Really A Fantasy World Where Dreams Come Through

By Shannon and Lauren's Mommy:

A rare free time to myself, and what do I do? Blog our Hongkong Trip!

We had promised ourselves that we would bring the kids to Hongkong Disneyland before Shannon went to primary school. We didn;'t want to fight with the school crowds during school holidays and squeeze with everyone else, so after much debate and quick decision making, we booked a 5 Day 4Night stay in Hong Kong.

20th March 2011

We woke up really early to catch the 6.50am United Airline flight. To my dismay, Lauren woke up hot and feverish, what luck! We dosed her with Progesic and set off trying to find a 24hr clinic b4 heading off to the airport.

The flight was uneventful and the kids napped in the plane. For the price of a budget airline ticket, the flight was good value for money as they did dish out ample breakfast, abeit packed muffins and juice.

We reached Hongkong at about 11am, and I used my cousin, Jennifer's contact to get a cab to drive us to HK island, Harbour Grand Hotel, for only 200HK dollars.

We arrived to a clean and modern hotel and a nice room with a beautiful view of the habour. The room was smallish but there was space for a cot and and spacious writing table, plus a huge bathroom with bathtub and shower area.

Surreal view of HK harbour on a foggy day - beautiful!

After settling down, we walked around the hotel area and got a reocmmendation from the concierge for yummy dimsum. It was super crowded but the food was good and plentiful. And of course we stuck out like a sore thumb, showing ourselves to be forgieners when we did nothing but stare at the hot pot of water and large empty ceramic bowl being plunked infront of us by the busy and abrupt waiters. Only after we helped ourselves to the chinese tea, and looking at other tables did we realised the typical Hongkonger would place the tea cups in the ceramic bowl and wash it using the piping hot water, very much what we used to do in Singapore backstreet kopitams before the National cleaning campaign kicked in..opps, dead tourist giveaway :)

We had the usual siew mao, hao gao, and of course the siew yoke, which was a very generous serving, at only SGD $6, compared to the $20 you have to pay at home.

After a heavy lunch it was a leisurely walk back to the hotel and a pleasant look at everyday life in HK. Though the weather forecast showed temperatures of 17 to 21c, and all the Hongkongers we saw wore coats, sweaters and cardigians, I perspired walking back! But we enjoyed passing a HK version of a wet market, watching the vendor selling piping hot links of chinese sausages and roast pork and vegetables. We also drooled in front of a cake shop selling mango cakes, mango mousse, mango cheesecakes and little else :) We passed by a few cafes, and automobile repair shops, and the whole street was bustling.

After a much needed nap for the girls, we left the hotel and hopped onto the hotels complimentary shuttle bus to Central to sit the Star Ferry. A short 5min on the boat, and we were at Kowloon. A ligth drizzle had started, so we just hung around the Avenue of the Stars and waited for the laser lights show to start. The show was a little disappointing and underwhelming, perhaps the foggy night didn't help but Lauren soon got bored and started asking for milk.

Girls at the Harbour Light Show

We left the moment it ended and headed back to the hotel for a good night's sleep.

21st march 2011

Today we were going to meet my cousins Jennifer and Angie, and their hubbies, and 3 year old sons for a day out at Ocean Park. We arrived at Ocean Park about 1030am and walked the lower areas of the park first. The kids sat on the carousal and we tried to catch a glimpse of the two older gaint pandas, without avail.

Bright and HOT day at Ocean Park!

We then took the cable car to the upper levels and walked around. Lunch was a simple affair at one of the cafes. Angie and I then tried the spinning wheel ride which was pretty fun. After that, we all headed to watch the Dolphin show, but when we arrived, we realised that the auditorium was already packed to the gills, with all seats taken up 1/2 hour before the show! In the end, we stood at the top, right behind the last row of seats, near the stroller parking space and the kids managed to have a good view of the stage together with me and Lauren who was strapped to me, and Angie's husband. Jennifer and Angie was pushed to the side of the left stairs and Mal and Jennifer's husband gave up and stood against the back reclining wall.

However, soon after, before the show started, things started getting ugly when huge hoards of Mainland China tourists squeezed into the auditorium and rushed down the narrow flight of stairs in a crazy bid to get a seat in the already full auditorium. Ushers tried in vain to stop them and prevent a stampede down the perilious flight of stairs but their warnings went unheeded. I saw a very old lady trying her best to cling on the the railing and her impatient lady friends, shoving and pushing other people to try to get her to move down the stairs. People started crowding on the stairs itself, blocking Shannon's and my view. In a bid to let her see at least SOME of the show, I turned and signalled to Mal to come and carry Shannon in his arms. He approached and tried to get past the crowd of middle aged tourists standing behind me. He finally managed to squeeze over to me and pick Shannon up. But when I tried my best to get OUT, the surge of ladies squeezed even closer to me, squashing Lauren who was strapped to my front. It was as if they were rushing to get a million dollars and it was close to a stampede!

That was when I snapped. Some hidden maternal instinct erupted, and I pushed back at everybody and screamed in mandarin, 'STOP PUSHING! THERE'S KIDS HERE!!' Everyboday around stopped and stared at me as if I was crazy, and honestly, at that moment, I was ready to slug and hit out at anyone who tried anything with me, I was that hopping mad, and my temper was blazing! Now, all of you who know me, know that I'm normally a calm, collected and boring person, and I am sure you would not have believed the blazing fiery hot anger that was surging through me at that time, it was as if the lioness inside me was unleashed and I was ready to kill anyone who tried anything funny with my babies, talk about maternal instinct! We left after only 20minutes into the show, disgusted by the behaviour of the tourists and decided to return to the hotel. We vowed not to return to Ocean Park for a loooonnng time.

We met up with my cousins again in the evening and went to Fook Lum Restuarant for Roast goose and dinner. It was a satisfactory meal though the whole restuarant had run out of desserts! After that it was back to the hotel to rest.



22nd March 2011

It was a really morning start for us today for dimsum at Tao Hueng, a popular HK dimsum restuarant. Luckily, Jennifer called and made reservations, so we just had to find the place. It was quite a long walk from the train station but we finally found it. The place was crowded! We had a good table at the end of the restuarant in one of the function rooms, and we proceeded to order. The food was good, especially their mix platter of roast pork, char siew, roast goose, soy chicken and jellyfish. We overate and could barely finish the meal, and guess what, the total meal for 6 adults, and 4 kids was only SGD $80!

Thereafter, we parted ways with my cousin and went back to the hotel to pack up. We left and took a taxi to Disneyland Resort and arrived at a different world. :) Everything was pristine and beautiful, it was like a mini dream kindgom. The kids sat in a little parlour with beatiful adorned stools and watched disney cartoons while we did the check-in proceedings. After that we went into the garden where Lauren and Shannon had fun in the maze and sitting on the bench posing for pictures. The view was wonderful with the sea right front of the hotel and sprawling and well-manicured gardens.

Our room was ready by 3pm and we loved the spacious and well appointed room, with mickey mouse bedroom slippers in kids sizes, and kids cups.

Shannon and Lauren took a much needed nap, and when they woke up, we left the hotel in the evening for some much needed shopping at Tung Chung because Lauren's shoe had broken whist kicking the pebbles in the maze! We took the shuttle bus to the Disneyland train station and the kids were charmed by the Mickey Mouse train ride out.

We had dinner at the Food republic food court, and then headed to the shops to find her a replacement. She settled for a pair of butterfly crocs, and Malvin and Shannon also bought a pair each since it was very reasonably priced.

On our way back, we took a short detour and walked up to the main gates of Disneyland. It was deserted at 930pm and we took the opportunity to take some photos of the kids in front of the fountain.

Then it was back to the hotel for a much deserved sleep!



23rd March 2011

Today is the day! Time for a day of fun, fantasy and fireworks! The kids woke up at 8am, and Mal bought Shannon down to the hotel shop. As a surprise treat for her, Mal had allowed to let her dress in princess clothes with the works, makeup and tiara and fake long stresses of hair! He came back about 10am with a beaming and transformed Princess Shannon. :)






We headed for the Characters buffet breakfast, and was treated to a wide variety of breakfast foods, smoked salmon, cereal, japanese noodles, sushi, salads, cheeses, french toast, mickey mouse pancakes and waffles, cakes, buns, omelettes, ham, sausages, yogurt, jelly, fresh fruit, the list goes on. Sadly I didn't manage to eat much as the disney characters filed in and we got busy taking photos. First came 'hum-sup' Goofy who kept kissing Shannon and came back for repeated hugs, then Mickey, Pluto, and Daisy. Shannon loved them though Lauren was abit wary of them and wouldn't look them in the eye.




After Breakfast, it was off to Disneyland! Many people turned and smiled at Shannon's outfit, prompting Lauren to want one of her own. We took pictures at the front and proceeded into the park for more picture taking! We took pictures with Chip and Dale, Rapzunel, the 3 princesses, Belle, Cinderalla, Aurora, Pooh Bear, Minnie Mouse n Goofy!

It was while waiting for a photography session with the 3 princesses that a cast member approached us, and invited Shannon to sit in the special VIP area reserved for little princesses for the daily parade! He adorned her with a special lanyard and tag, signifying her 'VIP' status and told us to head to the VIP sitting area at 3pm sharp for the parade. Apparantly cast members troll the park daily for little girls who put in special effort to look the part, and invite them to be part of the parade, which was something we didn't know, so the dress-up turned out to be a value-for-money treat afterall. :)

After that we took the girls to try the rides, like sitting the princess carousel, taking the Winnie the Pooh ride, which wasn't very fun (In fact Shannon and Lauren got a little scared as it was quite a dark ride!), Dumbo the flying elephant, the teacups and many others.

We then had a casual lunch, buying bread, hotdog buns and pizza at the bakery, then sitting by the cordoned off VIP area by main street to wait for the parade to start. Cast members on hand gave the little princesses cushions to sit on and a VIP pack and badge which made Shannon feel exactly like a VIP.

And the parade was great! I'm sure that what we saw was a very much scaled down version of the ones in the US or even Japan parks, but for me a first timer, it was a visual treat full of action and colour, and sound! The swan princess float stopped right in front of the VIP area and the little girsl went wild seeing Cinderella, Belle, Snow White, and Sleeping Beauty wave and blow kisses at them, and perform in front of them. After that, the little princesses were tugged onto the street to join in the parade and dance with the performers, and that was the highlight of the whole disneyland trip for Shannon...her dream come true, being a princess, being treated like one, and seeing 'princesses' come to life! :)


After the parade ended, we tried to sit the electric car ride but it was too packed. We then did some shopping before heading to the cafe for a early dinner. Though price was a little pricy, the food was value for money. After dinner, we hung around main street and waited for the fireworks to start. It was getting chilly and cold and the girls got a little cranky waiting, but the fireworks was worth the wait. Cherographed around the sleeping beauty castle, it was a fanastic show of light, music and colour!
We left after the show ended the returned back to the hotel in the cover of night.

24th March 2011

Our last day here in Hongkong!

We woke up ealry and packed everything neatly into our suitcases before heading out to the park for a last round of fun. We reached the park fairly early and did the rides for a 2nd and 3rd time as there wasn't much of a queue yet. We decided to give the parade a miss since we had watched it the first time the day before and decided to try the 'Small Small world' ride today. The girls LOVED it! It's basically a boat ride which goes through different sections of dolls depicting different parts of the world, all of them singing 'Its a small small world afterall' in different languages. Sounds creepy but surprisingly its a visually entertaining and colouful display with all the moving and dancing dolls... :) The girls loved it so much they demanded to go on it again and again and again, 4 times in total, and it was easy to get back on since almost everybody was at the parade!

After having the song 'imprinted' in my head!, we headed out to the Mad Hatter's tea cups, and and lastly shopped for presents and disney merchandise. Lauren got her coverted Minny Mouse clock and Mal acceded to Shannon's request to buy a music jewel box, so both kids came out happy... We posed for last photos outside Sleeping Beauty's castle and waved a sad goodbye to the magically Fantasy World where dreams really do come through....

The Big 40!

By Shannon and Lauren's Mommy:

What started as a careless comment quickly became a heated topic... we were thinking of a short and cheap getaway during the weekend of 18 - 20th Sep as it was Mal's birthday, his 40th, to be exact. But once you start planning, you quickly realise that cheap getaways are hard to come by. Anywhere that doesn't require flying charges you crazy prices for hotel rooms and food. In the end, we settled for Bintan, though we expected the cost would work out to the same as a 3 day holiday to Penang. But at least in Bintan, Mal would get a round of golf in at one of Asia's finest courses.

We took the 2pm ferry from Tanah Merah ferry terminal in a newly refurnished catamaran. It was very comfortable and had plenty of empty seats. the girls chose to sit up the front and plunked themselves right in front of the 40 inch plasma TV screen. After a 45min journey, we reached Bintan, cleared customs, and boarded the coach to Bintan Lagoon Resort.

Refurbished ferry to Bintan, clean, new and comfy, thumbs up!

We reached the hotel after about 15min and got quickly checked-in. We opted for a deluxe sea-facing room, as the rooms at this resort had been recently given a face lift. The room was large and newly renovated, but Mal was disappointed that we were on the ground floor and what view we could see of the sea was obscured by trees. But in lieu of a balcony, we had a veranda with two deck chairs, which was pretty cool. The room also had a enormous day bed which served as a queen size mattress bed for Shannon. It was also a very short walk to both of the pools, another good thing when you are dripping wet and cold without footwear.

The Hotel Entrance, waiting to check in

The new and luxurious bathroom, with brand new tub, they couldn't resist taking a bubble bath

The moment we got into the room, the girls decided to go for a swim, so we went to one of the two pools at the resort, the children's pool. The pool had two water slides, and they had friendly staff manning huge transparent balls that you could get into and 'walk' on water. Shannon was too timid to try one of her own, so I went in with her and slided around in the ball on water, while Lauren peeked in with bemusement.

The huge water ball

Lauren and us

The slides were good too. Shannon did not dare to try the slide on her own initially, and I went up with her. But after a few rounds, she ventured on it alone, and had so much fun there was no stopping her after that. :)

After a fun afternoon by the pool, we headed back for a shower and a way overdue nap for Lauren. And for dinner, we decided to try the Japanese Restaurant since they had udon, the girls' favourite.

Reviews on Bintan food have always been bad, with tons of people saying prices are expensive and food lousy etc. I don't agree at all. Sure, the food is definitely more expensive that if you were to head to Bintan town and eat there, but if you don't want to travel 2 hours there and back, you don't really have a choice right?

The mentality of so many people is when they are in Bintan, they want to pay the same peanuts and get great tasting food, since it's well, Indonesia and not Singapore... get real lah! Go stay at some isolated kampong then and see whether you can get all the perks you want...

I'm not saying the food prices are cheap, but I think in a big resort, you have to expect these kind of prices. And I have to say, the jap food I had that night, really really good and portions were big. The ambiance was great, with the restaurant overlooking the sea and the setting sun turning the sky reddish-blue.

I ordered Sashimi with tempura bento which cost $40. The fish was super fresh and smooth and there were EIGHT thick cut (1/2 inch thick at least) slices of tuna, octopus, salmon and cod fish for the sashimi serving. The tempura prawns, 2 of them, were crispy and tasty together with Carrot, Binjai and Mushroom, and the whole bento tray was laden with other side dishes. Besides the rice, there was a big, not standard size, bowl of miso soup with lots of seaweed and big pieces of tofu, a big serving of pickles, a cold side dish of fish and vermicelli, and to top it off, a big bowl of simmered beef slices with potato, as big as a main dish that you find in some smaller jap restaurants. Sure, $40 is alot, but for that quality, and quantity, and great ambiance, I think it's value for money. I'm drooling just typing this down!

After that heavy dinner, we bought the girls some homemade ice cream by the lounge and strolled around the foyer and shops and after that it was back to the room and settling down for the night.

Running around the hotel after a scrumptious dinner, see the soup stains on Lauren's tee?

The next morning, being the birthday boy's birthday, Mal got up early and tee'd off at 6am in the morning. The girls slept till about 8am and I took my time getting them ready for breakfast. We headed to Kopi-O restaurant, where buffet breakfast was being served, and got a nice surprise, seeing Mal return from Golf. He had finished his 18 holes in 2 and 1/2 hours! So it was good having the family together for breakfast :)

After a breakfast of pancakes, sausages, crossiants, baked beans, eggs, porridge, potatoes, nasi lemak with curry chicken, ikan bilis, danish pastries, fruit and juice, we gathered up our sand making toys and headed to the beach. The sand was powdery, super fine and soft, and the beach was pretty nice. The water was clear enough that you could see small fish darting around in the shallows, though I didn't really want to wade too far in, given jellyfish warning signs. The girls enjoyed themselves at the beach surprisingly, given their fetish of cleanliness. they built a sand castle and posed with it.

All sun-blocked and hats on, ready for the beach and sandcastle building

See the rooms on the ground floor? Our room was just next to it, same style...

At the soft, powdery beach

Yay, sandcastles done!

After that it was back to the pool again. This morning, we headed for the other big landscaped pool in front of the hotel and spent about two hours wading around with the girls. Lunch was a leisurely affiar at Kopi-O again, having their ala-carte menu of Horfun, chicken nuggets with fries, and Nasi goreng special. The bill was $45, standard restaurant prices.

The girls fooling around and having fun

After lunch, we headed to the activities centre, where Shannon wanted to paint her own tee-shirt. Yup, you read it right. And she did it pretty well too! There were staff on hand to guide her and help her, so the whole thing turned out very nice.

Shannon's creation, see the different two tone mermaid and dolphin?

After the girls' nap, it was the children's pool AGAIN.. playing till dinner time. For for dinner, we opted for the Italian restaurant this evening. Again, the prices are very similar to good restaurant in Singapore, but the food was abundant and good. Shannon and Lauren shared a spaghetti with tangy tomato sauce which they nearly finished. We ordered a baguette of garlic bread which was superb! It came out piping hot, straight out off the oven, and was super crusty and aromatic. For our mains, Mal had beef steak which was tender and very flavourful, and I had seafood risotto, which portions were generous with prawns, mussels and scallops.

Dinner at the Italian Restaurant

For dessert, we bought a slice of black forest cake and headed back to the room to sing Happy Birthday to Mal and blow out the candle. the kids then jumped around the room until it was time for bed.

Happy Birthday to Daddy

The last morning, we had breakfast, a final swim at both the pools, then a morning nap for Lauren before checking out. We had a hasty lunch at Kopi-O before boarding the coach back to the ferry terminal. The ferry was pretty packed this time, with little spare seats on the way back to Singapore. We reached the terminal at 4pm but had to waited eons for our luggage to come out. And from that it was straight back home with good memories of our short getaway.

So will we go back again? Definitely, YES! Sure, you dun get to spend miserly rupiah and get happy on the exchange rate form SGD to Rupiah, and you don't get to gorge on hawker food and see the sounds and sights of REAL Indonesia. But what you get is a good getaway weekend, and a round of relaxing golf, and good luxurious food... so if you wanna indulge abit, then I'd say go ahead.. :)

Worth getting Fat? You Bet!

We're back from our holiday, sun kissed, relaxed, and fatter, lots fatter from all the glorious food that passed our way. But was it worth getting fat? You bet.

We had opted to spend 3 nights in Penang, at Parkroyal, and then rent a car and take a nostalgic drive to Ipoh to spend a night there, since my dad had worked in Ipoh for many years and we had spend many a holiday there.

We touched down in Penang on a blazing hot day, the 16th, July. I had hired Ocean Jupiters to pick us up from the airport to the hotel, and Danny was there with smiles to greet us.

He whisked us away and drove us to Parkroyal. We got checked into the hotel and the first order of the day from the girls? Swimming. Shannon and Lauren, yes Lauren, pestered us non-stop until they got changed into the swim costumes.

The hotel grounds were beautiful, nicely manicured lawns with flowering bushes, and palm trees, with the pool nicely set out. There were three pools, a baby pool which Lauren turned up her nose at, a 1 - 1.5m pool and a deeper plunge pool for adults with a super kids slide at the end that looked like lots of fun. Shannon was not adverturous enough to try the slide, so the kids were content to waddle around in the adult pool.

After a swim, and a much needed nap, we headed out of the hotel to have dinner at Long Beach Hawkers, right smack into the night market. It was really convenient, and the food was yummy. We tried the Hainanese fried spring roll which tastes a little like Ngoh Hiang, but was yummy, chock full of veggies. We had 'Zi Char' and honey BBQ wings, as well as 'Or Luah' all pretty yummy, and I got my thai coconut at only 4RM.

After that it was a slow leisurely walk back to the hotel, passing through and looking at the night market stuff.

The next morning, Danny picked us up and we headed to the Botanic Gardens. We bought peanuts to feed the monkeys. These monkeys are wild, and I have clear memories of feeding them bananas when I was nine years old and last there. I still remember the gentle monkey taking the banana from my hand, and my Dad snapping a photo of the encounter. So it was great when after watching me feed the peanuts, Shannon finally plucked up her courage and tried it as well. She giggled and told me, 'the hand is furry, Mommy, not scary...' We then sat on the tram for a ride around the garden.

Feeding the monkeys, see how close they are

After the Botanics gardens, we headed to Kek Lok Si, the temple perched on top of the hill. Danny told us that now, vehicles are allowed all the way to the top, so for the first time, we managed to see the Statue of 'Guang Yin' up close. My Dad was especially pleased, as all his trips up here, he never made it to the top so this was also a first for him. The the ground were quite beautiful, with carved stone statues of the zodiac, all 12 animals lined up. Shannon took a photos infront of her zodiac sign, the rooster. There was also a pavilion in a small lake with a waterfall behind it. There were also cute stone craved cartoon characters in the parking lot that made the kids laugh.

The Year of the Rooster, 2005, the year Shannon was born

Nice Fountain in the background makes a pretty picture

Cute Stone Statues in the parking lot

Next stop was down to the 2nd level where the shops and tortise pond was. We went down the Small furnicular lift to the mid section, and bought kangkong from the vendor, and Shannon and Lauren had tons of fun feeding the hundreds of tortises there. I think this was the hightlight of the trip for them, feeding all the animals!

Kids feeding the tortises, see them in the background? There's hundreds!

Lunch was at Song River, with my Dad raving about the Giant grouper with Bee Hoon. It was good, and we ate till we were stuffed. Besides the fish, there was Tofu with Brinjai, yummy, Tang Hoon prawns, Bak Kut Teh, and oysters with bean sauce (I'm sure they were good, but personally, I can't stand oysters..).

We headed back to the hotel for a nap and after that, what else but swimming again!

That night we chose to eat at the hotel. The hotel was having a One for one promotion and the kids ate for free. We were seranaded by a singing quartet with guitars, and a cello. They gamely sang Twinkle twinkle little stars for the girls and belted out 'It's Now or Never' by Evis the King when I requested for something by him.

The last full day at Penang was spent solely at the hotel. We went to the beach early in the morning, and I went horse riding. My poor horse pooed after I got on, prompting Mal to laugh and ask whether I was too heavy!

The kids played in the sand for awhile but big raindrops chased us back to the pool. I then indulged in a facial treatment, and Pedicure while Lauren had her morning nap.

We then decided to head right of the hotel in search of some lunch as I had seen a few stalls there when I was on my horse in the morning. We stumbled on a beach cafe selling Mee goreng, Calamari and Char Kway Tiao, all very delicious. On teh short walk back, we sampled delicious goreng pisang and fried banana balls, Ohhhh, sooo very good! I vowed to go back to buy fried Chempadek as the vendor was still frying them, but by the time I hurried back, it was all sold out! Malvin then went for a two hour massage while the gals played and took their afternoon naps.

Dinner was at Long Beach again, and we tapo'ed Char Kway Tiao back for supper, yum yum!

The next morning, 19th, we had breakfast and packed up. The girls had a final swim and we got into a metered taxi to Hertz while we picked up our rental car, a Toyota Innova 2.0. It was very spacious and gave us plenty of room to fit in the girls' rented car seats and our luggage.

We then left Penang at 2pm and drove over Penang bridge and down into Perak. My Dad guided us to Sungei Bakap in search of the famous 'Ku Char Bao', (Chive dumplings), but by the time we got there close to 3pm, the stall was closed! We then headed onwards into Ipoh, and reached Hotel Impiana at about 5pm.

After we checked in, and settled a scuffle with the staff regarding our beds, (or lack of them!) we headed out to Mun Cheong Restuarant. My dad was directing Mal on the route there, but years aways from Ipoh had confused him, and we kept going around in circles. Luckily, Mal turned on our trusty (but sometimes a little wonky) GPS, and we soon reached our destination.

Hmmmmm, Mun Cheong. I remember their limpets (small clam like abalone) with golden mushrooms, and their yummy crabmeat tofu. We ordered the tofu but seems there was a change in the menu and the limpets were not available. We had a big Patin fish steamed with soya sauce, and fried Big headed prawns. We also had ginger steamed chicken with chinese wine, fried vegs and fresh mango and jackfruit pudding for dessert. I was seeing stars by the time we finished dinner!

We wound our way back, with a quick stop at the market to try to buy some dried goods from, but the usual vendor was closed. So it was back to the hotel for the kids to play aorund the room, and finally to bed at 1030pm.

The next morning, we quickly packed up our luggage and left the hotel early in the morning at 8am. Our plan was to try to head to Pantai Remis to eat their delectable seafood before making the long drive back to Penang in time to catch our 510pm flight to Singapore.

We had a quick breakfast at a coffee shop. There was good Char Kway Tiao, yummy Niang Duo Fu, and really good roasted coffee. Somehow you can't find such good food in Singapore.

We then made our way to Pantai Remis, with the help of our GPS, as well as directions from the helpful boss of the restuarant. We reached safely and in good time. And the food..... what can I say? It just bought back memories of us eating there when I was a teenager.

We had three praying mantis prawns, steamed in chinese wine and soya sauce, their meat is soooo sweet, very much like lobster, but only much sweeter and so much more tender. We had to order TWO more cos it was so good. Likewise with good coffee, you just can't find this in Singapore.

We also ordered huge Calamari rings fried in batter. The rings were really huge, so much so that when they are served each ring is cut into 3 portions. Apparantly these calamari rings come from the bigger species of Squid, hence their very chewy and springy texture. It was also full of flavour unlike their smaller cousins. Shannon relished the calamari and gulped quite a few!

We also ordered their signature steamed big pomfret with garlic and soya sauce, the thickness of the fish was about 1 inch, but the flesh was silky smooth and tasty, perfect with the soya sauce over some piping hot rice. We also ordered claypot tofu and veg, and for dessert? Their famous fried yam bread.

This dessert is handmade by this restuarant only, and you won't find it anywhere else. They take a slice of bread, fill it up with sweet yam paste (Or nee), and roll it up. Then its fried till golden brown and served. Sound simple? Oh no! The taste is heavenly... The bread is fried till it is crisp and fluffy and almost melts in your mouth, and when you bite into it, the smooth sweet yam paste flows into your mouth, mmmmm.... my brother specifically asked for us to cart some frozen ones home to him, so in the end we packed 40 to bring back on the plane!

With our bellies full of good food, we made the return drive back to Penang. It was uneventful and and girls napped in their car seats. We reached Penang Airport at 3pm with plenty of time to spare and waited for our plane to arrive.

One thing I have to say about flying on budget airlines, you meet all kinds of people. People were shoving and cutting queues to get onto the plane, infront of us, who were entitled to board the plane first because we had small kids.

Now that we are back, I have been dreaming about the food and thinking when we will get back for another round,,, anyone game? :)))

I realise that once you are a mother, time just zooms fast. And the funny thing is you don't remember much of it.

Like I don't remember how Lauren turned from a tiny newborn to a eighteen month old toddler, weighing about 10kg and looking more like a little girl and nothing like a baby. Has one and a half year passed by already? My brain cells must have been burning out at a superfast rate due to the nightly lack of sleep, because I totally don't remember many of her developmental stages, even though I was present for ALL of them!

It was the same with Shannon. Looking back at this blog, I'm forever amazed by what Shannon did at what age. Lucky I blogged it down! And this forgetful mommy must do the same for Lauren.

At one and a half, Lauren is amazingly astute. She can understand up to 80% of what I say to her, and makes her opinions known clearly to me. She watches baby TV programmes, and you know its getting into her brain cos she laughs at all the funny things the characters does.

She is signing the set of baby signing time, and using words together with her signs.

Mal says her speech development seems slower than Shannon, but looking at what Shannon was saying at one and a half, I guess Lauren is just saying totally different words from her sister.

WHat she can do now:
Dadi
Mami
Gong gong
PoPo
Jiejie
Fissssh (signing fish a the same time)
Dog (signing Dog)
Cattt-Catt (signing Cat)
Bird
There (pointing a whatever)
This
Bearbear
Pantsss
Hat
Ball (signing ball)
Noooooo.... (shaking her head)
Milk
Bread
Juice
Nana (Banana, signing banana)
Sleep
Go Go
Shoee...
Prammm (pointing at strollers)
Ba bee (All kids, even ones bigger than her, especially crying ones, including her sister)
Car..
Ba (Bus
Goff (Golf)
Ma-e (Mine)
Hug
kissss (with a lips smacking sound)
Ooo-ben (open)
Airrr-pan (Airplane)
I-stein (Little Ernsteins)
I-olo (I Also)
Sweeeeet (Sweets)
Cha-co (Chocolate)
Pain
Tight! (When putting Diapers on for her, even when I strap it loosely, or even BEFORE I put it on for her)
Dance! (She will take both your hands, and pull you to the middle of the floor, then order you to dance! Daddy's her favourite dancer, cos he stamps and shuffles his feet like a prancing buffalo)

Animals seems to be a favourite with her, she gets all excited when she sees dogs, cats, birds. She will laugh joyously and say, 'more more, dog' with her hands signing 'More' for emphasis and wait for you to conjure up more of whatever she wants. She loves to touch them when their backs are to her, and giggles when she feels their fur. But once they turn their heads towards her, She will back away nervously, go 'no-no-no' and shakes a stubby finger at them.

She knows how to be quiet, like when Jie Jie is sleeping, and will put a finger to her lips, saying 'shhhh...' like wise when she sees pigeons on the ground besides her, and doesn't want to scare them away.

Ask her where her Jie Jie is, and she will scrunch up her face, and say 'sckool......'

She enjoys playing 'masak masak' with us and will take her cups, plates with plastic food and get us to drink and eat.

So are the two very different? Definitely... from the words they pick up, to their personalities(Shannon's a mild sweet girl who can be really timid sometimes, whileas Lauren is more boisterous and daring) to even the food they like.

Shannon is a big lover of eggs, cheese, diary. Lauren won't touch anything eggy, and doesn't like cheese. Shannon won't tolerate a speck of green vegetables on her plate, and Lauren? She's obsessed about Spinach, Cai xin, Cabbage, tomatoes, corn and fried Onions! She forsake porridge or rice just to eat her beloved greens on its own, lamenting the usual 'More more..'

Seeing the two girls grow up and watching them tickle each other silly when they were taking a bubble bath together just warms me heart, this is what motherhood is about, watching them grow up a little everyday... so while I really grumble at wanting badly to go back to work, for now, it's enough.

Update on Lauren's Condition

Since Lauren' operation in March and her traumatic stay in the hospital, her wound has been steadily healing. She will have a scar very much like a C-section wound, but I guess time will fade the scar, hopefully.

Now the main thing is to determine whether the operation was a success and whether she is cured. Her Operation had a 95% success rate, but I have heard of failures before.

Basically as her surgeon mentioned, she must undergo firstly a ultrasound to see the general condition of both her kidneys, and 4 months later, a MCU test, which takes a 'X-ray' picture of her kidneys to determine further scarring and damage if any.

We just went for her ultrasound, and I'm happy to report it all looks good. Now we have to wait for about 4 months for the second test beofre the surgeon can totally clear her. For now, she still has to be on nightly antibotics until the test shows that her kidneys have not sustained any firther damage other than the initial scarring. Like I mentioned before, the inital 10% scarred tissue will not repair itself over time, so hopefully that is all she will ever suffer.

Her surgeon has finally cleared her for travel, so I am now replanning our trip to Penang which was supposed to happen in Jan this year, but we had to postpone it for very obvious reasons. We are staying at Parkroyal Penang and the GM at the hotel had very graciously allowed us to postpone our trip, so we are very much looking forward to staying there in July. :)

More updates soon!

One For Me, One For Jie Jie!

By the Mommy:

The reason why we had wanted a second child was so that Shannon could have a companion when she grew up. When we got pregnant, everyone was telling me, 'oh, I'm sure you are hoping for a boy, then it would be nice, one boy and one girl, a complete family.'

Though I had started out the pregnancy thinking that way as well, I soon realised that it actually didn't matter one bit, and that perhaps another girl would be better. We wanted the two siblings to grow up close, and from my own unhappy experience, I felt that having a boy and a girl would make it tough to them to be truly close in the future.

So when little Lauren came, it was with a hope that our two girls would learn to cherish each other as sisters, and love one another.

Watching Lauren and Shannon grow up together has been a heartwarming journey. Shannon, having been blessed with a mild and generous nature, welcomed her sister with a full heart, and gets along with her remarkable well. She accommodates our constant requests to let her sister 'do this, do that' and the poor girl always gets scolded unjustly when the two of them get too rowdy.

She lets lauren play with all of her worldly possessions with little jealousy, save for the few times that her spirited baby sister snatches her toy from her hand.

She coaxes Lauren to stop crying when the little one wails in the car, and tries to distract her in a lilting voice, 'oh, you're crying? Don't cry, jie jie's here, see outside, car car?' And when she gets gummy bears and chocolates from Gong Gong, she never fails to remember her little sister, 'mei mei too? One for Mei Mei also?'

I'm glad and amazed that the giving goes both ways as well. Though Lauren is only reaching one and a half, her consideration for her Jie Jie is amazing. The first time it happened was at the coin operated car rides, when I hitched Lauren up to sit in one, and she went, ' Eh Eh Eh' pointing at her Jie Jie, and then at the empty seat next to her.

We watched Lauren the next time. She was in the kitchen perched on with my mom's arm, fiddling with the packet drinks when she spied the apple juice. After doing her usual, 'Eh Eh Eh' and pointing at the apple juice, and getting one, she pointed again and again, demanding another. And when my mom obliged by passing another to her, she then struggled to get down. We were mysteried, when she tottered out of the kitchen and made a beeline for shannon in the living room. And then she pushed the apple juice into her startled sister's hands, turned and tottered back into the kitchen with a grin.

Likewise, she is always on hand to drag Jie Jie's clothes to Shannon after she herself has changed, and push Jie Jie to wear her socks and shoes when we are getting ready to leave the house.

And last week, while waiting for Shannon to finish her enrichment classes in school, I watched in amusement as Lauren searched for her Jie Jie's pink shoes, amongst all the others on their shoe shelves, picked up the correct ones, and plunked it at Shannon's feet.

Six tubes Connected To Lauren, Ouch!

By Shannon's Mommy:

Finally I am here to write about Lauren's big operation and I'm soo so so glad it's over, over, OVER!!!!

Her op was initally scheduled on 10th, but I guess from my last post, all of you would have known that we had to postpone it because she was coughing. Her rescheduled date was 24th March, though I was hoping we could get a earlier date.

As the surgeon only operates every Wednesday, the only earlier date I could bank on was 17th. Boy, did I pray and pray! Every night and morning without fail, calling the hospital without fail to see whether anyone pulled out on 17th so that we could get in, and God didn't dissappoint us! On 15th, Monday, the final day that we could reschedule the date, we got 17th! Thank you God!

On 16th, Tuesday, I bought her to KK for blood tests, oxygen levels tests, and to get her particulars recorded.

And on Wednesday morning we bought her down by 7am in the morning to be prepped and prepared for surgery. It was a draining experience, waiting and waiting and waiting, answering the same questions over and over and over again. I'm sure the hospital just wanted to ensure that no mistake has occurred, by answering the same questions like 6 times?

Anyway, we were the first people into the waiting area, and the last to be bought upstairs to the Op waiting area. And inside, I had to wait with her for another 45min.... turned out her surgeon had to do a last min case and hence the delay.

Inside the Op Waiting area, in her hospital scrubs

The nurses finally bought us into the OT at about 1030am. The nurse tried to get a vein in her hand without success, so in the end, they had to use the gas to put her to sleep.

The Op lasted beyond the 2 hours, and Mal and I got worried. The nurses finally called us in at close to 1pm. Lauren was really drowsy and slept on, crying a little at times. She had 3 big tubes protruding from her wound below her belly button, and her toe was hooked up to a sensor detecting oxygen level and heartbeat. She also had two IV tubes to the vein in her left hand, one for morphine, the other for fluids. That was six tubes connected to Lauren, ouch!

Down and Out, after the Op, see the tubes everywhere?

The 3 tubes from her wound, one full of blood

Closer look at the 3 tubes

They wheeled her to a high dependcy ward, making us concerned as the nurses had mentioned that only complications get wheeled to high dependency ward. I tried to query the nurses but nobody could give me a answer.

We spent one night at the high dependency ward. Lauren was cranky and thowing up as she reacted badly to the morphine. We were also concerned as one of the tubes seem to be draining blood, blood and nothing but blood. At one stage, her IV leaked and a fountain of blood pooled and stained my pants in a big patch.

Her wound also seemed to be leaking, and her hospital gown got stained with blood. It didn't do any good that one junior doctor opted to have her blood soaked dressing changed but was vetoed by another, saying it wasn't necessary at all. I got frustrated by the constant garble of different doctors coming and going, and nobody seemed to want to talk to us. The only way I could get some answers was to stop doctors and hound them for answers before they would entertain us.

Finally one doctor, a Indian lady, Dr. Rama or similiar, I couldn't catch her name, came by. She had a air of authority and made me feel at ease at once. She looked at Lauren's dressing, and decided to change it and she did a brillant job. She painstakingly removed the blood soaked dressing, cleaned her area with saline, and taped it up so nicely, that angel!

A Senior consultant also approached us and apologised that Lauren's surgeon was caught up in meetings and couldn't come by. She answered all our questions with ease, very different from the junior doctors.

On the second day, we finally managed to get a single room and was moved up to the General ward.

Her surgeon came by and told us that the Op was a success and was quite straight forward. She mentioned that the problem with Lauren's urethers was not because the valve could not close properly, but because her tube opening was unusually big, hence the leakage. The surgeon solved the problem by crisscrossing both tubes and making a longer tunnel in her bladder.

Lauren started feeling pain leter in the morning, and we got the nurses to page for a doctor to come and assess the situation. It took a full hour for the doctor to finally arrive. By that time, she was writhing around the bed, crying and hitting and pulling at her diaper area. The doctor looked at her, and said, 'Oh, don't let her do that!' Yeah, right, So why do you think we have been pushing for you to come?

I was at the end of my tether, and I have to say I snapped at him, 'yes, I know, she's been doing that for close to an hour already, just waiting for YOU to come! So how, doctor, can you do something? Like NOW!?'

She finally calmed down after the nurses inserted a supportiony to stop the pain and from then on, it was a cycle. The pain would ease for about 4 hours then she would start feeling uncomfortable again, It would get worse and worse until we could give her the next dose 6 - 8 hours later. The next two nights and days was crazy like that. And it didn't help that she couldn't get down the cot at all, with all the tubes. Doctors and nurses advised us not to have visitors to let her rest.

Luckily, she started feeling better on Saturday, the 3rd day. We let her watch VCD after DVD, and she started bobbing to music.

In a better mood, watching DVD, Hi 5

On Sunday, the 4th day, doctors removed two of her tubes, and her IV drip, leaving the last drainage tube from her bladder. She was stunned, and after she realised she could move her hand again. We bought up the pram and strapped her in for her first visit out of her bed, and ward. She was grinning from ear to ear, pointing at anything and everything in sight. We bought her down to the food court and she sat together with us for a first family meal in 5 days, clambering to taste everything.

Grinning away, happy to be out of her Cot and room

On Monday, the doctors clamped the last remaining tube and checked that she could pee normally into a diaper. After that, they removed the last remaining tube, and changed her dressing. FREEDOM! She asked for her socks and shoes and demanded we change her out of the hospital gown and into her own clothes. She stood up in her cot, and started dancing, hanging on to the bars for dear life. And when we got discharged and left the hospital, she waved goodbye at the nurses.

Since then, we have been back at home, letting her enjoy whatever she wants. this past week, she has been clingy and still uncomfortable with little pain. But yesterday, I stopped her pain medication, and she seemed to be doing fine. Her review will be in two weeks time, and probably we will need to schedule another test to determine whether the OP was a complete success. Can't wait for the surgeon to give the green light! Lauren has been wanting to dip in the swimming pool for the longest time! I hope to bring more good news soon!

Right, Hit Me Another time, Since We are Down

By Shannon's Mommy:

Right, hit me another time, since we are down and out. Just when you think it doesnt get any worse than this, it DOES get worse. What we feared would happen HAPPENED.

Lauren caught a fever and cold last week. With a sinking heart I called KK to inform them. We were given a reprieve when the nurse told us that as long as the doctor didnt prescribe antobotics for the illness, the Op could go on as scheduled. So we waited and waited, and the cold deeloped into a racking cough with phelgm.

Lauren VERY rarely gets coughs, and this was a bad cough. I hoped she would get better before the Op, but as of today, she still has phelgm in her throat. SO again, I called the hospital and got the confirmation from them that she WOULD NOT be able to go for the Op as scheduled on Wendesday.

We are now scheduled for 24th March, 2 weeks later. I pray that she will be in tip top condition as we really do not want to bring this to April, fingers crossed!

D- Day Is Finally In Sight!

By the mommy:

I know friends and family are anxiously waiting for me to update Lauren's test results. We went to see the specialist today and finally got back the report on her kidney function.

Well, the bad news is yes, her right kidney has sustained damage. There is scarring and the specialist estimates that about 10% of it is gone, as in not functioning. The damaged portion will never grow back or repair itself even given time, so basically she has to deal with that the rest of her life. That is the saddest news.

The good news is that everyone is born with two kidneys, so she still has her left kidney working hard, and 90% of the right one. Now our goal is to prevent another infection to come and further damage her precious tiny buds.

Surgery has been finally been scheduled for 10th march. I'm actually pretty anxious that we still have to wait one more month b4 we can do the operation, and two weeks before the surgery, she must be in PERFECT health. Any illness or fever, and the operation is OFF!

So the goal till 10th March? To prevent another infection from occuring and keeping her strong and healthy. That means little outings, short visits during CNY, and loads of good food!

I Pray for Bright Sunny Days Soon!

By the Mommy:

Life is full of Ups and Downs, and Downs and Downs! Today is the day we will get the test results back, today the knife could fall on our necks, if the report shows that Lauren's kidney has been damaged.

It's been a rough month! Her swollen eye, and fever that had us scrambling to the clinic. and yesterday another fever... yup, another one...

Because of Lauren's condition, we have to take each fever very seriously, cos it could mean she's having another UTI, and another UTI could do serious damage to her small kidneys. So we are in full 'combat mode' every time the thermometer registers a mild 37.5 degrees. As it means immediate rinse and urine collection for her, and a rush to the clinic to have it tested and cultured. It also means a possible change in antibotics and the gloomy prospect of admitting her to the hospital. So you can understand how my heart pounces when I feel her little body heat up.

I pray that her kidneys are fine, I pray that the doctor will give the go ahead for the operation ASAP so that we can get it done and she can get well soon. I pray that she will be able to go swimming as much as she wants and our family will have bright sunny days again soon. :)

Lauren the One Eyed Cyclops (No special effects/Makeup needed!)

By Shannon's mommy:

It seems that the funniest things always happen to our youngest one. Just when we thought nothing else could happen to her, something else did.

Don't be shocked, everyone. We did not punch her in the face, no abuse, no torture, no need to call Child Social Services. This is just the work of a tiny, teeny, winney mosquito. Yup, you read me right. A irritating, bloodsucking, mosquito did this to my daughter, it gave her a swollen eye which looks like someone socked her in the face, and turned her into Lauren the One Eyed Cyclops (No special effects/makeup needed!)

See how swollen her eye is, like a golf ball

It started out innocently last Tuesday. I put her down for her afternoon nap, and when she woke up, there was a tiny bump on the corner of her right eye. 'Oh, pesky mosquito! Hope it doesnt swell too much..' thought the Mom, aka me.

Lauren is not prone to mozzie bites, unlike her sister, who once had a record 22 bites in one night. But also unlike her sister, Lauren puffs up with every bite she gets. Her body reacts very severely to bites, and the bites swell up pretty big, sometimes with pus.

When we wet to pick Mal up, a corner of her right eye was a little droopy, and all of us had a good laugh looking at her.

Flash forward to Wednesday morning, when I was in the kitchen getting all the breakfast stuff ready, and disturbed by a stunned husband with Lauren perched on his arm. Ohmigod, her eye! It was swollen shut and looked the size of a golf ball. And she had another fever to boot!

A quick trip to the clinic and after all the exclaimations from the nurses and a gasp from Dr Tan, we were given a strong dose of antibotics and eye drops.

I had a tough time administering the eye drops into her eye the first day. Her eyeball was so swollen I couldn't even get to open her eye. It was folded and folded and folded! Even her long eyelashes were missing, that's how bad it was!

See, no eyelashes, all hidden under the swell

Luckily the meds helped, and her swelling went down pretty fast, she could finally open her eye after two days and her eyelashes finally reappeared.

Yippee, finally eyelashes are out!

By Saturday, she was looking close to normal again.

Whew, still pretty as ever.....

4th Birthday Party!

By Shannon's Mommy:

I'm heartened by the number of people who still visit this blog depsite my tortise slow updating, and even more when they leave comments, a footprint to show me that they were here and read what little I have to say :)

Despite our uncertainty with Lauren's progress and what's going to happen, life goes on right? So on a happier note, here's some photos of Shannon's 4th birthday party. We celebrated it in school for her with a cake from Prima, my choice when it comes to kids coz theiur cakes are light, airy and soft, perfact for kids. We also arranged a Art decor party and from the looks of it, the kids had fun! We ended up with 30 pieces, with even the playgroup kids particpating.

Shannon and her cake - Snow White and Seven dwarfs

Her classmates

Some of the finished works, all the kids did very well!


Shannon and me

Some of the kids and her posing with their work