Peter Pan,The Never Ending Story

The boys and I had the opportunity to catch Peter Pan, The Never Ending Story which made its Asian premiere at Resorts World Sentosa on 27 November 2014. They were so excited in the run up to the show! When we read the story, they were very tickled by Mr Croc and all his tick-tocking that they kept talking about how they couldn’t wait to see Mr Croc in the show. I was really praying that the show would feature Mr Croc, else they’d be so disappointed. And thankfully, they did! A huge Mr Croc too!

Peter Pan, The Never Ending Story, is presented by Resorts World Sentosa (RWS) in association with Belgium’s Music Hall. It tells the enchanting story of Peter Pan, a mischievous boy with the ability to fly and who refuses to grow up. One night, he visits Wendy, John, and Michael Darling in their London nursery and takes them on an unforgettable flight where the Lost Boys, Indians, mermaids and pirates await them at Neverland. While they revel in adventures beyond their wildest imaginations, the villainous Captain Hook hatches an evil scheme to capture Peter Pan – his greatest enemy. In a fight years ago, Peter had cut off Captain Hook’s hand and a crocodile ate it. It tasted so delicious that the crocodile followed Captain Hook everywhere in the hope of eating the rest of him! The story climaxes in a duel between Peter Pan and Captain Hook, with the crocodile getting his treat in the end.

The nursery in London (Photo by Luk Montsaert)

Wendy with Peter Pan and the Lost Boys (Photo by Leslie Artamonow)

The Indians on Neverland (Photo by Luk Montsaert)

Peter Pan and Captain Hook (Photo by Leslie Artamonow)

The giant crocodile! (Photo from The Desert Life)

The concept for this version of Peter Pan was to use familiar, chart-topping hits to bring across the story. Songs such as “Angels” by Robbie Williams, “You Raise Me Up” by Josh Groban, “Forever Young” by Alphaville, and many others, were rearranged to fit the feel and context of the story. It’s pretty well done, and for the most part you don’t feel it’s been forced into the storyline. I left the show with “One Day I’ll Fly Away” stuck in my head for days!

The downside to this concept is that if you are not very familiar with the storyline, you may have trouble understanding what is going on – because there is so much going on! There is a narrator, but no dialogue between the various characters at all. Tinkerbell takes on the role of the narrator and remains unseen for almost the entire show. As she speaks, the performers are acting, and there is dancing, and the set is changing. Basically, plenty to distract you from what Tinkerbell is saying. Children, in particular, may find it hard to follow the story if they haven’t already read the book. If you are bringing kids, I strongly recommend you read them the story first. It also didn’t quite make sense to me that Tinkerbell was the narrator as she was supposed to be locked up in a box in Peter Pan’s hideout, so how could she know what was going on elsewhere?

Tinkerbell, the narrator (Photo by Leslie Artamonow)

Still, this production is a real visual treat. Elaborate costumes, a whimsical set featuring giant books, high-flying action, acrobatic stunts, and really good dancing. I was impressed by the dancers and Martino Muller’s choreography. Unlike other musicals I’ve seen, almost every segment of this show featured a full contemporary-style dance routine. It was like a double treat for me – watching the story of Peter Pan, and watching a dance performance. I really loved how the dancers attacked their moves and were so expressive. It as a pity that the programme booklet didn’t feature the details of the dancers as I would very much have liked to read up about them.

Dancers from Peter Pan (Photo from City & Style Magazine)

At the end of the show we were unanimous in our choice of favourite character – Captain Hook. We loved Captain Hook! Played perfectly by Wim Van Den Driesche, from the moment he appeared on stage, he was a force to be reckoned with. He sang Rossini’s Largo Al Factotum and portrayed a pompous Captain Hook that was at once melodramatic yet extremely endearing. The drama continued when Captain Hook sang Puccini’s Nessun Dorma and his crew were falling all over themselves in their adoration of him. It was hilarious! The boys left singing nonsense words pretending to be Captain Hook singing in Italian. They also spent the next few days using anything vaguely hook-like to role play as Captain Hook in their games.

Captain Hook (Photo by Luk Montsaert)

Peter Pan, The Never Ending Story makes for a fun and entertaining family outing. The action (and Captain Hook!) will delight children – just make sure you read the story first. If I may quote Ellery as we walked out of the theatre, “It was awesome, Mummy!”

Happy boys on a late night outing to catch Peter Pan

Us before the show

Peter Pan, The Never Ending Story run at Resorts World Theatre, Resorts World Sentore, until 20 Jan 2015. Tickets are available from the SISTIC website, or through the SISTIC hotline (63485555).

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We received complementary tickets for the show. All opinions are my own.

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Rasa Sentosa Staycation – Part II

More on our staycation!

Flying Trapeze

The most exciting thing for me was probably the flying trapeze. Kids above 5 years can try, but Asher was more interested in playing with the sand, and it’s not Jon’s type of activity, so I did all three complimentary swings myself. And just as well. I only succeeded on the third swing! I took an introductory course in aerial circus arts last year and had learnt some simple tricks on the trapeze. Even though I expected the flying trapeze to be challenging for me since I haven’t exercised in a long time, I didn’t realise just how challenging it would be.

A moving trapeze is vastly different from a stationary one. And hooking your knees onto a trapeze hung at eye-level is totally different from hooking them onto one that is the height of your outstretched arms. At the pre-swing practice I needed the help of the assistant to lift my legs up to the trapeze; at circus class I can do it myself.

Struggling to get on the high bar

And that was just the start of the challenges. Even climbing up to the platform high above was tiring! Gosh. And then when I swung for the first time I realised how much my grip has weakened from when I was doing circus every week. I could barely hang on when swinging with the centrifugal forces I was experiencing. And with a moving trapeze it’s all about timing. I almost got my feet to touch the trapeze when I started to swing backwards and then couldn’t lift them anymore.

But it got better. I think my body was remembering what it felt like to exercise again. Second time, the climb up was less tiring, my grip felt stronger, and one foot had a good hold of the trapeze before I swung backwards losing the hold.

Third time was the winner. Swing! Legs up! Feet on! Knees! YAY!

Wheeeeeeeeee

I thought it was good for the boys to see me persevering, and eventually succeeding at it.

Food

We were there on Father’s Day, so all fathers received a free glass of beer. That instantly made Jon’s day :)

Cheers for Fathers!

For dinner and breakfast we ate at the Silver Shell Cafe.  I liked that there was a children’s buffet table set at their height with kid-friendly food. They happily ate up their tortilla chips, pasta, chicken wings, and other such food.  Asher ate so much he said his belly was so full he could hardly contemplate dessert. Of course dessert won in the end.  He planted himself at the chocolate fondue station and helped himself to stick after stick of marshmallows, eating them straightaway after dipping them in the chocolate fountain.  So much for being too full :) Ellery, having less of a sweet tooth, was happy to take a few bites of some cake.

Kids buffet table

Frozen cake spotted!

Jon and I had our fill too.  I was glad to eat medium rare beef for the first time in months, and loved their salad bar so much I chomped through two large servings of salad.

Definitely a fun and  yummy buffet for all of us!

Room

The third-floor room we had was very spacious. It could fit a king sized bed, the queen sized sofa bed, a cot, and still had a lot of space for the kids to run around. Perfect for our needs. I also thought it was very thoughtful of the hotel staff to provide a care pack for the kids.  They loved it!

Very spacious room. This picture doesn’t show where the sofa bed is cos I’m standing there.

So many beds, but all piled together for an afternoon nap

Care pack for the kids

Slippers, toothbrushes in kids size, and even a sponge because they know we have a baby with us!

Playing on their sofa bed at night :)

Sleeping in

If you get a good deal, Rasa Sentosa is really a great place for a staycation!

Rasa Sentosa

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Rasa Sentosa Staycation – Part I

We went for our first staycation as a family of 5 last month. The boys had been asking about when they could go for a holiday because they heard of their cousins and grandies going for holidays to Japan, Vietnam, Penang, Taiwan, etc. As Alyssa’s passport was not ready yet, we decided to go for a staycation at Rasa Sentosa.  They had wanted to take an aeroplane, so I took the opportunity to explain to them how very fortunate they were to go for any kind of holiday at all.  A staycation is nothing to be scoffed at, and many people do not get the chance to go for one.  I think they understood because they looked forward to our stay and we had a great time.

But it’s true, I really do think a lot of kids in Singapore are so privileged.  Holidays used to be a once-a-year or once every two years affair.  And if there was one, it would be a road trip to Malaysia probably to the same places like KL, Melaka or Penang.  Now they travel far, and want more variety.  I do hope my  kids remember how very very fortunate they are.

Anyway, I initially wanted to book a stay for two nights, but as we made quite a last minute booking there was only one night available for that very weekend.  In the end it was like a two day holiday, even though we only stayed one night. Rasa Sentosa allows guests to come early to use the facilities prior to check-in, and stay on to use the facilities even after checking-out.  So we had two full days of fun!

“Yay! I’m going for my first staycation!”

Are you ready to go, mei mei?

We booked the family package, which I think is good value considering what you get (at least at the rate we had for that weekend – it fluctuates).  We had free entry to Sentosa, buffet breakfast and dinner, entry to the kids play area, three swings on the flying trapeze, and free 1 hour use of any non-motorised watersports.

Children’s Area – Arcade & Playground

The boys enjoyed the arcade very much and kept asking to go.  And now that they are bigger they can actually play it a bit better.  They used to ‘die’ almost immediately for the airplane shooting game.  Now they can last a little longer so I was a little more willing to part with the coins.

Their favourite airplane game

Knocking out some creatures

I had expected more from the kids playground which was touted as having a “giant treehouse slide”. I thought it was an indoor playground with one long slide, but it turns out all that’s there is the slide, which is actually made up of two short slides.  So when the boys went to the playroom they ended up watching TV.  I think the indoor playground could be made more exciting especially given the targeted age range of 5 and above (Ellery was let in only because the place was pretty empty then). Anyway I was glad they had their fix. They were the ones who kept asking to go to the kids club, when actually I was happy to have them with me the whole time. We had to try several times to get them in because the place was always so crowded, and there’s a limit on the number of children who can play at the same time.

A little tip: If you have younger kids who want to play in there with their older siblings and have to wait for a less crowded time in order to be let in, go early for breakfast and head there when everyone is just coming in for brekkie. I was mightly pleased with myself when it dawned on me that most kids were eating, not playing, and the boys had their chance! It was good, Jon and I could have a leisurely breakfast after that.

Pool

We had the most fun at the pool. There are 3 slides to choose from, a spacious kids pool, a small water playground (which the boys skipped altogether), and a large main pool. When you face the sea you do not see any tall buildings and really feel like you are overseas. We spent quite a lot of time there on the last day, and I managed to dip too cos Jon and I took turns sitting with Alyssa. I was glad to see Asher was brave enough to take the water slides by himself. There were probably two reasons for it.  The slides are quite slow, and prior to going down the first time Ellery kicked up a big fuss and said he was scared. Whenever one boy says he’s scared, the other automatically tries to be brave to score points. These boys ah..

But yes, it was very good to just chill by the pool. And lunch by the pool is always fun. Just like eating on a plane. It somehow makes the meal more special. (Ok, very subjective I know…and a bit out-of-point, but I love love love airplane food).

A row of frogs

I am a sea monster!

Slides no.2 and 3

Alyssa sleeping soundly while we swam

Water Sports

The weather was great for paddling -blue skies with my favourite wispy cirrus clouds. Jon and the boys packed themselves onto a kayak and went paddling around the bay – mostly propelled by Jon of course, though the boys did try to help. Asher accidentally hit Ellery’s face with the oar at one point so Ellery was a little bit upset and didn’t want to try the paddle boat. So Jon and Asher carried on while Ellery and I played on the sand.

Whey they were on the kayak we saw something very interesting.  A stingray leaped out of the water! From the shore I thought it was a fish, but turns out it was a stingray! I didn’t realise there were stingrays in the Sentosa bay, and I certainly didn’t know they leaped out of water.  Wonder what provoked it….something bigger? I’m not sure I want to swim in there anymore…

All aboard!

Off they go!

Into the paddle boat

Beautiful day to be outdoors

Alyssa and I waiting on the beach

More on the flying trapeze and food in the next post!

 

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Fort Siloso

We wanna go on holiday but Alyssa doesn’t have a passport yet.  So we’ll make the best of it and holiday on Sentosa :)

Since the boys keep playing ‘war’, we thought we’d go check out Fort Siloso on Sentosa.  The last time I went there was when I was in secondary school, and I remember being a bit freaked out by the wax sculptures because prior to going for that excursion I had watched the horror flick Wax Museum with my family. Not a good idea. I was so sure some of the figures could move. Very creepy.

Anyway, the information was all a bit too much for the kids and went over their head, but we adults had a good time reading about the interesting exhibits.  It would have been nicer if there were more interactive elements rather than just information boards, but I guess this place is geared to adults. That said, I do think the whole Fort Siloso could do with some sprucing up and revamping. It’s also a pity that one of the tunnels has been converted to a lazer tag place because the only way to explore it is to go play lazer tag.

Oh the irony…

In the tunnel

Despite being a little bored by the exhibits, the boys liked seeing the big canons on Fort Siloso.  That was what they remembered most about the trip.

Funnily enough, when I got home and looked at the pictures I had taken, I noticed that this picture of Ellery and Asher on the blue canon looked a little bit like an illusion.  It looks a little like Ellery is enormous and Asher is tiny.  Had I realised when I took the picture, I would have aligned their feet to make it look more convincing.  I was wondering how that happened, then I realised the barrel of the canon actually widens as it reaches the body of the canon, but from where I stood it looked the same width.  Funny!

Giant Ellery, Tiny Asher

The barrel is not the same width throughout!

Thank goodness for my new baby carrier.  It made it so easy to move around with Alyssa and the boys.  More on that next time!

Our first family of 5 photo!

On the bus leaving the Fort

More about our holidaying on Sentosa in the next post!

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Whoosh!

My goodness!  Has it already been more than 2 months since I last updated my blog?

I’ve just been so caught up with all kinds of things.  Will update on them if I find time.  For my benefit, here’re the things we did in all that time:

30 Mar: Watched Ugly Duckling with Asher, Joanne & JC.
01 Apr: Went Merlion Hotel with the boys
09 Apr: Watched Todd the Big Green Frog with Asher, Del & Anya
17 Apr: My Mum’s belated birthday celebration @ Beng Thin Hoon Kee & post-lunch chilling out at my brother’s place.
22 Apr: Good Friday – Headed to Sentosa then crashed JJSB’s Ritz hotel room
23 Apr: Ok, might sound a bit sua ku, but Asher had his first real bubble bath and loved it
27 Apr: Ellery’s first swim
01 May: Labour Day – We went to the Istana.  Pity about the rain!
08 May: Mother’s Day – Picnic at Botanic Gardens while watching the SSO Concert
10 May: Went National Museum with Ellery to check out Biennale exhibits there
17 May: Vesak Day – Picnic at East Coast Park with church friends
18-22 May: Asher sick again!  Argh…then passed it on to Ellery! Sigh…
24 May: Asher’s first day in school with underwear!

In the week immediately following Ellery’s discharge from hospital I was pretty much glued to my computer whenever I had free time cos I discovered the joy of Sidereel!  It’s a website that has entire seasons of episodes of so many TV shows.  And to my immense joy I found Gilmore Girls.  I’m a big big fan of the series, but never got to watch beyond season 4.  Since I was cooped up in the isolation ward with Ellery and didn’t want to use the TV cos I didn’t want him watching TV all day, I ended up watching episode after episode of Gilmore Girls.

Ellery took almost 6 weeks to completely recover and not sound chesty anymore.  It might have taken longer because as he was on the road to recovery, he picked up another cough from Asher who had picked it up from someone in school.  When Ellery fully recovered there was a very obvious lifting of his spirits.  He was cheerful even while he was ill, but he was deliriously happy when he recovered fully.  He was laughing at everything, smiling at anything.  He was a real joy, highly entertaining, incredibly adorable and funny.  Then he caught another cough from Asher, who again caught it from someone.  SIGH!  Why are there so many germs in pre-school?!!?

Thankfully, the bug isn’t as strong this time around, and it seems to have afflicated Asher more severly than Ellery.  Asher was home for most of last week.  So it was two boys at home simultaneously for almost a week.  It surprised me and gave me confidence that handling them both for an entire day actually isn’t that bad.  Putting Asher down for a nap was much easier than anticipated.  He was cooperative. He was loving and understanding towards Ellery, knowing when Ellery needed Mummy.  In those times, he’d play quietly by himself.  The three of us just hung out, played and read together those few days.  It was of course quite tiring for me.  I didn’t get much rest because when Asher napped, Ellery was awake so I’d handle him.  But it made me happy too cos I’d have some dedicated time with Ellery.

The arrival of this bug saw Asher’s appetite plummet again.  It’s back to those days of eating nothing.  I can serve up his favourite foods, and he’d say firmly “I do not want to eat anything”.  Initially he was really ill, so I figured he really doesn’t have the appetite.  But now that he’s well the phase has continued, much to my frustration.  I’m having to rediscover the zen I once possessed about his non-existent appetite.  On the bright side, while last week he rejected even his never-before-rejected fruits, this week he’s at least eating fruits again.  Asher is effectively vegetarian now though.  He’s never been a great fan of meat (except in bolognaise style, or shepherd’s pie), and now he’s rejecting all fish too, even the previously fail-safe fish fingers.  Actually, even veg he’s rejecting.  He used to eat any veg, even the green leafies…now only corn, carrot, peas…aka the frozen veggies.  Broccoli and cabbage are ‘usually’ foods, capsicums generally an ‘always’ food, mushrooms were an ‘always’ now downgraded to ‘usually’ food, and funnily enough celery a ‘only at por por’s house’ food.

But where his appetite leaves much to be desired, I’m so so proud of him that he’s successfully gone 2 days in school in underwear!  Only at nap time does he wear a diaper.  After he wakes it’s back into underwear again.  I’m really so happy.  It’s not been difficult toilet training him, just a long-drawn affair.  I tried when he was younger using the babysigns thing, worked for a littttttlle while, then stopped.  I decided to not bother with toilet training until he was older, esp since a new baby was on the way and he might regress.  After Ellery was born I’d let him sit on the toilet before his shower every night.  That worked.  Then one weekend several weeks back I decided to let him try wearing underwear at home since we were staying in.  He wet himself once.  But after that went the rest of the morning dry.  We tried that another 3 times.  The 2nd time he stayed dry throughout the morning, peeing in the potty when I brought him there.  The 3rd time wet himself once.  The 4th time no accidents – that was on Sunday 23 May.  I decided to just try letting him wear underwear in school.  And he’s had no accidents so far!  Yippie!  Hope it keeps up.  And then of course there’ll be the night hurdle to cross.  But that’s another milestone.

On Ellery, one very sweet thing that resulted from the hospital stay was that we bonded a lot, and he showed a clear preference for me after by being quite clingy.  There was already a mummy-preference prior to the stay, but it was really cemented after.  I could really feel the difference.  And I guess it’s to be expected since I was by his side constantly during the 4 days.  I hardly saw light of day…lost track of time since we were in the isolation ward with no windows.  When he was being poked and suctioned I was the one holding his hands.  Also, it was probably the first time that he’d had me all to himself for such a long stretch.  Normally there’s always Asher around who’ll talk my attention away from Ellery.  So even though it was an unfortunate event, I think there was something really good that came out of it.

I’ll end this long catch-up post with a funny quirk about the boys.  Asher continues to be on the small side.  At 2.5yrs he’s not even 13kg yet, that’s at about the 25th percentile.  When he was a baby he was quite consistently ard 5th percentile for weight.  For height he was always on the tall side.  Ellery on-the-other-hand is a hovering around 97th percentile in weight!  He lost no weight at all during his bout of pneumonia.  There’s one pair of shorts that Asher can still wear (a little tight) that Ellery can also wear (a little loose)!  Maybe they’ll be sharing a wardrobe sooner than I think!

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Edwin & Angeline’s Wedding

Another wedding for Asher to attend! This was a seaside wedding at Rasa Sentosa, so we dressed Asher in his Hawaiian shirt that we received second-hand from a friend :) Perfect for the occasion! There were plenty of long-time family friends, so it was great fun chatting, especially over dinner! And again, Asher amazed us by sleeping through the yum seng! Even better, this time around he didn’t even wake up during the dinner. We later managed to transfer him from stroller to car seat, car seat to arms where he opened his eyes for a bit, and finally arms to cot where he promptly fell back to sleep again. Hurray!

My mum called Asher her ‘accessory’, helping to brighten up her outfit :)

Tai Epoh and Ko Po with the baby cousins

Sleeping with the sound of waves lapping nearby :)

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Holidaying on Sentosa

We’ve been wanting to go for a holiday, and thought we’d start with a local trip and use it as a ‘practice’ trip since we’ve never travelled with Asher before. So Asher went for his first holiday across the great Sentosa causeway! Technically Asher’s been on Sentosa before, but then, he was in my tummy :)

On 26 Mar, we set out for that long and arduous journey to Sentosa island. We checked in at the Amara resort, which on the surface looks really good, but the Devil’s in the details isn’t it? It’s a little rough at the edges, and not quite perfectly put together. When we got to our room we found that there were obvious stains on the sofa, there were watermarks all over the toilet sink, and you can tell the room just isn’t spotless – something I would expect at a place like Amara. I would also have appreciated if the doors leading to buildings and from lift-landings were automated. We found it difficult to move the stroller around cos of the doors. Even if it was just luggage, it’d be more functional if automated doors were in place.

As the room they gave us was on the ground floor and we wanted something higher, we asked if it was possible to change room. Just as well, for the next room they gave us on the 2nd floor was much cleaner (thought still not spotless), and tons more spacious! We had requested for a cot for Asher, and this second room gave us space to still walk around.

We had lunch at Shutters – Jon had a burger, while I indulged in the most expensive nasi lemak I’ve ever had. Around $18 for nasi lemak which came with cod fish marinated with lemongrass, grilled chicken marinated in curry spices, sambal prawns, achar, a fried egg and peanuts. It was an unusual and refined twist which I enjoyed, though you can give me regular nasi lemak any day and I’ll be happy as well!

After lunch we headed out for a walk around the hotel grounds, and came across two of the many peacocks on Sentosa. But the interesting sight for me were the baby peacocks! Here’s a quiz: What are baby peacocks called? Peachicks!

Anyway, we were going to try out the ski lift and luge. The package deal we bought with Amara included breakfast, as well as a pair of tickets for the ski lift, the luge and the Song of the Sea show. Good deal huh? You only pay about $18 over the regular room price (excluding tax).

Since we were doing the touristy bit around Sentosa, I couldn’t leave out taking a photo of our dear Merlion can I? I know there’s been so much talk about the Merlion lately, and an article in the papers about how we should appreciate our icon more. But really, the Sentosa Merlion is ugly in the day, and downright hideous at night! If I were a kid I’d be so scared if I saw the Merlion at night.

Anyway, how is it that we have three Merlions? I thought the Merlion is supposed to be this special, unique creature? And don’t national icons usually come alone? (One Eiffel Tower, one Statue of Liberty, one Big Ben…). We have one Merlion on Sentosa, one at One Fullerton (which got blasted with lightening), and a Merlion kia at the foot of the Fullerton Merlion. So…where did the baby Merlion come from? I thought Merlions were male? Hmmm….Adopted? But adopt from where? Ok, this is getting disturbing. But did you know, the Sentosa Merlion has a hole in its head as well – the observation deck! I only realised when I was on the ski lift. No wonder the Fullerton Merlion got zapped. It was trying to empathise fully with it’s Sentosa counterpart. Ok, I should stop my random rambling.

Cos we had to watch Asher, we could only take the ski lift and luge separately. I went first, then Jon. The ski lift is fun, and is such a peaceful ride! I love being up in the air and above the trees! I could ‘fly’ like that all day! When you get near the peak you can look out over the sea and have a bird’s eye view of the island. You can choose to either take the ski lift back down the hill, or take the luge. Most opt for the second choice, and I would have too, even without a free ticket. It’s such fun! Like go-carting but downhill! WWWHHHEEEEEEEEE!!! Mini-F1 :) It was great to feel carefree! For that 10-15mins, it was just purely about having fun and being young :)

Can you see Jon waving? :)

Before you head downhill they stamp your hand with his Luge logo. It’s like going clubbing haha!

Having burned off some calories (yeah right), we went for a mid-afternoon snack of Or-Luat. The fruit was purely to remove some of the guilt of our Or-Luat indulgence :) We had heard from one of our friends that the Or-Luat at the seaside Kopitiam was good, so decided to try it out. It didn’t disappoint, though at that price, it really shouldn’t allow itself to disappoint.

We hung by the beach to watch sunset and then we tried to swop our 8.40pm Song of the Sea tickets for the 7.40pm show. The earlier show was fully booked up though, so we passed on the show cos we needed to put Asher to bed. Anyway, the tickets are valid for a few months, so we can always go back and watch the show another time :)

Asher had fun bathing in a big bathtub for the first time :) It was good that he wasn’t overwhelmed by it’s size (I have read that some babies find it disconcerting to be in such a big tub). He also showed himself to be very adaptable. We carried out the usual bedtime routine, but this time since we were all in the same room, instead of total darkness we left some lights on, and even carried on with out own activities and chatted. Despite all that, he managed to fall asleep without fussing :) Good boy! *pat pat*

I had a good, long soak in the tub to just relax my tired limbs. Hey, taking care of a baby is tiring work ‘kay! A soak in the tub has always been a treat for me. I remember when I was a kid I used to ask my Mum if I could have a bubble bath when I did well for my tests :) I guess not having a tub at home now makes baths more special too :)

The one thing that surprised us both, though, was that Asher doesn’t sleep well in aircon rooms. We had thought that since the room was air-conditioned, Asher would sleep very soundly cos of the comfortable temperature. But he woke up many times cos he was thirsty! Actually it shouldn’t be surprising to us cos Jon and I don’t sleep that well in aircon rooms too! We both woke up several times just to get a drink of water ourselves! Asher is truly our son haha.

The next day was slow and easy. We had a relaxing breakfast – and I must commend the staff on their helpfulness. They saw that I was carrying Asher, so they took the initiative to ask what I wanted to eat, and carried to food to the table for me :) Great service!

After breakfast we went back to laze in the room for a little while before checking out :) All-in-all a successful first family holiday, and something we must do again soon! Real soon, cos we’ve already planned a Malacca trip! :O)

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Sentosa Getaway

Jon & I decided to take a break and have a local holiday at The Beaufort, Sentosa. Initially we had planned to go for a short overseas trip, but we weren’t able to get any flights, and in the end, we weren’t able to get that amount of leave we needed. We decided a local holiday would still be enjoyable, and we were right!

There are quite a lot of perks to a local holiday. First, it’s cheaper than going overseas! The price of a one night stay is the cost of one person’s fuel surcharge. Second, it’s so convenient and near, particularly since we don’t stay far from Sentosa. No time wasted checking in, travelling, etc. We did pretend that our car ride was a flight :) Well, ok, I pretended haha. I gave the announcements to switch off all electronics, to buckle up, and enjoy the flight :)

The pilot – Captain Nair!

It was a little cloudly when we first arrived, but got sunnier as the day progressed.

Third, it can feel like you’re overseas anyway! We went to Tanjung Beach, and it could have been Malaysia/Thailand/Bali cos there was the sun, the sand, the sea, and the foreigners! haha :) It was a friday, so most locals were working. I think we were the only, or one of the only, locals around. Of course the sand isn’t as white or as fine as what you’d find elsewhere, but still, the environment was very relaxing.

Bo lang. Very shiok.

I loved the huge deck chairs provided – space for yourself, your bag, books, and drinks to all sit comfortably together, plus with space to spare!

Actually before heading to Beaufort we went to McDonalds for a leisurely breakfast. Check-in at the hotel was only at 12pm, so we hung around at Macs reading the papers. We went to the Queenstown outlet – the one with the pond filled with turtles. I had a lot of fun with them! haha. Let me tell you about it.

We were sitting by the railing and I suddenly realised there was a turtle staring up at me. And then I thought, “can they really see so far?”. So I started waving my hand around to see if the turtle would follow it’s motion, and to my delight it did! Then, I excitedly used both my hands and continued to wave as another turtle looked up and followed my hand motion. I then realised I was attracting the attention of the turtles from the other end of the pond! They can really see quite far! So they all started swimming towards me from all corners of the pond! They probably thought I was gonna throw some fries over or something. I was the Queen of the Turtles, wahaha…they follow my every command! :) (Yes yes, I was on holiday and just playing…) But it was very entertaining to see them swim over, then scramble to get the best spot under me. Some of them were stepping all over their friends to be on top of the rock, or to be at the prime spot in the water! It was hilarious :)

Anyway, after a while they realised there was no food coming their way, and slowly one-by-one they lost interest in me and swam away heh. But that shows they must have been weaned on a diet of fries, nuggets, and other food from Macs. Privileged turtles.

But back to Sentosa.

Yup, after checking into our lovely lovely room, we went to hang out by the beach for the entire afternoon. The sun had come out and it was wonderful! I have decided that Tanjung Beach is my favourite of the lot as it’s not as crowded and touristy as the rest. KM8 is a nice beachside pub, and Jon enjoyed a couple of bottles of Corona while I sipped my mango juice :)

KM8 also has a pool by the beach! Yes, you would have thought that having the sea so nearby would make the pool redundant, but no! It’s really very pleasant to soak in the pool cos it’s clean, cool, and very refreshing! The water was a lot cooler than the sea water. It was nice dipping in it, while waiting for our snacks to be served :)

Anyway, an afternoon on the beach resulted in us having quite obvious tan-lines, which was nice given we haven’t had much of a tan in the UK!

After a shower, we indulged by having dinner at The Cliff which is well-known for it’s food. We had pre-dinner drinks while watching the sun set, and a subtle, tasty dinner of well-prepared fish.

Back to the hotel to watch brainless movies like James Bond and Borat :) Then a restful sleep!

Day 2 saw us taking a walk to Palawan Beach for breakfast. Then spending the rest of the morning dipping in the hotel pool and reading trashy magazines. Well, actually I was reading trashy magazines while Jon as usual read his Business Times :) If that’s what he considers holiday reading, who am I to correct him? hahaha =)

Before checking out, Jon indulged me and ordered room service!! I love room service hahahaa :) Don’t know why. I just think it’s fun. Like how I like airplane food. Anyway I was quite reluctant to order room service cos it’s not say super cheap, but Jon, being the lovely hubby he is, indulged his pregnant wife hee hee. I’m not complaining!! :O)

After checking out, we were again happy for the convenience of a local holiday – a short 15min drive back home! :) And then, as with all lazy holidays – more napping! Think we must have made up for all our lost sleep that weekend! zzzzzzZZZ :)

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