Nuffnang

Sunday, January 31, 2010

~ Pre CNY Day Trip to Muar ~

This trip didn't include Mommy and the kids... nevertheless, Hubby took photos and videos of he places they went. (So jealous!!)

Hubby booked a 12 seater van and they set off early in the morning. Before heading towards Muar, they had breakfast at Restoran Queen Park @ Perling. (GPS: N1 29.674 E103 40.738). Hubby said there are all sorts of food there.. Roti prata, noodles, zhu chang fen, popiah etc

Then they headed off to 南亭寺(善才爷庙).. The purpose of this trip mainly is to come here to 还神.

After completing the prayers, they headed to "Meng Choon" to purchase the Chinese New Year Goodies! (http://www.mengchoonfood.com.my/) Hubby bought quite a fair bit of food and the prices are reasonable and on top of that there is another 10% discount! (Cheap Cheap!)

Love Letter - RM 15
Pineapple Tarts - RM 20
Almond Cookies - RM 12
Kueh Bangkit - RM 12
Peanut Cookies - RM 2.50
Kueh Pintar - RM 4.50
Hubby says they had Bak Ku Teh for lunch. Poor Mommy and kiddos didn't eat much at home.. :(
Later in the afternoon, it was shopping at Batu Pahat Mall. Coincidentally, there is also a "UTHM Drift Auto Challenge" just next to the mall. All of them had a good time watching the cars showing off their 'drifting' skills!



Then its heading off to Sutera Mall again for another round of shopping! Hubby commented that Sutera is a bigger mall with more things to look at and shop. The mall is beautifully decorated to welcome the Chinese New Year. Well, even though I am not physically there, I can feel that CNY is just around the corner! :)

Dinner was at Peking Resturant in Sutera Mall. (五福北京城) It is a high class resturant and it was on Fil's treat! OH... We miss all the good food...Sniff sniff..

Anyway, I'm super glad it was a fruitful trip and hopefully everyone enjoyed it.

Thursday, January 21, 2010

~ Past Holiday Experiences 5 - Kota Tinggi, Desaru Mar 2005 ~

Date: 25th March 2005
Location: Ostrich Farm & Desaru Fruit Farm

As promised, we brought the family to visit the Ostrich Farm & Desaru Fruit Farm after exploring on our own a few months ago. ^_^ It was barely a week since our return from Batam and we embarked on another 1 day trip to Kota Tinggi & Desaru.

This time Bbil and Hubby drove 2 cars up to Malaysia. Our first stop is the Ostrich Farm. This time there were more visitors and we roam around to see the Ostriches.

The children gets to hold the Ostrich eggs and stand on it to show them that the egg is able to withstand the weight of an adult and won't break. Nevertheless, the older kids still have the doubtful look of "Huh! You sure!??" :p

Denver's first touch on an Ostrich and it's egg. Be gentle! It's not a ball. ^_^

Before leaving the farm, we bought an egg back. (It was eventually cooked and it's shell kept. 1 Ostrich egg can really make a HUGE portion! As for the taste.... ummmmm... I will still go for chicken eggs. :D)

Next, we drove down to the Desaru Fruit Farm (http://www.desaruff.com/) which is about 39km away from Kota Tinggi. I still recall Hubby bought a pair of Walkie Talkie so that we can communicate with my Bbil and uncle as both cars are driving along the highway.

It was a Hot & Sunny Day but our spirits are High! We joined the guided tour and had a tour around the Fruit farm. There are so many different trees which I can only recognise some of it. :p. Bananas, Mangos, Watermelons, Rose Apples, Longans, Durians and many many more. We get to taste the fruits and also listen to their talks. You can also see that it is a popular spot where local schools will bring the students here for an educational tour. Along the way, we also visit the Vegetable & Herb Garden and there is also a very nice fish pond where the kids get to feed the fishes. Everyone had FUN and it's educational where older folks or young children will get to enjoy. It is a good mini-getaway for the whole family.


Tuesday, January 19, 2010

~ Past Holiday Experiences 4 - Batam Mar 2005 ~

Date: 19th March - 20th March 2005
Location: Batam

I must say I did not have much memories of the exact places we have been for this particular trip. Thanks to the many photos we took and Goggle, I managed to trace back some of them. :)

Day 1: A few families joined this trip and we hopped on the tour bus which came early and took us to the ferry terminal to Batam.

Denver was 2+ years and I believe it was his very first boat ride. ^_^
Our first stop is Kwan Yin Temple. It has a big statue of Kwan Yin and a very nice scenic view of the sea. There is also a turtle pool where Denver was amazed and enjoys watching them.
Then we headed towards another buddist temple (Can't recall the name)

Finally, we have our lunch at Golden Prawn 933 followed by a local cultural show.

Our last stop for today is "Tua Pek Kong" temple. There are many figurines there and we took some photos and have our prayers too. Before going back to the hotel, we stopped by a shop to purchase cheaper polo ralph shirts and went to a shopping mall for our dinner.

Day 2: After a good rest at Batam View Hotel (http://www.batamview.com/), we had our breakfast and tour around the hotel premises. It has a beach front and a nice pool too.

We took the kids for a swim in the pool and there is a clown who came by and played a little game with the children. ^_^
We checked out of the hotel and continued the rest of our tour with the bus driving us around the islands. One of the most creepy part is visiting Galang - Memory of a Past Tragedy. As many unfortunate and terrible things have happened here before, it was said to be haunted. http://www.spi.com.sg/haunted/galang/main.htm. To avoid having nightmares and me not being very daring myself, I stayed in the bus while Hubby and some others went down to take some pictures nearby.

Before heading back to Singapore, we went to the Barelang Bridge. According to wiki, it is a chain of 6 bridges of various types that connect the islands of Batam, Rempang, and Galang, giving the system its name. The smaller islands of Tonton, Nipah, and Setotok (considered as parts of the Batam Island chain itself) connect Batam and Rempang. The bridge is an icon of the local area and is a popular tourism site. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barelang_Bridge)

This marks the end of our short 2 days 1 night Batam tour! ^_^

Sunday, January 17, 2010

~ Past Holiday Experiences 3 - Ostrich Farm Jun 2004 ~

Date: 12th June 2004
Location: Malaysia (Ostrich Farm)

Hubby, his colleague Jimmy and I drove up to visit the Kota Tinggi's Ostrich Farm almost 6 years ago. Denver did not tag along as he was only 11th month old that time. Part of Hubby's intention was also to familiarize with the area on our own first before taking the family along next time. (That time no GPS mah.)

It was a short drive up from Singapore and we finally found our way to the Ostrich Farm. It wasn't very big but very entertaining.

We get to hold the big ostrich egg where an adult can stand on the egg without breaking it. There are also many small ostrich chicks separated according to the number of weeks old. A 1 day old chick already looks quite big.

It's feeding time and Hubby gets to feed one of the ostrich too! The good thing is there are not many visitors when we arrived. So the owner/caretaker was able to explain and spend more time with us.

Before exiting the farm, there are many display of the various Ostrich products. Ostrich's eggs are crafted into beautiful lights. You can also buy the egg and bring home to cook and eat. ^_^ It's feather is made into dusters or souveniors and many others.

It has been an educational and wonderful experience that I believe the family will enjoy.