Say 'cheese'

"Mama, say cheese"

What's with toddlers and this pose?

I have seen a few toddlers her age posing this way too. I did not teach her this pose; no idea where she got the idea from...but I have to say, they do look rather cute posing this way.

When J brings out his camera, she will immediately go into the 'recce mode'; gives a good look around the living room and runs to spot #1, starts to pose, then runs to spot #2, pose, smiles and screams "Mama, cheese", "Papa, look, look (me), say cheese".

And like many girls her age, she has dethroned me and is now officially our home's Miss Chatterbox - The Queen. I'm trying to get used to her queries on almost everything! 

This was our conversation as we walked towards the car after picking her up from childcare yesterday:

Miss K: "What's that, Mama"

Me: Its a bird. How many birds are there?

Miss K: one, two, tee, four, five, sis, sewen, ek, nine, ten!

Me: Ten birds? Are you sure? What are the birds doing?

Miss K: Hmmm. Yes. Ten Bird. Bird fly in sky!! oh, bird flyyyy away. Mama, look, clouds! Many clouds, CLOUDS!!!. Oooo....What's that?

Me: Yes, that's right.

*Walks towards car*

Miss K: "My car!" Walks to driver side "Mummy's car"

Me: Alright, let's get you strapped in.

Miss K: I want buckle. No, NO!! Buckle this way.

Me: *Gives fierce look, strapped her in and starts engine*

Miss K: Thirsty, mama, I want water. What's that? Mama, look! mirror! Mama, sing Baa Baa Black sheep?

Me: Alright. Can you teach mummy some songs you learnt from school?

sings a few songs while driving home.

Arrived home....

Miss K: Where's Gigi? Where's Papa? Mama, I want booberry, I want pear, no I want papaya

Me: We can only have one fruit tonight, what do you  want?

Miss K: I want watch Barney

Me: !%^&#$%^

Hainan on a shoestring

So what can one get for a $50, 5D4N tour package to Hainan? By the way, if you haven't read how I got this deal, you could do so by reading my previous post :)

DAY 1
Arrived Haikou at 11am. Tour guide was already waiting at the arrivals when we exited.
Transfered to Haikou XingYuan Hotspring Hotel. My verdict on our first hotel, well, its only worth a 3 star, not 4 star as advertised.

This is Miss K popping blueberries (brought from home) at the hotel, spot the old fashioned TV? After pressing all possible buttons,turning on all switches, we could not figure how to turn it on, finally hotel sent someone up to fix the TV for us.

For those who (like me) thought that I could get some good bargains from Haikou, you will be disappointed. Haikou is definitely not a shopping place. Fashion wise, its too "chinese" for me. Weather wise, it's scorching HOT in June. The shopping malls have very weak air-conditioning, some does not even have air-conditioning.

DAY 2
After breakfast at the hotel, we were brought to the Five Official's Temple.My chinese history is about nil, and my mandarin is about 49% (I don't dare to give myself a passing mark of 50%) so, I was enjoying the architecture of the place rather than the history behind it. Miss K refused to walk, so guess where she ended up in?

I have to say, the tour bus we had was very new, clean and comfortable. We had a really good ride throughout our 4 days in Hainan. Thumbs up for bus 90K60!

On our way to Qionghai from Haikou, we stopped for lunch at this very touristy restaurant with very "interesting" make-shift baby chair:

It was a upside down pail :) But it did its job alright.

The main attraction at Qionghai was BoAo. We were brought to the BoAo conference site (nothing much to see here), just a fountain that looks like this outside the building which lacks air-conditioning with pictures of some officials who attended the BoAo Forum Asia. *Yawns*

We then had to pay 180RMB to go on the Wanquan River 'Cruise'. Actually, it was only a 5 minutes boat ride from the BoAo conference site to the sandbar which separates the river and the sea, not really a cruise. The boat ride was hot and stuffy. This is the scene from the boat, nothing spectacular.

As we arrived at  the sandbar at 1pm, it was too hot for any activities. It must have been something like 37 degC then as we were sweating buckets! There were many tents dotted along the sandbar selling knickknacks and fruits.We decided to seek shelter from the sun and have some mangoes as we while away the allocated 1 hour at that sandbar. I have to say, best mangoes in Hainan! 3 mangoes of this size for 10RMB (~S$2). Miss K had one whole mango to herself!

After we finally got back onto the bus, the tour brought us to Xinglong's Health Tea house for some herbal foot soak and massage and of course the usual sales talk in between.

We checked into Xinglong Treasure Island Hotel for our second night in Hainan. This hotel, I rate 2 stars, a far cry from the promised 4-star standard. It was old and rather dirty....but it has interesting fruit trees in the compound. Look what we saw. Miss K was terrified of that huge jackfruit.

Dinner at the hotel's restaurant was the worse meal during our stay in Hainan. The saving grace would be the many food stalls parked along the road outside of the hotel. We took a sweaty walk along the stalls after dinner and went home with 3 large mangoes (3 for 10RMB).
Highlight of Day 2 - eating 6 huge, juicy & sweet mangoes in one day, which was great, as it helped the little one with this:

And yes, we brought her potty along!

DAY 3
Started off by visiting the famous Xinglong coffee factory. Suprising that they are famous for their coffee, but the coffee we tasted in Hainan so far tasted horribly weak and lacks the umph.

Next was Dadonghai Beach. We arrived at 11:30am, got the little one changed into her swimsuit, and guess what? She said "Mama, No sand", I asked her whether she wants to go to the sea, she replied "Don't want", asked her whether she wants to build some sand castles " Don't want", so she was glued onto me for the whole hour.

J and I had a taste of our first 'Hainan Beer', very light and refreshing on that hot and sticky day. It was only 5RMB for a 750ml bottle!
After lunch, our tour's next stop was Nanshan Buddhism Park. This park was an additional 150RMB.

The 'Special Seafood Dinner' cost us an aditional 160RMB (~$30).This dinner was supposed to be a classy affair with good quality lobster and other crustaceans, but it was totally disappointing! Should have opted for the Monkey Island instead (Seafood Dinner was to replace Monkey Island)

To those planning a trip to Hainan, food is definitely nowhere near gourmet. This is what our food looked like on day 1,...and day 2...and 3 and 4. Seriously lacks variety. But do note that we get 8 dishes and 1 soup. No course for complaint here since this is supposed to be a $50 all in package tour  *keeps on reminding self*

We arrived at Sanya Jingwei Seaview Hotel rather late at 8:30pm (we did not have a seaview room by the way!) I rate this hotel 3.5 stars. The beach just about 100m away from the hotel looks nice, but we did not have a chance to walk along that beach as we had to leave for Haikou early the next morning.

DAY 4
The 'Oh-So-Boring' Silk factory as our first stop. I would rather laze by Sanya Beach. It was enlightening to see the process of silk making though, but the merchandise sold was certainly a rip off.
Next was an equally waste-of-time visit to the knife shop. Some demonstration on how durable the knife is etc etc....was totally boring.
Lunch that day was supposed to be a 'treat' from the tour company. It was a coconut themed lunch, Hainan's specialty. I got overly coconutified!

Yalong Bay was our next pit stop. The little one was so tired, she was fast asleep when we arrived, so we decided to have coffee at the nearby hotel so she could sleep on this comfy sofa ( we were very coffee deprived too, as we were only served tea for breakfast).

Miss Sleepy Head after waking up from her nap.

We only had 2 hours at this beach and the little one slept for about an hour, got really moody and grumpy for the next hour, so that's where our beach escapade ended. Sigh.

On our way to the Li Village to see women covered in tattoos, it started to pour. Apparently, a typhoon is coming by the coast of Taiwain and possibly will affect Hainan. Miss K and I stayed on the bus while the rest brave the rain to visit the tattoo-ed women in the Li Village. J came back saying that the place was partially under renovation, so nothing much to see and do. It was pretty deserted.

The last leg back to the hotel at Haikou was a long bus ride up north. Our last night in Haikou was at the Bao Hua Harbour View Hotel. We got upgraded as the previous hotel we stayed was overbooked.
It was a nice end to our tour as the dinner was the best dinner in Hainan and the hotel was indeed a proper 4-star hotel.

DAY 5
Tiger Airways back to Singapore  at 11:30am. The most chaotic flight I've been on, untrained staff, impolite, and worse of all, bad manners!
There was this teenage boy who was sitting with us, had been waiting for his ordered food for more than an hour. As we were about 45 mins from our descend into Changi (this is a 3 hour flight) we suggested he press the call button to enquire about his food and the air-steward came 5 minutes later and muttered, "if you guys keep on pressing this button, no food will get served as it will slow us down"!  The food was served 15 minutes before descend into Changi.

I was also wondering why my seat on both legs of the flight could not recline at all! Was totally uncomfortable. I will avoid Tiger Airways for any travel further than Malaysia next time!

Our verdict? Well, for $50 per person on a full board 5D4N package tour, it was well worth it.
However, personally, this might be our very first and also last package tour holiday.

We're off to Hainan!

I just realised that Miss K has been travelling quite a bit since she was 6 months old.
This is Miss K's travel log thus far:

6 months - Penang
11 months - Malacca
13 months - Berlin, Munich, London & Birmingham
16 months - Kuching
18 months - Penang
20 months - Princeton, NJ & Manhattan, NYC.
22 months - Hainan

Yes, we will be off to Hainan at the crack of dawn tomorrow. This trip was a "last-minute-buy-on-impulse" trip. This is what made me 'buy on impulse':
http://www.deal.com.sg/deals/singapore/S50-for-5D4N-Stay-at-4-Star-Sanya-Hainan-Island

Don't you think $50 per person for a 5D4N accomodation + 3 meals + transport+ tour guide deal sounds too good to be true?

Well, initially, we were not sure whether (1) the travel agency actually did exist (2) we will be asked to pay additional charges (3) forced to buy into their gimmicks; but so far so good. This time round, we will be flying Tiger Airways (arrives in the morning, we get 1 extra day in Haikou), as Jetstar, the other airline which has direct flights to Haikou arrives in the evening.

Colleagues and friends have been warning me about the dangers of Hainan, no-go places, what to watch out for etc...(So, from what I have heard so far, Hainan is a really bad holiday destination, especially with a 22 month old! **double sigh**) Am really thankful for their advice, but on the other hand, am feeling rather apprehensive about this trip now.

Well, this will be our FIRST tour (I actually HATE tours, but...there is always a first to everything, I guess) & FIRST holiday trip to CHINA (I had previously been to china on a community service trip with no toilets and no shower for 2 weeks, but that's a different story altogether!)

As with all our holidays, we usually have to crack our heads to think of where to put the dog while we were gone. This time, the dog will be staying with her friend Pebbles; she gave Pebble's owner a scare the last time she stayed there as she escaped, ran about 500m out of the housing compound and the maid (who was walking her) freaked out and cried! Hope the dog will behave herself this time round!

We told Miss K that the dog will be staying with Pebbles and she got pretty worked up, she cried, saying "No! Gigi stays home". Well, that's a good sign, the little one is finally showing some affection towards the dog! I like this recent photo of them both:

Before we jet off, I would like to wish all lovely DADS out there,

A Very Blessed Father's Day!!

Dairy Farm Quarry

It was a nice early evening stroll at Dairy Farm Nature Park on a Sunday. We wanted the dog to have an extended walk, so decided to re-visit the Quarry at this nature park.
I love this park much more than Bukit Batok Nature Park, simply for the fact that it has a proper walking path which is stroller friendly, and it is ants-free, woohoo! (Ants = My dog's biggest enemy!)

The last time we were there, it was 15 months ago, Miss K was 6 months old. And if you have spotted it already, the dog has the red-shirt on, both then and now.

I'm going to sidetrack a little bit, here's the story of the red shirt back then:

The dog just had a S$1200 surgery to remove a spikey, 2.5cm-diameter seed which she swallowed. That seed must have been in her intestine for a while, but we only noticed something amiss when she started to vomit puddles and puddles of water, refused food and water, one day, her body went limp and she lay motionless at one corner. On our way to the vet, she had problems breathing, she was gagging for air, I thought she was going to die! Greed almost killed her! Red shirt was to prevent her scratching her surgery wound.

This time round, the dog is having some skin problems (common in westies), so shirt-on again to prevent her (1) licking the steroids and (2) scratching which will worsen her skin.

It was a pleasant surprise for Miss K to see huge carps, and other tiny fish (and a turtle) swimming in the quarry. Her teachers at childcare have been bringing her class to the nearby pond every alternate days for 2 weeks in a row now, so when we arrived at the quarry, she squealed with joy and said "Mama, pond, big fish" , "There, turtle swimming" then ran to get the dog "Gigi, come here, see fish".

The outdoor really provides endless prospects for exploration and discovery. And bringing Miss K to the Dairy Farm Quarry this past weekend was great as it reiterated what she has learnt in school that week.

Singing Happy Birthday

Surprisingly, Miss K can sing the birthday song! I discovered this while we were singing in the car during the week. I guess she must had a few practice sessions at childcare (they sing happy birthday in all 4 languages at her childcare!)

So, when I told her its Ben Gorgor's Birthday on saturday, she has been happily singing "happy birthday to Ben Gorgor" since Friday night...We missed the party at Explorer Kids (our fault, was glad we did not tell the little one that we are going to a "big playground" for Ben's birthday as we were so busy with scheduling other things that afternoon or she might be thinking we lied to her!) but we managed to get to the party at night.

The first thing Miss K spotted as soon as we arrived at the party- The slide!

This is a daring Miss K climbing up the slide...

 which is higher than my 1.65m height! 

Yes, that's me, tip-toeing, grabbing tightly onto her, as she proudly stepped onto the slide on her first climb up the monkey bars!

The BBQ food was good, the fellowship with our cell group members was great! Unfortunately, I did not manage to snap a photo of the food. The highlight of the night was the "Angry Bird" themed Birthday cake.

This is Ben with his Angry Bird Birthday cake!

J managed to capture this shot with Ben's baby brother, Don. He's such a cutie! And Kate looks like a big sister here!

Happy 7th Birthday, BEN!

Miss K's first visit to Bollywood Veggies & Hay Dairies

Breakfast in a farm in Singapore? That's exactly what we did on saturday!
Tuck in the north west corner of Singapore is Bollywood Veggies. Their Bistro, Poison Ivy serves fresh produce from their farm.
Sipping coffee and tucking into our breakfast, most of which came from the plants just 100 meters away from your table is something which I never thought would be possible in our city state.

So what's our pick?

Miss K's favourite would be the organic banana and tapioca chips which came with the nasi lemak (obvious, huh!).

My favourite would be the banana bread, kueh Bingka and Kueh Kosui.

J's favourite, his aloe vera drink!

Would love to come back here for lunch one day as they have jackfruit curry and organic veggies freshly picked daily from their farm. They use no MSG in their cooking and little salt. I have to add that they definitely got the right amount of sugar in their banana bread and kuehs, well done!

For those who wants to bring their pooch along, there's actually a dog run at the farm! On our next trip here, we will definitely be bringing Gigi along.

While walking around the farm, we saw this sign. 

I was seriously thinking of going in to check out the "sanctuary", but with Miss K refusing to walk and only wants "mama to carry" we had to make our way home.

So, here's my little koala, all fully "urbanised", refusing to touch any leaves, refusing to trod along the garden path. Sigh. I guess I have a long way to go in educating her to appreciate the countryside.

On our way home, we made a quick visit to Hay Dairies as I promised Miss K that we will go and visit some goats that morning.

I felt sorry for the goats. They were all caged up, looked thin and weary, (AVA does not allow feeding by public anymore, which they once allowed, I totally support this new rule)...and when I heard a few of them bleating away, I just felt sad for them. Having seen fat, healthy goats in Europe roaming free, grazing in the green pastures, I am sure these goats will be so jealous if they know that their europeans cousins are leading such a good life 6,000 miles away.

I had wanted to get Miss K to try some goat's milk, so I got a small bottle of chocolate flavoured one for her ($2) and suprisingly she loved it! Very fresh tasting, much fresher than cow's milk, actually. I love it too!

So, will I succeed in educating Miss K about appreciating the country side? Well, I can only hope...

Sweaty Bub

My Little K was a very sweaty infant.
She had sweaty feet, sweaty palms and a drenched full head of hair after each milk feeds and naps (we do not let her sleep in an air-conditioned room).

We were then quite worried about her sweating problems.
If you do google about sweaty infants, there are a whole list of sickness related to sweating!
However, I'm so glad that her first trip to Europe somewhat proved that part of her 'sweatiness' is mainly due to us living in a tropical climate.

J is worried about her sweaty palms and how her future boyfriend would react to that...hmmm.
Recently, I do see an improvement - both her palm and feet are less sweaty. That means, no more smelly shoes - yay!.

That being said, having dinner at home is still a sweaty affair...

"Exploring Time" with DORA

J got the little one a watch, a DORA watch! Miss K was all excited when she saw the watch.
She started to love Dora after our US trip in April; we basically watched the Dora-athon (2hours straight of Dora and Diego and learning spanish) every morning at the hotel for a week when J goes to work.

It lights up to the tune of 'its a small small world' when you press the cover flap. The first hour in possession of the watch, she must have pressed it 100 times!
And if you lift the flap, there's actually a digital watch beneath it - yes, its a real watch.

Miss K's First Watch

My 21 month old singing 'parrot'

i.e my little Princess.

30th of May marked Miss K's 21st Monthsary.

She is at the 'parroting' stage now and seems to be parroting everything we say, including words which (i think) she does not even know what they actually mean, e.g. promise, gather, problem.

I am starting to enjoy her singing :) Yes, she can sing bits and pieces of the kiddy songs I play in the car when we drive to work/childcare every morning. As of late, she has been listening to her favourite VegeTales CD which her 小 姨 gave her as her Christmas present last year.

Songs and chatter aside, she is now mummy's awesome helper; passing me hangers while I hang up the laundry, takes her clothes to the laundry basket after evey change, throws away her diaper in the bin and brings her milk bottle and place them on the kitchen top when asked to do so.

Alright, time for me to sit, relax and enjoy the music...

Favourite photo of the month!