata-kata sederhana seputar meals, juga yang berani untuk melakukan role play conversation. Bukan hanya untuk mendapatkan oleh-oleh yang dibawa dari pengajar, tapi memang mereka memiliki keinginan untuk belajar yang cukup tinggi. Sekaligus mengajarkan mereka untuk berani tampil dan menyuarakan dirinya. 

Memang, tidak semua tampak antusias, tapi paling tidak, kelas ini bukan kelas yang sepi peminat, yang jika dijawab hanya diam. Kelas hari ini cukup atraktif, dan diselingi dengan celetukan-celetukan lucu, sekaligus curhat colongan dari mereka yang kemudian menjadi bahan tertawaan bagi mereka sendiri.

Belajar conversation

Ada beberapa orang dari mereka yang tampak begitu antusias, salah satunya 2 orang di foto sebelah saya ini, mereka berulang kali menjawab pertanyaan, dan jangan salah, mereka pintar looh.. Saya sempat berucap dalam hati, mungkin kalau mereka punya kesempatan untuk kuliah, nasib akan berbeda. Mungkin dia yang duduk sebagai pengajar, mungkin dia sudah di Malaysia tapi bukan sebagai tenaga kerja rumah tangga yang kabur dari majikan, dan banyak kemungkinan lainnya.

Setelah selesai dengan pelajaran Bahasa Inggris, karena waktu juga memang masih cukup, kami mengadakan lomba menyanyi grup. Lo tmba menyanyi lagu-lagu Indonesia seperti Satu Nusa Satu Bangsa, Maju Tak Gentar, dan sebagainya. Hehe surprisingly memang banyak yang tidak tahu lagu jenis itu, lagu tentang Indonesia yang mereka ketahui adalah lagu Indonesia Raya. Ya, sukurlah paling tidak tahu lagu kebangsaan sendiri.

Beginilah situasi kelas, tidak terlalu ramai juga. 

Serius

Semangat !! 17 Agustus 1945

Tawa ini yang saya maksud

Mungkin kemarin saya sedikit egois, karena cenderung tidak bertanya apa perasaan mereka dengan adanya kelas ini. Melainkan saya merasa bahagia sendiri, kalo istilah saya, ini kesenangan saya sendiri. Hari ini saya kembali menjadi bermanfaat untuk orang, meskipun tidak banyak, meskipun mungkin bukan pelajaran bahasanya, tapi kebahagiaannya. Ternyata tertawa dengan orang yang mungkin dalam beberapa tahun kebelakang sudah jarang tertawa itu cukup menyenangkan.

Financial Planning Talk bersama Ligwina Hananto

Gambar : Buckscountywoman.com

Sudah beberapa tahun ini, saya selalu mengikuti hal-hal mengenai perencanaan keuangan keluarga melalui twitter Ibu satu ini. Siapa lagi kalau bukan @mrshananto atau yang lebih terkenal dengan nama Ligwina Hananto.

Beberapa waktu lalu, saya sempat mengutarakan keinginan saya agar Wina bisa berbagi dengan orang-orang Indonesia yang berada di Kuala Lumpur, yang jumlahnya juga mungkin tidak sedikit. Ternyata keinginan saya tersebut di respon dengan sangat baik oleh Wina dan timnya di QM Financial.

Bermula dari keinginan saya tersebut, akhirnya saya memberanikan diri untuk menyusun acara menyambut kedatangan Wina di Kuala Lumpur dan sekaligus mengajak teman-teman orang Indonesia untuk belajar lebih banyak mengenai perencanaan keuangan.

Singkat cerita, acara yang diberi Tema "Why do We Need Financial Planning" ini, rencananya akan diselenggarakan pada :

Hari/Tanggal : Sabtu/06 April 2013

Pukul : 14.00 - selesai

Lokasi : Damansara, Selangor - Malaysia (detail akan di share)

Pembicara : Ligwina Hananto - founder dari QM Financial

Besar sekali harapan saya, agar acara yang memang tidak menggunakan siapa pun sebagai sponsor dan tidak bertujuan untuk mendapatkan profit sama sekali ini, dapat terlaksana dengan baik. 

Saya masih membuka kesempatan buat teman-teman yang berada di kawasan Kuala Lumpur dan sekitarnya, untuk turut bergabung meramaikan acara ini.

Info lebih lanjut mengenai detail acara, dapat menghubungi saya via blog ini, ataupun email ke kikyharahap09@gmail.com

Semangat Berbagi!!

Zoo Negara Malaysia

It is been a while since me and my family went to some interesting places in KL. 

Ever since my class at the weekend has been started again, we suddenly only have 1 day for the in town tour around KL. And only the half day of it that we can use, because my little buddy is also having his drum lesson.

So, this Zoo Negara Malaysia visit is actually a backdated story. We was there sometimes around 2012. I think it wont be much different either, so here I am to tell about what we found in the Zoo. Let's get it on!!

The idea to visit the Zoo at the first place is because Geza is just so excited into animals. As far as I can remember, that was the time when his school is having the animals as the theme of the month. So, suddenly he is just into animals, he act liked he is a tiger, lion, elephant, birds, even a monkey. 

The nearest Zoo in town is the Zoo Negara Malaysia. Located at Ulu Kelang area, and nearby Taman Melawati. We can find the zoo only 5km away from downtown KL. 

Arrived at the Zoo, around 10.30 in the morning, but the weather is just waaay to HOT. This zoo has a huge non covered parking area. To find the parking place is not hard, and it is not too far from the zoo entrance. 

Having to pay RM 50 for adult and RM 20 for children, we find the zoo rate is a little bit expensive. Yes, well I clearly understand to maintain a zoo might be expensive, moreover this Zoo Negara is managed by an NGO (Non Governmental Organisation). 

Ok, entered the zoo, we find the map of the zoo. Never realised that this zoo will be this big. 

Just like always when we visits theme parks, the first thing we do is to check the show schedule. Fortunately, when we arrived, the show at the Amphitheatre is about to start. Not so many different with other zoo that I've ever visited, they have the flamingo, seals, and the beaver show. Not so special anyway. The special thing was we have to seat at the non covered theatre. 

Finished the show, we have the urge to find the tiger and the lion, since that's the reason why we visit this place at the first time. Poor my son, the lion and the tiger are just too lazy and only sleep in that afternoon, maybe they also feel dizzy because of the hot air. My son kept calling the tiger and the lion to awake them, but still no sounds coming out, he only wants to hear them ROAR.

-Happy face while seeing his fav animals-

I actually do not really remember all the animals that we've seen there, but we took this picture so that we can remember what's inside the zoo. 

-an Old Sign Board-

We do checked the Savana Walk. As per I remember there are giraffes, zebras and the road runner "ostrich". For me, this is the nicest part of this zoo, because it feels real, rather that other animals that they put inside the cage. From this point, we move to the elephant and camel's place. Not really interesting at all.

Feel so tired and hungry we decided to go back. But in our last step in the zoo, find this quite interesting habits of flamingos. Pay attention to the head.

So that's all for the Zoo story. Wish I could write in details, but my memory can not retrieve the exact situation at that time.

Makna Sebuah Ulang Tahun

Gambar : BestWallPaperhd.com

29 tahun yang lalu, saya terlahir dari rahim seorang wanita yang kemudian sampai sekarang saya panggil sebagai Ibu. Hari di mana saya terlahir itulah yang sekarang selalu saya sebut sebagai hari Ulang Tahun saya. 

Ulang Tahun, mungkin tadinya tidak memiliki terlalu banyak arti untuk keluarga kami. Maklumlah, keluarga kami memang sedikit kaku. Hal yang paling mungkin dilakukan pada hari Ulang Tahun salah satu dari anggota keluarga kami adalah pergi makan malam di luar. Itupun biasanya hanya makan malam, di restoran sederhana yang merupakan tempat favorit kami sekeluarga. Restoran yang tanpa ada sesuatu acara pun kerap dikunjungi karena makanannya yang enak. Ucapan ulang tahun pun, ya sekedar "Selamat Ulang Tahun ya.." Tanpa embel-embel kado :) Bahkan terkadang teman-teman yang justru memberi kado dan merayakan dengan penuh kejutan. 

Tapi buat saya semuanya itu biasa saja. Memang tidak ada yang spesial dari sebuah ulang tahun. Toh, jika masih diberikan umur, tahun depan kita akan ulang tahun lagi. Seperti itulah kira-kira arti ulang tahun buat saya. 

Sampai di saat, tiba giliran saya menjadi seorang Ibu. Proses melahirkan yang saya percaya, hampir buat semua orang tidak mudah, melalui proses panjang yang diselimuti dengan rasa sakit yang tak terhingga, rasa cemas dan takut yang datang silih berganti dalam hampir 48 jam  proses persalinan, ditambah dengan rasa syukur yang tidak dapat diganti dengan kata-kata apapun ketika anak sudah lahir dengan normal. 

Look how happy he is :)

Mulai saat itu, saya akui banyak hal yang berubah. Bukan hanya dalam memaknai ulang tahun ya, akan tetapi dalam memaknai hidup secara keseluruhan. Ulang tahun yang tadinya buat saya hanya sebuah pengulangan dalam hidup, berubah menjadi saat di mana saya menjadi lebih bersyukur karena diberikan umur yang sudah bermanfaat buat saya. Membuat saya menjadi lebih mengerti bahwa, mungkin saya juga diberikan umur untuk lebih bermanfaat lagi, bukan hanya buat diri sendiri, tapi buat keluarga, anak dan tentunya untuk orang banyak. 

Begitulah sekarang saya memaknai ulang tahun di keluarga kecil kami. Kalau untuk saya dan suami, ulang tahun kami adalah saat di mana kami untuk kembali mengingat saat kami dilahirkan, dan harus menjadi lebih bermanfaat dari sebelumnya. 

Sementara ulang tahun Geza, menjadi saat bagi Geza untuk terus ingat, bahwa kami orang tuanya tidak akan pernah lupa akan hari ulang tahunnya, karena di hari itu, dia membawa perubahan besar ke arah yang lebih baik untuk keluarga kecil ini, dan bagi kami ulang tahunnya adalah waktu bagi kami untuk ingat ada kehidupan kecil yang akan bergantung dengan kami dan memacu kami untuk selalu lebih berusaha menjadi orang tua yang lebih baik.

Postingan ini diikutsertakan pada GiveAway Ultah Samara

Ikan Steam di Hari Sabtu

Sejujurnya ini bukan lah bidang yang kukuasai.. Yak, bidang itu adalah masak-memasak. Kalau orang-orang tahu Ibuku adalah jagoan masak, nah anak perempuan satu-satunya ini tidak kebagian sedikit pun bakatnya..

Tapi, setelah hampir 1.5 tahun tinggal di Malaysia, tidak punya ART yang bisa diandalkan untuk masak, dan kalau makan di luar terus, rasanya ya.. cukup lah, tapi tidak untuk makan setiap hari. Akhirnya, sedikit-sedikit mulai belajar buat masak, demi kelangsungan rumah tangga ini.. hehehe bahasanya.

Ini merupakan salah satu Resep andalanku, memasaknya sebentar dan tidak banyak proses yang dilakukan. Judulnya, Steam Fish ala Kiky. Resep asli datangnya dari Nenek, yang turun ke Ibu dan setelah dimodifikasi, sekarang ala saya :)

-Steam Fish ala Kiky-

Bahan Utama :

Ikan Bawal Putih, 2 ekor yang ukuran sedang. 

Bumbu :

1. Bawang Putih sekitar 5 siung

2. Bawang Bombay, cukup 1 buah ukuran sedang. Boleh ditambahkan dengan Bawang Merah.

3. Cabe Rawit, pedas atau tidak tergantung selera

4. Tomat, kalau ada tomat hijau, 3 buah

5. Belimbing Sayur (jika tidak ada bisa ditukar dengan perasaan air lemon)

6. Daun Kemangi, 1 ikat yang lumayan banyak isinya

7. Jahe, satu ruas jari

8. Garam

Cara Memasak :

1. Iris semua bumbu di atas tipis-tipis, kecuali Daun Kemangi. Untuk daun kemangi cukup di bersihkan dari batangnya.

2. Campur semua bumbu menjadi satu, dan aduk di satu tempat, termasuk daun kemangi.

3. Ambil piring yang terbiat dari keramik tahan panas. Usahakan yang bentuknya sedikit cembung, agar air dari ikan tidak tumpah.

4. Letakkan sebagian dari bumbu di dasar piring, masukkan sebagian ke dalam perut ikan , letakkan ikan ke dalam piring dan letakkan sebagian lagi dari bumbu yang ada di atas ikan.

5. Ambil panci untuk men-steam ikan. Isi bagian dasar panci dengan air dan letakkan ikan di atas jaring-jaring. Jangan sampai piring terkena air rebusan di bawahnya, dan tutup. 

6. Nyalakan api, dan masak ikan sampai semua bumbu terlihat layu, dan bau amis dari ikan sudah hilang.

7. Angkat ikan dari piring, dan pindahkan ke piring saji.

8. Siap dimakan oleh 2-3 orang.

Yaaa..begitulah kira-kira cara memasak ikan ini. Selain sehat dan bebas kolestrol, biayanya murah dan memasaknya juga sangat mudah. Ikan akan terasa sangat segar, karena sudah diberi perasan lemon atau belimbing sayur.

Selamat mencoba ya..

Have  a nice weekend everyone..