Holiday Fun in Thailand, 9-14 Dec 09

More photos in my Facebook, don't think I have the energy to upload more pictures here.

[I know this is a very very late entry, since Jan, my work is getting heavier by the hour...]

We had a splendid year-end vacation with the Poh Family. Started off with a good flight by SQ, we took our 3-hour transfer to Hua Hin. This was our second visit but the first for the Pohs. he happiest people in this vacation had to be the kids for they had great company, all 5 active boys!

We checked into AKA Resort's 2-bedroom villa that comes with our very own private pool and cabana! That's what I called "life". The boys were so excited they changed into your swimwear and jumped into the pool! AKA is a good resort, the welcome snacks were a surprise and the breakfast spread was heavenly! As the occupancy rate was low on our first 2 mornings, we actually had ala carte brekkie buffet, which includes impressive menu such as egg benedict - WOW - it was very well done, the poached egg oozed out succulent sunny yolk that literally shouts "GOOD MORNING & WELCOME!"

To cut short the story... we visited the famous floating market and elephant camp where we rode on 4 elephants.

Our next stop was Bangkok and we stayed at a new boutique hotel called Ten Face (kinda weird name if you asked me). The service at Ten Face is not attuned to family groups as they were quite inflexible in certain ways to accommodate us. Imagine they expected us to pay for Raeyen's brekkie and our advanced booking for transfer to airport was not taken, etc.

Anyway, on a happier note, Bangkok was fun as we visited the Oceanarium beneath Siam Paragon - a mammoth shopping mall. We had great food and even foot massage at my favourite Blooming Spa along Sukhumvit Road. We celebrated Ivy's birthday at Jasmin Restaurant on the 4th floor of Times Square (next to Grande Sheraton Sukhumvit) where we had sumptuous Peking duck!

It was overall a FANTASTIC break for us before the new year started. Thanks, Poh Family!

Movie treat

Along with May family, our whole clan went to watch Bee Movie at GV Bishan yesterday - Deepavali holiday.

It was a great animated movie, though the storyline is somewhat simple. It's brilliant of the creators to think of the high-tech way in which bees work in the hives. The kids enjoyed the movie, the company, pop corns and it was Raeyen's 2nd time to a cinema. He liked the movie too but snoozed half-way through.

After the movie, Kieran went to Megan's place while we stayed a little longer at Junction 8. Bought a pirate-themed bedsheet for Kieran at Aussino before heading home.

We brought Raeyen to May's place and had dinner there. The kids enjoyed the time together and Megan even agreed to have a sleepover next time, so sweet.

Parents day out

Hubby and I went pak-tor today.

We had breakfast at a local kopitiam after sending Kieran to kindy. Headed home for some reading then headed to Vivocity. Shopped around, watched "Wild Hogs" - a hilarious, laugh-till-you-drop movie about 4 middle-aged men aka uncles on a roadtrip. The GV cinema has good seats and view is great!

We also had lunch at Tung Lok Signatures but were irritated by the over-zealous server who either stood too close to our table or fidgeted too much with our utensils, etc.... arghh!

Hopped into Tangs' ladies footwear but my fav pair of Beverly Feldman's natural multi rhinestone thong in size 37 was sold out and no reorder was possible. It was a letdown coz hubby wanted to buy for me as my Mother's Day gift.

Then hubby left for another appointment and I went to Mt E to visit Ivy as she delivered a chubby "piglet" yesterday.

Being a persistent shopper that I am, I went to Tang + Co at Taka to try my luck and was elated that they just reordered ever since its sell-out last Christmas! I'm happy as a bird! Muaaak, hubby dearest!

Flew to Mt E, went into Ivy's room and we chatted about her birth story. Her hubby and 2 boys wheeled baby Zayden in and ooh, he made my knees weak with his chubbiness (is there such a word?) at a whopping 3.895kg. Frankly, I am used to big babies and they are easier to handle. Ivy encouraged me to carry him though he was sound asleep. I couldn't help it coz I really love to cradle babies! We snapped some photos, chatted some more, more visitors came and I decided to go home to my boys.

We will visit Ivy and family with our boys one of the weekends.

Babies... they just make you go ga-ga!

Christmas = Binging Time

Christmas Eve

By tradition, we spend this day with the Yoongs.

This time we spent at their home, warming ourselves up with hot, yummy steamboat. It's kind of different as one would think steamboat is more apt for CNY. After dinner, we played "Open Season" on Yin's new Xbox 360 and it was hilarious. Then we ate the "Pure Addiction" log cake we got from Emicakes. Megan & Kieran were thrilled as they got to blow the candles after we sang "Merry Christmas" to the tune of "Happy Birthday". The finale was gift exchange. While the mommies coincidentally got lingerie, the daddies got book, apparel & cookies. The kids were the happiest with their new toys.

The kids & the log cake

Christmas Day

As with the same tradition, my side of the family celebrate Xmas & Eugene's (14th this year) birthday on this day @ eldest bro's place.

The past days have been grey & wet and today was exceptionally sunny. Hubby decided to bring the boys to East Coast Park for a run. While walking to our carpark, an idea sparked and I told hubby we could detour to Parkway Parade to get fresh sashimi from Fish Mart Sakuraya for this evening event. And so we got swordfish, octopus, saba, salmon for the sashimi plate. We also got some sausages (bratwurst, cheese knackers & nurenburger) for ourselves from Espirito Santo Gourmet & Butchery.

Raeyen fell asleep in the car on our way home. Hubby & I had the sausages for lunch.

Past 6, we lugged all the presents, sashimi, diaper bag (and Raeyen) to eldest bro's place.

Binged all the sinful preparations - potato salad, sushi, beehoon, pineapple fried rice, chicken wings/drumlets, vege, soft-baked choc cookies made by Jenric (I called them cakies) & Bengawan Solo kuehs.

Eugene cut his log/birthday cake & we binged again with cheese bak-gua.

We exchanged gifts & went home for a well-deserved snooze! Ka-boom!

Footnote:
Hubby & I were so happy as Raeyen finally blurted out "Mama" and "Papa"!

Boxing Day

Happy 14th Birthday, Eugene!

Woke up this morning in a daze as Mother Nature decided to give a downpour again, duhh...

All photos can be found @ My Flickr Album.

Sunny Sentosa

Brought our brood to Sentosa Palawan beach on Sunday morning, it's the first for Raeyen. He was at first skeptical about being barefooted and walking on the sand. Yani took him to the hanging bridge and he enjoyed it so much that he didn't want to return. Click here to see all the photos.

Kieran took a dip (oops in his brief & tee, coz we forgot to pack his swimwear) in the water feature, he clearly enjoyed that very much.

Ivy and clan arrived as they couldn't find the right car park (by the way it's CP3 - covered and only $1/entry).

Favian and Dillon joined Kieran in the water feature, while Raeyen played sand.


















The sun was scorching (luckily the haze was gone) and our moods were high. The adults chatted while the kids played together. Raeyen joined them in the water feature wearing nothing but his Mamy Poko pull-ups (with Winnie the Pooh at his cute little bum)!

We were all "burned" and tired, had lunch at Koufu (air-conditioned, yeah!) before heading home for a much-needed snooze (*zzz*).



The kids with their rosy tan (at home)


The next day, I had sun-burn on my shouder blades :( ouch!

3G - Good friends, Good food, Good fun

We are finally back to school/work/routine after a 3-4 day holiday in Chiang Mai.

We flew by Tiger Airways on Saturday 4 November at 6am, which means getting up at 3.45am to get everyone ready! We met our friends, another family of 4 (plus 1 on the way who is now nice and cosy inside Ivy's tum) at the Budget Terminal at 4.45am to begin our little getaway. Going for a holiday with the kids is like going to a combat; armed with water bottles, hot water flask, snacks, milk powder, diapers, mosquito repellant, sarong, stroller, etc.

We arrived Chiang Mai on schedule and were driven to the Sheraton for our 3-night stay. We took things slow and had a wonderful traditional Khantoke dinner (Northern Thai dinner) at Khun Khantoke under the starry night. The stars have company as people celebrate Loy Krathong by releasing floating lanterns into the air using hot air combustion as wicks are lit. It was a beautiful night but my little Prince Raeyen was in his slumber not knowing what went on. Each family sat around a low tray table with food on it and watched the performance by the very hospitable Thais.

Raeyen at the pool at the Sheraton


On Sunday, we went to the Night Bazaar for shopping and the boys released the floating lanterns into the dark sky amidst many other lanterns. Kieran wrote his and Raeyen's names on it and we watched it floated into the twilight in awe!

We had a full-day tour to the Karen/Long-neck tribe, Monkey school, Mae Sa Elephant camp, Orchid farm, parasol and silk factories on Monday. The long-neck tribe is unforgettable as girls as young as 5 years will start wearing a 1kg iron coil on their necks! We took a photo with a young long-neck girl. Kieran asked me how could they possibly turn their heads, I replied that they could surely but slowly. Their culture thinks that it is beautiful, and we should respect that. There was another tribe where the women wear huge tube-like earrings which punctured a big hole in their lobes. All these are strange to us but hey, beauty is in the eyes of the beholder. The huts that they live in are very sparse with no furniture. Even the baby cot is laid with rice sacks and held on by a pulley-system, amazing!


At the Monkey school, Kieran's leg was caught by a wild monkey. Thanks to his Crocs shoes, that monkey only managed to pull his shoe off with no apparent injuries on his leg. Afterall Crocs shoes do have some credits even with the escalator saga that was reported recently.

Raeyen fell asleep when we reached the elephant camp. So Kieran took the ride with his Daddy. Kieran enjoyed himself very much and the ride was about 30 minutes.

Kieran and Raeyen had great fun with Favian and Dillon as they are companions to one another. The older boys entertained Raeyen with Peek-A-Boos and "Catch the Baby" game, so cute!

Click here to view the holiday photos.

Our family friends

It has been months since we last met the Yoong family - our longtime friends. May is an old classmate since secondary school and we went through so much together. We share good, bad, sad and happy times together. We were each other's bridesmaid, we inspire and encourage each other. We lend a shoulder to each other. Unspoken words seem to be understood.

We met last night at May's place and Yin was in good spirit too. Megan, their 3-year old angel was her usual happy self, eagerly playing with our boys. May said Raeyen's features have changed since she last saw him and was amazed with his steady walking skill. While we hope to meet more often, our schedules are sometimes hard to compromise.

I believe that good friends do not necessarily have to meet often, but when we do, we realise we cherish each other more and are thankful to have a friend like each other. May is like a sister to me, her advice, encouragement and understanding makes me comfortable and understood. Many times when I was down, she was there for me. I will certainly be there for her whenever she needs me too.

Celebrating Mother's Day with May in 2005

May, Yin .... to our friendship!

"Friendship make prosperity more shining and lessens adversity by dividing and sharing it." Cicero
"We are advertis'd by our loving friends." William Shakespeare
"It's the friends you can call at four a.m. that matter." Marlene Dietrich