2020 March..

2020 didnt kick off quite nice so far. Coronavirus also know as #covid19 hit our shores as early as late January 2020.

We have been quite hiding at home since CNY period in fact. We were worried but did not panic. It is even more really scary to see how fear can consume one. Govt has been exercising many implementations, QO, SHN etc.

Today is 24 March 2020, even more additional implementations took place and all I can say, our daily routines are still good for now as govt focuses more on public management of crowd for now. So not looking forward to school closures really but it could be happening in a matter of time. Anyway in the meantime, take care everyone. Wash your hands more often, lessen on alcohol sanitizer as there was a report of someone had a third degree burn from lighting up the stove after she used a alcohol based sanitizer before she started cooking.

Covid19 is one thing, we still had to bring the kids out for the school holidays. We don't need a city shut down to tell us to contribute to our own economy right. So here we travelled to .. Sentosa for a 2D1N staycay at Festive Hotel.

Budget tourist on public transport. You will only see this in Singapore perhaps. And from home to the shores of Sentosa, we only took less than an hour.

Upon arrival, we deposited our luggage at the hotel concierge before heading over to have fun at Sky ride/Luge. Boy it was tough cos I was a scary cat and I had to tell Lil I that it is "very exciting" and we are like in the sky. Seriously I really try very hard not to look down. 

But the truth is.. one ride is really not enough.

After the ride at Luge, we had lunch and managed to check in around 3pm. Kids were still bursting with energy so we headed to the pool. Seems like most of the guests here are locals. Everyone seems to be especially nice and kind. I guess we all know that we are all going through a very tough period of this year indeed but we are all glad that we can still call this our home. #OneSingapore 

Day 2: we had to have our SOP breakfast at Slappy cakes after a staycay here in Sentosa.

Time was quite tight so we had to check out before heading to Trick Eye Museum.

And too many pictures to upload so simplied down to just one cute one.
And spot the clown. 

Happy moments always pass fast, dont they. Till the next staycay.

Maintaining happiness as a mum.. Episode Travel with family.. Thailand Bangkok

And finally we travelled as a family of 4.. you may ask why only 4. Well it is because of one word: budget. 

I am not saying that it is impossible for us to travel altogether in my family of 5 but I will also put into consideration that I will want to bring along my helper with us as I cannot leave her alone in the house with my MIL (another story about that). Anyway.. since Lil I does not own a passport yet, we thought we might as well take the chance of travelling with the two bigger ones since we had a better budget this time. 

Booking was done about 6 months in advance in order to enjoy this good price. We paid $1650 for a family of 4 to the travel agency. This includes air tickets, transfer, accommodation and a half day city tour (which we should opt out of it actually).

Enough said, let the pictures do the talking..

Day 1: boarding the plane at 1210hrs

I would say Thai airways service was quite good.

Especially for a girl who had her maiden flight.

At the luxurious room at the hotel.

We stayed at Pratunam Centerpoint, the location is  very convenient. 

It is clean, comes with breakfast, has a pool to exhaust the kids' energy.

By the time we settled in and all, it was already close to late afternoon.

Our first visit to Big C. Yeah actually our trolley was much fuller when we did a check out.

And total damage: THB$5000+

Dont' ask me why and how.. but we managed to go back in a tutuk.

Then we had dinner at some restaurant.

so hungy and tired.

And someone has his first try at a THB$200 foot massage

He screamed ALOT.

So much that he asked for another round on the next night.

Day 2: Trip to Siracha Zoo 

Our  trip to Siracha Zoo also know as tiger zoo already occupied us up for more than half a day.

We managed to find an local agency who provides transport and entrance tickets.

I think we paid like THB$8K for transport and entrance for all of us.

I bet the cubs were all sedated.

Anyway.. kids find it so amazing that they had to take their own shot.

How can we miss out a jump shot?

Expenses at the Siracha Zoo was quite affordable. 

There is the animals petting section, animals feeding section and you also need money for lunch.

I think we spent less than THB$2000 there.

And soon it was lunch.. or was it dinner.. 

Lunner?

Whatever.. so we ate.. and we ate.. 

and eat and eat.. .

Bought from the make shift food stalls opposite Big C.

Day 3: At the half day city tour..

We were picked up at 8am (BKK time) for the tour that comprises of a boat ride, a temple visit and some walking around.

Family photo.

Day 4: Time to go home!

we basically only spent the morning at Platinum mall in the morning as we had to leave the hotel at 12pm for the airport.

there you.. 4 days of fun and priceless memories formed.
See you soon again Bangkok!

Throwback to 2017 March.. BKK trip with the sis

Throwback in March earlier this year, my sis and I had a girly trip to BKK! It had been such a nice trip.. no kids shouting "Mama~~~" is one thing.. I could also sleep until I woke up naturally. No stress over breakfast as our meal times were all haywired. Who cares right.. a vacation should be this way anyway.

Here are some photos of my trip.. 15 years from the last time I had been to BKK.. suaku or what. And so for a person who has not been there for 15 years..I booked a 4N trip and my sis laughed at me! In the end.. but I was as happy as a lark and my heart is so full .. and legs are so aching..

Day 1 loots..

Day 2 loots..

T Shirts loot..SGD$4 for a piece. how many do you want to get?

Day 3 loots..

Chaktutchak day loots..

This not so cheap tuktuk brought us around and left us stranded at some ulu place.. Thank God for google map. On a empty stomach and 2 lost sheep finally found the Boat Noodle!

One bowl was merely less than SGD1! How many bowls can you eat? But to warn you, this place is not easy to find.

We hit on Hello Kitty cafe by chance. 

It is just in one of mall by Siam Square BTS. Not difficult to find.

Pony Cafe is the one that was difficult to find. But it is walking distance from some BTS station.

To be honest, we did not have an itinerary. We jus had data plan on hand and just google anywhere we wanted to go.

We also went to Asiatique Night Market in which I did not find it that fantastic.

The things they sell are similar to what you can get from any night market with a very jacked up price. 

For only less than SGD$12 a person.. we had steamboat.. for lunch! Haha..

So sad to hear that BKK is not going to have any more street food wef from Dec 2017. I was glad I actually had a chance to still have my fair share before they really (hopefully not) close.

You cannot miss out on this fish maw soup from BKK chinatown!

Who cares about the price. Just eat.

And that was the guy who cooked our noodles for us. Damn nice chaotar smell. I could literally see that his hand was jus hovering above the fire. But he just don't seem to care.

Tip for shopping in Bangkok. Visit Big C the last because the stuff you get from there will definitely overload your luggage weight. Anyway there was free carton boxes outside Big C and so we sealed all our purchases - ready to head back to hotel then to the airport.

One last minute surprise for the kids.. Legoland Malaysia..

It was a rather hasty and last minute decision between 3 mummies that all (almost) their kids ended up with a good surprise to Legoland!

And in order to save the hassle of driving, we booked a Malaysia MPV to come fetch us at 745am (yawnnn) as we were worried of the holidays-anticipated-jam along the causeway.

And so after an hour of jam and after breakfast, we reached Legoland at 10.30am!

Us!!

Isa very enthusiastic about car rides this time.

 Isa in action! Here we go!

We waited an average of 30 minutes for the ride. But I would say you would need enough manpower and some strategies to go Q for a ride.

This is like the best souvenir for the kiddos.

And anyone knows what is class D?

Dora in da shark.

Mei mei.. you must learn how to dramatise more like Papa..

Dora and I in the boat ride!

See the tomato face?

Love our similar haircut :D

And someone is tall enough for MANY rides..

Liked I always say.. I will never save on this rental for strollers.

We rented one despite bringing one of our own.

And here it is, the single one will cost you RM$40 for a single and you are required to pay a deposit of another RM$40.

Doubles would cost RM$80 and deposit as followed.

And spinning cups make the children so happy!

And one of our strategies is when we have enough manpower, not all adults have to be on the rides?

At the entrance of some dungeons.

And dont ask me why Isa is posing such.

Dora is just into posing into a muscle girl.

And post lunch rain made me whip out raincoat.

And so another strategy is to bring raincoats for the kids as umbrellas are heavy to carry.

Isa was trying to swallow the mist from the fans nearby.

And so Dora followed korkor "swallowing" the mist.

But mei.. there is no mist.

Love the miniland section of Legoland.

And we literally combed only half of it as we only had about 5 hours for it as our transport came and picked up at 4pm and this includes lunch.

I would say quite a achievement for us.

Till the next round for more updated pictures.

Hello Perth.. 2015 Part 2.. Time for myself is very important

Day 2: 7 November 2015 (Saturday)

All of us woke up at about 7am in the morning *yawns!!* so that we can reach Caversham Wildlife Park (Whiteman Park) at 9am so that we can catch the Animal Show at Molly Farm.

So zip 35min drive.. we arrived!

I am much braver this time.. as I managed to feed the roos by hand unlike the previous time I was here, I totally freaked out.

I heard some tourists commented.. good time to come in the mornings as the roos are hungry and they are just hobbling around us looking for food.

I love the weather so that I can go sleeveless.

Not forgetting we also met a very charismatic llama along the way.

Then soon the animal show started at Molly's Farm.

How do you react when someone tells you that

"isnt it cruel to shred the sheep's wool?"

sorry, im can be haughty like that at times.

The kids volunteered for the milk feeding for the foals.

so cute.

And this was really something new..

I actually get to milk the cow for a few seconds!

Milking the cow reminds me of bf. oops.

And hello Koalas!!

not koalas bears.. they are marsupials.

And it was soon time for lunch.. and shopping!!

They also have a "Centrepoint Shopping Centre" right in 

Great Eastern Hwy, Midland, WA Perth.

The first spot where I had shopped rather massively.

I think I spent close to AUD$180 here. ouch.

Plans after lunch was to Kings Park!

A panoromic view from Kings Park.

Such a beautiful creation of nature.

on days like this, I am just so thankful of everything.

And crazy bunch of girls doing crazy jump shots.

and I look so unglam. oh well. time to practice more yay?

I love taking photographs but pls rem that I love being in the photographs too.

Dusk arrived soon and we had to be on the way back to the apartments.

We all had a sudden craving for Chinese food.

So seeing this just help us made up my minds.

Hack the price tag.

Hor fun, char kway teow, KoLokYok rice and etc.. 

yummmm..

Day 3: 8 November 2015 (Sunday)

After 2 days of driving around.. it was with much reluctance when we had return the 2 big wheelies. Indeed it was a jolly good experience that I get to drive a car with "handbrake" after so many years. And I was only glad that I was actually capable of driving in another country other than SG! Yet another milestone unlocked for me!

Anyway.. on the other hand, I know I should also heave a sigh of relief as driving around really exhaust me so much. It was time to say "hello public transport!"

I know I miss you Lil Blue Buddy but I hope to drive a similar (or bigger) you again when I come back to Aussie.

And now its time for Fremantle!

And photos like these just help me lock more memories of my current Perth trip. Bus stops with stands like this will tell the colour code of their buses.

I am simply in love with victorian buildings.

Here we are!! One of my favourite spots in Perth!

Love the hustle and bustle of this small little marketplace.

Green grocery corner.

This made me miss the paella from Melbourne. 

It definitely does not taste as the one from QVM, Mel. 

And so there was this busker with his humourous act.

And after lunch, we took a train to WaterTown 

(used to be called HabourTown)

And this ticket is still in my wallet.

Dont ask me why.

Oh no.. I was very disciplined here. I merely spent close to AUD$60. 

I gotten 3 pairs of shoes, 3 innerwear, 1 top and 2 skirts.

What a great buy I would say.

The gantry gates.

And we hopped on another bus to another shopping district.

Anyone remember the name of this place?

Hmm.. I had to get something for a special someone.

Day 4: 9 November 2015 (Monday)
Bye Perth! I hope to make you my second home one day. The word is "hope".

Time simply flies past when we are happy.

Back to reality. 

Zapped.