June school holidays

***7th to 9th June***

Resort World Singapore _ Hard Rock Hotel

The elated Double Ds

Darian loves sliding into the water.

She was all ready for the next round of slide

The kiddos really love playing with their daddy

Time for some squirting fun

Other than the usual play dates, weekend shopping, outdoor activities and indoor playground trips, we did manage to have our 3 days 2 nights staycation at Hard Rock hotel RWS for this June school holidays. It’s our first time staying at the Hard rock hotel and we personally preferred there to Festive hotel. Needless to say, the kids were thrilled about the staycation. Darian had been telling his teacher in school about it and counting down to the date. This time round, Papa Yap and I decided to keep this staycation a relaxing one rather than lining up everyday with many activities because walking and standing for long hours really would exhaust me.

Together with my aunts and uncle-in law

Daddy’s with daddy’s girl

Downright expensive bubble guns Haha

Our only princess

Our only Prince(as of then) 😉

New Lego Shop at Festive Hotel

New toy yet again 😉

Day 1 was checking into the hotel followed by swimming, dinner and a stroll around RWS. Well Double Ds can never say no to the pool and slide. The kiddos were merrily having fun with Papa Yap in the pool, while my aunts, uncle joined me under the shade to wait for them. My 小姑(youngest aunt) came along with us to help us check into the hotel whereas my 大姑 (eldest aunt) and uncle in law joined us there for dinner. Double Ds are just so blessed to have their grandaunts doting on them. Since the weather was quite humid and the kids were still having fun in the pool, my aunts and uncle decided to go for their coffee break and joined us later for dinner. That night, double Ds returned back to the hotel with a bubble gun each from their 大姑婆 (grandaunt) and a new set of Lego Duplo Lego from me. Of course they were exceptionally happy for day 1! 🙂

Super love this photo. The kiddos can really pose well. Haha 🙂

Yummy egg tarts from the confectionery at the Malaysian Food Street

The kids playing some card games with Papa Yap.

4 + 1(on the way) 🙂

Bedtime already

Back in the hotel, the kids continued their play time with Papa Yap. Darian had packed along some games and toys for this staycation and they certainly had lots of fun with their daddy. As for me, I was enjoying the yummy egg tarts which my aunt bought for us. Yums! 🙂

Rise and shine on the second day

All ready to head out

 We started Day 2 with Macdonalds breakfast from Festive Walks. After breakfast, we headed over to the Palawan beach for some PlayMobil event. The kiddos got a chance to play with some play mobil toys on display and completed a DIY craft session too. Darian chose to decorate a sun visor whereas Dyann wanted a DIY bag. So Darian proceeded with his craft with an assistant while Papa Yap and I took turns to guide Dyann in decorating her bag. Dyann wanted me to draw a hello kitty on her bag and thankfully it turned out looking like one. Haha 🙂

At the Palawan beach station

Playmobil soccer time

Some mandatory picture

More toys to play

Best time to visit such place is definitely on a weekday 😉

Craft time

Papa Yap helping Dyann with the ink stamping

The girl with her DIY bag

The boy with his sun visor

We love you daddy! ❤

Lunch was rather late at the Slappy Cakes. We ordered a butter and chocolate pancake patter with chocolate chips, strawberry and banana sides for garnish and they were served shortly. Papa Yap wouldn’t want to only have pancakes for lunch so he ordered a brunch set which tasted pretty good. We began “drawing” our pancakes over the hotplate and had so much fun and laughter throughout. If you were to ask about the pancakes, I would say it tasted perfectly alright.  Like seriously how bad could pancakes, chocolate chips, and the fruits taste right? But I totally love the concept of designing and cooking our own pancakes. It was fun and interesting which I supposed we wouldn’t mind revisiting again. 😉

Time to cook!

OK that was drawn by me. Definitely. 😉

Papa Yap’s lunch

His creation and it’s supposed to be angry bird. I think. haha

Having fun!

Ta-Da!

 

The happy duo

They said this is me!!! Baymax = mummy!! lol

The only thing that the husband can draw perfectly! lol! And look at that funny boy beside him. 🙂

After our late lunch, we brought the kiddos back to the hotel for a swim and spent the rest of the evening in the room chillaxing. The kids were well entertained by their toys while I lounged about watching the TV programmes. Dinner was takeaways from Din Tai Fung and Chilli’s. The kids’ favourite egg fried rice! Yet another happy day for us! 🙂

It’s sand play time!

Dyann disliked the sand so she was in the pool with Papa Yap.

Swimming is so fun!

Good night and sweet dreams!

And that’s the end of our short staycation at Hard Rock Hotel. To sum up, it was definitely one happy and relaxing staycation and the quality family time spent together was simply awesome!

Everything is awesome 🙂

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From Marina Barrage to Garden by the bay then back to Punggol

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Since our previous weekend plan was unsuccessful,  Papa Yap and I decided to fulfill our family outing at the Marina Barrage during the Labour Day holiday. At the same time, visit the Tulips Mania exhibition at the Flower Dome which was about to end soon. When the #jiaklimnuagang heard about our outing, they were keen on joining us. I thought it was a great idea for our second gathering. The more the merrier right? So when I told the duo about it, they were very excited!

Surprisingly the carpark was almost full when we got there at 9ish. Kenny and Winnie who only reached at 10am weren’t that lucky. They had to park at Satay by the Bay and walked over to the barrage. We found a spot and laid out the mats and stuff on the ground while the duo were already excited to start playing around. Picnic was potluck. We bought finger food and curry puffs from Old Chang Kee, Steven and Cassie cooked spaghetti while Kenny and Winnie had prepared sandwiches. Food was definitely more than enough for all of us.

Despite the hot weather, the kids had a fabulous time snacking away, flying kite, running around, blowing bubbles and playing the ball and Frisbee with their daddy, korkors and jiejies. If only there were some big canopy or parasol to shade us from the hot scorching sun! We were literally melting away. Steven even brought along his drone. He tried playing his toy but Mr wind was too strong at times, moreover there were too many kites in the air. Seriously it wouldn’t be nice to be cutting people’s kite. 😉

After more than an hour of play and ‘sun tan’, we decided to continue with our picnic at the ground level of the Barrage. Without much hesitation, we packed our stuff and proceeded below. Apparently weather was a little too much for us to handle. At least we were all under the shade for the second half. 🙂

We stopped by Satay by the bay for some cold drinks and desserts before heading over to the Flower Dome. It was definitely very much needed in such a hot weather. Over there, the duo were happy to feed the fishes at the pond too. Cassie bought them a packet of fish food at 2 bucks each which really kept them well entertained throughout.

 

At the flower dome, there was a huge crowd and a long ticketing queue. Luckily, we managed to purchase the tickets online via mobile and got inside shortly. Yeah that’s the thing about being IT savvy! Still, we really shouldn’t have visited the place on a public holiday. It was hard for photography with the number of people there. The consolation was that the tulips were absolutely beautiful! I love seeing the assorted vibrant colors and their pretty display. Simply gorgeous! In conjunction with the upcoming Mother’s Day, there were free tulips distributed to the visitors inside. We followed the crowd to queue for it and it didn’t take us long before we got it.  Dyann fell asleep in Papa Yap’s arms shortly so he had to carry her throughout while we continued with our walk.

Having done with our outing about 4pm, the gang decided to pop over at our place for some rest before continuing with Part 3 for the day. Dinner was a last minute plan when the rest of the friends found out that we were together at Garden by the bay. So we ended up meeting more friends at the Punggol Settlement for dinner. Then it was back to our humble abode again… As beers and cards have been always the way to end the night for this group of old time friends!

It was indeed an amazing full filled, long day for us.

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Good Friday at Jurong Bird Park

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Life has been pretty mundane for March. Other than the usual weekend shopping trips or dining sessions with the grandparents, I don’t think we did anything more. At least April seemed to be a more fun and interesting month for the kids.

Our first outing for the month was to the Jurong Bird Park. Because of the SG50 promotion, the tickets we purchased entitled us a year of membership with unlimited entry. I thought we got ourselves quite a good deal provided if we revisit again. Haha. 🙂 The place was rather packed as it was a public holiday. And parking was really another headache. We couldn’t get a parking lot opposite the park and ended up parking at the top of the hill.

The plan was to bring the kids over to the water play area since we didn’t make it in time for the first bird show. Yet the area was closed for maintenances! Seriously! Just our luck! The kiddos were quite disappointed but at least the playground beside managed to keep them entertained for a while. To think that I had even checked on their website prior to the visit. If not we wouldn’t have another big bag to carry around.

Weather was really hot and humid but that didn’t stop us from walking all over the park. The kiddos were really keen to look at all the various birds in the exhibits. They even attempted feeding the lories until Papa Yap got pecked by two of them. That was when Double Ds decided that feeding was actually no fun at all! Haha 🙂

So we spent the rest of the day walking from one point to another learning about many types of birds, taking a number of pretty photos, watching the two bird shows, and looking at the man made waterfall. All these about summed up our trip at Jurong Bird Park. We were totally exhausted and hot and couldn’t be anymore happier to be back in the car!

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To the Night Safari

***020115***

Our first family outing of 2015 was to the Night Safari. It was rather an impromptu trip after picking Darian from his school. We thought that since it was the first day of school reopen, there wouldn’t be much crowd. But we were seriously wrong. There was already a long line forming at the entrance before it was even opened. I got to say that thankfully we were there early so it saved us a lot of time waiting for the tram ride. You should have seen the queue. It was crazy. I couldn’t imagine if we had came later. We probably got to wait more than one hour for the tram ride. Phew…

So we started off with the tram ride which took about 4o minute for the entire tour. Flash photography was not allowed during the tour as the flash would hurt and blind the animals vision. Hence we didn’t manage to capture any photos. I would think the tram ride was pretty essential as some of the routes were not reachable by foot. Yet, we didn’t get to see all the animals and even so it was considerably a brief one as the tram was constantly moving.

After the tram ride, we walked the night nature trail. I thought it was kind of hard to walk around looking at the animals at night. Some were hiding behind bushes while some enclosures were quite packed. It certainly took us a while to spot the animals. Nevertheless we managed to complete the trail.

We ended the Night Safari trip catching the Creatures of the Night show. Being the typical ‘kiasu’ parents, we waited at the entrance 40 minutes before the show. At least, we managed to get a decent view for the show. The animal show was interesting and it managed to entice the kids. Darian was still complaining that the duration of the show was too short. Haha 🙂

Overall, it was a good experience for the kids. I recalled coming to the Night Safari during childhood and when I was dating with Papa Yap. Seriously, I felt that it didn’t change much and it has been always this crowded. Haha… Papa Yap was commenting that we could come back again next year but I really doubt so. To be honest, we prefer going to the Zoo. You would get to see more animals, spend more time at the enclosures and exhibits, take really nice photos, and the kids get to play too. Besides, the Zoo tickets are cheaper you know.

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Team Purple at River Safari

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Our initial plan was to go to the Zoo yet we ended up in River Safari instead. It was because we woke up late and by the time all of us were ready for the outing, it was already 10.30am. That’s considered late for us. Usually we would reach the zoo by 10am and only leave about 5pm. Given that we had already wasted half of the day, there’s really no point to visit the Zoo. There’s really quite a lot of things to do there with the kiddos.

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After deciding on the change of location, convincing Darian was the next thing to do. Since he was the one who wanted to see the big animals, we didn’t want to disappoint him only at the entrance. Moreover the parks were located side by side, it’s the best for him to agree before moving out.

So we got into the River Safari after 12pm as they was a long queue at the ticketing office. It was our first official visit to the River Safari. The previous time when we went to the River Safari, only the Panda exhibit was ready and opened to the public. Despite the hot weather, we were under the shade most of the time, as the park is mostly sheltered. That’s one of the plus point. Haha 😉

The kids enjoyed their visit at the River Safari. They love watching the animals and fish at all the exhibits and had fun riding the Zoomov kiddy ride too. The only disappointment was that we didn’t get on the river boat ride which has a height requirement. We thought perhaps Darian could at least go for the ride with Papa Yap. Yet he didn’t meet the requirement as well. If not the visit would be complete. Also, we didn’t get to see the oh-so-shy panda Jiajia again.

The River Safari is definitely much smaller than the Zoo but still a interesting place for the kids to see, learn and have fun. We certainly had a splendid afternoon there. 🙂

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To the Zoo again

***31st May 13***

Darian loves going to the Zoo. Just the night before, he was so excited when I told him about going to the Zoo with the Lim family and my sister. Papa Yap couldn’t join us due to some last-minute administrative stuff. Boohoo… It didn’t really matter since my sister was coming along. But of course it would be much better if Papa Yap was around. So that morning, we took a cab down together to meet the Lim family. We reached there earlier for breakfast and happened to see the cute panda mascots. Took some cute photos with them! Awww… 🙂  We entered the Zoo about 11am. Weather was pretty warm but we definitely preferred it to a wet day. Managed to see quite a number of animals and watch two animal shows. The polar bear enclosure is now open. Over there you get to see the huge polar bear, wolverines and raccoon dogs. However this time we didn’t get the tickets to see the Pandas and Darian was a little disappointed. Lunch was at the Ah Meng restaurant. I have been to the zoo with Papa Yap for quite a number of times but this is my first time eating there. Usually we would just settle lunch at KFC and munch on some home packed snacks and fruits. I think food there is just so expensive and not tasty at all. Anyway it was all paid by my sis! And she was grumbling about how expensive the $7.50 fishball noodles is. Haha 😉

 Going to the Zoo with three young kids was really tiring! Luckily for me Baby Dyann had two naps and my sister was there to care for Darian which absolutely made it easier for me.  Mummy Jenny and Daddy Steven got to take turn to entertain little Pryde who only managed to sleep just before the end of the trip. I am very sure they will not be going to the Zoo until Pryde is older. Haha 😉

     

Overall the zoo trip was pretty enjoyable but totally exhausting indeed. To make it worse my stomach flu worsen after I reached home. Or rather I should be thankful that it only reacted after I reached home. If not… I cannot imagine how… That night, Darian asked if we would be going to the Bird Park with Auntie Jenny, Uncle Steven and Baby Pryde. Haha. I bet Auntie Jenny’s answer will be, “No, not so soon!” Hahaha… 🙂 And of course a big thank you to Auntie Jenny and Uncle Steven for the free tickets and my awesome sister for accompanying us! 😉

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RWS: Day 3

***22nd May 13***

Brekkie at the Fiesta before heading down to the pool. We sneaked into the pool at Hard Rock Hotel where there is an integrated sandy pool that resembled the beach. It was not an enjoyable swim after all as Darian totally disliked the sand. He did not like the feel of stepping on the sand and was constantly asking us to carry him. So he spent most of the time in a small pool with a slide. While Papa Yap played with Baby Dyann in shallow water. We went back to the hotel after 40 minute of water play. The kids had their last bubble bath before our check out. 🙂

We went to the SEA aquarium after checking out of the Festive hotel. The aquarium is quite spectacular for a first timer like us. We spent an hour inside, walking around looking at the various fishes and corals. Darian had a feel of the starfish and some sea creatures at the Discovery Touch Pool. Darian was pretty amazed at the super big aquarium that holds several big ray, shark and grouper. He took my phone and captured many pictures of them. Haha… 🙂  Even Baby Dyann looked fascinated at the colourful fishes swimming in the tank. She had eyes on them and was pointing and hitting the tank. We went to the cafeteria outside the SEA Aquarium for our late lunch before going back home. I supposed Darian was really exhausted after so many days of fun, sleeping late yet waking up early that he actually fell asleep while eating his fried rice. Wahaha… 😉

Time passes fast and it’s our last day at RWS. If only we have the time, we would consider extending for another night stay. It was really a memorable and enjoyable staycation for us. Especially considering that I have not stayed out of Punggol after so so long. At last we are back home, back to reality and back to the endless chores. Piles of clothes to wash after the staycation. Boohoo… Papa Yap thought I was fast when he saw the clothes washed and hung. That’s me!  Heehee 🙂

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RWS: Day 2

***21st May 13***

Woke up at 7ish for breakfast at the Fiesta restaurant at level 3. Just some average typical american and chinese breakfast buffet spread. Well still good enough for us to start our day. Wanted to bring the kids to the pool for a swim but I didn’t manage to buy Baby Dyann’s swim diaper. So we went back to the room and the kids had a bubble bath before going over to Universal Studio.

It’s our second time to the USS. Darian was not keen on taking any ride at all. He was just on a photo taking mode. What a spontaneous poser he was. Posing here and there! Haha… 🙂 This time round we didn’t allow him to get any souvenirs as he didn’t want to try on any rides. Yep we usually don’t give in to him that easily! Though he did take the Madagascar carousel, Puss in boots ferris wheel and the transformer spinner. Hmm… Still not enough. Baby Dyann took a ride on the carousel too! 🙂 After lunch, I rented a stroller for Darian as he looked real tired. It was really a wise decision. He dozed off shortly. Baby Dyann as well. Papa Yap and I walked around with two sleeping kids. We managed to take photo with Elmo and Ernie. Darian was real mad at us when I told him about it. He cried and blamed us for not waking him up. Haha… We left at 6pm and went to the Malaysian Food Street next to USS for dinner. Papa Yap didn’t like his Bah kut teh and I thought my wanton mee was bad. Haha… So dinner was not good at all.

We proceeded to Sentosa beach for the Songs of the Sea. It is a show of live casts, digital laser light, water and flame effects and music. It wasn’t easy to watch the performance with Baby Dyann. Oh seriously, I was like battling with an active yet listness baby! She was struggling and making noises throughout the performance. Thank goodness it was only for 25 minutes. Phew… We headed to Vivo City thereafter as I need to get the swim diapers for Baby Dyann. Darian knew exactly that we were at Vivo and insisted to visit Toy R Us. It’s his favourite hideout in Vivo for sure. Haha… We filled up our tummy with some sushi from Cold Storage before returning back to the hotel. We were totally exhausted with aching feet! Still a fantastic Tuesday though! ❤❤

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RWS: Day 1

***20th May 13***

We headed straight to Adventure Cove after checking into the hotel. Darian was totally excited for waterplay time while meimei fell asleep on the way there. Apparently Darian is too short and young for most of the attractions and rides. But there are still a few kid-friendly attractions like The Seahorse Hideaway wading pool and The big Bucket Treehouse that he could play in. The Adventure River and Bluwater Bay are also suitable for younger kids but definitely only with adult supervision. Overall, I feel that Adventure Cove Waterpark is a fun place. You can see life guards everywhere and life jackets provided for all shapes and sizes. But I think we will only revisit until Darian is tall enough for the other rides and attractions and when Dyann is old enough to join in and have fun as well! It was a good experience though. 🙂

After that we went to the Festive Walk for dinner. Papa Yap was craving for some steak and we decided to try Chili’s. It’s a American diner style restaurant that serves a variety of American, mexican food. Papa Yap had a medium rare ribeye steak and I shared a Chicken Crisper with Darian. The portions are quite big. According to Papa Yap, his steak was really tender and juicy. It definitely satisfied his craving. I tried Papa Yap’s mash potato and we both agreed that it is appetising and yummy. As for the chicken crisper, it comes with a corn cob, fries and honey mustard sauce dipper, was nicely fried and tasty too. Dinner was good.

 

We walked around Festive Walk after dinner. Brought the kids on the express train ride, watched the water and light fountain performance and ended our night at the Merlion Park. We were like tourists to Singapore! Haha… Darian was rather terrified of that big merlion. He didn’t even want to look at it. We only got back to our room at 10.40pm. Settled the kids and stuff, before I could bath and turn in for the night. It was really a great Monday with my loved ones! ❤

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Zoo trip

***27th December***

Another Zoo trip for us. This time with Baby Dyann as well. 🙂 Darian loves going to the Zoo. He has been talking about going to the Zoo lately therefore we decided to bring him there. We were so shocked to see the queue at the ticketing counter! It was super long. Didn’t expect to be so so crowded. Perhaps it is because we have been going to such places during the weekdays. Regardless, we just have to follow the queue. Got the tickets and paid an additional 5 bucks for each adult and 3 bucks for each kid to see the pandas.

Brekkie at Seng Kang Macdonalds before our Zoo trip

Let’s go!

Our two cuties getting attentions from people around! There were even people taking photo of meimei! Aww… ❤

Weather was really good. We were even afraid that it might rain and brought along two umbrellas. We had only managed to enter the Zoo at 12pm after queuing for almost half an hour. Papa Yap bought the 2.20pm Panda tickets and we need to be at the entrance 10 min prior to the time slot. So we went around to see the animals that Darian wanted to see before proceeding to the Panda enclosure.

 

You can find golden pheasant, red pandas and pandas Kai Kai and Jia Jia in the conservatory. Darian was pretty excited to see the pandas. They are so cute. We had only managed to see Kai Kai as Jia Jia was not feeling well. We stayed around in the cold conservatory for 10 minutes and headed to the souvenir shop followed by late lunch at the Mama Panda Kitchen. We bought Darian a cute panda umbrella and he likes it a lot. At the Mama Panda Kitchen, we ordered a set of chicken mushroom rice that comes with a hot and spicy soup and a longan beancurd. And also a panda steamed bun, drinks and ice-cream. The soft drink is serve in a cute plastic straw cup featuring the pandas, golden pheasant and red panda. The cup looks so attractive that I brought it back to reuse. 🙂 The food tastes normal, nothing fantastic just filling. We spent an hour or so eating and resting at the Mama panda kitchen before continuing with our walk.

We left the Zoo at 4ish feeling real exhausted. Well it is worthwhile seeing Darian enjoying this trip and had much fun seeing the animals. Going to the Zoo is really one great educational and family bonding session. There are just too many things for the kids to see and learn. We love going to the Zoo! 🙂

       

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