July '08 Izzy's Top 7

Welcome to the 5th issue of Izzy's Top 7

The votes are finally in! The counting has been reconfirmed!

The Izzy family has decided on their Top 7 for July '08
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This Top 7 can give you a simple insight of some of our favourite things.If you are wondering why 7 and not 10?Well... our respond will be why 10 and not 7?For this month, our Izzy's Top 7 is...

Izzy's Top 7 Ice-cream flavours

7) Apricot (Haagen Dazs)

6) Macadamia Mania (Swensen's)

5) Strawberry (Ben & Jerry's)

4) Chocolate Therapy (Ben & Jerry's)

3) Belgian chocolate (Haagen Dazs)

2) Sticky Chewy Chocolate (Swensen's)

1) Vanilla (Haagen Dazs)

ccPT (part 4 - Finale)

Yup, time to return to Shah Alam before heading back to Singapore. We took the Kuala Terengganu - Kuantan route and made stop-oevr at paka to visit the kid's uncle n auntie... who happened to just recovered from chicken pox... for the 2nd time. Of course the stop also included a keropok lekor meal near the beach.

Bye-bye Redang

Paka stop-over

We then drove to Cherating & stayed overnight at Impiana Cherating before continuing our journey to Shah Alam. Along the way made a stop at a relative's house just outside of Kuantan.

Below are pictures at Impiana Cherating & the nasi dagang n some kuih we had for breakfast ( a makcik's stall about 1km south of Impiana Cherating... recommended!)

ccPT (part3d - Redang Island)

More Photos at Redang...

Posing time before taking the dip in the sea

the lepak place...

the view from the beach

an island when reaching Redang

The Spa... re-energize (from the lepak) the nite before leaving Redang

ccPT (part 3c - Redang Island)

Snapshots from our snorkeling trip... we went to 5 spots in 1 snorkeling outing and spent the other days snorkeling near the resort... even at knee-high water level... you can see colorful fishes.

Taking a break at Long Beach for lunch

The kids and Steve after lunch break... heading back to the boat for 2nd half of snorkeling

Stingray at one of the snorkeling sites

Snorkeling at the beach...

One of these bit papa... they were soo attracted to the bright pink camera that he was using

using the underwater camera... macam taken from outside aquarium aje but nope taken in the sea.

Izzy Jr#1 with mama

ccPT (part 3b - Redang Island)

Article by Izzy Jr #2

Well it is time to let Izzy Jr #2 to write his article on Redang Island in this blog. The intention here is to have him express his experience in writing ... a good exercise for him before he starts his year 1 school next month. Try to read 'em... everything is written unedited! If you can't figure out what he wrote, I have also re-written them below... Well done Izzy Jr #2... keep it coming!

On rdae I play on the bach and I play with stif and I went with Stif to play at the sweming pool and a man sade Im a god semer and I tik I can go to Rdae agn and I sor a ailld and on the ailld I mac a wever and my brude mac a pon and on the bot I mac a paper frog and we go up of the bot and one man sade the bot is like a spet bot and I went to a bug and I do snocling and I sor a lot of fish and my fuder sor a sting rae and I see a fish thnt can chne a lot of cule and under ser they have a lot of fish and some fish can moof fas and we pl sucer and my buder allwes wen.

After few clarifications from the author and after having his permission, below is the re-written article in adult's spelling and with the use of punctuation (something Izzy Jr#2 will soon have to learn to use... If you have not realised, the above story is completed in 1 sentence only!):

On Redang, I play on the beach and I play with Steve (the kids new friend at Redang... he was traveling alone & we met during the snorkeling trip... also made friends with another couple... Andy & wife) at the swimming pool and a man said I'm a good swimmer and I think I can go to Redang again.

(he then jumped to a new topic... about him playing sand castle at the beach) I saw an island and on the island I made a river and my brother made a sea and then a pond (near the sandcastle).

(he then jumped to a new topic again... this time on the boat for snorkeling) On the boat I made a paper frog (he did this to keep himself busy when the boat moves from one snorkeling spot to another). When we go up (into) the boat, one man said the boat is like a speed boat and I went to the back (to get off the boat) to do snorkeling and I saw a lot of fish and my father saw a stingray and I see a fish that can change a lot of color and under the sea they have a lot of fish and some fish can move fast.

(now, as a finale, he changed to a new topic... us playing snooker at the resort at night) We played snooker and my brother always win.

ccPT (part 3a - Redang Island)

Spent 4 days & 3 nights in Redang. The boat ride to Redang from KT is about 90 minutes. We spent couple of days at Redang Spa and the rest at Redang Beach Resort. Redang Spa is for those who wants privacy with not much activities (& no spa... go figure) while Redang Beach is where the beach is & oh yes where the spa is also. The hotel provides van shuttle between both hotels & the trip is about 10 minutes crossing a small kampung area.

Our daily routine is quite simple... beach.... swimming pool... beach... swimming pool. We also went island hopping for snokerling. It is the kids 1st experience snorkeling and I must say that they had much fun! You can even snorkel near the beach with fish all around you. The water is very clear just like the swimming pool.

During snorkelling the kids made a new friend... mind you their new friend is >20 years old. I'll let Izzy Jr#2 to write all about it including his personal experience in Redang in the next article. So keep looking at this site... it will be his 1st writing on this blog (unedited)!

... pagi hari di Redang...

photos from our Redang Spa bedroom patio

photos at the beach in Redang Beach Resort

ccPT (part 2 - Kuala Terengganu)

After Kota Bahru, it is time to head for Kuala Terengganu (KT). Since we were on vacation, we opted to take the coastal road... better scenery. Normal driving time is 1.5 hours from KB but we took our time and reached KT after almost 3 hours of driving. We made few stops along the way for zuhur & keropok lekor & we also made a photo-stop at MRSM KT where Miss Izzy did her high school.

sorry yea... pls turn your head to the left!

Having hot and crispy keropok lekor at Kampung Penarik

MRSM KT entrance

In KT, we took opportunity to stop at the Masjid Kristal... don't think the place is fully ready yet as many more touch-up needed & they were still constructing some of the miniature masjids from around the world. Nevertheless interesting place, only need better access for the locals to use the masjid's facility. We stayed overnight at Permai Inn as all hotels we called in KT were fully booked...part of the Inn was under renovation. The next day before taking the boat to Redang, we had breakfast with a friend. He brought us to this nasi berlauk KB restaurant... I think it is the best nasi berlauk we had during the journey.... as evident in the photo below.... tak sempat ambik gambar the nasi is already in the tummy! The sambal belacan is so kaw & the gulai ikan had nenas... always a good combination!

see... food already in tummy. even the high speed camera could not capture the moment!

Must make it a point to visit Terengganu again as there are many interesting tourists spots that we came across along the way but did not manage to go.... next time... can have more keropok lekor as well!

ccPT (part 1c - Kelantan)

Shopping time at Pasar Siti Khadijah...

My mom bought many keropok, ikan kering & some clothing for herself and her friends.

ccPT (part 1b - Kelantan)

More photos from the Kelantan trip...

with little brother and I with my uncles

family in Kota Bahru

ccPT (part 1a- Kelantan)

article by Izzy Jr #1... a summer holiday writing project

my brother posing after arrival at Kota Bahru

It is cuti-cuti Pantai Timur (ccPT) time!. We spent our vacation in Kelantan, Trengganu & Pahang. The trip started on July 4th (Singapore to Shah Alam) before we drove all the way to Kota Bahru on July 5th. Umi (my grandmother) and my family went to Kota Bahru in our MPV. My father drove for 8 hours from Kuala Lumpur. We stopped at Gua Musang to have our lunch and arrived Kota Bahru at about 6pm. When we reached Kota Bharu, we slept in Umi sister's house for 1 night. We had nasi kerabu & nasi berlauk for dinner... yummy!

Photo with our host of day 1... her husband already left for work

The next morning, we had nasi dagang for breakfast. We then went to visit Umi's father (my great grandfather). That night we had ayam colek... it is roasted chicken with rojak dipped in thai-chilli sauce..we never had it before & it was delicious. The whole family liked it... .

makan ayam colek

The next day, we went to another of Umi's sister's house. My little brother & I watched TV and played Play Station with our uncles. 2 of my uncles are younger than me! My mother and father then went to market (Pasar Siti Khadijah) to do some shopping.

The next day we had dinner with my mom's aunty... we even had roti bakar for supper... the roti bakar was delicious. My mom said that the roti bakar place is very popular here... it is called Whitehouse Coffee Shop. Before leaving Kota Bahru we also visited my Atuk's mom. We spent 4 days and 3 nights in Kelantan.

my parents and aunty having roti bakar at Whitehouse Coffee Shop