Trip To Penang

The last time I went to Penang was like 2 decades ago with my mum. I have totally no idea what we can do over there for 2 weeks but thanks to Astee who gave me lots of suggestion as to what to do and we enjoyed ourselves so much that the kids complained we did not spend enough time there....

I flew there with the 2 girls on the 5th Dec while hubby holds the fort here. Its the first time the 2 girls took part in a standard chess competition (approx 5 hours for each game). Shall not elaborate here. We stayed in the same hotel as where the competition was held, which is Tanjung Bungai Beach Hotel Penang. Its just next to the beach and if not for the weather, its almost like Gold Coast....

View from our room...

Since their competition starts only on the 6th, we went down to George Town for lunch with a couple of parents and did some groceries shopping. The "cha kway teow" and chendol is nice but I cannot accept the taste of their Penang laksa.

The girls were eager to jump into the pool and thus once we got back to our room, they hurriedly unpacked their stuffs and asked for permission to go to the pool. We were supposed to meet the other parents to go out for dinner but decided to just eat at the hotel restaurant as we were all too tired and lazy to walk out.

The next few days, we either walked or took a cab to the nearest shopping mall - TESCO which is about 10 minutes walk from our hotel for lunch and dinner was spend with other parents at the nearby food centre eating their local dishes.

The girls enjoying their treats at TESCO...

Late afternoons were spend either at the beach with their friends or at the pool...

DAY 1...
Family holiday starts on 10th Dec when hubby brought the 2 boys to meet us. The timing was perfect! They arrived just in time to see Charmaine winning her game. We did not stayed for the award presentation as the girls will not be getting any. Instead, we took a cab (which is super expensive to take cab in Penang) to Batu Ferringhi where the Adventure Zone is. We had a quick light lunch before the kids went wild in there playing with all the long slides. Nicholas, as usual, was not very comfortable with the slides but the other 3 were happily going up and down. The entrance fees for kids is RM30+taxes while adult enters free. The kids need to wear long sleeve shirt to play on the red slide which I called it the "free-fall" slide. Rachel was the bravest as she tried numerous time on the "free-fall" slide! Charmaine only went twice.

On the way out, we saw some sea sports there and hubby asked me to psycho Nicholas to try the para-sailing over the next few days.

DAY 2

We decided to rent a car instead of getting around via taxi. The girls played table tennis with their friends while we waited for the car to arrive.

Our first stop was to the Snake Temple which was super far! The entrance fees is only RM5 per person and the kids learned a fair bits about snakes. They were most interested with the King Cobra though.

Next, we visited the War Museum. Hubby decided to rest while I took the 4 to explore the place. Its an educational trip for all. We saw the torture cell; tree where they hanged the POWs; "chopping" board which was used to chop off the heads of POWs hanged on the wall with a headless dummy POW kneeling in front of it and many more. Nicholas was not comfortable with the sight and I told him to stay out while the girls and Ryan explore the cells. There were many things to see and we even crawled through a narrow tunnel and the 3 bigger ones climbed up the ladder to exit via the air well. I couldn't trust myself climbing up there with Ryan so we crawled back and exit via the way we entered.

We were supposed to go to Batu Maung Fishing Village but couldn't find our way there and so deiced to gave up and settled for the seafood restaurant opposite our hotel. On the way down, we discovered this beautiful scenic place ... Bukit Genting Hill. Our car almost overheated driving up the steep hill!

Nicholas vomited right after dinner...suspect it either due to the long car ride or he was frightened by what he saw at the war museum.

DAY 3

Today is a day for Nature...We took the tram ride up Penang Hill and hubby paid RM60 for a 25 minutes buggy ride tour. We spend about 2 hours there but most of the time was spend queuing for the tram ride up and down.

Next was to Tropical Fruit Farm. It took us near an hour to get there and poor Nicholas was suffering from the motion sickness and threw up twice! Poor boy. Anyway, maybe the season was over as there was nothing much to see. We paid RM28 per adult and RM20 per child for a guided tour which comes with fruit buffet (nothing fantastic) and a glass of fruit juice. The guided tour was brief though we did learn how pineapple reproduced (by cutting the crown into 4 and replant it) and that bananas tree withered once it he fruit were bore and a new one will grow again from the root.

DAY 4

Hubby decided to let the kids check out the Penang bridge before heading back to Butterfly Farm. And we spend nearly 4 hours there. We won't have left if not for hubby reminding us that its way past lunch time! There's so many butterflies and its a different experience from our Singapore Zoo's fragile forest. The price for adult is RM27 and child RM15.

After our late lunch, we drove down to the Batu Ferringhi for the sea sport. Hubby paid RM315 for the whole package 3 Para sailing + Banana boat + 30mins Jet ski. I managed to convinced Nicholas to try the Para sailing. He was a little nervous at first but he had to act brave for he said he is a big boy now.

After Para sailing, hubby accompanied the 3 on the Banana boat ride. Its a bad decision as Nicholas was frightened the moment the boat started going super fast. The 2 girls needless to say enjoyed themselves. To make things worst, the operator jerked the boat just as they were reaching the shore and Nicholas fell off into the water! Luckily, hubby jumped off and grab hold of him. He was crying from shocked and I had to pacify him. He calmed down soon but refused to go for the Jet ski. So the 2 girls took turns to go on the Jet Ski with hubby while Nicholas and Ryan stayed behind to play with sands.

Asked Nicholas his thought of the sport, his reply was "When I went up there, water (tears) was in my eyes but after a while, I'm not scared already. Its nice to fly up there. I'm 5 years old now, I am brave enough to try Para sailing. Next year, I will try to be brave to go for the Jet ski." So proud of you, Nicholas!

We went to Gurney hawker for early dinner. Its like our Newton Circle. And its a last minute shopping at Gurney Plaza. Charmaine kept asking for extended stay as she wants to visit the Toy Museum. Assured her we will come again soon.

Boys' Swimming Video

Video taken on our "Sports' Day"

Nicholas is more confident now with swimming without float though he prefer not to go without one.

"Sports" Day for the kids

Vesak Day....brought the entire family (including Parents-in-law and SIL) out to East Coast for 2 hours of cycling in the morning. The girls had mastered the skill of a 2 wheeler and was exploring the path with their aunt. Nicholas cycled with us on his trainer bike. The most relaxed person was Ryan. He had the "baby" seat and was enjoying the breeze while I cycled.

After lunch, went home for a nap/rest before going for a swim. Nicholas was able to swim without float for a good distant though he definitely needs to work on his stroke. Ryan was well "inflated" and he enjoys himself in the pool. He even tried to blow bubbles and putting his head into the water!

Our Sundays

On Sunday if we are not out for show, we will be seen here.... Right! All the way to East Coast Park for cycling and roller blading.

Must thank our sport master for organising such activities. Without him, we will be home rotting in our comfy bed taking a nice cool afternoon nap.

Swimming progress

With just 4 half an hour one-to-one swimming sessions with his new coach akas daddy and he had shown remarkable progress. He is now able to pull to breathe with just a float behind helping to lift his body.

Nicholas Goes for Swimming Lesson

During one of those days where hubby brought the kiddos out for their exercise, he saw a coach giving swimming lesson and went over to check out price. His price is around the market rate and locality is ok for me. The only draw-back was the timing. It crashes with Nicholas's school Chinese revision lesson but that was the only slot available for his standard and so, we make the decision of him skipping the revision class.

Anyway, I arranged a trial class for Nicholas and he was excited about the class when I told him in the morning before dropping him off at school.

When I picked him up from school, he was so excited that the first question he asked me when he saw me was "Mommy, are we going for swimming lesson now?!" And when I replied yes to him, he immediately told his teacher with excitement.

He, although still the timid boy, but had plucked up encourage to greet people if I gave him amble notice. So when he met the coach, he greeted him loud and clear "Hello, Uncle David!" which deserves my immediate praising for him for being a good and brave boy.

I had told the coach that my boy might look brave which in actual fact was not. The coach was very nice and patience in teaching him and he enjoys the lesson. Oh forgot to mention that the class size is small, only 3 boys including him. Nicholas had no problem making friends with them.

The coach started with getting him used to water...making friends with water. He asked him to blow bubbles and also taught him the 2 basic kicks - Flutter and Frog kick.

See, my boy dares not put his whole head into the water.

After half the lesson, my boy join the other 2 boys in their swimming to and fro the pool with the help of a swimming board.

I asked Nicholas if he likes the coach after the lesson and if he wants to continue to learn from him and he said "Yes!" And so, this marks the beginning of his swimming lesson.

Bonding Time With Daddy

Hubby pity me for working non-stop round the clock and told me he will take over the kids every Sunday afternoon so I can have a break. It's also a great bonding time for them.

Since he is not one that can sit down and read a book to the kids type, he decided to do sports with them. This way, they will be out of the house and I can have about 2-3 hours of ME-time too. This arrangement suits all of us fine. I am not very sport-active type, so I gladly hand over this "Physical Education" programme to hubby.

Their usual activities? Swimming downstairs.

But with little Nicholas becoming more active, it had since progressed on with more intense exercise. They usually starts with some "warm-up" exercise like playing with the basket balls. With 3 of them, they took 2 balls and do those passing game. Hubby says this helps to improve their hand-eye co-ordination. Little Nicholas is too young to play this game, but he doesn't want to be left out. So he played the "Monkey" role.

After the warming up, hubby makes the 2 girls run round the track twice. Its a proper running track which means the girl ran 800m each! Hmm..doubt I can do even half the track now.

After taking a break, they will come back up and change into your swimsuit and go back down again. This time, to swim.

So you can guess, by the time they are back for dinner, they were like those "hungry ghost", gobbling down the food real fast! And they are so tired by bedtime that I do not need to keep asking them to stop talking and go to sleep. They knock-off within minutes of lying on the bed!

Hubby took some photos for me to see what they've been doing and I like this particular one. However, hubby said this photo doesn't come easy as he had to retake so many times to catch little Nicholas cheeky smile. But its all worth it, don't you agree?

"Relax" in the Pool

Went over to grandparent's house after church...as usual, daddy like to do the impromptu stuff...brought him to swim in his bathing suit...luckily, no one was there!

Daddy had been doing this "Relax" with him and now he knows what to do when daddy say "relax, relax."

Daring Little Boy

We went down to the pool for a relaxing swim after preparing my eldest for her exam. Little Nic was so happy that as soon as he saw his 2 jiejies changed into their swimming costume, he ran straight to look for my maid.

Little Nic: Wear..swim...Wear...swim...

Maid: Wear what? (pretend she doesn't understand)

Little Nic: dum (come)...wear...swim (pulling her into the room and pointing to the cupboard)

He now will tell us what he wants and if we don't understand him, he will ask us to come and follow him to the source of his demand. And if we don't follow him, he will pull and drag till we move our butt...gagaga

When we got down to the pool, he's so happy and he tries to follow how his 2 jiejies jumped into the pool! Luckily, daddy was fast to catch hold of him..we didn't expect him to be so daring.. but guess we should never had let our guards down when we are near the pool.

Anyway, this somehow tickles him and he kept dashing to the pool and daddy catching him before he drop in. There were a few times when we caught him waiting for daddy to be near before he takes the leap..smart hor ? : p

He is now more warm up with daddy already and doesn't mind daddy carrying him...I think it's something to do with daddy...he just can't click with babies below 18 months...gagaga

First Swim

Daddy brought them down for a swim once we got home. This is the first time my boy actually get into the pool as he had been having flu and cough on and off for the past few months...

Anyway, he loves the water and keep kicking his legs. But when daddy brought him over to the Jacuzzi area, he started to cry and cringed on tightly to daddy. Think my timid boy is scared of the bubbles pressure oozing out from below.