Selamat Datang Ke Dunia Miniatur...

Sebelum kena Covid tempoh hari, kiteorang sempat la berjalan-jalan ke Bukit Bintang. Asalnya nak ganti bateri telefon Khayla yang dah kembang, tapi lepas dah setel tukar bateri kat Low Yat, Khadeeja request nak beg sandang macam kakak. So pergilah ke Sungei Wang Plaza.

Tak sangka pulak terjumpa galeri MinNature Malaysia yang terperuk dalam bangunan ni. Rasanya mesti ramai yang tak tau kewujudan tempat ni kan?

Nak masuk galeri ni kena beli tiket dan harga tiket pun bukan murah - RM20 sekepala dewasa dan kanak-kanak harga sama (kali 4 orang jadi semuanya RM80). Tapi Suami Terchenta tak sampai hati nak cakap 'no' bila budak-budak ni buat muka kesian macam Puss in Boots tu hahaha. So dia bayarkan je la... Amacey Suami Terchenta, lap u so much muah!

Nak tengok berbaloi ke tak berbaloi harga tiket boleh tengok hasil tangan artis kraf miniatur ni. Nampak real kan? Setiap model miniatur ni dibuat dengan teliti dan sangat detailed:


MinNature Malaysia
Entah berapa lama nak siapkan satu karya miniatur ni...


MinNature Malaysia
Kerusi tu macam real sangat. Mangkuk tu siap ada ukiran lagi dan berisi butir-butir makanan yang kecik halus

MinNature Malaysia
Makanan orang Cina - kagum dengan kesabaran artis nak buat benda-benda kecik ni

Anak-anak tak habis-habis tanya, 'Mom, how did they make such a tiny snack?' bila tengok model gerai jajan ni. Jangan tanya Mommy, Mommy pun tengah takjub dengan tahap kesabaran artis-artis ni. Kalau la aku yang kena buat model miniatur cenggini, baru dua butir kacang agaknya dah terbalik meja dan jadi Hulk! 😂😂 #spesiestakretisabar
 
MinNature Malaysia
Nostalgia betul tengok jajan ni

MinNature Malaysia
Khadeeja perhati je cakoi dengan pisang goreng miniatur ni

MinNature Malaysia
Replika kuih-muih ni pun nampak sedap je padahal pelesu semuanya haha!

MinNature Malaysia
Replika gerai jual buah berangan (chestnut)

OK, dah puas tengok model kecik-kecik kita beralih ke replika pemandangan pulak.


MinNature Malaysia
Replika suasana kampung

MinNature Malaysia
Aduh, rindu betul nak balik kampung bila tengok ni

MinNature Malaysia
Replika gerai durian pun ada

MinNature Malaysia
Ni kedai sinseh Cina rasanya

MinNature Malaysia
Suasana rumah panjang

Lagi satu, sambil-sambil menghayati setiap suasana tu, boleh jugak tangkap gambar kod QR yang terpampang di sebelah pameran. Kod QR tu ialah link ke Youtube di mana pengunjung boleh dengar rakaman audio. So bukan setakat boleh tengok, boleh dengar jugak audio ayam berkokok ke, orang bergosip ke, lagu ngajat ke. Baru la feel sikit!

Bahagian seterusnya ialah replika bandar-bandar di Malaysia:


MinNature Malaysia
Replika Bandar Georgetown, Pulau Pinang

Lagi satu, ada pertunjukan cahaya dekat Kek Lok Si dan Dataran Merdeka pada masa-masa tertentu. Sebelum pertunjukan bermula, pengumuman akan dibuat so korang boleh la terus gerak ke tempat tu. Bila pertunjukan cahaya bermula, lampu akan dimalapkan. Kiteorang sempat tengok pertunjukan cahaya di Kek Lok Si. Siap ada naga terbang-terbang, maklumlah kawasan tokong Cina.


MinNature Malaysia
Setiap replika ada penerangan ringkas tersendiri, tapi aku malas nak baca sebab banyak lagi tempat nak cover hihi

MinNature Malaysia
Replika Bandaraya Melaka. Dalam gereja tu bila kiteorang intai siap ada majlis perkahwinan lagi!

MinNature Malaysia
Gigih betul artis ni buat miniatur dalam replika gereja

MinNature Malaysia
Replika Batu Caves

Sebenarnya ada banyak lagi replika negeri-negeri lain seperti Melaka, Perak, Negeri Sembilan, KL, Sarawak, Sabah, Terengganu dan sebagainya tapi aku dah penat nak upload 😜 Korang kena pegi sendiri kalau nak tengok bandar-bandar tu ye.

Nak bagi lagi menarik, galeri ni ada menawarkan ganjaran RM200 untuk cari satu karakter (The Green Bandit) yang menyorok dalam salah satu pameran miniatur ni. Puas kiteorang cari memang tak jumpa. Kalau korang terer mencari benda hilang boleh la cuba nasib cari The Green Bandit ni. Buat pengetahuan, galeri ni berkeluasan 1207 meter persegi dan ada lebih 34,000 replika. 

MinNature Malaysia
Budak-budak suka main scavenger hunt ni

Eh, model orang kita pun ada!

Dah puas tengok pameran dan replika bandaraya semua, boleh la gerak ke kedai cenderahati pulak. Siapa-siapa yang rasa nak bawak balik replika miniatur ni boleh beli di kedai ni tapi harga faham-faham je la memandangkan replika ni ialah karya seni. So peminat replika, silalah sokong hasil tangan artis tempatan di sini.

MinNature Malaysia
Ni sesuai nak bagi kawan-kawan atau ahli keluarga yang duduk di luar negara supaya dieorang rindu makanan kat Malaysia hahaha!

Tapi kalau nak cari yang murah sikit boleh jugak usha fridge magnet, pop-up card bertemakan bangunan kedai lama atau buku nota.


MinNature Malaysia
Fridge magnet ni RM15 je satu

MinNature Malaysia
Pop-up card ni harganya RM21 kalau tak silap. Anak aku beriya-iya nak beli, berjanji dengan tulus ikhlas nak jaga elok2 last2 aku tengok atas lantai tepi meja.. hmm...

Amacam, best kan galeri ni? Boleh dapatkan maklumat lanjut di laman web: http://minnature.com/. Sempena cuti sekolah ni boleh la plan bawak anak-anak pergi ke sini, memang menarik.

All-Time Favourite Games

I am not an avid gamer but I do enjoy video / computer / mobile games. If you ask me about Mobile Legend or Among Us, I have to admit that I don't play those kind of games. Nor do I play games with other online players (well, blame it on being an introvert). And until this day, I couldn't figure out how to play The Sims which my sister was crazy about.

I think the earliest computer game that I played in the 90s was Oil's Well:

All-Time Favourite Games
Credit image: https://www.squakenet.com

The game's objective is to suck those oil pellets and avoid those spiders. I spent hours on my dad's PC playing this game but my siblings and I had to take turn because there was only one PC.

Then my dad installed Pac-Man and it became my favourite game for a while (like, who doesn't like Pac-Man?). Then more games were made available - Street Fighter II (which my brothers played against each other) and Prince of Persia (oh, I missed this exciting game full of suspense!).


All-Time Favourite Games
Prince of Persia (Image credit: http://bestretrogames.blogspot.com/)

We did not have enough money back then to own a video game player, but I still got the chance to lay my hands on a joystick and played video games on my cousins' console. My all-time favourite were none other than Super Mario Kart and Sonic The Hedgehog.

When I became an adult, I did not stop playing games but now my favourite games ought to be Diner Dash and Wedding Dash:

All-Time Favourite Games
Wedding Dash (Credit Image: https://www.freeridegames.com/)

All-Time Favourite Games
Credit image: https://dinerdash.fandom.com/

Sometimes during particularly mind-numbing online meetings or after work, I whipped out my phone and started to distract myself by playing Diner Dash Adventures. I am addicted to this game!

Playing games is not just fun, it also promotes creativity at problem-solving (you need it to move to next level or figure out your next move!), a way to bond with one another (playing online games with my kids) and also a great stress-buster!

Recently when my husband and I had to be quarantined separately from the kids because we were Covid positive (the girls were still negative then), my eldest daughter FaceTimed me and cried because she was really worried about both of us. No amount of talking and reassuring that we were ok and definitely would survive Covid had any effect on her as she continued to sob in their room.

In order to cheer and distract the girls from worrying about us, I gave them a link to an online games platform so they could pass the time in quarantine playing online games. And it worked!

plays.org
Credit image: plays.org

Plays.org is a free browser-based online games site offering hundreds of free games across any genre. The best part other than the games are FREE, players do not have to download the games but instead play directly on web browser. Cool huh?

So throughout the quarantine period, my kids and I FaceTimed each other on our laptop and played games together. They soon forgot their worry and became engrossed exploring those online games.

I was delighted to find my favourite childhood arcade games on this site (but in a different version):

plays.org
Pac-Rat inspired by Pac-Man and oh, I forgot about Tetra Blocks which is inspired by Tetris!

Hey, I forgot about Solitaire! These were my favourite too, along with Minesweeper (they came pre-installed in Windows OS).

plays.org
Credit image: plays.org

That was how we passed our time during quarantine - by playing online video games thanks to Plays.org.

You can visit their website here: https://plays.org/

Trust me, you are gonna love those games as much as we do!

Ikut Rombongan Sekolah Ke Planetarium Negara

(AMARAN: Post ni banyak gambar! Biarlah gambar berbicara hehe)

Ni dah kali ketiga aku masuk Planetarium seumur hidup ni hehe. Kali kedua pergi aku dah pernah post sebelum ni kat sini. Masa tu Khayla baru 2 tahun, Khadeeja pulak 3 bulan. Bila aku tanya Khayla, 'Ingat tak kita pergi sini dulu?' Dia memang tak ingat la hahaha!

Terobek pergi ke Planetarium Negara 10 tahun lepas!


Kali ni pergi sebab kena jadi parent chaperone (pengiring) untuk field trip sekolah anak-anak. Kemain seronok budak-budak ni naik kereta, siap menyanyi lagu-lagu cerita Encanto sepanjang perjalanan ke Planetarium (bila Khayla pasang lagu Encanto). 


We-fie dulu sebelum gerak

Masuk kereta achik memang semua wajib pakai seatbelt. Selagi tak pakai seatbelt achik tak drive ye. Syukur la budak-budak ni dengar kata semuanya.

Setengah jam je dah sampai, drop off budak-budak depan entrance Planetarium dan parking dekat depan sikit. Sementara tunggu cikgu beli tiket masuk ke Planetarium, dieorang beratur ikut kelas. Oleh sebab aku excited nak ikut sama, aku pun beli la tiket masuk sekali. Tak sangka harga tiket masih sama macam 10 tahun lepas (RM6 untuk dewasa).


Ikut Rombongan Sekolah Ke Planetarium Negara

OK, dah beli tiket marilah kita masuk.


Ikut Rombongan Sekolah Ke Planetarium Negara
Khayla dan kawan baiknya

Planetarium Negara
Ruang pameran angkasa

Planetarium Negara
Sementara tunggu dieorang belajar pasal cahaya, aku pun baca fakta menarik tentang matahari

Planetarium Negara
Boleh belajar pasal langit jugak

Sebenarnya tak banyak sangat benda berubah dekat Planetarium ni. Seolah-olah Planetarium ni terperangkap dalam twilight zone pulak 😜 Aku sempat borak-borak dengan salah seorang cikgu yang pernah berkunjung ke muzium sains di UK, katanya sehari pun takkan habis explore kat sana. Dan setiap tahun ada je benda baru yang muzium sana akan bawak masuk atau aktiviti-aktiviti menarik yang dieorang adakan supaya para pengunjung sentiasa datang melawat. Tu la, sayang betul Malaysia ni selalu ada idea yang baik tapi tak berkembang.

OK la, malas nak taip panjang-panjang. Layan je gambar anak-anak dan kawan-kawan di Planetarium ni.

Ikut Rombongan Sekolah Ke Planetarium Negara
Khadeeja dan kawan-kawan dalam space shuttle

Ikut Rombongan Sekolah Ke Planetarium Negara
Besarnya enjin Viking ni!

Ikut Rombongan Sekolah Ke Planetarium Negara
Mural angkasawan yang cantik

Planetarium Negara
Tak boleh imagine camane rasa aiskrim kering ni

Planetarium Negara
Khadeeja ingatkan ada angkasawan mati dalam gelas kaca ni

Ikut Rombongan Sekolah Ke Planetarium Negara
Budak-budak enjoy merasa anti-graviti dalam bilik ni (boleh tengok dekat skrin tv)

Ikut Rombongan Sekolah Ke Planetarium Negara
Khayla posing depan mural ISS

Ikut Rombongan Sekolah Ke Planetarium Negara
Angkasawan Khayla

Ikut Rombongan Sekolah Ke Planetarium Negara
Angkasawan Khadeeja

Ikut Rombongan Sekolah Ke Planetarium Negara
Dalam teater sementara tunggu tayangan 3D bermula

Kita buat gambar-gambar terobek jugak la:

10 tahun lepas:

Planetarium Negara 2013
Masa ni Khayla dalam stroller lagi

Sekarang:

Planetarium Negara 2022
Khayla dah dara

10 tahun lepas:

Planetarium Negara 2013
Masa ni kena dukung lagi sebab masing-masing masih kecik

Sekarang:

Planetarium Negara 2022
Dah takyah dukung daa....