Cat City - Day 1

We were in Kuching last weekend.

Actually I have been to Kuching a couple of times. Been to most of the tourist attractions already. Even spent 2 weeks there in a stretch when attending a kursus induksi a few years back. Anyway, Irene and Ryan haven't been there, so we booked low cost tickets to Kuching back in February. An excuse to get away from work also la.

Planning a holiday trip with little boy was a new experience. Spent some time on the Net looking for places of interest and accomodation. Quite different from my previous travels during bachelor times... would just land in town and find whatever hotel available.

It was great that my old coursemate+housemate Edwin who's working in Kuching GH offered to fetch us around and be our tour guide. Thanks so much!

Landed in Cat City on Friday afternoon. Edwin fetched us from the Kuching Airport. I've got to say the airport is really nice. But forgot to take photos to show la. It smelled new, looked modern, and was very spacious. Emm, I'll show you the airport photo later, taken on our way home.

We went to check in at our "hotel". Church to be exact. It's the Anglican Diocesan Guesthouse. WHAT? STAY IN A CHURCH??? Yup, you read it right.

Well, didn't fancy the idea of spending lots of money for a 4 or 5-star hotel. Just needed a comfortable place to sleep for the night, since we're outdoor most of the time. Bored of hotel rooms, so typical, so lifeless. Wanted something with more "character". And so... we booked this guesthouse in a church, hoping it will turn out fine. Hehehe.... By the way, the locations is great (saw on Wikimapia). Less than a hundred meters from the Kuching water front.

The Anglican Guesthouse turns out to be a pleasant surprise. I must show you the photos. For a start, it's SPACIOUS. Even comes with an aircon.

It comes with an attached little KITCHEN.

And that place exudes CHARACTER. Felt like we're staying in a museum. OK the furnitures are a bit worn out. But hey, that's what make antiques. LOL!

Upstairs, it's even MORE SPACIOUS. Those are the smaller rooms with two beds, no aircon. Since the place was empty, we got the whole area to ourselves.

The wierd thing is, I am pretty sure a place like this appeared in my dream some time ago. Gave me some creeps. If you ask people who know the place long enough, sure got some ghost stories to tell.

After a quick bath and some rest, we went exploring the nearby Waterfront.

There was this Sunset River Cruise we wanted to try out initially. But the ticket price of RM 65 per person, without dinner lagi, really put us off. Not worth it, we thougth. So, took photo only la.

Didn't manage to eat lunch earlier. Looked around for a nice makan place around the Waterfront, but there were hardly any. Finally found this Little Lebanon restaurant that serves Mediteranean food at the Court House building. Food was so so, but the atmosphere was pretty cool. They've got those fruit flavoured smoking pot... forgot the name already.

The Kuching Waterfront was quite quiet. Not many tourists, not even locals. Dunno why. The last time I was there, there were lots of people lepak-ing around at dusk. Little boy was having a good time trying out his newly found walking skills around the Waterfront.

Ahh, it's sunset scenes like this that gives the Kuching River its charm. Now imagine the British Rajah Brooke looking out from his fortress, khaki troops patrolling the riverside, and boats carrying tattooed headhunters and livestocks cruising along the river. Stuffs like that make the orang putihs crazy about Sarawak.

It gets pretty romantic, walking along the Waterfront as the sun goes down, and the breeze cools up. There were some stalls selling handicrafts, and a couple of simple eating places.

We went to have a look at those posh hotels along the Waterfront, such as the Holiday Inn, Crowne Plaza... enquired about the prices. Emm, expensive la. Did some shopping at Parkson. And then went back to our "hotel" for a good night's rest.

His name is David

This guy, no, this boy, is gonna win American Idol 2008. Mark my word.

Chinese New Year 2008

Have not been updating this blog for quite some time. During Chinese New Year, a wonderful couple came over to our place at Kingfisher Ujana... only to find a deserted house and a missing car... hehehe, we were far away across the South China Sea. And so came the prompting to update this blog.

Didn't had much interesting thing to share. Nah. Was facing some difficult time adjusting to the working environment at a different workplace... and some other things troubling me. Just didn't have the mood to do anything.

Time really flies. Felt like New Year's day was just over, and now we're into the second month of 2008. Looking at the new year resolutions that I made on ushering in 2008... hmm seems like not much progress. How about you?

Anyway, we came back from Seremban today. Had a long Chinese New Year break. 10 days! I say this again, time flies. Before we know it, it's time to go back to work.

We flew back to Seremban two Saturdays ago. Went on Malaysia Airlines (MAS) tickets. Came to about RM 1200 per person. Multiply that by two person and a kid... Actually, I was using the free two-yearly government return-home flight tickets la. Couldn't afford flying MAS with money from my own pocket. Even then, had to pay a bit, coz Little Boy did not exist yet when the tickets were issued, and some charges were added.

Did not go back to Seremban for Chinese New Year last year, coz Irene was not fit for air travel as Little Boy was almost due to see this world.

This is Ryan's first trip to his grandparent's home in Seremban. He has never seen the house where his daddy grew up. As usual, he was very excited. Lucky little fella, he has flown twice to West Malaysia even before he reaches one year old. He tolerated the flight pretty well. Didn't cry much. Slept through most of the journey, and disturbed other passengers while he was awake.

Spent the rest of the evening recovering from jet lag (huh?). Mum brought us to the nearby Jusco for some last minute Chinese New Year shopping. Wow, we were greeted with the Jusco sales - discounts up to 70%! And they were open till midnight!

More shopping the next day. Went to mum to KL. Little boy got to see his little cousin Aden, who are staying in Petaling Jaya. Then, it was more shopping at Sunway Pyramid and Midvalley.

On Monday, brought my mum, Irene and Little Boy up to Genting Highlands. It's a first time for Irene and Ryan. Wanted to go somewhere cooling, and Genting is the nearest hill resort. The few days before Chinese New Year was low season, so we managed to get very good room rates online. We booked a triple room at Theme Park Hotel, with buffet breakfast, for only RM 98.88.

Though it's a bit far from the main "attraction" in Genting, but can't complain la, since we got a nice room with a view like this.

For those of you who have never been to Genting Highlands... well to sum it up, it's a very easily accesible (only about 45 minutes away from KL) hill resort with plenty of entertainment facilities for children (outdoor and indoor theme parks) and adults ($$$ Casino, concert hall). Have not been there since uni days. We used to joke about people who go to the casino... 'going to donate money to Uncle Lim (Goh Tong) ah?'.

Here's the outdoor theme park. Didn't enter la. Little Boy is still too small for those rides.

And here's the Water Park. Nice places to keep the children occupied all day (they sell unlimited rides tickets) while the parents are busy trying out their luck at Uncle Lim's place.

It was cold even during day time. Clouds came in and chilly winds blew. We had to wear jackets to keep warm. In conjuction with Chinese New Year, the workers made lots of effort to beautify the place.

Flowers in full bloom! Feeling like being in paradise. Little Boy enjoyed the cold weather very much even though he was shivering.

Brought Irene and Little Boy to try out the Genting Highlands cable car. I remembered enjoying the trip very much the last time I tried it. Spanning 3.4 km, Genting has the longest and fastest cable car in South East Asia.

Irene was a bit nervous, but Ryan looked really bored.

We thought there wasn't much to do at the lower cable car station. And we were in for some pleasant surprises. Firstly, there was this exhibition of wierd creatures... some of them look like monsters coming from an Ultraman movie. Only noticed the no-photography sign at the end of the exhibition, ehem...

Then there was this wonderful shop that was selling a crazy selection of dried fruits, sour plums, cuttlefish, candies and cookies... with free sample of EVERYTHING on display. Wow, I had a good time there. (And came home with a stomachache).

Back to Genting Highlands. Even after the sun sets, there is still the Indoor Theme Park to keep you entertained (and your wallet drained).

On Chinese New Year eve, my brother and his family came back to Seremban to join us. In the evening, we drove back to Malacca, our hometown. Many of my father's relatives are staying in Malacca. Going back to Malacca for CNY has been an annual pilgrimage for as long as I can remember. We used to even stay overnight when we were little kids.

We had our reunion dinner in a restaurant. In the past, we had steam-boat at my uncle's house. But it has become quite a task to prepare food for twenty-plus hungry adults, so the eat-out at a restaurant has become the annual affair. It's time for Low-Yee-Sang, a bit of alcohol, and catching up with the latest stories

On the first day of Chinese New Year, we drove to Malacca again after lunch. We had the yearly gathering at my deceased granduncle's house. There is now a whole generation of distant cousins that I can hardly name. Back in those years, their parents were just teenagers.

This year, I made an effort to search for satay-celup, a delicacy which I've not eaten for more than ten years. It's quite like a steamboat, but the soup is replaced with a thick and rich bean sauce quite similar to the satay sauce. I was lucky. They were open for business as usual, holiday or not. We drove back to Seremban later at night.

Having enough of travelling, the next couple of days were spent hanging out at home, resting to the max, and eating mum's delicious home-cooked food. Had some friends and relatives dropping by our place, and did some visiting as well.

Really tak biasa. In the past, I used to get hundred plus ringgit of angpau money. This year, Little Boy gets the angpaus, and I am the one giving.

Psa 90:12 So teach us to number our days, that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom.

To see more photos, click HERE.

Active boy

Since coming back from Penang, little boy has suddenly decided that he had enough of lying down, and has been crawling around the house super fast. At times he gets over-ambitious and even tries to stand on his own. So... he has been knocking his head on the ground a few times each day, and has a blue-black bengkak on his forehead to show. He is now super-energetic and not easy to keep up with.

He has also developed some itchy eczema rashes on his elbow crease, neck and ankles. A pediatrician friend recommended Aqueous cream to keep the area moist always. Some senior parents have suggested formula milk may be a cause of his itch.

Anybody out there got some good advice?

Winter Solstice

Not sure when is the exact date, but I think Dongzhi, the Winter Solstice Festival is around this time. A friend called to wish Happy Dongzhi just now. I know some families have big reunion dinners during Dongzhi.

My mum used to make Tangyuen (glutinuous rice balls in sweet soup) around this time. Inspired by the tasty Tangyuen we ate during Tony's wedding dinner last weekend, I decided to try make some this week. Made a first batch on Tuesday... but didn't know how to wrap the gula Melaka fillings properly, and they all leaked.

The second batch today looked better... coz I made all plain ones. Hehehe.

Happy Dongzhi Festival, and a bowl of delicious Tangyuen for you. Play the Winter Sonata if you like.

Christmas is coming soon

Members of the Kingfisher Methodist Church came over to our place for carolling on Tuesday. Really appreciate them for coming.

A trip to Penang

My little sister got married.

We flew over to Penang on the 5th of December to attend Julia's wedding. It was the first flight of the day. We had to wake little boy from his sleep to catch the 6.30 am flight (which took off at 7.00 am urrrghh).

It was little boy's first experience aboard an aeroplane. Lucky fella. 8 months old already got to fly on a plane. Luckily he was quiet and slept through most part of the flight, and it was a direct flight to Penang.


It was also Ryan and his mummy's first trip to Penang. He was obviously very excited. Well, I have been to Penang a couple of times. It's still a much awaited break and holiday. Besides, we'll be meeting families and relatives that we have not seen for a long time.

The first day was rather uneventful. We dropped our stuffs at Julia's apartment. Then went for a bit of shopping at TESCO hypermart. Hey, it's also little boy's first trip to a TESCO. The rest of the day was spent resting at home and a dinner at a dimsum restaurant (don't believe me? Penang people really eat dimsum for dinner!).

Julia lives in an apartment that's quite near the sea. Here's the view from the balcony. You can see the Penang Bridge at the right upper corner. Many people live in apartments on the Penang Island. What to do, land is limited and expensive.

On the second day, we did the tourist thing... we went to the Kek Lok Si temple. Actually it's more than just a temple. It's a huge temple complex, with big prayer halls, living quarters, and the famous pagoda, built on a hillslope. So, it really take some leg muscles to tackle those stairs.

There is even a cable car that takes tourists up the hill to see the gigantic bronze KuanYin (Goddess of Mercy) statue. The statue is done already, now they're building an equally gigantic "pondok" to shelter the KuanYin from rain and sunshine. But we were more interested in the nearby park which looked like a playground with stone animals and cute doggy benches.

After Kek Lok Si, we went and check into the Vistana Hotel Apartments, where we will be staying for the rest of the days.

My parents and brother's family arrived from Seremban in the afternoon. Here's little boy meeting his faraway cousin Aden for the first time. Aden was born four months after Ryan. Other relatives arrived later in the evening. At night, we went to see Julia's wedding rehearsal.

Friday was pretty free. We went to Penang Hill in the afternoon. Gosh, the place was crowded because of the school holidays. And since the little train has only very limited capacity, we had to wait for more than an hour to get onto it. Makan makan in the mean time.

We weren't sure what to expect on top of Penang Hill. Julia said there's nothing much. Well, we were greeted by a wonderful view of the Penang Island and the bridge that links it to the mainland of Peninsular Malaysia.

There was the cool air, some souvenir stalls, monkeys running around, and a couple of grand colonial mansions. Didn't have time to explore far as it was getting late.

After coming down from Penang Hill, we went to QueensBay Mall, the largest shopping mall in Penang. Didn't shop much la. We were totally exhausted from carrying little boy all day. Went there for dinner only. There was this restaurant where you get to see the chefs stretch out hand-made noodles from doughs of flour in a matter of minutes. Business must be really good. They distribute numbers (like government hospital) for you to wait for an available seat.

We bought a Secret Recipe with mix and match flavours, to celebrate my mum's birthday later in the night.

The next day was the actual wedding day. We got ready early, coz the bridal gang was coming. Little boy got an angpau for opening the car door for the bridegroom. There were the usual wedding tricks they played onto the bridegroom and his gang. Then we left for church.

The chuch wedding was held at the Penang Christian Church. I was very impressed to see a church like that. There was a guardhouse with a real guard inside, a posh elevator, and a very modern and luxurious main sanctuary.

The pastor gave the wedding sermon in English, and his wife translated into Mandarin.

The senior pastor did the solemnisation part.

And my little sister became Mrs Wong. How time flies. Not too long ago, we were still fighting over toys and tantrums. I only managed to give her angpau for Chinese New Year for the first and last time early this year. Now she no longer qualifies for angpau anymore.

I am really thankful that both my siblings married Christain spouses and had their weddings in church.

In the evening, Mark and Julia hosted a Chinese wedding dinner at a nearby restaurant.

We had a good time of get-together with relatives from near and afar. Most of them had not seen Ryan before, and so little boy was quite popular that night.

Mark drove us around Penang Island the next day. We bought many boxes of the famous HeongPeah biscuits to bring home. We cramped in a little shop for a taste of the famous Penang Road Asam Laksa and Cendol. Then went back to Kek Lok Si to buy some Penang T-shirts for souvenir.

Little boy playing with his little cousin.

The new in-laws had a seafood dinner together that night.

On Monday we bade farewell and flew back to Kota Kinabalu, while my parents drove back to Seremban.

To see more photos, click HERE. Hardly any food photos la. They went into my stomach before I could get my camera out.