Cameron Highlands

Went to Cameron Highlands a week plus ago for a night stay together with the in-laws. It's been 2 years since I've been there and things are still pretty much the same except there seems to be more cars and many people!! It's not even the school holidays so I can't imagine how it's gonna be like during the school holidays / public holiday. Two words: STAY AWAY! Packing to go for a night trip is a nightmare, as usual, as I seems to want to bring everything for "just in case". The packing alone took me around 2 hours, and mostly, it's Peanut's stuff. I have to tihnk of what kind of clothes to bring for her, diapers, snacks, her favorite bolster etc.

We left the house at 8am, but not before going for a bak kut teh breakfast :) The drive up there was smooth except that I got really really dizzy because of the winding roads. I have really bad motion sickness. We had to stop at this shop somewhere so i can buy some sour stuff. And i think Peanut is the same as me..cos she puked *_*. I really didn't see this coming. She was quite fidgety all the while, and suddenly she just went quiet and was very still...and before you know it, out came her porridge from lunch and went all over her cardigan. and me. I was pretty calm though haha I just let her finish puking, took off her cardi and wiped her with wet wipes. She was her usual self after this "incident".

View from our balcony

We stayed at the Cameron Highlands Resort. Nice place. We didn't go to any tea plantations because we went there 2 years ago. All i did was buy strawberries and cherry tomatoes, ate strawberries icecream, and just walk around in the cool air. And my goodness they had everything strawberry related over there. I couldn't resist because it was just too cute. And when you have a daughter...you will buy these:

A strawberry plastic ball, strawberry bedroom slippers, strawberry soft toy, and a strawberry umbrella lol

There were many strawberry umbrellas but I picked this one because of the handle...so cute!

And we had steamboat too, cos it seems to be the thing to do when you go up Cameron Highlands. Which i think was highly overrated cos our steamboat kinda sucked. And there were many steamboat shops around and all of it were super packed. All of it! We managed to squeeze into one, which looks good from the outside. But when we sat down, no one took our order; they just plonked down a steamboat set dinner for us, and the soup was tasteless. Normally when i go for steamboats, i look forward to their condiments because their chilli sauce are usually quite nice. But at this particular steamboat place that we went to , their chilli sauce came from a bottle. Yeah, those kind of chilli sauce that you eat with chicken wings fml.

That night, we brought some snacks out to the balcony and just ate there And to enjoy the cool breeze too.

Eating in the dark

A very tired Peanut after a walk around the morning market

Eating her daily dose of fruits

Breakfast for myself. The poached eggs were really nice.

it was a great trip overall..super relaxing. I think Peanut enjoyed it, with the cool air and all. Except the wind were really strong..whipping my hair around 24./7 wtf.We stopped by in Ipoh for a late lunch for some chicken hor fun. It was around 230pm when we arrived and again, there were so many people. But gosh, it was really yummy. The hor fun was so smooth...*slurps*.

I wish I took more pictures. But when you have a toddler, it's pretty difficult to take a camera out and start snapping photos. And I also want to enjoy the moment with her and DH. I want to "experience" rather than start fretting with the camera and documenting every photo op. So yeah, that's why you don't see much pictures of Cameron Highlands.

Next: Our trip back home to my "kampung" :)

Short weekend in Singapore

Over the weekend, we went to Singapore for a short working holiday. The work part belongs to DH of course :) me and Peanut just tagged along. We sat in Firefly for the first time and my goodness, the plane is really tiny! Since the plane is tiny, the trip took longer than usual. 1 hour 10 minutes instead of the usual 45 minutes if you use MAS or SIA. Flight was good. Stewardesses were very friendly. But there was a marked difference this time with Peanut as compared to the flight we took back to my hometown in February this year.

She just refused to sit still! Thank God she didn't throw any tantrum or was cranky but I had a hard time entertaining her in that short flight. I had to bring out all my 'special weapons' to placate her lol. This includes raisins, tissue paper, magazines, and her "tiger" soft toy. She wants to stand up, she wants to drink our drink, she wants to look out the window, she wants to climb all over us! She's so freaking fidgety!! I wonder how parents take care of their toddlers during long haul flights. Can't be easy.

That Saturday morning, DH had to meet his colleagues for a workgroup meeting so...I braved myself and took Peanut shopping by myself. This is the first time I brought Peanut out by myself since she was born lol, and using public transport no less. I didn't want to be stuck in the hotel for the whole day since DH can only be done by 5pm. So since our hotel was on Clark Quay and there's nothing much to see around there, we took a taxi to Ion Orchard. The thought did cross my mind on how I'm gonna cope with a stroller, a hyperactive toddler, and a big baby bag alone, but i told myself to just do it, and worry later! The lure of shopping is stronger haha

Luckily I met some really nice Singaporeans. They helped me carry the stroller up and down the stairs when there's no ramp, they help me open doors, and taxi drivers willingly come down and help me collapse the stroller and open it up again when we reach our destinations. I'm really grateful. It's not easy juggling a stroller through a massive crowd of people, and in a shopping mall that i'm not familiar with no less. I now have a new found respect for mums who go out with their babies alone using public transport! Salute!

DH's meeting ended at 5pm and so we spent the rest of the weekend just chilling...We took Peanut for a walk around Clark Quay at night, spent half a day at Orchard again on Sunday, and took Peanut for her first train ride lol before departing back to KL again in the late afternoon. Super short holiday, but it's able to rejuvenate me again :)



Peanut goes into a frenzy every time she sees a glass with a straw in it. I had to ask the waitress for a glass of water and to cut the straw shorter, so the little munchkin can have her own drink.

*taste taste*

*auummm*

* Love it mummy! *
iIn the cab on the way to airport
Always the same ribbon eh? hahaha these are one of the very few hair ribbons that she wanna use

Hot Springs..

A few weeks ago, we went to Sungai Klah hot spring. It's DH's office trip, so we tagged along with his office mates since it'll be Peanut's first "picnic" trip ever. I thought it's high time we join in the fray and start going to parks, zoos , beaches or whatnots since it's time to broaden Peanut's horizon.

We woke up bright and early for this trip. It was very difficult for me to wake up at such an unearthly hour and moreover, it was a Saturday. But someone else is all bright and perky.

The journey took around one hour. And since it was cloudy that morning, it was quite cooling.

Grumpy old woman.

I imagine this will be my face if I were to talk to Ms Turtle on the phone.

Popeye...

Testing the water.The water in this section (there's a couple of sections) is quite warm. The temperature is somewhat like the water that you will bathe your baby in. Not too cold, not too hot. :) There were quite a few people soaking themselves when we were there. Apparently soaking in the water can cure you off some ailments? There were 3 old aunties who were just sitting in the pool, water up to their shoulders, and gossiping about someone's friend's auntie's son's daughter. A good place to gossip eh?

No idea what she's trying to say here.

This is a path where you can walk bare foot and massage your feet on the pebbles. I tried it and I can only manage a couple of steps. It was super painful lor! They cordoned off that pool because the water is extremely hot and just in case you fall in because you were clutching your feet in agony.

They even have a small pool where you can boil some eggs. There's a lady that sells eggs at the corner, but you can bring your own eggs too. And if you're more adventurous, you can bring your own soy sauce. We saw quite a few people doing that. Heck, i think if it's allowed, there will be a whole buffet feast going on there.

A sign to tell you how long to boil your eggs depending on how you want it done.

The water is really hot just in case you're dumb enough to soak your feet in it.

By 12pm, it was really, really hot. We had a small lunch at one of the cafes beside this huge fish pond. We sat at this table next to the pond, and bough some fish food from one of the stalls to feed the fish. it's all about experience okie? I won't have feed the fish if it's not for Peanut. Love to see her face when all the fishes started fighting for their food. :)

We left after less than 3 hours in there. It was an experience definitely, and if you have muscles aching, or your backache is bothering you, you can definitely try and soak in there. But it's best that you go early, because by the time we were leaving, there were so many people who were just arriving.

Balik Kampung Part 3

During our 5 days stay in Kuching, we did a lot of stuff. Attended a cousin's wedding, did a family photo shoot with a photographer friend, met up with a couple of longtime friends, ate all the food that I miss, and generally spend more time with my parents.

Peanut, thankfully, was quite a good kiddo. She took long naps during the day (surprisingly) and slept early at night without much fuss. Thank God. But i think because this was also the first time after a long while that i was with her 24/7 for so many days, she became quite clingy to me. Basically she didn't want me to be out of sight and will scream for me if I dare take a step out of her view. But that's cool, after all i'm her mother ya? :)

Hanging out with us for breakfast

It's quite rare I sempat take a picture of her crying hehe

We took some family pictures together with my parents, my bro and my sis and her family on the 3rd day. It was a semi-casual shoot, but oh man, taking pics with an almost 8 month old baby and a 3 year old (my nephew) is so tiring lor!! When one kid is smiling, the other will be sulking. And vice versa. So to have a perfect picture of all of us looking at the camera and smiling at the same time is quite an impossible task. So no choice la, cannot be perfectionist in this matter. We'll just settle with however the pics come out.

One of her outfits for the photoshoot.

The second outfit.

There's a third outfit, but am too "man chang" to take pics by then. It's quite rare I dress her up in frilly clothes so..everybody, take a closer look!! Only on special occassions!! I guess i'm not really a frilly / lots of ribbons & flowers type of person, so I tend to dress Peanut the same way. Maybe that's why I have lost count on the number of people who have asked me whether she's a girl or boy. Even though she was wearing a pink t-shirt or pink socks or pink whathever haha, and the second most favorite question after that is: How many months is she?

The photoshoot took about only an hour, but i think that's good enough. The little ones has lost concentration by then. Talking about my nephew, that little dude is one jealous kiddo! During the few days we were back there, he didn't want to let my mum go literally. Basically he was clinging on to my mum like a koala bear. And when my mum carried Peanut, he'll try to climb all over her. And he didn't want to talk at all to anyone and according to my mum, he was super happy when we left for the airport haha. 3 years old also can get jealous wey. Poor thing. I wonder how my sis is gonna cope if she gonna have a second child.

We left Kuching on Monday morning, this time less apprehensive to get on the plane with Peanut, maybe because I sort of expect how it's gonna be. And after all, it's only less than 2 hours flight. So no problemo!!!

Us at Coffee Bean, Kuching International Airport where i fed Peanut her brunch before takeoff.

The flight back to KL was pretty smooth. Peanut slept most of the time on me. Though we sat at the last row, the stewardess served our meals first so that as she puts it "one of us can take care of the baby while the other eats". Aww...okay my faith in MAS has been restored. ANd during the whole flight, they checked on us once in a while, asking us whether we needed a blanket or pillows. Though I do wonder why we need to pay money for Peanut's ticket, when all she did was to sit on me. She's not taking an extra seat right? Maybe it's for the rental of Peanut's seat belt?? Or maybe it's to pay for this hehe:

Pretty expensive toy then!

And how come I only get it from KL to Kuching but nothing from Kuching to KL?? Maybe pretend to forget la, to cut costs.


So...that about sums up our balik kampung trip!!!

Balik Kampung Part 2

Back in Kuching, life is really much slower and at a slower pace. Everyone seems to be walking slower, cars move at a leisurely pace, everyone eats dinner earlier. Like 5pm to 6pm. I think losing weight in Kuching is easier compared to KL cos I don't have to eat that late. Back in KL, I sometimes eat dinner at 10pm and goes to sleep less than an hour after that. Sei mou? My mum and friend said i'm "meatier" T_T . Yeah, both used that exact same word and in hokkien i.e. "kak oo bak". Haiz..

Us at KLIA

Feeding time while Peichyi took our pic

This is really a whirlwind trip. Every morning I woke up at around 630am, cos we seems to have things to do every morning. And Peanut seems to wake up much earlier as well. Perhaps because it gets brighter here earlier too. I think we had laksa & kolomee every day and I don't think i'll ever get sick of it cos it's too yummilicious!! We also brought the Wangs to eat at one of the more popular spots for laksa.

On our way to one of our many breakfasts. Peanut readily lets my mum carry her when she's in the car or when we're out. But she cries when my mum carries her at home. I still can't figure out why.

She loves to snuggle up to my mum. My mum bought her a pink cap cos it's so, so hot outside!! i think i'll get a heat stroke if i stay out too long.

My sis has also brought her son's walker and bumbo chair to my parents' house so that Peanut can use it while she's here.

She seems to love the bumbo chair now. Kinda regret selling off the one I had.

She doesn't like this walker though.

While here, I discovered that my mum is a huge fan of Hikosen.

She bought this orange mattress thingy just for Peanut so she can lie on it while she's here. I like it cos it's really comfy.

She also bought this bolster...

to this quilt cover for their room..

to this pillows...and many more. Even the pink cap that she bought from Peanut is from there.

Young at heart la, my mum.


Okie, time to log off. GUess there'll be a part 3.

balik kampung part 1

Hallo everybody! Guess where BigB, Peanut and me are at??

In my lil' old hometown. Meow Meow city!! Okay that was lame.

Moving on..

We reached yesterday at around 2 something after a 1 hour delay. Dem tulan with MAS. It seems all my flight delays has always been with MAS. The longest i was ever stranded in KLIA was close to 8 hours. Thank goodness we had The Wangs with who are also going to Catcity for a short holiday, so it wasn't boring at all.

This is my first time I'm bringing Peanut on the plane so naturally I was a bit nervous. And it took me 2 whole nights to finish packing cos I wasn't sure what to pack for Peanut, so in the end I almost brought all her stuff back. Stuff like her blanket, bolster, her many clothes, wet wipes, thermometer, medication, ajjor, macam macam ada lah. Brought her blanket & bolster just in case she can't sleep at my parents' home cos don't have her "smell" here.

So, with a baby, naturally we get to board the plane first. And i was a bit worried of who's gonna sit beside me cos I'm sure you would want a more motherly person to sit beside you right? Someone who can tolerate a crying baby and go awww... So...i was a bit scared when this tall dude wearing all black, like rocker, wearing sunglasses and his sunglasses got a picture of a skull at the rims there some more sat down beside me. Until he took out his Men Are From Mars, Women are from Venus book. Nuff said.

The ride was pretty smooth, cos Peanut fell asleep during takeoff and only woke up when meals are being served. Unfortunately midway, she decided to do her number 2 in her diapers. Die mans. I could smell her and it ain't good. But I also didn't go and change her in the tiny toilet cos..so small leh, how to change?? And i'm scared it'll make me nauseous standing in that small cubicle trying to catch my bearings. and we we were gonna land soon anyway and my parents' house is pretty near the airport, so i thought i can go home to do it. Plane rides alway makes me nauseous, especially its food. Jer...sorry, i'm not a big fan of airplane food, cos it smells funky, and i think Taurus can agree with me on this. Donno how all these stewardesses do it la.

So until we landed, i was quite embarassed, cos donno that emo rocker dude next to me can smell her or not. And i kept asking BigB whether he can smell it. Unfortunately he can, so we had to act bodoh and just pretended nothing happened. but overall, it was a pretty smooth ride cos Peanut was pretty chillax. Thank God. And that was it! Let's hope the ride back to KL is as smooth as this.

stay tuned to part 2. If I got time to blog while here that is :)

xoxo