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!

Going to Kindy!!

My firstborn is off to a 'big' school! Can't believe how time has flown by. I hope he can cope- I can't imagine him managing toilet trips, etc all by himself. But I guess it's all part of growing up. He will manage, I am sure. I hope I will, too! Haha!

The first day of school was interesting. All the parents were hovering around their kids - taking photos and videos. I have one video of the kids lining up and walking to the toilet like a row of ants (can't believe I actually recorded that)! Thankfully he didn't cry- there were a few kids wailing the first few days.

All the best to my baby. Such a big boy already!

Langkawi - Dec 2013

We planned a last minute trip to Langkawi and had to pay a pretty penny for accommodation. We stayed at the Holiday Villa Beach Resort & Spa- which wasn't really that great, but was still ok for our needs nevertheless.

We took the cable car ride up on the mountain (we paid a LOT for the express pass!) and really had a great time at the top of the mountain- enjoying the cool air, strong winds and the spectacular view! The kids were singing Hi-5 songs and dancing in the sun; it was really memorable. There wasn't much to eat at the top, so we ordered cup noodles- which was quite fun, as the strong wind threatened to blow the cups away- and the cool weather made eating a hot cup of noodles very satisfying!

We also dined at the famous floating restaurant cum fish farm called Hole in the Wall (we were the only customers that evening)- which was a short boat ride out. We got to feed fishes and even a sting ray at the restaurant/fish farm, which was pretty cool. Coming back in the dark was quite an experience as well- it was definitely a bit scary; and when we got to our car it wouldn't start! Yikes. Fortunately it finally did in the end; otherwise it would have been awful- we were pretty out there in the wilderness of the mangrove forest.

Another highlight was visiting the Underwater World, which is always a great destination for kids!

There was some beach time fun of course- but not quite enough, I reckon. Our helper caught a jellyfish in the bucket- which was really neat! It was so cool to see it up close.

Goodbye Langkawi- we will definitely see you again!

Work trip to South Africa - Part 3

The next part of the trip involved us attending a Discovery conference in Sun City, which is about 2 hours from Johannesburg. We stayed at Kwa Maritane, situated inside the Pilanesberg National Park. The room I stayed in had quite an interesting layout- I had to descend a small flight of stairs to get to the sleeping area, which made it feel a little like a dungeon.

After we got through all the work stuff- meetings, discussions, it was then time for some fun! We went for 2 game drives- one early in the morning, and another later in the afternoon. It was an incredible experience! It was really fun trying to spot the different animals. We did not manage to see the 'Big Five' (lion, elephant, rhino, buffalo and leopard)- we did see the first 3 in that list, though, which was great. 

We had a really great guide, and the experience with the lions was truly spectacular. There were FIVE of them, and we got up close and personal as we 'stalked' them, while they sauntered up and down and looked at us (with disdain, I might add). Sitting in an open top jeep with them so close by was slightly nerve-wracking, but we never felt that we were in any kind of danger. The guide did tell us to stay quiet and keep our limbs inside the jeep, which was probably good advice. At one point we saw the female lions' ears prick up, as they looked across the vast open field- and we held our breath, hoping that we might witness a kill. Alas, that was not to be- apparently it is incredibly rare to see a kill on a game drive. All the same, it was a really amazing experience! We had the lions to ourselves for a long time, before our guide had to 'call it in'- i.e. tell the other guides about the lion sighting (for the other park visitors).

We saw lots of other animals- gnu, a majestic giraffe, zebras, rhinos and may more. At one point we nearly missed spotting a few elephants, which were grazing quietly nearby. How could one miss something so big? Strange, but true. Animals in their natural habitat are a lot harder to spot than in the zoo, where there is an enclosure and a signboard to boot! Talk about camouflage...

 Goodbye South Africa! I hope to visit you again someday! :)

Work trip to South Africa - Part 2

This photo says it all, really. A really eye-opening experience for me. Such an interesting company- with a culture that truly breeds innovation.

The Protea- the national flower of South Africa

Our hosts treated us to a lovely dinner at the fabulously posh Saxon, where BMWs chaffeur guests from the main entrance of the establishment, right up to the front door of the restaurant. I can't recall now how long the drive was, but it was a pretty dark drive, and the whole experience made it all rather mysterious and exclusive. And the food - well.. fine dining, of course! 

Work trip to South Africa - Part 1

I had an incredible privilege to make a trip to South Africa for work. The destination was Johannesburg- not exactly a safe place to visit- but I was travelling with a group of colleagues so it wasn't that scary.

It was an awesome trip. We had incredibly wonderful hosts, and work-wise I learnt so much. I know that we probably saw only the posh/good bits of the city, but hey, I am not complaining. We were in Sandton, the business district, and it was really nice and modern indeed. Nelson Mandela Square was next to the hotel, and on the day trip out to Soweto, we passed by Houghton (where all the rich folks live), and stopped outside Mandela's home for a quick photo. I saw jacaranda trees for the first time- such a lovely shade of purple!

The only time I felt slightly nervous was when we passed through Hillbrow, an inner city residential neighbourhood known for its high levels of population density, unemployment, poverty and crime. People were out everywhere, hanging by their cars and blasting loud music out in the street. Not one single white person was seen in this neighbourhood. The stark difference between the rich and poor was so apparent- especially when you visit Hillbrow after seeing Houghton.

The visit to Soweto was very educational- giving us a glimpse of the history of the struggle against apartheid. The name 'Soweto' is an abbreviation for South Western Townships, and it began as a product of segregationist planning.

The stained glass windows inside the Regina Mundi Church- 
can you see the image of Nelson Mandela?

We had dinner at the Sakhumzi restaurant on the famous Vilakazi Street- which is the only street in the world to have once had two Nobel Prize winners as residents- Nelson Mandela and Reverend Desmond Tutu. Dining at the restaurant was a pretty interesting experience. We saw posh cars being driven up and down the road (in fact I think they went down the road and then came back up)- the owners had their car windows down, loud music blasting away; some with wine glass in hand as they drove! That was a rather strange display of wealth....

More to come in the next post! 

Dining in the Dark

I managed to get a good deal for this on LivingSocial, so hubby and I tried it out. It was a really unique experience, and I would recommend it to anyone who is keen on trying something different. This is not about the food at all.

Until I tried this, I did not understand how a room could be so dark, for a sustained period of time. We dined there for about an hour, if I recall correctly, and our eyes never 'adjusted'- so we were well and truly 'blind'. Our blind guide walked us to our table (we formed a train holding on to each other's shoulders), and showed us how to figure out where everything was on the table. He showed us how to run our fingers alongside the table edge, to pick up our drink.

Without our sense of sight, we experienced first hand how our sense of taste and smell tried to compensate. Every flavour and texture felt like it had been enhanced, and it was fun trying to guess what it was that we were eating. Some of it felt so familiar, but yet I couldn't recall what it was. Was that salmon? Or duck? Surely one could tell them apart, I thought. But it wasn't so easy after all!

Another thing we learnt was this - your fork or spoon doesn't find it's way to your mouth so easily when you can't see. Strange, but true. And what if you dropped some morsels of food on the table, or on the edge of the plate? I used my bare fingers a lot that night - had to do a lot of feeling around.

An interesting experience indeed!

Trip to Ipoh - Aug 2013

We made a trip to Ipoh and the highlight was a visit to Lost World of Tambun. It was the fasting month, so there was not much of a crowd, which was nice. I underestimated the mosquitoes though - should have been better prepared for that.

The hot springs were so much fun! Very relaxing indeed.

Definitely a place we can re-visit with the kids!