Celebrating YS 3yo birthday

YS is June's baby and this year dumpling festival was just a day before Father's Day. So we celebrated all these special days together. 

A day before celebration, we made the agar agar(jelly) cake for my little one. And they lend a hand as well.

There was a bit of hiccup during the process, agar agar strips at home was not enough. Mummy walked all the way to Bishan North to look for the agar agar strips store by store. Agar agar strips is no longer popular as ingredient for making jelly as jelly powder is easier to be used. However, agar agar still taste better and healthier as its raw ingredient is seaweed.

Daddy got everything set up when ingredients were all ready. Kids had already peeled off the grapes skin for our Ribena grapes' agar agar too.

First, VY and YS helped to measure the water we need, then they helped to stir the agar agar strips into the hot water allowing it to melt. After all melted, we mixed Ribena into the hot agar agar water. Agar agar jelly cake bottom layer is done when we poured it into a round plate with grapes.

We also repeated the same steps to make Vitagen agar agar with some shapes. I used Vitagen less sugar, the taste turned out to be quite bland. Vitagen with normal sugar level maybe a better choice.

On the day itself, ah Ma woke up really early to make the noodle soup for everyone. This noodle soup is only prepared on a birthday in the family. 

After that, we went to National Museum of Singapore. Every June holiday, museums in Singapore organized children's season with lots of activities for kids. Best of all, it is free admission.

Playground on the lawn - fun shaped bouncy castle with inspiration from old playground in SG

Kids were taught to flip the enlarged flagged  erasers that we used to play when we were young.

There others game like hula hoop, ball mazes and etc. 

Dancing Solar Flower

There was a huge display of Jeanette Aw's drawing for kids to do coloring while another one for kids to do scratching and reveal.

Other great activities that attracted my little kids are making your own puppet in the Salon area and Luma City which kids went into the a dark room and push the toy vehicles with luminous light. It leaved a trail of light on the ground. Kids free to do 'light drawing ' on the ground. There was still other exhibition that we didn't have enough time for, maybe another visit will be great before it ended.

We went home after having lunch at a Korean restaurant at Suntec City.

It was huge excitement when the kids brought out the jelly cake from fridge and got ready for party. Everyone just have their own opinion on how the shapes should be arranged on the cake. VY was not particular happy when we ordered her to do it our way. Despite she did not follow our instruction at the end, we rearranged it when she was not paying attention. Of course, she was not pleased when she found out.

http://youtu.be/mv_3P4u3uPQ

https://www.facebook.com/ally.pong/videos/10153062145472637/

https://www.facebook.com/ally.pong/videos/10153062174622637/

When it was time to open presents, the most exciting one was not only YS but VY as well. Helping YS to do his task always make her feel proud including the important task of opening presents.

No surprised in guessing what presents he got:

1) Lego car by gugu , 2) Megablock car by daddy, mummy and VY 3) Car brand Dominoes 4) basketball cake that trained little fingers and aiming accuracy. 

He started building a Lego car the moment he finished opening all his presents. 

Celebration at cc.

YS is a car fanatic since he was a little baby. One of the first word he learned was car and it was before he turned 1yo. Now, he dubbed himself Lightning McQueen

Celebrating preschoolers' birthday at childcare is quite a common event here. YS went to cc since he turned 18 month. This is his second time celebrating his birthday at cc. 

Despite there is plentiful of car design cake in the market. My boy is allergic to egg, hence he will not enjoy his cake if we buy him a cake. He doesn't eat cake too, so he didn't eat the eggless cake that his ah ma specially made for him when he was 2yo.

So,we ordered one Jumbo McQueen Jelly cake from Mr & Mrs Chan who specializes in Jelly Cake in Singapore. Of course, He wants no other design other than Lighting McQueen cake to grace his party at school. 

Ordering a jumbo size cake for 30 3yo was a big mistake as they can't finish even one third of the cake. Also, afraid these little kids digest their jelly much before dinner. We prepared some mini cupcakes decorated with little flags of car themed. Also, we made a handheld trophy and flag.

Celebrating at 3pm maybe a bit early for my two who had to be waken up from their nap.

The celebration went well as teachers are experienced in organizing such event.  We are glad that everyone enjoy the food we prepared. Teachers were particularly like the jelly cake as usually only normal cake were served during other birthday celebration. 

Before we left, YS went around distributing a little book that we prepared for them. It seems reinforcing on his manner is necessary looking at the way he distribute the books.

After the birthday celebration, VY went back to her class while we brought YS to McD at Safra Toa Payoh. A French fries treat for his birthday shouldn't be seems obstentious or detrimental to his health.:) 

YS, mummy and daddy wish you grow up healthy, happy and confident always.

Phuket May 2015

It was a remarkable 5 days 4 nights trip for us, especially our four and two year-old.

There were 8 of us including my family of four, my mummy and auntie as well as my lovely sis and her hubby.

We boarded two planes departing from two locations and arrived at Phuket with 40 minutes apart. While waiting for our family, my mum and auntie were sitting at a special waiting area at the arrival hall dedicated to Laguna guests. There are 8 hotels at Laguna area and we were heading to Angsana Laguna Hotel. For 8 of us, we booked the Angsana Pool Residence 3 bedroom villa at a timed sale from Agoda website. It was an unbeatable super deal and worth every penny.

Without much trouble, we boarded a shuttle bus that transferred us to Avis car park. We picked up our Toyota Innova which surprisingly managed to squeeze in 8 of us with all our luggage. The rental of THB7000 for 5 days 4 nights came with a full tank of gas. The car condition was good and all of us sit comfortablely.

Using google map, we easily reached our hotel within half an hour. 

After checked in, we drove our car to our villa. It was a huge villa located at a private enclave a short distance away from the main resort area. The best about this villa was that it came with a sizable private pool with generous indoor and outdoor running areas for my kids. The master bedroom was spacious with an attached bathroom, as well as a walk-in wardrobe. The other rooms were relatively smaller with shared bathroom. The hotel staff was nice and brought us a baby cot, it was rather small for my toddlers, but my two playful toddlers still took turns to sleep inside. 

Splashing time started the moment we settled in. The pool was undeniably the best part of the trip. The pool depth was 1.2m and all of us just had tremendous fun.

We headed to Patong beach for dinner, it was a 45-minute drive from Laguna area. Phuket is an hour behind our time zone. My little boy just couldn't stop whining for food as it was way past his normal eating hour. 

We parked our car at a new shopping mall which cost us THB20. The roads were packed and mostly one way street at Patong area, however it was not difficult to maneuver our car on the busy street.

Patong beach is famous for it's good selection of restaurants, night clubs, touristy souvenir shops, etc.  The designs for some shops were really an eye opener for us.  We also saw a mobile kick-boxing arena set on a moving truck, presumably to promote a kick-boxing show nearby. 

We had our meal at a seafood restaurant which cost us THB2000 for a simple meal. 

Day 2 Big Buddha & Wat Chalong

From Laguna to Big Buddha located at the southern tip of Phuket took us an hour. It was hot at 10am in the morning, luckily it was just a short climb up to the Big Buddha from the car park. 

The Big Buddha was white, and there was also another smaller Golden Buddha. Below the Big Buddha, VY and YS learned about Sunday to Saturday Buddha of different poses. Under the big hot sun, they were having fun with the lotus leaves that never sink.

Everyone had a round of coconut juice before we went for our lunch at Phuket town.

We had lunch at Phuket Old Town. The delicious and sumptuous lunch just cost us slightly over THB1000. 

We headed to Wat Chalong after lunch. Wat Chalong has a few buildings built obstentiously with many Buddha statues. 

After Wat Chalong, we headed back to our villa for a rest. Naughty YS was too excited that he refused to take his afternoon nap. Daddy and JZ spent another round of splashing time with him in the pool. Exhausted, he finally took his nap at 5pm.... only to wake up the next morning.

Dinner was ordered from a nearby restaurant and it cost only THB880, with delivery to doorstep. Though inexpensive the taste was not at all at a discount. 

Day 3: Khai Island hopping

We took up morning half day Khai island tour as it was easier for our group which had kids and elderly. Khai islands were only 20 minutes away from PNT pier located at Koh Siray area. 

However, we stayed at Laguna area which was an hour away from the pier. In order for us to reach the pier at 8am, we had to leave our hotel at 7am, with breakfast all done including the kids. 

The pier was difficult to find as there was no clear sign. It was one of the small private piers near the Rassada ferry pier.

It was a standard tour with itinerary published on website, which means we were sharing the same route with all other tourists going on Khai Island tour from other tour companies.

We stopped at Khai Nok island first for fish feeding. This activity gave a good kick start to my two kids who really enjoyed wading around the water with fish swimming around their feet. 

Next we went to Khai Nui island for snorkelling. Khai Nui was a beautiful private island reserved for tourists who would pay more for private experience. For mass tourists, our boats stopped near the island and we did only snorkelling. It was a bold decision, to bring my two year-old and four year-old off the boat for a snorkelling experience on rough deep sea. But, it was worth it when they told you they really loved the experience. 

All of us were exhausted when we reached the third island Khai Nok island. The kids also just remained on the beach playing with sand, not keen to go into the water again.

The island hopping ended nicely with mummy buying a framed picture that we took together at the pier. The quality of the photo was not fantastic given the price of THB150.

We went to Phuket old town for lunch instead of being ferried back to our hotel. That's the best part of having our own rented car. 

Our choiced restaurant was closed, we ended up having lunch at GO2TUM, a nice restaurant at a small backpackers hotel. 

After lunch, we headed back to the villa as most of us were exhausted. Or that's what we thought... The kids jumped straight into the pool when we reached our villa.

They were totally exhausted after the pool session. They slept at 5pm till the next day....again!!!

Mummy and Dayi were nice enough to help keep an eye on the sleeping kids when all the rest of us went out to the night market.

The night market was just situated at the junction into Laguna area. There were many food stalls which have many local patrons. Good variety of food choices like fried glass noodles, marinated pork stick, coconut jelly, mango sticky rice, etc. could be found.

We also got two nice V-neck tops for VY and YS. Both were free size. Maybe slightly more expensive than Bangkok but that's all we bought for this trip.

Day 4 

Instead of venturing out, we decided to stay in the resort. 

 

Instead of going to Marketplace for breakfast we decided to eat at Botega Grill, another breakfast option in the resort available to villa guests. The food selection was not too different than Marketplace, save for some a la carte items that could be ordered. Food was not great, at least not up to our expectations.

Angsana Laguna resort was really big. Many places were walkable but rather far. For old folks and kids, free buggy service was available on request. The buggy ride was a highlight to the kids and they always got a free ride together with my auntie and mummy.

The beach right in front of our resort was long and clean. But it was high tide and no swimming was allowed. Kids played on the beach under the shade. 

Before long, we decided to go to the big resort swimming pool. Again, another splashing fun time. There were a few pools connected by long canal with bridge overhead. We started at the sand area which water is shallow however we decided to switch to a nearby pool as the sands are coarse. 

Angsana Laguna has a good variety of patrons that come from different parts of the world. We love the variety as you can hear different unfamiliar languages on your ear.

Splashing time last till noon. We went out for lunch. On the way back, we dropped VY and daddy at children's playground in the resort while the rest of us went back to Villa for rest.

Without doubt, VY had a good time doing coloring and art and craft at the children's playground.

We headed out to Surin beach for dinner. It is a relatively quiet beach compared to Patong beach. But, the beach is long and sands are fine. We enjoyed walking on the beach watching sunset. Instead of just running on the beach, they enjoyed climbing up the sand barrier too.

The restaurant we went was quiet. It was dinner at the beach price that we have to pay but we didn't complain coz the food is good, the waitress was nice to recommend us good food.

Day 5

Time to go home. Our flight both scheduled around 10am. We had to rush off to airport just after breakfast. Of course, holiday is short but the memory will last! Bye Phuket, we had such a tremendous time here. All those splashing time, never ending coconut juice, lemon crush, fried glass noodles.... 

Fun filled Langkawi trip 2013

First day
It was the first trip on flight for our three-year-old and one-year-old. We took off from Changi Terminal 1.It has a playground in the transit lounge surrounded by a few food kiosks with a background of aeroplanes. We love it as we can take a sip of coffee while watching over the kids running in the playground.

As the airplane we boarded was small, the kids could see the pilot sitting in the cockpit from the connecting bridge. It was exciting for VY to see him sitting there.

Langkawi International Airport is a small airport. Passengers have to walk down the stairs and walk on the tarmac to the arrival hall. It was excited for them to see aeroplanes and vehicles in the upclose. Of course, VY got even more excited when she saw YiYi who arrived earlier from KL waving to her.

After checking in, we were glad that the room has a bath tub that allowed the kids to enjoy their first bath tub play time together. They were simply exhilarating. YS refused to leave the bath tub when it was time to get up. 

On our way to dinner, we stopped at a beach along the way. It was a quiet beach but the kids were happily chasing small little crabs on the beach. It was even more exciting when a man riding on a horse appeared out of the bushes. 

Second day
In the early morning, a small accident happened.  I was closing the door without knowing VY's finger was in between the gap. LUCKILY, it was a minor injury. 

After visiting the clinic in the resort (free coz no medicines was dispensed), instead of going to the Mangrove tour as planned, we spent time in the hotel's swimming pool instead. The kids just loved the water but unfortunately, we only allowed them less than half an hour in water before their face turn pale. 

We went to the Oriental Village after fun in the swimming pool, hoping to take the cable car. But while the kids were playing in a playground and others were wandering around, the clouds gathered and rain came pouring down. The rain stopped after a few minutes, but we decided to head back to hotel for afternoon nap.

VY went to the hotel's kids club while didi was sleeping.  It is a padded room about 600sq feet. Inside, there was a balls pool, slide and swing, books, tv and lots of toys. Another fun afternoon for her.

Before dinner, we went back to the cable car station again. It was a cable car ride up to the highest mountain in Langkawi. The height was probably our greatest fear. 

When the cable car moved higher, it moved nearer and nearer to the mountain.  The view was simply magnificient. Also, we could see the famous Tujuh Telaga waterfall from far as we moved up. The kids just got excited to be sitting inside. My mum however just couldn't hide her fear of heights even though she was laughing with us throughout the journey.

When we reached the first station, we got down and took some photos. VY got excited again when we hopped on to another cable car and moved on to the peak. 

The peak has two observatories. Though I would like VY to move around freely, I just couldn't overcome the fear that she might fall off the deck.

YS however enjoyed his crawl and assisted walk at the 700m above sea level.

I brought VY to the toilet at the peak. Surprisingly, the toilet was clean though old. I didn't have cash with me when I got in, the auntie who manned the toilet however let me leave without paying. Not wanting to take advantage of the poor lady who took good care of the toilet , I went back and paid her RM1.

The Sky bridge was under construction on my first trip; it was under maintenance during my visit this time. It was really a huge disappointment. Though the sign said it was under maintenance,  I saw no works being carried out at all. Probably they closed it for safety reason.

We went to the Sunday night market (pasar malam) near the airport. It had all kinds of different malay food, and even thai food (Thailand is just 1 -2 hours away ). We probably bought 10 persons' worth of food back to the hotel. It was just another great experience walking around the night market. 

Third day
We embarked on our delayed Mangrove tour. 

We booked a boat for 8 of us at a cost of RM250. A simple, young and shy looking malay man drove us on a simple boat. First, we were ferried to Bat's cave. Paying a dollar entry fee and rented two torch lights, we walked into the dark cave ourselves. 

The experience maybe too eerie for VY and she told us she would not go back in again.  The track was a loop that offered a rather short but good cave experience for the kids. And it was quite a gentle walk even for my ah yi.

After the cave, we went to a fish farm and watched eagle (helang) feeding. My one year old was too tired and fell asleep before we reached the fish farm.

The big motor that powered the boat came into life when we were ferried out to the sea sailing around the scenic Kilim Geoforest. The speed boat experience was just another highlight of the trip.

Before lunch, we stopped at a beach. We had the beach all to ourselves. Walking on the quiet beach simply a great feeling.

Lastly, we stopped at the floating restaurant and enjoyed our lunch. We were lucky to be able to pick a fish that just arrived at the farm from the fisherman.

After the Mangrove tour, we decided to pay the award winning Bird Paradise a visit. The upclose experience with the birds and other small animals got my little girl and boy really excited. YS tried to feed the birds. The zookeeper also let him shook hands with a little monkey that arrived the zoo just two months ago.

Though everyone were allowed to buy and feed the animals, some birds appeared to be overfed. Maybe the zoo should consider making small changes to the feeding activity.

In the evening, we headed to Cenang beach to have our first crab feast in Langkawi. In the past few days, we had been ordering the same dishes over and over again for the kids and the two elderly. We ordered steamed and baked crab. It was still a delicious dinner. 4 crabs weighing 1.4kg + a 800g steamed fish + vege + clams only costed us RM213. Next time, I will order a big lobster.

Last Day
Staying at Berjaya Langkawi Resort and not spending time in the hotel is really a waste. After breakfast before we checked out, we headed down to the beach. It was a very nice and comfortable beach. The sea was around 100m away from the beach chair.When daddy and VY went to the sea to collect water, my little boy also crawled to the sea too. As the sea was far away, we was not too worried letting him crawl alone.

When he reached the sea, he got even more excited when the wave hit him. Though he almost fell down, he moved closer and closer to the strong wave until it almost hit his shoulder. But this short15 mins sea experience gave him a terrible cold afterwards. He did not protest when we lifted him up to wash up. He was simply exhausted. 

We stayed in a rainforest suite surrounded by trees. Whenever we had a chance, we sit at the balcony to enjoy the birds chirping, frogs and insects singing. The serenity of the place was what we enjoyed most.

Before checking out, we were all in my room sitting at the balcony. A big monkey (probably the leader of the group) decided to give us a farewell treat. He jumped from one tree to another in front of the balcony. After that a group of monkeys joined in for a jumping show in front of us. It was simply a priceless experience that all of us couldn't take our eyes off.

At the departure lounge of the airport, we could see airplanes taking off and landing. But, it was even a better experience when we saw an MAS plane landed, cruised and stopped in front of us which was just probably 50m away.

Though the decision to take a transit flight at LCCT allowed us spending more time at Langkawi, it came with a cost- a running madness in LCCT trying to catch the connecting flight- but we never regretted it. 

Lessons learned:

1) must check in and print out connecting flight boarding pass before hand. 

2) no check in luggage if connecting flight interval is within 2 hours.

It was a great journey that I think I must pen down every single detail.