Thailand

June 2009 - N1H1 flu virus has been labelled "Pandemic" and it is spreading from person to person worldwide. This has made us panic and we thought to cancell our trip but we knew this would make our kids disappointed as we have planned this school holiday trip for almost a year. After a month we realized that panic would not help anyone so we educated ourself and took reasonable precautions.

BANGKOK (July 8th, 2009)

The Grand Palace

We were just lucky meeting a good Thai, Lee. Actually he is a taxi driver (we hired his cab for 2000 baht / 8 hours - We still keep his mobile number & email address in case needed) but without asked he explained everything like a tourist guide in "good" English (if you are unlucky, you will be accompanied by a driver who does'nt speak English at all.

The Grand Palace Built in 1782 - and for 150 years The Grand Palace was the home of the Thai King, the Royal court and the administrative seat of government. We do Salute to the creativity of Thai people who built the temple with its beautiful architecture.

A strict dress code applies here. We must be properly dressed before entered the temple. Men must wear long pants and shirts with sleeves. Women must be similarly modestly dressed. If we show up at the front gate improperly dressed, the guard will lead us to a booth near the entrance that can provide us "proper" clothes (a deposit is required).


Dream World




Under construction .............













PATTAYA

















Ancient City

The Memoir of H. Ma'mun Mustofa

H. Ma'mun Mustofa was born in a small town, Sekayu, near Palembang, South Sumatra in 1926, during the era of Dutch colonial control. He was married to Rabi'ah Sya'ari on August 25th, 1950 and has nine children (four girls and five boys) but one boy passed away when he was 4 years old. His children names are Nailah, Asmarani, Nizam, Atika Warni, Irawan Mirza, Wirdah, Iskandar & Musyirifi Rizal.
Idul Fitri 2007 (October) was his last Hari Raya for him. All children and grand children were there in Palembang, gathering. He was besides his beloved wife watching his son singing. Ma'mun Mustofa used to play music, organ and guitar. He has arts in his blood for sure because he studied music by hisself, with no teacher. After Idul Fitri (October 2007) , he was hospitalized repeatedly for high blood pressure and intestinal problem. On June 27th 2008, he was taken back to the hospital in Palembang. His children were visiting his bedside. His health fluctuated for several days but progressively worsened with brain bleeding.
On July 1st, 2008, surrounded by his children, grand children, sisters & brothers he died at 09:10 pm local time. He was buried at Taman Bunga Mausoleum in Palembang. Condolences were offered by many friends and relatives also by the regional head of state.

May Allah accept his deeds and forgive his sins.

Genting Highland, Malaysia

We went to genting via Singapore taking a 26 seaters bus. It took us 5 to 6 hours to reach the Resort Hotel which is located at 3,000 feet above sea level.

A trip to Genting is not complete without a visit to the Theme Park. The Outdoor Theme Park with more than 50 fun rides to choose from but unfortunately we did not visit Genting at the right time due to the rainy season that outdoor theme park was closed for public. Kids were disappointed but they were just as happy as they could play at Snow World, built a snowman, snowball fighting and relished the cold nipping at their nose.

Kids challenged theirselves to the ultimate test of physical and mental strength by scaling a large indoor climbing wall. But only few kids were brave enough to do it.

We took cable car ride which took us on a scenic journey 900 m into the clouds to the Genting Highlands Resort about 1,700 m away. It was raining & cloudy but still we could see animal down there, rice field, road. Fantastic.

Indonesian Independence Day

Merdeka !!!!

11:00 am. Mr. Mahfudz is a former of RT (Rukun Tetangga) in his neighbourhood, gave his speech in our independence day celebration (August 17th, 2008). He was explaining to kids that it was not easy to get our independence from the Dutch & Japan. He was asking us to give a few minutes respect for the heros / heroin and pray for them.

03:00 pm. Game Competitions. There are some games for kids like karung, kelereng, baloon competition and many others. They were trying their best not only to win the game but more to celebrate our independence day. Kids under 5 years were doing competition in baloon, fish and paku games. While kids above 5 were in kelereng, karung & tambang games.

07:00 pm. The Black Shadow (Kiki, Afis & Iqbal in guitar, Vicky in drum and Dimas the vocalist) played the music and sing some songs. They are still young but they have their own band group

08:00 pm. Having diner together (hosted by Ibu RT, Mrs. Enny Sulistyowati). We had Soto Ayam, telur asin (contribution of Mrs. Syukria Mahfud) crackers, water melon and cakes

10:00 pm. The present bapak RT, Mr. Eddy Santoso was given the honor to give kids who won the competition gift/reward. But he also gave gift to the kids who does not win any competition.


PROKLAMASI

Kami bangsa Indonesia dengan ini menyatakan kemerdekaan Indonesia. Hal hal mengenai pemindahan kekuasaan dan lain lain dilaksanakan secara saksama dan dalam tempo sesingkat singkat nya.

17 Agustus 1945
Atas nama Bangsa Indonesia
Soekarno - Hatta