Woot! Another picture used in an article!

Yes! I've gone green and started tree-hugging! One of my picture from back in 2003 was used in one of their article, with permission of course. It was taken when I wen strawberry picking with my parents and aunty just before I left UK for good. Over there, they just give you a basket, you pay the entrance fee, eat all the strawberries you want - cream not included of course. If you want to take some home, they weigh it at the exit and you pay for them. As simple as that! The article appears in treehugger.com via this link.

Full fat, full throtle

Pasar Ramadhan 5, originally uploaded by Haris Abdul Rahman.

Since I am off today, everyone reading my facebook update was green with envy with my updates. Started off with the usual school run. It was raining very heavily however, and I heard that traffic across town was pretty bad. We got to Pingu School quite late as well and Irfan had to cut short his class today since we had to rush back to fetch Idlan.

The Eid decor at Great Eastern MallAfter all is done, we went to Great Eastern Mall for the boys to have lunch. Idlan then did some artwork at the art class, while we did some groceries. Since yesterday, Idlan have been talking about his Peter the shellcrab. He found it when we were at the beach yesterday and has grown attached to it ever since. Unfortunately since we didn't have the tools to look after Peter, we had to set him free. Idlan actually cried. When he woke up this morning, he kept asking how is Peter.

Therefore, we went to a pet shop at the mall, and we picked up a couple of crabs. Idlan then named them Peter and Jane. Irfan on the other hand wanted the clownfish. We didn't even have an aquarium, let alone ones that can take on salt-water fish. We got a couple of guppies for him instead, and he names them Nemo and Ike - Ike short for Ikan!

We then spend the afternoon setting up the tank, fed the pets etc. Then it was time for pasar Ramadhan. We initially went to a shop in Ukay Perdana that we went yesterday. The murtabak there was pretty good, even if it cost RM4. We then headed for Melawati for other stuffs, including some fireworks for the boys. As you can see, Anita was attracted to fat. There was this stall that sell every known part - edible of course - of a cow. She loved the tongue and picked them up. As you can see in the pics, they were instant artery cloggers! Eat them at your peril! Preferably with a local friendly Cardiologist around. I've already booked Imran.

This shop sell a mean Murtabak. Click on the pics and look at the map for the location.The rest of the day I spent clearing up a couple of websites including Idlan's. I wanted to install the smugmug flash slideshow in them realising that they can take ages to load. I'm also setting up a separate photoblog, just telling stories in pictures, no doubt inspired by the Ramadhan website I read the other day.

Greetings from Port Dickson - Day 2

Irfan and his castle

Pasaraya Mesra - for all your towel needs!It was stormy the night before. All our towels outside were soaked. The first order of the day is to buy fresh ones. After that was settled, we decided to do some shopping in town. My mother-in-law's maid has a relative here in PD, so we let her go for a visit.

After shopping we headed to Thistle, a newly refurbished hotel just south of Telok Kemang. The last time we visited it, it was still in it's earlier incarnation, the Guomon.

After a quick walk around the place, we settled at the creche. We spent nearly 2 hours there, watching DVDs, playing ping-pong etc. The boys had some ice-cream by the pool. The weather was overcast and dull. The best place to stay was indoors.

We never stayed here before, so I can't comment about the rooms. The pool was nice with a separate area for young kids with waterslides and shades. The whole place was designed to be child-friendly. My main gripe was the lack of lifts. There was only one that we can find, to serve all six floors. Waiting for one can be an eternity. We therefore used the stairs instead. But imagine if you have a pram or carrying some bags, that can be an issue.

The creche was nice and cozy. The walls and floors were covered with foamy mats for protection. There was a room filled with balls were my boys were practically swimming in it. The entrance fee was however rather steep at RM15 per child. You can use the ticket the whole day however. The toilet and changing facilities for kids at the creche was also very good. By about 4.30, we went back into town to pick up the maid.

After a quick change and shower back at the apartment, we returned to Thistle for Berbuka. The buffet spread was very good and the price was way reasonable if you compare to KL. Apart from the usual Malay dishes, there was also barbecue, salads and plenty of sweets. Unfortunately the waitress messed up our booking went we came earlier to book a table. We were surprised to learn that there was no table under our name when we turned up. Luckily, the duty manager was nice enough to arrange for one even thought the place was fully booked. The manager will get an email for this .....

After another walk post-food, we headed back to the apartment content. The boys were still jumping until almost midnight, but all in all, it was a nice day for everyone.

* more picture will appear as they were uploaded into flickr

Greetings from Port Dickson - Day 1

PD Day 1-15 - Lonely at the beach, originally uploaded by Haris Abdul Rahman.

Has been occupied with the kids during the weekend with the trip to our beachfront apartment there.We came here Saturday, and will make our trek back to KL later today. But not after another trip to the beach of course.

We left KL pretty early on Saturday, and were already settled in PD by 1 pm. Since the last time we came here was during the Labour Day, the apartment could do with a bit of a clean. After that's sorted, it was my job to scout for a place for iftar. We decided to have it at the PD Golf Club, the place where we normally go for breakfast usually.

After the buffet was booked, it's time to hit the beach. It was very sunny that day, and we had to wait until around 5pm before we venture off. The boys occupied themselves by playing the Wii till then.

Suits, checked. Sunscreen, checked. Caps, checked.A welcoming sight!A bliss!We had to leave the beach early since the table was already booked. We got to the Golf Club about 15 minutes before iftar. Settled into our table. The spread was basically Malay themed, with barbecue thrown in for good measure. The main surprise was it cost us RM60 for everything! You can't get that kind of price in KL. And the food were pretty decent too. By the end, the boys were already getting tired. After a quick trip to 7-Eleven, we got back home. Chilled, while I picked up some food for sahur at our resort as we were too tired to go anywhere else.

That was the first day ......

Some Haagen-Dasz is always nice

Some Haagen-Dasz is always nice, originally uploaded by Haris Abdul Rahman.

After Berbuka last night, I had to drive Anita and Irfan to Bangsar Vllage. She had to return Idlan's baju Melayu. It was too big. We managed to exchange for a smaller one. But boy, was Bangsar crowded. It was Friday night after all.

The packed foyerWe reached there close to 9, and the shops will be closed in an hour. In the foyer of Village 1, there is an open market. There are stalls selling Raya clothes and hampers and the likes. The hampers were particularly nice, though they are not cheap. I suppose you get what you paid for. The acid test was whether the Raya cookies in there was as nice as it looked. Therefore, we insisted on trying some. Surprisingly they were good. Enough reason for Anita to splash on one. I'm not sure who she plans to give it too.

A cousin of ours used to do hampers and deliveries in the last few years. I am not sure if she is doing it again this year. She said that the return is good, but it was hard work, especially the delivery part. She was still making deliveries on the evening of Raya.

I have taken both Tuesday and Wednesday off. Coupled with Monday being 'Merdeka Day', I will have 5 straight days off work which is nice. Initially we wanted to travel to Penang, but in the last minute we decided otherwise. We will be heading for Port Dickson instead later today. A couple of days holidays for the boys. That would be nice. Planning to do a bit of street photography while I am there. Shame that I can't go for my Assam Laksa and Teh Tarik in the town because of Ramadhan. The stall might be opened at night though.