Back Few Days Already.....

Greetings...
Been back in PJ since Tuesday afternoon.
Done what?
Nothing much other than EAT SLEEP and SPEND MONEY. What else?
But tomorrow will be a day of baking.... 100 Cupcakes for my niece's full moon.

Another Long Vacation

Did you know that there would be another vacation for the boys in September?
This means that barely a month after the new school year starts in August, they will be off again. H and I were contemplating if we should take the boys to Florida. Afterall, Florida vacations are great for kids. Busch Gardens, Universal Studios, Walt Disney World, SeaWorld, Kennedy Space Center...and the list goes on. The problem lies in getting a direct flight to Orlando from Asia.

Engineering Drawings

Many moons ago, I worked as a process engineer in an EPCC firm. I remember having to produce engineering cad drawings for some projects. This was outside my scope of work but it proved to be a good learning experience for a young engineer, plus the skill acquired was pretty useful. At times when deadlines were tight and resources limited, this specific skill allowed for the delivery of projects to be right on time.

Some Updates - 3 July 2009

Now some updates on other stuff!!! 

Start of Summer Holidays

Today is the boys' LAST day at school, and the start of a very long summer holiday. They only go back to school on the 24th of August. That's about 7 weeks! I urgently need some tips on HOW to keep them occupied...OUTSIDE the realm of TV, computer and handheld games!

Going back to KUL

Yes. We will be flying back to Kuala Lumpur next Tuesday, on AirAsia (What else? It's so much cheaper than KLM and MAS!). This time we are staying longer than previous holidays, till a week before school reopens.

Why?

First - have to sort out S2's oral surgery...to remove the two extra front teeth inside his gums. Secondly -  I am going ahead to do my Lasik in early August. What to do? Have to reduce this blind-as-a-bat condition. 

Cupcakes...

Been busy since coming back from HCMC. My girlfriend ordered 50 cupcakes for her daughter's birthday for last Friday, and then H's colleagues ordered some as well. And this weekend, I don't know if my H used coercion or what.... but I have an order for a 100 cupcakes for his office. I don't know whether to be glad or otherwise. It is alot of work with NO maid. H said he will DO IT. I shall see..... 

Mmmmm.....

Parties Parties Parties

Children's Parties are also the norm towards the year-end (School Year). Birthdays that fall during the summer months of July and August are usually packed into the last week of JUNE. The latest "terrer-menerrer" party that we attended was for S2's friend. They booked the WHOLE premiere cinema for TRANSFORMERS 2. 

Yes. The ones where you can recline the seats, have your own blanket and can order drinks... S1 was also invited. So initially, we were supposed to drop the boys off. But as there were still seats, both H and I watched as well.  I tell you... I am sure they spend $$$$ on this party. The kids were treated to lunch at Fish&Co, and then each of them had a BIG bucket of popcorn and drinks in the TRANSFORMERS 2 Packaging (which comes with a miniature figurine), served inside the theatre. H had few glasses of red wine... I'm sure the other parents ordered some alcohol too... Then there is the goodie bags, which consisted of sweets, a tinned box of Pokemon Cards, a little bag and some other stuff....  

I definitely do NOT see myself spending this kind of money for my son's birthday party!!!

SONS - If you are reading this. GOOD. Mommy is not spending this kind of money!!!

Diving

When H suggested our Bali DIVE holiday, I was abit skeptical as we haven't dived for ages.

Heck. I don't even remember how to SINK!!!

So, a REFRESHER course was arranged for last Saturday. We got the kids to go along with us, and do the INTRODUCTORY DIVING. Both boys enjoyed the activity, and want to continue with getting certification. Problem is.....S2 just CANNOT follow instructions. The instructor suggested to wait till he is 10. As for S1, I have talked to his friend's mom. Maybe the two boys can do it together. We'll see....

Back to H and I. I tell you... it is d@Mn difficult to LAUGH underwater. H had forgotten most of the hand signals and exercise. Whilst I knew what we had to do, H kept repeating the same mistake. And you could see the instructor (his colleague) desperately trying to communicate with H underwater. Very comical....

Okay lah...later..

Travel Travel...

My booking ordeal has not ended, eventhough I have booked the hotels in Bali.  I also had to book a hotel in Bangkok. Yes. I am going to Bangkok...on the 24th of July. Yes. Yes. Two days after I return to KUL from Bali. Sounds GILA. I know. This time, I go with Laundryamah for two nights. Again, after alot of anguish over the WWW searching for hotels, I've booked us in the Citadines (under Ascott Group, which would mean that this property is clean and decent!) @ Soi 8 at quite a good rate. Breakfast included, as well as free tuk-tuk ride to the BTS station. Only catch is that I have to cosy up with Laundryamah on the same bed. No twin beds wor..... :-(

H is also travelling with his pals to Macau next week. Thank goodness that he got his friend from HK to sort out the hotel. Otherwise, I sure FAINT. 

He asked if I wanted to fly from KUL with another friend, and meet him there. I was like "what for? All guys....doing guy things. What for I go and be a party-pooper?"... You say I GOOD WIFE or not?

So...now, there is still the accommodation to sort out for our family trip to London. We'll probably stay in a serviced apartment. Either a one-bedroom or two-bedroom place...depending on the price. Btw, we are flying via AIRASIA X!!!!! The tickets are like almost a quarter of the price of a regular airline! 

When I was booking the seats, I asked H "want to purchase comfort kit or not?". 

His answer was " No need. I MAKE comfort kit for you, with blanket, toiletries and even slippers!! You'll even think that you are on Singapore Airlines!"...hahahaha

Actually, this is really quite a good deal.... but don't know how comfortable it is for such a long flight. I will tell you about it when we've experienced it. Actually, this London trip will work out cheaper than my friend's one week cruise around the Komodo Islands. The price for ONE person is enough to buy the London air tickets for FOUR of us....and they've got 4 in the family!

So NOT necessary that a holiday in Indonesia is cheaper than Europe!

Really Really lots of TIME WASTED!

Doing what?

Surfing the net and checking out where to stay in Bali in July!

I tell you.... July is certainly not the best time to go to Bali.

PEAK SEASON!!!

When we went to Bali in April 2008, and stayed at the Novotel Tanjong Benoa, the rate was only like USD 85 or something like that. When I checked for July this year, it's USD 180!!! 

Peak season rates also apply in all other hotels that I checked.

Initially, I was going to LUX it out. I told H that we  stay at either The Ayara or The Inter-Continental at Jimbaran Bay. H was okay with this idea..... until we decided that we were bringing the two boys to London in September (that will be in another post) during the Raya holidays, so there goes my LUX OUT of the door!!! 

So...there begins by surfing and surfing the WORLD WIDE WEB for the best deals in a nice hotel. It has been a painful ordeal. Painful because my neck is aching like h#ll from the funny posture that I sat to surf. Bleahh.....

Here is my very painful process.....

First - I consulted the recently received Bali Guide from Citibank ...and saw that the Bali Khama all-suite and villas looked quite decent, but a tad expensive at USD 179 with no breakfast. Then I went on to look at others...and shortlisted Nikko and Melia Nusa Dua. 

BUT BUT. I told myself that I don't wanna stay in Nusa Dua/ Tanjung Benoa again. I mean the last 3 times we were in Bali, we stayed in this area...

After lunch with my friend, she said that I should just stay in Seminyak since I could get a villa with private pool at approx USD 160 with free shuttle, breakfast etc etc. So there goes the surfing to look at the BEST deals for a Seminyak villa. I tell you... there really is ALOT of villas with private pools at that price. So which one to take? Spent soooooooo much time looking, and then shortlisted a few, and then told H to do the final decision on the villas. Suggested this one that is sort of close to Ku-de-Ta... then he said "That's quite far out. Why don't we just stay in Nusa Dua/Tanjung Benoa. USD 20 is not going to make a lot of difference! We can just take a cab if we want to go to Seminyak." 

So...off I went to book The Bali Khama.

After I booked, and then the more we discussed, it seemed that we won't really be spending time JUST at the beach...since boys are not with us. We wanna check out the restaurant, shopping and night scene over at Kuta/Legian and Seminyak areas (as we never get to do these if my boys were here)

And what do I do?

Went back and CANCELLED the booking!!!

Aduh!!!

And then we talked some more...and then decided to maybe stay one night in UBUD. 

Looking for a hotel in Ubud also headache. There are the really really HIGH END ones which we can't afford, and then there is the cheaper ones...which H doesn't want to stay. Very few mid-range! I saw some places at USD 70 which had quite good reviews at TripAdvisor, but  H said NO. Then I thought how about The Mansion which was voted best in something in the Conde Naste Mag. At USD 170 per nite, H said OK. But then I go and read in TripAdvisor, reviews were like "not worth the money, not as advertised...blah blah blah" so that was out. I think at this point, H got abit fed-up liow...and was like "Can you please book already!!!!!". So the next one that came up was The Bali Payogan. Photos looked alright and H said "Just book lah". So I booked lor. But when I read the reviews at TripAdvisor, really make my head spin! 

Some reviews were d@Mn good and some were d@Mn bad.

How like that? Which reviews to believe? 

Anyways, booked already and don't want to go search anymore. H says "Aiya...only one night. How bad can that be??" So  I will post MY review of this place after our stay. 

After lots of DING-DONG here and there, this is where we are staying...

17th to 19th July - 2 nights @ DONNO where. It will be up to where the DIVE company book us. This will be close to the DIVE sites. I really don't know what and where we will be. It will be a SURPRISE!!

19th to 20th July - The Bali Payogan Resort, Ubud in a Garden Villa

20th to 22th July - The Holiday Inn Baruna Resort, Tuban. Figured that since this is new and from a chain, the rooms would be quite decent. It's close to Kuta and all the action, plus I do get to have my Pina Colada on the beach! 

I am very confused!

Okay.... you know I am going on a diving trip with H in July, right?
Well, we are going to stay with the dive group the first two nights....wherever that may be. So that leaves with the remainder 3 nights, that I will have to book ourselves.
The thing is we do NOT want to spend so much.

I can either stay in a chiapalak cheap room in a 4.5/5* Nusa Dua/Tanjung Benoa beach hotel,

OR

I could forgo the beach and stay in a Private POOL Villa in Seminyak (villas with beach is BLARDY expensive lah).

I kinda like the idea of sipping pina colada on the beach chair, with wind blowing in my hair...or a massage in the beach cabanas. I just can't think of any pros in a villa...other than having privacy to #!@^## out in the open!!!

Aiya...think I will just go with the hotel lah, hor??

HCMC - Part 3

Some sightseeing photographs of the city.

Reunification Hall

Took this photograph on our way to have a look-see of the 'Windows Cafe'.. where the young and hip hang out. We thought we could be one of them. But even on approach to the cafe, the music was too much for our ears! We decided to go to the Creperie & Cafe which was more to our taste. :-)

Little Garden Square near Reunification Hall
General Post Office

A building from the French Colonial Times...

Beautiful Windows of the GPO

Mosaic Floor in the GPO
Notre Dame Cathedral

Definitely the one in Paris is much nicer!
Municipal Theatre - Day

Known as the Opera House in Colonial Times

Municipal Theatre - Night

Municipal Theatre - Finely Carved Figures on the Rooftop
City Hall - Day

City Hall - Night

Hotel Continental

Popularized in a novel...My guidebook says to have afternoon tea in the courtyard. I went in to have a look, and was like "Eh? Why like that one?" . It's err..not very attractive lor. So...decided to forgo afternoon tea here.

The Caravelle Hotel

My travel guidebook which has very beautiful photographs...somehow deceived us into expecting more than what things really are. In addition to the disappointment of Continental's Courtyard, the place to have a drink was at the rooftop bar at The Rex Hotel. So one night, C and I happily dressed up with some cleavage showing :-) and trotted off to The Rex Hotel's rooftop bar. Waliow!!! It was really NOT what we had expected. Sorry lah. But I expected something like Vertigo over in Bangkok. This place is abit like Coliseum (remember the old restaurant on Jalan Tunku Abdul Rahman?) on a rooftop. This place looks like it's from the 60's. C says even the waiters look like they were from that era too. hahahaah... But we sat and had a drink anyway, chatted the night away, and indeed did enjoy ourselves.

We also visited the Jade Emperor Pagoda Temple. It looked pretty in my guidebook. But in actual, the place is quite old. I guessed the temple did not receive that much donations to upkeep the building, or perhaps the temple custodians just didn't want to spend the money? We did the usual prayers with joss sticks and gave a small donation for "teem yau".

The other main thing that we did (or rather the other ladies) was trying their luck at The Majestic Club. Apparently, most hotels in Vietnam has casinos now. Both C and I weren't really into it.... and we were only there to get the free food! Hahahahah..... the seafood porridge and pho is pretty good. And so is their lemon soda.

Oh yah. Also argued with some masseuse. You see...there were lots of flyers of spas etc given out on the roadside. Obviously, we wanted the cheapest. And before we went, I specifically asked about the price and tips. The answer was "tip up to you". C and I went off for a USD 7/- hairwash first, which we were quite happy, gave the shampoo girl and hairstylist USD 1/- tip each. No complaints there. Then the other ladies decided to come for a foot massage. At the end of the session, I gave my masseuse USD 1/- tip. He took it, stared at me with his sad puppy eyes and said "I got no salary. Only Tip"...expecting me to give him more. C's masseuse didn't want to take the tip. C thought maybe she wants Vietnamese Dong, and then took out the local currency. Again, the masseuse refused to take it and repeated "I got no salary. Only Tip" like a parrot. Of course we were upset and demanded to see the owner, whom conveniently was not around. We just gave them the amount on their promotional leaflet and stormed out. Geezzzz...don't you hate this nonsense???? We were actually quite happy with them, and was even saying that we will go again the next day. But their stupidity caused them to lose future business. And that's quite alot...as we are a group of six.

And then there's the shopping... bought some embroidered tablecloths, laundry bags, lacquer-ware, cashew nuts, dried longan. I tell you... really must bargain like crazy at the Ben Thanh Market. We had a local guy with us...so he did the bargaining for us. Really cut down to less than quoted. But one of the shops along Dong Khoi was quite good. The initial quote of the wares was even below the final price of the market! So obviously I bought more tablecloths from this Dong Khoi shop... :-)

Okay lah.... think that's about it all. Overall, think it was quite a good trip but Macau was better lor. Until next year for our annual girly trip again....

Inspired?

Whenever I watch 'The Biggest Loser' on cable, I immediately get the inspiration to workout, to rid those bulges that's protruding at all the wrong places, and to be fit as a fiddle.
The only problem is that I do not have any fitness equipment at home. Perhaps I should get a cross-trainer, hop on it and workout together with the TV contestants.
Do you think this would work?

Was there such a thing?

Was there such a thing 30 years ago?
What thing?
I meant a monthly flea preventative that controls the fleas and ticks in dogs like Frontline Plus.
Does it exist 30 years ago?
If it does, we must be a bunch of ignorant pet owners!
We could have saved a whole lot of time and anguish ridding the pests.
I remember crouching over our pet doggies (ranging from pomeranian, to pekinese spitz), combing their hairs and trying to get rid of the fleas, ticks, the eggs and what-nots. It was not a very pleasant task, I tell you.
Now, if I ever have a pet, I am wiser.