Bintan 28-30 July 2006

Day 1 Dep SG 20:00; Arr Bintan 20:00 (- 1 hr)

In order to catch the 20:00 ferry from Tanah Merah Ferry Terminal ("TMFT") in Changi, and still be able to "da bao" Nasi Lemak from Changi Village, Mama left office a little earlier to meet Papa from Gwendolyn's school. We dashed straight from Bukit Timah into Changi. Lyn Lyn was all excited, as Mama's been telling her about going on holiday! Well, I don't know how much she knows about holiday, but she knows we're going to somewhere FUN! When we reach the TMFT, she was running around the lobby, wanting to look for sand playing toys, hula hoops, etc...when Mama told her that she'll be left behind if she keeps running around, she just stood still and say: I want, I want to go! When we're passing through Immigration, there is this x-ray hand luggage checkpoint. When Lyn Lyn saw everyone removing their bags and put through the machine, she was all excited in putting her Hello Kitty backpack onto the belt. However, she didn't know that we need to collect our belongings from the other end and stood there, screaming: I want my BAG! But when Mama calm her down and bring her to the other end for collection, she was amazed by that! After the Immigration and before we board the ferry, we need to wait for a while and she was enjoying herself, eating her biscuit. She sat like an "Ah Beng" and unlady like at all...and when we finally board the ferry, she didn't know what to do, but kept staring...but when she was inside, she was keen in sitting down, going around from back to front, just to explore the interior. When the ferry started moving, Papa start to feed her dinner, as it was getting late and Lyn Lyn is HuNgRy...after that, she asked Papa and Mama to take turns to bring her around. Since there's nothing much to do, Mama just brought her to the end and inspect the toilets...judging from the outside, looking at the colour on the door knob to distinguish between "vacant" and "engaged"!

By the time we arrived in Bintan, it was already 21:00 (SG time), even though Lyn Lyn was very tired, but she endured, as she was looking forward to the chalet...When we started queueing at the Immigration, she noticed that there are 2 different queues: the one that we're queueing up in and the other one, which is longer, with a lot of caucasians. Lyn Lyn was fascinated and asked Papa why. Papa told her that they're queueing up for VISA. But poor Lyn Lyn has mistaken that being PIZZA and started screaming for PIZZA...it was very difficult to stop her from screaming...what a misunderstanding...

After the Immigration, collecting of luggage, identifying ourselves as the hospitality counter, we finally boarded the transfer bus from the Ferry Terminal and headed straight to the Nirvana Gardens Resort to do all the necessary check-in procedures, before being transferred to our ultimate destination: Banyu Biru Resorts, Suria 3!

Both Lyn Lyn and Frederick were crazy about the staircase in the chalet...kept walking up and down...when we're eventually settled with the luggage, showering, unpacking, etc...we sat down for our long delayed dinner...can't remember what time, but I think it should be around 23:00 + (SG time)...and the kids didn't sleep until after midnight...what a LONG DAY...

Day 2 Lunch at Thai Restaurant; Dinner at The Coffee Shop Seafood Buffet Dinner

As Lyn Lyn didn't sleep until very late at night, she didn't wake up until 09:30 (SG time) the next morning. But when she was awake, she was all excited again, running downstairs to have breakfast, trying to step out to the balcony, etc. In order to stop her from stepping out to the balcony by herself, we told her that the ants will bite her and she'll become itchy itchy, she stood in front of the balcony and said to herself: No ant bite bite...Papa took a few photos for her on the staircase, the adults discussed for a while about where to go, we finally set off to the main resort area and venture about for food! Initially, we wanted to have a BBQ at night at our chalet. However, it seems rather costly and no much variety to choose from, in the end, we've decided to have the Seafood Buffet at the Coffee Shop for dinner. But what about lunch? We wanted to go to the Thai Restaurant, nearer to the Indra Maya Villas (Papa and Mama stayed there before 4 years ago)...but still, we have plenty of time before lunch. We explored around, looking for the kids room and we noticed that it's just next to the main swimming pool. Lyn Lyn ran towards the slides and swing playground, but it started raining just minutes after she's started. So in the end, we went indoors to the kids playroom and spent the next 30 minutes there, playing "10 Pin Bowling". When the rain was not so heavy, we left for the shuttle bus to the Thai Restaurant.

We're just in time for the shuttle and we hopped on. Since we're still early for lunch, we alight at the Mayang Sari Resort to look around and have a little toilet break. We caught the next shuttle and arrived at the Thai Restaurant, which is just 5 minutes down the road on foot...all of us were too hungry and we quickly ordered our food...Lyn Lyn, as usual, asked for noodles and we've ordered Phad Thai for her...she was VERY VERY hungry and kept scooping the noodles into her mouth. When she was done, she asked Mama to bring her to "walk to the end" (she likes walking to "the end", which is the other far end of a place)...as it was still raining outside, Mama just brought her walk round and round the restaurant and singing "Wheels on the Bus" at the same time!

After lunch, we took the shuttle back to the main resort, the adults played a round of pools and in order to prevent Lyn Lyn from disturbing, Mama seated her at the "Bubble Puzzle" console to "hit the buttons"...she was addicted and wanted to "hit" the other machines, but Mama told her that the rests are not for babies...so she was happily seated at the "Bubble" machine!

We went back to our chalet afterwards. Initially, we planned for the kids to take a nap, but Lyn Lyn just refused to nap. So, whilst all the rests are napping, Papa and Mama brought Lyn Lyn to the pool for some fun...there was a WATER SLIDE...she tried with Papa for the first time and loved it...so Papa and Mama took turns in catching her at the bottom of the slides, so that she'll not be submerged into the water...she couldn't have enough and kept asking for MORE MORE! But Papa and Mama knew she's tired and we wanted her to go back, shower and get ready for dinner. We told her that we're going back to tell Frederick Di Di, so that they can play together. But we didn't return to the pool afterwards, instead, all of us headed back to the main resort for dinner. On the way to the Coffee Shop, Lyn Lyn just fell asleep...and Papa and Mama had an easy dinner time. She didn't wake up again until we went back to the chalet. We fed her some bread, but she didn't seem to be hungry. When she saw the adults playing cards, she asked to play as well, so Mama played the Hello Kitty Uno with her and asked her to identify numbers! It was very difficult to get her in bed again and she didn't sleep until after midnight (again!).

Day 3 Lunch at Villa (da bao); Dep Bintan 17:30; Arr SG 19:30 (+ 1 hr)

Finally, it's the last day of our holiday. We woke up earlier this morning, so that we can go to the pool again before it started to rain. We spent a good morning playing WATER SLIDES, but Frederick was scared to be exposed to such a BIG swimming pool. He was interested to see Lyn Lyn Jie Jie playing the slides, but he was frightened himself...it took him quite some time before he can finally stand on the edge of the pool and tap the water and walking along the edge...

After the pool session, when everyone's gotten some sun tan, we headed back to the chalet, rested for a while, before we head down to the main resort area again to da bao our lunch. We went to the far end of the beach, which is rather sheltered, to play sand for a short while and Tricia was frantically trying to catch the fishes swimming along the coast. In the end? Nothing...she didn't manage to catch any...sigh...there gone our lunch! We left the far end before the high tide, as we'll be caught in that sheltered area, if we stayed for longer...then we just head back to the main resort and ordered our "da bao" lunch. Why "da bao"? So that we can finish our duty free beer before heading back to Singapore!

It was a very satisfying lunch and we're overfed these last few days...again, after lunch, we wanted a nap, but Lyn Lyn refused to nap again...so we just pack up a bit, had a bit of stupid play before we finally say "Bye" to the chalet...(Lyn Lyn was rather stressed out when our luggage was being "taken" by the hotel staff, as she wanted to escort the luggage by herself and she was all worried when it was "taken". By the time we reach the main resort and reunite with our luggage, she was all smiley again!)

As we still need to wait for at least another hour before catching the transfer bus, we went to the kids playground again! Lyn Lyn was having her last moment of fun in the resort and trying out every single item on the playground! She had a really good time and on our way back, she told me that she wanted to go back again! She enjoyed her HOLIDAY!

Satay

Since we have some leftover satay from Saturday's BBQ, Mama has decided to finish them as part of dinner last night. Surprisingly, Gwendolyn was eyeing on them and asked to eat them (whereas she refused to eat last Saturday). Mama guess that because of the stick, she thinks that it's similar to the hotdog that she had that night...she couldn't stop eating and had 4 sticks!

Swimming...again!

Everyone knows that Gwendolyn loves swimming...and she hasn't swum for quite a few weeks...since she's now recovered from her flu, Papa and Mama brought her swimming again! This time, she's asking for something different...she's trying to apply her "knowledge" from her "Spot" vcd...one of the episodes talks about "Spot Bath" and Spot has a rubber duckie...one of the lines in the song goes : and if sometimes, he goes under (meaning that the duckie will sink at times underneath the bath water). So Papa and Mama took turns to submerge underneath the water and Lyn Lyn wanted to imitate as well...instead of submerging her, Mama tries out dipping her sideways and she loves it...when she finally find it bored to just to that, Mama took her out from the float and submerge her totally into the water...Mama asked whether Lyn Lyn is scared, Lyn Lyn goes : No, not scared...Mama tried a few more times and thinks that Lyn Lyn should be a good swimmer when she grows up...since she is not scared of water...

BBQ

Mama's colleagues came to our house for BBQ today: Auntie Tong Gunn & hubby, Auntie Clare & Uncle Chris and Auntie June & hubby & Melody Jie Jie. Mama's been preparing Gwendolyn about a jie jie coming to play with her, but Lyn Lyn has been saying: No Melody Jie Jie, Want Melody Lyn Lyn...God knows what she means...anyways...she was so excited that she didn't nap, though she was tired all afternoon, until Clare & Chris have arrived.

Finally, when Melody came, she was still asleep and everyone except Mama and Lyn Lyn were home, until she wakes up. By the time we go down, the men has already started the fire and we're all ready to eat! Initially, Lyn Lyn was still rather grumpy, as she didn't sleep for very long. However, when Mama told her that when she has finished her food, she can play bubbles with Melody Jie Jie, she quickly ate 3 hotdogs and half a plate of bee hoon (rice vermicelli)! After that, she started with her bubble gun and frantically dipping her gun and generating bubbles.

Finally, when Mel is done with her food, she quickly joined Lyn Lyn in making more bubbles! They both finished 1 and a half bottles of bubbles in no time...before the adults think of other activities to keep them occupied, Lyn Lyn ran to Mama to ask for more FOOD! In the end, she ate another 2 hotdogs and Mel asked for it as well! When all the remaining hotdogs are eaten and we want to distract Lyn Lyn from eating more, we asked them to sing and dance...that's the highlight of the night...They have forgotten that they've just known each other and singing, dancing, hugging, etc etc...so fun to see both of them enjoying themselves!

Their dancing is getting out of hand, as they were sitting on the floor and almost knocking against the hot pits...everyone decided it's time to pack up and we all went up to eat dessert. It's getting late and all Aunties and Uncles are leaving...Lyn Lyn was fine with that, but when she finally calm down, she started : Want Melody Jie Jie...Mama tried distracting her and after a while : Want Melody Jie Jie...Papa and Mama knows that it's a sign that she wants to sleep, hence, brought her for a car ride...she was asleep in no time...and Papa and Mama can sleep in peace when reach home...so full and tired...haha!

Pizza

"Some salami and zucchini and lots of mozarella..."

Mama went to see Ms Shu Ping on Thursday, 20 July, for the second Parent-Teacher Consultation. Ms Shu Ping told Mama that Gwendolyn has been making "pizza" with playdough in the last 2 weeks and had enough practice to try out a real pizza today! Lyn Lyn brought home 2 small slices of pizza for Papa and Mama to try. In the end, Mama made pasta for dinner to go in tune with Lyn Lyn's pizza...

Comments? Not bad for the first time...

Yum Cha

In Hong Kong, the typical Sunday pass time is to go for "Yum Cha", which means drink tea and eat dim sum. Ever since most of Mama's Hong Kong friends have returned to HK for good, we hardly go for dim sum these days. So happen that both Papa and Mama wanted to eat, so we've decided to bring Gwendolyn to China Square Tea House for lunch, so as to bring her to "Auntie Nelly's" teddy bear shop to look for soft toys.

Since there were only Papa, Mama and Lyn Lyn, we cannot order much, but settled with the usual Siew Mai, Steam Beancurd Rolls, Char Siew Cheung Fun, Steam Carrot Cake, but Lyn Lyn only liked the Steam Beancurd Rolls and surprisingly, finished the whole dish by herself! After that, she was rather full and start asking Papa to bring her to walk around the restaurant, whilst Mama tried to get some additional orders: Spring Rolls and Steam Egg Yolk Buns. In the end, Lyn Lyn finished another 2 Spring Rolls, because they are crispy! She was so satisfied and drank many cups of tea! Nicccccceeeeeeee.................

Sentosa Island

It's been more than 1 year since Gwendolyn first went to Sentosa Island. She was just one-year-old when she first went. Since there have been a lot of changes since we last went, we thought it may be good to bring her to the beach and play with the sand, preparing her the upcoming Bintan trip.

Gwendolyn at 13 months!

We were lucky on Saturday to see the sun, as it has been raining for the past few days. When we alight from the car after parking, Papa changed his normal spectacles to his shades and Mama took hers from the car as well. Lyn Lyn was a little annoyed when she knows that she didn't have hers, but Papa and Mama promised to buy a pair for her when we reached the shop. Meanwhile, she "borrowed" Mama's shades for the time-being. When we have decided to set our foot on the Siloso Beach, we went to the shop to get a beach toy set for Lyn Lyn, the beach mat and her shades before settling on a spot under a coconut tree.

Going to Sentosa with Ernie!

When we finally settled down with the mat, Lyn Lyn was very fast in removing her sandals and bringing out her "equipments": Buckets, watering pots, spades, sand claws, etc etc...she was all ready to plunge in the sand to make her "sand castles"! She was so excited when transferring the sand from the beach into her 3 buckets, asking Papa and Mama to join in as well. Since the sand was too dry, Papa brought the 2 watering pots to the beach side to fetch some water, so that Lyn Lyn can pour the water to the sand and be able to mould and set them. However, as Lyn Lyn finally noticed how Papa has gotten the water, she rushed down towards the water with Papa and Papa had a hard time chasing after her! However, during one of the "water fetching" trips, the sky seemed to turn darker and it start to drizzle. Mama quickly pack up and go.

Busy building a sand castle!

When we're on the way to the eating places, Lyn Lyn saw the water "fountain" and water to play. She rushed into the "fountain" to chase for water. Once her clothings started to get wet, she just asked to remove everything! Oh dear, she was all naked and the "fountain" was just nearby to the tram stop. Some tourists saw her running around naked and couldn't stop laughing. Some has even video-taped her running and laughing! But we can tell that she's having a really good time!

Shame shame Lyn Lyn, caught on camera!

After the running around and wash up by the sea, she requested for a second round in the "fountain" and then wash up for a second time before finally settle down and wore her clothes! We went for a quick lunch at Sakae Sushi and she finished one bowl of Udon...Wow...Papa and Mama knew that she's tired, with a satisfied tummy...all set for a good nap and we left the beach. She remembered her cool shades and wore them on the way to the car park and managed to catch some glares from other passer-bys!

Cool...and not forgetting her Ernie!

Cause of Mama Back/Neck Pain

Why is Mama having back/neck pain all the times? Gwendolyn hasn't been sleeping very well ever since Mama's 2 nights residential training workshop in Johor, Malaysia and keeps waking during the middle of the night to cry for Mama. Initially, Mama thought that she is worried that she couldn't find Mama, but recently, Mama has done some online research on www.babycentre.co.uk and noticed that there is actually a change in toddler's sleeping patterns during 24-36 months old. The website mentioned about "Establishing Good Sleep Habits: 24-36 months" (http://www.babycentre.co.uk/toddler/sleep/habits24to36months/) and supposedly it could be a sign that she is ready to move to a bigger bed for more space. For Gwen, it could be the case, as the way she sleeps after asking to go over to Mama's room is:

Just see how she occupies the space when sleeping on Papa & Mama's bed...(reminds you of Chow Sing Chee?)

O Oh, My Hand Broken...

Mama had an inter-departmental bowling tournament at Mt Faber SAFRA Club this morning and Papa and Gwendolyn went along to support! Even though Mama just played for fun, with no bowling skills at all, it was a rather "stressful" game to be playing with all the bosses...haha!

After that, we had lunch and went shopping. Since Mama is getting a car soon and there is a need to get an additional baby car seat, we all went shopping for one! We first went to Forum Shopping Centre to get some colour pencil and paints for Gwen to play and practise her creative and artistic straits. Since Forum is a kids-oriented shopping, there were many kiddy rides scattered around. Gwen will not miss out on any of them and making sure that she rides on them all the time (she knows how to ask for a coin to make them move now)! Since most of the rides have 2 steering wheels, etc, it is a good time to teach her to share with other kids as well...

After struggling through the rides at Forum, we went further down Orchard Road to Centrepoint Robinson and Mothercare! On the way to Centrepoint, whilst still on the road, Gwen suddenly goes: "O Oh, My Hand...Broken..." then Papa and Mama couldn't stop laughing, since what she meant was actually the skin on her finger was peeling off...in order to calm her down and stop scratching and removing the peeling skin, Mama promised to give her Princess "sticker" (a.k.a. plaster) after arriving at the shopping. So after parking the car, we quickly went to get the plaster and stop her from further scratching...

We looked around for the car seat for a while and found a rather good one at Mothercare, which can act as both baby seat with own seat belts and can be converted to a booster seat afterwards! But we went to Robinson to look for alternatives as well. It was a mistake, as Gwen was requesting to go into a display playpen, just to lie inside and doing nothing...so weird! She refused to come out??? In the end, the only way to lure her out of the playpen was by showing her Thomas the Train clothings and slowing carry her out of the compound...phew!

Singapore Zoo

Papa and Mama bought some tickets to the zoo some months back, expiring on 30 June 2006. Since last weekend was raining and before that, Gwendolyn hasn't been well for a few weeks, we have no choice, but to wait until the expiry date when using them. When "Bao Bei Gu Gu" know that we are going, she thought she should just bring Joel "Di Di" with us...So we picked them up and headed to the zoo together! Papa brought along Gwendolyn's stroller, which hasn't been used for more than a year, just in case she refuses to walk (Mama has sprained her back/neck muscle and can't carry her, without her fully understanding why), but we were skeptical about her willingness to sit...luckily, "Di Di" was sitting in his, so that it was easier to convince her to sit in hers as well. At least, not so straining on Mama...

We didn't take the free tram, but walked all the way round the zoo. Maybe the two toddlers have companion, both were very excited when seeing the animals! They saw crocodile (one of Gwen's favourite now, as Tom, a character from her Spot VCD, is a crocodile), white tiger, elephant, hippo, kangeroo, penguin, monkeys, giraffe, horse, butterfly, polar bear, lamur, etc etc...it was so much fun!

One funny thing is that after we've gone for a quick snack and on the way to the children's play area, both toddlers fell asleep at the same time! Then all 3 adults were able to enjoy a peaceful KFC tunch, before "Di Di" woke up for his adventure at the play area, experimenting with swings and slides. Whereas no sign was showing that Gwen would like to wake up for the play session and Papa and Mama actually has to move her out from the comfy air-con area, so that she can wake up and play! Btw, she didn't sleep until 00:45, but woke up at 06:00...don't know why, but recently, she hasn't been sleeping very well. Nonetheless, after the nice nap, she woke up and enjoyed the rest of the trip, playing and seeing more animals, before we all headed home...