Kimmy and Julie :: Family Journal

Jonathan’s Meal #4 by Julie

Haven’t I mentioned before that Jonathan boy don’t chew his food till fine enough for his throat but rather swallowing it till he gets choke? He “cough” everytime he gulps from his bottle and take a deep breathe after he finishes as though he was holding his breath. Because of this, I delayed in giving him macaroni as I think it may be too hard and big for him to chew with his gums. But now, since both his upper and lower first molar had erupted, he should be able to handle those macaroni.

On the safe side, I shall mash the macaroni since this is his first try of macaroni and he is not the kind that will chew his food but swallow. I find it hard to mash the cooked macaroni as it is slippery. Another option is to use ABC pasta but since I seldom see them in supermart and it’s more expensive compare to normal macaroni, so I had this idea of crunching the macaroni using the stone grinder before putting it to boil. For the soup base, the stock was made up of anchovies, red dates, carrot and tomato. I added some tofu when it was almost done.

He likes it. I can try other macaroni recipes next time. Macaroni bolognaise…fried macaroni…macaroni cheese…

A Blessed & Merry Christmas! by Julie

We will be spending the whole week in Penang. See you guys after Christmas.  I shall post up our Christmas celebration hopefully before the new year comes.

Once again, Merry Christmas and Happy Holiday.  Just in case…Happy New Year too!

Avillion Port Dickson by Julie

Nope…it wasn’t a holiday for me. I was there to stress out my brain for an off-site meeting to align our team’s strategies and setting the KPIs for the next 12 months.  Since I’m still BF Jonathan boy (morning & night only), I had to take him along for this 3D 2N meeting.  Darling had to work so I got my parents to come with me to babysit Jonathan. Two of my nieces tagged along too.

We stayed in the water chalet with a partial sea view. Before the trip, I was so excited. But when I stepped in to the water chalet, nothing to woo about actually. Besides its open sky bathroom, the room is not as big as what I see from their website.  The room comes with four-poster bed and a Pangkin daybed.

This is where we stayed.

 

The spa…Avi Spa

What lured me was the open shower concept where you could experience the freedom of showering or bathing underneath the clear blue sky.  I felt uneasy at first and kept looking up if there is anyone hanging on the roof looking at me bathing.  After a while, I felt so tantalizing showering with their aromatherapic bath gel and shampoo.

 

The kids was having great time at the petting farm and swimming pool. Jonathan enjoyed himself at the pool and playground. They even have a playroom for children. Mom obviously busy taking care of Jonathan whild Dad prefers to laze in the room watching tv.

Jonathan boy had a great time with his Gong Gong, Po Po and two big Jie Jie. But poor me…I see the sun rise in the morning but no chance to see the sun set in the evening. Definitely is not a holiday for me but a painstaking session. I definitely need more resources. Praying hard for a good bonus next year. Cheers…

Squeeky Clean by Julie

When Jonathan boy was barely 1 year old and his molars have yet to erupt, I gave him baby biscuits to keep himself entertained while we enjoy our meals peacefully. Now that his two upper first molars has fully erupted with the right bottom first molar and two upper cuspid erupting, he could enjoy more table food.

While dining out, I will normally call for a plate of plain rice just for Jonathan boy. If he is lucky, he gets to have some tofu, fish or vegetables to compliment the rice. I’ll leave the rice in front of him with a spoon or sometimes he demand for our chopsticks or fork.  And there he goes pooking or scooping the rice. When he gets fedup from no rice going into his mouth, there comes his fingers picking up the chunk of rice to feed his hungry stomach. That can keep him occupied throught the whole meal time without any fuss.

Now, Daddy & Mommy can enjoy meals peacefully with a MESS to clean up after that!

P/S: Always check that I have the bib and extra clothing to change if needed.

One After Another by Julie

Remember me grumbling on the flood? This is somehow related to that incident.

Monday - My youngest niece next door vomited few times in a day. She threw up anything that she ate. No fever and diarrhoea and she is still very alert. At first we thought she misses her daddy coz the last time her daddy went oversea, she was sick too. Sis brought her to see doctor and he said it’s food poisoning and could spread to others.

Tuesday - My youngest niece was back to her jovial self but her brother got it with fever this time. He vomited in the car and my sis had to clean up but couldn’t get rid of the smell.

Wednesday - It was Jonathan’s turn. When I reached home, my MIL told me that Jonathan vomited each time after food or milk. I though probably he is reacting to the new milk coz he had just been “upgraded” to the next step. So I told MIL to feed him porridge and cereal only the next day and monitor.

Thursday - Jonathan stopped vomiting. My sis came over to my place looking restless and complaining of vomiting and no appetite.
       ME: So, you also misses your husband too?
       SIS: Who say…
       ME: The, pregnant ar?
       SIS: No sex how to get pregnant!

Friday - Darling called to say that my MIL was feeling nausea. We rushed home and brought her to the doctor.

One after another and all had the same symptom and got well the next day.  The virus is contagious I suppose. According to the doctor, apparently a lot of people has fallen ill these few days. Most complaing of the same sickness. The flood the other day had contaminated the water.  Doctor advised to eat cooked food and be careful with fruits and vegetables that we eat raw coz we uses the unboiled water to wash it.

Sunday - Darling had diarrhoea and migraine. He could have caught the virus too.

It is now left me and eldest niece who is still “healthy”…*touch wood*

Cruising with Libra *backdated post* by Julie

Finally, the day has come and had passed. We have been waiting to board the ship to experience a cruise holiday. It was a 4 days 3 night cruise with SuperStar Libra to Langkawi and Singapore ex Port Klang. With us was my parents, 2nd sis and family, 4th sis (pretending to be single and available this time…leaving her kids and husband at home) and youngest sis (hoping to find her Leonardo DiCaprio).

Before we embark the ship.

 

This is how the ship’s lobby looks like.

 

This is the cabin and the bed is smaller than a single sized bed.

 

This is the pathway in between the cabins.

You never get hungry when you are in the ship. They provide 6 free meals a day giving you 3 restaurants to choose from for each meal….Chinese, Western and Asian. The food wasn’t that great or special. If you dine in the Chinese and Western restaurants, they only serve set meal. Only one restaurant serves buffet. Imagine having thousand over passengers but only 3 restaurants to dine in. If you are late, you need to queue or take a queue number.  For those with children, they only have limited baby high chair.

Our first lunch in the ship.

If you do not want to die of boredom, participate in their activities, programmes, games and shows. Or else, stay in the cabin and enjoy movies marathon in Astro channels. There is a casino but you don’t have to dress in batik/jacket to enter. Too bad there isn’t any “A Night with Captain” or “Gala Dinner” in our trip, else we will be dressing up sexy and hot with Jonathan in his little tuxedo. All transaction in the ship is in Singapore Dollar. We hardly spend cause all meals are free and provided for. Most shows and programmes are free.

Some of the shows put up by the ship crews.

 

One of the games we participated in…Box or Bucks!

 

The swimming pool on the upper deck. The swimming pool is of sea water.

 

Sunset view on the most upper deck (10th deck).

 

The dawn on Day 2. We are reaching Langkawi.

 

Ah Yi (my youngest sis) with Jonathan boy at Awana Porto Malai.

 

From left: 4th sis, 2nd sis, Jean Suen, 2nd BIL, baby May Suen, me, Jonathan boy and youngest sis.

 

Dad and Mom at Awana Porto Malai.

 

Overall I only give SuperStar Libra a rating of 6 out of 10 in terms of my expectation for a cruise holiday. The ship crews are friendly especially towards the children but generally the ship is not children friendly. They don’t have a playground for kids except for some board games available for rent. The restaurants don’t provide plastic utensils for children.

Nevertheless, it’s a good place for relaxing. You must know how to enjoy their facilities and participate in their programmes. My favourite spot is the upper most deck where I can see the horizon, sun set, sun rise and feel the strong wind. We are looking forward to a next cruise perhaps with SuperStar Virgo or an international cruise. Have to start saving for that now.

p/s: More pics on my Facebook. All pics courtesy of my 4th sis and youngest sis. Hear her stories here and here and here.