Painting!

The kids' first attempt at watercolour painting- Daddy helped, of course :)

That's a car in the foreground

Our little girl turns TWO!

Where did all the time go? Our little girl is TWO already!

She's a really bright little girl- she knows the alphabet and numbers 1-10 (truth be told, I can't recall when exactly that happened). Guess children really do absorb information and knowledge like sponges! Oh, and Grandpa's iPad helps too! :p

She got loads of wonderful presents from the family- I hope she knows how loved and blessed she is! Dear God, please watch over our sweet little girl, and shower her with Your blessings always...

Trip to Malacca- Day 3

After breakfast, we checked out of the hotel and went to the Maritime Museum. Having been there once previously, I remember it was quite fun, as the museum is housed inside a replica of a ship- the 'Flora de La Mar'. However, this time round, the museum was PACKED! There was a school excursion to the museum, and there were loads of kids everywhere. Not fun at all.

We got out of the museum as quickly as we could, and headed to the revolving tower- Menara Taming Sari. The queue wasn't too bad- we waited about 10 mins or so. Of course, waiting with cranky kids wasn't easy! >.<

The ride itself was ok; we got 'stuck' halfway and had to come back down, before going up again. Well, at least we got more time in the air! Haha.

When we were done, the kids went for kiddie motorcycle rides at the base of the tower- now that was quite fun!

All in all, a fun trip to Malacca (although our boy did give us a hard time)!

Trip to Malacca- Day 2

The hotel's breakfast place is situated right across the street; look at the decor- isn't it so quaint?

I simply loved the look and feel of the hotel- here are some shots of the lobby and the common areas- nice, isn't it? We felt as if we had stepped back in time.

After breakfast we went on to explore Malacca on foot (and a stroller). It was nice and quiet, and we made our way to the famous square and trudged onwards to A Famosa Fort, stopping for photos along the way. It was quite fun, but by the time we reached the fort, we were exhausted! It was then we discovered that there was a museum next to the fort- the Malacca Sultanate Palace Museum; and most importantly, it was air-conditioned! Haha. 

We hung out at the museum and enjoyed the respite from the blistering heat outside. The kids had fun running up and down the air-conditioned wooden hallways. We were quite sorry to leave, but we had to move on to our next destination- the river cruise. We hopped onto 2 trishaws- ridiculously decked out, of course- and one of them blasted the infamous 'Oppa Gangnam Style' during the short ride! It was so much fun; we were laughing all the way!

The new- and very expensive- Casa del Mar

We had some time before the next cruise, so we spent some time at the Customs Museum. Sounds incredibly boring, I know, but it turned out to be quite interesting. Basically, it houses all the weird stuff that were confiscated by the Customs Department- and we saw things like taxidermised frogs, animal skins, so-called 'obscene' scupltures, etc. Hmm.

The river cruise was quite ok- the painted murals were quite interesting, but it was really warm in the afternoon and all of us were tired and sleepy. *Yawn*

After the cruise, we walked back to the hotel, and as we crossed the bridge, we saw some iguanas! As you can imgaine, all of us were desperate for a nice cold shower and a much-needed nap.

We explored the famous Jonker Street market in the evening, and managed to have dinner at the famous Jonker 88 restaurant. Yummy! We picked up tidbits along the way too. The egg-shaped lychee sorbet wasn't worth the effort, but the potato chip skewer was delicious! A whole potato is sliced in a long continuous strip and skewered on a stick, deep-fried, and sprinkled with flavoured powder.

There was much going on due to the Lantern Festival; we checked out some of the fabulous lanterns that were on display, and I would have stayed much longer to enjoy the atmosphere if it wasn't for our whiny, little boy, who wanted to leave. It's such a pain to take him on trips, as he doesn't eat much when he's away from home, and gets cranky because he tires easily. Sigh. >.<

Trip to Malacca- Day 1

We visited Malacca in September and decided to visit A Famosa Animal World. I thought it was quite a cool place for kids, and we had so much fun getting up close and personal with the animals! We had a great time feeding the goats and the rabbits; and the 'safari' (in a rather awful rickety truck, which was more like a cage on wheels) also allowed us to get really close to the tigers. We were also very lucky because one of the tigers was lazing out in the open, and we got to take some awesome photos!

It was very warm though, and the kids did get tired and cranky, but we survived the trip :p

We stayed at a lovely boutique hotel- Courtyard @ Hereen; the family room was just perfect for us. Highly recommended hotel with a great location (we didn't have to use the car at all during our stay in Malacca), and the hotel itself has plenty of character. The lobby is simply fabulous! We would definitely stay there again.  

So much has changed since we last came to Malacca- there seems to be more tourist spots / activities now. There's even a river cruise!



Updates on our sweet little girl...

It's been ages since I last wrote about how the kids are doing. Our little girl is growing up wonderfully- praise God!

She's started to talk a whole lot more. We were getting a tad worried that she didn't seem to be talking much, but I guess we were comparing her to her chatty older brother. She's definitely taking longer to 'catch on' to the whole talking business, but we have to constantly remind ourselves that there is nothing to worry about and that every child is different. One thing we're sure of is that she can definitely understand what we're saying. She may not say much, but she understands us. We're glad that she's progressed a great deal, and she can say a whole lot of words now- no, I want, Mummy (that took a loooong time!), star, moon, cow, dog, cat, draw, apple, ball, and a whole lot more.

She's also developed a rather peculiar habit when she's trying to sleep- she likes to touch / play with her pyjama collar! Haha. We still haven't weaned her off her pacifier yet as well- oh dear.

She's starting to enter her 'Terrible Twos'; and it does show, sometimes. She can be really headstrong, stubborn and fierce, and she even dares to smack her older brother! Yikes. A little tigress, alright.

It's really interesting to see how different little boys and girls are. Our sweet little girl is a lot more affectionate (at least I think so), and loves dressing up. Too cute, isn't it? :)

Back to the KL Bird Park!

We had such a good time at the KL Bird Park last year, we thought it would be nice to visit it again this year. Our little girl is older now, and I think she enjoyed it a lot more this time. She got to walk around with the birds; luckily she wasn't afraid of them.

Southern Ground Hornbill- we stood in front of it for ages listening to it 'call'

This lot came by- squawking excitedly; they were hilarious!

We got to feed the ostriches this time! Luckily we got there bright and early, before the food ran out. If we had gotten to the ostrich enclosure after the big group of school kids, there certainly would not be any vegetables left. One gigantic ostrich was clearly dominating the feeding- it was rather scary trying to feed it (trying not to get pecked by that huge bird)!

Aren't the birds just lovely? :)

Dinosaurs at the Science Centre!

There are dinosaurs in town! This is a great exhibition- highly recommended if you have kids. We got there really in the morning, and we had a fun time checking out the various exhibits. We virtually had the dinosaurs all to ourselves; we were clowning around making silly poses and we kept trying to walk in front of the motion sensors, triggering roars and movement from the dinosaurs. Yes, they can move and roar! Cool, huh.

The last dinosaur shown above is supposed to be the velociraptor- made famous by the movie Jurassic Park. Apparently it has been proven that they were actually covered in feathers. Errr.. they actually look cute now, don't you think? :)

Aquaria!

Visiting Aquaria is always a fun experience. It can get quite tiring since the kids are still so young and we have to carry them so that they can see the marine life. And negotiating the crowds with the stroller is quite challenging too!

But just look at God's amazing handiwork! :)