The Year End Mad Rush Holiday

N has a way of delivering last minute surprises come the final week of each year, or so I’ve noticed. This year, I went through weeks of negotiating and trying to squeeze in a short holiday in his busy schedule, which most of the time was turned down or was given a “to be advised” answer and on bad days, a straighforward "NO". I had given up. Then on the Wednesday before Christmas he rang me at my extension to say “Pack the bags, we are leaving on Saturday night!” to which I shrieked “Wheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!!” like a 5 year old screaming in delight on a slide in a playground. Nevermind where we were going and nevermind the short notice, I was happy that at last we were leaving Kuala Lumpur for time-out from the office. And was doubly pleased to find that mom, dad and my sister, D were coming too!

So, the 3 days before departure was a mad rush. I had to pack for the kids, I had to make hotel bookings and in between work and all the arrangements, we managed to mess up one booking which resulted in us having to travel one day earlier, Friday! Phew! Thank God for years of travelling light, I wasn't too worried about the last minute change. The bags were the least of my worries. As long as we had our tickets and passports, we were all set! Our spirits were never once dampened by the change and screw ups. After all, tis the season to be jolly. Isn’t it?

Christmas Eve we found ourselves in the Land of the French Disney and in the company of Mickey and Minnie, Donald and Pluto, Cinderella, Snow White and the lot. The land of Fantasy and adventure, the land of all that's magical. The boys were excited, Disneyland was made just for them, they believed. And although it was so cold (it snowed!) that our teeth were chattering and every single muscle in our bodies were freezing, we had a blast! Mom, dad, kids, grandparents and aunt, we all got carried away!



L-R: Notre Dame, Eiffel, N and I on "time-off" . Yayy!

A few days later, we were touring Paris. What can I say? How do I describe it? "Beuatiful" doesn't describe it. "Breathtaking" is an understatement. Strolling down it's wide, tree-lined avenues, you could almost hear violins in the background playing a tune so pleasing to the senses that you it makes you feel like you're floating by on invisible wings. I could've gotten carried away with this feeling, almost. If not for the cold-cold weather! And although this was my second trip there, the Eiffel Tower still amazed me away every time we passed by. Being there with N this time also made a big difference (the last time I was there, I was still going solo.....). To be with the one you love at what’s said as the most romantic city in the world, made the winter cold almost unfelt. *grin*grin* (Thanks mom and dad and Deana for babysitting the boys and giving us some time-off! :))


Oh, and the pastries! Oooh la la! Mom and I couldn't stop ourselves from stopping by at the window displays of each deli that we passed by to savour the sight and smells of french pastries. Of course, a large amount of pasrties were also consumed in the short period we were there. Highly justifiable to me, I say. What's a holiday without the makan, right?? Too bad I didn't take any photos of the food we ate. I so fail as a blogger!

From KakTeh's files: That's us arriving in Waterloo. You could see her fingers clenched, ready to pinch the boys!

The best is always saved for last. Since we were just a few hours away, we couldn’t resist dropping” by at London, especially since our little "London Connection" is there. We were greeted at London Waterloo after a 3 hour Eurostar train journey by a very happy, excited and smiley KakTeh and her "sayang-mama", Taufiq. (Was it my imagination, or did the boys try and cover their cheeks when they saw you, Mak Teh?) Of course, she was on standby at the arrival hall when we got there, and OF COURSE she had her camera clicking away at us walking into the arrival hall, even before we got the chance to run to her and smother her with kisses and hugs and what nots!


Us gals at Stratford
N spent most of the days there scouring the British museums with my dad and Pak Teh, while us women (that’s my mom, KakTeh, the girlie cousins and I) spent more time at places around the hotel and in the city shops, multi-tasking, ie. catching up and doing the "necessary" things that women do (oh, the sales were crazy!). In between we managed to hire cars to drive to Stratsford (Shakespeare wuz there!), Oxford and the Cotswolds to give N a taste of the English countryside and to show the boys Oxford. (ambitious parents?? naaah, we wanted to buy the t-shirts! haha!).

Dad and Mom in Oxford - nak enrol cucu!

Oh and the makan, was out of this world! You name it, Turkish, Lebanese, Egyptian, Indian food..and oh, I can't begin to tell you how much time I spent I spent in the food halls of Marks and Spencers, Tesco etc for chocolate eclairs, rich and thick chocolate and vanilla milk, fruit smoothies and such! Ood, you asked if I lost weight? Go figure! All this was topped off and ended with nice surprise grand finale when we bumped into the "Choo" man himself, Datuk Jimmy Choo, who so graciously paid for our last scrumptious lunch of mutton korma and kuey teow kerang at Mawar in London! So, it starts with lunch, perhaps another day it will be a pair of shoes, Datuk? Yes? No? :D

L-R: Us having Egyptian food at Abouhamed's, Mom having a go at Lebanese, at "Feiruz", thanks to Rehana!

The London visit was priceless, and all because it was quality time spent with the aunt and uncle (or rather “Toks”, mind you) and cousins almost 24 hours a day while we were there. It’s been a long time since we spent such good quality time with KakTeh and family. When they are back, we have to "share" them with the rest of the clan and what seems like the rest of Malaysia! As for me, it was so amazing to see how my once lil baby cousins have grown into such fine, beautiful and handsome youngsters. Was it really 12 years ago that I was there watching them run around at home and telling them bedtime stories? I would never have been able to recognize them had I bumped into them in the streets of KL or London. Oh, how they’ve grown! And it was great to see how much love KakTeh and Sir AG gave my sons, Nasar and Nasri, and how the boys bonded with their Uncle Hafiz, Aunty Rehana and Nona and little-but-not-so-little-anymore Uncle Taufiq (Taufiq, you're a GEM with a capital G!) even though they hardly ever meet all of them. To the "Tehs" or actually, ehem.. the TokTehs, thank you so much for spending all that time with us. We missed all of you even as we landed on homeground at KLIA.

The ones we miss so! Our happy and kenyang family!

We touched down in KL on the 2nd of January 2006 and all the way on the flight, we couldn’t help but reminisce the good times we had, especially the times with the family in London. When we will ever get to do that again, I don’t know. But what a way to end 2005 and start 2006! Wonderful. Just wonderful.