off day with the kids

Syukur as at noon today firas is getting better. Lepas mkn nasi x muntah dah :) Good job sayang esok kita sambung puasa balik ok!
Sangap rasa duk umah. Nak buat pb..belum sampai seru. Nak baking or buat cookies bdn x larat. Nak wat dessert, cream caramel semlm byk lagi berbaki...nnt membazir pulak. So kejenya asyikla duk google resepi2 hehe. Nak cuba bila tu belum pasti..tp bookmark siap2 dlm hp :) Hubby ckp pegila jusco cari baju raya...ohh lagikla malas tambah2 nk angkut 2 org ni kan..pingsan!

kids learning the arabic with their ipad..mama pon tumpang sekaki blajo skali :)

Roti arab for iftar

my 3rd attempt of making roti arab..recipe can google fr my previous entry in Jan tis yr. This time i paired it with kari daging since kids are not a big fan of kari sardin.
Menu for today's iftar - kari daging,udang goreng daun kari n cilipadi, sayur goreng n cream caramel. Mama mkn nasi sket je..sahur br mkn roti arab..pose ni x lalu nk mkn bebyk..nasi pon half my usuals. Even tho roti arab tu nmpk sungguh mengancam..perut mmg x mampu nk terima makanan lagik huhu
Oh btw firas was not well today. He started to vomit about 5min before iftar..and continued for another 5-6 times after iftar. sian masuk angin probably..now tdo dgn perut kosong huhu. tomorrow mama EL yer kita lepak2 kt rumah jer...takyah gi skool :)

Innisfree Jeju Volcanic Nose Pack

We all were kind of impressed with Farra's review on her usage of nose pack in removing blackheads. Her result was outstanding n truly impressive we'd say!
So today after sahur n done with some ironing, i took out the very same version of nose pack and the foc handkerchief from Innisfree and tried my luck.
The steps are pretty easy. Pat some water on ur hankie or any clean towel, warm it up with iron and put it around ur nose area for some minutes. Repeat for 2-3 times to open up ur pores area. Then pat some water onto ur nose, peel off the nose pack from its film n quickly place it on ur nose. Leave it for 10-15 min. I googled potential recipes for iftar while waiting...uishh terliur plak tgk resepi best2 haha.
And so after a good 15min, i peeled off the nose pack,anxiously wanting to see the result.
Hurmmmm i actually hope to see more blackheads coming out of the nose pack, but to my surprise i can hardly find more than 10 dots! arghhh frustrated ok haha
Guess i can make 2 possible inferens from here:
1. either the blackheads are too stubborn to be pulled off;
2. or i actually dont hv many blackheads hence i can sleep with peace of mind hihi
oh in case u wonder this is my 1st time using a nose pack :p

Angel-in-us-Coffee

We had a chance to dine once here..and also took away once at the Jeju airport before departing for Seoul.
Our review- its maple caramel bread is to die for!! Tgk rupa pun dah mengancam kan..bila rasa ouchh mmg sedap!! It was just a simple 3-layer toast drizzled with caramel syrup n finished with whipped cream...sempoi jahhh blk kl pon bole buat (but still blom ada kudrat nk buat hehe). Its coffee was also taste good. We tried mocha hazelnut and chocolate caramel or something (sorry for my poor memory!)
Price is lil bit on a high side as compared to other local korean coffee chains e.g Paris Baguette. But worth ur won spent trust me :)
I'll check out the exact price later. need to dig into my korea's mgmt file first...hoho

Trip Jeju-Seoul Day 3 (Part 1): Hallim Park - Jeju World Heritage Center - Sangumburi Crater

By looking at the title, our 3rd day was not as tight as the second day. Well considering what has happened a day before, we tried not to be too ambitious and were just filling up the day ikut tahap kesihatan org yg sakit kaki tu hihi. After all he was the only person we can count for to drive us to our destination, jadi kena jaga dia betul2 kan :) Hubby's leg was still not ok obviously, of course you cannot expect magic to happen and his foot to cure within just a day! Bertabahla sayang!!

Hallim Park became our first destination of that day. Looking at his condition, I suggested hubby to just stay inside the car or mingle around the park entrance. Too much movement definitely was not good and makes the healing process slower, but upon arrival at the Hallim Park, hubby decided to join us to tour the park. I iz of course la happy, sebab kesian kalo hubby kena tunggu lama2 dlm keta. Plus hallim park tu sangatttt besar, sure hubby bosan banget kalo just stay dlm keta kan!

And so we walked at a slower pace together and tried our best to enjoy every inch of the park...together with Semah's family. Aini memang dah sampai lama kot..well semua tempat mmg Aini sokmo sampai dulu hehe. Here's an extract from the Visit Korea website for ur reference:

Hallim Park, located western 33km away from Jeju City and west of Mt. Hallasan along the beach in Hallimeup, is one of the most popular tourist spots on Jeju Island. It faces the pleasant scenery of Biyangdo Island, Hyeopjae Beach and Geumneung Beach. The park was established on barren land in Hyeopjaeri, Hallimeup, and covered with tons of earth and began planting assorted subtropical plants in early 1971.

Hallim Park, almost 100 thousand square meters, has a variety of gardens that can be enjoyed in any season. Visitors can enjoy checking out Palm Tree Road, Jeju Stone and Bonsai Garden, Water Garden, Subtropical Botanic Garden and much more. The most famous tourist sites in Hallim Park are Hyeopjaegul and Ssangyonggul Caves known to be the only two-dimensional caves in the world. In addition, a folk village, children's amusement park and outdoor resort facilities make it enjoyable for both children and adults.

Our review - highly recommended especially if you plan for a short stay in Jeju.  It's because Hallim Park has almost everything that Jeju can offer, and it was actually a summary of few other attraction places in Jeju. Very well planned indeed! You can see the famous grandfather jeju stones, flower garden, bonsai and cactus garden, fish pond, folk village, caves (ohh u can just skip Manjanggul Cave if u plan to come here), children's park and many more. We spent half of the day here but still couldn't cover the whole park. Sangatttt besar dan memenatkan! The caves in my opinion is better than Manjaggul Cave because it has some lighting which makes walking much easier, plus the pavement is not that difficult. The cactus garden is amazing, you can see lots n variety of cactus species, some of them are very tall ( i mean taller than us the human!).

muka2 terpaksa kena posing

kaki hencot2 pon tetap nk posing :p

giant jantung pisang..penah nmpk kat mesia tak? hehe

cactus garden..mmg cantik!!

dlm gua. pavement ok senang nk jalan :)

bonsai section..memcm jenis ade!

grandfather stone yg merata2 ada muka dia kat Jeju nih! dh lupa apa salah silah pakcik nih..kena google yer!

folk village

 i spotted emu!

muka2 kepenatan...rasa mcm nk heret kaki badan sampai ke entrance...mmg penat sgt!! ohh Hallim park awatla hang ni besar sangat ehhhh

anak2 kami yg almost sebaya semuanya...moga ukhwah berkekalan yer bila besar nanti anak2!! Ika cepat suruh mama tambah adik paan bole geng ngn adik ammar :p

lunch isi perut dulu. heaven giler dpt pekena nasi goreng dan smoothie grape. lepas mkn ni bermula lah episod kami sesat barat di bandaraya Jeju haha...mmg stress woiii...tukang driver lagiklah stress banget!

There's a vending machine outside its souvenir shop (near the park entrance) where we got the best yet very cheap grape smoothie, so refreshing when u got to guzzle cold water under the hot sun! So my take, if you come to Jeju, pls come and visit Hallim Park. The entrance fee is quite expensive but it's all worth it :) Pre-caution, sangat memenatkan yer!

TIPS: Make sure u bring enough plain water, snacks, sunglass and umbrella (optional hehe).

Cost update:

Hallim Park entrance adult 10k, child 6k, total 32k
fridge magnet 2k
grape smoothie 2k

Trip Jeju-Seoul Day 2 - Jeju Feel House

Once our room is ready, hubby brought our 20kg luggages from my mom's room to our room (which is only next door). Suddenly we heard a loud noise, and the moment we looked outside hubby was already lying on the grass, luggage tercampak..kasut pulak tercabut. OMG hubby ku jatuh tangga!! To cut it short, he sprained his left foot quite badly and was put on bandage the whole night. Mujur ada doktor in the house, mak ude la yg tolong balutkan bandage and extend her advice where necessary. Hubby was quite lucky because he didn't injure the ankle, if not he definitely will be on bed-rest and not being able to walk at all...syukur Ya Allah. Kebetulan minyak urut dan ankle guard memang tak bawak...nak dijadikan cerita cuma bandage jela kaki tu. Esok tak tahu apa bakal berlaku...pasrah jer :( Malam tu mencari jugak ankle guard dekat nearby supermarket..malangnya tak jumpa. Si mama pulak, keje mlm tu sibuk meng'hair dryer' kasut si ammar yg dibasuh sebab kena air kenc petang tadi tu kan...aduss mmg serabut sgt otak mlm tuh.

Enjoy some of the pics of Jeju Feel House, hotel that we spent on our next 2 days in Jeju before leaving for Seoul. Hotel room overall is ok, it's just that the kitchen and toilet is so-so, still cannot beat Yilin Pension. But as mentioned by Fara, tengok harga la kan. Feel House is much cheaper than Yilin, hence suit the price we're paying :)

my mom's unit

ours - 1 queen, 1 single and 1 toto

kids with a pergola. All pics taken from nek umi's...kami mmg tak snap pic langsung..maklum lah mmg takde mood sbb byk masalah yg berlaku kan :(

Comparison on the cost:

Jeju Yilin Pension - 140k per night (RM448)
Jeju Feel House - RM369.89 per night

Tips:
1. sila bawa segala minyak angin/urut dan ubat yg berkaitan
2. bawa medical kit (i.e. bandage, guard, plaster, etc)

Trip Jeju-Seoul Day 2 (part 2): ICC Jeju - Seopjikoji - Seongsan Ilchulbong - Manjanggul Cave - Gimnyeong Maze Park - Hamdeok Beach

From Seopjikoji, we headed to our next destination i.e. Seongsan Ilchulbong Peak. Registered and recognized as one of the UNESCO World Heritage, here's a sneak peak of its description taken from the Visit Korea website:

Seongsan Ilchulbong Peak rose from under the sea in a volcanic eruption over 100,000 years ago. Located on the eastern end of Jejudo Island, there is a huge crater at the top of Seongsan Ilchulbong Peak. The crater is about 600m in diameter and 90m high. With the 99 sharp rocks surrounding the crater, it looks like a gigantic crown. While the southeast and north sides are cliffs, the northwest side is a verdant grassy hill that is connected to the Seongsan Village. The ridge provides an ideal spot for walks and for horse riding as well.
The sunrise from the crater is magnificent. Also the Seongsan Ilchulbong Peak surrounded by bright yellow colored rapeseed flowers in the spring is truly a sight to behold.

It was around 12.30noon when we arrived at its car park area. Matahari sangatla terik, hence we decided to just have our lunch onboard the car. Best jugak picnic dlm keta, pekena nasi lemak telur rebus bersama rendang ayam dan bilis goreng...perghh heaven! Ammar was still sleeping after we finished our meal. After a short discussion, nek umi and the kids had consensus to just stay inside the car rather than climbing the Seongsan under the hot sun! So me, hubby and mak ude proceeded to its entrance, taking obligatory pictures at its UNESCO's mark, etc. Then mak ude decided not to proceed further and joined the kids inside the car, so there u go only me and hubby menguatkan semangat menjejaki Seongsan! akakaka

The first few minutes under the scorching hot sun, we took selfie pics together sepanjang menaiki tangga Seongsan tuh. Ohh for those with small kids, pls do not bring a stroller yer. The pathway is rocky and unflat, for sure stroller is a bad decision to proceed. We went up and up until halfway through the peak, and later found a descending trail and signage to another side of the route. So lepas diskas, both of us sebulat suara decided to descend and walked faster to catch up the Jeju woman diver performance scheduled at 1.30pm. You need to descend further towards the sea cliffs to watch the show...jenuh turun tangga, tapi bab turun ok lagi bab nak balik nanti...OMG macam nk pengsan kena panjat tangga2 tu balik mmg nanges!!!

The Jeju woman diver show began as scheduled. The show started with opening remarks and song from one of the diver (who probably tells a story about life as women diver,  how difficult it was for them mencari rezeki for their family, etc). The tone of the song was quite interesting and very entertaining but at the same time i bet some of us were quite touched by her story...sedey jugakla huhu. Imagine they are average at 60s, memang dah tua baya nenek2 kita...masih sibuk turun ke laut mencari hasil laut...tak ke sedih? :( The song lasted for 10-15min before all of them started to wear their swimming equipment and dived into the sea bersama pelampung putih yg sangat tradisional tuh. Bubye Jeju woman diver...i hope u guys stay strong and persevere! We waited until they went far from the seaside, and then put all our effort to climb up the stairs and headed back to join the rest that had waited inside the car. Memang rasa nak nanges uols panjat tangga tuh...rasa macam nak heret2 kaki pun ada! Again kalau kat Mesia, konfem takkan mengader nak turun panjat naik beratus-ratus anak tangga di tengah panas buta! Mujur tengah fefeeling vacation kan terpaksa gagahkan diri lah jugak :p

we cheated yes!! tak berjaya menakluki Seongsan peak...takpelah gunung kinabalu pon mmg tak sampai lagi..apetah lagi puncak Seongsan kuikui

Our fourth destination of the day is Manjanggul Cave, also recognized as one of UNESCO World Heritage and became the National Monument No. 98. Here goes some description taken from the Visit Korea website:

Manjanggul Cave (만장굴) is one of the finest lava tunnels in the world, and is a designated natural monument. A lava tunnel is formed when the lava that was deep in the ground spouts from the peak and flows to the surface. Manjanggul Cave has a variety of interesting structures inside including 70cm lava stalagmites and the lava tube tunnels.
Only 1km of the 13,422m Manjanggul Cave is open to the tourists. The inside of the tunnel sustains at a temperature of 11~21℃, creating a comfortable atmosphere. There are rare animals such as bats living in the tunnel, which makes this tunnel valuable for researchers as well. The stone pillars and stalactites are widely spread and the tunnels shows off the cave’s topographical features. The Stone Turtle is especially eye-catching because it is shaped like Jeju-do Island.

 nak masuk cave kena turun tangga. Kat jeju ni mmg koje nya asyik turun naik tangga..semput okehhh

 its entrance! gelappp 

  ok dlm cave mmg tak byk gambar...sbb kami amateur lagi gambar yg diambil sumer jadi gelap haishhhh...kena cilok gambar fara la nampak gayanya kalo nk wat pb hehe

 senyum terpaksa...sebenarnya mmg dah penat sgt...especially mereka2 yg tadi panjat Seongsan :p

Our review - the cave was so damn cold that the kids shivered and couldnt stand the temperature (so did i huhu). The pathway inside the cave is very rocky and tough, it was very dark that we need to walk assisted with torchlight (guna hp jer hehe). Stroller is strongly not advisable, so as visitors with small babies. Ammar and Firas didn't like the murky environment, and kept on insisting to revert to entrance. In conclusion, we didn't cover the whole 1km and decided to return halfway :) Nonetheless, it was our first natural cave experience and we glad we entered it...prinsip saya..janji sampai dan jejak!

We later proceeded to Gimnyeong Maze Park together with Semah's family. To make it more interesting our family decided to split. Kids paired with their paksu, while me, hubby, nek umi and mak ude went on a separate way...konon bertarung sape berjaya carik jalan keluar dulu. Alih2, team kami duk pusing2 dlm tu sampai 3x..mmg sangat hampeh. Map was given, but it was not helpful (ke kami yg tak reti baca map haha). The kids with their paksu rang the bell tanda kemenangan...pastu sibuk jerit2 ajar kami masuk situ la..sini lah..but still we failed. Dah combine dgn family semah pon tetap gagal? haha mmg sangat pathetic! Finally we gave up and cheated ...masuk kot entrance...dan hubby dgn poyo pergi la ring the bell kikiki...sian kami! Anyway, the maze park was quite interesting (and challenging for us!) as compared to the cave...kids memang happy dapat lari2 menyorokkan diri...fun la walaupun panas tapi mujur pokok2 dia merimbun so kurang sket exposure to the sun.

ika yg setia bersama mak ude nya :)

ohh maze park...how i hate u!

bell tanda kemenangan. jiwa terseksa tgk bell ni sebab tak berjaya haha

lakonan semata-mata!!!

muka2 frust sebab sesat barat :p

 simple yet entertaining games for the kids at the maze entrance

Before checked in to our 2nd hotel in Jeju, we stopped by at Hamdeok Beach which is already otw to Jeju Feel House. I just stayed inside the car since Ammar was already asleep. Upon arrival at Jeju Feel House, the owner somehow couldn't find my reservation and i was like arghhhh. Situation got worsen since i've paid for the booking and reservation was made via Agoda. The person couldn't speak and understand English well, hence it added up to the stress. Ammar woke up from his sleep, stood next to me and cried as if he wanted something, while his mama was in the middle of argument, trying her level best to explain. Sgtla tension time tuh, until finally that person called another person (probably her husband i dont even bother to know) for rescue. They managed to sort out one of our room finally, and so we brought all our luggages to my mom's room while waiting them to get ready for another one room. Oh before that, Ammar created an incident! Kencing dlm seluar masa tengah nangis2 tadi tuh...adusss rupanya dia nk cakap nk kencing kott time mama tgh gaduh2 ngan owner tuh...haishh habis basah jeans dan kasut dia!