Q2 Waterfront | Gurney Bay Park Playground | Macallum Coffee

Brayden 8Y9M18D

Bevlynn 4Y6M11D

We went to Unknown Cafe at the Q2 Waterfront for brunch. The sea breeze gently brushing our skin as we enjoyed the food variation. There was something unique with the recipes; they had special unknown ingredients which tickled the taste buds.  

In the late afternoon, we went to Gurney Plaza and Gurney Bay Park. This is our first time there but the playground seemed to be in a sorry state. The slides and some parts were closed off. The children found it boring, so I decided to create a ninja warrior challenge with the remaining part of the playground. They had to climb, jump, crawl, hop, go through tunnel, and reach the last part at the trampoline within the shortest time. 

Off they went.... One round. Then suddenly, more children wanted to join in too. Second round, even more children volunteered to be a part of it. Now with 7 children trying to outrun each other. It became a spectacle for the rest of the parents at the playground. It was fun. 

(Sometimes things may not turn out as expected, but we can turn it around and make it into a good lasting memory)

We walked over to Coco Island for dinner - grilled stingray, fruit rojak, western food, fried rice, satay,.... 

It's coming to the end of our 3-week holiday in Penang (north of Malaysia) & KL (central of Malaysia). I'm already missing the fun time together and the good food (See how Bray's big round tummy was "obscenely" protruding in one of the photos)

Next week, we are heading to Kulai (south of Malaysia) for the next holiday destination. My heart was thrilled, my body was starting to feel the need for "a holiday" after these holidays. Yet, as soon as I think of the joy in the childrens' faces, I am lifted again. I really loved living in these moments and building more memories. 

 

Pesta 2025/2026 | Majlis Perasmian | Miss/Mister Little Pesta Memories | Fun Fair

Brayden 8Y9M17D

Bevlynn 4Y6M10D

We chose a day and went to Pesta Pulau Pinang. The 59th edition is the last to be held at Tapak Pesta before the festival goes on hiatus for 6 years. Children under 12 years old enter for free. 

As we entered the main gate, a group of teenage girls dressed in traditional Malay costumes were waiting. They were welcoming the VIPs at the entrance. That day was coincidentally the Majlis Perasmian Pesta Pulau Pinang 2025/2026 (opening ceremony). 

"VIPs? Who could they be?" I thought. We happily took some nice & silly photos at the entrance. As we walked inside, a grand dinner setup was seen in the center stage of Pesta. Then on the big screen, we saw the VIPs arrival; Penang Chief Minister Chow Kon Yeow, Penang Yang Dipertua Negeri Tun Ramli Ngah Talib.

We took some photos in front of the dinner space's red carpet. 

I was fondly reminded of the Miss/Mister Little Pesta competition back in those days. I remembered my Mom who brought Bro Gene (4 yr old) and me (6 yr old) at that time to the tailor shop and she requested for custom-made costumes. I had my bulky princess white dress, and Bro Gene had a cowboy costume. Although she did not have much money, she still insisted on having the best costumes for us and spent quite a lot on them. Our family was very supportive, and we practised our walk in the living room of our old home. I did my signature princess wave; Bro Gene did his excited cowboy jump. 

When the day of the competition came, my Mom put on make-up on us, she was pretty good at it. There were many little competitors. I was having butterflies on stage. I did my walk stiffly and I couldn't lift my lips to smile, they felt hardened under the nervousness. Bro Gene on the other hand, did very well with his jump. 

He won third runner up, I did not win that day but I got the best memories of Pesta. 

Aside from the compeition. we also often visited for the fun fair. I wanted these fun times and memories for my children too. 

I brought my children to the fun fair after having dinner at the stalls. Each token was RM5. We played the duck game, bingo, mini roller coaster, mini round swing, mini race cars. I can see the smiles and happiness of the children when Bev and Bray were driving their own mini race cars and when the swing was going up really high. (Bev always have this funny look when she try to hold back her smile and not show it. That's when we know she's really happy) They wanted to go into the haunted house too but I thought it would not be a very good idea. 

We played the snake and ladder near the entrance instead. It was almost closing time for Pesta but the children wanted to continue playing.

When we were about to leave, the VIPs were leaving at the same timing too. Such coincidence again. We stood there waited and waved at them when they walked passed right in front of us. They returned a friendly wave.

What a great way to end the visit to Pesta. Hope to see you again.   

 

 

 

 

Birthday Month | Tiffz | Navy | Macallum | Gia Xiang | Handmade Notebook | Cars Cleaning | Spirited Away | PS5 & Switch - Plate Up !

Brayden 8Y9M13D

Bevlynn 4Y6M6D

This month is Jiu Mu's and my birthday month. 

First day, we celebrated Jiu Mu's birthday at Tiffz Coffee Gallery, Promenade. The place was a little difficult to find under the rain, but you have to look out for a back entrance to the building. The carbonara, waffle, pizza, burger were delicious. What stands out was their coffee art, each time different. They had won in some competition for the coffee art it seems. 

Next day, my family had planned a way~~~~ advance birthday celebration for me at Gia Xiang All Seasons Farlim. We were seated at the upper floor. We ordered many dishes; fish, chicken, pork, vegetable, etc... we cleared all the dishes especially the fish soup base. The bill came as a surprise. It was less than RM700 for two tables.

We decided to go to the nearby Coffee Bean to continue our celebration. We sang the birthday song, Bev and Bray blew the candles.  

On another day, Ann wanted to celebrate with me as well. So she asked me for lunch at Navy Specially Coffee at Arena Curve. The food were well portioned and taste was quite unique. A chat with Ann always calms me. In a short time, we spoke of family, children, school, work and retirement. There's always so much we can talk about. 

Next, we had invited Kai Mama to lunch at Macallum Connoisseurs Coffee. We were late to lunch, yet Kai Mama came much later. She went to the wrong location. She remembered the old location for Macallum and went there to find out that it has now been relocated. They re-open the restaurant with a different theme and decoration. The children loved the pasta, cakes, mushroom soup. The weekday lunch set comes with a good cup of coffee.

More activities as a family: 

1.  Handmade crafted notebook. Sea theme. Bev and Bray put on the sand and sea shells, painted it, finally putting their own personalized names on the book. They loved this activity. 

2. Cars cleaning. The children loved playing with water, bubble soap and climbing onto the car. They also played some water balloons. 

3. Motorbike Ride with Shu Kong. Bev in front, Bray behind. They went around the neighbourhood. 

4. Watching Spirited Away. The children did not want to watch at first. They said "Mommy you have told the story to us, we already know the ending" I insisted in watching the movie together. In the end, after watching, they loved it sooo much. They asked lots of questions about the storyline, what were the characters doing... They remembered the characters names. I really loved this story growing up and I hope they would too.

(They loved the dustmite; especially when the dustmite where pretending to have coal fall on them so that they do not have to work)

5. Playing PS5 and Switch. We played the four players Plate Up! It is an interesting yet stressful game when the team consists of a 4 yr old, an 8 yr old and 2 adults. 

The 4 yr old started very well with some simple instructions - just talk to the customers. Then after a few games, she started to explore other roles in the kitchen on her own and took other other ppl's tasks (more like blocking everyone's way). She then found an interesting cleaning the floor job however she was too slow and when the floor got messed up too much, she gave up and went to clear the rubbish bin which became her favorite task. In one of the game, she happily glitched herself out of the building and got trapped in one corner, she was happy at first because there was no stress being there. A few moments later, she felt left out. Then, she got into action again. This time she use the phone to call many customers to come continuously. This made all other players panic and started to yell for her to stop. She felt misunderstood and decided to rebel by stop playing.

The 8 yr old was very active in giving opinions on how to play the game and suggesting for himself to be the chef to cook. After awhile, he got so good in his cooking, he waited for everyone to finish and watch when everyone struggles. He offered to help. But the little 4 yr old started messing up the pattern and he got flustered. Finally, when the 4 yr old made the calls with tens of customers turning up at the door all at once, he panicked and started to cook more.... but when we lost, he cried.

Adult 1 - RED : Started giving instructions even though didn't know the game too well. 

Adult 2 - GREEN : Listened to all instructions. Only focused on given tasks. In the end of the game, felt really stressed from playing the game.

 

Ipoh | Ming Court | Upside Down World | Concubine Lane | Nam Heong | Funny Mountain | Tambun

Brayden 8Y9M12D

Bevlynn 4Y6M5D

Road trip to Ipoh. It was easy to wake the children up. They were excited and prepared by 7:00am. 

First stop, dim sum breakfast at Ming Court. The place was already very crowded by the time we arrived. The dim sum were made in smaller sizes, it was easier for the children to eat. I especially liked the black sesame dessert. 

We then moved our way to Upside Down World Ipoh. There are various upside down theme in the 3-storey building. The difficulty was to get two children act out the part for the photo taking. They are constantly questioning "Why? How will it looked upside down?" Then they came up with various ideas which doesn't work. Mommy and Bro Max were getting less energetic by the time we reached the 3rd floor. But we still liked how the shots turned out despite the countless NG photos. 

The place is a short walking distance to Concubine Lane. The narrow lane was really crowded. There were street vendors, various shops along the lane. I wondered the name meant anything significant, and found from the internet that this place used to be a location where concubines resided. O goodness, I cannot imagine having concubines staying in one location. There must have been loads of drama and untold love triangles. Well it's very different now, it has become and attraction. The children picked some nice hats, we could use them, the sun was scorching hot and unforgiving. 

We then drove to Nam Heong Coffee Shop for some egg tarts, chee cheong fun, char koay teow and white coffee. It was all good except that we were already very full at this point. Bro Max was suggesting the next few spots for good food. We chose to have a relaxing afternoon at Jalan Theatre Coffee. Bev loved playing with the cat there. The coffee was good but the rose earl grey cake was a little too sweet for my taste. I continued with my book reading. 

After awhile of resting, we walked to Funny Mountain to have some soya milk and beancurd. Bro Max also bought 2 packets of salted bake chicken (yim kok kai) from nearby stall.

We left Ipoh around 4:30pm as we had decided to have dinner at Tambun - Jetty Seafood. We choose the corner table to have a better view of the sunset by the river. We had satay, fish, noodle, chi lei, balitong. vegetable. I was surprised when the bill came. It was less than RM150. Such a good hearty meal for an affordable price. 

Time to head home.