2nd and 3rd week

After five days of my arrival, one of my bestfriends, Dalia, came here for a two week holiday. I was super excited when I saw her at the arrival hall that we almost scream in the middle of the airport. We have been planning her trip together for the past month or so and we had this packed-to-the-core itinerary for that 14 days she was here. Hubby and I tried to bring her to all the places we know but there are just so many thing to see, 14 days are just not enough. However, we managed to cover all the touristy places, the main shopping malls and also some of the locals' favorite spots.

Here are some of the places we went..

At the Charles De Gaulle arrival hall. There were jumping, hugging and shrieking as if we haven't seen each other for years but really, we just saw each other days prior to my departure.

Trocadero + Eiffel Tower

We brought her there twice..the first time was at night so she could see the Eiffel when its lit up and all sparkly and the second time was during the day, when the three of us went to the top most of the tower. Tiga-tiga pun first time naik. Thank God that the sky was really clear that day..we could see the whole of Paris so clearly from up there.

The Lourve..where Dot met her Cik Mona.

Notre Dame

She was more exited about the Greek shops, kebabs and souvenir shops along St Michel rather than Notre Dame itself. Tak nak jumpa Quasimodo ke Dot? Hehe

Jardin De Tuileries

Impromptu picnic.. lepas penat jalan straight from Hotel De Ville, around Auber, Palais Royal-Lourve, and the huge garden, we bought drinks and macarons and sat down at the the garden for an hour or so.

National l'opera

Super duper cantik. Almost as beautiful as Versaille. Its a shame that the auditorium is not open for public unless you're there to watch a show. I'm sure it is as beautiful as the exterior.

Arc de triomphe + Champs Elysees

The high end street in Paris. I did a lot of window shopping but someone did some actual shopping..hehe..I guess LV here really is cheaper than the one in Malaysia. Significantly so. If minat and ada niat nak beli, mesti beli bila dah datang sini..rugi if tak beli.

La Valle Village

Just outside Val d'europe mall, it is the area where we can find outlet stores of a few famous brands. It is where they sell their previous seasons collections at half (or more) from the original price. Sama outlet macam kat Bicester Village but less choices as compared to there.

Chateau de Versailles

A beautiful beautiful place. No picture can do justice for its beauty. We spent the whole day there, immersing ourselves with its elegance and attention to details.

Sacre Couer

Another touristy spot. Bare in mind, if you visit here, please be aware of those people selling strings of thread (macam friendship band tu)..they will just grab and tie your hand with the string and demand for money. Saw two girls in front of us kena and they were asked to pay 5euros for that stupid benang. Other than that, it is a nice, pretty place to visit and to look for souvenirs.

Disneyland

Channeling in our inner child! Saw all Disney's prince and princesses, the parade, Disney's characters and went to all the rides they have including their Merry-go-round. My favorite is definitely The Wonderland - we met the Mad Hatter (he really IS mad!) and the Queen of Hearts of course. No Alice in sight though.

One of the main contributor to our weight gain is the desserts here. They are all so delish and irresistible! The most famous dessert/cookie is obviously the macaron. Brought Dalia to try the legendary Laduree, the famous Pierre Hermes and also the pretty Fauchon. Personally, I prefer Laduree among all three. I really don't fancy Fauchon's macarons..even McD's macaron is better. I still like their chocolates though.

Mussels, mussels and more mussels! Yums!

On her last night here, we decided to round up her trip with a boat ride along Seine River. We manage to get a good seat on top of the open air boat. Saw all the famous buildings on a boat at night, recap-ing her trip..a great way to wrap things up.

To Dot, we hope you had an enjoyable time here..sorry if ada terkurang =)

Paghee

My stay here is exactly a month today. Alhamdulillah..So far, it has been nothing but great and interesting. I thought I would be updating more regularly since I'm on leave..but I guess other than catching up with TV series and movies (Jakun sebab internet laju and boleh download satu movie for about 15 minutes je) ,laziness got the best of me.

Even though this is my third time here but there's still so much to see..so much I have yet to experience. I used to depend on my hubby since he speaks fluent french, while I, on the other hand, only know how to say bonjour and because of that, I refused to go out alone and will only go out whenever he's around (boo! teruk betul..). However, this time around, takkan nak duduk rumah 2bulan? Dah tak kira..kena jeling pun, I would still say "anglais, s'il vu plait?" sbb boring duduk rumah sorang-sorang punya pasal..huhu..but not everyone is like that..most of them don't mind conversing in English especially the younger ones..

The First Week

We went jalan-jalan around Paris..I wanted to see how the city looks like in

spring since the last two times that I was here, both were during winter. The city is definitely prettier in spring..people are more cheerful and everything is just bright and colourful. The weather was perfect..the sun's up but tak panas sbb angin sejuk (kadang2 biadap juga angin tu)..around 15-18°C..

This is Noisy Champs..walking around the neighbourhood.

Seine River.

Here you will see couples and groups of people hanging out, eating baguettes, ice cream, drinking wine, and some (like us) just enjoying the view and sucking it all in.

See the second picture; that is an island kat tgh2 Paris, and according to our tour guide masa naik boat, that's where the super rich people lives. It is some sort of a private, and exclusive island..satu apartment can go up to millions of euros.

Walking around Hotel De Ville, Auber, Opera area

Jardin des Tuileries.

Beautiful flowers. Love love love the bright colours

At the Military Museum

Did some walking around Invalides too. Museum tu masuk next time..hehe

SDR (Short Distance Relationship) soon

My husband and I continued on with our long distance relationship after we got married. It wasn't planned that way but since he has got a rather good job offer there, we decided that we need to do what's best for our future.

He left for Paris on the 4th day of Hari Raya, 2 months after the wedding. We had a super hard time adjusting to being apart from each other but Alhamdulillah, I was in Emergency Department so I was pretty much busy the whole time and without us realizing it, it was already December. I took 2 weeks off work to visit him there and we went for our (Christmas-y) honeymoon.

This picture was taken at a Christmas Market, Champs Elysees

After only 2 weeks of melepas rindu, we were again separated..this time, it was for another 5 months. Only God knows how difficult it has been for us. Imagine coming home from work (post-call days were the worst) to an empty room, going to weddings and functions without your plus one, helplessly worrying about your husband's wellbeing, makan minum semua from thousands of miles away. Horrible I tell you. And for some reason, I feel that the past 5 months had been very very long and draggy.

Anyway, the LDR is about to come to an end. I have completed my 2 years of Housemanship in HKL and I have applied for a super long leave (10 weeks to be exact) to be with my husband in Paris, to be a housewife (or nama glamournya domestic goddess..huhu) for that 2 1/2 months there and that 10 weeks is going to start in matter of hours from now.

Those miserable lonely days and the wait, will be worth it InsyaAllah =)

We will remember that day.

09/07/10

I was a mad woman, running around like a headless chicken that day. It was the first day of my leave (yeap, a day before my wedding day) and there were just too many things to do. Thank God for my family and bestfriends. They were the ones who helped me prepare everything at the very last minute. Some of them stayed until 2am that night to finish and put up the signage, pick up the hantaran and susun doorgifts for the solemnization on the next day.

10/7/10 (AM)

D-DAY.

Woke up as early as 5am that morning with my inai yg keras over my fingers and toes. Took me a minute before I realized that in just a few hours I will be someone's wife. The feeling was quite overwhelming I must say. Nervous, excited, semua ada.

My MUA came at about 6am while Nas and this team arrived at my house at about 7am, just in time for me to get dressed. I loved my akad nikah outfit that Nas designed. It turned out exactly how I imagined it to be.

Arrived at the mosque at 9am sharp. Alhamdulillah, the solemnization went smoothly. My father was the wali and he did the akad himself, and with one lafaz, Rushdan and I became husband and wife.

Vendors for solemnizations:

Venue and catering - Masjid Wilayah, Jalan Duta

MUA - Nurin

Outfit - Nas Great Ideas

Hantaran - NGI

Cake hantaran - Gateuxlicious

Dyg2's outfit - Materials from Tanah Abang, Jakarta.

Door gifts - Chocolate brownies by Diah

10/7/10 (PM)

Reception at KGPA.

It rained cats and dogs that evening but thankfully the rain stopped by the time the guests arrived. The reception, alhamdulillah, despite some imperfections and bumps here and there, was still beautiful nevertheless.

Vendors for reception:

Venue and catering - KGPA

Decorations + dais - NGI

Outfit - NGI

Make up - Tiar Zainal

Wedding cake - Big Boys Oven

Dyg2 - Materials from Tanah Abang, Jakarta

Music - Band from The Royale Bintang

Finally, an update.

It has been over a year since the last entry. I blame my job, and twitter for it. Many have changed since then. Obviously I'm married now, but not yet with a child in case you're wondering. Doakan la ye.. =)

I will put up an entry (or two) later regarding our solemnization and the reception we had in July last year. I know I know. Sudah basi. It's not the "freshest" story out there but am going to put it up just to share our experiences and our vendors with you guys out there =)

Later!