The Original Juice

Sast, 3rd July 2010.


Woke up almost 7am and went down for Bfast!!

OK you gotta excuse the closed eyes.

Dad's desserts??

It was extremely difficult to eat your fill on the buffet spread when you have a restless wriggly toddler on your hand. Even between the 3 of us, i felt exasperated after an hour. Mostly i felt guilty that i'm trying to eat everything while my parents handle Tufeil even tho i had him for a few too.

FIRST ACtivity: SWIMMING!

View of the pool from our room.

Baby pool and adult's pool.

See the floating line? The 1m depth side is very short, it's cramping my style. LOL

I brought all his swimming gears complete with his favourite toys.

Go Grab it, Baby.

Hot Tub Time Machine?

After the shivering cold water of the pool, the jacuzzi was like fire. So i had to introduce him in the hot water slowwwwwwwly... Luckily, there were a few kids messing around and T were fascinated by the Big Kids.

So much so that he followed them to the Adult pool.

OK it's been over an hour now. Almost noon. we should be getting back and go out.

Ok Let's go, Mummy. Brrrrr

NExt STop: COLMAR TROPICALE

Parked our car and walking towards it.

The Green Couple

Shot the Shooter

Lovely

Me: Where shall we have lunch?

Mum: Hmmm Let's have a look there...

For the life of me i can't remember the restaurant's name cos it was too fancy.

Unfortunately, we were too late for the lunch buffet. So we had to order ala carte. We ordered things like Nasi Ayam and Satay. Very local but about 300% more than what we pay outside say... at the Highway R&R. Blargh. and We waited for more than 30min before our food arrived.

Tufeil looking so glum at the absent food.

So Dad entertained him at the kid's corner.

Ok Food's here.

That's how most Malaysian hotel's High Chair look like. It's sooo big T just slipped under.

Possibly, the commonest snap taken at the tower at Colmar.

The other side of the tower.

Well... I hafta say i was disappointed with Colmar. I've heard pple gushed about it... "Wahhh feeling macam kat Europe" and who had honeymooned here and all... But basically, it was actually ONE hotel in a few short buildings with a few more food establishments and other attractions than was normal. The place was small. Worse, weather was not siding with us. A scene like this should be paired with a cool breezy weather.

NExt Up: RABBITS!!!

Entrance Fee: RM 3, even if you just wanna have a seat.

I think Rabbit is the cutest animal in the world. Just look at the way they hop!

Bought Rabbit Food. My! It tickles!

Tufeil was just a bit scared. But at least, he didn't cry.

Now the Donkeys.

Hee horrr!!

Right after this photo, The donkey scared Tufeil with the loudest Hee Hoorr ever, he cried. LOL

I had some rabbit food left over and the guide said we could give it to the donkey. But i did not dare to do it myself. I mean the donkey's mouth is.... HUGE not to mention...wet? So i gave them to this bunch of ARab kids.

Sooo cute... they divided among themselves and each got only one piece of dry food for the big Donkey. The scary part was the youngest among them... maybe 3yo? actually put the thing in his own mouth! It took me a whole minute to figure out why one boy was scolding (i thought bullying?) the small boy when i realised he actually said "MAA Akal" meaning Don't eat?

Last stop at the nearby playground before going home.

Dinner was a bit of a disappointment. That was all my fault. Remember that i negotiated with the hotel manager because we were unhappy with our room? Well to appease us, he gave a 50% discount on Dinner @ the Coffee House. This amounted to RM70 for each of us. And it turned out to be... mediocre to say the least. BORING at best. It didn't help that Tufeil was again, restless. and he pooped too in the middle of it... so we had to rush out then back in as it turned out he didn't after all. and then 15min later he really did. Oh god soooooo tiring!!! Can't wait for him to grow up a little and then he can freeze say... at age 3? and stay cute that way? LOL

Fri 2nd July 2010

We've planned this roadtrip for a long time and kept postponing bcos I felt nervous about Tufeil feeling restless being couped up in the car for so long. Nonetheless, I finally decided to give it a shot.

We went out of the house almost 9am, crossed the border and had bfast at Singgah Selalu. Tufeil was asleep for an hour which made it difficult for me to give him his bfast.

It was almost 11am by the time we hit the PLUS highway at which time i noticed Ayah was dead sleepy so i decided to take over.


Tufeil threw a tantrum at this. At first, he wanted to go to the back with his Atok. When he realised he couldn't get that either, he screamed for me instead. He went on for about 10min while Mum tried to distract him showing him the billboard ad by the roadside etc.

The scenery

And he was lulled to sleep.

Side note: This crying out system (while pacifying him but not relenting) is a good way to make him realise he can't get something out of certain situations. Bcos the next time i was driving, he behaved very well sitting with my mum next to me. Didn't cry at all.

I drove close to 2 hours and we reached Ayer Keroh, Malacca and changed driver. No way in hell am I gonna drive in the streets of Malaysia. Tufeil continued sleeping untill...

Soyat. (Tufeil's slang for solat)

We made this pitstop at mum's relatives' Tahfiz Qur'an school cum house to drop somebody's zakat and were given lunch before proceeding ahead to KL.


We were headed for The Legend. Mum heard good reviews about it and thought we'd try it instead of the usual Cititel bcos the main attraction of this holiday is to actually let Tufeil swim at the pool! hahah So far we went just to go swimming!

When we got there... my expression was "OH THIS is The Legend?? Lerrrr I've been here before for a Retreat with the previous company."

At the Check-In Counter

While waiting for the paperwork to be done.

We didn't book any room in advance bcos we weren't sure where we wanted to stay or if we'd even make it there. And then, there's the issue of how many rooms should we get. I was concerned about my decency as i nurse my baby to sleep the whole night. Mum was all for saving money and just get one room and Ayah could just sleep on the floor on a blanket out of view. I wasn't convinced.

Alas, there weren't any superior nor deluxe rooms available anyway because there was a convention going on. In the end, we got a SUITE! Which is the best solution to me cause they have a separate living area where we could put the extra bed or something. It's a pinch at RM 550+ a night and we were gonna stay for 2. And this is already a discounted rate from Rm 700. And I thought, "What the Hell! Let's just swipe the card. It's not often we get such luxury."

We both drooled when we heard the benefits of taking the suite. FREE snacks/tea from 6 - 8pm at the Lounge. We can opt to have our Bfast at the lounge too as opposed to the often crowded Coffee House. We get free internet access as well as free use of gym and sauna the usual. Weeehooo

Two trolley luggages and a stroller full of misc bags.

Our Room door.

Jeng jeng jeng...

The living area.

Then to the left of this picture, we have...

A desktop computer!!!

Entrance to the room.

Nenek & Cucu

To the right of the bed, there's a Walk-in wardrobe Complete with full length mirrors from 3 angles. This leads to the bathtub, shower and toilet. I captured a video of the whole room for memory but I shan't bore you uploading it up here. But plainly said, we were such a country bumpkin!

Bidet fitted to the seat. Good.

Love the space. Though they could use with not charging a deposit for extra towels.

It was 6pm by the time we settled into the rooms. Just in time for the tea/early dinner.

Eh. Ada Kuih Raya lah...

The short selection

The Ambience

Kuih Melayu westernised.

Tufeil beaming at his Atok.

Trying to entertain and was entertained by T

"High Five!"

Hmmmm The food did not do any damage to my tummy but i decided to sleep the rumble off as I anticipated a BIG BFAST TOMORROW!!!

We just decided to pop out to the shopping center next door. But we were stunned by ....

A row of Bunga Mangga.

Who were they welcoming???

WOW! The Prime Minister was coming for dinner!

We were soo kepo waited for his arrival too. It took some 15min??

To pass the time. Stairs to the Ballroom.

Tufeil entertained by the pianist... NOT!!!

He was more enthusiastic about the black and white rocks. Throwing them about. One actually broke in half and i quickly joined it back together and hid it under the other stones. LOL

Entrance to the shopping center

About an hour later, Tufeil was already restless. At 9.30pm, it was past his bedtime. It was diff having to shower and change him when he was already very sleepy. But an hour later....

ZZZZzzzz

Till this day, i feel guilty that my mum ended up sleeping in the living room too. She said she was afraid Tufeil would wake from her coughing. Sorry, Mummy. The King size bed was of the hard kind and it was refreshing for me. Quite nice actually. But toooooo high. Hmmm Also it was VERY HOT IN THE ROOM!!!! We complained and complained and complained about the room temperature.

The next day, I went to the counter and spoke to the manager personally for which he profusely apologised and sent the building maintenance manager immediately. But when we returned, it was still as hot as ever. He blamed it to the 3 windows facing the sun. Me, i blamed it on POOR AIRCON SYSTEM.

The manager even offered to give us another room. We went to view it and everything. It was like two supreme rooms put together one living area and kitchenette, the other sleeping area, bath and wardrobe. Design was soooo ZEN, i like! But both my parents thought there was no point in shifting for just one night (this is evening of Day 2 already) so i negotiated for a discount instead. And sure enough, we got a further RM 300 off for that night.

In total, our hotel bill was RM 904 and my CC statement changed it to SGD 407!! WOW Weee! Thank you, Lord!

To be continued....

20th July 2010.

Took half day leave yesterday afternoon to watch two movies back to back.
TOY STORY 3
It was great man! Can you believe i cried???? Being a mother, I can't imagine my son growing up and going to college not needing me anymore... That'd be... sad...


Eclipse

Now Eclipse was disappointing to say the least. Amateurish in a blair-witch kinda quality. Too much dialogue, too dark. Although i side with the Vampire, i dont find Pattison or whatever his name is good looking. There are so many things that couldn't be explained visually without words (ie Bella's thoughts and feelings in the book) describing it. Worse was you can't tell which wolf is which.

2nd - 4th July

After the Batam Holiday, we went to KL for the weekend. I've been meaning to write about it but the pictures were mostly taken by Dad and they are all in the other pc. So that's on hold.

Sat, 10th July

We went to JB to celebrate Dad's birthday. Tea at New York Hotel @ RM25++ per person. Buffett runs from 12 - 4pm. Tufeil was restless most of the time. Food corresponds with the price. It's very local - not to my taste. Give me simple/common western dishes anytime. Burnt S$50 that day =(

Sun 11th July

Two of the besties had functions that day. So first we went to Pasir Ris to meet the Newborn. Again. Then to Aloha Loyang to meet the 1yo Bday boy.

Tufeil Swimming with buddies Husainy and Iman.

While the event itself was great, my day wasn't. It involved searching for someone up and down the beach while carrying a 9.5kg baby. Emotions and imaginations ran wild that day but shan't talk more about it.

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HANDPHONE

As you all know i hate my iPhone. I've been trying to find the perfect phone out there for me. I had short-listed a few but either they don't really measure up to what I need/want or its beyond my purse's reach.

1. Sony Ericsson's Vivaz Pro

I love the physical Qwerty and video call but Alas it's a Symbian phone. I heard Symbian is like... going down and apps are not great.

2. Motorola's BackFlip

ANdroid. Video Call. Physical Qwerty but ANdroid in lower edition and when i read reviews, they say the keyboard at the back are prone to become dirty esp u go for lunch and put ur phone on the table. And that cause it's all flat, it's impossible to know what you're keying in.

3. LG something something

I saw a few with qwerty keyboard. But i didnt manage to see what OS they have cos when i saw the live set, it was extremely laggy. SCRATCH.

Then this morning i read the paper and saw Sony Ericsson's X10 Mini PRO selling at $588 w/o contract and i thought, "Hey I can afford that if i sell my iPhone at $550. Looks small, i like that. Dig the keyboard." Then i thought how come Vivaz (not pro) still more exp than this mini. SOmething must be lacking. Sure enough there's no video call.

CAN SOMEBODY TELL ME WHERE CAN I GET A PHONE THAT'S:

1. An Android 2.0 or higher


2. Has video Call


3. Has physical Qwerty


4. Has internal memory at least 16Gb (ok this is not compulsory so long they throw in a free SD card)


5. Sold in Singapore


6. DURABLE. Sustain being thrown by a toddler countless times.

I'll be damned!

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OK i'm tired of being fat. Can i just go for a liposuction already? It's not haram or anything right? Cos we are certainly not born with FAT tyres around the belly. OK we were but it was supposed to go away when we grow up. Besides, it has medical properties. thin = healthy.

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TUFEIL

Just when i decided to buy a Pediasure ready milk in a bottle to replace the eBM he's been refusing, Mum reported that he drank two bottles that day. It was bcos she cut down on his food. His food was running low.

A week after his 15th Month Jab, he got a fever. It's the first time he got fever as a result of the injection. The nurse always warned us of this but he never got it before. That was why i was surprised.

On top of the paracetamol he's taking, we've been giving him the runny nose meds as well cos his cooties never seem to go away! Granted, i keep forgetting to give him the nightly nose drop x 4 weeks to stop this. Shall try to get another new prescription.

1st July 2010.

I had been excited about this trip for ages and ages! At first, we planned to go with Mummy and Ayah and of course Tufeil, maybe even stay overnight. But when i discovered that Tufeil had to pay close to an Adult's ferry fare, plus I would hafta sponsor one of my parents as well as pay for my one, decided could not afford it.

Mummy miraculously allowed me to go alone (read: without baby) with Ash who needs to take a SPA break before starting her new job! We did not stay overnight as it will incur more expenses.

In the run up to the day, i was surfing around for information about Batam. http://www.batamholidays.com/ was a good source of information for a newbie like me - though they could have given more details on the retail shops. I couldn't help but be tempted by the spa packages!! Eg: There's an SGD98 Spa package at Mustika Ratu incl ferry, Massage, Scrub, HydroBath and HAir CreamBath. But Ash told me don't bother cause the place we're going to are way wayyyy cheaper!

We didn't even book anything because we were worried about our periods or of any other misfortunes that we cldn't go. But that fateful Thursday morning, we went out as usual taking a ride with Ayah to Little India and then took the NEL to HarbourFront. and then bought our tickets...

From Penguin services.

View from the Departure Hall

At the waiting area after checking-in but before the gate.

In the ferry!

As it turned out, the boat was less than 50% filled! We were worried about buying tickets at the last minute for nothing! haha

It was impossible for me to catch a nap. I listened to my audiobook, instead. Lucky i was armed with my earphone which i sometimes forget to bring with me.

1hour later, we reached the harbours of foreign land. haha

That was the boat we took.

We went out to get a cab. On the way there, Ash told me that the fare should be around just SGD4 @ 6000 = 24 - 30,ooo Rph. We told each other than we shouldn't pay more than 35,000. But when we reached the taxi stand, we were issued coupon to Nagoya @ Rph 45,000!! we started to bargain but the guys showed us a price chart said its regulated by the govt? We then agreed but now tt i think about it, it sounded phoney. I mean THEIR government regulating cabfares? That sounds quite far fetched!

When we arrived, we paid him with Rph50,000 and he said he didnt have change. So we went out to break the money at the money changer but they cant give us smaller denominations. We told the same to the cab driver and a BIG argument ensued with everybody including the security guards looking on. Ash was very brave telling off the driver. he was trying to keep the change for himself, that was the strategy but we out right refused~! We already thought 45k rph was daylight robbery! In the end, the guards intervened and gave us the small change.

What a bad start to a relaxing day for Ash! Blood pressure went up unnecessarily.

Salon Christopher

We "checked in" to Salon Christopher to get ALLLL our spa things done there. Ash said that they seemed to have expanded since last she been there.

The Massage rooms separated by curtains. If you know each other you can draw them open.

I got my massage 30min, scrub, sauna and shower. That already took 2hours possibly. It was lunch time and my tummy was making some noises as the last meal was McDonald's Bfast some 4 hours ago! So i went out for awhile to get my favourite thing in the world:


J CO DONUTS!!!!

I only bought 3 as i tot we would probably be going to get lunch soon as we finish.

We continued with our Pedi & Manicure. I Got a headstart bcos ASh has a 60min massage. When i finished i asked them for a room to pump my milk. Luckily there were not many pple around and they could adhere to my requests. I felt very sad to throw my hard earned expressed milk away but i had to since there's no place to store them, it would turn bad anyways. Besides, Tufeil has not been drinking eBM much and so i have lotsa frozen ones still.

Total Damage: 323,000 Rph about S$50 maybe less.

I announced that i was famished but Ash said she was still full from the heavy bfast. My jaw dropped! She said we should do our shopping first before we can eat. If i knew she'd say that, I wouldn't give her 1 whole donut so she'd feel hungry and we could eat like... NOW! GRRRR

We were catching the 7.40pm ferry and it was close to 5pm. I couldn't find a suitable bag for mummy - a token for looking after Tufeil - and i felt horrible. So we decided to get a move on so maybe we could find something at MEGAMALL - a shopping centre just next to the ferry terminal. but before that, a proper dinner. Sort of.

A&W!!!

Mozza Burger

Quite alright but you should have seen Ash's portion of 2pc chicken. MINUSCULE i tell ya! No wonder not many pple dined here and preferred KFC next door.

Thank God there was no traffic jam despite the supposedly rush hour. At megaMall, we hit the supermarket like crazy running around like a gameshow. My sole purpose was to get DIAPERS!!! I've heard pple told me its CRAZY cheap here. As cheap as $10!! But... NO ley... its only $3 cheaper. *shrug* Maybe I should go to street vendor or something. BAH. But we hauled a LOT OF crackers back home.

And ended up looking like makcik2 balik pasar kind you know! (Aunties back from market)

Initially, i wanted to bring a trolley luggage to put our shopping inside but we thought it would be bulky for us to pull it around at the spa bla bla bla. Then tot of the foldable huge market Bag. But that would be more like a makcik2. So we decided to just lugg them. *roll eyes*

THE WHOLE LOOT

In the end, i spent more on Tufeil in 10min than i did pampering myself at the spa in 3hours. While the spa was ok, I wished I had been to a more established spa and a women's only. As I didn't get to do my hair treatment bcos of this reason. Ash said that we came home more tired than usual carrying the heavy bags and rushing around. She promised that the next time we go there, we shall stay overnight. Woohoooo!!

This is what i want to be when i grow up: