TRIP TO AQUARIA ON CNY-FIRST MILESTONE

There was a time when i wondered whether i will be anything at all. Whether i will EVER stop living on charity. There was a time when i cannot imagine myself even buying my wonderful children who in the past have experienced good food, pizza. There was a time when i kept having to say one day we will be able to do this, one day soon, yet in my heart i wasn't sure whether i will ever achieve anything.really..I am so thankful that Allah has permitted me to reach my first milestone as a single mother and a Translator. This trip to Aquaria, which is NEGLIGIBLE by many people's standards is quite SOMETHING by MINE and is truly a cause for celebration. And we had a whale of a time- oops no whales,nor dolphins, but beautiful sea and jungle creatures and certainly very,very handsome sharks. We took our own sweet time, something we haven't done, ever, we were always rushing..this time, i told my lovelies, we will enjoy every second..drink up every single moment sip by sip and preserve it in our memory as the first of many more to come.


Everyone woke up early and put on our best, we began our trip by refueling at the Cold Storage..Cheap but nice :)





Yummy Ummi




The look you get when you say "If you don't eat, you're not coming with us "


UMMI, YOU CAN WALK THERE, WE WANT TO TAKE OUR PRIVATE JET!! bYE!!

THE WALK FROM COLDSTORAGE



Huzaifah!! where are u???





BEFORE WE REACHED OUR DESTINATION, WE SAW SOMETHING FROM CSI!!

Of Course Khadijah my wonderful girl came up with this question, "Did somebody really die here, Ummi?"

EVENTUALLY WE REACHED OUR DESTINATION

Waaaa....look at that!!
When i was your age, kids, when i saw toadstools in my garden, i used to look for fairies, coz i thought those were tables where fairies and elves sat around the night before for a party..the fairies here must be HUGE


We all thought this frog was way cool - but wait a minute- it's poisounous


Is that slimer..starring in Ghost Busters 4?
No it's a sleeping frog cozily folding it's limbs under it's body, something like the way Umair 'kenyut' i guess :-)




A huge fish from the highlands




KT's hands always shake when she takes pictures - this was her best attempt.


This is truly a beautiful structure - a huge and tall glass column filled with water and fishes from the flooded tropics (or something like that) swimming gracefully around


No, this is not a dolphin, it's a huge fish from the highlands

A STOP AT THE BODY PAINTERS

a STARFISH for Mariam




and A RED AND BLUE FISH for Huzaifah


Muaz refused


KT looked bored

Then, off to the TOUCH POOLS which was really "more smoke than fire" but well,Huzaifah got to touch some starfish. I wish it was much better. However we failed to take the picture of a really cute ELECTRIC STING RAY which we ALL unanimously voted as the cutest exhibit


BUT THIS TUNNEL YOU ARE GOING TO SEE IS REALLY UP TO ITS MARK, AT LEAST, FOR US WHO HAVE NEVER BEEN OUT OF THE COUNTRY TO OTHER SIMILAR PLACES APART FROM SENTOSA ISLAND IN SINGAPORE. THE LANGKAWI UNDER WATER WORLD IS TRULY A FAR CRY FROM THIS IMPRESSIVE SHOWCASE; WHAT A SHAME, IN MY OPINION. WE WERE MERSMERISED AND GIVEN A CHOICE I WOULD HAVE JUST SAT THERE IN THAT TUNNEL FOR HOURS AND HOURS AND HOURS. I LOVE THE SEA, I LOVE WATER, I LOVE THE SEA CREATURES..MAYBE MY ELEMENT IS WATER AFTER ALL.
HUZAIFAH AND MUAZ WENT IN 3 TIMES

THE CAMERA WAS PLACED ON THE WRONG SETTING SO THE PICS ARE RATHER UNCLEAR, BUT ENOUGH FOR MEMORIES' SAKE




















having the diver swim among the fishes and the great sharks is really quite a novel idea. Huzaifah was so impressed, he went in the tunnel three times to look for the diver

BUT THE STAR OF THE SHOW IS:



tHIS FINALE REALLY MAKES YOU FEEL LIKE YOU ARE IN THE GALLERY OF THE ALIEN SPACESHIP IN THE MOVIE "CHICKEN LITTLE"









THIS IS AMONG THE THINGS THEY WERE SO FASCINATED ABOUT

OTHER EXHIBITS



DORY WAS THERE TOO


SO WAS MR RAY


NOW WHICH ONE IS THE EXHIBIT??

THE FEAST AFTERWARDS - WHILE WAITING FOR THE FOOD.
WE DIDN'T TAKE PICTURES WHILE EATING BECAUSE WE WERE REALLY CONCENTRATING ON OUR KENNY ROGERS CHICKEN, SOMETHING WE HAVEN'T HAD IN A LONG LONG TIME.

BUT MUAZ WAS DEFEATED


GOING... GOING..


GONE

FACES OF ANTICIPATION




SATISFIED FACES OF MAH BOYS





Thank you Nani & Useng and Abg Zehar for being pillars of strength for me, and of course Mama too.And Nani thnx for always, without fail, snapping me out of my self pity HAHA.
thank you SZY for urging me to take the translation course when i was really at my lowest, thinking that i am not good at anything except finishing my husband's money.Thank you so much for your support and good advice and your ever ready shoulders to cry on.
Thank you so very very much ALB for taking me on as your mentee and patiently guiding me on till i am able to earn as a translator. You really are someone with the biggest heart.
Thank you Sofie for sharing your jobs with me, and guiding me too.
Thank you Hajar for all your good advice and for being a dear friend :-)
There are people i do not mention, mainly coz they don't want to be mentioned, but i am truly indebted to all of you. Especially you R :-).