My Two Girls – All About Zara and Zaria

My memory of Lombok when I went on a company trip more than 10years ago was : beautiful beaches and clear sea, uncommercialised, laid back. So when I learnt about Air Asia’s plan to fly there, I immediately convinced Daddy to go there for a holiday. We planned to break our holidays into 2 parts, touristy Senggigi and a quiet part of Lombok.

After much research, and trying to pick between the 2 famous Lombok hotels Jeeva Klui and Qunci Villas (both highly rated in Tripadvisor) as our Senggigi base, we found out that the Jeeva Klui management have another camp like property, Jeeva Beloam Beach Camp, just opened, in a very remote part of Lombok.

We contacted a few properties South of Lombok and Jeeva Beloam, we were attracted by Jeeva Beloam’s offer (all inclusive, camp like, remote) and decided to go there as the first part of our holiday.

Jeeva Beloam initially did not want to accept the 2 girls since the property does not have facilities for children and being far from everything (nearest public health facilities an hours away); but after a few email exchanges with them, we managed to persuade them and agreed to take full responsibility of the girls’ well being while there.

The plan was set. We would spend the first part of our holiday in Jeeva Beloam Beach Camp then to Jeeva Klui.

♥November 25th♥

We arrived late morning in Lombok, and easily spotted April, our Jeeva Beloam camp host, who came to pick us up.

Jeeva Beloam is located at Tanjung Ringgit, the remote South Eastern tip of Lombok (so remote that roads are not paved, and there’s no electricity supply). The 90 minutes drive from the airport took us on small country roads going through rice and tobacco farms. April was obliging and stopped upon our request whenever we saw something interesting.

A warung spotted along the way

Most tobacco farmers have already harvested their tobacco, leaving the fields pretty barren.

We even managed to make a pit stop at a salt farm using salt pans or salt evaporation ponds.

(From Wikipedia : Salt evaporation ponds, also called salterns or salt pans, are shallow artificial ponds designed to extract salts from sea water or other brines. The seawater or brine is fed into large ponds and water is drawn out through natural evaporation which allows the salt to be subsequently harvested.)

Salt farmer drying sea water

Pools of seawater, which will dry up and turn into salt

Salt farmer ready for work

Zaria picking up salt crystals found along the salt pans

After passing the last village where electricity services terminate, the rest of the 11km car journey was on a semi paved road built by the Japanese during WW2, hence it was very bumpy (but the girls had fun rocking around in the car).

Upon arrival at Jeeva Beloam, we were greeted by other warm Camp Hosts, AND a spectacular view.

We were told we were the only guests there during our stay, so we have this whole luxurious camp all to ourselves!

The five available Berugas, i.e. rooms

The key to our Beruga

The view from the restaurant.

The view from our balcony.

There’s no electricity supplied to Jeeva Beloam, lights were powered by solar panels, and power from generator was only turned on from 6pm to 6am daily. Hence during the day, we only got sea breeze instead of fan; but after 6pm, we can have the aircon turned on, and all power sockets working (to charge our phone, camera batteries, laptops).

Our room.

Tea and Coffee making facilities (fresh supplies of hot water was provided in flask instead of using electrical kettle)

The shower

As this is an all inclusive stay, all activities like cycling, soft tracking, snorkeling were included and we got 3 meals from the camp. A set menu was provided for each meal, but the chef will accommodate any special requests, if the ingredients were available.

The lunch menu on the day we arrived

The dadar gulung we had which consisted of shredded coconuts with palm sugar wrapped with pancakes

It rained while we were having lunch, cooling the place down. (As Jeeva Beloam wasn’t set up for children, children who visit the place need to be sensible to avoid accident.)

We spent the hot afternoon napping in the room, with sea breeze cooling us. And after the girls woke up, they wanted to play at the beach. The girls claimed it’s one of the most beautiful places they have been to. The sand powdery soft, and the sea crystal blue, and the beach is just few meters away from our room. The waves were very strong and not suitable for swimming but there are other places which April would bring us in the next few days for swimming.

In the evening, April brought us to one of the nearby beaches to view sunset. (In Tanjung Ringgit, both sun rise and sun set can be viewed from different beaches).

It got dark around 6:30pm in Lombok. We had a nice long dinner, and then have an early night.

Girls waiting for dinner.

The building that houses the Reception, Library and Game Room

The Restaurant

Our Beruga

Continues here.

I love Zara wholeheartedly. And when I was pregnant with Zaria, my biggest fear was not being able to love her as much as I love Zara, and that I would not have enough love to split between the 2.

How wrong was I. The capacity to love in a parent grows with every child born! And who would not love Zaria? The joker, the chatter box, the stunt woman, the chili padi?

Look at her, a couple of days old and she’s already trying to be funny.

And barely 2, she’s climbing up and down the toilet bowl to use the toilet on her own (and making us worry she might fall).

That’s Zaria! The one who brought us much laughter, much entertainment, and many surprises! It’s never a bore with her around.

Happy 6th Birthday Zaria. We all love you very much, thanks for adding so much fun and laughter to our lives.

Most of you who read my earlier post, this and this maybe interested in this comparison.

Here is my take on Kamdar brand Uniform vs Kiko brand Uniform. Both are lasting. Zara had 2 Kamdar brand pinafores, and 1 Kiko brand pinafore, and her white blouses were all from Koko, all of which she wore for 2 years.

Just to compare the colour of the Pinafores.

From bottom to top. New Kiko band pinafore, Kiko pinafore which is 2 years old, Kamdar brand pinafore which is 2 years old.

The 2 years old Kiko brand pinafore is laid on top of the new Kiko. The colour has faded quite a lot, but it’s still blue evenly.

Kamdar brand pinafore on top of 2 year old Kiko brand pinafore. The blue in Kamdar pinafore is still vibrant.

Kamdar brand pinafore on top of new Kiko brand pinafore. The blue from Kamdar brand is still more vibrant.

Kamdar definitely has nicer blur pinafore, and last longer.

How does it fit the girl?

Zaria wearing Zara’s 2 year old Kamdar brand pinafore with back zipper (which Zara said it’s easier to wear and remove). The shoulder straps of Kamdar brand are thicker, I guess making the child look a bit sloppier if they have small shoulders.

Kiko brand pinafore has slightly smaller shoulder strap, so they fit nicer.

Price wise, Kiko brand pinafore is almost RM15 more expensive than Kamdar. So I guess, if you can make a trip to their shop on Jalan TAR, Kamdar will be a better deal.

(Kiko brand uniform can be bought from Jusco.)

Last year, I wrote this post on What To Prepare For Standard One. This year, I have one to prepare myself, as Zaria will be in Standard One next year.

Using the experience I have with Zara, this is what I’d prepare for Zaria.

3 Sets Of School Uniforms.
I preferred Kamdar‘s uniform, as it’s cheap, and the colour is quite durable. However, this year, they started not selling uniforms in their branches (that’s located IOI Mall, Mid Valley Mega Mall) but only sold in their Jalan TAR shop.

So I bought Kiko instead, 3 sets for each of them. Why Kiko? And not Changgih? Changgih is slightly cheaper, but when I lifted up the fabric and looked through it against light, I saw that the cloth was not weaved evenly, i.e. some of the weaving was very close together, some part of the fabric the weaving was farther apart.

Moreover, Kiko has smaller size that fits Zaria.

As for the white blouse, we’d tried a couple of brand, and find Kiko brand has a nicer fit.

2 Pairs Of School Shoes to interchange.
Like Zara, I only bought 2 pairs of shoes for Zaria to interchange. Their feet grow very fast, and the shoes get worn very quickly as well. A pair would probably last a couple of months before I need to change again.

We went for Bata, just because we grew up wearing Bata too.

Under Protection Or Under Layer
As mentioned in my previous post, the girls will be wearing under protection under their pinafore. So we bought cheap tights from FOS, which we’ll alter and shorten so that they can wear as ‘under protection’.

Unrelated to going back to school, we stock up on white panties, which Parkson sells as part of the Going Back To School promo (RM8.90 for 3). I don’t know about you, but I have problem finding reasonably priced white panties for children their age.

Water bottle, Food Container
Zaria is more absent minded than Zara, so we’re not getting any new ones, but she’ll be using the ones she used in kindergarten.

Stationary
We’d already bought her a set of colour pencils, new sharpener, 2B pencils (mechanical pencil I find is not suitable for Standard One), pencil case, colour pencil case (bought pouches with zips).

School Bag.
Now what is pending is her school bag. We’ll be getting her a SWAN trolley school bag just like Zara’s (which Zara will be using for another year).

One of the things I didn’t teach the girls, but since Zara started going to Standard 1, she likes wearing a pair of shorts under her pinafore when in school or under a skirt when she goes out.

Zaria too pick this up from Zara.

So I asked them to write about why they need to wear ‘under protection’ (what they called that pair of shorts they wear under their skirt/dresses), and these are what the girls come out with.

Zaria’s reasons.

Zara’s reasons.

Check out their last reasons… o.O”

Our regular fish monger is from Sungai Besar, and we’d been asking him if the rice in the padi fields of Sekinchan is ready for harvesting, as that would be the best time to visit the padi fields. When he told us early November that the padi fields were turning golden, we planned for a trip there.

We went on November 15th, leaving the house around 10am. Stopped over for early lunch at Ijok, and then headed towards Sekinchan which is after Kuala Selangor and Tanjung Karang. Next trip there, we’ll leave later and head right to Sekinchan for late lunch/tea instead as Sekinchan has more to offer.

Girls were excited to see the padi fields when we arrived. Green fields with sheaves of golden grains.

There were some White Egrets among the fields and Kingfisher resting on power lines.
(Daddy was complaining that he could only take shots like this as he didn’t have a telefocus lens)

The excitement didn’t last for long in the midday heat. I was the first to get into the car and blast the aircon. We went to an air-conditioned cafe, Mamawe, in Sekinchan to shield from the heat. Surprisingly, the food and drinks in Mamawe was quite good!

About 4:30pm, we went to the fishing village in Sekinchan, as around this time fishermen would return with their catch.

Boats were arriving, and there were lots of activities in the fishing village.

Loads of fish being transported to sorting area.

Fishermen sorting out fish according to size.

Fishermen gutting yellow sea eels for fish maws.

Gigantic skate.

Girls called this fisherman The Death Angel (of the fishes).

Baskets of sorted fish.

The girls now know where the fish served on the dinner table came from.

Daddy wanted to go back to the padi fields before sunset, as this was the best time for photography. So we went back to the padi fields which was just about 10mins drive from the fishing village. In deed, it was more pleasant to walk around in the evening than midday.

We spotted some wedding photography being taken place. Wedding shot couples actually need to get their shoes dirty to get nice shots among the fields.

The photographer found a good spot with beautiful clouds… I’m sure the shots he took would turn out great.

The photographer told us they would be heading to the beach for more photo taking, he told us to head there to view the sunset as well. The name of the beach? Redang Beach! And how to get there? Just head towards Sekin Resort following their sign boards.

We drove passed by the fishing village again.

Redang Beach, Sekinchan, is just a small beach, with rough white sand, but many families were there to enjoy the sea breeze.

The attraction besides the beach is two tree houses probably built by locals, with hammocks made out of fishing nets installed. I took a nap lying in one hammock, while Daddy watched over the girls play.

We had a nice dinner at Wan Lau Seafood Restaurant which served home style seafood dishes. No photos but the food was quite good and for four of us, we paid ~RM40 for 2 slices of fried red mullet (Hongzhou).

It was a good day trip, and we managed to show the girls the sources of their food. I’m sure we’ll return again.. if not for the padi fields, we’ll be back for the food.

Note :
Do bring along an ice-box to purchase some fresh catch from the fishing village. Ice is provided by some vendors.
Here is a good website of Sekinchan, which you can check out for restaurants.
And you can download a map from here showing you where the Sekinchan restaurants are located.

Just capturing the girls’ October’s conversation (which I posted on FB), although it’s already end of November now.

While planning what to bake for Zara’s school carnival recently.
Me : Mei, what should I be baking today. For jiejie’s carnival?
Zaria : Chocolate chip cookies? (which I normally make with peacan)
Me : Yeah. Should I?
Zaria : Nope! What if somebody is allergic to nuts.. and chocolate?
o.O”
(pretty right, but I didn’t think she would give me advice like this)

Before going to bed..
Zaria : Hmm.. I’m thinking about having kaya toast tomorrow for breakfast (she loves my kaya, just like Zara loves my pesto).
Me : You love my kaya right?
Zaria : Yeah.
Me : (just to tease her) What if mommy died and then who’s going to make kaya for you?
Zaria : I’ll hire Teacher Siew Pin’s (her kindy teacher) mother to make kaya for me.
o.O” (the other day she said she wanted a dog and she will hire a kakak to take care of the dog..)
Me : Zara, what about you? If mommy died already then who’s going to make pesto for you?
Zara : I’m going to use the iPad and google… hmm.. maybe not.. what if I don’t have an iPad… I’ll ask someone who knows how to make it to teach me.
Me : Why do you think you won’t have an iPad?
Zara : What if I don’t have money?
o.O”
One always worry.. the other always optimistic.

Trying to shop on the net. Showed a couple of things I was interested in and asked Zaria if they were nice.
She took a glance at my shopping cart and said, “I’m not keen on stuff that are plain.” And then walked away.
o.O”

While we were talking about birthdays..
Zaria : This year my birthday, I just want to invite jiejie (her only guest every year).
Me : Don’t you want to invite your BFFs?
Zaria : No. So I don’t have to waste time chi-chatting, and just spend all the time playing. o.O”
Zaria : And then nobody needs to sing Happy Birthday to me!
o.O”
(but in November, she changed her mind, she even wanted to invite her teachers to her birthday celebration!)

For homework, Zaria had to colour a quarter of a cake, 3 quarter of a cake etc. As it was getting late (10pm), I told her to just colour them with one single colour.
Her reply? Slowly and smiling, “It’s my choice. You are not in my body. You are not my spirit.”.. and she continued to pick her colours, have her icing, the decorations, the flowers coloured in different colours for the quarters and of course carefully.
o.O”

We were planning to buy mattresses and we shortlisted 2. 1 probably made in China, the other made in Malaysia. Zara chipped in, “Buy the one made in Malaysia. Barang Malaysia bermutu tinggi.” (Malaysian made products are of high quality)
I asked her how did she know that?
She added, “They taught us that in school.” o.O”

Over dinner Zaria just asked Daddy, “Daddy, why is your Chinese so bad, when your mother is Chinese?”
o.O”

There were a couple of holidays the last few weeks, and we took the opportunity to visit different places, and one of them is the Malaysia Agriculture Park (Taman Pertanian Malaysia in Malay) in Shah Alam (sometimes also called Bukit Cahaya Agriculture Park or Bukit Cerakah).

We planned to cycle in the park and to visit the Four Seasons Temperate House which the girls went in 2010 during the ‘winter season’.

We brought along Zaria’s bike since she still needs her training wheels, and rented the 3 other bikes for us. As there were a long queue for the cheaper adult bikes, we took the more expensive ones, which cost about RM10 per hour (while the cheaper one is a Ringgit or two per hour).

The girls did well, riding on the hilly path, when the slopes got too steep, we all pushed our bikes up hill. When it’s a down hill ride, they all went zooming down. We had many rest and snack stops along the way. When the going got a bit tough and when it got too hot, Zaria would complain and nagged at us, “Whose bright idea is it to come here?”

We cycled all the way to SkyTrex Adventure Park, and then the little one got too tired and grouchy so we took the shuttle bus back to the visitor centre. Shuttle bus is provided for free, and it goes between the Visitor Centre and SkyTrex Adventure Park. They allowed bicycles to be loaded onto the bus which is a plus point.

We returned our bikes and parked Zaria’s bike at the bicycle rental place; and then went to have lunch at the small eatery at the visitor centre.

It was a super hot day, but they girls still wanted to visit the Four Seasons Temperate House which is on another path different from SkyTrex. We decided to walk there.

We found some ‘propeller seed’ along the walking path.

We were told the Four Seasons Temperate House was closed on that day, because they were working on the change of season there. Just our luck!

Instead we went to the Observation Tower, and spent some time there.

The girls with their bountiful energy can still ‘exercise’ at the Exercise Park.

Me? I took a nap beneath the Observation Tower.

Although it was a hot day, and we worked out the whole day with all the cycling and walking, the girls still had lots of energy to take photos of their surrounding.
I’m always amazed at the energy they have!

The park is actually a very good place to spend a day at, however, like all Malaysia public facilities, the toilet there is horrendous! The one that we visited had not been washed for ages, there were fossil like poop found in all the toilet bowls! BUEK!

We’ll still go back again though, just try to avoid using the toilet. We want to bring the girls to SkyTrex and the Four Seasons Temperate House next round.

Note :
Entrance fee to the Park is
RM3.00 for adult and children 12 years and above
RM1.00 for children 4 to 11 years old

More than 8years ago, when all hope was lost, and we thought we would not have a baby, Zara was conceived.

Today, she turns 8. Smart, charitable, sociable and affectionate, her sister, Zaria, adores her; and we are always in awe of her energy, her way with words, and her obsession with hygenes. She amuses us all the time, and we are blessed to have her.

Now that she knows how to read, look up video on youtube, she sometimes like to go through the blog posts I wrote about her when she was younger, or to watch video of her younger self which I posted on youtube.

Here is a funny video of her when she was ~9month that she and Zaria both like a lot.

We celebrated her birthday on Sunday, with 3 of her friends from school, as per her request. It was a whole day of play, shopping, movie, ice cream, pop corns, eating and chatting, and all the children enjoyed themselves.

Happy birthday, Zara. We all love you very much.

I was away during the weekend accompanying my dad to do his chemo in Singapore. When I got back, I saw this piece of writing by Zaria about Zaria.

Bad spelling, and bad punctuation aside, it shows that she adores her sister.

She’s always amaze at Zara’s ability, especially Zara’s ability to ‘swish’ her hips on the hula hoop.

………

And here are the girls on the hula hoops. Zara is a pro.

While Zaria is still learning.