Sunday evening - Air Itam Dam and Queensbay Mall

In the evening, we took a drive to Air Itam Dam just to show Joe a reservoir.
Guess what he wanted to do again.... yup! Take photos!

He made us squat down because he said Kong Kong and Papa are too tall.

Then we went to Queensbay Mall to meet Tairven and Wee Lyn for dinner and he wanted to take more photos...

We had dinner at Paddington House of Pancakes. This is my first experience with pancakes for dinner.

Joe seemed to enjoy himself.

Joy also enjoyed smearing her face with ice cream. She wasn't too messy this time.

After dinner, the Rachel and Joseph managed to con their fathers into bringing them to the Jusco play area and pay RM2 per kid for entry into this mini play gym.

There was a big trampoline, a ball pool and lots of climbing stuff...

Good thing Joy didn't ask to go in because I didn't feel like climbing...

Samuel was a very good boy...he napped while his mummy had dinner in peace and then had his milk fix when mummy was done eating.

Think I look good with 3 kids?

Sunday morning in Penang

..we went to Penang Wesley for the 9am service. It was quite a morning! We woke the kids up at about 8.20am and managed to get out the door by 8.45am. In that short time, both drank water, had a bottle of milk each, did their big business and got changed.

After service, we had char koay teow during the fellowship hour. Joe took photos again...

Then I got the kids to take a photo with Ah Chor...

Before heading home, we stopped by an automatic car wash. Joe loves this. We obliged his request since it costs only RM3 to make him happy and get a clean car at the same time.

But Joy cried when the huge brushes came down on the car....she cried while saying, "Not scared! I'm not scared!!!" It was quite funny really.

time in Penang

I realized on Thursday night that this is actually our first trip back to Penang this year! Our last trip back was almost exactly a year ago.

After the fun morning at the Adventure Zone, the kids napped and then we went to Tesco to buy some stuff afterwhich we went to pick up this highly-recommended trifle cheesecake. No occasion...oh well, maybe Yee Yee's birthday.
My grandma approved of it and the kids loved the jelly part. So we'll most likely order this for the surprise party next month.

On Saturday morning, I went to visit an ex-classmate who just gave birth. Jou Ching came to pick me up and we went to Ai Ling's place.

Joy-Anne found a new boyfriend. Jayden is 10 months older than her.

In the evening, we went to G Hotel for another ex-classmate's wedding.


It was a very lovely dinner. The couple put a lot of thought into making their guests feel appreciated. I loved the photo booth at the cocktail area where the pro-photographer took your photo and then instantly printed it out and put it into a nice custom-made frame inscribed with the date and venue.


Joseph found a new hobby - photography!

Joy happily smiled for her brother

He went around taking photos of everything and everyone!

The kids were very happy. I love this candid shot.

Even at 11pm, they were all happily running around on the dance floor.

It's been great. I think the kids like Penang.

Fun at the Adventure Zone in Penang

We came back to Penang on Thursday night. The kids slept so well in the car that they were still awake at midnight in Penang!

On Friday morning, we went to check out the Adventure Zone that Adeline told me about. She and Yvonne brought their kids the last time they were back and had a blast! Entrance fee is RM20+ per kid on weekdays and RM30+ on weekends. (There's a 5% govt tax) Adults get in for free.

Socks are required for everyone (you can purchase new ones at RM10 per pair if you forget to bring) and long sleeves are required for the huge slides.
Joseph was so excited. I had shown him photos on the website earlier and he was all eager to go!

Joy-Anne was kinda timid at first but soon warmed up and roamed freely by herself.

She even crossed this hanging bridge all by herself, very slowly, step by step.

Joe pretended he was Tarzan on this 'vine'...

...but mummy had to go with him.

Pretending he's going through a sugar-cane-juice machine...

It's really quite a cool place... huge and very safe because everything is nicely padded.

Joy liked this tunnel slide which was pretty mild, even though it was long.

And both kids loved the ball pool.

And Joe liked the ball blower...
But the highlight of the place was surely the giant terrifying slides!

Not this kiddy slide...

They call this the Astra Slide. You sit on a mat like a sleigh and zoom down.

Joe first went down with me. It certainly reminded me of the rides at DisneyWorld. I thought Joe would be afraid and cry. But as soon as we got down there, he jumped up and said, "Alright! Let's do it again!!!"

He must have gone on it like a dozen times! Towards the end, we let Joy try. She looked like she was gonna scream her lungs out...

But she actually said, "Again..." and so they went racing down again and again!

I absolutely like that eager excited look on Joe's face while Nana screamed at the top of her lungs!

We left even before the 2-hour playtime duration was up. Joe wanted to climb this watch tower that was just outside the Adventure Zone.

It was certainly a cool morning! The kids napped for almost 3 hours in the afternoon to recharge their batteries.

And here are the videos...

First mama went with Joseph ..............

Then papa went with Joseph ....

And then ..... Nana went !!!!!!!!!!!

Then papa went on the steeper one ......

And finally papa went on the super steep one !!! This is a 24ft near-vertical drop!

Papa is home!

Daalin came home early yesterday morning after spending 10 days in Melbourne working with a counterpart at Deakin University.

I'm happy my supply of muesli has been replenished. Daaling managed to lug back 11kg of it. Hopefully this should last me till after Chinese New Year.

He also had some goodies for the kids - Bob and Dora toys.

Later in the day, Joe taught his father how to use the iPhone to play games.

I'm sure he felt pretty clever and useful...

Then Papa tuned his brand new guitar and he tested it. It still needs a while for the strings to get seasoned.

Half-sized 30" guitar for RM119, from Euphony Music (Ikano). My friend's shop (Bentley Music) probably has a better-sounding one but it was a three-quarter-size which is 6inches longer.

We'll wait and see how he takes to it to decide if we should get a better, bigger one when he grows.

I'm so glad my floor-mopper is home!