Family Trip To Alita Ranch In Batu Pahat

I did not know there was a goat ranch near our house in Batu Pahat until I read my brother Ah Yu's blog entry about it last June. So, during the Raya holiday last month, I also wanted to visit Alita ranch at Parit Jabong Darat, Tongkang Pechah, with Ray and my family.

My brother Seng called up the farm and was told that it is open every day. There was not any obvious signboard outside the farm. at the entrance. When we arrived, the Taiwanese person Mr Hsu opened the gate for us to park our cars inside and guided us
to the ranch.

We had to disinfect our shoes first

before climbing upstairs to see

the milking goats

whose origine was either Europe or the US.

My brother Leong's family had already been there previously with the school trip.

Nevertheless, my sister-in-law Li Chia, my nephew Zer Yih and my niece Zer Nin were still excited to see those cute animals again.

After the wonderful experience at a sheep farm in South Korea last year, Mum was very glad to visit this local goat farm.
Our city folk Ray was also enjoying his visit through his eyes as well as his camera lens.

Besides the livestock, the beautiful trees also caught our attention.

Mr Hsu led us

to where the small goats were staying.

Although we had nothing to feed them, they were happy with our presence.

At another corner of the ranch, there was a sac of grass.

Mr Hsu held Yuri's hands to feed a goat. At first he was a bit scared.

Zer Yih was braver. Zer Nin did not even dare to try.

Lastly, the generous ranch owner

opened three bottles to let us taste their different products--goat milk with original flavour, chocolate flavour and goat yogurt.

He also told us about the benefits of goat milk. In return, we bought a few bottles. Now we knew a little more about the goats, the milk and the ranch.

My Blissful Moments Opening Ceremony

Yesterday My Blissful Moments Wedding Accessories Shop was officially opened. The most excited person was of course the boss Kitty Lim

and her boyfriend Wee Yen who were wearing their specially designed aprons.

It was also an occasion for the couple's families to meet up.

Being Ping's siblings, Ah Yu

and I also put on the working uniforms, thinking that we were going to get ready to help promoting the items and serving the customers.

The reality was that as soon as the buffet lunch was ready at 11am, we forgot about our initial plan and followed the first guests to fill our plates with the food that the caterers were promoting and serving.

Those were indeed our blissful moments...

My Blissful Moments Wedding Accessories Shop

Two weeks ago, My Blissful Moments Wedding Accessories Shop was newly opened opposite Tian Teck Vegetarian Food restaurant at Jalan Sulaiman, Batu Pahat.

If you are fortunate enough, you will meet the couple who also appears in the cartoon version on the striking pink billboard

or in the name card they will pass to you. They designed those cute characters themselves.

Otherwise, you will at least see my beloved sister Ping (Kitty Lim) who usually sits at the counter every day from 10am to 8pm except Tuesdays. If you are interested to buy any items from the shop but cannot see the price tags clearly, you may also need to visit her boyfriend Wee Yen's Mata Optical nearby to check your eyesight.

When you enter the corner shop, the red and pink colours will immediately cheer you up.

Whether you are planning a traditional Chinese or a modern wedding,

you will have a variety of choice for dowry, bedsheets, invitation cards, door gifts, etc. If you need any advice, the sweet boss is always there to help you. Besides, My Blissful Moments is working in partnership with Clover Wedding to provide you with one-stop service for your wedding ceremony.

This is not only a place to shop but also an ideal place for couples to express their love in an affectionate manner,

and for guys to negotiate the bride price (betrothal gifts) with their soon-to-be mother-in-law.
When you are in love, these are blissful moments. Don't you agree?

My blissful moments are defined by blessings, long-suffering, inspiration, satisfaction, self-denial, faithfulness and unconditional love.

How about yours?

This coming 5th June will be the grand opening. A buffet will be served from 11am to 2pm. Do come and join our celebration!

Batu Pahat: Hutan Lipur

Four years ago, I often joined YT, who was preparing herself to climb Mount Kota Kinabalu, to walk up the stairs at Hutan Lipur when I was back to Batu Pahat on weekends. After her trip to Sabah, we still went there quite regularly. Later, the number of my returns to my hometown reduced and YT was busy with her family buisness. As a result, we hardly gathered for tea in town, let alone outing to the forest. Moreover, as she hurt her foot, we did not resume the activity since.

Recently, we talked about exercising again. Last weekend, we finally made up our mind to exercise again. Saturday morning, the sky was unusually hazy. I thought our outdoor programme might be cancelled. In the afternoon, the weather was much better. YT picked me and Mum, whom I had invited to come along. When we reached Soga Perdana, several cars were already parked there.

A few boys had cycled there. When I saw their bicycles, I began to miss the ones I had in the past.

As soon as I took out my camera, both Mum and YT said to me, "Don't take my pictures!" So, I photographed two cute monkeys instead.

Though I do not behave like a fish when I am in the water, I am like a deer when I see the forest.

Three of us actually climb steps quite a lot in our daily lives--YT in her double-storey shop lot, Mum in our double-storey house and I in my sixteen-level campus building. To avoid the crowd in the lifts before and after class hours, I always walk up or down the stairs, which cause my high-heeled shoes spoilt faster than my colleagues'.

It was a more pleasant experience to climb the stairs in the nature thanks to the fresh air, beautiful scenery and nice company. We passed by a petai (parkia speciosa) tree which was extremely tall. I told YT that petai is expensive probably because it is very difficult to get its beans which grow at such a hight.

Mum already breathed heavily during the first minutes. So she stopped at the first turning while YT and I continued our journey.

We two also U-turned at another turning, like we used to do. When we were about to make a same second trip, Mum received a call from Ping to inform us that we were to meet Leong's family at a restaurant by 6.30pm to celebrate Zer Yih's birthday. As a result, we had to leave earlier than planned.

Taking it as a warm-up, I was not too disappointed. My next target is to reach the top to see the panorama of Batu Pahat, a view which I had last known in December 2006.

Batu Pahat: A Trip Down Memory Lane

The next day of the church camp, I drove back to Johor with VC. After two hours' journey, we arrived in my hometown.

Every time I crossed Batu Pahat Bridge on my way back from Melaka,

I recalled that Tuesday in 2006 when I had broken down in tears for Dad. This time, having a guest in my car, I was rather busy describing landmarks.

VC suggested that we went there the next day as an exercise.

During our stroll, I chose to drop by in front of my family's old house where I had grown up with my parents and five other siblings until the age of eighteen. The previous tenants had just moved out from this single terrace house which my family were still keeping for rent.

When I was small, once I slipped into this drain while squatting next to my brother Ah Yu.

Now the little girl turned adult no longer spat chewing gum onto uncovered sewers.

Opposite the house was the kindergarten where I had been first taught to sing English songs at five years old. The sole memory I have is that one day, Mum dressed me up so nicely that a boy in my class literally chased after me! As I tried to run away from him, I lost my balance, fell and cried. It took me years to recover from the negative thought that taking care of my appearance might cause me trouble with the opposite gender...

At the end of the road

was where my former primary school good friend had lived before she shifted to another residential area with her family. I used to enjoy lingering on at her house almost every afternoon after school and sometimes stayed back for dinner. That was definitely the first place where I had learned hospitality.

During the secondary school times, I often cycled to the bridge which was very near the old house

to admire Batu Pahat River.

The mountain bike that I had bought with my school holiday job salary was spoilt and sent to the recycle centre several years ago. For safety reasons, I did no return to the bridge on foot even though it was not far from my present house.

Under the big bridge, we came to this small one which was solid enough to support the weight of a man with a motorbike.

The other side of the bridge gave me the view from another angle of Batu Pahat Bridge

and Batu Pahat river.

There was a park which I had never visited previously.

Since my "bodyguard" was around, I was bold to climb onto abandoned construction machines further down at the river side.

The third day, we were going back to Melaka. Before our departure, I needed to sign a few documents in an office which was opposite my former secondary school. So I had a chance to see from far the building at the foot of a hill.

If I started to recount old stories of this school where I had spent six happiest years of my life in Batu Pahat, I doubt one whole day would be sufficient.

When we were on Muar Bridge, I knew I had to temporarily leave my Batu Pahat memories behind.

Thanks for your company, VC!