Bali Holiday - Day 1

We're back from our Bali holiday!!  Our first "real" holiday with the 4 of us - me, hubs and the 2 girls. Yup, Erin didn't get left behind this time. ;-) 

Overall a great holiday but also a tiring one. Travelling with 2 kids is definitely more taxing on us compared to travelling with 1 kid. There were the inevitable "both-kids-crying" , "both-kids-whining" and "both-kids-fighting" moments! Those moments had me thinking I reeeally want a holiday minus the kids. 

But then again, there were the "both-kids-screaming-out-in-delight-moments" too, which made me think..... I love this!!!  

So, definitely both ups and downs but thankfully the ups made up for the downs.  

And here's my usual day-by-day recap:

Day 1

Taxi came to the house at 6.45am.  Yay....our holiday has officially started!  Oops, 5 minutes later, realised we forgot the stroller.  Asked taxi driver to turn back.  Quickly load stroller and and we are off again.  OK....and now holiday has started!

In the plane

 I was pretty well prepared for the 3 hour flight. Colouring pencils, colouring books, story books, snacks, milk for Erin, pre-loaded shows on the Ipad - checked! 

At the Bali airport, we took a taxi to our hotel in Kuta - Grand Megah Hotel.

Note : Always buy a ticket at the taxi counter! While we were queueing up (just 2 couples ahead of us), some taxi drivers approach us. They were wearing the same uniform as the guys at the taxi counter and they asked us "you want taxi? we are same company".  Thankfully, we decided to trust our instincts. Bought at the counter and the price was about half of what those taxi drivers quoted!

Some photos of our hotel

Stayed for only 1 night. Nothing great and we won't bother staying there again. 

Lobby area

 

Pool area

After checking in, we took a cab to our favourite eating place in Kuta- Bubba Gump. The Bubba Gump that we have in Malaysia is definitely no match. 

Porky Ribs!

We had their boiled shrimps too

Just look at this - when I lifted the bone, the meat just fell off!!

So gooooood

 Erin practically slept through the meal

 

And woke up happy  :-) 

 

After lunch, we just strolled around Kuta area.

Watched sunset

At night, both girls spent ages enjoying the bath tub.

My favourite thing about the hotel is the tv screen there!

Then a little bit of Ipad before bedtime

--End of Day 1--

Forgot to add earlier - As this is my 3rd trip to Bali and hubby's 5th, we skipped practically all the touristy stuff. Main objective is to relax and just spend time together :-)

Burps and Giggles, Ipoh

After hearing so much about Burps and Giggles in Ipoh, I finally got to visit it yesterday!

 

If definitely didn't dissapoint at all. I was really impressed how something as mundane as old shoplots can be transformed into something so quirky yet so lovely and unique.

 

Will let the photos do the talking here :

 

 The signboard

 

 

 The exterior

Love the colourful paper umbrellas!

 

 The place where we sat

That's Erin showing off her latest word "There!!" to my SIL.  Big achievement for my little late talker ;-) 

 

 Bar Counter

Love how there's a real living tree in the middle of the eating area

  

Cashier 

See the row of old switches? Just like my grandparents house!

 

  

Super Simple Cardboard Signs  

 

 

My latte (RM10)   :-)  

 

 

Chicken Burger (RM16)

First time I see a knife stuck into the burger like that! Useful to cut up burger for sharing though.

The burger itself was good. I was pleasantly surprised that the patti was a whole chicken thigh instead of  minced/processed chicken.  

 

White wine for hubby

My idea of a relaxing afternoon tea is coffee. His is wine. *roll eyes*

 

One of the little corners

  

Partial Group Shot -  My 2 girls with their cousins, aunties and uncle 

 

 

Marilyn Monroe painting on the outside wall

Nice 3-D effect! (back half of the bicycle is real, front part is painted on the wall)

 

 

Sidelane to "Sekeping Kong Heng"

Princess #2 got to be carried by SIL. Princess #1 followed her cousins to the petshop. Aaah....the joys of a family trip :-)

  

Price wise, it was not cheap at all especially for Ipoh standard. 1 chicken burger, 2 plates of fries and drinks for all was a whopping RM280.  (thx Suzan sis!)  But come to think of it, the food prices were quite alright (targeting the RM26 Wagyu burger next time. he he), but the drinks prices were a killer.

 

Definitely a great experience and Yayy.....this place scored some brownie points for my hometown!!  :-) 

Self Feeding

Erin is at the stage where she likes to self-feed. The good thing is it gives us time to eat our own meal in peace.

 

The bad thing??  The mess of course!

  

When eating out, we better fast-fast run after the meal!!  He he.

Cupcake Making Session

Elyssa was thrilled when I said we were going to make cupcakes yesterday  :)

Helping me pour milk into the mixer

 

Pouring cupcake mixture into liners

I doubled the cupcake recipe so I think I ended up with about 40 cupcakes. After the cupcakes cooled down, it was time for the fun part - frosting!  And what else but PINK frosting. Ha ha.

Elyssa's 2 cousins came just in time for the frosting session.

Busy at work

Elyssa caught in the act of licking the frosting  ;-)

I gave the girls some colourful sprinkles and mini smarties to work with.

 Girl concentrating hard on their cupcakes....

3 cupcakes from 3 girls for their darling Ku Jie

No prizes for guessing which one belongs to Elyssa ;-)

And these are mine! 

Pretty?

More cupcakes -

It was a good session indeed!

Chinese New Year 2013

I was initially thinking of skipping a post on CNY 2013 since I didn't take many photos. But finally decided to just post whatever I have  :)

 

Note to self  :   1) Take more photos next time   2) Take photos of Elyssa & Erin with their angpows or some other things that signify CNY.

 

So, a quick rundown of CNY 2013:  

 

BBQ with my in-laws at our home the day before CNY eve

Yummy garlic prawns!

 

 

CNY eve lunch at my MIL's place

Totally didn't take a single photo. Aiks.

 

 

 

CNY eve dinner at my parents place

Lou-Sang time!!

 

 

Kids enjoying my mum's homemade yee sang.(err... actually in Elyssa's case, she only liked the biscuits in the yee sang)  

Went "kai-kai" in shopping mall a few times
I still get the warm fuzzy feeling when I see the girls walking hand-in-hand like that.  

 

 

I cooked a meal for lunch with some friends

No big deal for some, but for me, it WAS!  First time I cooked a proper sit-down meal like that. Pretty happy and proud of myself. Haha. 

 

 

Brought both girls to the playground 2 days in a row

 

 

 

Made a few half-hearted attempts to take photos of 2 smiling girls

I gave up! Erin was trying to push jie jie away in the photo.

 

 

  

Went for neighbourhood CNY celebration

I knew they were going to distribute angpows but I expected RM2 in each. Was pleasantly surprised there was RM5 inside. Yay!! Our family unit pocketed 4 angpows - 2 each for the kids, 1 for me (for wearing red) and 1 for hubby (who blur-blur went to take although he didn't qualify for the categories announced for the leftover angpows - senior citizens, white hair and those wearing red). He he he.. 

So free food, free performance and RM20. Not bad!   

 

Gong Xi Fa Cai 2013!

Reason for Walking

These days, I like to take a walk around the neighbourhood after dinner.  Trying hard to reach the recommended 10,000 steps a day. ( I normally don't reach the target, but I do make an effort to walk as much as possible)

 

Elyssa sometimes follows, sometimes doesn't. And of course, she likes to ask Why mummy wants to walk.  Sometimes I tell her "because mummy fat-fat already. so need to walk".

 

 

 

 

 

Then last weekend, hubby and I brought the kids for some playground time. While the kids were playing, I decided to take our dog for a walk. As I was approaching the playground from my first round, Elyssa shouted out really loudly with both hands by the side of her mouth:

 

"MUMMY, it's ok!!  You can go for another round.  Because YOU ARE SO FAT!!!   ok mummy? YOU ARE FAT, SO GO AND WALK ANOTHER ROUND".

 

Aiks!!!  Really didn't know where to look.  There were other people in the playground too.  *hide face*.  Oh, and when I shook my head (trying to tell her not to say anymore), she thought I didn't hear so she shouted her remarks AGAIN.   ;-) 

Uggh Uggh Uggh

 

Little Miss Uggh Uggh Uggh

"What's the problem, folks??  Life is a lot simpler when it's mono-syllabic! ;-)

 

 

Erin is a pretty late talker. At 1 year, 7 months old, her main form of communciation is still "Uggh Uggh Ugg".  Luckily, she can say  "Up Down".  That's about the only thing she can say clearly.  (in the correct context and usually with a big smile!). 

 

And a few more unclear words :  "Duck",   "Ish" (for fish),  "Ma/ Mah"  (but not in the context of food or calling anyone).

 

She just doesn't seem to be interested in talking. When I tell her, "say Mah Mee", she happily points to me and says "Ughh Ughh", proud that she knows who "Mah Mee" is.  So I tried with "say Dah dee" instead.  Then she says "Ughh Ughh" and points to whichever direction she thinks daddy is.  Oops!  

 

My dad has also been dilligently trying to get her to repeat words after him daily. No success yet.  She mainly goes "Uggh Uggh Uggh" and points to whatever object she is referring to or pulls our hand to wherever she wants to go.  

 

Ah well..... at least she can say "Up Down" clearly so I am not particularly worried.  I like the way hubby puts it though - the longer Erin takes to talk, the longer she is still officially our little baby.  Awwww !!!  :-)