Sent to the office, daddy was called to school..

Sigh... he's not even officially 5 years old yet but today he was sent to the school office and Mr Ababe was called in. He hit a boy.. Ok, ok, not going to defend my boy and will not also defend the other boy. Kids will be kids. Of course the real true story would always remain a mystery. Ababe Jr said he was hit first, so can be considered as self defense? The other kid on the other hand is a fair skinned boy, thus a bruise could clearly be seen on his forehead (according to Mr Ababe). Teacher said that the mother had called up the school earlier to ask about a few bruises found on her son.. he he.. so am not sure, is her son being bullied or is he a bully.. Anyway, of course Ababe Jr had a "conversation" with his daddy, apologised to the boy and continued playing (today is picnic day!!!).

By the time I got back home of course he acted like nothing happened and Mommy had to inject in some very sound advice hoping that this would not occur again.

~Mrs Ababe~

Ababe Jr's visit to Atok's grave..

One day before Raya (12 October 2007, Friday), the whole family went to my dad's kubur at Section 21, Shah Alam....This is Ababe Jr's 3rd Raya here but I guess he didn't remember much of the first 2 visits... While waiting for us to finish reading the Yasin and Doas, he helped clean up the area of the kubur...then I took him for a walk along the children's graves to go and buy some flowers for Atok's grave...After all is done and goodbyes were said (Ababe Jr was a bit skeptical about saying Assalamualaikum and Selamat Hari Raya to an absent Atok) we left Atok at his final resting place...

In the car suddenly he turned to me and said, best kan tempat ni Mummy... I was soooo touched... I prayed and I prayed that my son would continue to love going to the kubur as he grows up even if only to visit his Atok he has never met before... Insyallah...


The above was written in 2007, 25 April 2009 was another day that we all went again to the graveyard. Sadly, this year, we've been here a whole lot more times and additional graves were to be visited. We buried my beloved Auntie on 22 April 2008, and grandma on 17 February 2009. Thus on this date, we started out by visiting first my grandma, then my beloved friend, Shera, my auntie and last but not least my beloved dad.

It was a hot morning so Ababe Jr was starting to get uncomfortable and bothered. Ababe Jr and I walked all the way up to Atok's grave and it was very cooling there due to the big tree that covers over the grave. Since we arrived there first, we cleaned up the grave first. Ababe Jr started talking:-

"Is this Acid's grandpa's grave?"
"He is your grandpa also. This is nenek's Atok. You have Mak Tok and Atok, Nenek and Atok."
"Can I see Atok?"
"No, Atok has gone to heaven and never coming back. He is with Nek Ngah and Nyang."
"If I push aside the stones, will I get to see him?"
"No sayang, Atok is not there anymore. I'll show you his pictures at home..."

As he grows up I am sure he will have more and more questions about life and death, and I hope with all my might that I am able to explain to him...

~Mrs Ababe~

A poem and a quote...

If I Had My Child To Raise Over Again

If I had my child to raise again,
I'd build self esteem first, and the house later.
I'd finger paint more,
And point the finger less.

I would do less correcting, and more connecting.
I'd take my eyes off my watch,
And watch with my eyes.

I would care to know less, And know to care more.
I'd take more hikes,
And fly more kites.

I'd stop playing serious, And seriously play.
I would run through more fields,
And gaze at more stars.

I would do more hugging and less tugging.
I would see the oak tree in the acorn more often.

I would be firm less often, And affirm much more.
I'd care less about the love of power,
And more about the power of love.

Author Unknown.......

You love something and then one day it's suddenly gone or changed or lost forever. But somehow that doesn't stop your love. Maybe that's how you know it's the real thing. When it doesn't come with conditions and get-out clauses, when it doesn't have a best-by date. When you just give your love, and never stop giving it, and know that you never will. That's when it is real. That's when they can never touch it or spoil it or take it away from you.

- Tony Parsons (One for my baby)

~Mrs Ababe~

Hong Kong - The Final Day 18 April 2009

Sob sob our final day of the trip has finally arrived. After 8 months of planning and scheming the holiday has come to an end. When and where will be our next family holiday trip? Hopefully it'll be soon nonetheless Mrs Ababe has to fill up the family piggy bank which is almost depleted, again.

Mrs Ababe was allowed some alone time to visit her boutiques, however she only went into her fave... hu hu.. The weather has started to change and it was slightly drizzling. Check out time was at 12pm, we left our bags at the concierge and decided to go to the ferry terminal again. We walked through Sogo, had some Japanese food for lunch, through Avenue of Stars and took the ferry across. Then we took a double decker right up to The Peak!!! Can you imagine a double decker bus going up the winding road to the peak of Penang Hill!!! The bus could even do a 3-point turn somewhere along the way. I was totally amazed with the driver's skills. We just enjoyed the ride and scenery up and down again, Ababe Jr slept all the way up and down..

We went down at Admiralty and got an MTR to Mong Kok to again visit the Ladies' Market. Just to kill time we went one round, the rain has started to become heavier, then went back to The Kowloon Hotel.

We grabbed our bags (since it was pouring we didn't get to take photo of our hotel), got into the free shuttle to the Airport Express Station, where we took the train to the Airport for our trip back home. At the airport, we did some last minute shopping at the Disney shop (again!), bought some chocolates, had Popeye's for dinner (yum yum, fried chicken!), board the plane, Ababe Jr fell asleep, home sweet home...

This was our first holiday trip overseas as a family and we had a tremendously fantabulouso great time!!

~Mrs Ababe~

Hong Kong - Ocean Park & Symphony of Lights 17 April 2009

We woke up early to catch the tour bus that would be bringing us to Ocean Park at Aberdeen. Before arriving Ocean Park, the tour guide actually took us to a diamond shop!!! Funny! Who would buy any then have to lug the diamond all over Ocean Park? He he.

We arrived at Ocean Park around 10.30 am. Upon arriving we went on the Raging River and got wet. Then we went up the 4 longest elevators to the top of the mountain. Amazing view of the bay!

Mr Ababe and me didn't bother going on any of the roller coasters since we know Ababe Jr will not be able to ride. After watching the dolphin and seals' show, we took the cable car and went across the mountain to the other side. On the other side we went through Madagascar 2 which was quite cute! Watched an acrobatic performance, visited the pandas (Ababe Jr was disappointed that they were not like Kung Fu Panda!) who were sleeping and lazing around. Then we just spent the rest of the afternoon at the kids' section where Ababe Jr had some fun playing on all the rides. We saw Anson the dolphin training at the Dolphin University and Beemer the seal who just came back after his show! Back on the cable car to go back to the other side and waited for the bus to bring us back to the hotel.

At the hotel we decided to walk to the Avenue of Stars where Ababe Jr found a statue of Bruce Lee and kept taking pictures with him. We walked along the harbour and waited for the Symphony of Lights show which starts at 8.00pm. The breeze was very cooling and it was really nice walking and watching the show that night.

After the show we decided to take the MTR to Mong Kok and go to the Ladies' Market. Since it was raining we did a fast one, fortunately it is so like Petaling Street in Malaysia so we didn't lose out on anything much. Bought some souvenirs, caught the MTR back, grabbed dinner and headed back to the hotel....zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz....

~Mrs Ababe~

Hong Kong - Disneyland & TsimTsaTsui 16 April 2009

It's our third day in Hong Kong and today we will be leaving Disney Hollywood Hotel for The Kowloon Hotel in Tsim Tsa Tsui. I packed up everything, all the free toothbrushes, bath gels and shampoos, bedroom slippers, stationery set and even the laundry bag (which had the words "Laundry" embroidered. Check out time was at 11.00 am and we didn't even had time to try the swimming pool, hu hu.

Anyway, our bags were kept by the concierge, we then went to the hotel's park and took pictures with the Hollywood sign and the cars and the view of the lake, nice! We also went to Disneyland Hotel but even though I met Sleeping Beauty and Cinderella here, we decided that Disney Hollywood Hotel had more places and activities for Ababe Jr.

We left Disneyland after having lunch of shrimp and tuna pizza (yummy!) at the Disney Hollywood Hotel for the last time. Took the train to Tsim Tsa Tsui, bought the Octopus cards where we all got cheaper rates when taking the MTR. The train and train station for Disneyland is extra nice and special.

The MTR stopped at our station and we came out almost immediately at our Hotel's doorstep. The Kowloon Hotel is located at a very nice area, immediately behind The Peninsula thus I was immediately looking at Chanel, Dior, Louis Vuitton, Goyard, Burberry, Bally...sigh... I only took pictures from the outside, not daring to go inside incase I can afford them!!! Ya right!!!

Our room number is 1013 and it was a very small room. I guess beggars can't be choosy but we can't help comparing with the room at Disneyland where we had 2 double beds in the room! After checking in, we took the MTR to Central and then walked to the tram station to get to The Peak. It was already misty and cloudy, so by the time we reached the top, it wasn't that clear anymore. But the cooling breeze and atmosphere made drinking coffee at the Pacific Coffee very refreshing and enjoyable.

We stayed until it was dark so that we got the view for both day and night time. It was Ababe Jr's first encounter with Bruce Lee and he was quite excited about another Jackie Chan and was always practising his Kung Fu moves. We also went to The Hard Rock Cafe, Hong Kong which is located at The Peak Galleria but it only sells merchandise here. Their Kowloon HRC was currently being relocated, nonetheless Mrs Ababe and Ababe Jr bought matching tshirts of HRC Hong Kong...

When we reached ground level, we got on the double decker bus with no top and zoomed through the city to take the Star Ferry across. During the ride on the ferry we missed The Festival of Lights which was performing by the harbour. Went to find food since I had an address of some halal food near our hotel area. We were so happy to discover that it was very near and there were a lot of choices. Thus food in town would not be a problem. Again another hectic day and we were all exhausted by the time we got to the hotel.

Tomorrow is another day and we had already signed up with the hotel for a tour group to the Ocean Park. We have to be ready by 8.25 am, darn! Fortunately this is the only 1 trip that we followed a tour group. I couldn't sleep early that night, most probably from that wonderful Latte I had at The Peak or just from the excitement of the trip.

~Mrs Ababe~

Hong Kong - Disneyland 15 April 2009

Second day in Disneyland, Hong Kong... Did I mention that this is the first overseas trip for Ababe Jr? Disregard Singapore since his grandmother's from there.. Mr Ababe was just mentioning to me the other day how lucky Ababe Jr is as at the age of 5 he has already been abroad compared to us whom only got to go out of the country when we were teens!!! Sigh.. I guess we have to thank Airasia for making it possible for everyone to fly!! Phewittt!! Can I get free tickets for that free advertisement?

Anyway, back to the second day at Disneyland. We though we could breeze through the second day at a leisurely pace. Boy were we wrong!!! We started out watching The Lion King (which was amazing!!), then visited Tarzan's Treehouse. Decided to have lunch first before venturing into Adventureland. We wasted time queuing for Autopia (Ababe Jr drove his first Honda!). Then we ran to catch the parade! This was the only time that Ababe Jr got to see Donald and Daisy Ducks, pity him but at least he got to see them. After that it was catching up with Buzz (Ababe Jr's current fave), took a fastpass for Buzz's Astro Blasters. Mean time we went up Space Mountain!!! The best part is that Ababe Jr was tall enough to ride! I was a bit scared when his head kept bumping into me, but at the end he seemed ok, he only said that it made him have a slight headache. The picture that came out has no photo of him as he was slumped below the handbars.. he he.. But he enjoyed his first roller coaster ride. Then it was off to watch "The Golden Mickeys", fun except that it was the Chinese version. After that it was off again to play Buzz, which of course he enjoyed tremendously! It started to rain soon after so we went on the Orbitron in the rain. We queued up to get onto Pooh's ride, wanted to catch Stitch's Encounter but it was another half an hour. By this time it was already 7pm, and we wanted to catch the fireworks at 8pm, have dinner and buy our souvenirs!!! We went into It's a Small World where there were dolls from Malaysia and the sign "Selamat Jalan". Cool! After that ended we went off again for Stitch. Mr Ababe was chosen by Stitch to converse with so it was quite funny and interesting. By the time we came out from Stitch, the fireworks have started and it was raining!!!

The fireworks ended which was also a sign that our Disneyland trip was going to end also, sob sob.. We had dinner and eventhough the parks have closed, the shops were still opened. We shopped for souvenirs, Ababe Jr was extremely tired, went back to our hotel, bathe and zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz..... Another extremely interesting and tiring day...

~Mrs Ababe~