hooray for a holiday

i am *finally* going on a holiday!

yooooo-hoooooooooooooooooo!!!

admittedly i've been consumed with insane jealously after reading miss ene's krabi holiday (and that lucky lady's heading to bali in june) and dev's leisurely visit down-under. the last time i was out of the country was in 2005 - a rushed 2-day business trip to brisbane/the gold coast. plus i was 4 months pregnant and exhausted throughout.

so you can pardon my excitement when the hub said we'll be going to bintan next/following weekend!


never mind that our holiday destination is an hour's ferry ride from our humid (and often humourless) little island. it's still a different country, considered "overseas" and we need passports to get there.

anyway, it's not a long vacation and technically, it's not even a holiday - it's a 3D/2N mini company strategic retreat organised for hub and his colleagues. the girls and i are just tagging along. so while hub and gang are busy charting new directions, missions and visions for their company, i'm determined to take the kids out for some fun-in-the-sun beach action, and maybe take an elephant ride or two. when we visited bintan in 2004 (pictures here) xian had asked to see/ride elephants and we obliged. let's hope the elephants are still around.

we'll probably staying at nirwana gardens though there could be some changes (all arrangements made by hub's company). in our last trip, we put up at the idyllic angsana resort, the more affordable cousin of the luxurious banyan tree. really nice place. great for time-out with the darlings.

this will also be wen's first holiday overseas. xian's a little luckier as she'd already visited japan, phuket, malaysia (fraser hills) and bintan before she turned 3 years old. while i'm excited about the trip, i'm a little concerned about stuff i'd have to pack along to entertain the girls, especially since i'll be alone with them for most parts of the day. top items on my list = wen's diapers, kid's sunblock, caps, medication, baby lotion, paper, colour pencils and maybe a few story books.

yes, travelling with children can be quite a hassle, even if it's a short trip. i have one week to prepare...and brace myself for an adventure.