Cherating Trip

We got back on Sunday night and have been recuperating since! Hahahaaa... go figure! We always seem to need a holiday after the holiday ends!

The trip to Cherating was AWESOME, perhaps it's because Gib's a lot bigger now (compared to our last beach trip to Penang when he was one year old)... so he enjoyed many activities and was pretty easy to deal with throughout the trip. Trips like these never make me fail to be thankful for the good-natured fella we're blessed with. Well, as good-natured as a two-year old can ever be, of course ;)

And of course having friends in the Kemaman area helped tremendously in the sense that we got to dine in the yummi-est places due to their recommendations! So it was indeed a "cuti-cuti makan" for us too. Hehehe. Our friends Surya and Scott who used to reside in NZ are now based in Kemaman (which is also Surya's hometown), and they really went out of their way to make our visit memorable. Thanks so much you guys! We had such a ball!

Didn't manage to take as many pictures as I would've liked because as usual we had our hands full with Gibran.. hehehe. When H is entertaining him, I'd have my hands full with our things (or covered with sand!), and vice versa. So... minimal pictures.

Oh well, like I told H.. some things just have to remain in our personal hard-drive. Memory laaah ;p


We had the car washed before leaving, so here's Gib in the MPV-carwash at Cyclone Car Wash at the BP Station just before the Damansara tollhouse (love that wash!). His last carwashing experience was when he was an infant (hahahaha.. that's how often I wash my car??!), so the whole machine-wash thingy really amused him.


All toothy-grin upon arrival on a humid and HOT evening at our Holiday Villa beachfront chalet. No wonder it was SO hot. We arrived exactly when the weather / winds were changing and not five minutes after we shut the chalet door, a thunderstorm reigned! There're very few things that scare me more than a thunderstorm by the beach, if you ask me.


Munching pringles with Baba while intently watching TV... normal TV some more! Gib was hooked on Malay adverts and TV shows all the while we were there because he never watches Malay / local TV at home. Hahah! Between them two, they finished off the whole can of pringles while waiting for the thunderstorm to settle. *shudder* the amount of MSG in Gib's body must've been off the charts.

I was convinced that it was going to be another Sabah-like trip (boohoohoo woe is me), and didn't find it particularly amusing when Mom messaged; "Wherever you go, the rain follows you. You bawak rahmat wherever you go. It's hot here, but nice and cold there. Take care, darling, love you."

Thanks Mak, but your loveydovey message wrong timing lah ;p Orang tengah tension at that time la! It was thundering and raining cats and dogs!

Then the rain stopped and lo and behold.. the weather was lovely throughout the weekend :)


Although it was near sunset, we brought Gibran out for a walk on the beach. The last time he was at a beach was during the Penang trip, so he was most amused when I told him that the sand is clean and he can open his slippers if he wants to.

He didn't slip his slippers off ;) Too much training from a fussy Mummy who keeps on harping on how the ground is dirty and full of "kuman" (germs) that can give you worms, so better keep your shoes on, darling!

Poor fella. Sure he was confused when suddenly Mummy tells him that that sand was clean and he can take his shoes off!


He was curious enough to start touching the sand, and there was no turning back after that. He's definitely a beach-lover like his Baba. Good on you Gibby huney! Errr.. me on the other hand.. I actually dislike the feeling of wet/dry gooey sand between my toes and get VERY irritated whenever H plays around with the beach sand. Hehe.


We let him try the surf for a short while before heading back to the chalet for a quick shower before meeting Surya, Scott and their two kids for dinner at an extremely yummy seafood restaurant called Steven's Cafe in Kemaman. Unfortunately no pictures because all parents were busy with their kiddies! Sad case...


Dang.. I look like so fat in this picture. Thank God the pokok kelapas and green landscape were a saving grace. Do you see that the li'l fella is now half of my height..?!

Anyway, the next morning the sun was bright. We had complimentary breakfasts at the coffeehouse facing the beach. Breakfast was so-so but the view was great! Gibran was so impatient throughout breakfast, wailing every now and then to demand; "Taknak makannn.... Jom pegi lautttttttttt...". Pfffft!

It was too hot for the beach so we went for a longgg swim at the pool (there are two pools, and ours is just outside our chalet door) until all three of us turned nice and brown. After showering, we went for a drive by the main Pantai Cherating; awesome beach, but deadly! Last month three people lost their lives there :( Scary.

Surya and Scott had to work that Saturday and recommended Restoran Duyung at Pantai Cherating for lunch. Nice! We had a few air kelapa, rice, kailan oyster sauce, sotong goreng and ayam cashew nuts.. all for RM40.

I swear I'd be willing to relocate there if given the chance ;) Just for the food and beach!


After having a nice long nap, we played on the sand till about 6 pm. Then we went into the pool (which was VERY warm because of the day-long exposure to hot sun!), and was soon joined by Surya, Scott and the kids Sarah and Sophie.


Gibran was ecstatic to have friends to swim with. Yes he's a very sociable fellow but there was this one point during the evening when all the kids started acting up once we took em out of the pool at 7-ish. Yes I suppose many Malays would say "meragam" because of "Maghrib" perhaps (many believe that during dawn kids get cranky due to many reasons we shall not get into here), but I think the plain and simple truth was that the kids were exhausted! Gib started pulling all his things away from Sarah and Sophie while loudly exclaiming; "Gib taknak share, okay!?! Taknak!" .. which really gave me a headache. They also started munching hungrily on the Tiger biscuits so we rushed to Restoran Duyung (again!) for dinner and had yet another scrumptious meal. The kids were all acting up this way and that so we called it in early. Surya later amused me with her late night sms telling me that she'd meet us for the legendary Kemaman's Hai Peng Kopitiam the next day (Sunday) and announcing that she'd be leaving the kids home because "Aren't kids socially restrictive?".. how true, woman! Hahahahaha! Although we won't wanna change a thing for the world, gossip sessions sure haven't been the same, have they? ;)


Following right after Baba's footsteps by being utterly passionate about water. Alhamdulillah :) He can swim well with the water wings / floaties on that you don't really have to do anything when supervising him in the water except to make sure he doesn't swallow mouthfuls of water.


The next morning it was a little cloudy, and this was another advantage the changing weather provided us because it wasn't too hot to play on the beach. So back to the sands we went, and it's amazing how much two days had changed Gibran. He wasn't freaked out by the sand anymore. I bet he'd play there ALL day if given the chance. Well.. although he did demand for.. ;"Nak wash! Nak pakai kasut Ban! Wash kaki Ban!" .. once he got out of the sand. Hmmm.

And then off we went to Kemaman to have lunch at the legendary Hai Peng Kopitiam.


At the exit of the hotel. H skipped out of the car, posed for 2 seconds while I clicked, just so I could take a picture of the "flags" (or whatever those are!) on the path leading to the hotel's main building.

Lunch was the stuff legends are made of ;) The bread and coffee were simply perfect (and I can say this because I'm a certified coffee addict), the nasi dagang was soo delicious even though we got there at nearly 2 p.m. Even the popiahs were good although already cold by then. Surya had the tuna spaghetti (which they served with chopsticks!), and even that was yummy. So, Hai Peng Kopitiam is a definite must for our next visit there! Look at it this way. The nasi dagang and toasts were so good, even worm-like Gibran was willing to sit still for an hour just to eat them! That's remarkable!


Eating super-ring junkfood on the way home :p Well, we hardly ever allow junkfood so I guess trips are the special occasions that are good excuses for junkfood(s).

The ride home was smooth, albeit several glitches at Karak nearing Genting. What is it with people speeding on that road and causing pile-ups. That road is notorious. Touchwood!

So that wraps up our awesome first holiday of the year :) What a trip!

I know this'll sound seriously corny, but the trip made me feel even closer to H and Gibran, and I feel so very blessed to be in this life. Most of all, I feel oh-so-blessed to God for giving me my awesome, fun-loving boys who make the simplest things in life feel so good.