Getting Ready for CNY

We tried to get daddy's car washed today. But there were 25 cars ahead of us!! So in the end, we just had lunch, bought some groceries then headed back home. Daddy decided to wash his car himself. So now you and him are busy downstairs washing his car.

Playing with Fire Crackers

.. yup and with our permission too. Only thing is this fire cracker would not explode or do anything *grin*. We just made our fire cracker out of ang pows and then used them to decorate the house with it. Learnt how to make them from this website.
It's very simple and at long last I have found more uses for the toilet paper rolls which I have hoarded kept and which is also driving daddy nuts (collecting dust).

Halfway through you decided to decorate your own instead of using old ang pow. This is what you drew:

There is you throwing a snowball at a snowman, a house and mummy and daddy also throwing snowball at each other. It is also snowing (snowballs??) in the picture.

Pictures In the Plane

Here are the pictures taken on the flight back. Jaclyn che-che sent them to me and I've finally found time to upload them. They are pictures of you with Jaclyn che-che, Janice che-che and also Randy Ko-ko:

Back to School

On Wednesday, I had to wake up earlier after 6 weeks of waking up almost an hour later to get ready to go to work. It was the first day of school and we had to get you ready to go and stop by to see which class you were allocated to. After meeting your teacher and she had shown you where you were supposed to put your school bag in the mornings, we said goodbye to you and daddy told me "We'd better go off before you start to cry". I could see you looking a little teary eyes and so we quickly bid you goodbye and walked to our car.

Everything went well on Thursday. BUT on Friday we were a little earlier and the teachers were still in Mrs Sebastian's office and I had to wait around with you. By the time the teachers got out of the room and I prepared to go, your floodgates opened. And you cried and refused to let me go. Mrs Shanti took over and carried you away and I had to quickly leave the Center.

With you behaving like that we worried that you'd cry again today, especially over the weekend. But thank goodness, you were fine. I had to leave you in Center for a while as I went to get you a new homework pouch and when I got back to tell you that it will be passed to you later on, you were so engrossed in playing that you probably didn't even realise I was there.

Phew.. hope that this goes on for the rest of the year. *keeping my fingers crossed*

2012 New Year

The new year just crept up on us. We were all dead tired that before the clock struck 12 midnight, ushering the year 2012, we were all asleep oblivious to the happenings around us. We only woke up and wished each other a "Happy New Year" the next day after a good night's sleep.

So how did we spend the first day of 2012? Why, lazing around the house of course. After so many days of walking and early morning calls it's time we relaxed in our comfy house. And I had another day to rest before going back to work. As for you, you had two days before the first day of school. Lucky little boy!!

Day 6: Goodbye Korea

It's time to say goodbye and the morning call for our final day in Korea was at 6am, which as usual means we have to wake up even earlier to ensure you are up and ready before 7am which was the time for us to meet to catch the bus.

We sat a little dazed in the bus as Bob spoke a little more to us and also mentioned that Jeff Ko-ko was freelance and was selling the pictures he'd taken of us during the whole tour. We picked almost all of the pictures except for some which were amended and he'd even given daddy his e-mail so that we can ask for the softcopy of the pictures.

We stopped at a location about 10 minutes away from the airport for breakfast. We each had a bowl of udon then walked a little in the shops before hopping into the bus again. Daddy in the meantime went off to take some last pictures of the snow in Korea:

When I got to our seat, I was shocked to find that one of my paper bag was missing, but not the contents. They were all strewn on the seat. Good thing nothing was missing. Oh well...

We arrived in the airport to check in our luggage, get our tax refund claims stamped then went in to clear immigration and walk around the airport before departure time. You even made a "pit stop" at the children's play area before daddy picked up some whiskey from the duty free shop. We were a little late and were among the last to board the plane. Lucky we made it in the nick of time. Phew...

The plane ride back was fun as we'd already made friends in the tour so you were happily playing with Randy Kor-kor, Janice Che-che and Jaclyn Che-che. Halfway through the flight, the stewardess even took you to the galley to give you some snacks (biscuits which I saw you saying no to and a packet of sweets). Suddenly it got turbulent and you had to quickly get back to your seat. In fact this flight back was rather turbulent.

We arrived in KLIA, said goodbye to the rest in the tour then walked around, had dinner and then headed to the domestic terminal to wait for our flight back to Penang.

On the way back home, you dozed off. That's what happens when you don't nap at all the whole flight back. I had to wake you up when we reached home as there was so many things to carry up to the house. After that you stayed awake for another 1 hour plue to shower and eat supper before you KO-ed while watching football.

This trip was rather short (as you had reminded me many times), but we sure had lots of fun.

Day 5: Something Interesting and Shopping

As usual morning call was 7am and we were already up earlier to ensure everyone was ready before 8am. Breakfast was the same place as where we went on Day 3. Then we went to the Digital Pavilion. We had to wait around a little as we had arrived a little early. At 10am we had a guided tour of the place with instructions on how to play with the new electronic exhibitions. Here are some of the pictures I took of you trying out the exhibitions:

Checking out the digital fish pond with Randy Kor-kor

Having your "health check" by the computer

As a finale we were treated to a 4D movie. It was a cartoon 4D show and as you were not tall enough, we stacked our jackets for you to sit on. I was worried that you would be afriad while watching the movie, but after the initial shock you were ok, and everytime the air blew at you you'd pat your hair down. After the movie, you told me that you were only "a little afraid" during the movie.

Next we headed to Myeongdong Market for lunch and shopping. Walked around the maze like place picked up some shopping and at 5.30pm met up with the rest at a designated spot and hopped into the nice warm bus and went to our dinner location. The dinner menu was Bibimbap. After dinner, we stopped by another FaceSh0p and then headed to the final stop for this tour, "Drawing Show: Hero".

It was an interesting show where there was dance, comedy and drawing. They even provided boosters for children. Halfway through the show you were too tired and dozed off. I guess you were too tired from our shopping in the afternoon. You were very good and walked all the time, not requesting to be carried.

No photography was allowed during the drawing show but daddy managed to get a shot before we left.

After that we hopped on the bus and headed back to the hotel for rest. You continued to sleep after I changed you into your PJs. Daddy and I hopped into the convenience store opposite the hotel and had drinks and supper. After packing up, we all went to sleep.

Pets

We were just having a discussion on pet names today:
Mummy: What would you name a dog if we have one as a pet?
Evan: Chelsea
Mummy: A cat?
Evan: Tom
Mummy: A mouse?
Evan: Jerry
Mummy: A chicken?
Evan: Bok-bok chicken
Mummy: A duck?
Evan: Quack-quack
Mummy: Quack-quack chicken?
Evan: Hahahaha... NooOooOo... Quack-quack duck!
Mummy: A crocodile?
Evan: Then I run away.

Wahaha.. I guess you know what is logical. Or so I thought... Next you told me this:
I'll take a sword and chop it up.

I guess the last answer was your imagination going wild. But it was a fun discussion.

Day 4: Watery Fun and A Theme Park

It was not easy getting you out of bed. Especially since you had such a late night the day before as we had strawberries, wine (milk for you), and squid which daddy had ran off to the nearby Family Mart. You refused to go to sleep but after I finally managed to drag you back to the room, you KO-ed as I was packing up our bags.So after I managed to get you out of bed and dressed you up, we headed downstairs to a place which looked like the hotel ballroom for breakfast. After breakfast, we grabbed our bags and met the rest of the tour group in the lobby and to go to the next stop.

Next stop after around 40 minutes drive from Phoenix Park was Ocean 700 which is located in Alpensia. After briefing from Bob, we got our locker number, dropped our shoes inside, dressed up then went swimming in the indoor heated after we rented the swim caps and life floats. It was so much fun. You could not go on the tube rides as you were not tall enough, but you did have fun with the other games including the wave pool. Daddy and I tried out some of the tube ride. It sure was fun.

After some time, we got ready to go to the next stop. Before we left, one more shot with the ski fields of Alpensia:

And of course you played one last time with the snow:
On the way back to Seoul, we stopped at a restaurant to have lunch. This was the steamboat (yes, again) cooked with the dried pollack fish. Here's a shot of the fish which daddy took:

After a ride of over 2 hours (I think) we arrived in Seoul. The next stop for the day was Lotte World Theme Park. It was so super crowded as it was Korea's school holiday. The queue for all the rides were so long. We walked outside took a look at the rides which were actually more suited for older children/teenagers and headed back inside. Daddy asked you what you wanted to ride and you wanted to take the monorail. So off we went. It was such a confusing place and the map did not help much. When we had finally found the place, the queue was so long. We had no choice but to queue up. One good thing was that the queue was moving, but after moving a while, we came to a sign which said "Waiting time from this point is 1 hour". Our hearts dropped to the floor but we stayed in the queue. In the end, the wait was just over 30 minutes. We got into the monorail and the ride lasted a grand total of THREE minutes! We walked out and joined the Jungle Ride queue but when the person in charge measured your height, you did not meet the 112cm minimum height requirement.

We only had time to queue for another ride, so we queued at the Sinbad ride which was recommended by Bob as a "family ride". It had a very long queue when we walked past it earlier on. This time the queue was shorter or so we thought. It took us 20 minutes before we entered the "cave" but in actual fact the queue continued inside the cave. We waited another 10 minutes or so and then it was our turn to get into the boat ride. Less than 5 minutes into the ride, you were screaming and crying out of fear when you saw the rather scary scenes. Aiyo.. you said that it was too scary. And the rest of the ride was spent consoling you. You only started to look around as we reached the end of the ride when Sinbad had rescued the princess.

We tried to look for a place to grab a quick bite, then headed down for the 7pm parade. After the parade, we gathered at the meeting point then headed to check into our next hotel.

At the hotel, we dropped our luggage and headed to the Korean BBQ restaurant just across the road from the hotel. Dinner was so yummy. After that I left you with daddy while I went to Doota with the 2 che-che's. When I got back, I had expected you to be asleep, but no you were still so energetic. At last it was zzzz time for us all.

Day 3: More Pictures

Here are some pictures taken from Ah Kong's camera:

Our beef steamboat

Side dishes to go with the steamboat and rice


Enjoying lunch wrapped in seaweed

Getting ready to ski: Fighting with the ski boots

First one ready: Evan Ban

Stylo or not? Ski suit complete with skis and even ski goggles

Evan and mummy trying to balance

You managed to sort of ski down the little slope, but I had gone ahead of you and fallen down and before I could get up, you crashed into me. Shortly after that Ah Ma went to rent a sled for you which was what you played with till we (as in daddy and I) were too tired and had to drag you back to the hotel.

Day 3: And Away We Go

We made a pit stop halfway to the ski fields. You were so excited with the ski fields that it was easy to get you out of bed that morning. As we drove nearer to the ski fields, we could see more and more snow on the ground. And it had started to snow too. You could not see the snow very well as the bus was moving, but when we stopped for lunch you were so excited. Here you are happily posing for daddy in the snow:

Lunch was a yummy steamboat and you got to stop and play with the snow on the ground before we got into the bus. Daddy stayed outside for a while and we were chatting in the bus when suddenly.. *SPLAT*.. a snowball hit the bus window. It was daddy. You immediately wanted to get out of the bus to join daddy in the fun, but it was too late.. time to continue our journey to the hotel on the ski fields. We made another quick stop to pick up the rented ski suits.

We checked in and were supposed to meet Bob after an hour but as the ski fields were closed for a while, we decided to go down and have some fun in the snow before we get our skiing instructions from Bob.

Daddy set up his tripod and had our family picture taken:

We only managed to pull you away from the lure of the snow to take a few pictures which surprisingly you happily posed for before you started to play with the snow, attacking daddy and Ah Kong:

It's a good thing you were wearing a rented suit. Else I don't know what you'd be wearing the next day since this suit was very wet (although, the rented suit dried up very quickly)

I need to get the pictures from Ah Kong's camera as we were all decked and ready for skiing except for Ah Ma so she was the photographer for the ski adventure.

Day 3: Changing of the Guards

Day 3 began early in the day with a morning call at 7am. But of course since there were 3 of us, daddy and I woke up at 6.30am knowing that we needed more time to wake you up and to get you ready. Brought our bags down at 8am and quickly bundled into the bus away from the cold morning.

We drove for a while before arriving at our breakfast location. It was a buffet style of breakfast serving mainly Korean food (imagine kimchi for breakfast!!) in a big hall with many people from many tours having breakfast.

Next stop was Kyongbok Palace to watch the changing of the guards ceremony. The center of the walkway was cleared and we stood around watching the guards. Jeff Ko-ko gave us fliers which showed the different guard uniforms and the status represented by each uniform.

We took a group picture before we began the tour of the palace with Bob:

We felt so cold, so we put on our beanie but you refused to put on the beanie, complaining that it was poking your hair.

Here's a family shot which Jeff Ko-ko had helped to take:

After that we hopped onto the bus to head for the next stop.

P/S: Jeff Ko-ko is the freelance photographer who was with our tour. He seemed to take a liking to you, carrying you around, fooling around with you and taking quite a number of pictures of you despite being able to speak very little English. And he called you "Pororo" which at the end of the trip became a name which some others in the tour started to call you too.

Day 2: Ahn Nyeong Ha Se Yo

Yup.. we're in Korea. It was a last minute plan (well all organized in less than a month.. so I reckon still can be counted as a "last minute plan"). The plane arrived at 7am local time. After clearing immigration, collecting our bags and meeting with Mr Lai, the tour leader and the rest of the tour group, we headed to the bus after we were introduced to Bob our tour guide. It was SOOOOO cold. When we arrived it was -3 degrees. Yikes. Good thing we packed our warm clothing in the hand carry and had bulked up before walking out of the airport. Incheon airport was quite a distance from Seoul, you took a nap of almost an hour while Bob shared some information about Korea to us. First stop for the trip was a museum (I have no recollection of the exact name). We bundled up and got of the bus. First thing that hit us is the COLD. It was SO SO cold. The short walk from the airport to the bus was nothing compared to this. Ah Kong and Ah Ma agreed to have their picture taken, but I was too cold to pose for daddy to take a picture of us.

We ran into the museum, walked a little and sat around for a hot drink. Having warmed up a little more, we headed out for pictures:

Then we got into the bus and headed to the next stop "Ice Gallery". Bob kept telling us we'll be making our own cups, but somehow I could not get what he meant until we walked into this open room. There was another group of tourists chipping away at blocks of ice. Ah.. it was a "cup designing" competition. Each one was given a chisel and a block of ice with a pair of knitted gloves and plastic gloves. We got started on our creation after receiving some basic instructions from the instructor. It certainly looked so simple when he made it, but it was not when we tried. You were so excited and immediately started on your ice block the moment we were told to start. Shortly after someone came and gave you a plastic apron to keep your jacket dry. I had to keep an eye on you and help you hold your ice for fear of your chipping off your finger (or even poking your eye) instead of the ice!

When ten minutes was up, we took our "cups" to be washed and filled with orange crush to drink. Then our creations were judged and 1st, 2nd and 3rd place were announced. Daddy was placed in first place. Wow!

Here's daddy with his creation in one hand, a ice vase with flowers in the other and an ice crown along with his gold medal. Great job, daddy!

Next, we went down one floor to the ice gallery. Everything was carved out of ice. Here is daddy and you trying out the ice-slide. Look at the temperature here:

Clockwise from top left: Daddy trying out a "frozen throne" to see if this is better than the one at home; with mummy posing with the cute bear; trying out the "frozen PC"; also trying out the throne.

After the ice gallery, we had lunch. It was a local dish called Samgyetang (Korean Ginseng Chicken Soup). Er.. the taste seem rather bland to me but you loved it. Ate a little of the chicken and kept asking Jeff Ko-ko (the photographer for the tour) to add more noodles for you.

Next we hopped onto the bus for a drive to Nami Island. This is an island which is very famous ever since they filmed the Korean movie Winter Sonata. We waited in the super cold for the ferry to arrive and quickly hopped into the warm ferry. It was just a short ride. After being given instructions and a map we started to walk and look around this little island. Many decorations on this island were made of recycled items.

Clockwise from top left: So excited for being able to stand of the frozen lake which we had to access via a very slippery walkway; cuddling with mummy in front of the ice sculpture; a family picture framed by the trees; grinning with mummy in another picture with the trees.

After walking quite a distance, we stopped to feed ourselves the pancake called Hotteok. It was highly recommended by Bob and you happily ate it all, although I thought you may not like it as the dough had green tea. It was so delicious eating this warm pancake in the cold winter.

We were too tired to walk back so we hopped onto this train, which is the UNICEF charity train. It took us back to the wharf where we quickly hopped onto the waiting (and warm) ferry.

It was another long drive back to Seoul but we had some time for a little shopping in Doota in Dongdaemun before dinner and checking into the hotel. A long day, but the bus ride gave us all opportunity to catch up on sleep which we missed during the flight to Korea.

Day 1: And Away We Go

The day started as usual after a busy evening the night before in Uncle Sin Tien's house for the Christmas party. Went out for lunch then back home to check that everything was packed and got ready to wait for Uncle Sin Tien who came to pick us to the airport.

At the airport we checked in and had to wait for Uncle Sin Tien to round back home to pick up something for Ah Ma before going into the departure hall to wait for our flight. We had a rather long wait as we went to the airport earlier to ensure we got good seats for the connecting flight. As it was a tour, we could not pick the seats upfront online.

Soon it was time to embark on the plane and off we went to KL. At KL, we had quite a lot of transit time so we walked around, looked for something to eat for dinner. The choices was very limited and we ended up with Deli France then headed to the the Plaza Premium Lounge as we had nothing else to do until the time to get to the boarding gate. At last when it was nearly time, we stopped by to pick up a bottle of wine then headed to our gate.

We met our tour leader then proceeded to board the plane. Supper was served and you got a child's meal. After that I had to convince you to go to sleep. It was already past 12 am by then and contrary to what I expected, you seemed very alert still. But at last you fell asleep. It didn't feel like a very long sleep (should be only considered a "nap") then it was time for breakfast.

And so that is how we spent Day 1 of our tour.

The First Day of Our Holiday

Daddy had started his holiday earlier as he still had leave which he needed to clear (of course, he still had to work a little during his "holiday"). And since we did not bring you our anywhere since your school holiday started I also cleared my work and decided to take Friday off.
The night before we booked movie tickets to Alvin and The Chipmunks which is your favourite (you have watched the second movie so many times!!). In fact the day before you called me at work and said "Mummy you have to buy me Happy Meal.. because they are giving Alvin and The Chipmunks toys".
So on Friday morning, we settled some errands, then headed to Gurney Plaza for lunch. Daddy wanted to try Michealangelo's but you insisted on Dragon-I. Aiyo.. ok fine.
Shopped a little then headed to catch the movie. It was funny and I think you enjoyed it. Of course there was also the popcorn part which you liked. We bought some groceries before heading home. But before that, one quick stop at Irrawady Fine Foods to pick up a couple of packets of Serrano Ham for the Christmas dinner in Uncle Sin Tien's house this Sunday.
Before we got home, you'd dozed off. Must have been a long day for you, as you already don't take naps. Anyhow, we let you nap for about an hour before waking you up to get dinner. Ah Ma did not cook as Kakak had gone to clean the condo. We were having guests staying at the condo. Dinner was McDonald's and obviously you got your Alvin toy. So the whole of Friday was "Evan's" day.

Visa Rejected

Poor daddy. He is on leave today and thought that he could go for a game of golf while you go for art class, but his "visa" was rejected by the Deputy Home Minister (you..!!)
In the end he could only squeeze in a quick game of 9 holes with Ah Kong and he had to wait for you to leave before they could leave the house. And when he got back he quickly took a shower before you got back from art class.

Mega Sports Camp Day 4

Oops.. just realised I had one more post to go on the final day of the camp. As usual we dropped you off after registering and you went up to join the other children before the games began. One of the games was playing with balloon filled with water.

And when I got back on Friday, I was surprised to find that you brought back something else:

A medal for "Best Child". It was given to one child per team. We're so proud of you.

On the next day you told me in a very sad voice "Mummy why was Mega Sports Camp only for 4 days?". Yup, that confirms that you had a great time. And I heard that this is the last round of Mega Sport Camp and they would be organizing other types of camp next year. Either way, I'm glad that you made it to the camp this year and if it's a different type of camp, I'm sure you'll have just as much fun.