Back from Europe

We're back from Europe since last Fri and now I am busy unpacking and doing the laundry.

Before we left SG 2 weeks ago, the sky was blue but when we returned, the sky was grey and the air smelled bad due to the haze.

I've been doing laundry portion by portion so that I can move the clothes indoor to air should the haze worsen.

A glad that the sky seemed clearer since last Saturday.

I must say that traveling with a young toddler is very challenging.

Throughout the 2 weeks trip, I didn't have a good sleep as bb Rae turned cranky during bed times due to foreign environment and I gotta calm her down.

I am really glad that I managed to wean her off from EBM as it was impossible to wake up early to express BM.

I was awake since 4.30am daily to ensure we were on time for the tour and if I gotta express BM, then I'd need to wake up at 3am!

The weather in Europe was very pleasant, it was early summer so it wasn't hot nor cold.

Baby was able to eat a packet each of bb food for lunch and dinner and she had more milk then usual; she drank 4 to 5 times daily instead of the usual 3 feeds.  I guess the jet lag had make her lost of appetite.

She slept in the coach most of the time and when she was awake she'd played with me or RY or the tour mates (we joined a guided tour instead of free n easy).

She behaved so well that all the tour mates including the tour leader were impressed with her.

Europe is not very stroller friendly, so most of the time I carried her in the carrier.

It was a wonderful experience to travel with bb as the last time we were in Europe was just RY and me!

I think bb will not remember anything about this trip.

Most important is we as parents experienced traveling with her when she was 17 months old!

I'll cherish this memory........

Let me show u some pics of my cheeky girl during this trip.

Packing up for the Europe trip

Prior to the arrival of bb Rae, packing for holiday or biz trip was easy and merely took me a few hours to complete.

But with baby (especially such a sticky one), it seems to be taking me forever to pack ........

I can only pack while bb is asleep and gotta do it early in the morning like 4am and have about 3 hours each time to organise and pack for 2 paxs (bb and me).

Do note that not only I gotta pack her clothes, I also need to plan how many diapers/ wipes, how much milk powder, bb food pouches (yep, she is still eating bb food as she only has front teeth and no molar yet so she refused to chew or grind food which is not soft to her liking) and which toys to bring along etc ........ 

I only managed to pack for bb and has yet to pack for myself.

Wish me luck in my packing and hopefully I can pack in time!

R&R in Bintan

Yep, I am currently relaxing in Bintan Lagoon Resort with RY (not really a vacation for him since he is at a seminar in the resort).

RY came to Bintan last Thursday and he went back to SG on Sat to bring me here on Sunday.
By right I should come along with him on Thursday but due to the President Election last Saturday, I can't go till yesterday, Sunday.

It has been raining whole day in Bintan so there isn't much outdoor activity can be done.
So I've been lazing in the hotel room.

Prior to this Bintan trip, I ve read about Bintan Lagoon Resort and the comments in Trip Advisor.
The most common complaints are about the expensive food & beverages prices.
I gotta admit that it is indeed very expensive to dine in the resort, basically once you're in the resort, you're "trapped" here and no where to go unless you pay for the expensive transport to get out of the hotel to dine elsewhere.

Fortunately I am with RY for a company functions, so all meals are provided.
Else each meal on average would be SGD40 per pax, which I would not want to pay.

This is my first time in Bintan and I hope to be able explore this island during my 6 days stay.

New York New York!

Yep, RY is going to New York on biz trip next Feb and he is bringing me along for holiday prior to his biz meeting commence.

I'm looking forward to this NY holiday.
The last San Franc trip has made me fall in love with USA!

Now I gotta start planning what to do in NY ......... weather should be cold then, ummn so gotta bring winter clothes ...........

Inner Mongolian in Oct 2010!

I was away for about a week touring Inner Mongolia!

It was freezing cold in the Mongolia grassland and the living condition is really horrible and am glad to be back home to civilisation!

Here are some pics to share!

The Beauty of Yosemite!

Showing some of the pics taken during Jul 2010 San Francisco trip - Yosemite!

Inner Mongolia in Oct 2010

Next month RY and myself will be going to Inner Mongolia for a short holiday.
I'm looking forward to the trip to view the beautiful landscape and sample the roasted lamb there!

Inner Mongolia is a large region stretched across the northern edge of China. It has a relatively low population density the majority of which are Han Chinese. About 17% of the population is ethnic Mongolian. The region is officially an Autonomous Region for the Mongolian people within China. The east of Inner Mongolia consists of wide grass meadow lands, forests and mountains. The west of the region is made up of scorching hot dry deserts. Traditional Mongolian nomadic lifestyle can still be seen in the region and yurts (mongolian tents) are not an uncommon site in the wide spaces between the cities.


The main religion in the area practiced by the Mongol minority is Lamaist Buddhism, similar to that found in Tibet and the Republic of Mongolia. Lama temples are common throughout the region.

Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center (JSLC) (酒泉卫星发射中心) is in Inner Mongolia and is the site of most of China's rocket launches. It is in a remote area and not open to the public. (The city of Jiuquan lies over 100km away in the neighboring province of Gansu.)

Mongolian and Mandarin Chinese are the two official languages in the area. There are different dialects of both spoken throughout the region.

There are nine public airports in Inner Mongolia. Most only receive domestic flights so requiring foreign visitors to transfer at one of the major cities of China before reaching Inner Mongolia. There are international flights form Hohhot to Ulaanbaatar in Mongolia run by MIAT Mongolian Airlines.

Traditional Mongolian food is found throughout Inner Mongolia. This is typically high in dairy produce such as milk, yoghurt and cheese. The traditional Mongolian milk tea is exceptionally good. Meats, especially lamb, form most meals. The meat is usually roasted with a coating of spices to give a strong distinctive flavour. Similar with many areas of China, the Hotpot is a popular style of cooking. Mongolian hotpot usually has a well flavoured soup but without the hot spices of central China.

http://www.chinahighlights.com/inner-mongolia/overview.htm

Have you heard of Pulau Dayang Bunting?

Today a Malay colleague told me about this legendary island in Langkawi, call Pulau Dayang Bunting, is believed to have the supernatural power to bless infertile women to be able to conceive.

My colleague said that her sister was married for 5 years and childless until she went to the island - Pulau Dayang Bunting, then she became preggy when she came back from the holiday.

Literally, the name of the island means "Island of the Pregnant Maiden". It has a touching and fairy-tale-like legend, making the island seems to be more mystical and amazing at the same time.


The story of this island began when a beautiful fairy princess – Mambang Sari and Mat Teja, a man who fell in love with the princess from the moment he saw her. Mat Teja met Mambang Sari at the lake and he was attracted by her beauty. Getting advices from a wise old man, Mat Teja finally managed to win the heart of Mambang Sari.

Living happily on earth, Mambang Sari bore Mat Teja a son. However, their happy moment did not last any longer as their baby died after a short while. Undergoing such a traumatic and tremendous pain, Mambang Sari decided to lay her child to rest in peace in the lake. At the same time, she blessed all the childless and infertile women to be conceivable after bathing themselves in the lake.
At a certain angle, you will be able to see the island, resembling a 6-to-7-month pregnant lady, lying on her back. Some people might take it as a coincidence or the act of nature, but it somehow creates an amazing linkage between the island and her name.

http://www.tourism.gov.my/en/destinations/item.asp?item=dayang_bunting

I'm rather tempted to give it a try, how about you?

Jet lag?

I'm glad that I didnt have any jet lag when I came back from San Franc.

Before I arrived SG, I've already planned on the "anti-jet lag" strategy and apparently it worked.

Our flight arrived SG on last Sunday noon so when I got home, I kept myself busy unpacking the luggage and had a shower to keep the sleepy bugs away.

I managed to keep myself awake till 5.15pm before I threw in the towel to go to bed to zzzzzzzz.
RY went to bed at 4pm and I left him a message to tell him not to wake me up for dinner as I planned to zzzz till the next morning.

So I slept till the next day 3am to relieve myself from the full bladder and I went back to sleep at 4am and woke up at 6+am to prepare to work.
In total I've in total 12 hours of sleep!

Then on Mon to Wed night, I went to bed about 9pm and had about 9 hrs of sleep daily.

Thanks to the good & sufficient sleeps, I managed to stay awake at work!

The "anti-jet lag" strategy is very simple, basically just need to ensure quality and unbroken sleep during night time!
Back in my frequent Europe biz trip days, I applied this strategy and it always work pretty well.

So next time should you travel to a different time zone, you can follow the same!

What've I been doing in San Franc for the past few days? (Part 3 - End)

Day 8: 15 July Thurs - Presidio, Pacific Height, SFMOMA & Shopping in Macy's

I've decided to take it really easy on Thursday and do what I feel like doing.
So I took MUNI 30 to Lyon St to Museum of Fine Arts and then take a walk of the Presidio Park (the portion near to Lombard St).

Then took a stroll at Cow Hollow & Union St.

After a short walk around the vincity of Cow Hollow, I got on MUNI 45 to SFMOMA (San Fran Museum of Modern Arts).
I saw some renow paintings.
There was a FOC open air concert near to SFMOMA.
The atmosphere was nice and comfy .......

After all the arts admirations, I went to Macy's to help a friend to get her Coach bag which was not available in Gilroy.

I've selected few items for myself and when I was about to make payment, the sales staff informed that there would be a special One Day Sale in Macy's the next day - Friday, so she suggested that I reserved the items and come back the next day to pay for them.

I got back to hotel at about 9pm to pack the luggage as we gotta check out on Friday night to catch Sat 1am flight back to SG.

The packing was tiring and only complete at 12 mid-night.

Day 9: 16 July Fri - Winery Tour, Santa Cruise & Shopping in Macy's

RY's boss was kind enough to invite me to tag along with them to their team building activity - Winery Tour and Santa Cruise.

The drive to the winery venue was 2 hours and we did some team building games there and had lunch there too.

After the team building, we proceeded to Santa Cruise for some Roller Coster rides and walk along the beach.

We managed to get back to SF before 7pm.

So we quickly rushed to do last min shopping in Macy's to pick up the reserved items.
I also picked up additional bag, so we only get to eat dinner at 8.30pm.
By the time we got back to hotel was 9.15pm and we quickly shower and pack-up to check-out from the hotel by 10.30pm.

Day 10: 17 July Sat - Plane

On the plane on our way flying home.

Day 11: 18 July Sun - Home Sweet Home

Well we arrived SG about 11.45am today and we reached home about 1.30pm.
I unpacked my luggage and RY did partial laundry and he's zzzz now\, while I'm sitting in the living home typing this blog.
I'm avoiding the nap now so that I can sleep better tonight to recover from the jet lag as tomorrow is a working day!

What've I been doing in San Franc for the past few days? (Part 2)

Day 7: 14 July - Civic Center, Golden Gate Park & Shopping

This morning I took a stroll to Civic Centre and City Hall.
I happened to walk to the local Pasar Malam in Civic Centre area.
It was interesting as there were fresh products (flowers, fruits, nuts, mushrooms, vegs, seafood & live chicken etc) on sale by the road side.

Yes, "live chickens" were on sale at the open air market which according to a "animal activist" (I guess he's from PETA), it is illegal in San Franc since the chickens were not housed in a proper cage (to ensure faces not contaminate the live stock) and water not given etc.

I've spent quite some time outside/inside the City Hall admiring the structure of this old building.

Next I took MUNI 6 to Haight street to get to Buena Vista Park and then took a stroll along Haight street to enjoy the "liberal" feel of the city.

I just kept walking towards Golden Gate Park to enjoy the fresh air and greens in the park.
Had my picnic lunch at the Flower Conservatory then walk to Japanese Garden.

After the nature appreciation, I took MUNI 5 to Market St to q up for the Cable Car ride to Fisherman Wharf.
Then took the cable car back in the reverse direction to Market St.

RY's colleague had given him a shopping list to complete (baby anti-diaper rash cream & American brand of toiletries which we cant get in SG etc.
So I did some shopping in Walgreens.

To continue.

What've I been doing in San Franc for the past few days? (Part I)

Day 1: 8 July Thurs - Arrival
We arrived San Franc Airport (SFO) on 8 July 8.20pm via SQ2.
The flight was fine despite the 1 hr transit in HK that made everybody get out and then q up for the security check to re-board the plane before heading to SFO.

RY & myself cleared the immigration together and get our finger prints and eye ball scanned.
But at the custom, we were randomly selected to do the detailed custom check.
We were held up at the custom since they cant locate if RY's "confirm check-in" in their system.
So we were brought to immigration counter to check witht the officer that cleared our entry, and after 15 mins of waiting, it was confirmed that he already did "confirm in".
Then we gotta go back to the custom to get his entry clear.
We'd waited for 45 mins and RY was not very pleased so he became rather impatient.
I tried to clam him down for fear that the officer may delay us further if they picked on us.
Finally they cleared us after almost an hour and we took a cab to Stamford Court Renaisance in Nob Hill for our 3 nights of hotel stay (we'll then move out to stay in RY's company pre-booked hotel in Union Sq - Hotel Nikko).
Due to my frequent travels in my previous job, I'd clocked up good points to redeem free stay with Marriott chain of hotel.

Day 2: 9 July Fri - Yosemite Park Tour
We've pre-booked Yosemite Park Tour with Extranomical Tour @USD139 per pax,
The Tour bus picked us up at 6am on Fri morning for the tour.
The drive to Yosemite was 4 hours but a really scenic one!
We saw El Capitan, Half Dome, Cathedral, Yosemite Falls, Ribbon Falls etc
We packed sandwich & sushi for lunch during the toilet stop at the tour guide's recommendation since this would give us more time to do sight seeing then to have a sit-down lunch in the Yosemite restaurant.
We chose a really scenic spot over looking the intersection of the Yosemite & Ribbon Falls for our picnic......
The view was awesome!
The tour also brought us to see Giant Sequoias - a really Giantic Tree!
On our way back to San Franc, we packed Taco Bell for dinner since the guide warned us that we'll only be able to get back to SF at about 9pm.

For info on Yosemite, pls go to this link:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yosemite_National_Park

Day 3: 10 July Sat - Gilroy Shopping
We started the day by walking to O'Farell street to collect our rental car.
The q was really long and we only managed to drive off at about 10am and arrive Gilroy at about 11.30am.
The facotry outlet is so hugh that it's not recommeded to walk since building A, B, C & D are not very assessible without a car .......
Things are really cheaper in US for the American Brand like Polo Ralph, Coach, Calvin Klein etc .......
I didnt manage to cover all the shops since RY got a last min invitation from his US boss to have dinner at his place, so we left early at about 6pm.

RY had too much wine and he forgot that we're in San Franc which is long drive back to hotel (about 2 hrs), unlike SG where the drive home is less then half hour.
He tried really hard to stay awake during the drive and I'd to constantly check on him so that he wont fall asleep ........

Thank god we got back to hotel safe & sound.

Day 4: 11 July Sun - F&E Dive Around
We started the day by walking to Chinatown for Dim Sum breakfast.
The quality was pretty good and we'd Char Siew bun, har kow & beancurd roll.
We then walk around the Russian town, visited Fairmont Hotel, Grace Cathedral etc and then check-out of the hotel to check into Hotel Nikko.

We then drove off to Golden Gate Bridge.
It was very windy & freaking cold there.

Next was Mauir Woods and we stopped by Mauir Beach point to experience the chill of the decending fog.
The drive to Mauir Woods was really scary since the road was winding as we were climbing up the mountains and driving thru the valleys ..........
As we've been used to SG's right hand drive, our eye line tend to fix to the right which make us align the car to the right (USA is left hand drive).
Imagine, we were driving along the cliff with no fence to prevent the car from sliding down and if we were to align too far right, we may fall off ..........

Then we drove to Stinson Beach for a picnic (we've brought potato chips & cherries).
The ang mohs (causians) were very brave.
It was so windy and cold and yet they were in bikinis and swimming trunks sun tanning, swimming and surfing ......

Later we went to find a restaurant for clam chowder & fish & chips for late lunch.
We joined the crowd cheering for Spain as they won their 1st goal in FIFA World Cup Final.
We then drove back to San Franc to return the rental car.

We took our shower then walk to Cheesecake Factory for our dinner.
As the q was terribily long, we gave up (our q would be 9pm slot) and instead went to a Thai place for beef noodle soup.
After dinner, we head back to Cheesecake Factory to tah pau (take away) a slice of cheesecake to eat in the hotel room.
The cake was really yummy!

Day 5: 12 July Mon - Fisherman Wharf
RY gotta work so I'm left alone the next few days to do my own thing.

I started of by walking to Fisherman Wharf Pier 39 to get my SF City Pass @ USD64.
I get to go to 5 sight seeing spot and free MUNI rides.

I started by going for the 11.30am Bay Cruise.
It sailed underneath the Golden Gate Bridge and passed-by Alcatraz.
I also saw the sea lions docking comfortably in Pier 39.
Then I went to Aquarium by the Bay.

I did some window shopping, then Tah Pau In-Out Burger for my dinner.
I decided to walk to Lambard Street to look at the World's Crokedest Street.
It's really amazing to see those car driving along this steep & twisting/ turning street.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lombard_Street_(San_Francisco)

Too tired and cant lift up my foot walking anymore, so I took a cable car at the Lombard St to head back to Hotel.
The SF City Pass allows free access on all MUNI transports for a good 7 days!

Day 6: 13 July Tue - Califonia Academy of Science & De Young Museum

I took MUNI No.. 5 from Market Street to get to the Golden Gate Park to access Califonia Academy of Science then to De Young Museum.

The Califonia Academy of Science is equivalent to our SG's Science Centre except that it's more interesting with live animals display.

The De Young Museum's collection of arts were great and unfortunately I was too tired to appreciate the arts.
I hurried to get back to hotel as I was meeting RY for dinner.

We went to Califonia Pizza Kitchen at Market St for dinner.


To continue.

San Franc, here I come!

I just got my luggage packed and all ready to go to airport for my San Franc flight which is taking off at 5.50pm ........

Well RY wants to go early at about 1pm so that we can do some shopping in DFS and relax in the airport lounge ........

I've done some reading and roughly know what I wanna do but I dont wanna stress myself so wont push myself too hard to cover many tourist spots within the 10 days there .........

Next Mon till Fri, while RY is working hard in the office/ conference, I'll be roaming around San Franc by myself .........
I'll play by ear and just do what I like .........

I hope that I wont spend too much $$$ in view of possible self-imposed early retirement should I decide to resign without a job .........

Planning the SFO Trip

I'm taking a week break in mid-July to go to San Francisco (SFO) since RY will be there for a conference ..........
He got me a air tix to fly me there to tag along for a short get away.
Really glad to finally have a chnace to visit USA!

I've been busy with work and then down with flu so didnt have much mood to plan for the SFO trip.
This week I must be abit more pro-active to read up more about SFO.
Hopefully the "lazy bug" wont attack me and make me delay my planning ........

I wonder what's the must do, must see, must buy, must go, must try, must eat, must drink, must photograph, must experience (but at affordable cost) in this cosmopolitant city!

Biz Trip is Tiring!

I was back from my biz trip last Thur night 9+pm and I was really exhausted!
The 4 days there were really intensive working and basically, only get to eat proper breakfast in hotel and dinner (group organised dinner).
Lunch was packed sandwich/ salad eating in the office.

I didnt sleep well in the hotel since I've problem in getting used to new bed in new environment.

Yesterday I was down with flu, sore throat, cough all attacked me.
I could've caught the flu bug during the biz trip.
So I popped in 2000mg of vit C to build up my body resistance to fight the virus attacking my immune system ..........

Today I'm feeling better and I think I should be able to get well either tomorrow or day after .........
maybe I should take sick leave tomorrow to let my body fully recuperate ........ let's see how it goes tomorrow, I may go to work instead ...........

SQ KrisFlyer Mileage Redemptions

I used to travel frequently on job to Europe & Japan in my ex-job, almost every month I'd go out-station for about 2 weeks, so I've accumulated substantial mileage and hotel privileage points, which enable me to redeem free air-tickets and hotel stay .............
I missed those days cos' I get to see the world ......... I'm rather proud that at my age, I've travelled to Europe, Brazil and almost the Asia Pacific countries (except NZ) .........
But I've never been to USA & Taiwan which are common countries........ I've yet to get the stamp on my passport!

I'm pretty familiar with Tokyo and I've brought RY to tour around vicinity around Tokyo ........ last April, we went to Hakone ............

Since 2 years ago, I'd switched to my current job which have minimum flying to try to concentrate in TTC.
But it also mean that I've mean down graded to Silver status ..........

March till June this year, I've quite a substantial mileage which will expire monthly so I gotta make a decision to either redeeem the air-tix for RY & my use or help others to get free air-tix.

The rough estimation of my IVF schedule show that I should be undergoing ER & ET in early April and 2ww should complete in end April.
If my pregnancy is BFP, then my EDD should be about end Dec ..........

In view of the above schedule, RY and myself think that we should not risk by travelling since this would be a very precious baby.

So I've redeemed the mileage for my sis & her family to go to HK during June schoold holiday.
Despite the redemption for sis' family, I still have sufficient points to bring RY to near-by places for short vacation in 2011!

Beijing Tour

I'll be leaving for Beijing tomorrow for 5 day tour!

I look forward to a beautiful weather and a wonderful holiday ..........

I'll share more about my trip when i come back next Wed.

Beijing - here I come!

In 2 weeks time, RY and myself will go to Beijing for a 5 day tour with my compay.

Today at the TCM, I over heard Dr and her patients' conversation (a young couple who is going to Beijing next week) and Dr was recommending them to eat mutton shabu shabu (shuan yang rou) at the most well known restaurant there called "Lao Song Shun".

She also reminded them to bring long john for the great wall climb since it rather chilly up there.

I've benefited from this conversation.
I'll do the same ...............

Travel Fair on 25 Oct 2009

Yesterday (Sunday) RY and myself went to Suntec for the Chan Brothers Travel Fair.
We were surprised to also see ASA, Dynasty & CTC also at Suntec/ Marina Sq to held their in-house fair.

We were considering to go Egypt via either Chan Bros or ASA since the price and similar, during 2010 CNY.
We were at the fair since 11am (went to TCM at 9am for my accupuncture) and it was tough decision.
We went for lunch in Republic Foodcourt and had fried hokkien mee as well as carrot cake.
We went back to make further enquiries.

But as we cant make up our mind since RY is contemplating to go back Ipoh during CNY or go tour, we decided to go home to rest and ponder about it.

We went to Pizza Hut near our house for chocolate cake (with a scope of ice cream).
Yummy .......... I must say that the new dessert in Pizza Hut is rather good.

We reach home at 4.30pm and we looked thru the tour pamphlet and then finally decided to go with Chan Bros to Egypt.

At 6pm, we drove back to Suntec and make a final enquiry at ASA and Chan Bros and then went ahead to book the tour with Chan Bros as the price is better = SGD2,438 via SG (exclude taxes).

As we book rather late, we've missed to chance to get free luggage bag offered by Citibank.

Then we proceeded to having Japanese dinner at Republic foodcourt.

We had 2 bento sets (1 sashimi/ sushi set and 1 beef set) and the total cost being $34, which is value for money.

We're really happy to book the Egypt tour since we've been planning to go Egypt for 5 years

Back from Manila

I came back from Manila yesterday.
This trip is really tiring since didnt sleep well - the pillow is not nice (too soft) and the air-con is too cold (already set to 30'c still freezing).

Every morning ate breakfast at 7.45am till 8.30am - very good spread in Shangrila.
Lunch was some catered food in office (fried chix, pasta, meat balls etc) ........
Dinner on the 1st night was Jap in hotel, sashimi, shabu shabu, tempura etc......
Dinner on 2nd night was also Jap but in a shopping mall near-by and we (5 paxs) shared a combo consist of sashimi, fried rice, sushi, teppanyaki beef, tempura.
Dinner on 3rd night was western grilled beef ribs, it was really nice (big boss was there)............

Yesterday I'd left office at 11.30am to catch a 2pm flight home.
I didnt have lunch (merely a banana which I brought from hotel) and had the air plane meal (I chose pasta with chix) and dinner was a Pola Chix pie I tah pau from airport.

Reached home at 7pm then went downstair to burn the offering for the last day of hungry ghost festival (the actual last day should be today, as I'll be going out, I've done the praying and offering early).
Did laundry and waited for RY to come back, but he only reach home at about 2am .........

This morning managed to wake up at 6.30am but RY was too tired and only managed to be awake at 7am.
We R&R and finally leave house for office at 8.15am and I reach work at 8.45am (I usually arrive work at 7.45am).

Tonight meeting my old secondary classmate for dinner in Ion and to collect my clothes from centrepoint.
I'll try to be home before 10pm since need to wake up early tomorrow to go KL.
RY is having company function this evening and hopefully he comes home early tonight.