Holiday in Kuantan

We had planned a family holiday to Bandung for the merdeka long weekend AGES ago. It was supposed to be an extended family holiday with my in-laws consisting of 8 adults, 2 kids and 1 toddler. Then the H1N1 scare started :(

For weeks before the planned date, we went through the "yes" / "no" decision back and forth. Finally, a "no" was decided since we didn't want to take the risk of being in a plane and in the airport, as there were young kids and senior citizens in our group. So, that was RM1,500 down the drain for our share. (Air Asia tickets for MIL, hubby, Elyssa and I. Aaarghh... and when I made the booking, I decided to take ALL the options - meals, insurance, baggage allowance, advanced boarding and priority seating. Aaarghhh!!!) We could have changed the flight to a later date but with the extra cost plus the possibility that H1N1 could be a long term thing, we decided not to take the option. Last thing we want is to pay extra (not cheap either) but not being able to make it in the end.

*sigh* RM1,500 - I can just think of so many things do with the money. Wahhhhh !!!!

Anyway, back to our Kuantan holiday. Hubby was already in a mood to go for a holiday during that weekend, so we decided to drive somewhere. Chose Kuantan since we reckoned that it won't be so crowded during the fasting month. The plan was to have a relaxing holiday there - basically stay in the hotel room, watch dvds, go swimming, go to the beach, sleep etc.



One of the things that I was looking forward to was bringing Elyssa to the beach to play sandcastles. We bought her a simple shovel & bucket set and off we went to Teluk Cempadak. But alas.... when I placed her barefooted on the sand, she screamed !!!! Looks like my tough girl is not so tough after all! She just hated the sand on her feet. She also didn't like to be near the waves. Even when I carried her, this is what I got -


*Sigh*... another non-beach lover just like her daddy. He's not keen on the "dirty" sand and the "sticky" feeling by the beach. Who's gonna accompany mummy to the beach next time??

Elyssa was much happier walking up and down the pavement while checking out the stalls. She also had a blast chasing after bubbles that hubby blew.


Another activity she enjoyed a lot during our 3d,2n stay was playing in the bathtub with her spade and shovel. I didn't want to leave her in the bathtub alone (there was a fixed glass panel covering half the tub) so I had no choice but to go in with her. Ha hah..... turned out quite nice. I mastered the "art" of reading my storybook in the tub while positioning myself so that she was securely seated with no danger of slipping down into the water. So she was happy that she got to play with water , I was happy that I got to peacefully read my book in the warm tub and hubby was happy that he got to watch his movie while hogging the entire king sized bed. Fantastic !!! I think we had about 5 of these bathtub sessions :)

Elyssa also enjoyed walking up and down the corridor..... over and over again. I just love the big smile on her face when she did that. Each time we leave or come back to the hotel room, we let her walk up and down a few times. Good exercise too!



and there she goes AGAIN...