Goodbye, Europe!

By the end of this entry, I realize how blessed all of us are, to be able to go back to the comfort of our own home and families, safely. My thoughts and prayers are constantly with the passengers and crews of flight MH17.
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It was our last day in Paris. We only have about 6 hours left before we boarded the train back to London. With limited time such as that, I told my husband we needed to go to La Vallée Village the Designer Outlet to see if there was anything worth buying.

There wasn't. La Vallée Village is just like Bicester Village in London (the look and feel pon are about the same), but the collection/brands they carry there aren't as variety as those in Bicester, much to my disappointment. We spent just about 30 mins there and decided to leave because we couldn't find something that we actually liked there. Even the Prada outlet didn't have the bag that I wanted, but we were told that it could be found in the boutique in Paris. (We were in Val D'Europe then still)

Lucky thing La Vallée Village was just behind our hotel, so we walked back to our hotel, took our luggage and decided to go back to Paris city to checkout the Prada boutique there. The rest of the family didn't come with us, so it was just us boarding the train on our own to Paris city.

Once we reached Paris city, we hired a cab to bring us to Prada. However, we had a hard time telling the cab driver to bring us to Prada! I was like, biar betol pakcik ni taktau Prada tu apa. Dah lah taktau Prada, English pon taktau. Grrr. The Internet signal was not helping either! It was so poor, I couldn't Google for the address to give to the cab driver! Pffffttt.

Anyway, while we were going rounds and rounds, trying to find the boutique, we saw Ladurée famous for their mouth watering macarons, but we were running out of time, so we were not able to stop.

Finally, we told the cab driver to pull over at a row of designer boutiques, where one of the sales assistant assisted us to the way to Prada. Finally someone that understands English! Once we reached the boutique, naturally the first thing I asked Dominic the sales assistant was (yes I remember his name because he was so good loking!), "Do you speak English?"

LOL. Because like said, all the French people there either purposely refuse to speak in English or do not know English, it made communication soooo difficult! His reply was, "Yes. Why, is it that hard to find someone who speaks English here?" Hahaha.

We learnt later from him that French people are actually the laziest people you can find on earth. They do not want to learn or progress, thinking that they are the mightiest race in the world. That explains the stubbornness and refusal to speak/learn English!

Anyway, long story cut short, we finally got what we wanted here. We were actually there to get a Saffiano for my elder sister. (I was aiming for Alma from LV all along) So imagine my surprise when my husband told me, "If you see anything you like here, get it,"

I couldn't believe my ears. I was like, "No wayyyyy, reallyyyyy? But, we will still go to LV though, right? I will still get my Alma, right? Righttt?"

And all he could say was, "Taknak sudah" like always. Hahaha. Mak apa lagi nyahhh. Shopping bag ahhhh. :P

No, that's not the bag that I bought hehe. It does remind me of LV's Alma Epi, though. Oh and while I was busy trying out different bags, the kids were busy snacking away -- in Prada! Haha. 

The sales assistants were all really cool about it too. In fact, I think the sales assistants there are way friendlier compared to the ones in Malaysia. This is one thing I notice that is good about the people there - the educated ones that is. They don't judge, if you know what I mean. You can come into the store with some stupid baju and selipar; they will still entertain you nicely.

We were also served with drinks once we were done with the purchase.

So, any guesses to which bag from Prada that won my heart? Yeap, gotta be the Saffiano! Hehe.

As soon as we left the boutique, we found the time in our hands. Just an hour to go before the train leaves us! We were supposed to drop by LV, but there wasn't any more time! It was either rush, of pay €180 each for the next train!

Long story cut short, we managed to board the train on time.

Unfortunately the rest of the families that were still in Val D'Europe then didn't manage to board on the train on time! They thought it would be a waste to spend €180 each, so they took the bus instead, that took them a whopping 8 hours of journey back to London. It was a horrible experience for them apparently, but well, still an experience! (Although I don't mind not experiencing it hahaha) :P

The next day, we had a few hours left before our flight back to Malaysia, so my husband and I decided to quickly checkout the Louis Vuitton boutique in Oxford Street to get my dream bag! :D :D

Yes, I was wearing the same outfit from the day before because the rest of the bajus were already packed in the luggage and would be troublesome to take everything out again! Baju semalam pon baju semalam lah, janji I finally got my white Alma, the bag of my dreams! :D

Then, we headed home, packed our bags and headed to Gatwick Airports to catch our flight home to Malaysia.

All in all, it was a hectic but definitely an exciting trip to Europe. We had good memories there, both good and bad, but will we ever go there again? Definitely! (Gotta think twice about Paris though) :P Until we meet again, Europe! xoxo.

Hello Disneyland, Paris!

As a kid, I have always wanted to go to Disneyland. I mean c'mon, tell me you've never dreamt of meeting Mickey, Minnie and Donald in person! Don't forget the princesses! So you can imagine how I felt when I saw Disneyland right in front of me. I gotta admit, it was as exciting for me as it was for the kids! :D

Upon arriving, my husband and I wanted to try this Hollywood Tower ride because apparently it's quite freaky.

But the queue was tooooo long that we decided to try another ride, the Rock n Roller Coaster.

I thought it was going to be some kiddy, unadventurous ride, but boy was I wrong! I remember praying really hard (and mengucap many times too!) that I don't get thrown out! It was super fast weh, my heart almost stopped. The flashing lights and loud music by Aerosmith blaring in my ears were not helping to keep my nerves calm too! As soon as we survived the ride, I promised myself not to ever go on any rides again! I'm too old for this! Hahaha.

Lol, can't get any more epic than that! Hahaha. After that, we went to look for our kids (feeling lucky to be alive and all) and concentrated on making the day FOR them. Haha.

First stop, was the Monster's Inc Scream Academy.

They had this awesome "scream monitor" where you scream as loud as you can, and see how high the scream meter goes. The louder you scream, the more energy you create for Monstropolis!

Then, we went to the kiddy ride section where the kids went on rides, and met Mickey in person! Aydein was of course, the happiest! Kept going on and on about Mickey hugging and kissing him on the cheek. :P

Of course, a Disneyland visit wouldn't be a Disneyland visit without a visit to the princess castle! :D

Then it was time for the parade. During this parade, all of Disney characters will come out with their moving decorated floats to greet the children!

Not sure if it was Adeena's white bear outfit or the fact that she's just a people magnet as mentioned before, but one of the fairy god mothers came near us and patted her gently :)

Once the show was over, we then proceeded to "It's A Small World" ride. We were asked to seat in a boat that sailed through the tunnel where puppets of children around the world greet us in the traditional costumes of their countries.

Just before we left the place, we had the pleasure of watching the Disney laser show and amazing fireworks right outside the castle. It was spectacular!

It was a beautiful ending to our trip in Disneyland. Before leaving the place, we got ourselves some gifts and souvenirs for memory sake and left the place happy. :) Until next time!

Hello Paris, The City of Love... Not!

We pushed off to Paris very early in the morning the next day, excited about our trip. Since the journey was rather near, we chose to travel by train, Eurostar, so we could enjoy the scenery along the journey. We thought it would also be a good experience for the kids.
Once we reached Eurostar station in London, I needed to go to the toilet, but when I asked for direction, the French workers there seemed a little unfriendly. I dismissed it, thinking they were busy.

Anyway, once we reached Eurostar Gare Du Nord train station, we kept our luggages at the station so we could move freely to explore Paris.

Then, we pushed off to Paris city to see for our own eyes, the magnificent Eiffel Tower! But before we reached Eiffel Tower, we passed by a massive jam at one of the roads in Paris. Despite all the honking, the driver at the very front refused to move. Then, one angry driver just drove on the pavement and drove past all cars!

We were all surprised! Macam gini punya orang pon ada. Tskkk.

Then, we reached Eiffel Tower. The moment I laid my eyes on it, I was in awe. It was as if I couldn't believe that it was actually in front of me! Speaking about being all jakun. :P Of course, camwhoring here was a must! :P

Finally, a group pic of all 3 families with my father and mother in law! :D

In between, there were also cartoonists that offered to draw our pictures with Eiffel, for €30. My husband and I declined, but unfortunately, they managed to persuade my brother in law. Apparently they were not allowed to see the result until they pay the money. And when they saw the result.., let's just say, they weren't very happy with it. :P

Eiffel at night.. cantik kan? :) I even managed to breastfeed Adeena in style in front of Eiffel! Haha.

After trying some crepe nearby the Eiffel, (it's just beside the carousell, sedappp sangat!) we then decided to go on a cruise ship.

During the cruise, we saw magnificent architectures standing proudly in front of us.

After the cruise, we decided to head home, and that's when the episode happened. We went back to the train station to collect our luggage. Everything was fine, until it was time for us to queue to board on the MRT to Val D' Europe. You see, traveling in groups has its downside, one of it being messy. So many bags and strollers and kids to look after, and the next thing we know, one of our luggages (my BIL's to be exact) is gone! It happened in just a blink of an eye! He was queueing with his luggage right next to him, then he turned to assist other families with their luggages, and the next thing he knew, the luggage was no longer there!

We looked frantically for it, but it was no where to be seen. We even lodged a report at the authority there, but nothing could be done. CCTV did not pickup anything. Most of the French people there insisted to talk in their language, even when we told them we couldn't understand them! They were not only unhelpful, they were stubborn!

It was not a pleasant first-day experience for us in Paris. In fact, while waiting for the men to look for the luggages, the ladies waited at a corner with the rest of the kids, luggages, and strollers. While waiting, there was even a fight at the terminal itself, it was scary! I thought this was supposed to be the city of love? What love is this? All we see from the start is rudeness, stubbornness and violence! Yes, the city may be beautiful, but sorry to say, I can't say the same for the people there.

Lucky thing there wasn't anything major in the luggage, so my BIL's family ended up getting themselves new clothes to wear on the next day. Kesian kan! But at least it gave them the ticket to shop for new clothes in Paris la haha.

By the time we reached Val d'Europe, it was already midnight. We were still very affected of what happened earlier, that we were so glad to finally reach our hotel, Hotel L'Elysee. It felt like we finally found our safe haven to seek shelter in!

Tip: Decide where you want to spend your time the most at when you're in Paris. For us, it's Disneyland. So we chose a hotel near Disneyland. Hotel L'Elysee seems to be the perfect choice because it's only 15 minutes to Disneyland by bus, and just 5 minutes to La Vallée Village, the factory outlet store.

The kids slept almost immediately once we reached.

So that's how our first day in Paris went. Let's just say, it failed to give us the good first time impression la ok. But the next day was a better day - a visit to Disneyland! (To be continued)