Penang

We took a family vacation to a place called Penang last week, which is an island off of Malaysia.  We learned something the hard way, however.  We went on a school holiday and it was packed! The drive there took four hours and the drive back took seven hours.  But alhamdulilah kids were amazing in the car and we enjoyed ourselves.

The mountains on the way there.  This one reminded me of the mountain from Lion King.  There were caves on the opposite side of it.

On the left side there is no rain, but on the right side it is raining.

Driving across the bridge

The boys got to ride a horse beside the ocean into the sunset

Summaiya is checking out the ocean water

We went to a place called Penang Hill and wanted to take the train up to the top but they told us that there was a three hour wait so we decided to head back to the beach instead.

The waves were really strong during the day, we had to stay close to the boys so they wouldn't get sucked in!  But they had so much fun chasing, and being chased by the waves.

Even I was enjoying it

Watching the waves

Summaiya watching her brother build sand castles

Yusuf 'surfing'

Playing in the sand

On our way back, we stopped at a rest station, and instead of stalls selling chips n candy, there were a bunch of vendors selling fresh fruit cut up in bags so we bought a few.

Shopping

Being abroad makes you appreciate and miss the little things that you didn't pay much attention to when you back home.  For me, Dollarama is one of the things I really miss especially since were home a lot more! A couple of weeks ago I found a store where I bought a couple work books, pencils and erasers, but I couldn' t find decent paper or paint or kids activities.  

I have recently been introduced to another Canadian sister here who has lived in Malaysia for almost three years. We went out with her last week and she showed us an indoor playground which the boys loved.... and a bookstore which had paper, and paints, and tons of other kids things for reasonable prices, alhamdulillah = ) 

Ibby working on an alphabet puzzle that I found for him

Also found an Oragami set for Yusuf

Painting on our balcony with our new tempra paint 

My Home

We did this activity today.  I found it on Pinterest, which is where the picture was taken from.  I didn't take a pic of the one we made since it has our address on it and I would rather not make that public ;)
On the back, we wrote our Canadian info to compare the concept of city/state/county/continent.

Counting in Malay

Were trying to learn how to count in Malay.  I made this chart today and we've been listening to this video on youtube, click here.

Chicka Chicka Boom Boom Tree

After picking up and moving to the other side of the world, we no longer have the amount of toys, activities and supplies that we used to. So Im learning to improvise and make things by hand.  Ibby is learning his alphabet and loves the book Chicka Chicka Boom Boom so I make a coconut tree for him and inshaAllah we will be putting the alphabet on it as we learn.

Lego Counting

One of Ibby's workbox activities today.  MashaAllah he loved it and it was so simple to put together.

Aquaria

Things are different in Malaysia.  In Canada, I had the car, all day, everyday.  And we were out, a lot.

I refuse to drive here for two reasons: 1. Its on the opposite sides and traffic is so crazy and 2. Im sure Id get lost!  There are tons of u-turns and such and the roads are not parallel   When I looked at a map of KL, I was reminded of arteries :/

I have not yet gained the confidence to venture out on my own with the kids on a bus or taxi, but it is on my list of things to do inshaAllah.

Anyways, our days are now spent in our apartment, but alhamdullillah we have two parks, three pools and a nice walking area with a fish pond all in our complex.  But it is different from our life in Canada, and is taking some getting used to.  We are in the midst of finding a Quran teacher who will come to our house every day, and I also want to look into hiring a swimming teacher to come give the boys lessons at our complex. 

Since were pretty much home all week (apart from grocery shopping and going out for dinner, which I must say, is very cheap) we have promised the boys that we will try to have a field trip every weekend inshallah.

This weekend we went to Aquaria which was pretty awesome mashallah, we really enjoyed ourselves.  You can check it out online by clicking here. 

I have more picture which I will upload later inshaAllah.

And so it begins....

Here are a few snapshots of our first moments here in Malaysia.

Shopping has been an adventure...we hardly know any name brands or  products.  Sometimes its annoying, sometimes its funny but overall its fun :)

Alhamdulillah so far there has only been a couple  times where Yusuf has felt down about being so far from home.  One day when he was feeling down I got him to write this in his journal.  If you cant read his writing, it says:
Three things you miss:
1. Naanis food
2. Highlights (sports news)
3. Pops

Write three things you like about Malaysia:
1. Swimming
2. Badminton
3. Swing

We've recently discovered and fallen in love with dragon fruit

Checking out KL from the window of the house we were temporarily staying at

Im loving how most restaurants have handwashing stations

Malaysian Police Car...  Still feels weird to be driving on the opposite side

Going for lunch at the mall.  Loving the trees and sunny weather mashaAllah

Since we go swimming almost everyday, mashaAllah Yusuf has really been building his confidence with swimming.  I think hes learned more in the last two weeks here than he did in the last two years of swimming lessons in Canada

The blue mesjid in Shah Alam, mashaAllah it was beautiful

The sunset from our building <3  Mashallah we are able to hear athan from our balcony.  Its not very loud and we cant hear it every salah, but if our windows are open and AC is off we can usually head it and mashallah it is beautiful

Hanging out at the pool

Bird park in KL

Showing Summaiya the hornbill which is Malaysias national bird

Checkin out the flamingos

The infamous durian fruit.  We couldnt smell it from where we were but supposidly the smell is horrific.  People say it smells like hell but tastes like heaven :/  They say you either LOVE the taste or HATE it.  We havent dared to try it as of yet

Someone wants to share Ibby's icecream

Posing at the photobooth in the bird park.  Ibby was not impressed.  MashaAllah Yusuf was really brave tho

Mesjid Wilayah

Beautiful architecture, under renovation though...inshaAllah we plan on attending this mesjid in Ramadan 

Checkin out the mesjid

Weve seen a few lizards hanging around.  Alhamdulillah none in our house ...mainly on the streets

Alhamdulillah feels good to be in a routine after such a long break in homeschooling

Our homeschooling room

Other angle

Back Online Alhamdulilah!

Alhamdulilah, after about three weeks of being offline, Im finally back!
Its been a crazy last few weeks to say the least!  Its actually felt like months, but were slowly pulling our life back together.

The kids are doing well, mashallah.  The journey here was tiring and difficult on them, and us.  The dua of a traveller is highly accepted, and that is such a mercy because travelling can truly be a hardship.  With the combination of beng very emotional, mentally stressed, and physically exhausted  it was only with the remembrance of Allah that our hearts were able to find ease.  Ibby got really sick two days before we left and didn't fully recover until about a week after we arrived.  For the most part Yusuf and Summaiya were good.  They both slept a lot on the plane, but it took a while to get back into a normal sleep routine.  It took us just over a week to find a new home, which we are now settled into and loving alhamdulilah.

Leaving home was hard. And being away is still hard.  But Allah has given me strength that I didn't know existed.  If you were to tell me a year ago that Id have to pick up and leave my family and friends and the only home Id ever know, I would have told you that it was impossible.  But here I am now, on the other side of the world, and alhamdulilah, Im okay.  The kids have been a big motivation for me to stay strong.  I was dreading the airport, and I admit it was HARD, but seeing my kids faces forced me into survival mode and helped me stay strong.

Allah has promised that with difficulty there is ease.  And indeed Allah's Promise is True.  It was less than three months after we made our decision to move that we were on the plane.  The process of getting rid of everything, packing, and saying our goodbyes were tough.  And for the first little while after arriving, dealing with sick babies, recovering from jetlag and feeling homesick were also tough.  But alhamdulilah we have worked our way into more of a routine, the kids are starting to enjoy themselves more and my heart is more at ease.

I dont know what Id do without the opportunity to keep in touch with family and friends via whatsapp, skype and facebook.  Alhamdulilah that has helped a lot.

Anyways, I missed my blog and inshaAllah plan to update regularly now, inshaAllah.
Please remember us in your duas.

About to board our plane at  Pearson Airport

Stay tuned...

Alhamdulilah things are going well in hot, humid and sunny Malaysia. It's been a roller coaster ride both emotionally and physically. We miss home but then get distracted with the new things were learning. We get exhausted but have adrenaline rushes. Overall alhamdulillah its been a great experience.
We're slowly settling in our new home, almost all the suitcases are emptied and we finally bought pots n pans yesterday. We're off to get groceries now... The trunk of our car wouldn't open so we weren't able to do much shopping til yesterday.
We don't have wifi yet and our cell phones won't hold charges and are really slow for some reason. Inshallah once we get better cell phone and Internet services I will be back to blogging regularly inshallah.
Keep us in your duas :)