Exfoliating 51

Joe's top right central incisor (the baby tooth of course) had been wobbling for months. In fact, it was kind of protruded and overlapping the other central incisor for quite a while but I just left it as it was.

Monday being a school holiday because of the Sports Day the previous Saturday, we went to Ikea.....all day! When he came out of Smaland, he told me that he had a bump on his mouth and a wee bit of bleeding. He was cool about it and didn't seem to be in pain so I didn't do anything.

Later in the evening, he pointed out that the tooth was very wobbly. On closer inspection, I found that it was hanging by almost nothing. So I asked him if he wanted it out. Apprehensive at first, but he let me because he was more afraid of swallowing it or having it drop out in school the next day.
So holding the tooth with a gauze, I gave it a twist and out it came. It didn't hurt but he asked me, "Am I gonna die?" when he saw the blood.

Slight compression and a cup of cold Ribena later, he was smiling again when I told him putting the tooth under the pillow will result in an iPad2!

He wasn't fooled.... coz he promptly told me "There no such thing as a tooth fairy!!!"

I think he looks kinda cute. And he paid me with 10 kisses :-)

Durians and Mangosteen

Ah Mah and Ah Kong were here for dinner on Monday night. Tua Pek and Tua Um were also in town for the MTV World Stage concert so we all had dinner together at home. After a lovely dinner of simple home-cooked food which included tu kha chor, we had a feast of durians and mangosteen. Photos especially for YeeYee's drooling pleasure ..... We were so busy eating that nobody remembered to take photos until we were almost done.
Mangosteen were only RM3.50 per kg. So cheap!

Joe's Sports Day

Saturday 23rd July 2011 was Joe's kindy Sports Day. I woke the kids up early and we left home by 7am.

We had breakfast in the concourse area, and then sent Joe into his class and found some seats right under the fan inside one of the tents.

The event started promptly at 8am with the kids' march past and then the National Anthem.

A few speeches followed and then the 6-year-olds did a dance. Joseph had been singing the song at home in the last couple of weeks but absolutely refused to dance for me at home. He kept telling me I had to be patient until the actual day.

While he remembered all his dance steps, he didn't smile. And it's not that he forgot...he said he had to focus on his dance. I guess he's just not the showman kind.

After his dance, I retreated to the back and parked myself under the fan again because Joe's class item was the last one.

Jolly Jelly - they had to run and pick up 2 water balloons and then walk on a bench then run to the end to drop the water balloons into a pail before running back.
I'm still kicking myself for forgetting to switch the camera to video mode. Nevertheless, his red team won the gold medal for his item.

God answered our prayers - the weather was perfect! It was nice and cloudy and the sun didn't come out until 10am.I think the teachers did a great job in organizing the event. Everything went smoothly and the whole event ended by 10.30am instead of the anticipated 12noon.

We had ample time to go home for a shower and some rest before going back for Children's Church and Little Lamb.

Joe came home and immediately put his medal in the glass display cabinet, next to his 2009 Sports Day medal. He said he thoroughly enjoyed himself. I guess this would be one of those things he will miss if he's homeschooled. So for now, the firm decision is to throw him in the 'deep end' and see how he fares in a chinese school. I'm sure he'll be fine.

while we were gone...

...the children were left in the very able hands of Nana.
I think she did a great job ensuring they ate and slept when they were supposed to. On top of that, she took them for walks to check out grass...

...and feed the fishes in the koi pond downstairs.

They took care of each other and gave Nana a minimal amount of nonsense.
They also had a lot of fun in the playground downstairs...

...and also made egg sandwiches.

Nana usually allows them a lot more mess-making than mama does.

To me, the best part is that even though Joseph skipped school for 2 days, he memorized Psalm 23 (the whole passage) at Nana's 'homeschooling'.

Joy woke up at 5am on the 3rd day crying in her sleep/dream for Mama. She says that in future, she will go with us for family honeymoon :-)

Pangkor Laut Resort - Day 2 & 3

Monday morning when most of the world wakes up to go to work.... we woke up to beautiful views of the gardens and the ocean beyond. On the way to breakfast, we stopped by the pool.
Breakfast at Feast Village was probably the best I've ever had at any hotel/resort. To start the day, I had a serving of fruits which included red dragon fruit.
My Daalin was also very healthy.... he munched on a celery stick!

Then I had an omelette (cooked on the spot at the egg station, of course) and some seafood breakfast pie.

Waffles freshly made at the waffle station, topped with mixed berries (or your choice of topping)....

There were also a few other 'live' stations serving japanese teppanyaki noodles, roti canai, and simple dim sum. I skipped the noodles, roti canai and nasi lemak.

We were both very delighted with the juice station. You get to pick your selection of cut fruits and there's a staff stationed full-time at this huge heavy-duty juice extractor who will juice the fruits for you on the spot. No water added. Fresh, pure fruits juice. Ice and milk available if you prefer.

After a few glasses of fruit juices, we took the shuttle to Emerald Bay again. By then it was about almost 11am and the sun was out in all its glory but the beach chairs were nicely shaded underneath the huge wide foliage.

The beach boy brought towels and cold water without us having to ask for it. This is excellent YTL service!

My Daalin made himself comfortable in the hammock and soon dozed off.

It was a very lovely morning indeed. So relaxing, just enjoying the sea breeze and the sound of waves breaking on the shore.

We then sat down at Chapman's Bar for our lunch.

It's right on the beach and we had a wonderful view of Emerald Bay.

For starters, Daalin had the Greek Salad...

...while I picked a less healthy option - Nachos!

Daalin had the Pangkor Lamb Chops for his main course.

My main course - Chicken in a Basket.

For dessert, I had a fruit salad...

...and Daalin had the Walnut Chocolate Brownie.

After a very full and satisfying lunch, we went back to our villa for a siesta. In the evening, we went for a swim but the weather suddenly took a turn for the worse as we were greeted by a thick blanket of haze. The air also stank of ashes.

We still made our way to Uncle Lim's Kitchen for dinner.

We ordered the Duck Spring Roll and Salted Egg Chicken for starters, and Oyster Omelette and Soft Shell Crab for mains but requested that they all be served together.

Of all the meals, I must say that this is the only one we didn't enjoy. Maybe we ordered too many fried stuff. But they were more oily than I had expected. The oyster omellete was especially disappointing with more flour batter than anything else.

For dessert, Daalin had a Avocado Cream.... I would never pay RM25++ for this! The cup probably cost more than the contents.

I had the Mango Pudding....

On our final day, we again had a very enjoyable breakfast. Daalin must have downed at least 5 glasses of fruit juices.

I spotted a couple of peacocks that strolled into Feast Village. This one was particularly vain...

We checked out and departed on the 12noon ferry. It had been a very lovely holiday at a very lovely resort. Pangkor Laut sure lives up to it's brand of being a YTL Luxury Resort.

At RM799nett per person for the 3D2N package, I felt it was real value-for-money. Driving to Lumut cost RM2.70 in toll each way (between Damansara and Rawang) and a total of RM17.10 for parking at the multi-storey car park.

We started our drive from Lumut at about 12.45pm and arrived home at 4pm.

Next year will be our 10th anniversary....and Daalin is thinking of..... Maui!!!

(**only because he has a conference there around our anniversary time next year)

Pangkor Laut Resort - Day 1

Daalin and I spent the last 3 days on a private island. Every year, we go away on an annual honeymoon for our wedding anniversary. Since I will be in confinement during our anniversary this year, we decided to go earlier while I can still travel.

The drive to Lumut was pleasant and took just 3 hours. We used the new KL-Kuala Selangor highway and then the west coast road.

Upon arrival at the Pangkor Laut Resort office, we were served a cool welcome drink and then waited in air-conditioned comfort. The waiting room also had computers and newspaper to keep you occupied while you wait.

Just before 11am, we were escorted to the ferry which is actually a speedboat. It was really clean and had life jackets for everyone.

Half and hour later, we arrived at Pangkor Laut where we were greeted by name and escorted to the lobby. The friendly staff greeted us with cold towels and cool drinks.

The friendly staff who greeted us then escorted us to the Royal Bay Beach Club where we had our lunch.

For starters, I had the Caesar Salad...

...while Daalin had the wok-fried prawn and smoked salmon salad.

My main course was the Alaskan Salmon Burger.

Daalin had the Royal Club Sandwich.

And for dessert I had the Black Forest Mousse...

...while Daalin had the Soy-milk Panna Cotta with mixed fruits.

Our stomachs full, we made our way back to the lobby and then we were escorted to our Garden Villa.

Our luggage was already in the room. And since we requested for the ground floor unit, (coz I'm too lazy to lug my belly upstairs) we had an open-air oversized bath.

After a afternoon snooze, we took the shuttle to the western side of the island to Emerald Bay - supposedly amongst the top 10 beaches in the world.

After a beautiful sunset, we made our way back to Feast Village for our dinner.

Again, it's a 3-course meal. Daalin had the Grilled Chicken and Pear salad for starters.

I had the Seafood Chowder.

Daalin had the Baked Grouper for his main course.

While I had the Loin of Lamb.

Daalin's dessert was the Pandan Creme Caramel.

I had the Chocolate Mousse.

And then we retreated into our Garden Villa for a good night's sleep.