(warning: this is gonna be a majorly pictorial entry.)

bali happened for us on 14th dec, an impulse holiday decision, just because mummy needed a distraction. :p

it was our kids’ second flight, the first being earlier this year to kota kinabalu. on their way to become seasoned travelers, hopefully?

we did the touristy thing – rode on the horse-cart, got excited at finding familiar brands at the mall (there was a Topshop!), looked out for the famous Hard Rock Cafe, strolled along a very crowded and hot Kuta beach, ate….

the intercontinental resort bali where we stayed was fabulous, and HUGE! doesn’t look so from outside, but everytime we walked the length from the lobby to our rooms, we’d exclaim in amazement at the vastness of the resort. it was vair pretty at night, with candlelights flickering all along the walkways. we’d even brainwashed aniq into bringing his “wife” here next time and taught him to say that the hotel is “romantic”. coz it was! and he should!

more touristy stuff on day two – our reliable travel companions, len & ren, hired a driver and a small minivan to bring us to the market at Ubud.

a lot of interesting hand-carved wood works and handicrafts…

had Padang food… which wasn’t that great here, unfortunately. we thought our own padang food in singapore was better. (sg patriots we are, see?)

but the kids had fun. yes, aniq, must marry first, then bring her to the “romantic” hotel, ok. and check out the name, heh. (we missed you, baby Natra!)

we’d heard so much about the factory outlets there that they practically became our holy grail. but we didn’t manage to find many, and the few that we managed to discover along the way, were not as sale-worthy as we’d imagined. mostly surf gear and beachwear, and since i couldn’t fit into a bikini (hurhur) and am not a regular beach-goer in any case, no damage was done.

we were also told about the seafood at Jimbaran bay – some said not to bother, some said it was worth a try. and being the tourists that we were, we tried it. so happens that it was energy-saving night, where the government imposes blackouts on a regular basis in the effort to conserve energy (and money). so everywhere was almost pitch dark, save for the moonlight and generator fluorescent lights flickering away where we had our dinner, along the windy, sandy beach. we gotta give it to the ambience, it was pretty romantic, with entertainment in the form of children performing traditional dances on stage. but the seafood, sadly, was not up to our standard (compared to the wonderful spread we had at kinabalu), and the bill had us admitting that this was indeed a ‘tourist trap’.

the husbands had gone off for a massage at one of the many spas nearby on the first night, so the third day, it was the wives’ turn. (we’d brought the kids to the in-house kids’ club, Planet Trekkers, where we paid around $8 per kid to play for an hour before bedtime to tire them out when the daddies were out.)

len and i left the kids after breakfast in the good hands of the daddies, and headed out to a spa just across the resort for a full-body balinese massage. meanwhile, the kids enjoyed their pool time.

so much that some crying was inevitable. LOL!

ahh, this is the life, yes, chewren? (they’re bored coz they’re waiting for their beloved mummy to come back, heh.)

refreshed!

back in town, we had the best meal of the trip – at bubba gump shrimp & co.! yes, how unlikely, but we’re spoilt singaporeans that way, we like good service, good food, comfort, kid-friendly… and the bill came up to the same as our jimbaran seafood meal, so it was definitely worth it, since everyone (including the kids – yes, our eczema-prone kids!) lapped up the delicious shrimps and desserts.

back at kuta, we hunted for bargains. some tshirts, little dresses and knick-knacks for the kids, and souvenirs for those at home. none for myself, again. the markets are pretty much like those in bintan, lombok, kinabalu (where we’ve been), so there’s nothing terribly novel or exciting to buy.

i was determined to spend SOME time at the beach (seemed that there just wasn’t enough time, when the beach was RIGHT THERE), so on the final morning, we woke the kids up and shooed them there, unbathed (coz if they set foot in the hotel room’s bathtub, they could take all day!). like in KK, the sun rises really early, so we always woke up to a very bright morning even though our watch showed that it was still early. the resort, being the kid-friendly one that it is, had beach toys for sharing.

we attempted to bake in the sun (not very successful, since we had so little time) and had a bit of a swim. the waves were pretty good, although when we went that morning, it was low tide. i wouldn’t say that the beaches we saw in bali were fantastic – i believe thailand probably still has the better ones in the region? – but i don’t know, despite the beauty of the place, i could somewhat feel the environmental repercussions of its tourism.

yes, us tourists. in the big fancy (but damn nice) resort.

i think 4 days weren’t enough (!!) to fully experience bali, but thanks to our great company, it was a worthwhile one and time well-spent bonding with the kids (who had the most fun, in the water, heh).

and so that wraps up our trip to end the year. what will 2010 hold for us wanderlusts?

*hums ‘empire state of mind’*… (yeah, right!)

Like

Unlike

did a couple of test shots on the d90. i think i’m in love with the camera!

Like

Unlike

i’m selling my very new white macbook and its not even collected yet from epicentre.
this is from the singnet promo. can collect with me on monday.

specs can be found on the apple website here.
retail price is $1588. student price is $1488. izadnhana special price $1350!!
that’s a saving of $238, cheap cheap!!

interested buyers please email me at izadd77@gmail.com to deal. thanks!

Thanks for your interest. Item sold!!

Like

Unlike

a short slideshow of our trip to bali recently, where we stayed at the intercontinental bali resort for four days. proper entry later, my hairy valentines.

Like

Unlike

quite sure we’d get some flak for being this indulgent and, as the malays say it, “dah tua, tak sedar diri” (so old, never repent) head-shaking comments, you know, being mothers and role models to our young and all bla bla. but we can’t help ourselves, really. we come up with these crazy ideas for parties and themes and food and, well, when we get together, we just have a good, girly time. (case in point: esah’s baby shower.)

and this time, with rini as the host, it was only apt that the baby shower ended up more like a hen party. we must thank the infamous ris/low for the inspiration for this theme too. animal preens, boomz, rad… well, you get the point. (fortunately for everyone, none of us donned biginis and strutted down orchard road. now THAT would’ve been the shingz.)

there was the food. everything had to be, erm, animal-related, somehow. which was easy enough, coz we were all pretty much the carnivores.

we had the baby animal mascots, with a female zulu warrior to boot. check out the terrified expressions of the baby animals she preyed upon.

the gamemasters were at it again. note to future hosts: to get your guests to participate extra enthusiastically, dangle Topshop vouchers at them. it works! :p

they’d even willingly allow themselves to be blindfolded and gobble down melted ice-cream, lactose intolerance notwithstanding, and have gooey dairy dribble down their chins. all for the love of Topshop.

thanks rin, for getting knocked up again.

though, for all the topshop vouchers in the world, i wouldn’t want that babydust on me again. my tummy’s still paying the very heavy price! *blows babydust elsewhere*

could the next baby shower host sponsor tummy tuck vouchers…?

coz i need to fit into a rad bigini, dammit!

Like

Unlike

lost a few blog posts, including the last one on aniq’s birthday, thanks to some problem with wordpress and the server. sighs.

blogging is a somewhat emotionally taxing thing for me, and when i lose important posts like that, it really sucks. yet after so many times being let down by technology, i still never learn my lesson to BACK the eff UP.

sorry, aniq, if you ever get to read this blog and find that mummy lost this year’s post – mummy’s such an unreliable blogger. (and please pardon my french. yes, “the eff”, it’s french, bad french. really. don’t use it, ok.)

***

we didn’t do a big birthday bash this time round, what with the holiday trip to bali and all (which he really enjoyed, btw – though, in all his four-year-oldness, he has no inkling that the holiday was in compensation for a big birthday bash).

what we did instead was do a typical cake-cutting and goody-bag-giving session with his friends in school. having a birthday at the end of the year means you’ve done this birthday routine more than a dozen times throughout the year, and well, practice makes perfect. his friends and him have it all down pat – the singing of birthday song, the posing for pictures, the thanking in unison. such a difference a year makes! last year when he first celebrated his birthday in school, the kids were all so… blur and clueless. now – cuteness personified.

EVIDENCE OF CUTENESS:

*note the boy beaming and kept asking if he could cut the cake, his sister beside him equally beaming.

*the sister in the midst happily licking away at the cupcake icing.

and having your birthday at the end of the year means having to wait for your turn. torturous when you’re seemingly forever having to tell people you’re three years old when you’re supposed to be four already. frustrating when it’s everyone else’s birthday – your friends’, your parents’ friend, your oma’s, even your own mother’s, but not yours, not yet. heck, i kinda remember that feeling.

so pardon me for that bit of momzilla moment i get when it comes to his birthday. mommy’s got a soft spot for december babies like herself. :p

his nursery class – K1 next year, gasp.

one of the few times we get to see the kids whose names we only know from the boy’s daily reports.

sugary treats from Simplycupcakes.

sugary hugs and kisses from the birthday boy.

you know it’s worth whatever little effort you put in to make them feel special, especially when they’re old enough to say “thank you mummy” and “i like mummy”. (i’m recalibrating that word “like” to “love” – understandably, the concept’s a little confusing for him at the moment, especially when barney says/sings the word ‘love’ in such a disposable, wimpy, babyish, and admittedly un-macho, manner. he’s getting there. “like is small, love is BIG”, i tell him. “ok lah, i LOVE mummy,” he says.)

Like

Unlike

lost a post about the kids, so just gonna post the recent pics i like of them.

as you can see, we bring them out as much as possible. for fresh air and exercise and bonding and all that. coz it’s vair healthy for them.

i can’t imagine functioning without a social network and being so… ‘insular’, you know? so… self-sufficient within the confines of immediate family. coz, well, some of us just aren’t that way. and since i don’t intend to provide my kids with more siblings, i’m glad to have friends with kids of the same age, whom we meet regularly, as an extension of our family.

Like

Unlike