Kek Lok Si @ Night

For many Penangites, a visit to the Kek Lok Si temple at night is not to be missed during CNY. I used to go there every year before the kids come along.

Now that both kids are much bigger, we decided to take them up there for a visit to enjoy the beautiful lights.

We left for the temple after dinner at home. By the time I had cleared the dishes, it was already 730pm. (the kids overslept). Initially hubb was not very keen on going since it was so late already But I told him, how much time do you think the kids can allow us to be there anyway. So off we go..

As we got closer to the temple and the lights got clearer.. Both kids were started “Wahhh-ing….” away at the back of the car. Both were impressed and mesmerized by the beautiful lights. We pass by the temple from the bottom of the hills every weekend, but the kids were never attracted until we got to the temple itself.

Photos were taken by hubb during a separate photography trip with his friends. Yeah, he is slowly getting infected by DSLR photography.

When Bryan saw the pagoda, he asked me. “Is this Bangkok?”

Hubb was puzzled but then I remembered that hubb has a T-shirt with the Emerald Buddha Temple that we bought in Bangkok.

Neither one of us could recall if we ever told Bryan about Bangkok. In fact, hubb can’t even remember the last time he wore that T-shirt. So it goes to show how attentive children are to details.

Bryan insisted that that we pray and to ring the charity bell.

It was a windy night when we got up to the hill and there were not much crowd. So it was a really relaxing time for us. In fact Dylan did not want to leave at all. He refused to leave until I promised them to get them some icecream.

So we stopped by Maxim to get some gelato. The shop were about to close when we bought the gelato, so the kids had to finish their gelato in the car..or to be exact, at the boot of the car…

Early New Year Celebrations

I love lion dances! So when hubb and I found out that New World Park will have lion dances last Saturday, we made plans to go. We fed the kids dinner as soon as they woke up from their nap and leave for the NWP. Hubb and I planned to have our dinner there.

But as we were leaving our house, we saw a lion dance troupe going up the hill to the new showrooms at the neighborhood opposite our house. Looks like the developer is having a celebration there too! I checked the streaming banners that is hung everywhere, and realized that Saturday was the day of the celebration.

Silly me! I had received the invitation brochure in our mailbox and saw the banners everywhere. But I kept thinking that the celebration was on the 6th day of CNY. No it is Feb 6. *silly silly me*

Ah..better still. This is just opposite our house. So we changed our plans and decided to go for this one instead. Afterall this one have not only lion dances but dragon dances and firecrackers, and fireworks as well!

It was still early, 6pm + only, so hubb and I decided to go somewhere near for dinner first. The CNY celebration actually includes free buffet dinners. This developer is quite generous and normally serves free buffet dinners for all their celebrations. But neither hubb and I enjoy the thought of “fighting” for food and a table to eat. Ok la..there are usually no fights, but there is always a queue. We have 2 small children to take care off. It is no fun to find/ jom (book) a table, queue for food, watch over the kids and gobble down our dinner. We prefer to just relax and enjoy knowing that everyone is well fed.

The events start at 730pm with loud and very long firecrackers. I enjoyed it…kekekeke..It reminds me of the good old CNY days when we could burn firecrackers freely. But both my kids do not like it. Dylan was a bit scared. Bryan was not, but he said it hurts his ears and is so smelly!

Then there was the lion & dragon dances.

There are actually a lot of activities that night. Free calligraphy, free CNY cookies, free fortune telling, free tong yuen soup, dragon beard candy making demo and distribution, concert, acrobatic shows, china face changing shows… Lots of things to photograph but no mood cause I did not bring my DSLR. It was no fun to take photos on my compact camera .

We watched some of the performance and let the kids play at the playground till about 930pm. Then we go home, everyone showered, freshen up, kids changed into their PJ, and wait for 10:30pm..for the fireworks!

Yay! I have access to my DSLR back home. Since there is time, I setup my tripod for the shoots. It will be my first time to play with bulb photography. Unfortunately, I did not get any good photos. The first few shots, I was still experimenting with the timing of bulb. Just as I was getting the hang of it, the fireworks show have ended.

Sadly, I unclipped my camera from the tripod and put away the tripod. Just as I was about to finish keeping it away, the fireworks start again! This time even more brilliant, but I was too lazy to set up the camera again.

Don’t know what was going on up there. After the second round of fireworks ended, about 15 mins later there was another round. My neighbors’ kids was scolding… “Haiyo, I already switched off the lights and was ready to sleep, start again…Why cannot continue straight one.”

Hahaha..but cannot complain la..since nobody asked us to watch

To everyone who is reading this…GONG XI FA CAI. Have a Tiggerific New Year!

Funny stuffs

Funny things the boys said on the drive back home yesterday night.

Scene #1: Both boys were making a lot of noise at the back of the car.
Me: Aiyoooo…both of you are so noisy.
Daddy: Later the police come and catch both of you.
Bryan: If the police come, I will take the gun and PONG the police
Me: Do you have a gun? No gun, how to PONG the police.
Bryan: Mommy, can you buy plastic gun for me. And put batteries inside so that I can PONG the police

Scene #2: Carpenter’s Close to You starts playing on the stereo
Bryan: Hey, that is my concert song. *Starts singing*
Me & hubb: *Ignores Bryan and continue talking*
Dylan: Hey. QUIET! QUIET! QUIET!
Me: *Oops, din’t know Bryan got fansee and supporter already!*

2010 New Year Celebrations

After the Christmas party, my friends started to plan for the New Year’s eve party. Hubb and I debated for some time whether to take Bryan and Dylan to the party since it is a school day and Dylan will usually be tired by 8pm-ish.

In the end we decided to welcome the New Year as a family. We would take the kids to the party and see how it goes. If the boys got tired, we’ll go home after dinner.

There were a few venue suggestions for the celebrations. Chilli’s at downtown Gurney or TGIF at Queensbay Mall, which is nearer to our home. In the end, we decided to go to TGIF because Chilli’s do not allow reservations on that day. Since it was a big group (12 adults + 4 kids), we do not want to take the risks.

We head straight to QBM straight after picking the kids up from daycare. We were afraid of traffic jam, and no carparks. But traffic was clear. Since our dinner arrangement was at 7pm, we took the boy to the “compulsory” spot first…Borders & Toys R Us. I even fed the boys some char siu paus as they complained that they were hungry already… (yeah, even lil Dylan). Luckily I had brought some paus as backup (in case the kids won’t eat the TGIF food)

There were no Kids Eat Free offer at TGIF that day, and they only have limited menu on that day, and everything cost Rm10-RM15 more that day. What a bummer!

Since their portions are usually huge, we decided that the boys will just share what we have. Hubb and I ordered the Jack Daniels Grilled Chicken and a Jack Daniels Burger.

Dylan had mostly fries, bits of bread and some chicken while Bryan had almost half of hubb’s burger patties, some chicken, fries and bread. It wasn’t really a healthy meal for them (esp Dylan) but we had to compromise each time we take them out to eat.

Before dinner, both my boys were quite shy. But after the fuel up, they warm up to my friends’ kids. The TGIF staff gave them each a balloon. And before long, the kids were busy having fun with the balloons. Throwing and catching balloon.

We were lucky to have a table near the corner with some space. So the kids gathered at that corner to play. A few of us adults have to help watch over the balloons to make sure that they don’t fly to the other guests table. A few times, it actually did. But luckily everyone is in a celebratory mood, and the guests will usually happily throw the balloon back to us.

When the kids got bored of the balloon throwing, I took out some coloring books & coloring pencils, and that continued to keep them entertained.

At about 9pm-ish, Dylan started to show signs of tiredness. Hubb asked him if he wants to sleep and then carried him in his arms. Dylan laid his head on hubb’s shoulder. Hubb pat pat pat his back and in almost no time, Dylan was fast asleep…Awww….it was such a sweet sight for me.

Since Bryan was having a lot of fun with his new friends, we decided to continue to stick around. Afterall Dylan was napping. We doubt he’ll nap for long and we hope the power nap will help to power him right past midnight for the countdown.

We left TGIF around 930 and went to JCo donuts. We ordered more drinks and Jco yogurt and continued the “lepak” session there. The kids continued their coloring sessions there and Dylan continued his power nap.

We decided to hang out at Jco until 12mn for the fireworks. There was a concert right outside the mall, and there were a few sponsors handing out free party packs. So the adults went out and got some for the kids to play with. So the kids continued their “party”…It was such fun to see them play.

Dylan woke up about an hour later…refreshed and ready to join the older kids to play.

At 12mn, we walked outside for the fireworks. It was not as great as I expected but Bryan enjoyed it very much. Dylan was a bit scared and kept asking me to take him back indoors.

We left after the fireworks. We reached home around 12:45mn, gave the kids their shower and milk. Both are still super charged from the activity with no signs of tiredness. I had a hard time convincing Bryan that it was too late for story books and that he had to go straight to bed. But as soon as the lights go off, both kids were in dreamland already.

I realized later that I had not been to a countdown party for at least 7/8 years. It was a really meaningful countdown for me as we welcomed it as a family.

I am really glad that I decided to bring the boys along. Everyone had so much fun. Nothing is happier for me than to watch my 2 boys having fun. And to share that with my wonderful husband and good friends….Priceless!

Happy Belated New Year everybody!

Butterfly farm…again…

As promised, we took the boys to Penang Butterfly Farm on Saturday. When I told Bryan on Friday night that we will be taking him there the next morning, he insisted that I get him a magnifying glass. He played with one when I took him to my friend’s house not long ago. He said, “I want one just like Alicia’s and like the one Tigger has. I need one so that I can see the butterflies big big and I can see that the butterfly’s wings are like shingles on a roof” (this one he learn from his butterfly encyclopedia)

So no choice, we had to go to Popular and get one for him.

It took us about 45 mins to get to the park. Dylan find the drive long & boring and starts digging his mouth. He gagged and vomited his breakfast all over himself & his car seat just as we reach the teluk bahang dam. So no choice we had to get him a new set of clothes as soon as we reach the park.

Here’s my little scientist at the park on Saturday morning.

Nothing interesting for me at the farm because I’ve been there sooooo many times. It was more of a photo outing for me…

As usual Dylan attracts strangers to talk to him everywhere he goes. He wasn’t even shy when this stranger approached him to talk to him.

As soon as we left the park, Bryan says he wants to go there again. I bluff him that it takes A LOT of money to go to the park. So he has to start saving money. We can only go again when his coin box is full.

Problem is his school is planning an excursion to the farm next week. So he told me to give A LOT of money to his teacher…otherwise, he won’t get to go… Must pakat with his teacher to “brainwash” him that daddy & mommy got no more money liao… kakakakakaka.

Our Langkawi Hotel

Most of my friend’s children like to stay in hotel. But not Bryan.

When I told him that we will sleep at the hotel.

Bryan: I don’t want. I want to sleep at home.
Mummy: We have to sleep in the hotel. Our house is very far away. The hotel is nice.
Bryan: Why nice?
Mummy: Because hotel got swimming pool.
Bryan: My house also got swimming pool. My swimming pool got dolphin and star fish one

I think he didn’t like hotels because he didn’t like having to squeeze with everyone in a king bed.

Thus for this trip, I made sure that we have a double room – with 2 queen beds. So sleeping is definitely no longer a problem..plenty of space for everyone.

We pulled the 2 beds together and have the boys slept in the middle. I slept next to Dylan, and hubb next to Bryan.

Bryan woke up the next morning and told his daddy,
“Daddy! When you sleep, don’t Brrr Brrr Brr la. People can wake up one you know. People want to sleep!”

We stayed at the Awana Porto Malai. We have the pier right at the hotel. So the location is very good for island hopping. And there are lots of colorful fishes at the pier, so we had a great time feeding the fishes there.

The downside is there is no beach, but I have no plans to take the boys to the beach anyway. What for, when we can get to the beach in less than 10 mins from our house. Yeah, Langkawi has cleaner water and beaches than Penang, but I don’t think the boys could tell the difference.

And there is a lovely children’s pool at the hotel. The boys had a wonderful time at the pool. Bryan enjoyed it tremendously, esp the water slide.

At the end of the trip. He told me. “I want to go swim at the hotel swimming pool again. I want to play the slide. But I want to go home to sleep.”

Looks like there’s really no place like home.

Langkawi Day 2

After our buffet breakfast, we proceed to the pier for the island hopping + eagle feeding tour. As we stayed at the Awana Porto Malai, the pier is actually within the hotel’s compound. SO it is really convenient.

We had some time on the pier before the boat leaves, so I took the opportunity to snap the photos of the kids, since all of them are still fresh and energetic.

But this silly me I had forgotten to changed the ISO setting on my camera. They were still set at ISO1600. I had used the setting while I was taking the photos at the dark aquarium the previous day where we were not allowed to use flash.

So a bulk of my photos turned out grainy. $^%$%#%* I have only myself to blame for not checking the settings first thing in the morning. I have always reminded myself to my camera to the right settings before taking any photos..but but but….

The boys enjoying the speed boat ride

I only remembered my settings halfway during the island hopping tour. *slap myself*

The first stop was to Pulau Dayang Bunting. Upon arrival, we were greeted by the island’s inhabitants – monkeys, and the swamp creatures..crabs and those leggy fishes.

We took a short hike to the freshwater lake over a hill at the island.

Platforms have been built at the lake to enable easy access for tourist either to swim, shop, take photographs, hang around or some free fish spa. There were huge catfishes at one of the segments and lots of people took the opportunity for a fish spa treatment!

Bryan thought that it was a big swimming pool and kept insisting on a swim, especially when he saw some children playing at one section. He wasn’t very happy when I told him that he couldn’t. Though I had brought his swimming trunk, I did not bring along his float nor a towel..so no swimming.

Sharing a box of Milo given by my sis

Just like the day before, Bryan made a lot of fuss when it comes to hiking. (Note: I gotta take him for more nature trips….)

The next stop was the highlight of the tour…eagle feeding.

Photo Credits

This is first time that all of us have seen so many eagles , up so close and in action. Even Dylan enjoyed this event, though I doubt he understand how majestic eagles are. I know my parents enjoyed this event very much.

The last stop of the tour was Pulau Beras Basah. The guide dropped us there for 1 hour. It is a lovely beach for snorkeling/ swimming. But since we are not equipped for swimming…I personally feel that 1 hr was too long.

Matthew had dozed off and so my sis and mom chose to stay on the boat with him. There are lots of fishes at the pier so we hang around there to look at the fishes. I gave some snacks to the boys there. My dad kept asking him for some biscuits to feed the fish, and I said, “No No No.” I knew that once we start feeding the fishes, the boys will not stop.

However, when Dylan dropped his biscuit on the floor, dad took the opportunity to throw that piece into the sea. The fishes got into a feeding frenzy and the boys, seeing how exciting it is, starts throwing all their food into the sea. They didn’t want to eat anymore. All they want is more food from me TO FEED THE FISHES. *Argghh* I nagged and nagged my dad on this, but he only laughed it off.

Since the boys didn’t want to eat anymore, we walked to the beach and let the boys played there.


There is a swing at the beach, and the men (hubb, BIL and dad) and Bryan had some fun swinging around

We went back to the hotel after this. The boys were tired by now and my dad suggested to let them nap before lunch. It was already close to 1pm but all of us were still full from our breakfast. So I gave the boys their shower, then they had some milk + bread, then off to sleep.

The kids are no longer hungry but hubb and I were. So we had to “tahan” with some crackers and 3in1 coffee and teh tarik in the room while waiting for the boys to wake up. My sis then proceed to take my parents for lunch & round island sight seeing. We will meet up later for dinner.

When they woke up at about 4pm…we quickly hurried them out of the hotel to a nearby restaurant for lunch LOL. Ordered fried rice, char hor fun, fresh coconut and beer (for hubb since beer cost the same as soft drinks at Langkawi). The boys were not really hungry, so we had to tempt them to eat with the promise that there is the swimming pool after that.

Photo credits

Bryan had a blast at the pool. He went down the slide countless times. Dylan was a bit more cautious and was a little scared..especially when he swallowed some water…and to gasp for air.. This can’t be avoided when you are at the pool. We spent an hour plus at the pool, and had a tough time getting both boys out and away from the pool.

After a quick shower, we left for Kuah to meet up with my parents and sis. We had the most delicious Thai food for dinner and then went back to pack up. We would be leaving early next morning.

It had been a very enjoyable trip, and I would love to come back again…

P/s: We found out later that we should have chartered a private boat since there is so many of us. It would have been cheaper and we would have more flexibility on the time and the places to go. Sigh…next time then.

Langkawi- Day 1

A week after Bryan’s birthday, we took the boys to Langkawi for a holiday with my parents, and my sis’s family. This was the boys’ first time on the plane. I had planned for this trip for some time. I wanted to take Bryan for his first ride on the plane before Dylan is 2 years old, so that I can still enjoy infant price for him.

Luckily both boys enjoyed their first ride on the plane. Dylan more than Bryan. I can sense that Bryan was a little uncomfortable when we were at mid-flight. When I asked him to look at the scenery outside the plane, he answered, “I see already!” and kept his eyes away from the window.

It was a short & smooth flight. Luckily it was a short one. Because Dylan was a wriggly little worm. He kept wanting to zig zag across the lane from my seat, to my parents, to hubb’s.

Upon arrival, we rented 2 cars and headed straight for Langkawi Cable Car.

The weather was clear and we had a smooth (and hot) ride up to the top. Matthew being the smart one, napped all the way from the car to the top of the hill.

I thought that Bryan would be frightened with the cable car ride, but no..he loved it. When we stopped mid-hill for some photo taking, he kept hurrying us back to the cable car ride.

When we got to the top, we need to hike a short distance to the sky bridge. My city boy Bryan got scared of the hike. I don’t know if he was lazy or he is scared of the walk through the hilly path or what la…. He kept wanting us to carry him.

He gave me a lot of excuses..
“I am tired, i got no energy..”
“My stomach pain pain, I cannot walk…”
“My leg pain pain already, I cannot walk…”
“Mommy carry… Daddy carry….”

I made him walk as much as possible but hubb ended up having to carry him at the very end.

Dylan was more courageous and adventurous. He wanted to hike himself and was counting the steps with his limited counting skills LOL. He attracted a lot of smiles from other tourists.

But on the way back from the sky bridge to the cable car, Dylan fell asleep on dad’s shoulder. It was close to his nap time and he woke up very early that day. So we lingered a while at the top of the hill before taking the “hot” cable car ride down.

After we got down from the cable car, it was time for lunch. We stopped for a simple lunch at the food court inside the Oriental Village. We ordered Malay dishes that were surprisingly very good.

Next to the food court was the rabbit garden. Both the boys were so anxious to go into the rabbit garden that we had a hard time getting them to finish their lunch.

Needless to say, we proceed to the rabbit garden next. The rabbits were overly friendly (and hungry too). Many of them gathered around us as soon as we got in. When we bought some packets of carrots, more came around us. The boys got a little scared when the rabbits got too many and too close to us.

After the rabbit garden, we went to the deer garden. The deers ignored us when we entered the area but as soon as I bought some deer feed, they mobbed me!

The deer keeper told me to feed the deers from my palm, but it was pretty scary having 6-7 deers all coming at me at the same time. I think I scattered most of the deer feed on the grass than feeding them from my palm. I only fed 1 packet and gave away another unopened packet to a family nearby to continue the feeding. Unfortunately, no one took any photos of me been mobbed by the deer as the rest of the family members have chose to “abandon” me. My kids were scared of the deers so my parents accompanied them. Matthew was tired, so my sis preferred to stay in the shade outside with him. But hubb caught the act on video camera though.

The day was really hot, so no one wanted to linger around at the Oriental Village. So we proceed to check in at our hotel. Unfortunately, our room was still not ready when we arrived, so we headed straight for the Langkawi Underwater World.

I prefer the Langkawi Underwater World than the KLCC Aquaria. I think they both cost about the same but Langkawi has more variety. It is much bigger and thus the layout is much better – Tropical, Antartic, Deep sea…etc.

By the time we finished the tour, it was close to 5pm. The boys especially Dylan was getting tired. So we went back to the hotel, gave the boys a quick shower and got them to nap.

While they were napping, my sis took my parents to the Black Sands Beach.

We met up later at Kuah for dinner and some duty free shopping.