Penang Trip Oct '08 (Part II)

Sunday
SIL was very kind to babysit the kids while hubby and I went for a peaceful breakfast. We headed to Sisters (Macalister Road) for char koay teow (CKT). When I wanted to order, the lady told me I've to wait for 1 hour. Gosh, what a long wait! So we decided to eat something else. Ordered jawa mee, siew mai (meat dumplings) and yam cake.

Hubby was very keen to have CKT so we ordered take away. (Yeah... he loves CKT that much.) Went back to collect later, after buying egg tarts and newspapers elsewhere. Luckily we bought it coz they won't be open the next day (our last day in Penang).

In the afternoon, we brought the kids to Butterfly Farm at Teluk Bahang. The weather was very hot but it was quite alright in the farm. It's covered with nettings and they have mist spray at certain parts of the farm. So it was quite cooling. The small auditorium and Insect Musuem are air-conditioned.


The kids were very excited to see the butterflies. They were not afraid at all. The poor butterflies got tortured coz the kids kept touching (more like poking) them. CE kept poking the butterfly wings. I think he's trying to pick them up. :-|

~ so many butterflies ~

XY wanted the butterflies to perch on her hand so she stood still in the middle of the walkway with her hand outstretched. She was so sad that none flew to her hand. We told her she doesn't smell good, that's why. hahaha Then explained to her that butterflies love flowers very much (their food source). PaPa taught her to put her fingers near the butterfly legs for it to slowly creep over to her hand. It worked and she was so happy.

~ Yay! I've got a butterfly on my hand! ~

Here's a tour around the farm...


On our way back, we stopped by the beach. As it was very hot, we didn't go down to the beach. We parked by the roadside. PaPa and XY took some pictures while didi and I sat in the car, enjoying the air-cond and munching on biscuits. :D

~ beach along Batu Feringgi ~

We had late lunch (at 4pm) at Chili's. Back home for the kids to take a nap before going out for dinner. I was like a walking zombie coz I woke up at 5 that morning. Unfortunately, didi didn't nap but I think I managed to catch about 30 minutes nap while he explored the room himself.

We went for steamboat dinner (somewhere behind Dorsett Penang Hotel). Their soup base are quite special. They have tomyam, ma lat (extremely spicy), herbal and duck soup. We had tomyam and duck soup. The ingredients were good, especially the beef and mutton slices. I enjoyed this steamboat so much more than the seafood dinner. :p Sorry, no pictures to share coz busy entertaining a cranky boy who skipped his nap. *sien*

The Pink Sisterhood

I got this tag from Doreen and Wen to increase our awareness of breast cancer.
Some facts to share with you:

* One in eight women or 12.6% of all women will get breast cancer in her lifetime.
* Breast cancer risk increases with age and every woman is at risk.
* Every 13 minutes a woman dies of breast cancer.
* Seventy-seven percent of women with breast cancer are over 50.
* Breast cancer is the leading cause of cancer death in women between the ages of 15 and 54, and the second cause of cancer death in women 55 to 74.
* Risks for breast cancer include a family history, atypical hyperplasia, early menstruation (before age 12), late menopause (after age 55), current use or use in the last ten years of oral contraceptives, and daily consumption of alcohol.
* Early detection of breast cancer, through monthly breast self-exam and particularly yearly mammography after age 40, offers the best chance for survival.

Facts taken from Women’s Health

And now here is the tag and the rules:
1. Put the logo in your blog.
2. Add a link to the person who shared it with you.
3. Nominate at least 7 other blogs.
4. Add your link to the list of participants below.
5. Leave a message for your nominee on their blog.

PINK Sisterhood
1- Fara 2- Massy 3- N.O.Y 4- Mariuca 5- A Great Pleasure 6- LadyJava 7- Kim 8- Pink Thoughts 9- Turn-u-Off 10- Roxiticus Desperate Housewives 11- STAY AT HOME MOM 12- Fida Abbott 13- Also Mommy 14- Janice Ng 15- Juliana’s Site 16- The Painted Veil 17 - Thots N Tales 18- Anything Lah! 19- Slavery Bliss 20- YOU Next!

This meaningful tag goes to :
Fussy mum, Annie, MC, Judy, Rachel, MeRy and Dora

Penang Trip Oct '08 (Part I)

Penang has been very good to us. Before our trip home, it was raining every day. But while we're there, it didn't rain at all. So we're able to bring the kids to some places as planned. Although the weather is very hot in the day time, it's very cooling at night. The weather's like that on an island. Well, better hot and dry than raining non-stop as it's inconvenient to go out with kids.

Saturday
Went to Botanical Gardens in the evening (without PaPa, since we have enough hands to look after the kids). The last time I went there was 7 years ago and the kids have never been there. So it was one of the places that I've planned to bring them this trip.

When we reached there, the amount of monkeys were lesser compared to other days (according to my brother). Then I saw something very disturbing. Although there was a sign that says not to feed the monkeys and not to bring food into the garden, some people still ate ice-cream or junk food. So when the monkeys saw the food, they went near these people, eyeing on the food. As they were afraid the monkeys will snatch from their hands, they just threw the food on the floor. And the monkeys quickly grabbed and ate them. I think this is really bad for them. Some people purposely provoke the monkeys by teasing them with food or scaring them.

~ monkeys eating human food near the rubbish bin ~

The kids (especially CE) were very excited to see the monkeys. Finally met their own same species, I guess. hahaha We had to carry didi coz he kept wanting to go so near to the monkeys. And these are wild monkeys. They can get very fierce.

~ didn't manage to take a picture with real monkeys in the background ~

We didn't walk the whole round, but went to an even grass area so the kids can play badminton. While XY was playing with WQ (my nephew), CE wanted the racquet too. But since there's only 2, SIL and I distracted him by bringing him to the waterfall. Boy, that was a big mistake. He wanted to go in so SIL stood at the shallow area and carried him in. But he refused to stand on the sandy area or in the shallow water. And he didn't want to come out either. Really don't know what he wanted. I took out my camera but didn't manage to snap any pictures coz he was making such a big fuss.

Then XY and WQ also joined in. XY got her pants all wet. We only allowed the kids to play in the water for a very short while, as we didn't bring anything for them to change. CE refused to get out and I had to forcefully carry him away. He was screaming and crying, kept looking at the waterfall, saying "There... water".

We didn't stay long as we've to go home and prepare to go out for dinner. Remember I said we had a very expensive but not-worth-it-at-all dinner? The place we went to was Bali Hai at Gurney Drive. We didn't really know what to order. Went to look at the live seafood, the guy recommended the spider crab which he said tastes very good if fried with celery. After weighing the crab, it cost RM700+. Woah! I don't think it's worth eating a crab that's so expensive. Moreover, we won't be able to differentiate the taste of an expensive species from the normal ones. So we ordered lobster, meat crab, steamed fish, sea cucumber, vegetables and noodles.


For 7 adults and 3 children, the bill came up to RM1.2K. Hubby said the food is not nice (for that price). I have no comments as I don't have a very sharp tastebud but I have to say 1 of the dishes was really bad. The lobster salad! This dish contributed half the bill but we wouldn't mind spending the money if it was good. Unfortunately, the meat was very rough, probably coz it was very huge. We find the merchant not being very honest as they simply prepared a huge serving (of lobster) for us. Probably because we didn't order any exotic (and very expensive) seafood so that's the only dish they can 'cut our throat'. Anyway, these are my personal opinion. Maybe we didn't order the right food. But we're definitely not going back to that restaurant again. :p

When we're almost done with dinner, I spotted a cute little boy. He was facing us while his mom was carrying him. Instantly I recognised him... baby Ryan! I walked over to say "Hi" to them. I'm sure Doreen was a bit shocked to see a stranger calling her name. What a small world, eh? It was a pleasure meeting you, Doreen. Hope I didn't give you a scare. Or do you get this kind of 'encounters' very often? :D

Coming up next, our Sunday outing. Stay tuned ya!

One Year Older

This year, my birthday fell on a public holiday, Deepavali. I took the opportunity to visit my family in Penang and to celebrate the day with them. SIL made me a cheese cake with kiwi topping. She said it's very easy to make. Just mix the flour (the pre-mix type) and whipping cream, put the topping, then freeze. She didn't make the crumbs. It tasted just as good, but we felt that the kiwi topping was a little too sweet to our liking.

~ cheese cake with kiwi topping ~

XY brought the cake to me (with SIL's help) while singing the birthday song. I have to keep CE's hands away from the cake as he kept wanting to touch it. The kids were very excited and kept looking at the cake. They wanted to blow the candle but I asked them to wait. My brother was still taking our photos. Hubby was missing in action due to nature's call. :D

~ enjoying the cake while watching tv ~

We left Penang that evening. Reached home almost 9pm. Then went out for dinner. Hubby wanted to buy me a cake since he missed it earlier. But I said just buy sliced cakes will do. Bought Secret Recipe's White Chocolate Macadamia and Carrot Slice but only used the Macadamia cake for another round of birthday song, wish-making, candle-blowing and cake-cutting session. This time he set up the tripod so we managed to take some family photos.

Greetings!

It's now almost 6 am. I've been awake for an hour already. Although I slept at 12+ yesterday, don't know why I'm not able to go back to sleep. I took a flight yesterday and I think I'm having jet lag. But that's crazy coz the flight only took ONE hour and I'm still in the same time zone. hahaha

So where am I now? Back in my hometown in Penang! Have gone to see some monkeys and had a very expensive but not-worth-it-at-all dinner. Will write about our trip later. Till then, I'll leave some monkeys to entertain you while I go catch some sleep before the kids wake up.

~ Monkey 1 : Busy playing with her electronic game ~

~ Monkey 2 : Busy pushing the trolley around ~

~ Monkeys in Botanical Garden ~

29 Months Old

~ a "present" on his 29th month ~

Yesterday night (actually today, since it's already past midnight), CE fell down and hit the bed divan in the dark. I switched the lights off before he climbed onto the bed. Although there was some lights from the street, the eyes take a little time to adjust. He must have tripped over the mattress on the floor and knocked the edge of the divan. He gave out a loud cry immediately and I knew it must have been very painful. Can you see that line across his forehead? *Ouch!* So that marks his 29th Month.

Diet
He's very interested in adult food. If we're having a meal at the same time (he sits in front of the tv while we eat at the dining table), he'll want some of what we're eating. The trick is to put some in his plate (of not too tasty food) and shoo him back to his table. Works most of the time. If he's finished what we gave him but hasn't finished his rice, we've to give him more to shoo him away again.

He likes noodles very much. On Sunday, we had dinner at Dragon-i, Sunway Pyramid. I didn't prepare any food from home so he had la mian (noodles). Initially I thought the kids can share a bowl of plain la mian. But it wasn't enough so we ordered another bowl. That means they both had a bowl each. What big eaters I have. o.O

Alphabets & Numbers
He knows almost all the alphabets (capital letters) except J and Q. As for small letters, haven't really taught him yet so he can only recognise a few.

He's no longer confused between 6 and 9. He can count very well from 1 to 12. Currently learning to count to 20. When we walk up or down the stairs (which has exactly 20 steps), I'll count out loud. I'm also starting to introduce numbers in Mandarin but he doesn't seem interested to follow.

~ arranging the alphabets like a 'choo choo' train ~

Speech Development
He no longer calls me "Bamee". That only lasted for less than a week. :-) His words are getting clearer. He speaks mainly English and some slanged Mandarin. PaPa's been complaining that I've raised his son to be an "ang moh kia" (Englishman). hehehe Well, I've been speaking to him in both languages (English more as my Mandarin vocabulary isn't very good), but I guess English becomes dominant because he watches too much Playhouse Disney Channel.

Brushing Teeth
I was having problems brushing his teeth. Some days he just refuse to open his mouth. So I bought him 2 new toothbrushes (with Mickey ears pattern) 2 weeks ago. I only wanted to buy one so I gave him yellow and red to choose. But he held them tightly. So I bought both since that kept him sitting in the trolley for a little longer.

~ the greedy boy wanted both colours ~

Now when I brush his teeth, I've to let him play with the tap water while he stands on a chair at the basin. Although I don't get a good angle, it's better than not brushing at all. Planning to introduce toothpaste soon. Have to buy the fluoride-free toothpaste first.

Sleeping Pattern
Now when he sleeps, he likes to hug my head. He'll put his hand around my neck, sometimes strangling me. Sometimes if I move his hand away (to my chest), he's okay. Other times he'll strangle me even harder. :-|

Violent
When he's not happy or when I whack his hands/legs/backside, he sometimes hit me back. He'll hit with both hands continuously - on my hands, body and legs. And boy he's a strong li'l guy. Even I find it painful, I wonder how jie jie stands it when he hits her like that. He likes to play 'hitting' with jie jie and the silly girl sometimes find it fun (sei mou?). And I really hate it when the loud laughters end up with one of them crying (usually jie jie).

Rose & Butterfly Awards

I received some beautiful red roses from Dora and Judy. Thanks, girls!











Cool blog? Mine? Wow... thank you Kylie and Mummy Gwen for giving me this award.




Here are the rules to go with the award :-
1. Put the logo on your blog.
2. Add a link to the person who awarded you.
3. Nominate 10 other blogs.
4. Add links to those blogs on yours.
5. Leave a message for your nominees on their blogs.

Now the awards go to (whom I think have not displayed them in their blogs) :
1. Wen
2. Jacss
3. Bryan & Brandon's Mama
4. bp
5. Contentedmom
6. Sasha
7. SueSue
8. Yatie
9. BabyBooned
10. Mummykhong