Feeding Session in Butterfly Park

Visited the Butterfly Park in the Lake Gardens today. Entrance fee was RM8 per adult Malaysian, use of cameras will cost additional RM1.

Only when we saw the charge did we realised we forgot to bring our camera! So the photos (link to album in sidebar) seen are a bit blurred, cos taken with my handphone......

The park is beautifully landscaped, much bigger & better than the one we saw in the Cameron Highlands. But then, the entrance fee was cheaper there (RM3), so I guess the money really went somewhere worthwhile.

The butterflies here not so concentrated. So in a way, it was lucky Sam visited the Cameron one before, where there were so many butterflies in the small area quite a number were dead on the ground. At least he's learnt what a butterfly is, and could look out for one.

And because there are butterflies crowding before his eyes to distract him, Sam found the tortoise pond & fish ponds more interesting this time round.

And this time, we've bought a RM1 fish food to feed the hungry fishes. Turns out that the tortoises were very hungry as well, never before have I seen tortoises clamour over each other for food!



About the only thing I don't like about visiting the Lake Gardens is: I don't know where to go after that for lunch! So we always ended up eating near our place...................

Bloody Lousy TNB!!!

We got yet another power failure tonight again!!!!!

Luckily, this time it only last for abt 1 hr 20 min. If it took as long as the last time (see previous post) I'll go berserk!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

But it was still bloody irritating to have the lights go out & the aircon stop suddenly, just as I was contemplating how to enjoy the remaining night after Sam fell asleep.

And the power failures are so frequent! It's not even 2 months since the switchboard got fried in July, what went wrong again?????

And to think the country is preparing to celebrate its 51 yrs of Independence this Sunday. What kind of silly place is this when they can't even get the electricity running properly in their own capital, barely 1 km away from their precious Towers, in a street where resides an embassy & a Sultanate residence????????

Sam's Botak Again!

Brought Sam for his overdued haircut today.

Initially he was quite excited about the trip: went 'hair, hair, hair' the entire time it took us to reach the Michael & Guys salon in Berjaya Times Square.

But when I approached the salon & he realised where it was, he literally ran away!

It took a Cloud9 sweet (leftover from the Optical 88 visit for my new specs) to get him into the salon & onto my lap.

After the razor was started, it took another promise of a new toy car to keep him sitted throughout the entire shave. And he wailed (no, not crying, cos no tears) the whole time too.

And since he refused to have the towel tied around his neck, we ended up with his hair all over us. Luckily I remembered past experience & brought a change of clothes for him. Next time, I'll also bring a change of clothing for myself too!

But this time I made a mistake, should have asked for the No. 2 shave instead of No. 1, so now my Sam looks like he's ready for the army! ;P

Blog Diary: April ~ July 08

30 July 08
Removed the BabelFish translator widget.
Adding badge link to my Facebook photos.

15 June 08
No more new topics of "Drama Mama".
Future blogging on fav drama serials will be logged in my new blog, The Drama Mama Diaries.

9 April 08
Have joined the Mom Blog Network to read other mothers' blogs, hence added the badge.

8 April 08
New label "Sleep Issues", to record Sam's sleeping issues.
Hopefully this will help me tackle the problem......

Another Week of Hell......

Sam will be starting school again come Tuesday. Was finally looking forward to the end of 2 weeks of facing him 24/7, when I'm dropped another bombshell:

Hubby will be off on business trip to Australia come Monday!

This means not only can we not travel anywhere this long weekend, I'll also be stuck alone with Sam for a further 9 days!

Urgh!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Child-friendly Tony Roma's

Had a very good lunch today. Well, as good a lunch any mum can get when she's alone with a tired & hungry male toddler.

Brought Sam to Tony Roma's at Midvalley Megamall, cos saw they were having a promotion: children <12 yrs can eat for free on Mon ~ Wed, provided the adult ordered a main entree, of course. So, I tried my luck, and I'm definitely going back again, even if I have to pay the next time!

Firstly, they have both baby high chairs & booster seats for older children. Then, they provide crayons & an activity sheet (colouring, maze, puzzles) for the kid to play. Sam, being his 1st exposure to crayons, scared me to death by putting the crayon in his mouth!! Luckily I got it out before he bit it!!!

The starters for the kid's menu is carrot & celery sticks with dip. The waiter very wisely served this when I was still going through the menu & Sam was going "mum-mum-mum". And when I was scrambling for a wet wipe to clean Sam's not-so-clean hands, they promptly provided a wet wipe for the task!

And they didn't hurry me to order drinks or anything like that, just let me take my own time to read the usual menu after I've order fish & chips (RM$16.90) for Sam.

When I've decided on their set lunch, fish & chips too (great value at RM$19.90, includes soup, coleslaw & drink), the manager even reminded me I've already ordered a juice for Sam, so do I want the extra drink?? Wow! I'll gladly give them the extra business just for this kind of service!!!!

The fries were good, makes me feel a bit less guilty abt letting Sam eat them cos they still have the potato skins on. And the fish were really, truly lightly battered! Cos picky Sam doesn't like to eat the batter, I usually have to spend a lot of effort scraping off the batter (& usually end up eating it myself) at other restaurants before I can feed it to Sam. But Tony Roma's version had a very thin batter layer, which Sam barely noticed through all the fish, so I could spend the time eating my own delicious fish instead. Great!

I felt bad not finishing the dessert (Dirt Cup = choco pudding + Oreo crumbs) from the kids' menu. But silly Sam refused to take even a single bite, and I was feeling full & fat after eating half the dessert, so..........next time then!

When we were done, they served up another 2 warm wet wipes, one for me, 1 for Sam. Never have I been offered a wet wipe for the child before! The feeling was wonderful!

I'll definitely bring Sam back there again! Maybe next time let him try the Cheezy Pizza or the Chicken Strips while I enjoy a proper steak.............

Surviving 2nd week of Sam's School Holidays

Today is the 3rd time I brought Sam along to my physiotherapy session.

Now he no longer cries at the sight of my physiotherapist (goodness knows why he did so in the 1st place!). In fact, he remembers the routine now: asked for his car to play with the moment we stepped inside the room, looked for the exercise ball to throw with, wants to wash his hands at the basin!

This session the physiotherapist was fully occupied, & I had to wait for 10 min for a bed to be vacated. And Sam surprised me by knowing the routine! The other woman had barely left the bed when Sam started pulling me towards it. I had to hold him off while the assistant does the cleaning up!

Then he petted the area where I'm supposed to rest my head, & indicated that I should take off my shoes & keep my bag on the rack. Wow!

Unfortunately, his enthusiasm only lasted till the end of the ultrasound treatment. After that, I had to spend the electro treatment, the exercise regiment & the icing routine entertaining him & explaining to him that "no, mummy's not finished yet, cannot go yet".

When we were leaving, he amazed me again with his long term memory: he remembered the cashier had an interesting pencil (even I myself can't remember which animal it was in the shape of now!) which she let him see last Thursday. But poor little fellow, the cashier didn't bring the pencil today, so he left for his promised treat on the musical car.

Weekend in Bt Tinggi

What a poorly maintained place the Colmar Tropicale is!

The photos all look so good, then it turns out that only the front facade (which most photos feature), is the only well-kept area. The back & basements of the resort are so............urgh! paint peeling off, lifts a bit smelly..........& our hotel room's furniture: the sofa seats are all sunken in, dust visible on the top of the 4 poster canopy bed..........aren't we glad we only stayed for one night!!!!!!

And we were very unlucky: the rain started only after Sam woke up from his afternoon nap on Sat. So after we wasted 2 hrs sitting on the not-so-comfortable-now sofa reading & chatting while Sam napped, there was no where else we could go in the rain after Sam was fully energised & ready to go.

So yes, we ended up in the Children's Playroom for Sam to tire out sufficiently for bedtime, while we parents ended up taking photos of anything remotely interesting in, & viewable, from the Playroom! Proof of complaint:

For more photos of the trip see: http://www.new.facebook.com/album.php?aid=37451&l=78ac9&id=682608180

Otherwise, the trip seems to be most enjoyable for Sam, who loved the Rabbit Farm:

For (2) more videos of Sam in the Berjaya Hills Resort see: http://www.youtube.com/tanhui2

The front facade of the Colmar Tropicale is frankly speaking, pretty good. Really very much like stepping back into Europe:

I guess I'll probably enjoy it more if we hadn't visited similar places before during our Dutch posting. But still, the 'pasar malam' kind of stalls along the street really spoils the European feel the front facade suggests.

The only impressive part of the whole resort was the Japanese Village, partly cos I didn't know it was really situated in the forest. We had to go through a number of slopes & steps to reach the 1st Jap Tea House, & the feeling of the place was wonderful, most serene! I can fully understand why they charge so much for the Tatami Spa situated there! Even the crew delivering the towels had to go through the trails through the forest to access the spa!

Oh, if only Sam was around, we would be able to enjoy the onsen & massage there! Maybe even stay in the traditional Jap Tatami Suite??!!!!!

Surviving Day 2 of Sam's School Holidays

Was surprised to see the promotion at the House of Sundanese Food in Suria KLCC, RM$19.90++ for a set meal! And they have a kids' menu too! If the promotion holds true, must go try it 1 of these days........

But then, why do I bother with a kids' menu at all????? Sam certainly doesn't seem to be appreciating my efforts to feed him:

I was enjoying my fav Stir-fried Lemongrass Beef Rice bowl with a wonderfully delicious Dragonfruit salad at Bongsen, but Sam totally didn't eat a single mouthful of his Beefball Pho soup noodle. The beefballs he took only one bite! I mean, ya, it's not as good as his fav pork meatballs from Isetan supermarket, but there's no need to be so picky right???

So it was RM$18 down the drain as Sam drank only half his fresh apple juice & ate all the rainbow sprinkles of the ice cream (he hasn't learnt the joys of ice cream yet. The sweet & crunchy sprinkles are a love at 1st try though).............

Why am I stil wondering about the kids' menu in Tony Roma's????????

Surviving Day 1 of School Holidays

Lunch at Ichiban Boshi in Pavillion, ordered udon soup for Sam, which he refused to eat!

Ended up giving him 4 out of 5 of my tempura prawns. And since Sam doesn't like the tempura batter, I have to spend time scraping out the prawns for him, then eat the batter myself to go with the rice.

Talk about being a mother!!!!

High Tea at Carcossa Seri Negara

Sam had fell asleep in the car on the way back home from Ikea, and I've made a wrong turn, so we thought might as well go explore the Lake Gardens & find out where the Butterfly Park is, so that next time we can drive there easily.

Well, we found the Butterfly Park. Then we found the Bird Park. Then hubby wanted to find this hotel on the other side of the Lake Gardens which is supposed to have good traditional British high tea.

We were happily on our way there following the instructions on the GPS when Sam woke up crying, to our consternation. We had thought Sam would nap for about 1.5 hrs as he does at home!

So we ended up sharing the RM$60 pp high tea (since we were still full from a German 6-sausage lunch) instead of going back another day as originally planned. Since we didn't make any reservations we couldn't have the indoor tables. Sam was delighted with the outdoor arrangement though, trying in vain to catch the pigeons out in the garden.

Hubby got an earful from me for letting Sam play under the hot afternoon sun, & spent the rest of tea time entertaining the little bugger with toy cars instead.

Picky Sam refused all the sandwiches, ate half the brownie & tasted 2 other savories. He had his 1st taste of Strawberry & Kiwi tea and Pai Mu Tan tea. After all the playing he accepted some of the scones, though he rejected the wonderfully delicious jams, silly boy. Then, of all the things in the world, he pooped!

So I ended up cleaning the stinky toddler in the air-conditioned toilet on the vanity top, not the most dignified exit out the boutique hotel!

The End of Sam's 1st Summer Camp

Sam's last 4 handicrafts for his holiday camp: a photo frame, a paper lantern, 3 greeting cards (with envelopes), & the hand painting of an (I think) angel.

Hubby & I had a good laugh at Sam's photo in the frame: he looked so "脸臭臭" when he's not smiling! Ha! Must keep the photo to show him when he's older!!!! ;P

The greeting cards are surprisingly quite presentable. Will probably send them to his grandparents.............hmmm, for what occasion????????

The lantern has become Sam's "ball-on-a-stick&string". He finds it so fun to bounce the lantern up & down holding the stick, the pictures on 2 of the sides had fallen off. Now I wonder if the lantern can survive till Mooncake Festival..................

Some "freebies" from the holiday camp, though for the price we paid, it's not 'free' in any way! More like, I was surprised to receive these additional stuff:

the handicrafts (except for the lantern) were nicely packed in the Winnie the Pooh bag, which is just the right size for Sam's age. (The girls got a pink version.)

Also included were a pencil, 2 notepads of different sizes, & 2 sheets of stickers (fishes, Sam's fav). I'm keeping these on hold till (1) his current drawing pads are exhausted, (2) he's older & not likely to try to eat the pencil, and (3) I buy a sticker book to teach him the pretty stickers are supposed to go on the book, & not on the wheels of his cars, or the table etc.

Now in dread of the coming 2 weeks of holidays.....................headache just thinking about it............... :(

Sam's Holiday Camp - 1st 3 days

This is the 1st week of Sam's 3 week long summer school holiday. Fortunately for me, hubby decided to let Sam experience the school's offering of holiday camp (since no such thing in Singapore's usual nursery), so I won't have to face the prospect of being stuck with Sam all day long for another whole week.

Well, after 3 days of art & crafts in the camp, I was presented with these:

So now we're clear where the money for the RM100/day holiday camp went to: all the materials & the teachers' labour cost in assembling the finished articles!

Of the (1) bear pencil holder, (2) cotton puff puppy, (3) elephant memo clip, (4) sponge printing notebook cover, (5) T-shirt printing, (6) butter cookies, (7) name plate, (8) necklace:

both hubby & I agree only the name plate (made of flour & salt) is of a useful & lasting nature, & we look forward to putting it in his own room in the near future. Although I'm still not sure what Sam contributed to the making of the name plate!

The butter cookies we've already eaten all 4 pieces of it. If by tomorrow none of us had any diarrhea, I'll say hubby's worries that Sam's fingers had been up his nose just before he cut out the cookies were totally misplaced. ;P

The T-shirt, though not exactly pretty, I think I'll let Sam wear it at least once. Maybe as the "just-in-case" clothes I carry around in the diaper bag. The notebook cover I'll probably preserve it somewhere & let Sam demolish the rest of the notebook.

As for the necklace, though the teachers say it's by the children for their mummies, I still don't see how I can fit it over my head..........not to mention the fact Sam finds the pieces (which he also cut out) resembling the butter cookies & tried to bite them!

Sam in Fancy Glasses

Was washing my face after waking up this morning to be greeted by this:

He got the toy specs as part of a classmate's birthday party bag quite some time ago, and at that time, he didn't dare to put it on his face.

But now the big boy actually thought it fun to wear glasses like his daddy & mummy!

Well, as long as it's only toy glasses and not the real thing........

My 1st Parent-Teacher Meeting

Got a shock today when Sam's school teacher asked to have a meeting with me today. Initially thought Sam bit a classmate or something equally naughty!

Then remembered I haven't had any formal discussions with the teachers since Sam started school in Feb. So this "2 month" report had delayed to become a "half year" report:

Gosh! Wish he's so well-behaved at home!!!!

Teething Sam is Very Picky

Sam is teething: top right 2nd molar, and bottom left 2nd molar.

This means that he's not sleeping well at night. :(

And his appetite has dropped.

Not to mention the sudden fussiness to food. Rice isn't always a welcome carbohydrate at mealtimes. Prawns are a sudden favourite, to the exclusion to everything else, sometimes. Cereals are no longer welcome to the tummy, though he's willing to submit it to the mouth & saliva before spitting it out all over the sofa & table & floor...............

Hurry up & finish teething!!!!!!!!