Trip to Ipoh - Dec 2014

We made a short trip to Ipoh at the end of the year, staying first at the Roots Eco-Resort. It was the rainy season which meant that the river was swollen and the weather rather dreary. The villa we stayed in was nice, but gosh some of us were almost bitten to death by the mosquitoes! Yuck. I am so not a (tropical) nature person.. Even the mosquitoes can sniff me out.

Some other places we visited were Kellie's Castle- which made for rather nice photo opportunities (despite it being in ruins and all), and Gua Tempurung- which I went in for a bit and then chickened out. It was dark, and the steps were wet and steep; I just didn't have the courage to go deeper into the cave (what more with a little girl in tow). The hubby and little boy were braver, and ventured slightly further in. Good for them!

Royal Selangor

We finally decided to make a trip to Royal Selangor, and it turned out to be more interesting than I expected. There were also a few interactive exhibits which made it quite fun for the kids.

We let the kids attend the 'School of Hard Knocks' (great name!), where they pounded away and made an ice cream bowl each, haha!

Pewter LOTR goblets- lovely!

VBS 2014: Knights of Kristonia!

So the little one is finally old enough to attend VBS! Yay!

He had a great time, and truly- one can really see the labour of love that has been put in to make VBS happen. There are a great number of wonderful people in our church. May God bless them all.

I will let the photos do the talking :)

Wow!

Short trip to Port Dickson

We took a short trip to Port Dickson with our cell group members- and it was a good break, although we didn't really get to bond with the other members that much, to be honest.

We started the trip off with a visit to the Army Museum which had jets, helicopters, army trucks, trains, etc on display, and it was honestly quite interesting. Sadly though- as with most things Malaysian, the upkeep and maintenance wasn't something to be proud of. Sad, really.

We stayed at the Avillion Admiral Cove, which features a marina, but does not have a beach. There is a public beach a short distance away, but it was really dirty. Yuck!

If one needs a short getaway from KL, Port Dickson fits the bill, I suppose. One can't expect too much though!

A very rough couple of weeks (Part 2)

We had to deal with more drama when it came to the health department. Our boy had 3 bouts of high fever in a month, the last of which resulted in him having a febrile seizure. We finally went to see our regular paediatrician, and we realised that we never mentioned the previous incidences of seizures that he experienced! Oh dear. She insisted that he be hospitalised, as she suspected a lingering infection that had not yet cleared up.

The first blood test proved that she was right, and the hunt then began for the search of the source of infection. They tested his urine, stool sample, took an X-ray of his chest, did an echocardiogram- but to no avail. He than began a course of intravenous antibiotics, which seemed to make him better, but still did not eliminate the fever. Our paediatrician then decided to start another course of stronger intravenous antibiotics, which finally cleared things up. All in all, our little boy was in hospital for about 8 nights, I think.

That was a really stressful and scary few days. Hubby and I took turns to shuttle between home, hospital and the office. The nights and days were a huge blur. My back really suffered, from nights of sleeping on the couch and bending over to sponge my poor little darling.

He also had to do an EEG while he was there, which worryingly showed some 'anomalies'. We were told to bring him in another day for a follow up MRI scan, to rule out any 'structural issues'. Now that was really scary. Praise God that the MRI scan was clean! I almost cried with relief. Our paediatrician said that she would not have to categorise him as having clinical epilepsy, which was really good news. But we do have to keep a close eye on him, and manage his fevers properly.

Really praying that God continues to protect and watch over him...

A very rough couple of weeks (Part 1)

October was a really stressful month for us. My parents were on holiday in Germany, and my brother was due to go to London for his Masters. The little boy was sick again, and I spent one night twisting my back and reaching down to sponge him all night.

The next morning I woke up with my back feeling a little sore. I didn't think much of it, and went about the house as usual. As I crouched to load my laundry, there was this sudden sharp pain in my lower back and I collapsed! The pain was excruciating. I cried out for help- fortunately my brother was at home and came to my rescue. I could barely walk and struggled to make my way to a chair. When I got there, I realised I could not bend down to sit at all- my lower back was too painful. My brother rushed me to a clinic where the doctor diagnosed me with muscle spasms. He gave me some painkiller and muscle relaxants, and sent me on my way. The next few days were dreadful. I struggled to do so many things. I could not get out of bed (now that was really scary),  even simple things like brushing my teeth, sitting down and using the toilet,  bending over to flush the toilet, etc required monumental effort on my part. I never realised how important my lower back muscles were until I hurt them. :(

I visited the doctor a few times over the next few days. After a week, I couldn't take it any more. My usual GP finally referred me to the hospital, where I saw an orthopaedic surgeon, and had a proper check up. I did an MRI- another scary experience. My heart was racing as I lay still in the 'tunnel', unable to move an inch (moving would blur the images). The noise was deafening and I did not dare to open my eyes. It was a horribly stressful, claustrophobic experience!

The scan showed that I had a slipped disc at L5 that was pressing on a nerve, hence the pain. I underwent physiotherapy over the next 2-3 days, and had to stay in hospital. There was the ice therapy and the electrical therapy, and in general, plenty of bed rest.

I manage to avoid having surgery, but I may not be so fortunate as I age. I really really need to take care of my back. After that episode, my back is definitely not the same as it used to be. It is a lot weaker and it stiffens up very easily. Yet another reminder that are is catching up.

The whole saga resulted in us not being able to celebrate our little girl's birthday properly. I need to make it up to her next year....

Bangkok revisited - Sept 2014 (Day 4)

We spent the last morning exploring the hotel (a tad late, I know).. here are some photos.

We had breakfast at the DoubleTree by Hilton, which was situated right behind the Hilton itself. It was a (really) short walk through a pretty courtyard. The buffet breakfast was yummy- so no complaints there. The interior design of DoubleTree was like a blast from the past so as you can imagine, we were quite snap-happy there as well! Oops but sorry, no photos from the DoubleTree here... :p

Bangkok revisited - Sept 2014 (Day 3)

We started the next day with our very first 'Escape Hunt' experience. It was so much fun! I don't think we could have solved the mission without the help we got; it was really quite difficult- especially for us newbies. Such a great experience- this is something I would really love to do again! A great team building activity, I think.

We then moved on to Terminal 21- an interesting shopping mall with an airport theme, as you can see. Pretty cool, eh?

We had so much fun taking photos at 'landmarks around the world', haha!

Bangkok revisited - Sept 2014 (Day 2)

We stayed at the Hilton Sukhumvit, which was in a really good location- a short walk from the train station. It did feel like a business hotel- but we certainly had no complaints.

We went to the famous Chatuchak Market on our second day in Bangkok - and it was so much fun, although it was SO HOT! Trying the famous coconut ice-cream certainly helped us cool down- that was really yummy indeed!

In the evening we went to watch Siam Niramit, which was a really awesome show- the props and the stage were AMAZING.. better than any West End musical I have seen! There wasn't a 'story' per se- I thought it was more of a history lesson, but it was certainly an interesting experience. We had a buffet dinner before the show and explored the grounds a little- feed an elephant, take some photos, and watch some live performances. The rain was a bit of a bummer- we would have had more photos otherwise.

Bangkok revisited - Sept 2014 (Day 1)

We made another trip to Bangkok in September 2014. It was *sort of* a work trip for hubby, as *work* took all of a few hours- checking out a new shopping mall, Central Embassy. Haha!

We had a dinner with a friend- who also introduced us to the super yummy After You Dessert Cafe. Gosh, the Shibuya Honey Toast is to die for! Thinking of it is making me salivate.

Drat I forgot to take photos of the dessert... ah well, next time then! Meanwhile, this collage of yummy Thai food will have to do :)

Trip to Singapore - Day 3

The next day was a day full of animals- at the famous Singapore Zoo! It really is an iconic tourist attraction, and all of us had so much fun. It was very hot and humid of course, and thank God my brother came along with us. The extra pair of hands really helped. Not sure how we would have survived otherwise!

I did a great deal of research beforehand, and we managed to make full use of our time there. We started with seeing the resident polar bear Inuka, who seemed to be doing his morning exercise when we were there. He was doing this routine that involved him swimming around a rock and then towards the glass, and using his paw to push himself off from it. It was really hypnotic to watch.

Another highlight was the Fragile forest, where we got to see the animals in an open, close-up environment. It was really cool! We saw bats, sloths, and many other great animals.

We planned to end off the day at the water play area, but just as we were about to go in, the pool had to be closed because some kid pooped in the water!! Gross!

So instead of waiting, we packed up and left instead. We did manage to cool off in some water in the end, in the swimming pool hotel :)

In the evening, we made a quick trip to Gardens by the Bay to have dinner and to watch the Light and Sound show at the SuperTree Grove. However, the kids were tired and cranky, and so we left early. Ah well, another time I guess!

Trip to Singapore - Day 2

Our second day in Singapore was spent at the Science Centre, and it was AWESOME! We visited the Human Body Experience, which was an interactive journey through a big latex 'human body'. We climbed through the mouth and rode a short slide into the body and exited through the *back*... well, you get the idea! We had to squeeze and stumble out, somewhat like poo, which was quite hilarious.

It was really fun, the kids were a little frightened as first, but they were game enough to give it another go. We passed through various parts of the body- the lungs, stomach, intestines and many more. The heart was beating, the lungs were inflating/deflating- it was a really cool thing to do!

We enjoyed various other exhibits and tried to do as much as time and energy permitted.

We ended off our visit at the water play area, and the kids had a real whale of a time! Very impressed with the Singapore Science Centre- I definitely think we could go and visit again and again.

We then went over to Moonie's place, where we had dinner and hung out for a while. All in all- a really nice day!

Trip to Singapore - Day 1

The kids' first trip overseas - Singapore! We were there for my brother's convocation- or rather - we were there to take the family photo at the studio, haha.

We had a yummy seafood buffet at the W Singapore Sentosa Cove- a nice hotel in a lovely area. The hotel was located in a rather remote corner of Sentosa, but it more than made up for it by being right by the marina. Very romantic indeed!

More stories coming up!

Real Music Never Stops- Taylor Swift!!

My first ever concert!! Yay!

And what a first concert it was. Taylor Swift was awesome! She is such a great singer and entertainer. The huge screen helped even those of us who were seated far away to see her expressions and connect with her during the performance.

I had a truly great time- I sang along (where I knew how to) until my voice was hoarse.

I wasn't really a Taylor Swift fan before, but I think I have been converted.

Real Music Never Stops indeed!

An awesome racing car party!

So the boy is REALLY into cars. It seemed like a good idea to throw a theme party- so I did heaps of research and decided to DIY. It was a lot of planning and work - stressful, but the kids had a really good time.

Here are some photos of the snacks done according to the theme- quite fun to come up with!

Hubby made an awesome race track/ramp and we gave each child a plastic car to 'race'. A simple idea, but one which was a great hit with the kids! They really enjoyed it :)

And oh, check out the cool cake- made by my friend, Sugar Art Diva! Cool, eh!

Happy 5th birthday to my little boy! May God bless you always!