Day 3: Chc - Twizel

We arrived CHC at 520am. Flight was smooth via Jetstar, but the flight condition is nothing to shout about...sempit adalah, nama pon budget airline kan hihi

Immigration process was long and tiring, i've blogged about this in my earlier entry.

We performed solat Subuh, refreshed ourselves, had some croissants, biscuits n coffee as breakfast, kids having fun lepak2 sambil main gadget, bought simkad+data Spark (after doing a quick comparison using the airport wifi) and finally we were picked up by Jucy's rep at 8am to go to their office which is only 5-min drive from the airport.

We chose Jucy car rental because it was the cheapest. Rented an Estima with a GPS, 1 booster and 1 car seat for 8 days. Total cost is $729.10. The car is not new, but condition-wise is ok.

Our routes for Day 3:
Chc airport - Canterbury Museum - Westfield Riccarton - Rakaia Gorge - Lake Tekapo - Lake Pukaki - Twizel. Total distance approx 310km.

Lunch: Kebabland @ Westfield Riccarton. Very big portion, should have ordered a medium meal instead. Sedap bangat, you can google online for its menu selection. Went to Pak n Save after lunch to buy some groceries, bought 4 bars of Whittakers (limited to 4 only per customer) at a promo price ($3.79/bar).
Dinner: masak, tapi serius x igt menu ape

Canterbury Museum - highly recommended, some more it is free! I wish Malaysia also has lots of interesting museum with free entry hihi. We even went in again on our last day at CHC, nampak sgt best kan hehe. Nevertheless entry to its Discovery Center is charged at $2 per adult/kid, but it's still worth every penny. The exhibits, diff sections of play area, various educational toys for babies up to kids..all are interesting and interactive.

Rakaia Gorge - is nice and serene. You feel at peace just by looking at the crystal clear water. Kids having fun 'blajar' main lontar batu atas air..uncle Mizie yg ajar hehe. The other 2 families had some water fun adventure via a speed boat, which was unplanned.

Lake Tekapo – sooo beautiful and pristine, with purple and pink lupins everywhere near the lake! We got the opportunity to perform solat zohor asar jamak takhir nearby the lake, berwudukkan air tasik Tekapo…alhamdulillah.

Lake Pukaki – turquoise-colored lake with majestic Mt Cook sets as its background. My most favourite amongst the 3 largest lakes in the MacKenzie basin (tekapo, pukaki, ohau) in the South Island. You can just basically sit there staring at the still water and do nothing. Subhanallah. But anyway we didn’t get the chance to stay long as it was nearing dusk already.

Called off the day by checking in to High Country Lodge, Motels and Backpackers at Twizel. Contacted the owner earlier to inform on our late check in, hence he left the door unlocked and placed the room key inside the hotel. Very easy! Hotel is nice, it was a 2-bedroom suite fully equipped with kitchen facilities, a sofa, shower, 1 queen and 5 singles. It was actually very huge and spacious for the 7 of us. Parking is available right in front of our door. Cost: $195/night

Photobook Melbourne-New Zealand Part 1

Dah sampai yeay! 1 lagi in production. Pb paling pantas siap...tepat2 deadline met walaupun voucher lamat lg expired...sendri yg letak pon deadline nyer..apa2 task wajib ada deadline betul tak. Barula gigih dan komited gitu. Stay up sampai 2am..mcm wat assemen MBA tau..mujur takde markah jer :)

Hasilnya biasa2 jer..tp dah cukup cun di mata akak yg mmg x kreatip nih akaka. Cover x cukup vibrant la pulak...lesson learnt nx time kena pilih gambo cun2 sket..ohh kalo la ada lagi 'nx time' tu hikss

Ok so now yg masih pending:
1.  PB 6x6'
2. 150 pcs of 4R prints

...dan misi mencari album gambar!

Selamat Tahun Baru semua!

Saya dan Ammar dah viral fever masuk hari ke5..harap2 senin dah recover. Akak bersemangat nk jejak kaki ke Menara nih..rindu! Doakan kami cpt sihat yer..tq.

Moga rakan2 semua sentiasa sihat dn dipelihara olehNya selalu. Moga segala impian menjadi kenyataan.

Impian saya mmg byk. Tak larat nk buat wish list. Tapi pengajaran paling berharga yg sy dpt tahun ni...bila semua ahli keluarga sihat, that is more than suffice...and is my definition of happiness. Saya x kaya harta benda...tapi apa yg Allah bagi setakat ini mmg dah cukup membahagiakan saya. Punya keluarga dan rakan2 tersayang yg sentiasa di sisi during my ups n downs.
Terima kasih Ya Allah.

I can see 2016 will be more challenging. Its idlan's big year, and of course lots of unexpected things accompany our journey with Irfan, which i dare not to say or think right now. I just hope we can embrace it together with full strengths n positive minds, believing that whatever happens is the best thing that Allah has planned for us.

Title psl pb tapi jauh dh melalut.
I should've become a full time blogger instead of keje ofis kan hikss

Travel tips: How to pass through the NZ immigration?

The flight from Mel to Chc took approximately 3hr++, so we arrived at  Chc Airport around 5.20am. The immigration process, again was tiring and exhausting. After we passed the counter for passports checking, came the dreadest part, that is food checking. We filled up the declaration forms earlier in flight, declaring all the foods and medications that we brought in. Counter 1 by officer 1, done. The friendly guy screened through our food list and checked our luggages, very thorough i must say, we chit chatted about few things, i told him how much i have been wanting to come to NZ, NZ is beautiful yadaa yadaa and after a few minutes he gave a 'yes' for us to proceed to the next pit stop for luggage security scanning. We thought everything was fine just like the 1st counter before a lady officer dropped us a bombshell and showed us one piece of very ripe banana inside a plastic bag, together with few other rubbish which we intend to throw away before boarding onto the flight. I was like adoiiiii kenapa boleh lupa nak buang pisang nihhhh!!! Muka pucat lesi toksah ckplah. and so our conversation went something like this...

She: Do you really understand all the declarations that you've made as per the declaration forms?
Me: Yes mam. I understand and fully aware. I know what is allowed and what is not.
She: So now i found this in your bag. This is not allowed into our country. But it's ok mam you don't have to pay the fine now. I shall bring this to the officer and come back to you later.
Me: We're really really sorry. I thought we've already thrown it away before boarding the flight. We didn't intend to bring it in. This is a mistake and I know it shouldn't happened. We have declared everything just now..and that guy already gave us the green light to proceed here. (muka panik, pucat, musnah harapan, terbayang2 denda NZD400 dlm kepala yg pompuan tu ckp tadi, Ya Allah memang tak terkata apa dah time tuh. Bila lady officer tu pegi report ke officer dia, mulut ni tak berenti zikir and doa minta dipermudahkan urusan kami)

And to our luck, she let us go. Yes she did, and i could have never thanked her enough for letting us go. Syukran Ya Allah kerana Kau bantu kami...selamat NZD400, kalau idak mmg nangis kat airport dah kot! I knew and i can felt that the guy at the 1st counter was actually our saviour. Moral of the story, please be friendly with all the officers in charged, be it at the counter, during food checking, when passing by at the airport, in fact just be nice to all of them at all time! You never knew how your little smiles and probably some honest compliments about their country can actually save your lives! Alhamdulillah tiada tragedi berlaku di hari pertama kami sebagai musafir di bumi Kiwi :)

When I recall again, the other night during checking in our flight at the Jetstar counter, i talked a lot with one of the lady officers. She was pregnant, with 1 small kid, almost due, stayed in Melbourne CBD, etc. She kind of impressed with me travelling with 4 kids, all boys to be exact, one infant precisely. She asked how did i handle it, and I admitted to her that it wasn't easy, with all the chaos and dramas, but we survived and loved every bits of time spent. She loved talking to Irfan, who couldnt stop exploring every inch of the counter and her computer, messing up with the free bookmarks for customers. I talked about Malaysia (of course only the good things!), and she said how she would love to come here one day. I asked for her courtesy for us to be seated in 1 row (i didn't buy the seat selection, kedekut dan dalam masa yg sama berharap ada rezeki duk sama2), before we parted our ways, i wished her for a smooth labour, and she said she has reserved 1 empty seat in our row, for our convenience, on top of us being seated in 1 row! TQ so much dear, i know you won't read my entry but i do hope you really had a smooth labor and is now enjoying your confinement days with a beautiful baby girl next to your side :)

Good deeds surely get return with good things as well. Alhamdulillah.

Tips for passing through the NZ immigration:

1. List down all the foods and medications you are bringing in, together with their ingredients.
2. Print it out, and voluntarily hand it over to the officer(s) in charge. Explain to them.
3. Speak nicely to them, give your best smiles all the time.
4. No hiding of any info please. DECLARE everything.
5. It is safer to buy commercial packs of rice, instead of you buy, re-package and re-seal it. Buy 3 packs of 1kg rice each if you aim for 3kg, instead of buying for a 3kg pack. Chances are that you'll get 2 out of 3, or all of them passed through, rather than that single 3kg pack being seized sbb ada kutu! haha
6. Strictly NO fresh products (eg: meat, fish, chicken, peanuts, veggies, etc) and dairy (eg: cheese, fresh milk, mayonnaise).
7. Place all foods/medications in a single luggage/back pack only for ease of checking. You'll be praised for neat packing. Help them to help you.
8. Go through your packing again and again. Make sure you don't fall into the same mistake like us.
9. Refer to their website for list of prohibited items, example of declaration form, etc. I sent an email to them attaching all the pictures of foods we're bringing in, just to be safe.

Best of luck!

Photobooking with love

Ewahh with love la sangat, padahal nk siapkn sebiji pun dh keluh kesah dan stress amats.

Mcm buat assignment mba dulu2, bila ada deadlines (in tis case voucher expiry) dan sendiri nekad nk siapkan before masuk keja, dudukla mengadap benda ni siang mlm. Semlm stay up smpi kol 1am. Pagi ni 3 jam straight, then 11.45am baru masak lunch. Sakit pinggang duk lama x bergerak. Extra komited gitu!

1 dh berjaya upload. Rasanya pb terpantas pernah dihasilkan seumur hidup kikiki. So ada lagi 1 buku (part 2) dan 50pcs 4R prints utk disiapkan.

Berusahalah!

The 'what's in your bag' game

Mommy punyer:
Handphone
Maybeline compact powder
Laneige Cc cream
Nature republic eco crayon botanical lipstick
Eye liner
Laneige multicleanser & gel cream (sbb once sampai airport terus jln seharian, mlm baru check in hotel)
Pen hitam
Minyak cap kapak
Vicks inhaler
Sunny
Duit syiling oz
Ponstan - wajib ada spare sentiasa!
Ubat selsema
Hand socks - utk solat n extra coverage kalo sejuk sgt!

Si tecik punyer:
Baju n suar spare sepasang
Baby wipes
Pampers 2
Tisu
Bib - budak ni air liur byk x hingat
Cap
Favourite toys - boboiboy, fish, rattle

Thanks to cik abe yg sgt understanding. Dlm pada mama tgh survey sling bag Kipling senyap2, tiba2 dia bwk blk Adidas pink ni. Sgt memahami, some more pink is my favourite color. Tq babah :)

Sling ni x besar and x kecik sgt. Just nice utk bwk travel. Kali ni purposely takmo bwk sling besar, nnt byk plak muatan. Nk carry si tecik dlm Ergobaby lagi..mau cramp bahu hoho. Yang syiok beg ni ada 2 main zippered compartment, 2 open pockets n 1 zippered pocket inside and 2 zippered pockets outside. Material mcm water resistant, kain x nmpk kotor, letak atas jln raya pon x nmpk comot :p Paling penting, rege mampu milik hikss

Bila penat sgt, cik abe n Idlan bergilir bwk sling ni walaupun kaler pink hehe

Our hotel in Melbourne and South Island New Zealand

Below is our hotel/motel list in Mel and NZ for reference. All hotels in NZ comes with kitchen and complete utensils as we wanted to minimize eating out as much possible.

Day 1: Summers Rest Unit, Port Campbell, Melbourne - 3 Bedroom House, AUD210
Day 2: Nil. In a flight to Chc.
Day 3: High Country Lodge, Twizel - 2 Bedroom Suite, NZD195
Day 4 & 5: Caples Court, Queenstown - 1 Bedroom Apartment, NZD420
Day 6: Alpine View Motel, Te Anau - Family Apartment, NZD177.50
Day 7 & 8: Beach Lodge Motel, Dunedin - 2 Bedroom Apartment, NZD340
Day 9: Ferry Motel, Christchurch - 1 Bedroom Apartment, NZD150
Day 10: Ibis Budget Melbourne CBD - Quadruple Room, AUD179

I will post some of the hotel pics in the upcoming entries together with our itinerary & activities. All hotels were booked from booking.com with 'free cancellation' policies except Ibis Budget, which was booked last minute, paid full and non-refundable. Ibis Budget doesnt have in-room kitchen facilities, as we didnt plan to cook on our last day. We were lucky for our room was upgraded from 2 sets of bunk beds to 2 bunk beds + 1 queen. Probably the owner was pity seeing all of us arrived to check in at 1am, i bet we were his last guests for that day!

My favourite picks amongst all - Caples Court and Beach Lodge Motel. These 2 are highly recommended. Beach Lodge is very spacious, comfy beds, nice deco, free wifi and yes it has a bath tub which the kids enjoyed it to the fullest including Irfan! Near St Kilda beach as advertised by the property, but not that near actually as u need to drive to the beach. Jalan kaki mau semput haha. The owner was kind enough to put our washed clothes into his big dryer and had it settled for 20 min only, as the other two in the guest laundry room took ages to finish haha

Caples Court is very expensive (well majority hotels in Queenstown is expensive since it is a top spot among tourist in South Island), but worth paying. Kids loved its sofabed very much, which can be transformed into a huge queen bed. Good location, nice deco, comfy beds, owner was very friendly and helpful. But parking space was so limited and parking your car was a big challenge. And oh free wifi up to 5Gb per day. Menarik kan! If you want to save a little, go stay at Arrowtown as it is only half an hour drive from Queenstown.

Summers Rest Unit - Very huge and spacious. Super large kitchen and bathroom. Nevertheless we were too tired already and arrived quite late, hence no time to enjoy all the good things about this hotel.

High Country Lodge - Spacious. The main bedroom is too large even for the 4 of us. Sgt selesa kesimpulannya. Large bathroom. Very ample parking space. Close to High Country Salmon.

Paling nampak tak cantik sbb deco agak old fashion rasanya Ferry Motel dan Alpine View Motel. Harga pun murah kan tp ada free wifi hikss. Wifi kat Alpine View agak semput, maybe due to its geographical constraint. Owner muka agak grunge dan garang mcm dlm citer koboi, siap pesan kalo masak dan ada bau yg agak extreme cth macam kari, dia akan charge kita! Lucky our dinner menu for that night was grilled chicken burger hikss

Ibis Budget even though is a budget hotel, surprisingly its toilet is huge and the beds are super comfy. Mmg recommended. Further its main plus point is that you can store all your bags at its storage room for AUD6 only. Sgt murah okey! Sempat jugak kami tumpang solat dekat kitchen area ptg tu before naik tram to Southern Cross Station utk naik Skybus ke Tullamarine airport.

We paid cash for all the hotels, except High Country Lodge since we arrived outside the checking in hours and Ibis Budget (since the reservation made is non-refundable). Why cash and not cc? Maybank cc is charging 2.25% for overseas transaction fees (pls use Bank Islam cc as it offers ZERO transaction fees!!) A budget traveller like us surely wanted to save as much as possible, further a big chunk of our total cost goes to accommodations (i'll share the cost breakdown maybe on my last entry). So why pay extra unnecessarily when u can save a little and route that money to shopping instead? :)

And pls pls pls book early. Trust me the savings can be really significant. Tapi kalau rela nak bayar mahal silakanlah haha

Next action - prepare the itinerary and book the accomodations

The toughest n most challenging part in any vacation is drafting the itinerary. It took months before we can finalize our iti, and yet there were still changes few days before the travel date.

Our iti was mostly based on references made fr the official nz/oz site, bloggers, n cari forum. I said 'our' because it was a shared iti, based on shared input fr the NZ gals (it was our whatsapp group name involving the girls only). I sometimes referred to trip advisor for certain attractions, just to get ideas whether those places are worth going/paying or not.

Once we came out with a solid iti, we then started hunting for accomodations. All of my hotels were booked fr booking.com, simply because of its 'free cancellation' policy. As such, we can always change and cancel our hotel as n when there are changes to our iti, which happened so many times with lots of version n options haha

Pls book early if u want to enjoy good prices. I started doing the reservation somewhere early this yr, however i cancelled all the bookings when Irfan was warded in the hospital and going to NZ seems to stay as a dream only.

Nevertheless, Allah is the best of planner. When Irfan's condition seems to be improving, i started to put hopes n envisioned us, going to nz.

So in late July-August, i rebooked all the accomodations, again. All the hotel prices have increased quite a lot fr the 1st time i made the booking. Pasrah jela. The fact that we made it to the trip is good enough already, alhamdulillah.

So where did we stay in Mel and NZ and how much did it costs us?

Till my nx entry, stay tuned peeps.

Cheap tickets to New Zealand

First n foremost, our trip is called a budget trip. Hence as budget travellers, opting for a direct flight to Auckland via MAS is a big no-no for the 6 of us (2 adults, 3 kids, 1 infant).

We bought our tickets on Nov last yr during AA free seats promo (see as budget travellers we also need to wait for a year to materialize our dream! Bertabahlaaa). We chose to transit via Melbourne, Australia for 1 day before taking the next flight to Christchurch (CHC). Alternatively you can also opt to transit at Gold Coast/Sydney/Perth, whichever is giving you the best promo price :)

Our ticket for Kul-Mel is as below:

Ticket for 5pax - RM687/pax (incl processing fees of RM80)
Infant tix return - RM250
Luggage 30kg return - RM258
Meals for 5pax - RM75
*flight duration: approx 8hrs

Once our tix for Mel is secured, the hunting for a connecting flight to NZ begins! I subscribed to Jetstar and its price watch, so that i'll be keep updated with its promo. Jetstar always has promo on Friday, so on one fine Friday somewhere in Feb 2015 we grabbed a cheap tix for Mel-Chc at Aud195/pax. Infant tix is foc :) 1 month before the travelling date i bought the luggage. Flight duration is 3hrs++.

Tips: pls buy the luggage when u book the tix as it is cheaper than buying it later. Lesson learnt for me :(

Summary for the all-in tix Kul-Mel-Chc-Mel-Kul as below:

Kul-Mel return: Rm3435.29
Infant tix AA: Rm250
AA luggage 30kg return : Rm258
AA meals 5 pax : Rm75
Mel-Chc return: Aud977.20
Luggage 30kg return: Aud154

* I didnt buy seats for both AA and Jetstar, and we were lucky to be seated in 1 row for all flights :) For ref AA seat selection is rm39, jetstar Aud5. Giler mahal AA kan!

Total tix for 6 of us = RM7353.15

Super cheap isnt it :)

Now go n sign up for AA and Jetstar member. For those travelling outside the school holidays, am sure u can catch a better bargain for both flights. Untung la korang yg single2 tuh :)

Oh another thing, Jetstar is also a budget airline. If u're looking for comfort n wants to travel in style, jetstar is definitely not for u. Anyway, AA is way better than Jetstar. Jetstar is super sempit, sape2 yg tinggi sgt tu mahu cramp kaki sepjg flight haha. Other flights option to NZ are Air NewZealand (kul-auckland via MAS -queenstown), China Airlines, and many others which i couldnt recall.

Melbourne-New Zealand Trip Nov 2015

Alhamdulillah, we were back, safe and sound. Kids are healthy, no so-called bad experiences occured, and we came back with lots of beautiful memories that we shall treasured all the time.

I think i'll need so many separate entries to record our 12 days journey, meanwhile these are some teasers for you to enjoy.