Archive for the 'Travel' Category

Driving long distance during the peak season is very tiring…. especially when you have to deal with all sorts of impatient drivers. I wonder why we have speed limits when no one seems to follow it. We try to follow it but we are honked at, tailed closely from behind and overtaken from the left and right. It is like a war zone out there.

Then there are the drivers who think that emergency lanes are made just for their driving pleasure as they cruise along in it. There are others who think that they are doing practise runs for a Formula One race as they weave in and out of cars. Don’t all these impatient drivers know that they can all save on insurance just by being a good driver?

Finally, when the cars come to a standstill because of a queue for whatever reason, the drivers would take a chance to have a meal or take photos or do something other than drive. The queue usually starts about 10km away or more from rest areas as cars slow to drive in and out of the rest areas. There are queues at the toll booth too and queues before entering the tunnel as 3 lanes are narrowed to two and sometimes queues created by a police checkpoint.

It is all very tiring indeed. Our journey of 4 hours is sometimes doubled to 8 and if you travel during the peak hours during peak season, it may even be trippled to 10-12 hours.

Which is why we let the kids skip school and travelled home one day later, on Monday. Our journey took 5-6 hours which was not so bad as one year when we took 9-10 hours. Phew!

A mother is the hardest job in the world. It does not make a difference whether you are a stay at home mother, a work from home mother or a full time working mother. These are merely different terms coined for the same job. The job of a mother. They’re all hard. Everyone is pressed for time and very stressed. There is never enough time for all the things we need to do to carry out our job as a mother. It does not matter whether your child is a baby, toddler, preschooler or teenager. It is equally hard.

All mothers definitely deserve a spa break…. at least once a year! Do you hear that all fathers and husbands? You can organise one for your wife with Valentine’s Day just around the corner. She will appreciate it for sure.

Oh, what I’d do to be able to just lie down doing nothing… absolutely nothing, soaking in the beauty and sounds of nature, being given a massage, a manicure, pedicure, a facial. Throw in the full works! I want pampering! I want deep relaxation! Excuse me, if I get carried away. I have never been to a spa break that is why but I feel that I deserve one.

Another spa treatment I would really like to get is eyebrow shaping. They say that the eyes are the windows to the soul. So one should make them look really beautiful with perfectly shaped eyebrows and pretty lashes. You can get that during your spa break.

So men, you know what to do. Get the mothers of your children a spa break. There are so many spa deals available. I am sure you can find one for yourself too while you get one for the wife. You could go for a couple break and reconnect. It is much better than those see, do and eat as much as you can kind of holidays.

To my dear husband, if you are reading this…. please do take this as a BIG hint!

Last Saturday we brought the kids to i-city Shah Alam. We were not sure whether the lights would still be on after Christmas and Chinese New Year. We thought we would be taking a lazy evening drive. We were afraid that it would be too lonely and quiet now that the festive period is over. We were wrong. We ended up in a traffic jam to get to the car park.

Traffic jam at i-City

We also got caught in a people jam to view the indoor lights display. We had to queue up to take photographs. There were just so many people around. You had to wait your turn, then quickly run to pose and then afterwards there would be others waiting to pose at the same spot. Still, it was worth it to go “ooh” and “ahh”.

Colourful Christmas trees at i-City

It was really quite nice to see Christmas trees in March. It is like visiting the magic of Christmas all over again. There were pine trees, snowflakes, reindeers, white and coloured christmas trees, snowman, penguins, castles and falling snow.

White Christmas at i-City

Right beside the Christmas trees were cherry blossoms, peaches, mandarin orange trees, bamboo trees, pandas, storks, red lanterns all made up of lights. It was very beautiful indeed.

Here is a video of i-city shah alam for those of you who have yet to visit the lighted park. Nice, isn’t it?

And here is the i-City Shah Alam map.

View Larger Map

This year when we were back in Penang, we made a visit to the Penang Toy Musuem. I am afraid that I was rather disappointed. As a personal toy collection, it is indeed a very impressive collection. However to be touted as a toy musuem and charging RM10 each for adults and RM6 each for children, I left with a feeling of being cheated. I feel that it is much too hyped about.

My husband and I plus our maid and two children made our visit cost up to RM42. We were in and out of there in about 10 minutes. That is one of the fastest way my RM42 disappeared. The other fast way was playing those arcade or funfair games at Genting Highlands costing about RM1-RM3 per throw or try.

The toy musuem was small, crowded and a tad bit dusty. Personally, I feel that if you watch this Penang Toy Musuem Video tour you would have seen most of it. Anyway perceptions and individual tastes differ. So if you like to see little collectibles and poring over little figurines of your favourite toy characters in detail, then perhaps you may feel that it is worthwhile.

We got the boy to pose with Spiderman and Iron Man but it was hard given the little space. My girl liked the M&M toys and I liked the China dolls and that is about it. RM42 out the window.

Travelling with baby is not easy at all especially if you are a new parent travelling with baby for the first time! Don’t be surprised if baby’s luggage is bigger than yours. lol. Even going out for a short visit to the mall requires a little “luggage” of sorts with extra diapers, pacifiers, extra clothing, baby’s favourite blankie or toy etc.

What more when you are travelling with baby out of town. I find that most hotels are not baby friendly at all. It is not safe to have baby on a big adult baby or asleep in our arms. Baby may fall off the bed or from our arms during the night.

It is during times like this that an eddie bauer infant travel bed comes in handy. It is collapsible with side pockets for extra storage. The fact that it is collapsible makes it easier to bring along. It is padded for baby’s comfort and it is made of material that you can easily wipe clean. This is a must for anything to do with baby. Just perfect for travelling or even for an afternoon out to your friend’s or relative’s house. It is just nice for baby to have a short nap in.