Europe Trip - Day 1: KL-London-Paris

I have been postponing to write this post because I know it is going to be a long one. So here goes.  Following a super tiring trip we had last year, I decided that this year, we were only going to stay at 2 hotels for this 8D7N trip, which means less hassle carrying those heavy bags around. Plus, it was fasting month so we might be fasting, if we could afford too and I kept the plan slightly lose once we were back in Britain.

Itinerary

19Jul13(Fri): Depart from Kuala Lumpur 10.05am. Arrive in Heathrow 4.15pm. Board Eurostar from London St Pancras 7.31pm. Arrive in Paris Gare Du Nord 10.47pm.

20Jul13(Sat): Louvre and sight seeing around Paris. 10.30pm Eiffel Tower

21Jul13(Sun): Whole day Disneyland

22Jul13(Mon): Day trip to Frankfurt via train

23 Jul13(Tue): Board train from Gare Du Nord to St Pancras 2.43pm. Arrive in London St Pancras 4pm. Board train to Bristol from London Paddington 5pm.

24Jul13(Wed): Stonehenge and Bath

25Jul13(Thu): Around Bristol. Maybe go see the hanging bridge we didn't get to see last visit.

26 Jul13(Fri): Bristol to London Paddington 11.30am. London Heathrow back to Kuala Lumpur 10pm

Looks all planned out and well. But a lot of things went wrong and sent me topsy turvy all along. Firstly, it took us quite long to clear immigration and reached London St Pancras. We arrived the eurostar station around 7.15pm but what I didn't know was, they moved our train to Paris earlier to 7.20pm. They could have cleared the way for us to catch the train but it was too late when they noticed us. Next train at 8pm was the last train and they could only slot us in IF people doesn't show up because it's full house. Luckily they managed to slot us in. BUT rushing in last minute, we accidently left behind Tricia's supply bagpack, which also contains all printed bookings and my laptop. Frustrated and tired from the long hours of travelling, I gave up. My brother, however, helped me to ask an assistant on board to call the station and because we were the last passengers to leave, they found our bag and kept it for us until we came back on Tuesday. The end of our FIRST chapter of running and rushing.

Arrived in Paris comfortably, took a cab back to our hotel, Hotel Louvre Rivoli, and was excited to see that it was a nice hotel compared to the budget hotel we stayed in during my first visit here when I was a student (I paid through my nose for this one for the location near Louvre and within walking distance to the metro station). I booked a double room for myself and a twin room for my mom and brother. I thought twin room means twin beds but apparently, twin room means separate toilet and bath area with a double bed. Ah, my bad but small matter.
Booked the room initially on booking.com but cancelled that booking and got a cheaper rate directly from the hotel website. EUR 547.20 for the classic twin room and EUR 617.50 for the superior double room.

We rested before we continue our adventure the next day.

What was weird about this hotel was that they didn't have kettle in the room. I found it quite inconvenient as I had a baby with me and I needed to prepare her milk. Lucky the staff was accommodating and boiled us some water in the middle of the night and put it in a teapot for us to bring up to our room. We had our supper/sahur before we went to sleep because subuh prayer was around 2am. Brought along rice cooker, some onions, serunding and sambal ikan bilis my MIL prepared for us all the way from KL so we had plenty to eat. The next morning, I had to trouble the staff again to help us print tickets I left back in London. I was very thankful they could help to print the tickets for us FOC as it was quite a lot. I thought I would have to waste my beautiful morning looking for a cybercafe or something.

The Hunger Games 2: Catching Fire

Last weekend was supposed to be about 3 things: check-up, movie date and attending a wedding. Hubby however, didn't sleep at all Friday night. He forgot about the check-up but insisted to follow anyway, which was very sweet. But after the check up he blacked out for the whole afternoon. Wasted a beautiful day.

Anyway, the check-up confirmed our 2nd baby will also be a girl. As I said, I am equally happy whether it is a boy or a girl. Sometimes I worry if Batrisyia will think/feel I love her less later when her sister arrives. But I hope she knows that this baby is her sibling, HERS. Hehe. We have started referring to her as kakak and she knows she is a kakak. So I hope she is prepared. Anyway, I gained another 3kgs apparently for this check-up. 0kg + 0kg + 2kg + 2kg + 3kg = 7kgs within 5.5 months, which is A LOT. Haha. No. Don't blame the baby. It is 99% my fault. I tend to keep eating and eating with minimal exercise and I had to have RICE. =p Fine... Will watch my diet closely after this. Every thing else is good. Baby's growth on track, enough water, sugar and protein in urine negative. All is good. Next check-up I will have to go to another Dr though because Dr Siti will be on long leave. It's okay. It is just a routine check-up so I can live with that. Hehe.

We went home and slept the whole afternoon. I was supposed to be cleaning the house but now that I am heavy, I feel very lazy to move. So I just cleaned up here and there as I passed by. Woke hubby up nearly 6pm and we went back to Nilai for dinner. Went to Giant to buy stretchable pants and top for myself. Yeay. And went back to Bangi to join Uda and Irna for karaoke session at MyPop Avenue in Jalan Reko. Hubby wanted to go for a quick exercise but stopped by to drop me off first. We warmed up with a few songs and Tricia didn't look like she was enjoying herself so I asked her to follow her father, which she obliged, happily waving bye to me. But 10 minutes later, hubby sent her back with her bottle and her bag. Apparently, they made a move already when Tricia started shouting wanting to be with mummy. *super happy smile* =D She wants mummy. Hehehehehe. After karaoke, we continued our party back home with Kinect. Danced to a few round of songs and we think it was a good enough workout that we cancelled our Sunday morning aerobic. Haha.

Sunday morning, I was complaining to my hubby because he was supposed to take me on a movie date the day before but he didn't. Wanted to send Tricia to Nilai but was told that no one was at home. Didn't have the heart to leave Tricia there without her cousins, especially on a weekend. Hubby, sensing my concern, suggested that we brought Tricia with us to the movie after we attended my junior's wedding in Putrajaya. I was skeptical but went along with the idea. As I have read the book, I could afford to leave the cinema once in awhile and not feel like I missed anything. Hubby picked MBO Desa Petaling, which I thought was a brilliant idea. Firstly, they are not super strict, considering that we had a baby with us. And secondly, it was not as packed eventhough it was the first weekend of screening. No one was sitting beside us and the row in front of us was empty. Tricia as usual was restless most of the time. Finished balance of her milk and kept asking for more, which we didn't have. She went and made a mess with the popcorn on the seat next to us and came back to me full of popcorn in her hair. I took her out to the corridor once... then hubby came out and asked me to go back inside. Seeing how restless she was, hubby took her to buy drink and rota. It kept her occupied for awhile. And the last 15 minutes or so, hubby watched the movie by standing at the back of the cinema while carrying her. So it was a successful movie trip for the first time!!! Congratulations, best father in the whole wide world. Hehe. Mind you. This is our third attempt. First one lasted 10 minutes. Second one lasted half an hour. This is the first successful attempt. So exciting. Haha.

 

About the movie, I felt that it was cramped nicely. Some details were taken out to fit into the 2 hours screening without sacrificing the main storyline. 1) The scene where Katniss had to climb a tree and jumped back when the electrical fence was activated. 2) Scene at the party in District 1 where Heavensbee showed his clock to Katniss as a clue for the game. 3) Katniss not knowing how to use the thing Haymitch sent her until she saw a wet rat drinking from a tree. But all-in-all, I loved the movie. The final chapter to this trilogy is going to be a gory one. Looking forward to watch it later.

2 years old Batrisyia Hana

1) Mummy's little helper

We went to a hotel sometime last month. Before going out again, I couldn't find my slippers in front of the door. Apparently, Tricia went and kept everyone's slippers under the cabinet. Awhhh. Now I'm feeling the benefit of having a girl.

 

2) She loves me

Previously, my husband likes to play with my daughter by pretending to bite her. That same weekend, hubby pretended to bite me. Tricia was looking at me for my expression. When I had no expression, she didn't react. But when I pretended to be in pain, she shouted at her father, and scolded, slapped, kicked him... to let me go. She didn't even shouted that loud when the father was biting her. I am SO touched.

 

3) Cover up

Last weekend, I wrapped myself in a towel while dressing her up. Halfway through my towel dropped a bit, revealing myself. She suddenly said... "Mummy! Tutup!"(Cover up) Wahhh... Big girl already huh. And then, in the car, she was sitting on my lap... I pulled over the seat belt across her and it lifted her top a bit... Then she started screaming... "Mummy!!! Maluuu" Initially, I didn't understand what was happening. Because it was at night and it was dark... What could she be shy about. After a minute or so, I remembered the towel incident and checked her top. True enough, the seatbelt pulled her top up a bit. After I pulled it back down, she was satisfied and kept quiet.

 

4) First hiking experience

Hubby brought her up hiking in Nilai yesterday. Papa said, she was very strong. She walked herself halfway. Then only asked papa to carry her. A very healthy toddler. ^_^ Mummy is so happy with your progress, dear.

 

Quiet weekend in

Saturday

Had a good rest with my tiny little family last weekend. Tricia was again down with fever on Friday so I was up from nearly 4am to 6am to cater to her demands. Was waken up by my mom for breakfast nearly 9am. Mom left so I woke hubby up around 11am. It took him nearly one hour to finally wake up and all the while I was doing (handwash) laundry. 12pm left the house to buy tiles for our house, which is currently STILL under construction after one and a half months. Had Kenny Rogers for lunch at the new Bangi Gateaway. It rained heavily right after so we went back to sleep. Spend the rest of the evening at a relative's house as our cousin was getting engaged the next day. We slept quite late that night as everyone had enough sleep during the day. Haha.

Sunday

Woke up around 10.30am. Continued with my washing a bit then was rushing to attend the engagement do. Hubby and I wore the same shade of colour with the bride-to-be. Haha. Nasib baik sepupu sendiri. Kalau tak, kene hamun dah laki aku nih.

Went back to refresh/rest a bit, then off we went again. I had no idea where we were going that time. All hubby said was we were going for a drink. Apparently, he was taking me to have tea in the Majestic Hotel KL. Awhh. It was really lovely. Everything was sooo... British. Muahaha.

 

I had a wonderful wonderful time dating with my husband. I must be very lucky to get dates even after years of being together. We rushed home hoping to go to Putrajaya for some exercise but as soon as we left the house, rain started pouring down again. So we went back and just chill. I continued cleaning the house a bit, Tricia running around aimlessly, hubby stuck in front of the TV watching some recordings on our PVR. I joined him to watch masterchef US season 4 and then it was already 10pm. I fell asleep on Tricia's sofa for half an hour or so then woke up hungry. Went out for seafood dinner and came back super full.

On the way back, hubby was feeling a bit touchy feely. He suddenly said, he couldn't imagine how my late dad could "let me go". I was a little perplexed with this statement. Let me go? How? He said... You know... choosing the new family over an existing daughter. He said now that he has Tricia, he couldn't imagine letting her go... ever... no matter whoever enters his life later. The bond is so strong, it shouldn't be forgotten just because somebody doesn't like the child around. I was speechless. I wanted to defend my dad a bit but I had nothing to say. Tears nearly formed in my eyes but then a familiar feeling kicked in. I don't need to feel sorry for myself because I am strong. I accepted my life as it is and I am fine. Maybe my dad let me go because it was best for me. He needed a wife and I had my mother. If he kept hanging on to me, I would be destroyed by my stepmom. But all the words didn't come out. I kept quiet, didn't reply my husband a word. Then I turned to my daughter and said... at least no matter what happened, you know he will never leave you.
I must thank God everyday for sending this guy to me. The day he entered my life, I stopped trying to stay strong and I let go. I was free and I was finally happy.

Happy 2nd birthday, my little princess! 10.11.13

I have to admit I went overboard with the planning this time. Last year, we had a small celebration with family members only. I felt guilty for not inviting some close friends over so I invited over 120 people this time, excluding those who told me earlier they won't be coming. I prepared food for 80 people. But sadly, only about 40 people turned up. A lot of food and door gift wasted. I was disappointed. But I guess I learned a lesson. Birthday parties aren't that important so not everyone will turn up. Plus the location is a bit far from KL, which I totally understand. But I just wished people would have told me earlier that they don't feel like coming so I don't have to prepare so much food to be wasted. Especially my side of the family. I expected them to turn up but no one did. Those who cancelled last minute was understandable too. A lot of people was sick last weekend including the birthday girl herself. On the way to PCY, she even puked all over her new dress... Had to put on her spare dress, which is luckily quite nice too, given by her aunty.

That said, I especially appreciate those who turned up. Thank you everyone for coming. And on top of that for the wonderful presents for the birthday girl. She loved them all. Well, at least, mummy loves them all. Haha. I haven't collected the pictures from that day. This is one of the pictures sent to me via whatsapp. Us slaughtering the angry bird cake. Happy 2nd birthday, my little princess. Love you forever and ever. Wish you all the happiness in the world. Muacks.

21 weeks

Woohoo... crossed my halfway mark of this pregnancy. 21 weeks down... 19 weeks to go. Funny my immediate superior just found out about my pregnancy recently when she was the one approving my claims. Maybe she's not aware of what prenatal check up was. When she asked me about my due date and I told her end of March, she said the baby will have a strong character. I was quite blur that time, then only it hit me... strong character like HER! Oh my gosh. If that's the case, I'm gonna have 2 power houses in the house. 1 Scorpio, 1 Aries. That's a handful. Combined with the father's Leo, mummy's gonna have a hardtime handling everyone. But there's still a possibility that the baby will be a Pisces, which has a milder personality, I think. The crossover date is 20th March. Batrisyia was 5 days ahead of her EDD. Since this is my second pregnancy, there is high possibility this baby will come out slightly early too. Ah well, quite exciting to see. Not that it matters or will affect me significantly in any way. I just find zodiac reading interesting. Come out whenever you are ready, baby. All of us can't wait to see you. ^_^