Category Archives: Lil B – 18 months

Phuket, Thailand (Part 3)

Continuing from Part 1 and Part 2

Day 4, 29 July 2011 (Friday)

Day 4 on this beautiful island was yet another sun bright day. Unfortunately all of us were too tired and drained from yesterday’s pool session. Hubby and I were sun burnt! The kids are fine though. I guess we were too busy splashing sun block on the kiddos we left out ourselves.

So on this day, we decided to take it slow. After breakfast, we brought the kids to the kids club.

 

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The room’s a bit small in my opinion but decently stocked with coloring, toys materials. Importantly it’s CLEAN.

 

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The week’s activities all planned out. Make your pick.

 

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The outdoor play area.

 

After spending a short while in the Penguin Club, we decided to go back to our room to freshen up for lunch and to also plan for our next activity. We called up the concierge and booked a car to the Pearl Factory since Ryan is into gems collection eversince he picked up a magazine with a free stone. We were thrilled when we were informed transport to Pearl factory is complimentary by their agent.

The trip to the various Pearl factories were a complete waste of time. They were commercialised. Their objective was really to push you to buy the jewelleries. Well, we should have known better that there is no free lunch in this world. Free transport?

We negotiated with the driver for him to bring us to the Sports Premium outlets  instead. We agreed to pay him THB700. We gave him THB1000 and got him to keep the change. He was a happy man.

The detour to the premium outlet proved to be a wise decision. Eventhough there weren’t many brands and the place was kinda deserted, we still manage to shop a bit especially at Levi’s & Addidas, and the boys too managed to add up more goodies to their collection.

 

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The boys’ favourite store at the premium outlet.

We had planned for the FantaSea show that night. So dinner was in the hotel again. We wanted to go back to Wang Warin but they were closed. We ended up at Tonson Bar overlooking the beach and pool.

 

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It’s so easy with Darren. He eats everything.

 

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It’s more challenging with Ryan as he’s more selective about what goes into the mouth. Well, at least colouring keeps him entertained here.

 

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Part of the view from Tonson Bar.

 

After dinner, we (only MIL, Hubby, Ryan and me) went for Fantasea show. The show is not cheap. The standard ticket is THB1500 each but we opted for the gold seats so we paid an additional THB250 each to guarantee ourselves good view of the show.

 

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The entrance to Fantasea. It’s like a mini themed park inside. Pretty interesting. Of course the highlight of our visit is the ‘Fantasy of a Kingdom’ show. Unfortunately we were not allowed camera inside the theatre so no pictures but I would say it’s not bad. A bit on the expensive side but worth a visit.

 

The show was about 1.5 hours long. We reached the hotel close to 12midnight due to the distant (it’s about 45 min ride from our hotel). We all conked out within minutes after our shower.

Day 5, 30 July 2011 (Saturday)

Our flight was at 10.30am which means we had to leave the hotel by 7.30pm (it takes about 45mins to get to the airport). After a long night last night, we dreaded ourselves to get up. Thank goodness we had ordered for breakfast room service. That would have burn our pocket for they charges THB500 per pax.  However due to the issues we had in the room, the hotel was kind enough to waive the charges. The portion  was really generous. We all left the hotel with a smile and a stomach full of food. :D

 

**THE END**

Phuket, Thailand (Part 2)

continued from here

Day 3, 28 July 2011 (Thursday)

We had a pleasant sleep the night before. As usual, the boys were early risers. Wish they could sleep in later especially during the holidays. Unfortunately their biological alarm is set regardless where they are. They woke up about 6am + local time (which is 7am + Msia time). Anyway, we woke up to a day filled with clear blue skies. We couldn’t be happier. The weather couldn’t be more perfect.

After breakfast, we quickly hit the beach. We couldn’t really swim in the sea as you can see how rough the waves were. Nevertheless the beach session couldn’t be more perfect. Despite sweating buckets under Mr Golden Sun’s fiery glare, the occasional breath of cool windy air seems to play its magic to re-energise us back to full bar. Perfect combo.

 

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My handsome lil B

 

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Acting uneasy on sand, despite with shoes on…

 

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See those shadows.. that was exactly how scorchy hot it was on that day. Are we complaining? NOOOOOOOO……….

 

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Even the Ultramans got a taste of sun sea and beach

 

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My FIL.. on his ‘tanning bed’. The weather was so calm he actually fell asleep on the chair and woke up with a tanned face. :P

 

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Always the Mr Cool Guy…

 

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At one point the beach was closed… why? See the next pic.

 

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Beach was closed due to strong waves. Grggghhhh……

 

After spending hours on the beach, we proeeded to the pool. The pool water was a little cold but that did not deter the boys from having a swell of a time.

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Finally we called it a day after spending hours and hours at the beach/pool. We went back to our room to freshen up before going out to Patong for dinner. Tonight we picked Joe Louis Thai Restaurant, a Thai puppet themed restaurant for dinner.

After filling our stomachs, we shopped a bit inside the mall buying souvenirs etc. Tip. Souvenirs sold inside the mall (kiosks) are actually much cheaper than what you have to pay elsewhere including airport. So if you wish to shop for souvenirs, shop and buy what you need here. Don’t bother getting them at the airport.

 

More pics to be uploaded soon… Part 3 in my next post.

 

 

Phuket, Thailand (Part 1)

backdated

Ryan @ 5 years 3 months

Lil B @ 1 year 6 months

After months of procrastination, we took an impromptu trip to Phuket, Thailand. It was like finally…. we could declare ourselves a H O L I D A Y.

The trip was planned for 26th – 30th July (Tues – Sat). We brought along our helper and invited my two in laws to tag along. A total of 5 adults and 2 young children. It was really a whole ‘kampong’ trip. It was a little chaotic to manage so many people especially so we were in a foreign country, nevertheless we had a swell of a time. The extra pair of hands and eyes made things so much easier especially with the young boys.

 

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We were here, Le Meridien Phuket Beach Resort

 

Day 1, 26th July 2011 (Tuesday)

Our flight was scheduled for 5.30pm. Good thing Thailand is one hour behind Malaysia so we gain 1 hour. We reached the hotel at 8pm, 45 minutes after we were picked up by the hotel cars from the airport. We reached the hotel at about 8pm. Our tummies were all growling. After checking in, we wasted no time and dashed to the hotel’s Thai restaurant Wang Warin for a sumptuous dinner.

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The assistance rendered at the hotel counter at the airport was swift. We were swept off our feet to the hotel limousines in no time.

 

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I was very pleased they fulfilled my request for a baby car seat. The hotel truly deserved a thumbs up for this.

 

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Hotel Lobby.

 

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Welcome drinks and flower lei for everyone during hotel check in. It was nice but we were too tired to appreciate.

 

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Dinner @ Wang Warin. Good thing is, kids eat for free! Yay!

 

After dinner, we all went back to our rooms and called it a day.

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One of our rooms. No big deal. Despite being in a renovated room, I still think the design was tad dated for my liking.

 

Day 2, 27 July 2011 (Wednesday)

We woke up with a sky full of gloomy clouds. Definitely not a good start when we’re in this little island expecting some sun, sea and sand. Anyhow we presevered. After breakfast, we went back to our rooms, got ourselves changed and headed straight to the beach.

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@ breakfast

 

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Enjoying his breakkie

 

The hotel is clean, albeit a little dated. IMHO it doesn’t deserved the 5 stars rating. I would probably give it a 4 mainly for its impeccable services. We had some issues with the rooms and the hotel staff were prompt in their attention and I could see they were genuinely making efforts to please to ensure us a comfortable stay. Not forgetting their private pristine beach. That was really a plus, plus point. It was clean and the sand was really fine. Despite located 10 minutes away from Patong, the strategic location of the hotel away from the hussle bustle of Patong, truly made it a favourable option if you wish to stay near Patong yet do not want to be right smack in the hussle bustle of the city.

Glimpse of the hotel here and there….

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Darren posed in front of Wang Warin, the place we had dinner the night before.

 

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Rows of shops in the hotel which neither I stepped foot in during our 5D/4N stay.

 

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The hotel has huge swimming pool which is really a plus point. I really dislike those overcrowded hotel.

 

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See those rain filled clouds?

 

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Another side of the hotel

 

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Free try for those who want to have a taste of scuba diving…Speaking of which, is there anyone who wants to buy my old diving suit, mint condition, like new.. :D

 

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Other activities to keep guest occupied throughout their stay.

 

At the beach…..

 

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We didn’t really get much sun on the first day, yet that did not fail our day. The boys (especially Ryan) had a blast at the beach running around under cool windy sky.

 

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Baby Valentine – resident elephant at the resort.

 

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Ryan trying to perfect his golfing skills. :P

 

Just when we were enjoying ourselves, light showers hit us. The kids were thrilled because they get to experience hiding under the hut away from the rain. Normally I would freak out because that just means the kids are going to get wet ie S.I.C.K but that day I let them go. Secretly, I thought it was pretty fun too.

That evening, we decided to give hotel food a miss. We ventured out to Patong area in the late afternoon, which took us less than 10 minutes drive @ THB500. There were 5 adults and 2 kiddos so the fare was pretty reasonable.

 

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Jungceylon Mall – a pretty decent shopping mall with Robinson as its main anchor. Just when we thought we will not find anything interesting inside a shopping mall in Patong, Ryan got himself two Ultraman sourvenirs home (Ultraman Legend and Ultraman Leo)

 

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We took a stroll along Patong street. The sun was out, a total opposite of what we experienced at the beach in the morning. The locals said during the rainy season (Jul-Now) it is pretty norm to get intervals of short showers followed by scorching sun throughout the day. Fortunately it was pretty windy after showers so it was a pretty pleasant walk. Well, at least the little boys were not complaining.

 

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Daddy’s boy

 

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Hubby and I stayed in this Patong Bay Garden Resort hotel about 10 years ago. It was a pretty decent hotel back then but it’s in such a sorry state now. Look at how run down it is. Ironically though they still look pretty promising on the web. Grgghhh… speaking of web lies.

 

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The street was full of peddlars and fast foward 10 years later from the last time hubs and I were there, it still look the same. I read on the guide, while they mean no harm, generally the locals like to touch and be friendly with young kids, toddlers per se. Well, that’s quite true. Wherever I go, Darren is sure a big hit. I hear people calling out ‘Hi’ and ‘Hellos’ at Darren, not so much at Ryan though as the latter, well I supposed is not so much a toddler anymore. :P

For dinner, we chose MK Restaurant located at the Jungceylon. They serve Thai and Chinese cuisine, mainly hot pot varieties. However, we opts for ala-carte. Food wise was so so. Not expensive, not promosing either. Will we go back again? Probably not…

 

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Insist he wants to buy these shells.. The shells are still inside a plastic bag as I type this post 2 months post our trip.

 

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There was a 4D cinema on the top floor of Jungceylon. Ryan loved it so much we ended paying THB200 * 2 person * 3 rounds of shows. First time he watched it with Daddy, second time on our third day with Mommy, and he tried one last time on the same day with Ma Ma. He still want more (there were a total of 6 shows) but we figured it’s such a waste of money for a mere 5 minutes thril. Yes, each ‘show’ , more like a clip lasted 5 minutes only. There goes THB200.

 

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When we got back to our rooms at night, we were greeted by a napkin elephant in each of our room. Cute.. but they don’t last long. Within minutes, they were ‘dismembered’… :P

After a long day, that night, we all slept like babies…. :D

 

to be continued….

 

 

Hitting the 1.5 year old mark. Darren is now 18 months!

Lil B @ 18 months 1 week 3 days

In a blink of an eye, my little B is now 18 months. Boy, he has truly mature in the last few months.

Measured on 25 May when he had his vaccine @ 16 months

Height: 85.5cm

Weight: 12.215kg

HC: 50cm

The last update I did on Darren was when he was a mere 15 months old tot. In the last 3 months, Darren has gone through a growth spurt. He really grow by leaps and bounds. From a little tot oblivious of his surroundings, suddenly he showed so much interest in our day to day activity. When he was about 16 months or so, he started following simple instructions from us. Simple things like ‘Take the paper and throw into the rubbish bin”, “Take the remote control and switch on the aircon”… He has no problem digesting all these instructions.

His dexterity is good. He can ‘run’ around the house. after months of practising, I must say he could run pretty steadily now. Nonetheless, our heart still skip a beat whenever his running pace went beyond our tolerance level. Gosh, this boy can run! He’s such an energiner bunny which never runs out of batt. Lately, he discovered the joy of jumping on the bed after seeing how much fun the brother gets doing it. Just a couple of hours, he hit his face on the bed panel in the play room and bruised his cheek bone. He cried buckets. Hopefully he learn a lesson or two there, I hope.

I noted Darren has like 12 teeth when he was 15 months. I seriously lost count how many teeth he has now. Probably the full set of 20 baby teeth, I need to confirm on that though as I’m not sure if the second molars are out. Nevertheless, I already started him on a proper oral hygiene. I uses the baby tooth brush (graduated from tooth wipes and finger tooth brush) with Earth Best Toddler ToothPaste which is safe to swallow. He absolutely love the taste of it.

 

Lil B is also getting better at self feeding. He’s very interested in food, a true foodie. During meal times, he’s given his bowl and spoon, filled with tiny bites of his food. He started doing that since he was 13 months. Now he’s pretty much mastered the skill. Still pretty messy but he’s getting there. He’ll be busy scooping and feeding himself away while Loida feeds him his food on the high chair. Hopefully by doing that consistently, he will learn to sit through his (our) meal; unlike his kor kor who is so spoilt when it comes to meal time (another post on that).

After months of training, Darren is now a pro at self feeding. I’m so proud of my little boy. Compared to the elder brother, Darren is definitely more independant. The elder brother was still fed during dinners until he was about 3.

Sleep

Darren’s sleeping pattern is pretty managable. His bed time pretty much depends on what time he wakes up from his afternoon nap. Nowadays I try to wake him up by 4.30pm so he would be sleepy by 9pm. Otherwise, his bed time can drag till 10.30pm.

Darren has no problem skipping his nap neither will he show any crankiness. He’s such a joy to bring around. His waking hours can easily stretched 6-8 hours without him being cranky. It happened during our Phuket trip whereby he only took one nap in a day (around 12noon) and he was literally awake throughout the day until late at night (around 9pm) before he crashed and call it a day. He is definitely much more managable than Ryan when the elder brother was at this age.

Enrichment Class

Darren is still attending Kindermusik Village Baby class. He is expected to graduate from the class and advance to Toddler class. After one term, this term he showed more interest in the activities and increased participation.

Food

Lil B is a true foodie. He eats everything we eat, including Durian. When we were in Phuket last week, we had no worries about his food. He’s definitely the opposite of Ryan.

At home whenever he is hungry, he will make a fuss and pull me to the next room to the coner where the milk and bottles are kept. He will point to the milk indicating he wants milk. When I asked him, ‘Are you hungry? You want milk?”.. his standard answer will be ‘Y.E.A… After I’ve made him the milk, he will insist to hold the bottle and run next door showing off to his kor kor he’s got the milk. A really cute sight. This is the moment when I wish time can PAUSE.

Others

There are definitely more interaction with Darren nowadays. Our communication with this little boy is no longer a one way street. He showed us he could understand and comprehend what we were talking about, or want him to do. There is definitely more fun and noise in the house lately.

Lil B’s vocab is still limited. Some of the notable words he uses:

- Yea (meaning Yes. It’s funny when we ask him Yes or No, his answer is definitely ‘Y.E.A’…..)

- Tee (tree)

- Car (his first word)

- Eat

- Kor Kor

- Yeh Yeh

- Mah Mah

- Ka Ka (Kakak – refers to Loida)

- Na Na (he refers me to Na Na.. no idea why. Of everyone in the house, he is still not calling his Daddy and Mommy)

- Hot

- Cold

- Aw (refers to Dog)

- Darren also likes scribbling the paper with crayons, pencils etc, especially so when he sees his brother doing work at the desk. Judging from the frequency of him prefering to use his left hand on the activities (both fine and gross motor skills, we are expecting another leftie in the family (Ryan is the other one).

- Darren is a huge huge Barney aficionado. He loves Barney I Love You song. everytime he hears the song, his body will be swaying from left to right. The Barney plush toys we bought for Ryan last time (Ryan’s love for Barney was pretty short stint) which never really got appreciated can finally be handed down to a more appreciative owner. If we pass him an iPad, he will tap on Youtube icon and run the Barney shows on it. Besides Youtube, his other favourite apps on iPad has to be Photobooth.

In a nutshell, Darren is a very shy boy. Just the other day, his Kindermusik teacher was complimenting how sweet Darren is in class. She noted Darren is very gentle in class something which I noticed too. At times he will come to me, give me a hug and put his head on my shoulder.

@ 16 months
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@ 17 months

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@ 18 months

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Both of them are huge Tutti Fruitti Frozen Yogurt fans. Ryan made funny face. He looked like a long neck turtle there :P