Day 2: TRX

We woke up, eat breakfast and then finally got out of the house. We all squeezed into the CX today as it would be easier to go in 1 car. Destination: TRX.

The carpark was massive, but maybe it was because we arrived early (11-ish), we easily got a carpark and was quite close to the entrance too. 

Once we arrived, some of us needed to use the loo. So while waiting, you (had to) spend some of the money which I had TnG to you yesterday. But since I reminded you that you had just that money to spend for this trip, you opted to buy the cheaper pack of Pokemon cards:

Next, we decided to eat lunch first before the lunch crowd comes in, and it would be a wait just to eat a meal. And daddy picked dim sum again. This time it's a little different: Paradise Dynasty, which specialises more on xiao long pau. The food is good, different from Grand Imperial. 

After that we went our separate ways, Ah Ma by herself, while the boys went to walk around and Mei-mei with me. Daddy then messaged me to find this outdoor garden/park. So we headed there. Could not find the boys, so we gave up and quickly made our way back inside. It was just TOO HOT outside! We did that this photo first:

We sat on the staircase which was beautifully decorated to cool down and you also waited for one of the BlackPink girls to appear on the advertisement screen for you to take a quick photo. We were about to get up, when an older couple asked "Mei-mei help us take a photo". I guess asking youngsters to take photo would result in better photos then us older folks 😜

Daddy then called to ask if I had Adidas membership, which I did and he asked that we head to the shop. We knew where the shop was as we'd walked by the shop earlier. He ended up not buying the shoe as it didn't fit him. They went off and we stayed on as you wanted to try on the F1 merchandise.. here's one of you wearing the hoodie and taking a photo in it. 

In the end, we did buy something from Adidas.. which came fully approved by daddy.. a Liverpool jersey! Haha..

We did some more shopping for CNY clothes before meeting up with the boys at Seibu. Finished up here and went down to the meeting point to meet up with Ah Ma.

Headed back with the intention to rest, but we ended up being dropped off at the 2nd Street which was nearby to our condo while the boys headed home (they ended up going to Tropicana Avenue to pick up sake for tonight's dinner). We all reached home at the same time. 
Time for some rest before heading out for dinner.

A Day at Ikea

It's been over 6 months since Ikea opened in Batu Kawan, but we had not stepped into the store (so afraid of the crowds) until this week. Daddy and I had Monday off so we headed there for a quick look around and lunch. 

Then we decided to go again on Sunday as we had spotted several good buys. The whole family went, but we had to take 2 cars as we had checked in advance and knew that the items needed to be carried in the Mazda with the seats put down. 

So off we went. The first thing we did when we arrived was to have lunch.. before the crowd came in. We managed to get a table for the 6 of us and then queued up for our lunch. The lunch was better than what we had on Monday where our Swedish meatballs was disappointingly cold. 

Then while the family started to wander around Ikea, we headed back downstairs as Ikea was having a competition to design a toy (where the winning design would be made into a soft toy sold in Ikea worldwide). Miss Ang in school had told you all about the competition and since we were there at the time of the competition, Evelyn joined in. 

She got a form and had to draw and design the "toy" there and then.

When it was done, she was given a certificate of participation and had her photo taken

Mummy also had to take a photo

Then we joined the family to shop and walk around. This little girl had a great time. 

Checking out the chair (which we bought later on)

"Bravely" posing with the TOY snake

Posing in the "toy house" 

Pretending to have tea under the mosquito netting

Joining the animals for dinner

Having a tea party

After walking for a LONG LONG time, we headed home. Then the boys continued to "work" -- to build the furniture we had bought:

Working on the bench outside

Funnily the thought that Ko-ko has graduated from Lego to Ikea came to mind as he was building this chair

Melbourne Day9: Many things to do

It was a day with a simple plan: eat Vietnamese, visit the Monash University grounds and to visit Chadstone Shopping Center.

So here we are with out Vietnamese coffee and Pho:

Somehow only had this picture in my phone of Monash University. It has changed so much since we left so many years ago. The buildings look so modern now and there is another multi-story carpark!

Daddy got a little lost getting to Chaddy, but we finally got there. We split up so that we could do our own shopping. Mei-mei came with me while Ko-ko went to Legoland with daddy.

We stopped at Target where you even got a mini shopping trolley to use:

All tired out from walking

Dinner was with the Ban clan and our hosts (Peter, Fiona, Chee Meng and Fiona). It was a yummy feast!

Crabs

Tofu

Chicken

Fish

Glutinous rice

Cousin wefie

We took up a big portion of the restaurant!!

Back home the kids had a wonderful time (final night) with Uncle Ollie:

Day 12: A Little Wandering Around and Yummy Food

Daddy had spent the whole trip driving us around so the night before we encouraged him to go for at least 1 round of golf with the men. So after much persuasion, he agreed to go off. While he was off having fun, we were driven around by Aunty Pam to have a look at the surrounding areas. It was very large and beautiful. Of course 10 minutes after driving off, I remembered that I'd forgotten to pack the stroller. So we had to go back again to pick it up. We were finally off and we drove past Palo Alto, Stanford University and several places too.

We finally went to a Carters outlet and I bought some clothes for Mei-mei and also your cousins. Then went to Walmart to buy some chocolates to be given away and of course for our own consumption as well. 

Then it was lunch time. We headed to In and Out and had the yummiest burgers and milk shakes. 

Mummy even asked for this paper hats which they would give away for the both of you. Here you are both posing in front and looking very happy

We went to See's to buy the chocolates and we were very lucky as Aunty Pam was former HP employee and so we got special discount with her employee name badge. Then Mei-mei fell asleep in the car so Ah Ma and Aunty Pam dropped me at a mall with you for a quick shop around. Later daddy came with Ah Kong and Uncle Sam and Mei-mei to pick us up. We headed to a golf shop before heading back home. Dinner was ribs which Aunty Pam had did a check and found to be nearby. So she called and placed an order for take-away and then daddy left to pick up with Ah Kong. 

Look at our delicious dinner:

You won't believe it but we finished nearly everything on the table. Don't believe me? Look at this hungry little doggie:

Evelyn Loves To Go Kai-Kai

It was Deepavali today but daddy still rushed back from golf to bring you out. Why? Because there were several days in this week when you decided you wanted to go out with us when we were getting ready to go to work. You'd pick up your shoes and ask kakak to put them on for you. Then you'd want to follow us out.
When kakak tells you "no" you'd kick a big fuss. Poor little girl.
So we rushed to Gurney hoping to be able to get in. But when we reached the carpark, the signboard indicated that there were only 10 parking lots left! So in the end, there was only 1 place to go which would most likely to have ample parking lots: Island Plaza.
Off we went and yup.. parking lots in abundance *grin*. We parked and left the stroller in the car. We decided to let you sit on the trolley. Walked around and picked up some foodstuff and you were happy.Such an easy way to please our little "hau kia" baby.

Ooo.. It's time for Shopping

Of course! With Christmas just around the corner, we need to do our Christmas shopping. Our Christmas tree has already been up for one week, but the poor little tree is bare underneath. So we NEED to do the shopping for our little tree *grin*.

Off we went to Gurney Plaza on Saturday after everyone was up and your moi moi was ready. We originally planned to eat somewhere else before going shopping, but it started to rain, so we had no choice but to go directly to Gurney Plaza. Lunch was a quick one in Aji Ramen. Daddy had to eat quickly as he'd promised you that he'd bring you to have a look at the Tiny Tunes characters that were going to make an appearance.

You didn't seem as interested in it this time as you were the last time mummy showed you the Tiny Tunes characters. So we went our separate ways from Ah Kong and Ah Ma as we wanted to buy gifts for you and your cousins, while Ah Ma needed to buy some more gifts for our party guests. Where to? Toys R Us, where else?

Mummy walked around looking for something to buy for your cousins, as we'd already decided to get you the Imaginarium that daddy wanted to buy a long time back. What to buy? Especially Annabelle che-che who's got almost every toy imaginable! Before we picked a toy for the girls, you'd picked another toy that you wanted, using your newly learned word. What is it?

Yup. You went: car, CAR, CAR, CAR, CAR. What to do? We ended up buying that car for you too. Not much time left and we were getting a headache trying to pick a toy, so in the end, we picked a dog house for Annabelle and a shopping cart with Hello Kitty for Abby. But before we left, you also picked another toy, a Barney soft toy. OK, OK, time to go before you pick more toys!

We paid for our purchases took wrappers from the wrapping counter and off we went. We dropped our purchases in our car as Ah Ma said that she was not ready yet. So we walked around a little more before leaving Gurney Plaza.

Went home and you fell asleep shortly after that, as it was way pass your nap time. So mummy took this chance to wrap all the gifts while you napped.

Where to go on Sunday? Hehe.. Gurney Plaza again. No chance to pick up gifts for Ah Kong and Ah Ma yet. After we'd bought the toys yesterday, Ah Ma unloaded Ah Kong with us, so no chance to buy their gifts. So another round of shopping today.

Another round of shopping (inclusive of trying to crack our brains to figure out what to buy for them) and we're finally done. Even managed to buy a new pair of shoes for daddy.

It's Saturday!

You woke up early this morning (upon Ah Ma's request?) so we decided to get you ready to go to Pulau Tikus market with Ah Ma and Grand-Aunt Doris. Too bad, it was a morning of mishaps. Mummy was walking into the bathroom with you, and you slipped and hit your head on the floor. I was holding your hands and yet you hit your head. After that, mummy got ready and when I turned to look at you, you somehow lost your balance and hit your face on the side of our bed. That was the scariest moment. You were screaming and mummy say that there was blood in your saliva! Luckily Ah Ma was just outside and she carried you while mummy fed you warm water to calm you down. You took the water, so the blood was probably only as a result of you biting yourself as you fell. No major injuries. Phew!!

We left after you calmed down. You seemed quiet on the trip to Pulau Tikus. But you were happier when mummy carried you in the baby carrier and you got to look at the people and things all around the market. You were back to your normal self on the way home. I was so glad.

After daddy came back from golf, we went out to run some errands with Ah Kong. You instantly fell asleep as you woke up so early this morning. And we drove around to buy things for almost 2 hours and you slept all the time.

In the evening, we went out to exchange the gate and on the way back, we brought you to the playground. It is your first time going there. Mummy thought that you may not like it, as Ah Kong has tried to bring you to our garden and the garden in Ipoh, where you refuse to step on the grass, unless you wore shoes. Surprisingly, you were so excited when we brought you to the playground. We let you play on the seesaw and on the slide. You even enjoyed running around, chasing you shadow!

Dinner was Thai food. You were quite good throughout dinner. Of course, mummy had packed your moi moi with us so that you could have dinner with us. As we finished rather early, Ah Kong suggested that we went to Queensbay Mall for a while. You squealed in delight when you realised we were going kai kai. Luckily we packed your stroller. We went to Toy's R Us to buy another safety gate, as the one that we bought this afternoon was damaged even before we put it to use. You were so tired, that you fell asleep in your car seat within 5 minutes of getting into the car!

It's the weekend again

And another busy weekend it was. Ah Kong's friend, Uncle KK and his wife, Aunty Ruth was here to visit us from Singapore. They came with a large group of friends on Wednesday evening. But you only got to meet Uncle KK and Aunty Ruth on Saturday morning.

We were supposed to have dinner together on Friday evening but dinner was rather late, so we settle our own dinner. By the time the whole jing-gang arrived back at our house, you were already asleep as it was past 10pm. They had a "durian party" before going back to the hotel.

On Saturday, you woke up early, so mummy had to entertain you, had breakfast before Ah Kong took you out to play in the garden. He said that you refused to walk on the grass, suspecting that you didn't like the grass tickling your toes. So we let you wear your shoes and you happily played outside for a while until you got all sweaty. After you cooled down, mummy gave you a shower and we all got ready and off we went to the condo.

We had lunch at Great World Park then daddy drove us home, as he had a golf game and mummy thought that you would be tired, since you were up since 6am. And we predicted correctly, you slept before we reached home. But in total you only napped for 1 hour. By the time Ah Kong, Ah Mah, Aunty Ruth, and Uncle KK reached home, you were awake again. And so we went off with the 2 ladies for some retail therapy while the men went for golf.

Dinner was at Kashmir, the restaurant that serves the most delicious northern Indian food. Yummy. Too bad you could not take the food, as it was mostly spicy. So you had papadams. And you loved it too.

We had our Sunday brunch at our favourite kopi tiam near Jones Road. Daddy and mummy loves the char koey tiau. Yummy... and the coffee there is also the best. Yup, coffee.. mummy takes coffee mostly on weekends with my brunch. Luckily you do not react adversely to the coffee in my breast milk! Haha.. Ah Kong and Ah Ma had gone to join our Singapore visitors for Bah Kut Teh..

After that we went for a ride, looking at houses and just driving around aimlessly. You had fallen asleep and since it was still early, we bought some time for you to nap in the car. And luckily too, cause you woke up the moment we reached home. So you managed a nap for almost an hour.

We went with daddy to the golf course as Ah Ma needed a ride back. And since you had your afternoon nap, we went shopping. Ah Ma wanted to go to the hairdresser's so we were dropped at Gurney Plaza. Mummy bought a few things for you and walked around until it Ah Ma called. Went home to relax and play with you while Ah Ma went out again. We were supposed to have dinner with our visitors but while waiting for them, you fell asleep in the car. So we could not join them, but they managed to sneak a peek at you, and "ooh" and "aaahhh" over you.

Dinner was romantic hawker food with daddy and you *grin*. Ahh... another weekend has come and gone.

It's Friday!

And where would be the best place to have dinner? TGI Fridays! Yeah.. Ah Kong had a house warming to attend and Ah Ma had something to attend. So she was planning to cook dinner late. Since that was the case, daddy proposed that we went out for a yummy dinner.

We all had a wonderful meal. Even you got to eat the food served there. Daddy had his usual steak, Ah Ma had lamb and mummy had chicken. Since you had a free kiddy meal, we picked the grilled cheese that came with fries. And my dear little boy, you loved the cheese sandwiches and also the fries. You helped yourself to the fries. Of course we had packed your own moi moi too, but you only ate a little, instead preferring the food served there! Good taste.

Of course since we were in Queensbay, we walked around a little and shopped a little. What a wonderful day to end our busy week.

Special Evening

Since Monday is a special occasion and daddy would not be around, we decided to go celebrate it today. Where else, but at TGI Friday's in Queensbay. Mummy and daddy left work around 5.30pm so that we would have enough time to bathe you and for us to have a bath too before going to Queensbay. As always we are greeted by a cheerful you when we reached home.

After everyone was ready, we left for Queensbay. As expected, you whine and complained a lot while seated in the carseat. I think we need to change the direction of the carseat!

We arrived just on time, as mummy had already called in the afternoon to make a reservation. The moment we were seated, we made our selection of food and also ordered spaghetti for you. Of course mummy had brought along your porridge. So we started you off with porridge until your spaghetti arrived. You happily ate some of the spaghetti, until you decided that you had enough. And so you ate a bit more of your porridge and finished the remainder of the bread that came with your spaghetti.

After dinner, it was time for some retail therapy. Mummy bought a pair of shoes and a purse while daddy bought himself a shirt as he needed to wear (more) decent clothes for his trip to Japan! Final stop was to buy a present for Ching Ern. It's her birthday party on Saturday. Although we will not be able to make it, we bought her a present. I hope she likes it. This is what we got her:

It was a long night but you were a good boy this whole evening. You were well behaved throughout dinner, giving hi-5's to the waiters, you sat in the stroller while we went shopping, you stretched your legs a bit at Hallmark and happily sat in the stroller when it was time to so back to the car.

By the time we reached home, you were already asleep. Too bad you woke up and played a while more before continuing your zzzzzzz! What a perfect evening, great dinner, wonderful company and retail therapy to top it off.. *grinning from ear to ear*

By the way, if you're wondering what the occasion is, you should know by the time you're old enough to read this blog. As for those who are supposed to know, so here's the reminder to you! *wink* I won't be disclosing what the occasion is here!

Photo Session!

Last week Jing Ee's mummy told us about a bridal shop doing promotional photography for babies/children. So the following day, Ching Ern's mummy came with the advertisement (it was in Chinese) and she gathered several friends to sign up for the free 8R picture that came with the photo shoot. So during lunch time, a few of us went to sign up for ourselves and the rest who could not make it. Later in the afternoon, they called up asking us to go in for the photo shoot at 5pm! Of course we could not make it, and so we had to reschedule and picked today.

Mummy was on half day leave today as you were actually having diarrhea and so mummy and Ah Ma took you to Adventist Hospital to see Dr Mary. She said that you were fine. Initially when Dr Mary looked at you, she thought that you were very sick, as you did not move and just gave her an empty look. But when you went in to see her, she said you seem fine. So she gave us some medication "in case" and we were off. You seemed perfectly fine after that. You flashed the pharmacist your sweetest grin, earning you a nice yellow measuring spoon, and later a measuring cup when we went to pick up your medication. After that mummy went to make an appointment with the gynea and you even let Lina (the nurse in the OBGYN clinic) carry you!

Before going home, Ah Ma wanted to stop at Giant. So since we didn't bring the stroller, we let you sit in the shopping trolley. You seemed game to sit contently.. or so we thought. After 5 minutes, you got bored and decided it was more fun to sit with the groceries! So after a quick purchase, we left. Needed to get you home to rest before your photo session.

Perhaps you knew that something was up, and so after your bath, you refused to take a nap. Instead you played until it was time to go to the studio. Daddy and Ah Kong both left work early to watch you during the photo shoot. We arrived on time, but you were asleep by then. Luckily the photographer was late and so you got to nap a bit more. Soon, you were up and we got you dressed.

It was the longest 1/2 hour ever. We had to try to make you smile and also keep you in the middle so that the photographer could take your pictures. Sadly the photographer lacked the skill to photograph children/babies, as he never got any of the moments that you were smiling. He had brought out a BIG teddy bear that you loved at sight, and smiled and hugged it, but I doubt that he managed to get any good pictures. We ended the shoot with some of you smiling. Guess how... mummy, daddy and Ah Ma had to sing "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star"! Anyway, we'll see how it goes after we view the pictures.

After that we left for dinner and went home. What a long day.

Long weekend

Since daddy went off to Kulim for golf, and Ah Kong is in US, we went to Gurney Plaza for kai-kai with Ah Ma. Ah Ma wanted to buy a top for a wedding dinner she's attending. You didn't take your morning nap, so throughout the day, you were a little grouchy. We had lunch at The Food Loft. The food was quite nice, and they even had out table ready along with a high chair ready for you by the time we deiced on what to order. After that, Ah Ma and you went to Toys R Us and she bought you another toy. She's just bought you a police car that had lights and made noises when we went to Tesco Extra on Sunday morning. She wanted to get you a new toy to replace the 2 noise makers that are about to KO soon. The truck has 2/4 wheels left. It's very lopsided and the bus moves backwards only! But they still make A LOT of noise.

We went home soon, as you were getting tired and more grouchy. You have been having runny nose for a while. So while you slept at home mummy and daddy went out to run a few errands: had my eyes checked (finally!), went to the condo to have the balcony measured, had our hair cut and took Furbie to see the vet.

Nanna, 2 ee-poh and Ah Chor came soon, as they dropped 2 teo-kong off at the airport. We went to Tung Hoi for dinner. It was fun. You even let ee-poh walk around with you. She says it's VERY tiring walking around with you. Just before we left, you had a fall. No one was watching you and you tried to grab at the table cloth. Never mind.. no bruises.

You slept early again. Long weekend tires you out even more.

Shopping...

Mummy had a wonderful lunch today with friends which I made while going to the mother's room at work. We try to meet up regularly and it's a lot of fun catching up on what our babies have been up to all this time. We used to chat behind the curtains as we expressed milk for our babies. Now some of them no longer go to the mother's room, so the best solution is to meet up for lunch. Our group today is smaller as quite a number of them could not make it. We went to Dragon-I for lunch. After that we went to have a look at the newly opened baby GAP. After that we also went to the adult GAP shop and La Senza as there was a sale there too.

So after a yummy lunch and even yummier window shopping session, mummy went back to the office to declare to daddy that we're going to GAP tonight to pick up "a few things". And it had to be today itself since it's the last day of the sale. Hehe... I think daddy may have wished for a moment that he did not respond to my instant message. That way he can pretend he did not get my message. Anyway.. too late.. so we went home, gave you your bath, had dinner and off we went to Queensbay Mall.

Surprisingly at 8pm it was still rather crowded. Perhaps it's because it's the school holidays. I did notice that there seemed to be more people even during lunch time. And as we approached the baby GAP store, there was a large crowd of people there. Guess why? Because it's the 31st and they were all crowding around Baskin-Robbins to buy ice-cream with the 31% discount! anyway, that's not important. We came here to go shopping not to buy ice-cream.

So into the baby GAP shop we went and mummy tried to fit you with the sandals that looked super adorable. Sadly you could not wear it. Your feet are a bit too chubby so by the time your feet can get into the sandals, the sole would be too big. Darn.. I guess your feet are destined to wear those Clarks sandals that you tried when we went to KL (which incidentally are almost 3x more expensive too!). So we looked around and picked up 2 collared t-shirts, a shirt and a pair of really rugged looking jeans. I think you have as many branded items as your Tua Ku. We bought enough to enjoy the opening promotion of RM50 rebate. This is what you got:

After that we went to the adult GAP shop. It's mummy's turn to be pampered *widest grin ever* I had spotted what I wanted this afternoon, so I zeroed in to pick up what I wanted after checking with the sales girl for correct sizing. I need to do my super duper quick shopping as you were tired and getting cranky. So with daddy entertaining you, mummy tried 2 pairs of jeans and daddy helped pick the nicer looking one, paid and we were off. Phew.. shopping for you and me done within an hour.

Goodnight sweetie.. *muakksss*

Shopping at Jusco

I know I know.. we're going shopping this weekend already, but mummy needed to buy some warm clothes as we're going to Cameron Highlands after KL. So we went and since mummy had the J Card Privilege Shopping Day voucher, mummy and daddy went the during lunch time yesterday for a quick one.

In the end, this is what we got you: a jacket, a pair of shoes and new PJs. On top of that, daddy also got something new. A new pair of golf shorts. He said he will wear that for the golf tournament this Saturday.

In the evening daddy wanted you to try the new shoes. And guess what we discovered? The shoes were both for the right foot! So we bundled you into the car and went off to Queensbay again. The guy was nice and apologetic when mummy told him about the shoes and immediately changed a new pair for us.

Ooo.. can't wait. We'll be off tomorrow! Yay!