Parents visit, March 2014

Been absent from the blog for some time now as my parents have been here in Kuantan. Had a great time taking them around Kuantan and KL, and they have loved spending time with their grandchildren!

Normal blogging should resume soon. I have lots to catch up on :)

Fidelia's Friday - Heartiest Congratulations to my sister!

Today my post is especially dedicated to my dearest sister, Florianna. I mentioned her upcoming convocation in a previous post. 

Florianna graduated with a Masters of Science in Safety, Health and Environment from Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM) in Skudai, Johor last Saturday, 24th September 2011. 

My mother was able to attend her convocation that Saturday but my father came 2 days later to take some pictures with her.

We are all proud of her and wish her "all the best" for her future. Keep up the good work, sister!

Here are a couple of photos of my sister.

With my beautiful lovely mother...

With my handsome smart father...

We are now waiting for her PhD convocation in 3 years time. Hopefully we will be there. Fingers crossed!

Have you been so proud of any of your siblings' achievements? 

An evening stroll at Teluk Chempedak beach, Kuantan

On Saturday, a few days before my parents left home for England early this morning, we went to Teluk Chempedak beach for a relaxing stroll.

Teluk Chempedak is one of my favourite places in Kuantan. It's just a 15-minute drive down the road from my house, there is sun, sea and sand, tall trees, monkeys, seashells and lots of rocks. Even better, I got to spend my time there with my family.

After McDonalds we made our way to the beach front

This is the view down the promenade at Teluk Chempedak

The low sun streaked across the sand

Photographs at Teluk Chempedak beach always stay long in the memory. Beaches are such beautiful places to capture images.

I like this picture a lot!

3 generations, born in different eras of time, all together at Teluk Chempedak beach, Kuantan.

Lauren with her grandparents

The sea was rather turbulent after the storm which finished just moments after we arrived.

Look what my mum found...

Enjoying being at Teluk Chempedak beach!

Lauren being cute

Me and my beautiful daughter, Lauren

Found a tree washed up on shore...

View of the Teluk Chempedak shoreline in one direction...

...and the other...

Family pictures

Fidelia's mum with Leah

...and Lauren

Our mums with our children

My dad joins the picture here. We decided to put the oldest person in the middle! Haha!

Three generations in one picture; my wife, her mum and our children...

And me with my parents and our children...

And finally a whole group picture

Good times when the family visits. Fie's mum went back to KL this morning while my parents' 3-week holiday here will come to an end this coming Tuesday when they begin their journey back to England in the early morning. We've had a great time together and hopefully my parents have been able to fit 3 years of fun into 3 weeks. That's pretty difficult, but They've had a lovely time with us and Lauren and Leah. And there's always Skype to keep us connected each weekend.

With the marvel of the internet, the distance never seems so great!

A Saturday BBQ on Day 5

After my afternoon tuition classes ended at 6pm we set up the BBQ and got it burning.

We barbecued chicken wings, sausages and prawns, and later held some marshmallows over the fire!

We had some honey to spread over the food...

Our little BBQ stand performed well on our little balcony. 

A lovely meal all round. My parents prepared some salad to compliment the meat. Drinks of pepsi and revive washed it all down.

For entertainment afterwards, my dad and I used a watergun and the hose pipe to spray intruding cats and (regrettably) rats, scrummaging around for food in the bins. We were successful!

Day 4 with my parents in Kuantan

Day 4 was a slow starter. My wife is now just one week away from giving birth. The date of June 18th has been set when she will be induced and the new baby will enter the world. She's taking plenty of rest. We're all excited but at the same time, can't really believe we're going to be joined by another human life in a weeks' time!

We went out to Kamdar at 3pm yesterday so we could find some material for my mum, and perhaps a belt for my dad, whose shorts are falling down a little!

The following scene inside Kamdar is probably heaven on earth for my mum. She loves materials, sewing, knitting, cross-stitch etc etc. She loved this:

She eventually found some yellow and purple material perfect for what she wants to do. Meanwhile, I tried on a few items of clothing, and when I save up a bit of money I'd love to return and make them my own!

This particular coat was the comfiest I've ever worn, cool and lightweight. You're lucky I'm revealing these new fashion trends right here on blogger! (coughing slightly)

Later in the day we popped over to Carrefour and I introduced my parents to Butterscotch bread:

This stuff is delicious!

Finally, a long-overdue sign in blue which translates as 'don't you feel guilty throwing rubbish out your vehicle?'

Doesn't this just highlight how low we've dropped, that we need a sign to tell us not to litter?!

Day 3 with my parents in Kuantan

Yesterday we went out to East Coast Mall. My mum bought a new purse from Parkson. Whilst waiting Lauren chatted with her grandad for a while:

Grandad had his spectacles tightened so they don't fall off the bridge of his nose every time he looks down. He can actually see through them now! Lauren entertained her grandma this time:

On the way up to Carrefour to buy some food:

We also searched for some sarongs (kain batik) around Malay Town. My mum wants to buy some so she can make cushions out of them. We found a nice purple one and the girls working at the shop couldn't stop telling Lauren how cute she was! Here's a picture of them all:

Later in the evening we took my parents to the night market (pasar malam) just down the road. We bought a load of sugar cane (air tebu), my favourite! And I do like to play with the remaining ice:

We also bought a kilo of rambutan for RM6 (just over one pound sterling). They are funny little hairy balls with a sweet fruit under the skin:

Apologies for the poor quality of this picture!

After dinner of mashed potato with sweet potato (yam) I took a few portrait pictures of us. I used the "soft skin" mode on my Panasonic Lumix DMC-F2 but I'm not sure if it makes any difference to the skin tone in these pictures: