All About Your Child

Batam, Indonesia is 1 hour behind Singapore. So we lived for another hour when we reached Batam. *giggle*

Our first day in Batam was completely planned by the tour agency. I prefer Free and Easy above all else. I prefer to plan my route and not be given a time to end any sort of fun or being rushed to finish a yummy meal, especially when you have children with you on a trip.

Oh well, on the bright side, one thing for sure, we would not get lost and because of the voucher we bought from Deal.com.sg, we only paid S$78 per person, which included ferry cost, transport back and forth to the ferry terminal, a one night stay at a 4star hotel, an hour of massage, a seafood lunch and lots of shoppping.

Our route:-

1st- Ferry from Singapore Harbour Front to Batam Sekupang Ferry Terminal

2nd- 4 different places to shop. All of which accepts Singapore Dollars. Other than Yong Heng Food Trading provision shop which Allan bought the yummilicious Honey Cake, every other places we shopped in (in my view) are considered expensive.

3rd- After ‘dragging‘ Binbin out of his dreamland (see previous post), we were craving for seafood. Upon arrival at Golden Prawn 933 seafood restaurant, our tour group of 28 was split into 3 groups. We were seated with another family of 6 with 3 kids from Malaysia, of whom we became good friends with on the second day. *wink*

Being tight for time and eating with unfamiliar faces, I was too shy to snap photos of every dish, as I usually would. So in the end, this was the only photo I had (after everyone at my table has left).

We had fishball vermicelli soup (ok),
chili crab (super small, but I liked it. Allan and the others on my table didn’t. *sigh* If only I had more time to finish off that ‘neglected’ plate),
black pepper prawn (shell sticks onto the flesh ~ *thumbs down*),
fried sotong (did not eat),
fried fish with gravy (lots of small bones. had a difficult time separating them from the flesh for the kids.)
and the famous Batam Gong Gong sea snail (it was steamed. didn’t like it at all.)

Oh! The Seafood Lunch included a drink of your choice and without hesitation, we chose Coconut!*smile*

4th- Just a short 1min walk from this restaurant was the place which baked the heavenly Kueh Lapis (read my review here)

5th- The tour guide brought us to a temple which claimed to be famous for granting wishes. Well, some went in to pray, others were having a sip at the coffeeshop and the rest of us were busy snapping photos. *smile*

What caught our eyes were the Huge (in both size and numbers) tortoises. They were so reachable, you could easily pick one up and sit it on your lap! *smile*

6th- MASSAGE PARLOUR!!! Aaawww…. what more can I say after the previous blog post ‘Children On Holiday – Batam Day 1 (Part 1)‘ ~ my boys craved for More…

Once is never enough when kids are in loved with whatever that might be…so I am not surprised at all when they became ‘addicted‘ to massage. *giggle*

7th- The tour bus dropped us off at Batam City Square Mall or better known as BCS Mall. According to the tour guide, it is the least pricey shopping mall in Batam. Still, the prices made me feel like I was shopping in Singapore. In fact, some of the items sold there were more expensive.

The ONLY place which we found great bargain was the amusement arcade. Every game costs approximately S$0.30 only!!! Cheaper than the Big Play Area in Jusco, Malaysia.

Without even scanning through the place first, we exchanged approximately S$10 worth of tokens, so that the kids could play almost 33times!

BUT it was a Big mistake!

Half of the place had jackpots of all sorts with adults on every hot seats there. Almost 90% of them were smoking. Well, in Batam, you can smoke wherever you want.

We were trying hard to ‘get rid’ of the tokens by going for every possible kiddy game machines there. Little did we realise that out of those few kiddy machines available, half of them were not working! *faint*

Keatkeat was really good at the magnetic fishing game and with all the tickets collected at the end of the game, we could only exchanged for hair-bands.

So I ended up with 4 hair-bands in total for the trip. 2 from the arcade, 2 from both massages. Ooops! I gave myself away, yup, we went for massage AGAIN the next day.

8th- 1hour sure passed quickly when good times are spent. After BCS mall, we met our gorgeous hotel for the first time ~ Harmoni One. It was almost 8pm (Batam time) after we settled down in our room.

The kids cheered, “Yeah! Finally! Hotel!” *laugh*

Throughout the trip, they have been grumbling, “Why haven’t go hotel yet? I want to see the room…. I want to relax on the hotel bed….. and on and on….” *eyes rolled*

Harmoni One is a very new hotel. You can almost smell the paint. There are other sections of the hotel yet to be furnished. Seriously, we loved everything about the hotel, service, food, ambiance and comfort.

For the first time, we stayed in a hotel which does NOT charge for the refreshments in the room’s mini-fridge. YEAH! (See pictures of the hotel in my previous post.)

However, if you are hoping to receive efficient room service, errrrmmm… then this is not the hotel for you. ‘Reminder calls’ are needed. But that is perfectly fine with us because none of the things which we asked for were considered urgent.

OH! Before I forget, there is one very unusual thing about our hotel room. There is NO TOILET PAPER HOLDER!!! Its a 4 star hotel, but such a basic thing is missing… Hhhmmm… *scratch head*

9th- We had our dinner at the restaurant in the lobby of the hotel. However, we were shocked by the portion given for Allan’s and my order.

The kid’s Spaghetti Bolognese are fine, but Allan’s Carbonara’s portion looked like a 5 year old’s meal; while my Tom Yam soup with rice, had ingredients so few and so tiny (the prawns and squids), I am left with just soup after 3 scoops from the bowl. *Faint*

10th- We explored every level of the hotel and sworn to have our virgin jacuzzi dip the next day. *Grin*

11th- Binbin wanted to feel special and chose to sleep on the couch bed, but ended up tossing and turning for 2 hours before he agreed to give up the idea and sleep on one of the beds. And in less than 5mins, he was snoring away. *laugh*

So Papa, the most sacrificial one, slept on the couch bed for both nights. *hugs*

(Day 2 of our Batam trip to be continued…)

Lots of ‘First Time Experiences’ for my children this June Holiday, but the most ‘First Time Experiences’ happened in that 3D2N  Batam Trip.
First time staying overnight in a foreign country.

First time spending the nights in a hotel.
First time sleeping in an air-conditioned room (that is not inclusive of the hospital stays when they were first borne)

First time touching a luggage and pulling it around everywhere as if it was their little pet.

First time taking a ferry.

There was the air-con deck and the ‘breezy’ deck. We chose the latter. We prefer to feel the wind combing our hair.

First time visiting the super tiny and cramp toilet on the ferry.

First time holding, spending and counting Indonesia rupiah.
First time eating dinner in a hotel.

Kids had spaghetti bolognese and they LOVED IT TO THE CORE! Binbin licked his plate clean man! It was pretty special that they included crunchy garlic bread on the plate as well.

First time on a tour bus.
First time being guided around by an uncle (i.e. tour guide) who could not stop talking and telling jokes. *giggle*

Well, he definitely left an impression on Keatkeat. Keatkeat now remembers him as Harry Potter. *smile*

Binbin could hold the Zzz monster no more and fell asleep on my lap, while we were still touring on the tour bus, from one shop to another. Hhhmmm… and because of his surrender to the Zzz monster, I missed out on a shop which sold Super Yummy Honey Cake! Oooohhhh Yum!

But what was more amazing is they get to be massaged by professional masseuse for the VERY FIRST TIME!

For their very first massage, they did not opt for the oil, so it was just skin-to-towel-and-towel-to-skin massage. The masseuses were pleasantly shocked to see the two small-bodies infront of them and looked towards Allan and I for a confirmation. *giggle*

My boys were their very first kid-client. *smile*

The masseuses were giggling and chatting with each other in their language, to every reaction from my boys.

Binbin was GIGGLING almost NON-STOP!!! “This is so ticklish! *giggle giggle*” His giggles made the masseuses giggled that much more.

*laugh*

Keatkeat was going, “Aaawwww…. this is soooo shiok!”

*laugh*

Because my children bodies were so small, the masseuses did the routine twice for them, to last the full hour.

At the end of the session, here’s what they have to say:-

Keatkeat: “Mommy, can I have massage for all three days?”

Binbin: “Yes yes yes! I want too! But the next time, I want OIL!”

Keatkeat: “Yes yes! I want OIL too!”

*laugh*

(part 2 of our first day to be continued…)

Today, we celebrate our 11th Wedding Anniversary. A day full of lows and highs. Disappointment as well as excitement.

Lows:
We went to Friends Restaurant for the very first time. I had wanted a meal at that place for a long time now, but the price of the food kept me away. Well, my wish came true when I managed to get vouchers for this restaurant. But after my experience there, I wished I did not get this opportunity to visit. Read about my experience in my personal blog under the blog post title: “Friends Restaurant @ Jelita – Will I Recommend?”

Highs:
Because of our disappointing lunch, Allan thought of uplifting our low spirits by suggesting to drive in to Malaysia for the very first time on our own to savor cheap and delicious kelong style seafood. We have heard much but have never dare venture in without any ‘human-guidance‘ before. So after the unsatisfactory lunch at Friends Restaurant @Jelita off we went back  home for our passports, rested for a couple of hours before we set off on our Anniventure (Anniversary + Adventure) at 5.30pm *Super Grin*

Disappointment:
Those couple of hours at home were well spent on the internet, searching for reviews on different kelong seafood restaurants in Johor Bahru; as well as the driving directions. The directions given by different bloggers, seemed so straight forward and simple. The map looked so direct and clear.

But when we were on the road itself, there were so many small intersections that were not mentioned by the ‘direction-provider‘ and there were so many split roads that were not stated in the Google map, which we printed.

There were some road names that were given by the ‘bloggers‘, were not written on the road signsboards on the streets of Malaysia. So at every split road, we had to take a 50/50 chance every single time.

Excitement:
Guess what? In the end we got lost! Seriously lost! Instead of a 30 to 45 mins drive to reach the destination, we reach there after MORE THAN 2 HOURS!!! Thank goodness we managed to find someone who could speak English, was filling up his car with fuel in a remote Shell petrol station. None of the staff at the petrol kiosk knew how to speak English! *faint*

After what seemed like clear instructions were given, we ended up driving into lanes full of sand and rocks, which were totally pitch black, not a single street lamp was in sight. Without our car’s high beam, we could hardly see beyond 10metres.

It was really scary and worrying for Allan. But I was having so much fun. *laugh* It felt like we were racing in the Amazing Race! The difference was, we had two little kiddos sitting at the backseat, who kept chanting, “Don’t tell me we are lost?!”

*laugh*

We were definitely racing against time, my boys were getting hungry. It was definitely dinner time for them ~ 8.30pm! And we have no idea where we were yet!

Suddenly we saw a motorcycle’s small beam of light, moving about 50meters away from us. It looked like firefly! We tried to drive towards it but we were caught in the middle of some wet sand, or should I say dry mud.

There was also a big raised sandy platform that was separating us from the motor cycle. And by the time we could get up onto that raised sand platform, the motorcycle’s small beam of light was no where in sight already. *heart sank*

Allan was feeling really helpless and worried, while I was bubbling with excitement! *laugh* Because finally I know vehicles do drive in here. We just had to wait.

Indeed a car came and we followed it as if it was our GPS! *laugh*

Yeah!!! After a couple of minutes, we were on the road. But NONE of the STREET LAMPS were working! So we were still driving with our high beam on.

Just when we were trying to look out for road signs, we saw the sign of the ‘Restoran Todak’!!! Our Destination Found Finally!!! But we had drove passed it. We were about 100meters away from that signboard! *Scream*

I told Allan to reverse, but he disagreed, thinking its a dangerous move in an almost totally darkness road with fast moving vehicles. So we stopped. Turned on our hazard lights and looked around. Then we saw cars driving towards us, in OUR DIRECTION! Are we going to collide???!!!! Damn!

Luckily they reacted fast and went to another lane. *phew*

Not one, not two but quite a few cars were driving AGAINST THE TRAFFIC in that pitch dark road!!!

But we noticed one common thing about these cars which were disobeying the traffic arrows, ALL OF THEM TURNED INTO the small lane, where THE RESTORAN TODAK signboard was!

Ok, we concluded in our minds that THAT was the ONLY way to get to our destination.

And so, looking out for headlights of moving cars, very carefully, we made an obviously illegal U-Turn and started Racing in the opposite direction to that of the arrow on the road; and zoomed into the small lane where the signboard said “Restoran Todak“. DareDevil indeed!

Through the long winding road of that small lane, Allan’s heart finally could beat at normal rate. *laugh* I felt a great sense of satisfaction and gave my man a slap on his chest and cheered, “Well Done Dearie!” *Grin*

For the food review, you can check out my personal blog under the blog post title, “Seafood in Johor Bahru“

After the sumptuous and fulfilling dinner, the kids get to see how their food was ‘fished’ up from the sea. Its definitely a first time experience for them.

They loved the place so much, it was a little challenging to get them to leave. They kept saying, “Mommy, wait! See this. See that.” whenever we say, “Come on, let’s go, Gorgor needs to wake up at 6am tomorrow for school.”

The drive to the Johor causeway was less challenging, as I grew more confident when I see familiar buildings or structures. There was even a distance when I could put down the map on hand and simply direct Allan based on my memory. *giggle*

The moment we touch Singapore land, Allan and I clapped and cheered so loudly, “YEAH!” *laugh*

We wanted to head for the professional car wash before heading home, because the wheels and the lower half of the car were full of mud and sand. But it was past 11pm, thus the cash wash area was closed.

The next morning, even after a big scrub by the professionals, who were REALLY UNWILLING to clean our car, marks of our adventure we had the night before were still very visible. *sigh*

Happy 11th Anniversary Dearie!

Definitely the most unforgettable way to celebrate our Anniversary yet!

The KTM Train Ride yesterday to Malaysia brought my kids to another new heaven. Jusco is just a 20mins taxi ride from the Johor Sentral station, which we alighted from the train. Because we headed off to Jusco at 9.30am, it was a pretty smooth ride, the cost of the Taxi ride was RM14.70, but the ride back was RM34.40!!! *faint*

The second taxi driver told us that his taxi is unlike the normal red and yellow taxi which we took to Jusco. He claimed that his was a premium cab. Even though there was a slight traffic jam, the main reason for the high return taxi fare was because everything was doubled!

It was RM6.00 when the meter started, instead of RM3.00. Every click cost RM0.20, instead of RM0.10. One simple stop at a traffic junction cost us RM1.40! *faint* From this experience, Allan and I agreed that we will INSIST on a red and yellow taxi instead of a blue taxi, if we ever take one again. *Humph*

When we reached Jusco at 9.30am, many shops were just getting ready to start their day, but the kids were so eager to SPEND their Ringgit for the first time!

So the moment they saw a pushcart full of their latest craze: Angry Birds, they dashed towards it and started asking the sales girl, “How much is this?” “How much is that?” They made the sweet teenager really happy! *laugh*

Jusco is very similar to VivoCity or Suntec City. Your kids will enjoy the many selection of eateries and the Toys R Us on the second level.  But I believe their favourite place would be the Big Play Area at the top level:

Tokens cost RM1.00 (approx. S$0.40) and each game cost only 1 token. So we changed RM10.00 for the kids to play their hearts out.

In this big play area beside the foodcourt of Jusco, there is a separate mini-explorer play corner called Wonders Park, whereby you will need to pay cash instead of using tokens.

After playtime, we went for a sumptuous lunch at Sizzling StoneGrill. It was yet another first time experience for my children to cook food on stones and to eat in a ‘Forest‘. *giggle*

Photo Taken by Binbin

The kids love sitting on the second level, where they can watch the waiters ‘work‘ below them. Makes them feel ‘elevated‘. *giggle* I am impressed that the ‘leaves of the trees‘ are so ‘dust free‘! Maintenance of this ‘forest‘ restaurant must be a real headache. *Thumbs Up to the cleaners*

Will your child love Jusco too?

KTM Train Ride from Singapore to Malaysia was what my boys had been looking forward to since months ago, when we heard that the KTM train station at Tanjong Pagar will end its service on 1st July 2011. Though the station will be moved to Woodlands, the scenery throughout the journey would be so different then.

Not forgetting the paintings on the wall, the old coffeeshops, the mini ‘mama’ stalls, the significantly well-utilised Ticket Counters. See video and photos in my Personal Blog under the blog post “Tanjong Pagar Train Station ~ Memories“.

I was the only one who had been on a train. So for my man and my boys, it was truly a virgin train ride. *giggle*

Since our main purpose for the train ride was to ‘experience‘ what it is like to take a KTM train ride from Tanjong Pagar train station, we did not intend to go far.

We decided to take the 45mins ride to Johor Sentral. We bought the tickets yesterday, which was on Mother’s Day, and set off today on the 8am train.

• S$15.00 per adult
• S$11.00 per child

Since this was the first time Allan is in Malaysia for leisure. I decided to be the ‘tour guide‘ for that short few hours before we take the 5.15pm train ride back to Singapore.

We strolled around the Johor Sentral train station for 30mins before we set off to have fun.

As a Mommy, kids are the first priority. So I brought them to Jusco! Lots of stuff to talk about in Jusco, therefore I decided to put that into a separate blog post later.

After kids were fully satisfied, it was time to make me happy! *laugh* We went City Square, which is opposite the Johor Sentral train station. At the end of it, the boys were even happier than I was, with their first time shopping using Ringgits; from Ang Paos collected over the years during Chinese New Year. *laugh* Will talk about their purchases in a separate blog post too.

Everything went on really well till…

Tickets back home must be purchased 30mins before set off time. It was frustrating because there were so many people waiting to get their tickets but the ticket officer was taking his own sweet time!

10mins before the train set off and our queue number has yet to be called from that ONE operation counter!

• RM$3.00 per adult
• RM$2.00 per child

I needed the toilet and so did the boys, but we dare not go anywhere till we get on the train.

After purchasing the tickets, we waited again for another officer to allow us to enter the first gantry. I was so afraid I would pee infront of him. *legs crossed*

I was surprised that we were ‘forced‘ to wait again at the second gantry. Luckily there were restrooms at the waiting area and the boys and I went to relieve ourselves. *Phew*

When we came out of the toilet, all the passengers who were taking the same train as us were still held at the waiting area. *Double Phew* We did not miss a thing.

Though the train we took from KTM Tanjong Pagar train Station, was a 2nd class and our seats were reserved, we were back-seating towards the direction of the train movement. Not as perfect as we wanted to.

• For front-facing seats, purchase seats numbers that are after 9 and NOT between 1 to 8.

For this journey back to Singapore, the train was a 3rd class train and the seats were not reserved, meaning it was free seating. We wanted to choose the front-facing seats; so after coming out from the toilet, my two boys and I sat on the very first bench that was nearest to the door of the gantry.

My heart is pounding fast again as I recall the scene….

In less than 10 seconds after the three of us rested our butts on the bench, we saw some 10-20 men dressed like the ‘fei-hu-dui’ below:

*Picture Courtesy of Google Images

They appeared from the basement where the train awaits. As they walked up the stairs, I saw two bearded men with their hands on their heads and with 4 to 5 fei-hu-dui men’s hands grabbing the bearded men’s shoulders and arms.

They were on the other side of the gantry and we were ‘safe‘ on the opposite side; our only defense was the glass wall that separated us.

There were about 20+ passengers, including us. So for safety reasons, I assumed that they would NOT come over to our side of the gantry, isn’t?

I WAS WRONG!

I forgot I was not in Singapore.

I was shocked and I did not react fast enough to get my boys’ and my butt off the seat. WE SAT VERY STILL…

I was sitting between the boys. Keatkeat was the nearest to the door, where the intimidating group walked through with the two criminals.

The first criminal walked passed us. Nothing happened.

Shit! My hands are sweating now as I type…

The second criminal walked through the door and like a tiger, he LEAPT over to grab Keatkeat!!!

His hands were just one feet away from Keatkeat’s lap! The loud slam of his big palms onto the metal bench is still ringing in my ears when he was dragged away from Keatkeat and pinned down on the floor by 6 to 7 fei-hu-dui men.

Immediately I grabbed my boys’ hands, stood up and walked towards Allan, who had been standing about 5 feet away from us, all these while.

Keatkeat was Shivering, his face gone Pale and lips went White!

Allan started to scold us infront of everyone, “Kahpo right?! Want to have the best view, right?!…”

One of the passenger turned towards Allan and kept saying “Exercise. Exercise.”
He meant that this was just a pretentious event and that Allan should not be overly concerned.

In my heart, I doubted.

• If it WAS an exercise, why would the man attempt to grab Keatkeat as hostage?!
• If it WAS an exercise, why are they doing it at a train-time? They could have done it when there are no trains and no waiting passengers.
• If it WAS an exercise, why did they not inform the passengers at the waiting area first to mentally prepare them or ask them to stay away from the door? Or did they, but we were in the toilet and we missed it??

Then I started to beat myself up.

• Why did I assume that they would not come over to our side?!
• I am such a horrible Mommy, I put my children at such risk!
• I should have been more alert and moved away the moment the first criminal walked through the door!
• Why am I so blur!
• Why must I wait for the second criminal to leap over before I know its dangerous!?
• *SCREeeeeeAM* I am such an IDIOT!!!!

Immediately after the group of ‘fei hu dui’ was out of sight, we were signaled by yet another officer that we could go down to the basement to catch our train.

Me: “Keatkeat, how are you feeling now?”
Keatkeat: “I am very scared. I thought I am going to be captured.”
I hugged him tightly and tried to console him with my still-fast-beating heart, “Its alright now, its alright now…”

And when I asked my boys, “So do you still want to go to other countries?” This is their second trip out of Singapore. First time was without Allan.
Keatkeat: “Yes.”
Binbin: “No.”

Its My Fault!!! *Slap Slap Slap*

From the photo below, you can see that the only one with a really big smile was Allan. Because to him, so long as all of us are safe at the end of it all, nothing else matters anymore…

KTM Train Ride