Day 1 -2 | Cherating | Road trip | Turtle, baby turtle | Firefly | Residence Inn | B12 Villa Cafe | Duyong Restaurant | Mama Knows Cafe | Kow Kee

Brayden 9Y3M24D

Bevlynn 5Y20D

Day 1 : Started our journey. We took the train from SG -> JB; collected the rental car and drove to Cherating Malaysia. On the way, we stopped at Ah Koong Yong Tau Foo Restaurant and Marrybrown (it was such a remote place and the children only wanted a playground).

When almost reaching Cherating, the dark night sky was filled with flashes of lightning. The children counted more than 150 lightnings. We were worried that we could not catch the turtle activity due to the sudden bad weather. We checked into Residence Inn, our room balcony faced the pool, I loved it.

Lucky by then the rain had stopped, Hub messaged the ranger to ask if we could still make it. 

The ranger said, "Yes, the turtle has just started to dig the hole on the beach".

Hub drove up quickly to Kemaman beach. It was so dark, no lights were allowed. 

We could see the trail on the beach the Mommy turtle made. And there we saw the Mommy turtle laid her eggs. There were 71 eggs altogether. The Mommy turtle age was about 50-60 years old; the ranger picked the eggs immediately after the Mommy turtle went back to sea. They needed to protect and incubate the eggs. 

Day 2 : We had breakfast at B12 Villa Cafe. Right in front of the cafe was the beach. The children wanted to dip in the seawater and catch the small fishes & tiny crabs. They caught none, the fishes were fast. There were some board games at the cafe, we also played together the congkak, matching card games. I enjoyed the family moments.

We had dinner at Duyong Riverside Restaurant. Very near to the restaurant, we saw 3 boys climbing a tree and jumping into the murky river. They swam so well; they were oblivious to a monitor lizard swimming so close to them.  

We went for a swim in Cherating beach nearby. Bray kept finding sand dollars sea urchin - which were alive.

We went to Kemaman beach again before sunset. We were releasing some baby turtles - 9 turtles. There were many people there that day.  It was like a baby turtle competition - hundreds all heading down the beach. They were so active and cute. The children were very excited and released them one at a time. Bev even walked very near to the baby turtle - to "escort" them back into the sea. 

When all the turtles were released, we saw 4 other baby turtles, not moving at all. They were lazy and just wanted to sleep on the sand. Finally with the help of the rangers, the turtles went back to sea.

After that, we rushed to the firefly watching. It was dark on the river. We were the only family on that boat. There were some trees filled with fireflies. The captain used a red light and whistled. The fireflies started to fly towards the boat. They floated so lightly; it felt like snow with lights. How amazing was that? After awhile, we could see lightnings from a distance. We decided to head back.

Such a wonderful experience.  

Day 3 : Bray wanted to wake up early to catch sunrise. The sky was too cloudy and we were unable to see much of a sunrise but we saw several monkey families. 

The children went for a swim in Cherating Beach again. Breakfast at Mama Knows Beach Garden Cafe. 

By lunch time, we were already on our way to the next destination National Park Malaysia (Taman Negara). Another ~4 hours drive. We stopped for lunch at Kow Kee restaurant.  

  

 

 

Cycling | Otter & Animals | Hilarious Disaster

Brayden 9Y3M22D

Bevlynn 5Y18D

These 2 weeks, we tried cycling around the neighbourhood. Rented bicycles from Anywheel.  

Daily from work to home in the evening and weekends around the Bukit Batok Hillside Park. 

I was the usual clumsy self, while the children competed from one end to another (Bev always tailing behind Bray; her short quick legs were already pedaling more revolutions on the wheels but Bray still outcycled her). After they had cycled several rounds, I had just finished one. 

This Mommy didn't fancy any competitions; especially one that she could never win. I prefer enjoying the greeneries, fresher air, evening skies - and sometimes doing a little balancing act when other cyclists or pedestrians walked so closely on the narrow paths.  

We stopped for Saizeriya for weekend dinners. 

On some work days, Hub and Bray came and "fetched" me from work with their bicycles. We'd cycled back along a short 25-minute path home. Along the way, we had been greeted by several friendly animals - chickens, birds, lizard and once, an otter was enjoying a swim. 

When I think of drains, water & bicycle, these 3 are definitely not a good combination together. 

In my university days, my coursemates had invited me to join them in cycling to classes. The bicycle I got had a high seat, so I needed to tiptoe to balance the bicycle. 

No longer than 5 minutes into the ride, I was already so confident and cycled at a faster pace (riding behind my coursemates). This is where it got interesting. There was a narrow, windy path we needed to cross to get to our campus; both sides of the path were little pond with high grass. As we got to the middle, I panicked as I forgot how to brake. The coursemate shouted that I should press the brakes in front. Then, I remembered and pull hard on the brakes. I thought to myself "Wait a minute, the bicycle is tilting to the left" (to where the pond is) and silly me, I forgot to put my legs down as I brake. So down I went.... Weeeeeeee~~~ (according to my coursemate, I went down with a smile and while I was in the water, I was happily enjoying and floating).

In my defence, I did not go down with a smile, but I did laugh at the silliness. And I was not enjoying the swim. It was too slippery that I was trying to pull myself out of the water but I couldn't so it looked like I was playing in the pond. 

My coursemate pulled me out. I was all wet with the muddy water, my backpack too. 

After that, we continued our ride to the campus. During that same day, I was trailing behind my coursemate again. When we were about to make a turn at a junction, a car was turning with me. I panicked, because the car made a steep turn at the last minute ------ and you can guess it, I went straight down into the grassy drain one more time. Whooooo----heeeeeee..... How lucky was I to take a dip twice in a day!

Those were not the only times I lost balance but that's enough embarrassing moments for a day. 

Hence, that's why I say: drain + water + bicycle = HILARIOUS DISASTER

 

Bev's Birthday | Timezone , Shake Shack | E & P Meet Up | Movies by the Beach | Wesak Day

Brayden 9Y3M6D

Bevlynn 5Y

We had Bray PTC and Bev's birthday party in school on the same day. Bev's classmates were excited and wanted a piece of the unicorn rainbow cake. At the end of the day, we enjoyed ice-creams & waffle at Lickers. 

It was a long weekend holiday. After Saturday swimming lessons, I went to Salvations to get some presents for Bev - they loved the bow and arrow, shopping board game - not so excited about the hello Kitty blind boxes.

For dinner, we met with Ev and Pat, who were travelling to Singapore for school holidays. We chose to have a picnic; Movies by the Beach at Sentosa. It was showcasing Bedtime Stories. There was such a crowd, we decided to leave for the beach so that the children can play sandcastles. It was nighttime, in the dark, we sat there overlooking the night view of Sentosa beach. There were occasional fireworks lighting the night sky. It was a brief outing yet fun for the children. 

On Sunday, it was Wesak Day. We went to pray at the temple. 

Then 2 things happened on the same day:

1) Found a note on the floor; which I donated away. 

2) Bought a cake with a voucher. It was FREE. I did not expect that.  

I chose a nicer pink & white cake. I thought I needed to top-up because it was showing a higher price tag. When I went to the cashier to pay, she told me it was fully paid with the voucher. There was a promotion on the cake I chose. The voucher was S$28 and the cake after promotion was S$27.20. I was delighted and surprised. How can it be such a coincidence!

For Bev's birthday, we went to Shake Shack and Timezone to celebrate. 

During my last business trip, I received an email on fraudulent transactions on my debit card. It was 47 online transactions for Paypal. Imagine the panic I had when I tried calling the bank. After returning, I had to make a police report.

I managed to finish reading "The Decision Book". There are many models highlighted. Some interesting models which I find easy to implement; the rubber band model, Pareto principal, conflict resolution, long tail, team model.  

 

 

Penang - Kenny Hill's Bakers || Singapore - Otto Prawning | Kids Fishing || Ho Chi Minh - Park | University Village

Brayden 9Y3M1D

Bevlynn 4Y11M24D

This week felt long and there were too many things happening. 

I received a call from a close relative. 

His wife had just asked for a divorce, she just left, a sudden news for him. When finances are tight, it can break a family. In a short week, he had to look for a caretaker for his only daughter, change her school in a different state, consider selling their home and deal with the divorce. 

It was at this time, our families came together and tried to support him and his daughter. 

We were very surprised at how mature his daughter is, beyond her age. She showed a very strong front, to help her father. I guess, and we all hope, she's coping. 

This week too, Project Demure in Penang was moving forward smoothly. 

We had lunch at Kenny Hill's Bakers Bayan Lepas. The service was exceptional; the waiters introduced the menu patiently and also chatted warmly with us. We tried the salmon wellington, peach strudel and tiramisu were my favorites. 

On the weekend, we wanted to go SPCA in Singapore. But it was only by appointment. Bev & Bray were very disappointed. They wanted to see the hamsters, rabbit, cats and dogs. 

So we drove to a nearby location; Nature Kindred - there's a cafe and behind it was a small little pool for kids fishing. It was not a very good fishing spot (a small pool right beside the toilets) but for the children, they were easily satisfied with the activity. Bray managed to catch 25 guppies in the 1 hour, while Bev was the pail carrier - she needed to make sure the fishes don't fall out. Every guppy = 1 point. We exchanged for a little ice cube toy. That was fun.  

Also this week, I travelled to Ho Chi Minh City. 

It was stressful for me to prepare for this trip on a short notice, but everything went so well and the people here are so friendly and welcoming. (The locals tried to speak to me in English even though it was difficult for them, it was a nice gesture). The food here was also good. The stress went away... 

I met Sis Snow here. She was adorable, hopping from her grab motorcycle to collect a parcel from me. 

The Ha Spa and walking along the narrow streets were also a nice experience. I had also a 6km walk on the park in the center of HCMC. The park was surrounded by the sound of cars honking, yet it was relaxing when there were so many locals exercising in the park together. 

I also visited the University Village. It does bring back many good memories from university times. 

I'd hope to return here someday again.  

In the meantime, I missed my lil ones. They shared photos of prawning at Otto Singapore. 

 

Therapist Book | Good morning Monster | True Friendship

Brayden 9Y2M26D
Bevlynn 4Y11M20D

Good morning, Monster. 
It was an interesting read; a therapist's sharing of 4 emotional healing stories. From a disturbing, traumatic past to one of strength and happier ending. It gave an insight on how one can decide not to let the past define them; let go of the hurt; learn to be kinder to self and not continue allowing the past monsters to hold so much control over their lives. 

In all the stories told, parents played such important roles in the upbringing of their childrens' lives. The parents may not know it themselves because they were also the same victim of abuse. They did not stop the generational consequences and carry forward the effects. 

After finishing the book, I found inner strength. Not from enjoying the torture stories of others, but from realizing the problems we faced are so menial. 

This week I get to experience the power of true friendship.
Would one give away millions just to help their best friend's whole family with no conditions attached? No? Someone did. Seeing this single act, left me speechless. It's is really baffling, yet inspiring. I could not believe there is still such true and generous friendship. It's lucky to have such a friend. I want to build one too.