Penang trip

We've finally been on a family beach holiday!



Trip was in January 14 to 17th. I initially could not decide whether to stay at the cheaper Shangri-La ( Golden Sands ) or the more expensive one. Thank goodness Chris decided and we stayed at the Rasa Sayang for the 3 nights.



The flight there was terrible, needless to say. Budget air ( Jetstar ) with terrible service and cramped seats. Madison was still recovering from a bad cold that week so she was up early ( at 5!) which worked out fine as we were catching the 725am flight. But she was figeting and fussing when the plane was about to take off and I had to take the iphone away from her. Thank goodness it lasted all of an hour so we were soon put out of our misery.

At the Penang airport we hired a car and got a child seat too ( again, thank goodness for that ). We had the GPS so we were off after that. No trouble at all.



Penang is world famous for its cuisine. First stop: Food. Ayer Itam was halfway to the resort and where my uncle ( dad's side ) lives so that's where we started. My concern was always food safety for Madison so I chose dim sum from a fairly reasonable looking coffee shop. Rather than actual street food. Food was average but we got fed. Packed some pastries to take to the relatives.



It's been several years since we've seen the relatives so it took a bit of warming up. Dear Madison had little trouble though, and soon she was traisping through the house like her own! Language was a problem since my aunt spoke dialect and only I could barely speak it.



We visited the Kek Lok Si temple with its HUGE Kuan Yin statue. The weather was unbelievably HOT at the temple site. There is a lift to the statue at the top of the hill and tourists were routinely asked whether they wanted to purchase tickets one or 2 ways. It was actually quite ridiculous. There was no obvious pedestrian path down and I think EVERYONE just paid the $2 Ringgit to come down in airconditioned comfort!!



The hotel was a blessing. An ocean of serenity and orderliness. It was so cool and breezy at the resort. The room was quite large by most standards and Madison had a cot all prepared. She loved the room. If only she'd stay asleep at night!



The rest of the Penang trip was spent largely at the hotel and beach. We made the disastrous mistake of visiting the Penang hill, thinking Madison would enjoy the funicular train (whatever that meant!). It was a 30 minute torture up and another 30 minute torture down. For that reason I think the train is permanently closed now for upgrading. Penang has great street food too, but we were a little worried about Madison falling sick so she ate mostly hotel and restaurant food. We had char kuay teow, satay, bbq wings driving around when she was down for her nap in the afternoon.

The hotel was definetly the best part of the trip. Great service, cool surrounds and a nice room. Breakfast every morning was the continental spread at the cafe, which we all enjoyed.

The grand finale to the trip was back home in Singapore.. Madison was so badly constipated since she refused to drink much water and boy... did she suffer the consequences back home....

Terrible twos

I think the terrible twos have definitely sunken their teeth on my previously sweet compliant little girl!

Now everyday is a battle of the wills. From the moment she wakes to the time she goes to bed. Of course the funniest things do come out of that little mouth of hers... like telling her 8 month old cousin to go shopping with her, or rebutting the adults from time to time.

Sigh. Takes a mountain of patience dealing with a toddler. Which I admit I am desperately short of. Many days I really look forward to going to work now, to get some relief and time out. The adult world is alot more organised and logical.

The other thing that is really bugging the hell out of me is the stupid contract that we signed with this travel marketing firm Glitterati. What complete fools we were. They promised a "Royal" treatment in terms of travel and service, but within a day of signing on I panicked and wanted to terminate. That went fine, but now we're waiting for the refund of $8000 and it's already 6 weeks! I really wonder if we've been had in some sort of scam. I suspected they would be unable to deliver on their promises after they failed to reply to a simple email. Which is unacceptable for first class service that they promised. Argh. Never again. Lesson well learned.

Some days I am beginning to think that we should send Madison to some form of formal learning on a more regular basis already. Is she wasting her time at home? I don't think I can teach her that well. What if she misses out on expanding her horizons just because she's stuck at home? But on the other hand, I really don't want her chronically ill just from attending school. Already she seems to catch any bug that other kids pass her way! Next year she'll definitely start nursery. This year?

Looking forward to the upcoming holidays. First up is Chinese New Year, which we'll be spending in Kota Bahru ( Malaysia ). A little annoying because my family is going to be in Kuala Lumpur ( so will Geok and Muhon and the rest). Not much choice in that because the great grandfather is not up to travelling to KL this year. Just a little worried about having to face 2 flights per day either way. ( Sing-KL-KB and back!)

I've finally managed to settle the Melbourne trip too. What a complete hassle that was. Absolutely HATE going to the Australian Embassy in Singapore. A real pain in the a--. Somehow they always manage to make you go there at least 4 times to sort anything out. And wait close to 2 hours each time. Not to mention their really short working hours. Anyway, after hours of anguish, pain and suffering waits I am pleased to have sorted out Warni's visa, and we're waiting for Madison's passport to be ready. So one last trip to the place. The plane tickets are booked too so we're all pretty much set. Barring anymore unforeseen tragedies. ARGH.

Gynae visit

Today we had the 2nd gynae visit.

Am now past 11 weeks, although I can hardly believe it. Seems like a world of difference compared to the first pregnancy. I suppose having another child makes time always seem rather short.

Madison was also sick the past 3 days with a high fever. Then Chris said :"oh.. might be dengue fever!" Of course afterwards that was all I could think of. The fever came right out of nowhere; one moment she was well, the next she was crying and fretting. The only person who picked it up was Chris ! ( terrible mommy... I was actually telling her off for throwing what I thought were tantrums! )

So the past 2 nights were pretty bad. She ended up in bed with us halfway through the night and refused to go to sleep. We were also giving her sponge baths the first night, which she cried throughout. Fortunately the fever seemed to respond to my combination concoction of oral and rectal paracetamol.

Thankfully the fever seems to have settled on the 3rd day... and we're holding our breath. But definitely no class for her this weekend.

So... gynae visit seemed rather trivial in comparison ( poor baby 2 ). I nearly forgot, if it weren't for the iphone alarm that I set!

I even offered to go to the gynae alone, as Chris was still in the operating theatre with a burns case. Fortunately he made it to the visit; Dr Tee was running late anyway.

All went well, but I'm getting pretty convinced that we're having another girl. I'm thinking at this stage not to find out the sex till birth.... although I think my mother-in-law isn't going to be happy about this!

Well... another test scheduled at this stage for Monday the 11th. It's the first trimester screening test for Down's Syndrome. After that we're pretty much in the clear until the fetal anomaly screen that Dr Tee wants to do around the 21st week. I thought it was pretty late but he seems quite confident that mine is just another routine low-risk pregnancy! Actually, there was a little blip... my urine test showed up glycosuria today, but Dr Tee didn't even blink at that... asked if I'd just had lunch and then dismissed it. The next visit with him isn't for another 6 weeks.

Otherwise, a pretty routine visit. Dr Tee's clinic assistant is a really lovely lady called Sally and she keeps things humming along during his sessions. I think she's been assisting him for quite a long time already. I was really surprised when she remembered me right out the first visit this time round.

so.. hopefully things stay calm and I don't get diabetes!