Hong Kong Ocean Park/Ladies Market : Day 2 (30/10/2013)

I think when people mention theme parks in Hong Kong, the first name that will come to mind is Disneyland. It is a shame that people tend to overlook Ocean Park because to me it is a great place to visit :) 

I think for people who's really into adventurous rides (roller coasters and those scary thing that goes up and down) this is THE place to be, as the park offers more thrilling rides for adults as compared to Disneyland. Don't be worried if you're trying to cater for younger audience because they will still be greatly entertained with the aquariums housing sea creatures such as sharks and stingrays (think a bigger sized Aquaria), Panda's, animal shows etc..

Ocean Park is HUGE and it is divided into two parts. The lower part housing Panda House and Grand Aquarium and the upper part where most of the rides are situated in. There's cable car or the more "covered" submarine trains (for the gayats) which will bring you up and down the hill.

Fishes... fishes EVERYWHERE, my children was totally amaze being surrounded with handsome sea creatures they usually see in books. How cool is that we get to see the attendant feeding food to the fishes (Actually I didn't even realized it until my 4 year old pointed to me that there's a man in the aquarium, hahaha)

Ryan and his sisters having fun. Ryan was having the most fun, the twins was just sleepy and grumpy at this point :p The joy of traveling with little munchkins

Me with my little monsters and a real monster :p We were lucky that we got to enjoy some really cute decorations as we where there a day before Halloween. There's some giant Jack-O-Lantern, dressed up skeletons and  cute monster figurines thrown all around the park :)

 Ryan with his favourite person his ATUK

Do you know that goldfish originated from the plain old carp??? 

Masyallah such transformation

Ocean Park presents the Old Hong Kong : Very old Jackie Chan movie, with hawker style restaurants selling mee kicap (which is non-halal by the way) Anyway Ocean Park has recently open up a Halal food kiosk near the entrance, called Lakeside Restaurant. The choices are limited but more than enough to "alas perut" since you're not allowed to bring outside food in.

My very handsome penarik beca :p

Ladies Market, Mongkok

Later in the evening, Lan, my sister and bro in law decided to look for the famous Ladies Market, we decided to leave the twins with my parents at the hotel because we did not want to roam around getting lost with the girls and my parents. We managed to find it quite easily but leaving the toddlers at the hotel was the right decision. We went out around 630pm on a Wednesday and the MRT station was jam packed with people. Lan and I had to practically squeeze in a tiny spot hugging Ryan for dear life. 

You can find some nice and reasonably price things at the market such as souveniers, baby clothes, bags, and toys (think Petaling Street). I bought some cheap bags, Chinese princess outfits for the girls, toys for Ryan and a gabijilion magnets and keychain for the people back home :)

P/S: I was satisfied with one visit but my sister went again the day after with my parents while we stayed with the kids. She also went to Temple market in Jordan Street during our second day visit to Disneyland and according to her the souvenirs are a tad cheaper there. So something to consider for people who plan to shop in both places.

Ryan wanted to take a shot with Thor's hammer displayed in the MRT for the movie promo

To be continued....

Hong Kong : Day 1 (29 October 2013)

We started our journey to LCCT as early as 6am on the 29/10/2013. Alhamdullilah, our journey was a smooth one. The twins especially Ranya turned out to be pretty nervous fliers and every little thing will set them off. It's a bit of a departure for me, who's used to Ryan who is so easy to travel with :p Oh well every kid has their own quirks, right? Deal with it, Mummy!!

Daddy, Ryan and Iman waiting for the plane to take off.

Beautiful clear blue sky :)

I think we took every available public transportation while in Hong Kong from the bus, MRT, boats and taxi. The best part about it? We don't mind it at all because it is very  convenient and efficient

Camwhoring with Iman and Lan in the AEL. They even have free wifi on the trains, how cool is that?

We stayed in Cosmo Hotel situated in Wan Chai. It is about 15 minutes drive away from the Hong Kong Central Station and Ocean Park and about 10 minutes walk away from Times Square. I find the hotel location very convenient especially with the added benefit of the hotel offering shuttle services to several location around Hong Kong. Accessibility is very important for me since we're traveling with 3 kids under four in an alien country.

Another plus about our hotel is  they offer a 2 bedroom apartment suite which can accommodate up to 6 adults. They even have a small kitchenette that we used to cook breakfast and dinner. Despite the challenged of being in a non-muslim country, we were sufficiently fed with Halal food. Anyway I think the hotel endorsed OSIM products because we were supplied with everything from the massage chair to those eye massager. All in all, I was happy with the services and facilities. Will surely come back if we ever had the opportunity.

My munchkins enjoying themselves in the hotel room. They had so much fun running from one end to another. I guess it is like a never ending party for them having mummy and daddy around all day AND also their atuk, nenek, mak long and pak long together :)

We decided to take a stroll in Hong Kong city after dinner.We took a short walk at the pier and went around IPC mall to check out the scene. 

 

                           Family portrait with nobody paying attention to the camera :p

Gorgeous views from Central Hong Kong

Impian Hotel, Pantai Morib (18-19 May 2013)

We're here in Impian Hotel for Ryan's sports day, we booked the sea-view chalet as it seems to offer more space. The room has a twin bed and a queen bed. More than enough space for the 4 of us. The twins had fun rearranging the furniture and running from one end to another. The room is clean and service is pretty good. However, the size of the room is pretty small for a chalet if you ask me.

 Ranya and Iman enjoyed the breakfast spread. The choices for the buffet is pretty limited but the food tasted good. I love everything from the Nasi lemak, mee goreng, spuds and even the french toast :p totally made up for the lack of choices.

We went to Pantai Morib for evening walk and an early dinner. Again we were treated to good food courtesy of the boardwalk stalls :) cheap and cheerful. We ordered nasi goreng kampung, nasi goreng usa and chicken chop and fruit juices. I'm a happy camper

Iman pointing to a bunch of fisherman putting up nets in the middle of the sea. They looked like a bunch of bobble heads from afar. Ranya kept on saying "shark..shark" hahah does look like it kan, honey?

Watching sunset with my little princesses. Alhamdulliah it was a good short break. I don't mind coming back here someday for a short holiday with the kids.

Zoo Negara, Kuala Lumpur (26 March 2013)

The front entrance :)

The Map . You can either download the map into your hp or you would need to "donate" RM1 for the physical map available in the front counter

Savannah walk : where you can find rhinos, giraffe, zebras and gazelle in one "field"

Ostriches running around in the Savannah Walk

At the ape centre, where you can find 2 orang utans and 2 gorillas

Info wall at the Ape Center

Please don't feed the baboons :)

the boys with Kamal the Camel ;)

Check out the flamingos behind me...

Giraffes

The friendliest elephant around :)

The other zoo inhabitants