We don’t have Astro installed in our house, girls don’t get to watch Cartoon Network nor Nikelodian except when they are visiting their cousins or friends, or staying in a hotel with these channels.

It’s through their cousins that the girls were introduced to Sponge Bob Square Pants, and they love the program as well as the characters.

So when Zaria went to Tesco with Daddy (while Zara and I attended Yamaha class) last week, and picked up a box of Koko Krunch with Mr Krabs figurine (which Zaria insisted on buying), Zara made noise and wanted one too. Daddy had to go back to Tesco the following day to get Zara another box of Nestle cereal, and this time with Patrick (Zara’s favourite Sponge Bob Characters).

Then this week when I attended Yamaha class with Zara, Zaria again went to Tesco with Daddy, and picked up another box of Nestle cereal with Sponge Bob. o.O”

Zaria said she has 3 children now at home, which I think will just eventually end up a decoration on the tv stand. Her Sponge Bob and Crabby Crab (that’s what she called Mr Krabs).

And Patrick.

They wanted a family photo.

And another, and they said the bread I baked was Krabby Paddy (Krusty Crab) Restaurant.

And another.

So now, we’re stuck with 3 box of Nestle Cereals (luckily different flavour), and the girl will have to have this not so healthy breakfast for the next few months.

We wanted to go to a Chinese Restaurant for dinner, the tai-chao type (outdoor, no aircon) which the girls don’t really fancy. Zara kept saying she didn’t want to go and asked us to eat at another place, but we told her we’d decided.

Zara : “I will go to the restaurant. But….. you promise me to read 6 books tonight.
Me : “6 is too many. 3.”
Zara : “No.. 5.”
Me : “4 then.”
Zaria chipped in too: “No….. 5.”
Daddy : “Come on. 2 daddy 2 mummy.”
Both girls : “OK then.”.
And true enough, both girls behaved during and ate their dinner.

(I’m actually quite happy they love reading so much that they used this to negotiate. We had to limit night time reading to 2 books per night as their books are getting thicker and stories are getting longer as they grow up.)

The girls’ one month holidays and my 2 weeks holidays are over! Dang!

Before my holidays started, I had big plans like wanting to watch some DVDs, read a few books, go for a few sesssions of massages etc. But…as though in the spirit of 1Malaysia, I only managed to watch 1movie, went for 1massage and finished the 1book I was reading even before I started my leave. Bah!!

Besides our Bali holidays, here are the things we did that made this holiday just zoomed by so quickly :

♥Beautifying the house♥
Daddy painted the bathrooms ceiling, and we also bought new curtains to replace some of our old ones.

♥Checked out Christmas decorations at some malls♥
And managed to catch the ‘snow-fall’ in Pavilion (which the girls absolutely loved).

♥Celebrated Tasha’s 4th birthday at Jungle Gym♥

♥Celebrated Christmas♥
With a Chinese dinner (thanks to my dad who paid for dinner)

And plenty of present opening.

Zaria’s favourite present is the muffin Ah Ku (my bro) and Ah Kim (my SIL) bought for her.

Zara’s favourite present is Patrick from Spongebob, but unforutely that’s not hers but her cousin, Alicia’s.

♥Play with the girls or watch them play♥
They loved playing with the Elephant that my sister bought which puffed out butterflies for them to catch.

♥Girls did plenty of drawing and arts and crafts with no supervision♥
Zara cut out pieces of coloured papers and made this Christmas art.

And also a bag for me.

Of course for Christmas she drew this.

Zaria not to be outdone, did lots of drawing too. And I’ll need to have another post to write about this.

♥Celebrated Zaria’s birthday♥, and to be fair, will have another post for this too.

♥Went to Sunway Lagoon with my sister and Tasha♥

By evening, all were hungry and the little one extremely tired.

Had a ♥New Year’s BBQ♥ (all were too busy to take any photos).

And of course ♥lots of baking and cooking♥.
Hop on to my new site to catch some of the things I made.

This is the last installment of the trip. Continue from here.

♥Dec 1♥
Breakfast at Cicada Luxury Townhouse has to be ordered the day before, and it was brought to our room at our specified time.

It was complimentary for 2, but the quantity was enough for all of us. Girls each have a croissant (which had been removed from the basket in pic below), and some of my pancakes.

We decided to go on a tour to see : salt production, rice terrace, volcano. We booked a car (450,000 Rupiahs for 10hrs) and started our journey at 9:30am.

Driver brought us to a beach near Gianyar where salt used to be produced.

The salt traders however were gone. It was too much hard work and too little profit, so the salt producers all turned to a more profitable trade – pebble trading (they picked the pebbles from the beach, sort them according to size and sell them). We were dissapointed.

It was then a long ride up to Kintamani, to view the volcanos. Seen here is Mount Batur, and Lake Batur

Then another long drive to view the rice terrace at Tegalalang.

Tegalalang is also famous for wood handicrafts, and we saw a lot of young men carving wood blocks into beautiful art pieces.

After this, we went to Bebek Bengil, Ubud for lunch (which we found quality has lowered) and also to did some shopping. I managed to get some really nice jewelry pieces, but after walking for about ~2hrs under the hot sun, I started to feel a migraine coming.

Our driver said he asked around and found there’s a confirmed salt producer at Kusamba beach, so he drove us there. When we arrived at Kusamba, my head was already pounding, so I just stayed under the shed while Daddy looked around. He told me this was how salt was produced.

Sea water is mixed with sand and put into this container to get filtered.

Then the filtered sea water is collected (it actually goes through a few more round of filtering before being collected).

All these done in a small shed.

The filtered sea water is then left to dry under the sun, and salt will be produced.

Zara had a good time playing at the beach in Kusamba too.

By the time we got to the van, my migraine was getting worse. Instead of heading for dinner, we headed back to the villa. On our way back, I actually had to stop 3, 4 times to vomit. That night, the girls and Daddy had room service while I slept to get through the migraine.

♥Dec 2♥
I felt much better in the morning after a good sleep. The girls just wanted to swim, so they spent sometime at our own plunge pool as well as the main pool.

We took it easy for the rest of the day, just went shopping around Seminyak, had lunch at a nice restaurant, Warong Made.

I went for another massage when the girls were napping, and on my way, saw lots of people carrying offerings to the Petitenget Temple, so I told Daddy we should go and check out what’s happening.

It seemed, there was a 3 days celebration/prayers of some sort at the Petitenget Temple (which is located near the Petitenget Beach). We went over to the beach in the evening, and saw many people praying, giving offerings etc.





Of course when there are people, there is food. The stalls just sprouted around the beach (which were not there 2 days ago when we went to the beach).

After praying at the beach, everybody started heading towards the temple. Zaria was complaining she was feeling cold (a fever was brewing), so I brought the girls back to the villa while Daddy entered the temple to see more.

We had dinner at Bebek Bali that night, a place which offered all types of duck dishes.

Zaria wanted a photo of herself at the entrance of the restaurant (she was already running a fever).

When we got back, I realised Zaria was a bit feverish, her temparature was 38.4C and I gave her some fever medicine and got her to sleep early. When I went to bed at 12am and checked her again, her fever has shot up to 39C! Throughout the night, I had to sponge her, and her fever was hovering around 39.4~39.7 and she was muttering things nonsensical, making me extremely worried. I tried to stay guarded the whole night to sponge and check on her and drifted in and out of sleep (while Daddy snored away, typical).

♥Dec 3♥
Early in the morning, Zaria’s fever was still high. We informed the reception and asked if we could have a doctor sent to check on her. They instead offer to send us to a nearby doctor. I went with Zaria to Bali Clinic in Cicada’s van. The doctor checked and found Zaria had very bad throat infection, gave her suppository, some antibiotic, flu medicine and cough mixture and charged me USD90! A price I paid to get peace of mind.

When we got back to Cicada, I took a nap to recharge. We then started packing and prepared to check out. We were so delighted when the staff informed us we could have our villa till 5pm when our airport transport arrived, since Zaria was recovering from a very bad fever. How sweet of them! We didn’t even ask for it and was given just like that.

Daddy stayed at the villa with the girls while I went out to do some last minute shopping. I didn’t manage to get much as the street in Seminyak had a power cut and there was no aircon in any of the shops, and it was a super hot day. I bought lunch back, we just lazed around the room, and at 5pm went to the airport for our 7pm flight. Zaria’s fever by this time has subsided. Phew.

Continue from here.

♥Nov 29♥
After breakfast, we just lazed about. Then we had another obligation to fulfil, i.e. to bring the sponsor my dad out for a massage (“Come to Bali no massage? How can?”).

Only my SIL, my dad and I went. The massage centre provided free transport, and we all chose hot stone massage. Sharing the same room with my SIL, we were hoping for a relaxing massage, but the 2 masseurs were chatting throughout the 2hrs. The massage wasn’t that good too, felt just like someone rubbing oil on you. Grrr.

Daddy stayed at the villa and spent time taking photos accompanied the girls when they swam.

When we got back from our massage, lunch was ready (prepared by the villa).
Yums!

After that it was rest and relax and then at 4:30pm, our booked vans arrived to bring us to Jimbaran to watch the sunset.

The girls have no appreciation of the view, but they were happy to get to play with sand.

The place was crowded with tourists as well as locals.

Sam has very kindly relieved me off my porter duty.

When the sun was about to set at the horizon, we started seeing some tourists doing weird poses for their cameras, i.e. one put her hand out in such a way that it looked like she was carrying the sun; a few couples were kissing so the sun was just above their joined head; etc etc.

Here is my version. Daddy didn’t position the camera properly, so no ‘stylo-mylo’ shot.

After that, it was time for dinner. There were so many restaurants at the beach that competition was steep. My brother and sister went hunting for a restaurant which offered the best discount and they found one which was willing to give 30% off.

While waiting for the food to be served, Zara taught her cousins how to do the kung-fu panda dance she learnt for her concert.

And Daddy of course, went to do more photo shooting.

After dinner, one van drove some of the people home, while another brought a few of us to Kuta to buy DVDs. Imagine, 10,000Rupiah (USD1) for 1 DVD, and when you buy 10, it’s free 4. Buy 20, free 10, etc etc. My brother, my nephew and I bought almost 60 over pieces of DVDs and paid 30,000Rupiahs! What a loot.

♥Nov 30♥
It was time to pack up and leave after breakfast. My extended family checked out of Villa Longhouse, and went shopping in 2 vans then later catch a flight back home; while our family of four took another van to get to our new villa in Seminyak.

I’d spent a lot of time on researching for a place to stay (no Kuta, Ubud, Nusa Dua because we’d been there, no big hotels) and finally agreed on Cicada Luxury Townhouse, it is located near Petitenget beach at the fringe of Seminyak, the best part is payment is via paypal! So my blogging actually paid for our stay!

And it looks exactly like what is shown on the website. We get a plunge pool big enough (but rather deep) for the kids to splash about.

The spacious living room with a kitchenette gave us lots of space.

The bedroom with an outdoor rainshower and tub, and Zara claimed the extra bed for her was very cozy.

We didn’t do much except walk around to look for restaurant for lunch, checked out the beach in the evening and then later, went to a highly rated (at tripadviser) local restaurant Warong Sobat, near the villa, for dinner.
All this food with drinks and beer and starter for less than RM40.

Canada is one of the countries I would like to visit one day, so I was just checking out what are the room rates in Toronto hotels. It is actually not too bad, because a country like Bali is charging the same amount for rooms the same standard.
I should really plan to go there one day, but what I dread most is the long haul flight there, especially if I want to go with the children.

Do you think it’s better to go on those weight lost programs; join an expensive gym; sign up for yoga class (oh, please don’t try the one I’m going to, 3 out of 7 weeks class has been cancelled) or just get a Kettlebell and discipline yourself to work out frequently at home?
I need to work out, I try to do yoga on my own (when class is cancelled), but I sometimes get too lazy. Maybe if I invest in a Kettlebell I’ll be more motivated (since I’d paid for it, might as well use it)?

I’d been reading a lot of Ou Yan Ying’s book recently, and one thing that he thinks people should do frequently is colon cleansing. I’d been looking on the web for information as well as reading colon cleanse reviews, it seems it is beneficial to health.
Now I need to find out where in KL can you do this, and hear from anybody out there who had tried out the centers in KL.

This has been a trip planned long time ago, my dad sponsoring a 4 days 3 nights trip to Bali (flight + accomodation) for my extended family (all 15 of us), and our family of 4 extending another 3 nights.

♥Nov 27th♥

We took an early AirAsia Flight and arrived at Bali in the afternoon. The villa has sent 2 cars over to pick us up.

Cold towel and fresh juice awaited us at the villa.

Our 6-room villa, The Longhouse, is located at the hills at Jimbaran (which meant we get magnificent view of Jimbaran Bay and Tanjung Benoa). It is 4 stories high, comes with a lift and 6 beautifully furnished rooms; it has a small pool, a plunge pool (in one of the rooms), a jacuzzi, a gym, a big dining room, a huge TV room, a massage room, and many day beds scattered around the villa. 3 dedicated staff, a chef, and a manager were at our service.

Everywhere is beautifully decorated.

Everybody was busy checking out all the floors, the rooms and the facilities upon arrival. The ooohs and the aaahs were coming from every one.

We took a room with a big comfy day bed (which became Daddy’s bed), and what I like most about the room is the big granite bathtub which the girls loved.

Girls immediately changed to their swimming costumes and hit the pool, while we adults attacked the lunch prepared by the villa.

We had a relaxing day, just lazing around at the villa, swimming, lunching and dining at the villa, chatting, etc.

♥Nov 28th♥
After a long and lazy breakfast, we went on an obligated sightseeing trip to keep the sponsor my dad happy (“No sightseeing in Bali? How can?”). Since nobody wanted to be on the road whole day, and my dad had to attend mass at 5:30pm, we chose to visit Uluwatu nearby.

Monkeys were every where, we wonder if they were trained to grab people’s things. One grabbed my SIL’s glasses when she walked passed, and only when an old man (probably its handler?) gave it corn, then peanuts, then only the monkey tossed the glasses to the ground. Our driver told us to give a couple of thousand rupiahs (few ringgit) to the man as a token sum.

Look at the monkey comfortably seated with my SIL’s glasses.

Another monkey grabbed Sam’s, my niece’s, small monkey dangling from her Kipling bag, chewed the head off, ate the stuffing, then tossed it away.

All these monkey business and being baked under the sun (36degrees daily in Bali) to get these views.

As we didn’t bring a stroller along (Bali’s roads are not meant for strollers), and Zaria didn’t want to walk much (the heat maybe?), plus she complained everytime when Daddy carried her, his sweat stung her skin, I ended up being her personal porter.

Shopping, sightseeing, walking to look for restaurants, I had to piggy back the little princess.

After Uluwatu, we went to Kuta area to shop (and tried to stay in airconditioned places), then sent my Dad and brother to church. After their evening mass, we had dinner around Kuta area, and then headed back to the Villa all sticky with sweat.

Apologise for all the paid posts that have flooded my site. Suddenly I had ~20 assignments and all due the same time.

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We claimed credit card points for a new point and shoot, Panasonic DMC-TX7. Don’t ask me why this model, it’s Daddy’s points, so he got to choose the model.

See the quality of the photo taken with the point and shoot

vs the DSLR

Not bad hor?

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Some funny things the girls said recently.

Zaria wanted Daddy to read to her, and when he said he was busy, she came to me and instructed, “Mum, scold daddy, faster, he didn’t want to read to me”
(You can tell I’m always the one doing the scolding).

While waiting for Daddy to finalise his purchase in the camera shop, Zaria was saying, “It’s so boooooring here. I know what, lets go to to book shop. Mum, is there a book shop here?” After that, it was “I want to go to the book shop” all the way.

We were talking about why we need to have a maid at home. Zara said, “You don’t know how to wash the dishes right? That’s why you need Aunty Jelly.” Children are just so innocent.

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Zara’s passport is due for a renewal, and Zaria’s for a photo update.

This was Zaria’s old photo

This was the photo taken few days back.

Oh my, how much she has grown.

And look at Zara’s old photo, taken when she was about the same age as Zaria now.

How much THEY have grown!