Holiday in The Venetian, Macao.

Just got back from a 5D4N holiday in Macao, and since we were staying in The Venetian, we spent most of our time there.

Sam loved the gondola boats in the 3 man-made canals distributed around The Grand Canal Shoppes (level 3 of the complex). We took a ride in one on our 1st evening there, while we waited 2 hrs for our non-smoking room to be ready for check-in.

Our boatman was an entertaining fellow, chatting freely with us throughout the 15 min ride. He had a fine voice too: it was fun to hear his Italian song end with a flourish & a bow while we waited for the other gondola to pass us on the narrow Marco Polo canal.

The show at St Mark's Square was a bit of a disappointment. It was hard to see the performers surrounded by throngs of camera-clicking tourists, since half of the performance was done on ground level instead of the 2-step-high mini stage. We did manage a photo with one of the entertainers on another day though.

For such a big complex, there is only one baby room, which I did not have the occasion to use, since we stayed in the hotel upstairs. On hindsight, I should have explored the room - perhaps there's some mini playground in there. As it was, there's no play area to entertain Sam while we tried to shop there.

We managed to buy something from ecco, simply because the sales assistants were nice (& wise) enough to help entertain Sam, so we could try the shoes & handbags to our satisfaction. It must be the 1st time Sam had someone helped him try on as many girls' shoes on display as he wanted!

On hindsight, we really should have taken the advice of a fellow traveller in the TripAdvisor: it was really inconvenient to bring a young child to a casino-affiliated hotel. Though the suite was large & nicely, newly furnished, & there's all the shopping downstairs without having to go out into the blazing hot sun, it was kinda troublesome having to travel along the "family-friendly" route on level 3 before going down to level 1 for the taxis/buses/restaurants, just so to avoid going through the casino.

If I ever travel to Macao again, I'll much rather get a hotel on Macao itself where I can visit the World Heritage sights more conveniently, then spend a day visiting the splendid-looking Venetian.

Lengthy blog of the restaurants in The Venetian here.

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??!!!!!

Penang holiday: Day 3 - Penang Hill

The only part of Penang hill we saw: the furnicular train station at the bottom of the hill! This was the most frustrating, & most amusing, part of our trip........

We had signed up for a tour in our hotel, cos thought it will be more convenient this way to visit the Kek Lok Si temple (极乐寺). Turns out that the 'tour' is simply our own private driver in a sedan car! Still, it's still a cheaper way @ RM55/person (for the 4 hr tour) than the hotel taxi we took on day 1 (@ RM20/hr).
*Yes, I know there're cheaper methods of transportation, but with a toddler & no car of our own, taxi's the fastest & most convenient way to go. I don't wanna spend my vacation travelling!*

Anyway, though we hadn't planned to go up Penang hill, we thought there was no harm in it, since it was part of the package, even though we have to pay for the train tickets separately.

It was fortunate (I thought at that time) the tour operator got the 10 am train ticket for us the day before, cos by the time we reached the station at 9am, the ticket counter showed the tickets were sold out all the way to the 12:30pm train! So we whiled away the waiting time watching Sam play with other children outside the station.

The joke was when we went into the station at 9:50am to catch the train. There's already a long queue ahead of us, all for the 10am train. And right in front of the waiting furnicular, people holding the 9:30am train tickets!

And only half the 10am group managed to squeeze into the train. Yes, squeeze. There were no seats, everyone was standing, so it's a matter of how many people were willing to squeeze their way into not-so-new-looking furnicular train cabins.

Having sat in comfortable versions of the vernicular in Europe, this Penang version is a total letdown! As I watched the 10am train leave the station, my aching arms (from carrying Sam, had not expected this problem, so didn't bring carrier!) & sweating body told me it's enough!

Why waste time on a destination we had not really wanted to go to in the 1st place anyway???? Luckily the train tickets costs 'only' RM8 for 2 adults, else it would really have been a heartbreaking experience!

Penang holiday: Day 2 - The Blue Mansion

A cute, albeit slightly disgusting, pose of Sam, playing excitedly with garden stones outside the Blue Mansion.

We arrived at the Cheong Fatt Tze Mansion (more famously known as the Blue Mansion) just as the free tour started at 3 pm. Had to park the pram & carry Sam since tour continued up on the 2nd storey.

Lucky for us, Sam was relatively well behaved that day: though he was bored with us standing around listening to the guide, he didn't cry or scream. We ended up taking turns to listen to the tour while the other carry Sam around to see more 'interesting' items & stuff him with biscuits.

I really quite like the Blue Mansion. Thought it was very well restored. Definitely need to take the tour, especially for an ignorant woman like me (hubby claims he knew most of the stuff the guide talked abt!). Feels good to know a bit abt the mix of Chinese & Western architecture during the British settlement era......

Only 'regret' is that only the centre court of the mansion is open to the public, the 2 wings being converted to B&B guestrooms, & are thus out of bounds to protect the privacy of the guests.

After the 1 hr tour, hubby practised his photography on the outside of the mansion (no photography allowed inside the house. Guess they need to earn from the postcards!) This was possible cos once again, Sam was happily engaged playing with the stones lining the perimeter of the garden.

Recalling that, I sometimes wonder why I bother spending money on toys for Sam! A few stones from a garden/aquarium seems to suffice for him!!!!!

Penang holiday: Day 2 - Fort Cornwallis

One of my fav photos taken during this holiday, when Sam was playing with gravel.

Fort Cornwallis turns out to be Sam's big playground, he got such a kick walking & playing with gravel there! Initially we were still trying to stop him from getting himself dirty, but we soon gave up........

It was a bit silly actually, going to Fort Cornwallis. Considering that as Singaporeans, we ourselves have not visited Fort Siloso or any other similar sites since our secondary school days, it felt a bit funny to see something so similar, not only in the cannons & barracks, but also in the history of the place. Don't think would have gone there if there were other places we could go to with Sam so early in the day......

Anyway, won't be posting too many photos here, cos I've uploaded all the pretty pictures of our entire trip in Picasa (link in sidebar), the actual album link being: http://picasaweb.google.com/tanhui23/PenangDec2007

Sam fell asleep in the taxi on our way back, so we skipped off to a good lunch at the Eastern & Oriental hotel. The grilled seafood was great! But unfortunately they've already started the X'mas promotion, so we ended up paying >2x the usual price for the buffet. *heartache*

The hotel was a beauty though, an equivalent of our Raffles Hotel. The main lobby actually retains one's echo very easily!!!

Will post the afternoon trip to the Blue Mansion in a separate post, it was a worthwhile visit!

P.S. Hopefully will be able to finish this Penang journal as planned.......getting more & more distracted by my parents' visit (among other things), & getting lazy abt writing in so much details after spending effort on the web album! ;P

Penang holiday: Day 1 - Arrival, Shopping & Char Quay Teow

20 Dec 2007

Our 1st family holiday since moving to KL (going hm to Singapore didn't count) started off with the 11am AirAsia flight to Penang. Flight was not only punctual, but we arrived 5 min early too.

Luckily for me, Sam fell asleep right before takeoff.

Unfortunately, my hubby fell asleep too, thus I was stuck with a sleeping toddler in my numbing right arm & no one to talk to. Couldn't even reach my bag at my feet for a drink! So spent the time taking pictures with my Sony Erisson K810i hp......

Reached the Gurney Resort Hotel at abt 1 pm & the whole family ended up napping.

So had a late 3pm lunch at the 'famous' Penang char quay teow stall. A long long wait for the dish......we polished off neoh heong & spring rolls in the meantime, Sam getting bored in the rattan baby high chair.

The char quay teow was a bit disappointing. Though delicious with large prawns, don't really understand what's the big deal abt it. Maybe cos we didn't end up in the right stall: there were 3 char quay teow stalls along the same stretch of road!

Wanted to go sightseeing after lunch, but the Blue Mansion was closed on the Hari Raya Haji holiday. So we ended up with the only option available to us at that hour & place: shopping at the Chocolate Boutique & the local products shop!

Back to the hotel by 5:30pm to shower, followed by a quick & short dinner downstairs at the Jap restaurant, then it's bedtime for Sam at 7 pm!

After he fell asleep, we were stuck with nothing to do as couldn't watch TV or switch on the lights, lest Sam wakes up.

So we chatted in whispers by the light of the bathroom while snacking on the local products bought earlier on. Poor hubby ended up having to read the map by the closet light to decide on the itenary:

I got so bored, I took out all our purchases from the Chocolate Boutique to commerate the unplanned expediture of RM$200 there:

Oh, the durian chocolates were great! Definitely worth the RM$35/box (9 pcs/box) price tag! In case anyone is interested, the brand is Beryls & take note to get the durian creme type, not the cheap durian flavouring type.

Back from Holiday

Got back from Penang yesterday, great trip!

Oh, there were loads we couldn't see or do, & I totally miss the night scenes of Penang, thanks to Sam, but it was a good R&R holiday, couldn't complain much!

Only regret is didn't manage to get a picture of the whole family.........
And poor Sam soooooo missed his rice & porridge, cos we ate lots of char quay teow!!!!

Am now trying to compile the photos from our digital camera & our 2 camera phones. (talk abt digital age! In the past, all we have to do is just develop the rolls of film & put them in the free albums!)

It'll take a while before I can post the photos though, cos have finally decided to use Picasa to post my photos (still can't get used to Flickr). This way can easily organise it in the desktop, post on web and blog and Facebook!

Oh, this time I can't dilly dally on this, cos my parents are coming over to KL to visit this weekend, so I must finish the compilation in time for them to see!

Going Holidaying

Going on holiday tomorrow, a 4D3N trip to Penang.

This is the 1st time we're going on a holiday since Sam has learnt to walk.

Hopefully it'll turn out to be as 'easy' as when he was merely a baby!

Already I will be wasting my nights in Penang, cos will be grounded in the hotel once I put Sam to bed at 7pm. :(
Don't intend to deviate too much from his bedtime schedule, else I'll have hell to catch up once we get back home.

Lucky hubby got a hotel near the famous hawker centre. I'll probably grow even fatter feasting on supper he goes out to buy while I put Sam to sleep!

Hopefully this time will manage to take some nice pics of our whole family again. And some reasonable nice ones of myself that I'll be willing to post out for the world to see!

Hoping the AirAsia flights will not be delayed by too much.

Hoping hard that it will not be too difficult to find somewhere to breastfeed out in Penang.

Hoping & hoping that Sam will be able to take his naps, else my nights will be terrible!

Hoping very, very hard that the Combi pram can tahan the Penang pavements & not breakdown on us!!!