First helper hired - 18 Nov 2023

Currently 28 weeks pregnant with baby girl. 3rd child le and next year moving into EM. So we decided is time to hire a helper... 

Today is the day we met her, Pyae Sone Moe. She say can call her Moo Moo... There are so much to teach and guide. So far she is quite good and will take initiatives to help me. Whenever I bend down to take or find something, she will quickly come to help. 

We picked her up around 3pm.. settle her down and went out to buy some groceries and had dinner... Ceyan was saying initially that he is not used to having her with us all the time... After dinner and marketing, he said he feels that he is getting used to her le. I am glad too. Also being super helpful, waiting for her to finish shower and helped to put pillow case for her and set up her bed. 

Today has been a tiring day for all of us. Hope everything will be better soon. She knows how to reject my kids, which I think might be a good start. They wanted to push the ntuc trolley but she said no to them... haha

Genting Cruise (11 - 14 Jun 2023)

Late post. Finally, our family managed to go on a short trip together. Missing jiefu and Chris though. It has been a long awaited trip. Because of the big family, always hard to plan something together. Hence this trip is so precious. 

We went on cruise to Port Klang and Penang.

Day 1: Embark

Had a quick snacks then changed for a swim... it was so crowded. I was so glad that Caylen conquer his fear for water slides. His swimming lessons sure help too..

After swimming, we hang around at the main deck. There was a welcome party for kids... the 4 boys participated and Ceyan won a small prize from the game.. Dinner was western food. 

This round we converted the room into a 4 pax room. It was quite cool and comfortable. 

Day 2: Disembark at Port Klang

We took grab from the port to a nearby mall for bf. Planned to go for some famous bkt but it was closed so we just went to Aeon shopping mall... worst part was all the restaurant were not open yet. We were  atarving but had no choice but to wait. Lunch at a HK cafe, nothing fantastic. Proceed on to supermarket as there was nothing else to shop there too. Bought some drinks and tidbits back on cruise. Swimming again of course since we are back early. And dinner was Chinese buffet style. Had some gelato while enjoying the breeze too. 

We also went for night show after dinner. The performance were great but Caylen slept more than half the show. He was asleep right after dinner. I had to carry him while watching the performance. 

Day 3: Disembark at Penang

This was fun one. The scary part was when you walking to the main road from the port, there are plenty of car rental vendors snatching business. We still decided to take grab everywhere. They were all quite agreesive. 

First stop was about food again. We went to the Dim Sum King place for bf. The food used to be so good when we last went but I think the standard did drop already. Next stop is the famous chendol but everyone was too full.. some took grab while the others walked. Walked a long way under the hot sun. 

Then we split up, mummy, me, zw and caylen went for durian while the rest went for ghost museum and massage. We met zw disty at the durian place and he gave us a lift to the mall they are in. Caylen enjoyed his durian so much. 

We rushed to buy some local goodies and grab back. It was such a mad rush because we need to Embark again before 4pm. Not enough time at Penang. There was a duty free shop just before the port Embark area. We thought of buying a wine to drink back on the ship. After we paid, right outside the shop. The custom guy stopped us saying that we can't bring onboard and so we demand a refund and there were some unhappiness and arguments before we finally got it. They should have told us that we can't bring onboard before we pay. That was a really bad experience. 

Swimming again for us. And since it was a last night. We decided to go have some steamboat that is chargeable. Had some wine and everyone was happy. The steamboat was not cheap but food was quite good. Had dinner with the sea breeze and beautiful night scenery. 

Day 4: Disembark the ship day. We went to have some bf before packing and wait for our turn to disembark. The disembarkment was bad. There was a long long queue in the ship and they even lead us to the theatre first. We need to wait there for some time before moving on again. It was tough for the old and young especially when we need to go up and down the stairs with luggages. 

Shen Zhen & HK (2-10 June 2023)

This is our first family trip after Covid19. We took flights to HK then car to Shen Zhen. From 9.40am to about 5pm. 

The kids just watch show throughout the flight. Surprisingly Caylen has no issue with taking off and landing. However Ceyan encountered ear pain during landing. 

Day 1: flying day

Everything was smooth until we reach Shen Zhen custom where we need to fill up the arrival card manually. And our relative address is so long and in Chinese. But everything else was smooth. The kids KO otw from custom to aunt's place. 

Settled in her apartment that is facing the sea. Nice and shiok. 

Dinner at one mall that's around the corner of her apartment. Coconut chicken in a capsule. Nice ambience. Food was not bad too. Unfortunately I fell sick, having cough and fever on arrival. Can't eat much. 

Their mall has this cute train with shooting game. The kids had fun. 

thereafter we walk a short distance to Vanguard (a supermarket) outside has cool motorised cars for kids. My kids went crazy. 30rmb for 15mins. 

the supermarket was huge and have all sorts of things. But the staff wasn't so nice. They were checking item by item when we are using the self kiosk. Dampened our mood. Wasted some time there. 

Day 2: Futian

We had bf at Starbucks. Managed to pay with our own alipay. Plan was to go Futian to catch high speed rail to Guang Zhou but when we reach there, there is no tickets left for us. So we just shopped around at Futian. And because is raining, we are stuck in the mall.. 

lunch was bad. The service at MoMo was so bad. They missed out 2 main courses and with repeated reminders nothing has been done and they didn't follow up too. We waited for an hour decided to leave and ask for refund. Horrible experience. 

we decided to come back to one mall for dinner at Korean bbq but I wasn't well running a 38.8 fever and coughing badly, I only ate bimbimbap.. came back earlier ate med and slp...

Day 3: 甘坑古镇 and 世界之窗

Fever is back in the morning so I decided to sleep in while the rest went for lunch. Thankfully, ail and sil brought the kids to some animal feeding at one mall. There are rabbits, quail and fishes. 

I felt better after a short nap and lunch. We moved on to gankeng ancient town. Is like an old street with shops and food. Typical tourist attraction place. It was a really hot day We walked the whole place and finally found the farm but unfortunately it was closed. So we have to walk all the way back. 

It was already 6pm when we travelled to 世界之窗. Quickly had our dinner there but the sky was already dark when we enter. Plus bil and me are running fever already. We only quickly and briefly roam around the structures and caught the fireworks display. Unfortunately, all the rides are closed already. Not sure if they are going again another day as we didn't even conquer 1/3 of the place.. fever is no joke. 39.1 is high. 

Day 4: Dong Men

Shopping day at Dong Men. There are departmental stores and also malls like wholesales apparels. I wouldn't say is very cheap but the quality was quite good. We had lunch at Dong Men (just the 4 of us), the food at 谨杭味道 was not bad. 

After lunch, shopping spree starts. Only managed to buy some clothes for kids and myself. We went back to one mall for dinner. The 九毛九 is nice and cheap. 9 of us only ate 600plus rmb. 

Day 5: Cocopark

Didn't start off well. We had bf at one mall 冰室 but the food is terrible. The only cute thing is the bear milk tea and only not bad food will be the bolo bun. The others can't make it. The chicken has so much blood on it until it stained the rice. Totally unacceptable. 

The weather was still good when we head off to the zoo... 5mins before reaching, thunderstorm came and we had to enroute to the nearest mall. They do not allow the 5 of us to take 1 taxi so we had to split into 2 car and find a meeting place. We met a very nice driver though who was detouring just to find us a good place to alight as the wind is too strong and rain too heavy with any extra charges. So we decided to just go join the rest at Cocopark. But who knows there are 2 different Cocopark in Shen Zhen. We found a indoor playground in the mall and decided to let the kids enjoy since we can't go to the zoo that they are looking forward to so much. 

The indoor playground is not considered big but they had a good time still. The usual price is 180rmb for whole day of play. But because we only going to play for a few hrs, the staff said she will use her staff discount for us to buy the tix at 150rmb. They played for almost 3hrs because we need to leave for dinner with the rest already.

The rest went to buy tickets for our high speed rail to HK. We met at the other Cocopark for dinner. They got use a private room and looks really posh. We were worried that the dinner will cost a bomb but apparently the price was quite reasonable. 

Day 6: The MixC

Because is again a rainy day. We can't go to the zoo. We tried going to the other attraction the valley but it started raining. So we took the taxi to The MixC mall. There is an ice rink in the mall which will fulfil those who wants to go shopping and the kids can get to try ice skating for the first time... 

Had a quick lunch at a Taiwan restaurant because they are closing already. We had a private room too not as posh but the food was good. It was right in front of the ice rink.. 

We had international buffet dinner at Grand Hyatt. The food was soso. There is also a playground inside. Ceyan accidentally broke a glass cover when trying to reach for the marshmallows. We apologised but actually they admitted that they didn't plan the placement of food properly. They put the desserts that kids love too high and in glass bottles. 

Day 7: Shenzhen to HK

Saw rainbow on the last day in Shen Zhen. Took high speed rail to HK in the morning. The ride is less than 15mins. 

The long awaited capsule Airbnb. We booked the whole place. It was quite a fun experience. And the kids love it. Not suitable for all as the climbing up wasn't as easy as I thought. And for old ppl to slp at the bottom not easy to get up too. 

There is a not bad dim sum place just below our Airbnb. We had lunch there then head off to Dong Cong for shopping. 

Dinner at Dong Cong. Peking duck set at HK3000+

Day 8: Ocean Park

Finally the weather was good enough for us to go Ocean Park. Spent the whole day there seeing animals and only took 1 ride. We also took the cable car and watch dolphin show. There were alot of slopes. Energy draining. 

it has been a long and hot day for us. Dinner at isquare. Had peking duck again but this time wasn't so pleasant. Caught us by surprised that the price we are paying only include the skin of the duck. The other parts of the duck is not for us. We need to pay extra for them to just cut the duck for us. Not a recommended place. 

Caylen was so tired that he can't wait for the dishes to come, he gobble down the white rice and doze off.

Day 9: home sweet home

Had the dim sum downstairs again then head off to take airport express. The airport express group ticket of 4 cost HK250. The ride was less then 30mins. 

There was bad tubulance on our way back and landing was OK. The kids didn't complain of ear pain. 

a new surprise when we reach home.. our heater is working again. Woohoo no need to boil water to shower le. 

In conclusion this trip could have been better if I wasn't unwell and it doesnt rain so much.