June Holiday TRip | Day 5 - 6 | R&F Mall | Toy Story 5 | Kidz Republic | Classic Video Games | Bed time story

Brayden 9Y3M27D
Bevlynn 5Y23D

Day 5: cont'd from previous post.

We stayed at R&F Condo. The balcony has a view of the bridge connecting JB to Singapore. 

Tried a few of the eateries at R&F Mall.
Sushi Plus - The children loved sushi, there's many variety
Chun Man Ren Jian Food Court - Love the pork noodle and koay chap
Shi Quan Shi Mei - Delicious but some dishes are too spicy for the children. 
Uncle Five Coffee - Hainan Chicken Chop and egg mayo wholemeal bread were good, did not fancy the coffee. 

Went to Southkey Mid Valley to play at the arcade.

We watch the Toy Story 5 at Womei Cinema. I was literally lying on 2 seats because the row was rather empty. The children loved the story - when devices are replacing toys. Bev came back and asked "Will my toys also move at night?" 

In the condo we were staying in, there was a video game box with classic games. We played Chip & Dale, Newspaper Boy, Contra, Tetris, Golf, Track and Field, Balloon fight, Ice Climber. These were the games we played in the past when we were still kids. Nice memory. 

Day 6

We brought the children to Kidz Republic Indoor Playground. They really love the slide, zipline, jumping into soft foams and building castle with giant Lego foam blocks.

That night, when we arrived home, the children ask for a bed time story. 

I told them about the Prince and Princess trip to a secret island. 

"The lightning god was angry and started sending lightning and thunder. They even saw Lapras Mommy coming to the beach to save her babies. 

Then they saw many magical lights on the Christmas trees. As they got closer, the lights are from magical fairies. The fairies gave them magical dust and the boat they are on started to float in the sky. 

The boat then came to an island with forest. There was a black shadow that moves very fast around and always like to catch children. So they had to be careful. 

There they found also some Giant Ant Soldiers - holding a weapon on 2 hands, and matching together down the forest. They are protecting the forest." 

By this time, Bray started to ask, "isn't this about our trip?" "Yes, don't you realized our trip is so magical" I replied. A good imagination can bridge reality to endless possibilities.

June Holiday Trip | Day 3 - 5 | Mutiara Taman Negara | National Park | Night Jungle Walk | Jungle Trekking | Hike Teresek Hill | Aborigins Settlement | Rapid Shooting

Brayden 9Y3M25D
Bevlynn 5Y21D

Day 3: cont'd from previous post.

On the long road trip, we had to think of games to keep the children entertained. Guess the animal, Guess the number game, Shoot the cars with imaginary hand guns, 10 levels of door reveal (choose the correct door to move forward) there's themes for the door reveal; circus, aliens, pirates...

Finally we arrived to the next destination Mutiara Taman Negara (National Park). The car cannot drive into this park. We needed to park the car beside the river and take a water taxi to the resort entrance across the river.

We were already very tired by then. The children were still hyper. 

Our room is so strategic (no. 89). It is right beside the path to go into the forest. 

During dinner buffet, it started to rain. Oh no! We signed up for a Night Walk. If the rain continued, it will be called off. 

Night Jungle Walk

We were lucky, the rain stopped just in time before the walk. Everyone brought their torchlights ready to go into the park. It was really dark. The guide was able to spot giant ants, spiders, agamid lizards, flying lizards, scorpions.

Then I spotted one very big Agamid Lizard. It is 1 in 60 chances to see one. 

Bray loved exploring in the dark, Bev was a little scared; it really was pitch black.

In the end, we arrived at a 3 storey observation deck. There we can observe from a distance a plain field, and in the middle is small pond of water under a tree. There the animals would come and drink the water, but we could not see any. 

We were told there was a black panther that night and we shouldn't stay out with the children too late.

Time to go back and sleep. There's more activities the next day. 

Day 4 

Bray woke up early to go to the observation deck with Hub, it is about 5 minutes walk from our room. They only spotted a big black furry bird. He laughed at the sound of the bird ; "ooh - OOH, ooh - OOH, Wahahahahah" (No kidding).

After breakfast, we had a jungle trekking on Teresek Hill. The canopy walk would have been easier, but Bev was underage and could not join. 

Jungle Trekking

It was a nice walk and stroll at first, after way through, there were only steps upwards. I've not done any hike for a very long time. I needed to convince Bray and Bev that the peak is just around the corner. Every time they'd say "Mommy, didn't you say it is just around the corner? When are we arriving?"

Along the way, we found some sun lizards, agamid lizard, monitor lizard, poisonous snake, leech, butterflies, monkeys, chickens. The guide shared with us knowledge of the flora and fauna. 

When we reached the peak, the view was amazing. 

Aborigins Settlement

The "Orang Asli" Aborigines lead a nomadic lifestyle. They are called Batek. Living in temporary small huts or tents. They showed us how to start fire and make darts which could shoot up to 20m. Bray and Hub tried to blow the dart aiming at a "Baby Shark" soft toy. They missed.

There are still about 2000 Orang Asli living at Taman Negara. They are cut off from civilization; hunting while animals for food. 

Rapid Shooting

This was fun and exhilarating ride. The shallow boat goes through seven rapid water on the river. We can feel the bump every time, we pass the rapid waves. We got so wet. 

Bev said, "I accidentally open my mouth and swallow some water". The children loved the rapid shooting experience.

Such a long day. We went back to the hut and rest. The children continued to play their own games in the room. I guess the adrenaline rush must have gotten them so hyped up. 

Day 5

My leg muscles already started aching, wobbly legs.

We went into the jungle one last time. This time we didn't have any guide with us. Somehow without the guide, my human instinct became sharper and more conscious with the surrounding. Any tree branch dropping, leaves falling - these smallest sounds would make me nervous and looked to the direction of the sound. 

Wild thoughts played in my mind "What if there's a panther or a snake appear suddenly?"

Then, Bev asked me to carry her. When carrying her I felt her quick heartbeat, my thoughts became calm.

We checked out and started the 8 hour ride to JB. 

  

 

June Holiday Trip | Day 1 - 3 | Cherating | Kemaman | 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.