Cruisin' for Brusin'

Ahoy Mateys!

Last week, our family of 3+2+2 went for our first cruise vacation. It was a 3 day/night trip on a Singapore-Penang-KL-Singapore route on board Royal Caribbean Cruise's Legend of the Seas.

The last time I was on one of these cruise ships was back in 1985 when I accompanied my folks on a Scandinavian holiday. We left London for Denmark via ship before travelling on a combination of a tour bus road trip and ship to Norway and Sweden, and then back to London. En route back to London, the English Channel was throwing up enormous waves and I was rocked from one side of the ship to the other. At 11, I was rather independent and my folks often left me to own my devices so I roamed the ship on my own (I even shared a cabin with a 74-year-old English lady who was travelling alone). I even recalled I'd gone to watch Ghostbusters and when Dad came to pick me up from the ship's theatre he found me sitting on the stairs as I was giddy from the wobbling and couldn't stand or walk straight without my legs giving way.

You could say that I don't have very fond memories of my last sea adventure.

My parents and I were travelling in the North Sea where the waters are much choppier than the relatively calmer seas within the South East Asian region. Then again, I could be wrong since I'm not much of a Geography student.

Anyway, this trip was a rather last minute decision and the hub was pretty keen on it since he's never been on a cruise holiday before. After weighing the pros and cons of jetting off to another country by air (the cost of 7 tickets is a hefty fee) and considering the activities we're limited to doing as a family - the elderly can't walk far while the kids are too happy scampering all over the place and if the 3 girls dart off in separate directions, the hub and I would be outrun - we decided on a cruise so that my in-laws could retire in the room if they were tired.

Of course, there was another draw: the *ker-ching* machines at the casino on the ship if FIL got bored on board. (Pun intended).

It turned out to be a pretty decent vacation though as usual, the hub and I didn't exactly relax because for some strange reason, kids always, and I mean ALWAYS seem to go on automatic "stress-mum-and-dad" overdrive whenever they're on a holiday. Parents of young children would understand *exactly* what I'm talking about.

It's like all 3 kids were on a super-duper sugar diet. As expected, there was lots of screaming, yelling, laughter, tears. And I haven't even begun to describe my hyperactive kiddos.

The girls eagerly waiting to board the ship

We were fortunate to get two cabins next to each other, especially since I made the booking almost 2 weeks before setting off and it was running on a 100% occupancy rate. They gave us Oceanview Staterooms (2556 & 2558) that were meant for wheel-chair bound travellers and this was great as the cabins were roomier and the toilets were bigger.

The 3 girls in their "woo-hoo-we're-on-holiday-let's mess-up-the-bed" mode

Xian shared a room with her grandparents while the younger girls bunked in with us. Every morning, a grumpy Xian would shuffle into our room to brush her teeth and change. (She wasn't happy that she'd to be separated from us but 5 to a cabin is a pretty tight squeeze).

Honestly, you can never go hungry on the ship. Almost every corner of the ship was a counter to get food. There seemed to be a never-ending buffet at the Windjammer Cafe and that was also where we encountered some really ugly Singaporeans who laid bare their disgusting attitudes.

On the first day we boarded, we could only get into our rooms after 2pm so most of us adjourned to Windjammer Cafe for lunch. By the time we made our way up to Deck 9, the only seats left were at the poolside outside the cafe which was where we sat. The hub, Xian and I had to stand in queue to enter the cafe to get food as the service staff were busy trying to replenish the dishes. The poor cafe crew had to prevent passengers from barging their way into the cafe and some were obviously trying to cut the queue by providing lame excuses. This was what the hub overheard:

Cafe Crew: Sorry sir, we're replenishing the food right now. Please give us a moment.
Rude Man: I'm only going inside to get sugar. Why can't I go in?
Cafe Crew: We have sugar outside at the drink station just behind me. You can get sugar there.
Rude Man: But I want to go in. The sugar inside tastes better!

Pardon me, but what kind of blistering idiot is this?!?! "The sugar inside tastes better?" WTF?!

And while I was standing in line with Xian, a young lady about 18/19 in tight black shorts pushed her way in front, elbowed Xian and growled at the cafe crew:

Rude Girl: Excuse me. I already got a place outside. Why must I queue?
Cafe Crew: I'm sorry Ma'am. There's no more food. Please give us some time to replenish the food.

Rude Girl (clucks her tongue impatiently): How long must I wait?!!
Cafe Crew: About 5 minutes, Ma'am.
Rude Girl: OK. You said 5 minutes right?
Cafe Crew: Yes Ma'am. About 5 minutes.
Rude Girl: I'll come back in exactly 5 minutes. (Read: I'm coming back in 5 minutes and I mean EXACTLY 5 minutes. I better be allowed in since you said 5 minutes. I'm holding you accountable to your words or you'll be sorry.)

The Rude Girl wheeled about, flicked her long hair, cursed under her breath as she stormed off in a rage. She brushed against Xian again but didn't apologise. That was when Xian and I exchanged looks and I could see Xian's puzzled face because she didn't understand what the fuss was about.

Really, it wasn't a long wait and I didn't see the need for imprudence or impatient because there's PLENTY of food! Needless to say, we didn't fancy having all our meals there so we chose to dine at the Romeo and Juliet Restaurant (which serves only breakfast and dinner) on Deck 4 whenever possible.

1st Night - Formal Dinner

Penang was our first stop and that's also where we had originally planned to visit before we joined the cruise. In fact, the only reason why we picked this route was because Penang was one of the port of calls. We decided not to join any of the tours to Penang arranged by the ship so made prior arrangements to hire a private passenger bus to take us around. When we berthed at Penang, we set out to visit several beautiful temples: Snake Temple (and yes, I held up a snake!), Kek Lok Si Temple, Wat Chaiyamangkalaram (Thai Buddhist Temple) andDhammikarama Burmese Temple and stopped along the way to enjoy some Penang Assam Laksa and Fried Hokkien Noodles. With only about 5 hours to spare, that was all we had time for before heading back to the ship. A real pity because there were a few more temples and other popular places like the Toy Museum we wanted to visit.

Great Snakes! It's alive!

Kek Lok Si Temple

Who's the real monkey?

Done with Assam Laksa?

Thai Buddhist Temple

Thai Buddhist Temple - Reclining Buddha

Burmese Buddhist Temple

Look who's pooped out?

The next day we reached Kuala Lumpur (KL) where we took the tour bus to visit KLCC and Petronas Twin Towers, Chinatown and Lot 10 Shopping Mall. Owing to overwhelming response from our fellow passengers who wanted to do shopping, our route was changed so we stopped for a quick photograph view of KLCC and proceeded to Lot 10. We probably spent 15 minutes in Lot 10 before deciding there wasn't much we could buy (too expensive) and walked opposite to Sungei Wang where bought school shoes, casual shoes and Chinese New Year clothes for the kids. That was just about it for KL.

A view of KLCC - Petronas Twin Towers

Back on board Legend of the Seas, we were treated to a surprise dinner performance by the waiters, chefs and service crew at the Romeo and Juliet Restaurant. We also enjoyed the final evening show at Deck 5's That's Entertainment lounge before heading back to the cabins. The kids stayed with the in-laws for a bit while the hub and I wandered around the ship as we'd never really got the chance to explore the place.

We chanced upon the midway screening of Twilight: Eclipse at the Anchors Aweigh Lounge and sat down to watch. After 15 minutes, the hub got bored and wanted to return to the cabin but I chose to stay on to finish the film - not that it was such an awesome movie, but it was the only time I was "free" of the kids and I could chill for a bit. By the time the screening ended, it was midnight and when I got back, the girls were asleep. (I think the hub was a little miffed as he'd wanted to take his father to the casino for the last night).

The girls with regular table waitress who's from Romania

Cruise Director Bobby and the performers

My final verdict? The Legend of the Seas is worth any sea adventurer's salt and I'd give it a 3.5 stars out of 5. Despite my initial misgivings about the trip, I quite enjoyed myself and my only regret was that I didn't the chance to try out the facilities or roam about freely on decks without having to worry about a kid running off or hiding in some corner. But the kids had fun and that's all that matters.

Having said that, travelling companions are crucial as they have the ability completely wipe out your enthusiasm even if you're on a 5 star cruise liner. I would love to make another trip with the ship, this time on a different route to different destinations. :)

A family photo of 5 of us

Almost The End (of 2010)

It's the last day of November and it's creeping me out!

I've had my fair share of Ups and Downs - perhaps a lot more disappointments than pleasant surprises - but there's still one more month to go. Hopefully, December will be the chocolate syrup on the mudpie! (I've been trying to cut down on chocolate 'cos it's been destroying my teeth and waistline...)

A couple of things lined up for December: Walking with Dinosaurs show with the kids at the National Indoor Stadium and a 3 Night Best of Malaysia cruise (family of 3+2+2) on board Royal Caribbean's Legend of the Seas.

Am I looking forward to the break? Well, yes and no. I mean, who wouldn't want a holiday? Although it's a short trip (and a short reprieve from work) and I'm looking forward to spending some quality time with my kids, I'd have preferred a longer vacation and one that will allow for a little more "freedom".

But who am I to complain? I should thank my lucky stars for what I have and not compare my situation with others.

All the same, I'm waiting for the day when I can finally break the chains of constraints. Then again, perhaps when the time comes, I may *actually* miss the moments of insanity and frustration.

Whatever.

Anyway, last Saturday was the school's 20th Anniversary Dinner & Dance at The Fairmont Singapore Hotel. 10 iPads were up for grabs as lucky draw prizes but alas, I wasn't fated to win any. There were over 1,000 staff - what were the odds of me laying my hands on one of them?

But my tablemates and I did enjoy ourselves with the games despite not winning anything. I didn't take many photos either but did snap a couple and here they are:

The 3 Amigos - taken from Ramesh's camera

Ms Cool "sandwiched" between the Mumsys

Half of Table 78

Table 78 and "guests"

Food for thought: will we all still be around for the 25th Anniversary D&D?

Bali!

It's the Holidays, at last!

November was hectic. Which explains the lack of activity here.

But I've got precious little time before I set off to Bali in a few hours.

Yes, I'm going on a short 4-day trip with my girls, the hub PLUS 2 sets of parents. Ambitious, eh?

No matter. I'm taking a huge gulp of air and packing along extra bags of patience which I hope will help me through the short holiday. ;)

Bali, here I come!

A Break of Sorts

With the School Supplementary Board of Examiners' (BOE)Meeting completed on Friday, we're almost done with Semester I (April) Academic Year 2009/2010. This Tuesday's the Polytechnic BOE and results will probably be released on Thursday.

And then it's time to move on to Semester II (October) Academic Year 2009/2010 which starts officially on 19 October 2009.

There's just 2 weeks of so-called break. Technically it's our holidays because there're no lessons scheduled. But there's tonnes of administration and preparations for the new term. And in between the period there're meetings and our annual Diploma Retreat.

ARGH. That leaves only a couple of days for a quick reprieve. And that also explains why I get irritated when people assume that teachers and lecturers share the luxury of "long" holidays when school's out. Nobody (save those in the same plight and education industry) understand the behind-the-scenes work involved.

Exactly on the same day last year, our entire family of 7 (including MIL and FIL) were en route our 9-day trip to Perth. Now that Xian's in Primary 1, it's impossible for us to take an out-of-school-term holiday. And the only time her vacation coincides with mine is 2 weeks in December - a traditionally more expensive and crowded period as all other families also take the chance to travel overseas.

At the moment, we're planning a short road trip to Genting Highlands. I guess that's as much of a holiday we're going to enjoy this year.

home. sick.

i'm back from my 8 day trip to western australia. touched down at singapore changi airport at about 9.20pm on sunday night, 5 october 2008.

it was a lovely break, marred by my falling horribly ill on sunday itself. i wasn't able to sleep much the night before, tossing and turning in bed, waking up with chills and feeling too warm the next hour. but it was only after we checked out of the hotel and headed for breakfast that i just wanted to crawl back under the covers.

i was attacked by a nasty stomach flu. plus too much of rich food, and an overdose of dairy products and meat.

naturally i didn't eat any breakfast as i was overwhelmed by nausea. just the mere thought of food was enough to scramble to the toilet to throw up. the hub had planned to take the kids to AQWA - The Aquarium of Western Australia but i was in no condition (or desire) to go anywhere, except the washroom.

since our flight back to singapore was at 3.55pm, we had some time to spare so the hub went ahead as planned and drove to AQWA. throughout the journey, i was slumped in the backseat with a plastic bag hovering within inches of my face, ever-ready to barf.

wei didn't help the situation with her constant screaming (she doesn't like to be in the car for too long) and the older girls' constant squabbling over nothing and MIL's constant yelling to settle them only added to my throbbing headache.

when we arrived at AQWA, the hub brought xian and wen along while i stayed in the car with wei, MIL and FIL. that was the best arrangement we could figure out as both MIL and FIL weren't too keen on going and even if the hub slung wei in the sarong she wouldn't have understood what was happening.

i tried to take a nap in the car and i think the rest did me some good as i didn't feel as yucky as i did in the morning. at the airport, i managed to consume 1/4 of a cinnamon croissant before boarding the plane. once on the aircraft, i only drank orange juice and water and stole a few pieces of cut fruit from xian's tray since i couldn't eat any savoury food.

actually, i think i would have recovered a little faster if i didn't have to care for a cranky baby. everyone else had some shut-eye time but i wasn't so fortunate.

wei's a bit claustrophobic - she doesn't like to be confined in spaces like the car and airplane - and creates a ruckus when we don't attend to her needs immediately. thankfully, both the MIL and FIL were seating with me and they both took turns to bounce her on their laps and "entertain" her till she got bored and yelled herself hoarse and i carried her back to my seat.

well, my baby terrorliza ain't called screamy for no reason.

the hub was a real sweetie as well. he decided to carry wei during the plane's descend, knowing full well that she'd erupt into another chorus of wails because of the discomfort in her ears due to the change in air pressure. both xian and wen chipped in to distract and comfort wei during the last 15 minutes on the plane until we touched landed. amazingly, the minute wei was placed back in the sarong and we left the plane she became silent again.

monsterina, rascalrella and baby terrorliza (with a 'buay song' look)

usually at the end of any holiday, i'd be moody because i'd wish i could extend my vacation. this time round, i couldn't wait to get back to the comfort of home so that i could enjoy a good rest instead of rushing around after the kids in a foreign land.

*sigh*

it was a real pity that i was ill towards the tail-end of the trip. not the most wonderful ending of an enjoyable holiday with the family. but we did have lots of fun, and we managed to do what we'd mapped out to accomplish. i'd give this trip an 8/10, points lost only because i became sick.

having said that, i can't WAIT for our next family vacation. but first, the hub and i have got to recover from the huge hole in our savings caused by the holiday expenses. plus with the current economic and financial peril, i'm not too hopeful that we'll be able to afford another trip so soon.

we'll see it goes. by the way, we took about 546 photos during our 9 day western australia holiday and i'll need some time to sort them out, so won't be posting them up so soon. :)

going Down Under

we're flying off to perth, western australia this saturday!

i know this may mean nothing much to fortunate souls who are frequent travellers - but it sure is a huge deal for me. my last overseas holiday via air (minus the 2D1N business trip to brisbane in 2005) was to phuket in 2004 when there was only 1 kid in our family then. xian was about 20 months old when holidayed at phuket. she's now 6 years old.

wen's only been driven across the causeway and has never got the chance to travel by air. wei's only 5 months so this will be her first holiday experience. both wen and wei will take to the skies for the first time in their lives...and i don't know what to expect on the plane!

initially the hub was planning for new zealand (i was ecstatic because i wanted to visit as many LOTR sites as possible and visit my cousin and his family) but it was way too expensive and we estimated that 20k may not be enough for a 8 day tour! so i suggested perth since no-one (aside from myself) has been there. the 4.5h flight's more manageable too.

there'll be 7 of us on this trip: FIL, MIL, the 3 princesses, the hub and i. it's a free-and-easy self drive and we've mapped out our destinations: perth, fremantle, bunbury, bussleton, margaret river, bindoon (farmstay). we're only covering a modest portion of the south-west region as there's only 1 driver (the hub) and i don't want him to be too exhausted.

and thank goodness we're living in the internet age! we got all the information we wanted off the net and made our flight and accommodation arrangements via the web too.

unfortunately i'm still stuck with loads of administrative and module assessment work that need to be cleared within the next 3 days before the trip. i'm running on a tight schedule and have to work till the very last minute on friday (perhaps even staying up to finish my stuff) before i take the morning saturday flight out to perth.

which also explains why i haven't written about this trip earlier. work's been eating up my waking moments. plus baby's middle of the night feeds = a drained mumsy.

but i promise to give an account and upload the photos once i'm back.

till then, G'DAY MATE! ;)

year end holidays

we're heading for a short drive trip up to genting highlands in malaysia...

...together with the hub's entire family.

that's 3 cars, 8 adults, 6 kids altogether.

the plan is to leave really early in the morning (because it's a public holiday) for genting on 20 december, stay for 2 nights, drive down to malacca for a night before coming back home on 23 december. we're booked at theme park hotel (i think - BIL made the arrangements) and renaissance melaka hotel. it's going to be a really short trip. we'd love to stay on a little longer but had to take into consideration the hub's 2nd brother's work schedule, amongst other things.

it's been ages since i visited genting - my last trip was in 1989! genting was an obvious choice because the adults would be preoccupied at the casinos while the kids would be thrilled with the rides at the theme park.

the kids are looking forward to the trip, naturally. my 2 older nieces wanted to sit in our car (cos the hub fixed up a portable DVD player to keep the girls entertained during the long hours in the car) but there won't be enough room for them to squeeze in the backseat even though we've got an MPV. there isn't enough leg room for them in the last row - rather, it would be miserably uncomfortable and crampy during the few hours in the car. besides, i need to sit with and watch my own 2 monsterinas in the back. and my ballooning body needs lotsa comfy stretching space.

this won't be the hub's first drive up to malaysia, but dad was right beside navigating him in our june holiday. this time round, he's going to rely heavily on the new packard bell GPS system he installed specially for the trip. and, of course i'll try to help in the map-reading even though i'm no expert. :P

honestly, i don't know what to expect during the trip. travelling in a convoy of relatively "green-horned to malaysian roads" drivers isn't going to be smooth sailing. there's always a high possibility that one of the cars might take a wrong turn, especially when we hit the main traffic. plus there'll be 6 hyperactive kids, 2 senior citizens and 1 pregnant woman (that's me) to content with. we'll have to accommodate certain dietary requirements and fussy eaters (guilty as charged, again). no mean feat? think again!!!

so perhaps it's a blessing that it's only going to be a short holiday...heh heh.

holiday pictures

there. all done.

here are my Sentosa and Fraser's Hill/PJ holiday pictures:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/9106399@N08/sets/72157600388203584/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/9106399@N08/sets/72157600388204926/

it got a little tedious writing the captions (which took me ages) but i figured even though it's a painful activity now, it will prove beneficial when my memory fails me in future - not too long from now. :P

back in singapore

i'm back in one piece and i survived the road trip!!!

*phew*

actually, i was back a week ago but have been too busy to update this blog site.

in truth it was a relatively smooth journey only because of 2 reasons:

1) hub installed a cheap portable DVD player in the car and we used that to distract the fidgety kids

2) i'm still breastfeeding wen who was latching on to me like a koala on a eucalyptus tree 3/4 of the drive time.

heh. so whenever i sniff a whiff of stale boredom lingering in the air (usually a pre-cursor to another sibling brawl) i quickly pull out the remote control, press a button and hey presto...silence from the kids for at least half an hour. the best part? they usually drift to sleep midway through the movie and that would deliver a peaceful spell for the adults in the car.

having my folks around to help mind the kids was also a blessing (especially since wen's glued to grand-dee when she's not stuck to the human milk machine-cum-pacifier) as that gave me about 38 seconds to catch my breath before i started running after the energetic rascals again.

my girls, i mean. not my parents.

i can hardly understand the logic though. the little imps didn't eat very much yet they never seemed to tire. don't know where they get their fuel from.

all in all, it was a good trip. the 3 days at fraser's hill was a relaxing getaway from the smog infested city. the cool countryside fresh air was a welcome. there was much nothing to do and i'll admit that it can be utterly boring but taking care of the girls' needs chalked up most of our time.

both xian and wen enjoyed the horse rides - xian's old enough to sit on the horse on her own and we took them to the paddock twice. in total, xian enjoyed 5 rounds while wen had 4 rounds (the first day the hub sat with her, the second time it was my turn). thinking back, i should have allowed wen to go for another round since it costs only RM7.00 for 2 of us.

ah well. there's always a "next time".

there was also a large playground that kept them entertained for an hour...and that was pretty much it. the rest of the time we were back at the lodgings where we cooked alphabet soup or porridge, mostly for wen, before we drove around to settle our own meals at various eating places.

poor wen had to nurse a swollen eye though. we suspect she was bitten by mosquitoes while we stopped over at auntie mag's home for a stretch and quick lunch before we continued our drive up to the hills.

so yes, my little darling had a really puffy eyelid for 2 days - and that ruined many lovely photographs though it didn't stop her from horsing around.

we left fraser's hills on saturday, drove back to petaling jaya and checked into hotel armada petaling jaya where the 4 of us (kids, hub and i) napped before we attended marcus and amelia's wedding. it was a small simple affair and like most filial children, the traditional chinese wedding dinner was staged more for the benefit of the parents than the couple themselves.

on sunday, my dearest dad scheduled appointments with his old school chums and buddies who were residing in PJ/KL, including the famous karpal singh, a reputable lawyer who was one of the lead counsel appearing for the defence of ex-malaysia deputy PM Anwar Ibrahim in 1999. we spent half our sunday at mr karpal singh's home before heading back to the hotel in the late afternoon for a short rest (while dad drove himself back to continue his "discussions" with his pals) and then proceeded to mid valley megamall for dinner and some shopping.

the following monday we took a leisure drove out of PJ, stopped over at malacca for lunch and more shopping - the hub bought a new pair of sunglasses as wen had broken his old one during the trip, i got more t-shirts for the girls and we ended up grabbing groceries at jusco. then it was homeward bound and we were back in singapore by 8pm on monday night.

*phew*

incidentally, our ever-faithful 8-year-old washing machine had to work overtime for a few days before all our soiled, smelly clothes emerged clean and freshly laundered.

it was a great time for family bonding - with my folks and the kids. and we may even do this more regularly. my dad and the hub are already discussing a possible trip up sometime in december!

looks like i've to brace myself for more road trips :P

road trip

i'm still scrambling to sort out the pictures from my Sentosa break.

do be patient. will definitely regale you with photos and tales of my short little holiday.

all i can say is that i can't believe i managed to survive with my 2 rascals - during those LOOOOOOONG hours hub was holed up in discussions with his colleagues.

now i'm swamped with work - marking to be precise - busy busy busy especially since i'll be on vacation leave again in 2 days' time.

together with my parents, we'll be setting off to Fraser's Hill on wednesday and staying at Fraser's Silverpark Resort for 3 days and then we'll be driving down to Petaling Jaya for the wedding of marcus and amelia. i managed to book 2 deluxe rooms at Hotel Armada Petaling Jaya through asiarooms.com for a pretty affordable rate at S$96 per room per night.

this will be the hub's first driving experience in malaysia. i'm sure he'll do fine - my dad will be sitting next to him to help with the navigation.

now the next challenge is to keep the kids occupied and distracted during the long drive to malaysia. hub's intending to buy a portable DVD player and install it in the car. i even visited toys "r" us to stock up on a few items which will hopefully keep them entertained when they get bored from watching the DVDs. we plan to start our journey really early in the morning so that the rascals will be sleeping most of the way.

i'm almost certain the impatient xian will ask the inevitable "are we there yet?" question several times during the drive. :P

hell hath no fury

you know what?

after all that hullabaloo over "important" dates (which destroyed my bintan trip), the hub told me that BOTH meetings (which had been scheduled right smack in the middle of our bintan trip and fraser's hill trip) have been POSTPONED.

all that trouble to rearrange our itinerary and schedules to accommodate the clients (gah-men officials, no less) came to naught.


i'm seething with anger.

wouldn't you be?

i COULD have been in bintan tomorrow.

i COULD have attended marcus' wedding first before visiting the hills (the original arrangement isn't so rushed and there's more time for hub, the driver, to rest.)

unfortunately, we've been inconvenienced by some civic-mindless-ness civil servants. suffice to say, i do not wish to associate myself with these lemmings although i'm now in the civil service too - but thankfully my years of private sector training have not been contaminated by this selfish breed of agents. perhaps i'm immune to their insensitivity, production-style, robotic and insensitive service.

oh, it's perfectly forgivable to mess up other people's holiday plans. after all, we mere mortals will just have to make some *tiny* sacrifices while the higher beings, i.e. the ones who wield the power, absently scratch out appointments with their montblancs. rather, their secretaries perform those menial tasks for them.

on a side note, i've just completed The Bartimaeus Trilogy by Jonathan Stroud, ahead of schedule, if i may add. in the three novels, the power-hungry magicians form the ruling government while the poor oppressed commoners (non-magicians) live in mortal fear of the selfish leaders, constantly being subjected to hogwash propaganda. although it's supposedly a work of fiction, i recognise the parallelism of the political structure to other countries. one in particular, not too far away from the equator.

oh, the wicked world of politics.

as the saying goes: "absolute power corrupts absolutely."

over the hills and not-so-far-away

i'm still a little upset over my dashed bintan trip. but we've confirmed another short holiday in early june.

my childhood friend marcus will be holding his traditional wedding banquet in kuala lumpur, malaysia and we (parents, kids and us) will be driving up to attend the dinner.

i've known marcus since i was 3 years old and he was 1 plus. our fathers have been friends since their university days and our families have been pretty close all these years. when marcus decided to study in singapore (raffles institution, no less - that brainy dude) my parents were his local sponsors. naturally, he aced his examinations, went on to RJC and received scholarships to the prestigious oxford university, then yale for his masters.

needless to say, marcus is academically perfect, which was disastrous news for me especially since i'm no braniac and the total number of distinctions in my entire academic career is less than the number of aces he scored in a mid-term test.

not kidding. he's quite the genius.

anyway, our original plan was to arrive at KL for the wedding, spend a night or two there before we drive up to fraser's hill which is about 100km away. with the hub's plentiful meetings scattered all over the next 3 weeks, our schedule's all muddled up but we managed to juggle the days and will visit fraser's hill first before attending marcus' wedding.

i was 3 years old (i think) when we visited fraser's hill and it used to be one of our regular holiday destinations. xian's been up there too, when she was almost 2 years old. on our last visit, during the 2004 easter holidays, my dad drove in to malaysia. this time, it's the hub's turn behind the steering wheel. we'll be staying at frasers silverpark resort again, much like the previous trip.


there isn't very much to do up in the hills - but the cool weather's excellent and the fresh air's a welcoming change. i think the kids would like to try horse riding - although it's just a slow, short ride round the paddock, nothing too fascinating. but who knows? perhaps they will enjoy the experience. :)

as for me, i just want to get out of this country. i've been feeling a little too suffocated lately.

D is for...

on wednesday night i went over to hub's office after work to meet him for dinner. (the girls were at my parents' home and the ILs went out.)

the moment i entered the front door, i was greeted by a few of his colleagues who had somewhat sheepish grins on their faces. they were all standing around near the entrance, apparently having a discussion. when i appeared, they stepped away, revealing the hub seated on the couch...

he had a forced smile on his face.

uh-oh. i recognise that look. it was the harbinger of bad news.

after a few theatrics and nervous splutters, the truth was revealed: something urgent and important cropped up, meetings couldn't be rearranged, so the bintan trip had to be cancelled.

...

what could i say?

i was disappointed beyond words.

devastated and speechless.

i was really looking forward to a short break (away from this country) with the kids. we were planning to celebrate our 8th wedding anniversary there too. i tried my darnest to put on a brave show in front of his colleagues who were anxious that he'd bear the brunt of my fury. (perhaps they were expecting me to throw a hissy-fit?) but after they walked off, i plonked myself next to hub on the couch - my voice cracked and a few tears trickled.

*sigh*

in all honesty, i wasn't angry with anyone. it's not hub's fault and his colleagues have been trying their best (their harried, worried smiles attest to this) to re-arrange the presentations and meetings but the clients' schedules weren't able to accommodate any other dates. and it would be career suicide for the hub NOT to be present at those meetings - unless he's looking for a premature retirement and i become the sole bread-winner of the family. a terrifying option since i don't rake in millions with my teaching job and my pay isn't going to sufficiently cover the home and car loans and hefty monthly expenditures.

*sigh*

the hub knew i'd be upset, so he treated me to a korean dinner - it was a sweet gesture as he was obviously trying to make it up to me. i told him there was really no need to explain the situation. i *do* understand why such sacrifices have to be made (since i'm also a workaholic and my work ethics are similar to the hub's). frankly, i'd have done the same thing if i were in his shoes.

*sigh*

the only consolation is that we may still be building sandcastles overseas - in sentosa, that is - so no passports required. tentative plan: the girls and i can check-in first while the hub and the rest of his colleagues can join us after their mega major meeting is done.

*sigh*

well, sentosa's better than nothing i suppose. but this time round i'm not getting my hopes up high just in case a new wave of disappointment comes crashing down on me again.

*sigh*

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.