Travel and Culture

HK here we go!

Posted on April 10, 2012 · 3 Comments

I traveled for the very first time with Zack minus Daddy to Hong Kong for my cousin’s wedding. My parents were with me so i did have an extra hand, but it was a really challenging trip having to watch the kiddo without David’s help.

We flew on Cathay Pacific and Zack has his own seat as he has just turned two. I must say the airline is very kid friendly, they have special menus for little ones, and what i really liked was that they even had an activity box for children to occupy themselves with during the 3.5 hour flight.

This was an easier one for me having endured a long haul flight before; i knew what to expect, and Zack was also surprisingly quite well mannered throughout the journey. We even managed to sneak in a short nap which allowed me time to have my meal in peace.

It was a really short trip, and we spent most of our time with our relatives. We were after all attending a wedding! There was the pre-wedding dinner which is similar to how we host a buffet party–but due to their lack of space they usually host it at a restaurant. There’s a lot of culture that the Chinese in Hong Kong still follow, including the combing of the hair and also prayers to the ancestors the night before the wedding.

On the morning of the wedding it was a typical sight to what we are used to–the groom arrives to greet her bride, but is instead greeted by her ji muis who put the groom and his heng dais through a series of games and “torture”. It was amusing to see the similarities in the tradition and culture that i’m familiar with here in Malaysia.

What i wasn’t too used to was the size of property in Hong Kong. My uncle and aunt live in a 4 bedroom, 1200 sqf apartment in Mid Levels. It is said to be an exceptionally large space to be living in, but it was a claustrophobic experience for me with 50 odd people in the house during the jip san leong.

Even our hotel room in Wanchai was so cramped, there wasn’t even space for a regular sized cot. There was barely any space for our luggage; it seemed like they made sure they fully utilised every little space possible! It’s no wonder the price of property on the Island is sky high….

With my Hongkee cousins at the dinner reception in Mongkok

Zack occupying himself with iPad! Thank God for iPad! (he just refused to sit with us at the table the whole nite…until dessert was served -_-”)

The wedding dinner was hosted in Mongkok, which is in Kowloon. We had to take the MTR as most taxis aren’t keen on driving across Tsing Ma bridge as it will cost them extra for the toll as well as the limited likelihood of any passengers wanting to cross over from Kowloon to Island. Having gone sightseeing over the last 2 days with multiple modes of public transportation, I’ve concluded that Hong Kong isn’t a very baby friendly city, due to a few factors:

1. The terrain is very challenging, there are too many hills and slopes making it a lot of steps to go up and go down from one street to the other.

2. Most sidewalks (particularly observed in the Wanchai and Central areas) are not disabled or stroller friendly. They are not covered as well so when it rains…. you have no where to run to!

3.Public transportation is a plenty but strollers are not very easy to maneuver when attempting to get on the MTR, the electric trams or the buses. MTR stations are not very disabled friendly as there is a lack of lifts, and some stations don’t even have escalators. Electric trams have an entry and exit barrier to manage flow of passengers getting on and off, which makes carrying the stroller on board very, very challenging. Taxi drivers are more courteous and it’s likely the best mode of transport when traveling with kids in the Island.

Nevertheless, I had a lot of fun hanging out with Zack. Even managed to get our Nespresso machine, did some shopping, ate alot—I was surprised with the amount of energy i had on this trip! We even managed to galavant around Wanchai and got caught in a rather…heavy shower. Poor Zack was half drenched–poor me was fully drenched! I think the next time we go back to HK we would just focus on Disneyland!

Zack with Po Po and Kong Kong at Hong Kong Park

Someone’s cranky…

Hong Kong Park has a REALLY big playground for toddlers and older kids. Really a must go place — esp if you wanna tire the kids out!

Getting ready to go back to KL!

Filed Under: Family, Travel and Culture Tagged With: adventure, baby, Family, fun, Life, travel, zachary

Trip down under

Posted on February 29, 2012 · Leave a Comment

In February we spent 2 weeks in Melbourne, Australia on our first long distance holiday with Zack. It was 30% work and 70% leisure for me as I had to manage a trade conference in the city for 4 days.

Traveling with a toddler who is not eligible for a seat on the plane is a huge disadvantage. Yes, we saved money on his air ticket, but he was too big for a bassinet, and too uncomfortable sitting on our lap for the 8 hour flight. He also wasn’t at his 100%, which made the trip going rather challenging for both David and I. We both barely got any sleep, juggling Zack between the both of us, and trying to keep him as comfortable as possible. We were so exhausted

After a tiring 8 hours flying, we arrived on a very windy morning into Melbourne airport and our good friends Joanie and Gavin played host during our entire stay. This city has always had a special place in our hearts as this is where I met my husband David we have since been (and still on) one of the best journeys together.

We had the first 2 days for leisurely activities and we signed up for a Yarra River cruise. Even though we’ve both lived in Melbourne before during our uni days, we’ve never really done any of the touristy activities–so we thought hey, never too late to go now!

We also had time to wander around St Kilda beach, and little Zack just couldn’t stop chasing after the seagulls!

During the 4 days I had to be in the city for work, we moved out of Joanie and Gav’s place and moved into the Intercon. Zack took over our bed:

We took the opportunity to hangout in the city, including a trip to the Melbourne Zoo, and some of the lovely playgrounds in the CBD.

We headed back to St Kilda beach again and had a superb seafood dinner at Claypots too. David even brought Zack to Richmond’s Ikea! We also got our Chinese food fix in good ol’ Chinatown. On our last nite at the Intercon we had time to head over to Queen Vic market for the annual Suzuki Night Market where we got our hands on some roo and croc. Wouldn’t say it was great and wouldn’t say it was bad. Ok ok lah. The gelato was heaven on earth tho!

Our last day in the CBD we concluded with some massive cocoa overdose at Kokoblack before moving back to Joanie and Gav’s crib in Mitcham.

The weekend came and we road tripped up to Mount Dandenong on a rainy Saturday morning for scones at Miss Marples Tea Room. One word can only describe Miss Marples–fabuloso. It’s such a lovely quaint little cafe with the best scones i’ve ever had in my life. Ok maybe cos i haven’t had much scones in my life but Miss Marples’ scones are the bomb. Really.

Sunday. Yum Cha day. We headed back into the city for some mean dim sum @ Shark Fin Inn with Joanie and Gav. Somehow this trip is turning into an eating fest. (And it was because at the end of the trip i had gained weight!)

On Valentine’s Day, armed with Joanie’s trusty GPS and driving Gav’s car we road tripped down to Mornington to check out the Moonlit Wildlife Sanctuary. Boy oh boy, this was an even better encounter with the animals as compared with the time we spent at Melbourne Zoo. Zack got to feed the wallabies (which i was so terrified of!) and we even saw a couple of koala bears real close. There were lots of kangaroos lazing around and we were able to get really close to them. Zack the brave boy even touched a snake!

We continued our drive around wine country and headed up to Arthur’s Seat for a view of the countryside. Last stop on the road trip was to Sunny Ridge Strawberry farm for a super sundae. I also picked up some really juicy strawberries which i transformed into yummy chocolate dipped strawberries shared with Joanie and Gav for our post dinner snack.

We also took some time to do some shopping and catch up with old friends. All in all we had a great time and we can’t wait to go back again!

Thanks Joanie and Gavin for having us and taking good care of us during our time there. Greatest and bestest pals evarrrrrr!

(In front of Joanie and Gav’s crib)

(On our way back there was a vacant seat so Zack got his own space = more comfort for him and mommy and daddy!)

NEXT TRIP: Mommy’s solo trip with Zack to HK

Filed Under: Family, Travel and Culture Tagged With: baby, Family, Melbourne, travel, travelogue, zachary

First solo holiday with Zack

Posted on January 19, 2012 · Leave a Comment

Our trip to Langkawi was an alternative to our originally planned trip to Bangkok in November last year. Due to the heavy rain and flooding, we had no choice but to reconsider another location for our first family vacation.

Thankfully, the air tickets that we bought with Malaysia Airlines had allowed us flexibility in changing the route for passengers affected with the flood situation in Thailand. We decided on Langkawi as it was a place I haven’t been to since i was a little girl and also we’d thought it be fun for Zack to go to the beach and play with the sand and swim in the sea.

Packing for the trip was a bit easier, especially now that Zack can eat whatever we eat. I’m still guilty of overpacking his clothes and other not-so-necessary necessities. We also brought along a bucket and a set of shovels so we could have fun on the beach.

We arrived and rented a car for our time on the island. Having a car definitely made it much easier to commute with a kiddo in tow! We checked into our hotel, took some time to decide what we wanted to do over the next 2 days.

One thing i’ve learnt about vacationing with a kid is that–you can never plan too many things far in advance. We tried our best to make our plans around Zack’s meal times and nap times. We also learnt that vacationing with a kid also makes u so exhausted that u need a vacation after that vacation!

All in all we had a great time in Langkawi. We got on the cable car, went car-sightseeing around the island, did some duty free shopping, spent time at the pool, strolled by the beach. One thing we didn’t expect was that Zack totally hated the sand. He didn’t even want to walk on the sand with his sandals on. It was that bad. I hope this is just a phase and that he’ll get pass that soon enough.

Some pics from our trip:

Pool time with Daddy

What a great view from up here

Exploring around the hotel premise

No way he’s putting his feet on the sand!

Filed Under: Family, Travel and Culture Tagged With: adventure, Family, travel, travelogue, vacation, zachary

Mount Kinabalu: The climb of my life

Posted on May 10, 2011 · 23 Comments

Warning: This is a VERY long blog post.

A month ago I went on a holiday with my husband, brother-in-law & sister-in-law to Kota Kinabalu. We signed up for an adventure of a lifetime where we were to climb and hike up the highest peak in South East Asia. I can say with pride that we did successfully conquer Low’s Peak on Mount Kinabalu (hereafter fondly refered to as Mount K).

Now, friends ask, why did I even sign up for this? Truth is, I can’t find a reason. The push to join was mainly from my mom-in-law’s encouragement—she made it to the top of Mount K last July, with my sis-in-law. She felt it was an opportunity of a lifetime to see God’s creation from over 13,000 feet above sea level. She painted a picture of a fun adventure, and I thought hey, why not? Plus, if she could do it, I was certain I could too! Oh boy…little did I know I signed up for MORE than an adventure!!

We joined a group of climbers on a trip that’s scheduled to do the climb and descend over 3 days 2 nights. This isn’t the regular Mount K tour package whereby you only attempt the climb over 2 days 1 night. I called our tour the “old folks” package. Appropriate considering the majority of our fellow climbers were between 40 – 70 years old!

The same can be said about our tour planner and leader Mr Ong. At a ripe age of 60, he is the only known person to manage such a trip. This uncle has reached the peak 58 times, and is still going strong with a confirmed trip this June and October. I think he’s mad, period.

Mr Ong and I

Jokes aside, the whole trip has been enjoyable. There were some disorganisation before the trip but I must commend him for a job well done for executing the operational details of the trip to an almost near perfection. Everyone was well taken care off, and everything went smoothly from the moment we arrived to KK airport to the end of the trip. I highly recommend him if you wish to explore possibilities of climbing with him in his “old folks” package.

Here’s a summary of our KK trip compiled from our tweets, coupled with photos and recollection of memories from our adventure

Day 1: Wednesday 6 April

0739 hrs – “on the way to LCCT. miss my baby boy oredy! #ClimbMtK”

0852 hrs– “hear ye hear ye live tweet fr our trip RT @blogjunkie: Follow us as we climb Mt. Kinabalu! @peichyi @yviewangle #climbMtK http://ow.ly/4tmSZ”

T’was tough leaving the kiddo behind. I’ve done it a few times for my business trips—this time its different cos hubby is coming along. Thank God for my mom-in-law, she agreed to babysit for the 5 days we’re away.

Oh yeah, being the geeks we are we had to live tweet our climb. Our official hashtag #ClimbMtK.

1208 hrs – “Arrived ! (@ Kota Kinabalu International Airport (KKIA) – Terminal 1 w/ 10 others) http://4sq.com/f56aqt”

1258 hours – “hungry. wanna eat rice. a LOT of rice.”

1409 hours – “snails for lunch http://instagr.am/p/C4PdS/”

Did a 4Sq booboo. Checked into the wrong Terminal (we landed at Terminal 2). Gathered at the arrival hall with the rest of the climbing group. Most of our climb mates had grey hair / receding hairline. This confirmed our earlier speculation that we’d be climbing with oldies.

Looking forward to lunch cos I was SUPER hungry. We had a superb seafood lunch at a restaurant nearby Kampung Ulu Telipok. It was by far the freshest seafood I’ve ever had. The snails were a first—the highlight though, would have been the prawns. Simply divine!

1631 hours – “kopi stop (@ Nabalu Town,) http://4sq.com/fhheuq”

We arrived at Nabalu Town for a quick coffee break. Here’s where we could also purchase some bananas (as fuel for the climb) and the “power grip” rubber shoes aptly named Kampung Adidas. Apparently these shoes are used by the porters and the guides as it provides a mean grip, particularly useful when descending. Some of our tour mates bought the shoes as a back up plan.

1810 hrs – “Brrr wet and cold in Kundasang (Kinabalu Pines Resort) #ClimbMtK http://twitpic.com/4hjb1b”

From Nabalu Town we continued our journey to our rest stop for the night in Kundasang, which is about 15 mins from Mount K Park HQ. Kinabalu Pine Resort is a quaint little hotel with a chalet concept, quite cozy and clean. The weather was a bit wet and cold, and we had a steamboat dinner to warm ourselves up.

2129 hrs – “all packed and ready to climb tomorrow morning! #ClimbMtK http://twitpic.com/4hl680”

After dinner and the final climb briefing we each got our number tags in order for us to organise our bags and get ready for the climb.

Day 2: Thursday 7 April

0724 hrs – “heading to park HQ. this is it #ClimbMtK”

0740 hrs – “we are here at the park HQ (@ Kinabalu Park) http://4sq.com/gnlhoN”

The young people group @ Kinabalu Pine Resort just before heading to Park HQ

We left for Mount K Park HQ and arrived within 15 minutes. There we had to unload our bags, sort out the ones which the porter will be carrying for us, got it weighed, picked up our climber tags, collected our lunch boxes, and waited for our transport to the Timpohon gate. My SIL and BIL were going on the Mersilau trail, so they took off before us.

0855 hrs – “and we’re off! Timpohon gate here we go #ClimbMtK http://twitpic.com/4hrfp9”

0857 hrs – “@blogjunkie all set ! #ClimbMtK http://twitpic.com/4hrgnj”

All set and ready to go! @ Timpohon Gate

Look at the size of one of the porter’s custom made gunny sack bag

Very important notice!

From the Park HQ we took a short ride in a mini bus to the entrance of the Timpohon trail. The majority of the climbers will be taking this trail as it is the easier of the two. Each climber had to “sign in” as we passed through the gate. Mr Ong took the lead and thus we began the first half of our hike up Mount K.

Mr Ong taking the lead–with a guitar in his hand and lunch box in the other. #WIN

0946 hrs – “first shelter, Pondok Kandis (28 mins) #ClimbMtK http://twitpic.com/4hrwgk”

1007 hrs – “2nd stop (Pondok Ubah) 21 mins #ClimbMtK http://twitpic.com/4hs379”

1232 hrs – “3rd, 4th and 5th stop (Lowii, Mempening and Layang Layang) in 41, 50 and 45 mins respectively. #ClimbMtK lunch time nao…”

1350 hrs – “1km to go before we reach Laban Rata #ClimbMtK”

1517 hrs – “Villosa, Paka and Waras (6,7 & 8th stop) took us 89, 26 & 41 mins. Last stretch 7 mins to Laban Rata #ClimbMtK”

1519 hrs – “we made it! (@ Laban Rata) http://4sq.com/hM4xph”

We took approximately 5 hours and 50 minutes to get from the Timpohon gate to Laban Rata, passing through 8 rest stops. This included short breaks at every stop and a lunch break at Layang Layang. The terrain from the gate to Laban Rata was varied. Some steps were well defined, some were soil, some were rocks, some were a combination. I personally found it tougher when we got to the rocks (approx 2kms from Laban Rata), the height of the steps were uneven, making it physically more challenging as we ascended. We had plenty to drink and eat to keep us going. Once we got to Pondok Waras, we knew we weren’t that far away from Laban Rata resthouse. As soon as we saw the silhouette of the resthouse, we suddenly had a burst of energy as we dragged ourselves in the last couple of meters to the doorstep.

1548 hrs – “waiting for the porter to arrive with our bags so I can shower… #ClimbMtK”

We were one of the few who arrived ahead of the porters, so we hung around, took photos, and explored the surroundings. The flora and fauna around us was amazing—taking in all of God’s creation right before us, the feeling was surreal.

1622 hrs – “just mandi kerbau in freezing water. no heater in Laban Rata #ClimbMtK”

One thing I didn’t expect in Laban Rata was – the lack of hot water supply. The water was freezing cold! My skin felt numb and tingling. It wasn’t a very pleasant experience! AND we had to stay for 2 nights summore! AAAaak!

1703 hrs – “dinner time! (our porter with our bags still not here yet) #ClimbMtK”

1730 hrs – “1730hrs… @yviewangle and Eric arrives and checks into Laban Rata #ClimbMtK”

1930 hrs – “briefing for tomorrow’s climb part 2 #ClimbMtK”

2015 hrs – “had a super full dinner to recharge after all the energy drain today. resting in the dorm room now #ClimbMtK”

Still waiting for our bags that were with our porter, we sat down at the dining hall along with many other climbers from other groups for an early dinner. It wasn’t long before we saw Eric and Yvonne (my BIL and SIL) coming through the entrance, as they arrived after 8 hours hiking via the Mersilau trail. David was really worried about them as the the skies got darker and the weather was getting colder. Our porter also arrived with our bags shortly after.

Eric and Yvonne @ somewhere along the Mersilau trail…

After a hearty meal, we had another briefing for part 2 of the climb. Mr Ong kept on encouraging all of us, preparing us mentally for the toughest part of our climb. We were all psyched up and retired to bed, our limbs and muscles needing the rest for the next part of our hike.

Day 3: Friday 8 April

0638 hrs – “breakfast in the tummy. now waiting for climb part 2 to commence #ClimbMtK”

0653 hrs – “scaling this beast, wish us luck! #ClimbMtK http://twitpic.com/4i2uuv”

There was a lot of excitement in the air. Everyone was prepped and ready to commence part two of the hike. We looked up from Laban Rata, and we caught a glimpse of this giant that we’re about to conquer. We couldn’t see Low’s Peak from where we were, but the weather was good and we knew, somehow, that this good weather would be key to ensuring the success of reaching the peak safely.

We slapped on a good thick layer of sunblock on our faces, and every other part of the body that was exposed to sunlight.

Sayat Sayat check point

South Peak – the same peak on the back of our RM 1 note.

0938 hrs – “at Sayat Sayat for a short break. 1.8km to go before reaching the peak #ClimbMtK”

The weather was fantastic—sun was shining, and I’ve never seen a sky bluer than this.

Phone coverage and EDGE were really weak, thus we only recorded our stop at Sayat Sayat. The second part of the climb was shorter in terms of distance compared to the first part, but it was definitely tougher. The air got thinner, the path got steeper, and the journey seemed like it will never end. In the 4.8kms we required to hike in order to get to Low’s Peak, we took approximately 4 hours of continuous, slow and steady steps. Some parts had ropes which I found rather tricky, and I was constantly thinking about how much trouble I’d be in when we descent passing those ropes again.

1251 hrs via Foursquare @yviewangle checked in “we made it at 11.15 this time! @blogjunkie @peichyi #ClimbMtK (@ Mount Kinabalu Summit) http://4sq.com/dDXnAs”

At 11.30 am, we arrived at the summit 15 mins after Eric and Yvonne, and BOY was it the best feeling in the world. Standing there, on the highest peak in South East Asia, looking down from God’s great creation… it felt unreal. “We did it!” I said to David. I felt like I was on top of the world. Literally.

Watch this video of me on Low’s Peak!

By about 12.30pm, we started our descent back to Laban Rata, ankles and knees were already aching badly. I was inching every step of the way, making sure my footing was firm. The good weather changed dramatically as light rain and thick clouds began sweeping through us—it wasn’t helping at all. I was cold, wet and tired. I was mentally challenged when we arrived at the final part of the ropes where we needed to hold on and slowly ease our way down. At one point I was crying, almost giving up. It was one of the biggest fears I had to face, and I wasn’t ready to face it. I thought I was gonna lose my grip and fall. I was terrified.

With much encouragement from David and the guides, plus the other climbers were cheering me on, I quickly took the leap of faith and eased myself down to safety. Immediately tears flowed down my cheeks as I was trying to recompose myself for that terrible, terrible experience. I never want to subject myself to that ever again!

1539 hrs via Twitter –“@blogjunkie: omg so tired but finally made it to the summit with super-wife @peichyi. legs feel like falling off tho #climbMtK http://twitpic.com/4i7hg4”

We took about 3 hours to arrive back to Laban Rata. My legs were shaking non-stop, I couldn’t control them! All I wanted to do was to sit down, and just, sit.

1805 hrs – “legs super wobbly and shaky after the climb #ClimbMtK”

1806 hrs – “btw, for the record, this is my first and last climb up Mount Kinabalu. okthxbai #ClimbMtK”

As the rest of the climbers gradually returned to Laban Rata for another night’s rest, I still felt the effects of my limbs being put through such stress from the descent. I was still shaking and I felt like jelly.

I also told myself, this is the first and the last climb ever. It’s one of those things where, you just do one time in your life before you die. This was it for me.

Sunset @ Laban Rata

Day 4: Saturday 9 April

0555 hrs – “Day 3 of #ClimbMtK. wake up, freshen up, have brekkie, and start descend from Laban Rata to park HQ. ETD 0730hrs”

1146 hrs – “arrived to Timpohon gate in 4 hours from Laban Rata #ClimbMtK”

Day three of our climb and we’re up and ready to hike back to Park HQ. I could still feel my knees battered, and I wasn’t sure how I was going to make it down 6kms to the Timpohon gate. As we were in the final part of our descent, it started to rain, making it more difficult to move quickly as every step was getting slippery. We made it to Timpohon gate in 4 hours! Taking that step onto the cement flooring, we were back to civilisation! We then joined the rest of the climbers for lunch at park HQ

1539 hrs – “otw to Kota Kinabalu. one more night in town before heading home tomorrow. miss my Zack boy so much! #ClimbMtK”

1807 hrs – “one nite in KK (@ The Palace Hotel Kota Kinabalu w/ @blogjunkie) http://4sq.com/dX5BBA”

1843 hrs – “homg my nose is red like Rudolph #sunburnt #ClimbMtK”

2220 hrs – “what I whacked my whole body for http://instagr.am/p/C-psw/”

2235 hrs – “time for full body massage! wheee! post-#ClimbMtK”

We made it to KK town for a celebration dinner with the rest of the climbers. Mr Ong was proud to announce that it was a 100% success, everyone made it to the peak. Indeed it was a celebration as we collected our certificates during the dinner at the Palace Hotel. We rewarded ourselves with a full body massage right after—note though it ain’t a good idea when every part of your body is aching and every time the masseuse exerts pressure I’d be shrieking in pain.

Oh, one more thing. The sun didn’t spare us. I got a badly sunburnt nose. David got a badly sunburnt scalp.

Day 5: Sunday 10 April

0643 hrs – “the aftermath of #ClimbMtK is now even more evident. I woke up with 2 very, very sore feet, calves and thighs.”

1015 hrs – “buying souvenirs (@ Sunday Market Gaya Street w/ @blogjunkie) http://4sq.com/ietTIi”

1303 hrs – “almost at the end of our #ClimbMtK trip. lunch in town and then off to airport”

1451 hrs – “every stall sells the same friggin thing (@ Pasar Philipine Kota Kinabalu Sabah w/ @blogjunkie) http://4sq.com/fZrDSG”

Gaya Street Carnival

Filipino Market

Waking up on Day 5 of our trip felt like we got hit by a big bad bus. We still made our way to Gaya Street and the Filipino Market to get some souvenirs before leaving for the airport.

1511 hrs – “otw to KKIA. going home to see Zack!!”

1609 – “squatting, taking a step up or down, walking fast, and crossing legs are a no-no. #ClimbMtK aftermath”

1707 hrs –“boarding. bye Kota Kinabalu! #ClimbMtK”

1950 hrs – “end of our #ClimbMtK trip. arrived at LCCT ;)”

2142 hrs – “major FML. arrived from KK to LCCT at 7.30pm and I’m still in Sepang area #kltraffic”

2343 hrs – “finally home. nothing beats hugging my own smelly pillow. and watching Zack sleep ;)”

As we arrived into LCCT, we were welcomed by a massive crawl post F1 in Sepang. We decided to have dinner at the airport to wait for the jam to clear but by the time we left at 9pm it was still like one big parking lot. Finally when we got to Kajang to pick Zack up, I quickly held him and cuddled him! Nothing else mattered. All my tiredness just vanished. We made it home to our bed just before midnight, and thus, the end of our adventure of a lifetime.

I hope you have enjoyed reading about my Mount K climb from this uber long post. May it one day inspire you to take the challenge of scaling this beautiful beast.

Filed Under: Travel and Culture

Cape Town

Posted on November 12, 2010 · 1 Comment

Recently I had to fly to South Africa for work. I was scheduled to prep and run a conference there for 3 days. Business wise, we didn’t get a good turnout, I’m still training my assistant to pick up on the “trade”, and I fell sick due to exhaustion from the traveling, being jet lagged — simply just overworked during the course of the event. I have a policy of not ranting about work on my blog, so on to documenting my experience in the Mother City.

We had a week in Cape Town (and technically only ONE free day to sight see), so my colleagues and I booked ourselves in for a private day tour of this beautiful coastal town. The spring weather was lovely—cool, breezy…chilly at times. All I had was a light jacket and boy; sometimes the winds are so strong I can feel them goosebumps all over me.

This is my first time to South Africa, and I must say that I had a totally different expectation. It must be the most developed African nation—looking at its infrastructure, the people, and the environment. My colleagues and I agreed on one thing, it definitely looked cleaner than Singapore! Bits of Cape Town reminded me of Melbourne; it was very windy, the people were very laid back, and there were lots of cafes and alfresco style eateries in the tiny obscure lanes and streets in the CBD. Drive an hour out of the city and you see endless fields of grapevines. Drive 2 hours out of the city and you’re almost in the outback!

Even though we only had a day of sight seeing, we saw a lot of this beautiful city.

Asara Wine Estate

some funky stone carvings at V&A Waterfront

The view from Signal Hill. That’s the Cape Town Stadium which was built especially for World Cup 2010.

Elaine & I braving the cold, cold, breeze on Signal Hill

Camps Bay; where the wealthy live. That’s Table Mountain covered in clouds behind us.

Flea market at Hout Bay. Check out the beaded vuvuzela!

On our way up to Chapman’s Peak.

At Chapman’s Peak. Here’s a photo with Yaseen, our guide from Discovery Tours.

Stopped for sandwiches in Kalk Bay. Tribeca’s awesome moresome sandwiches are 50% off if you take away!

Popped by to see penguins at the Table Mountain National Park near Boulders. They look quite dirty…and they smell dirty. Trust me.

Saw some baboons along the way to Scarborough Beach. See baboon baby and baboon mommy. I have baboon daddy’s pic but he had his wiener sticking out so if you want to see that photo please go to this link.

Kite surfers on Scarborough Beach. Never knew there was such a sport. Love the colour of the sea though!

On the way back to the city we stopped by Rhodes Memorial. See stylo mylo photo of me and my colleagues *tee hee hee*

All in all, we saw Cape Town in bite sizes, in less than 6 hours. No doubt it is a beautiful city rich with culture. Definitely want to come back sometime in the future with my family!

Filed Under: Travel and Culture Tagged With: adventure, me, travel, travelogue

Shingapura!

Posted on October 22, 2010 · 5 Comments

Two weekends ago we had our very first family trip to Singapore to attend David’s cousin’s wedding. As it was the first time traveling with baby, I was nervous about how he’d react to air travel, if he’d be able handle the long hours out and about with insufficient nap time, and most of all if he’d be alright in different environments for 3 whole days.

I’m thankful that God blessed us with a child who’s been very easy to take care of. I am grateful that he’s pretty ok around strangers, and he’s an extremely happy and bubbly boy that everyone just loves to cuddle and carry. An added bonus on this trip would be the grandparents—who were like our backup babysitters (helpful cos they were in the connecting room next door too!!). They never tire from looking after Zack. I’m not kidding; you can even see a constant sparkle of joy in their eyes!

Traveling with baby however, is a logistical nightmare. I profess that I’m an expert in packing for travel, but when it came to packing for Zack, I raised my white flag. I had to write down a big long list cos I was afraid I might miss out on something. And everything I had packed, I had to pack a back up for it. And I’m sure all moms know why backup is so important—you never know when a puke/pee/poop accident might occur.

David and I had one thing in mind though, we wanted to bring as little things as we can in order to travel as light as we can. However we knew among the few things that I needed to make sure we had enough were Zack’s formula milk, his solid food, and also the number of diapers required for the whole trip. In all, I took 2 hours to pack Zack’s stuff into our big luggage bag. He took half the space, and we took the other half. Gosh, imagine how much stuff belonged to him!

Keeping the stuff we had to bring at the bare minimum was quite simple. I weighed just about enough milk powder to bring based on the number of feeds, I opted for baby jar food for his solid feeding, and I only brought 2 bottles for his milk preparation. Instead of a heavy metal thermos, I just used my single Starbucks flask to carry some warm water with us. We brought along his sippy cup, Rainbow and his 2 favourite chew toys. Seriously, that was all he needed. Oh not forgetting some rice crackers to keep him occupied when we’re eating hehehe!

Zack and I at the departure hall in Subang Skypark Terminal

Now, on to the trip. We took Firefly down to Singapore and Zack fell asleep even before we boarded the plane. He wasn’t even bothered by the loud deafening sound of the engine. During take off, I was worried about the air pressure hurting his ears. I even tried to stuff a pacifier into his mouth but his lips were shut tight. Guess it didn’t really bother him? He did wake up when we were almost landing and all he wanted to do was look out the window and smack the tray table.

This boy really kuat tido. Like the father.

Over the three days in Singapore we alternated from 2 grandaunts’ homes and the hotel. One good thing is that Zack can sleep anywhere. He’s never had a taste of the sarong, so he’s not dependent on it. (I read a blog where the mom packed the sarong including the metal base and had it checked in with the luggage for their 1st holiday with baby in East Malaysia *faint jor*). All Zack needs is his lil bolster and anywhere goes. So between the grandaunts’ place and our hotel, he’s fallen asleep on sofa, grandaunt’s bed and the hotel bed. Amazing kan?

Bathing the boy in the hotel was a little bit tricky but we handled it well. Let’s just say we both did get quite wet (one trying to hold him from outside the tub and the other literally sitting in the tub with Zack!!). On a separate note, Zack’s a serious babe magnet. He got the attention of the air stewardess, the immigration officer, the 4 ladies at the concierge (who in fact waved at the boy and luckily the husband who was carrying Zack didn’t shiok sendiri LOL), and even the ticket checking lady at the departure hall. Everyone wanted a piece of him. I guess babies generally attract the attention of most women. We are after all suckers for anything cute.

One of the highlights of the trip was a major poop disaster that happened in our hotel room. I will not describe what happened in detail as I want Zack to grow up reading my blog and hating me for documenting it. I can say however that an accident happened on the carpet in room 1201 of the Shangri-La Singapore. Thank you very much to their very dedicated housekeeping team for cleaning up the mess and making the carpet smell brand new again. We couldn’t have slept that night without you guys.

Zack with Daddy.

All in all, we enjoyed the trip and had an awesome time with my in-laws and David’s extended family. We didn’t have time to go shopping but we still came home with clothes, shoes, and baby stuff for Zack, all from his grandaunts and my friend Fiona (thanks again for the cute clothes and the TotSeat, it is awesome!!). Our first trip with our son wasn’t too bad and we’re all set for our next one to Fraser’s Hill in December!

I’ll be posting photos from the wedding once I get them from the bride herself. I realize that it’s much harder to take photos when you have to lug around a baby bag and an almost 9kg baby LOL!!

Filed Under: Family, Travel and Culture Tagged With: adventure, baby, Family, travel, travelogue, zachary

Horn ok please?

Posted on October 7, 2010 · 2 Comments

Ok, so I see a lot of things that make me go “huh?” on my travels. From street vendors who dodge cars traveling at high speeds to a cartful of fried insect snacks—there are some things that I just can’t get out of my head.

I returned from my 3^rd trip to Mumbai 2 weeks ago and I couldn’t help but wonder why most trucks and lorries on the road had a “Horn ok please” phrase painted on the back of the vehicle. I took some photos as they drove pass the bus I was on.

If you know how my brain works, I’m the kind of person who’d Google everything and anything. But, for the life of me, I’ve never thought of asking Google what the heck this phrase meant. So 4 years on, after posting these same photos to Facebook, my genius brother-in-law directed me to this on Wikipedia:

“The popular ‘Horn OK Please’ seen on almost all trucks in India bears its roots in the second world war where the trucks were run on kerosene engines. Kerosene, being highly unstable in nature, would cause the trucks to explode at the slightest accident. Hence a warning would be painted on the back saying ‘Horn Please, On Kerosene’.Gradually this became a norm and is still seen on most trucks even today.” Source: Wikipedia

Gawd I felt like a fool having this question in my head for 4 years and the answer was right in front of me.

At last, now I know.

Filed Under: Travel and Culture Tagged With: travel, travelogue

30 hours in Singapore

Posted on December 8, 2009 · 4 Comments

Last weekend David and I flew to Singapore for Lye Keat and Mei Li’s wedding (part #2). Our friend Josie a.k.a. baby stalker was with us as we took our maiden flight with Firefly down south. The whole Firefly experience was pleasant—Terminal 3 in Subang was like 25 minutes from our place, the refurbished terminal was very clean and not crowded, our flights were on time, and the waiting area was fab. Nothing like the mad-packed low cost carrier terminal in KLIA. I guess it’s cos there’s only 2 airlines operating from Terminal 3, Firefly and Berjaya Air.

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We even had time to take a pic!

Firefly’s fleet is made up of the ATR-500s which are really tiny planes with propellers. I would say it was about the size of 2 buses in length, and the head space is quite limited. David, Josie and I knocked our heads onto the overhead compartment!! I’ve taken similar propeller jet planes before with Cebu Pacific when we flew to Boracay for our honeymoon, so I wasn’t really worried about the plane being all small and wobbly (as some people may say…small = unsafe). Oh and did I mention, we each get a muffin and a cup of juice?

David’s mobile office at our hotel hee hee… all he needs is coffee for fuel.

Very quickly our 1 hour flight got into Changi Airport’s Budget Terminal and immediately we took a cab and check into our hotel. We stayed at the Holiday Inn Atrium off Outram Road which is a pretty old hotel, though I must say very well maintained, extremely clean and relatively close to the city centre. After chucking our bags we had lunch, met up with my brother for 15 minutes and then off we went shopping! Wheeee! Josie met us up later at Orchard where she had a late lunch and I had my 2^nd lunch wtf. I was so hungry even though earlier we already ate prawn mee and carrot cake. It must be from all the walking *shifts blame*.

David got some sketch pads from Muji cos he’s artsy fartsy like that and I got myself a replacement Teva sandals cos my old one is like a piece of disintegrated rubber mat and I could like slip and fall if it was a slippery surface. Slipping and falling at this point in time is not an option. As much as I love shopping in Malaysia but I must admit our neighbour does have more variety when it comes to certain brands and labels. Just like how I got my Microplane zester in Tangs last year. Oh man, that is like my favourite baking tool!

One for the album! Hubba and I (omg my arms so big)

Josie followed us back to our hotel to chillax and get ready for Lye Keat and Mei Li’s wedding dinner at St. Regis. As soon as we stepped into St. Regis, it was like all posh and sparkly and gold and enchanting and…pretty. Awesome. I’ve been into the Burj but the St. Regis had a more personal feeling to it, less showy and grand (as in size) but more majestic in a way. As the ballroom doors opened we made our way to our seats. Mei Li then popped by to say hi and cam whore for a bit before dinner begun. Speaking of dinner—it was fab fab fab! Mainly Chinese inspired, we had a 6-course dinner presented ala-fine dining. Only thing missing was I was sipping water instead of wine wtf.

After dinner we said our bye byes and walked for a bit down Orchard to see the Christmas lights. They were quite pretty. Odd though, There’s so much emphasis on Christmas decorations but when it comes to Chinese New Year or Hari Raya, we seem to go stingy on making it look “boomz”.

With me and Josie in the pic

Without me and Josie in the pic

Next day we got up, had brekkie and went off to Orchard again to meet Mike, Dave’s Twitter friend for brunch. Ok, Josie and my Twitter friend too. Mike and his wife Kathie have 3 sons, sooper adorable and cheeky. When I was having a conversation with Kathie and Josie, Micah (the oldest one) interrupted me and said “excuse me, can you please whisper?” I think he couldn’t hear the sound of the game he was playing on his iPod. So polite, yet so cute!! After brunch we killed some time around Orchard before leaving to the airport and coming home!

All in all 30 hours in Singapore. T’was fun but tiring as we crashed at 9.30pm on Sunday night. Lye Keat and Mei Li, thanks for inviting us to your wedding dinner in Singapore!

Filed Under: Travel and Culture Tagged With: adventure, friends, travel, travelogue

Cuti-Cuti Malaysia, Kuching!

Posted on November 6, 2009 · 9 Comments

Warning—this is a VERY long blog post. Proceed with caution.

Trip numero tres of 2009, we decided to bercuti-cuti in Malaysia. Now we have Muffin “with us” everywhere we go, we thought of somewhere a little more laid back, where we could just go with the flow without any frills. And without any frills did we go!

Malaysia Airlines had amazing low fares which I learnt didn’t come guaranteed that we’d be on time. Our flight was delayed for 1 hour, but we were accompanied by the Chong’s and their lovely daughter Eva. I was more occupied with playing at Eva; holding her hand and poking her cheeks; before we knew it, it was boarding time. I think being in the KLIA terminal made waiting more pleasant. I would have been sulking if we were stuck in LCCT. I really hate that place, it’s like Pudu bus station, so noisy and stuffy and yucky. Urgh.

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Eva, isn’t she the cutest lil girl?

So on the way we were, flight wasn’t full at all, and Eva was at her best behaviour sitting 3 rows in front of us. I didn’t hear her cry one bit. I wonder if I could be as calm as Grace when I bring Muffin out on his/her first virgin flight. I’m beginning to see more clearly why being a mother can be such a life changing experience—just looking at the number of bags the Chong’s had with them…fuh *sweats*

Our in-flight meal was served not long after take off. I would like to say kudos to Malaysia Airlines for their green initiative. The meal boxes were served in a biodegradable container made of sugar cane pulp. I won’t comment about the food but I am a big fan of going green so I was quite pleased that just this little step that they are taking is making a huge difference to reduce the ever growing landfill in our country.

We arrived into Kuching International Airport and said our goodbyes to the Chong’s, picked up our luggage, and there right outside the arrival hall a big-bellied dark skinned man was holding up a piece of paper with my name on it. Ah, the tour agents I picked didn’t fail me! Antoni from CPH Travel greeted us with a big smile on his face and we quickly sorted out payments for the tours I chose plus the car rental during our time in Kuching. He gave us some tips on where to eat, what to do and gently “reminded” us about tipping his colleagues wtf.

Look, even manholes have LOL cat on it. Scho cute!

We picked up our rented Myvi, and took out my iPhone and went into navigator mode. First stop, we went to look for our friend Li Ann who just delivered her baby #2. Ok, Google maps of Kuching is SO outdated!! Where there’s supposed to be a roundy-bout, it’s now gone. And where there’s a roundy-bout, it doesn’t look like one! And you can’t say 3, 9 or 12 o’clock cos each roundy-bout is so unique; some have 5 – 6 exits. Gawd, I was almost losing my mind when giving Dave directions. We missed a couple of turns and thank God we finally made our way to chillax with Li Ann, #2 Ashton and superstar princess Arielle.

From Li Ann’s place we decided to get going and check in to our no-frills hotel, and getting there was more frustration! I was giving wrong directions to Dave, and we were missing our exits and making rounds around the many Kuching roundy-bouts and having to make numerous u-turns. The rain wasn’t helping either. At one point I just simply put my phone down and scrunched up my face. Finally, after almost 45 minutes we found Tune Hotel, parked our car and checked into our room. It’s a good thing that Kuching drivers are very patient. We didn’t get honked at or kena flash at all! And we made a lot of last minute turns, so if we were in KL, the situation wouldn’t have been so serene.

Ahhh….Tune Hotel. It is really great. Location is excellent, rooms are clean, there’s a safe in the room, very basic modern finishing, and price is perfect for the service you’re getting in return. I like how you can choose to rent your towels and buy air-conditioning credits, very green indeed! I wouldn’t say Tune Hotel is for everyone, particularly those who need the space, or those who’d like some facilities with the hotel such as swimming pool, gym, restaurants, in room TV. It is the right choice if you just need a bed to rest and have your own attached bathroom.

Sarawak Laksa and Kolo Mee

Now to the makan topic. Food in Kuching is in a world of its own. The Chong’s introduced us to typical Kuchingite breakfast on Friday morning. From there on we OD-ed on Kolo mee and Laksa in Chong Choon and Choon Hui cafe, had two seafood dinners at Top Spot (superb crabs, tek tang, prawns, midin but found the orr chien wayyy too weird) and ventured into Hui Sing open air food court for some local delicacies like kueh chap, satay and so called kuey teow with clams aka char kuey teow. I love the laksa OMG! I even bought some laksa paste home to make some for my family. Wonder if it’ll taste the same. Now I understand what the big fuss is with Sarawak Laksa. It is really tasty! The meehoon has a thicker texture and the prawns are so fresh speaking of which I’m craving for a bowl right this moment *hungry*. Of course I wouldn’t argue with Li Ann that Penang has the best hawker food in the world but I’d say Kuching has its specialty lah.

ABC Seafood @ Top Spot

Midin, tek tang, tomato mee and the world’s weirdest orr chien

The famous 3 layer teh C peng

Paying for parking in the public lots on the other hand was an experience I will never forget. I remember during my college days in Taylor’s Subang we had a coupon parking system that go by per hour and per day use. That system has since been replaced by the pay and display system which is of lesser pain to the a$$. Friday morning was our free and easy time around town. So we had to get parking coupons for our car right? The parking coupon system is mad! Just look at the amount of coupons we needed for 6 hours of parking! No wonder there are so many multi-level parking complexes in Kuching—easy way out from dealing with coupons. And mind you, for our 6 hours of parking, it came up to RM 10. My daily parking in Taipan is only RM 4 ok wtf!!!

Ok that went off tangent for a bit. Now back on track; what were our main highlights in Kuching? We saw orang utans at the Semmengoh Wildlife Rehabilitation Centre (30 mins drive from the city). Entrance was RM 3 per person and we made sure we got there during the feeding time so we could catch a glimpse of them. At about 3pm the rangers got us to walk towards the feeding area which was possibly 500 meters into the thick rainforest. We waited quietly for the orang utans to appear when BAM! This one heck of a BIG orang utan was there right in front of our eyes on this huge platform, taking in his buffet of fruits and vegetables. The rain didn’t stop us from leaving as 2 other orang utans slowly lowered themselves in, swinging from tree to tree. One was even with child! Being a city girl I’ve never been this close to orang utans ‘cept that time in the zoo. Worth every sen of the RM 6 we paid to see these furry creatures. As we headed back to the city, we dropped by the Kuching museum only to walk around for 15 minutes before being shoo-ed cos they were closing at 4.30 pm. Now I know what Grace means by Kuching people eat dinner early and sleep early. Look at what time they get off work wei.

Another highlight of our trip was our boat ride to try to spot the rare Irrawaddy Dolphins (30 mins drive from city to Santubong Boat Club to get onto the boat). I did a quick Google search and found out that CPH Travel is the only company which has dolphin watching tours. The cost is RM 130 per person (usual price RM 140 per person but we drove ourselves to the Boat Club so we didn’t get charged for pick up). We met our guide Chronicle at the jetty along with our boatman Jamadi who did an excellent job telling us stories about the wildlife in the area, the way of life of the people of Santubong, and the history of the developments along the river. We casually sped pass the river banks (saw some crocodiles too!) to the mouth of the Santubong river as we almost enter into the South China Sea. Our boatman made some rounds and killed the engine at a few spots as we try to look for the shy dolphins appearing above the water. I must say David and I got a bit discouraged as we didn’t see any within the 1^st hour in the sea. We kept turning our heads from left to right to left again looking out for that slightest “peek” from the almost still water. Then it happened! Jamadi gave almost a scream of excitement when he saw a dolphin pop up above the water! He immediately started the engine and we moved closer to the site where he first spotted it. And for the next 30 minutes with engines switched off we saw possibly 2 dolphins appearing and reappearing above the water for 2 seconds! It was breathtaking. Again I must remind you readers that I am a city girl. These kinda things I don’t see often besides being at an aquarium, at Sea World or on Animal Planet. It is a sight I won’t forget for a very long time. I definitely recommend CPH Travel to those who want to go on the dolphin watch cruise. The team was professional and extremely friendly. Visit their website for more information!

Our ride

Chronicle, our friendly tour guide

Two for the album

Crocodile…grrrrr

Our best shot of the Irrawaddy dolphin

After spending 2.5 hours on the cruise, we returned to the Boat Club to pick up our car, and we headed towards Damai where we took a 3 hour lunch break at the Damai Beach Resort (15 minutes drive from Santubong Boat Club, 45 minutes drive from city). The Sarawak Cultural Village is located 2 minutes away from the Damai Beach Resort, which is where we went to next. Entry is RM 60 per person. We were disappointed with the condition of the place, having paid so much we expected it to be well kept, sadly, it wasn’t. No doubt the concept is great; however we only spent an hour there visiting the 7 ethnic houses that sit on a 17 acre land in the foothill of Mount Santubong. It was so hot and with David worried about me getting a heat stroke, we decided to skip the cultural show and head back to the city.

Damai Beach Resort

One of the ethnic long houses in Sarawak Cultural Village

Beautiful weaved products

They are also obsessed with art

The steps are WAY too freaky for me

Not forgetting this bamboo bridge

Uncle hard at work making a handle for a weapon

More longhouses

Cute lil’ girl trying her hand at a traditional dance technique

Another uncle showing his skills at making a traditional musical instrument

Weird statues outside one of the long houses

All in all Kuching was enjoyable. There are so many places in Malaysia we’ve not been to and we’re looking forward to more opportunities to cuti-cuti in our beautiful country. More photos from our holiday can be viewed in our Flickr album

Filed Under: Family, Just Photos, Travel and Culture Tagged With: adventure, Family, travel, travelogue

i’ve been Schmap-ed!

Posted on August 6, 2009 · 2 Comments

I’m schooooo happy! It was worth every single gram of that heavy-in-weight, 2nd hand, Canon 400D that we lugged to Melbourne and Paris early this year. FOUR of our photos from our holidays were picked to be featured in Schmap.com‘s local travel guides—WAY-HO!

Schmap is a leading publisher of digital travel guides for 200 destinations throughout the United States, Europe, Canada, Australia and New Zealand. More than 90 million Schmap Guides have been downloaded since first release in March 2006: this phenomenally popular series can also be browsed online, with versions optimized for iPhone and Nokia users. HOW COOL IS THAT?

Anyhoo, thanks to the simplicity of iPhoto, I managed all our photos and named them very specifically so we won’t forget where we stepped foot on and then directly uploaded all our pics onto our FlickrPro account (which btw, rocks). Because of our accuracy and detailed description of all the pics, it made it easy for companies like Schmap to find our photos. Over a month ago we were told that our pics had been shortlisted, and finally we received an email days ago confirming 4 of the photos made it! Yay!

So enuff with the fluff here are some screenshots of the pics used in the Schmap guides for Melbourne and Paris. Click on them photos to go directly to Schmap where these photos are posted

Ah, nothing like seeing your name in print.

Filed Under: Just Photos, The in-betweens, Travel and Culture Tagged With: random, travel, travelogue