Company Trip to Macau & Zhuhai : Day 3 & 4

Day 3 - Free at own leisure.

Basically nothing much to do in Zhuhai on Day 3. Some of my colleagues went back to Macau again for sight-seeing and another group of colleagues took a boat trip to Hong Kong. So only left one colleague and I at Zhuhai only.

Both of us continue to shop at Gongbei Underground shopping malls. Leisurely eating our lunch, dinner and supper on Day 3 since we have plenty of time to spend.

We went for body massage and then tried out the hair salon there for a hair wash. Haha :) Bored right? But we experienced the hair wash by lying down. In Malaysia, we sit on a chair for hair wash, but in Shenzhen and Zhuhai, I lied down for the hair wash. The one I went in Shenzhen last year had half body massage service. But this one I went in Zhuhai, didn't has the half body massage service. Only for hair wash. My colleague, Reyna, is first time trying it out. She enjoyed it a lot :)

Our lunch and dinner ~ Haha... We went back to the same place for both meals!

We went for a coffee break and then our supper! The supper place was recommended by the hair salon people. They told us that this dessert shop nearby our hotel is a famous dessert shop in Zhuhai. Since it was just a few streets away from the hotel, we decided to go and try it out! Indeed, it was really delicious and we need to queue for our seats.

I tried to Google it but then cannot find the exact name of the 2 shops which we went for coffee and dessert. Perhaps you can view the name from the picture below :)

Day 4 - Transfer back to Macau airport.

This was a very not good experience for me. To me, travelling back to Macau on a weekend is a nightmare. The queue was so long to go into the immigration. It is very difficult for me to describe how crowded it was. You can view it from the picture as below! Just imagine, the custom officers build up a tent for the people who are queuing to enter Macau. Although it was only a bridge away from Zhuhai to Macau, the whole journey took us almost 3 hours to enter Macau. So, if you want to travel from Zhuhai to Macau, perhaps can choose on a weekday. Maybe the crowd won't be this many. Once we reached Macau, we went for egg tarts and to buy some local biscuits first before we took our flight back to Malaysia.

My advice is:
Travellers can opt to go Hong Kong by boat from Zhuhai instead of travelling back to Macau again to avoid the long queue at custom to enter into Macau.

MACAU-ZHUHAI-MACAU : NO way!
MACAU-ZHUHAI-HONG KONG : OK!

Overall, it was a nice experience in Macau. A very beautiful place with nice Christmas decorations all around. I am loving it! As for Zhuhai, for those never been before, perhaps can go and have a try. But I personally feel that one time experience is good enough. I don't think I am going back there again in the near future.

I wish to thank my company for this bi-yearly company trip! I enjoyed it a lot with my funny and amusing colleagues' companion :) Looking forward to the next company trip.

Happy 1st Chinese Birthday to Nico!

Today is Nico's Chinese Lunar Calendar 1st Birthday ~
Happy Birthday to you, my dearest son!

As today Nico needs to pray at home, so PIL brought him back yesterday to Taiping after a few days stay with us in KL. We wish you happy, cheerful and healthy always! And remember, grow up obediently ya, boy :)

~ Nico @ One Year Old ~

This picture was taken on 10th December 2012. Nico has 5 teeth at his One year old.
3 teeth on the top and 2 teeth at the bottom. He really likes to laugh a lot especially when Kimi is playing with him! And he loves to join in the crowd and laugh together with us too. Wondering does he really understand what the adults are talking about when he laughs with us…. Haha!

This picture was taken on 24th December 2012.
Nico started to drink by himself when he was about 9 months' old. But he is a lazy boy, always drinks halfway and then asks us to hold the milk bottle for him to finish up the milk. Recently, started last month, he can drink the whole bottle by himself without asking us to help him and can finish it very fast. Initially, we were quite surprised over his speed in drinking milk. Haha! If Nico drinks together with Kimi, Nico always will finish it first before Kimi.

 

Now, Nico drinks 210ml of milk every time, around 2 to 2.5 hours one time and 2 times solid meals a day during day time. We try to introduce more varieties of food and fruits to him. He loves to eat cheese too.

I always wanted to shoot a video of Nico climbs down from the bed himself. But always never get to do so. Luckily when he was with us in KL last few days, I finally managed to record it down. Nico learned how to climb down from the bed himself at his age of 10 months' old.

In this video, Nico tried to test out the shape of the bed and to check out the height first before he decided to come down from the bed himself... So funny and yet I find it very cute! Hehe :)

This weekend, Daddy and Mummy are going back Taiping to visit you and will pass to you you an 'Ang Pow' for your birthday gift. See you soon!

Nico's One Year Old Birthday Party ~

Date: 9th December 2012

This special date is Nico's Birthday. After considered a few birthday's party venues, we finally decided to do it in our house. We catered some food from a nearby restaurant, MIL prepared some desserts & sandwiches and I myself cooked a pot of 'Mee Rebus' to serve our guests. We invited some of our families, relatives and friends. So glad that the Birthday Party turned out to be quite a successful one! Hope that our guests on that day enjoyed themselves too :)

We THANK everyone for being part of Nico's Growing Up Memories!!
 
Happy 1st Birthday to you, Nico Boy!
Daddy, Mummy & Kimi kor-kor wish you happy and healthy always ~ LOVE YOU ~

Nico loves to sit on a Merry-Go-Round very much! I can always see him smile so happily whenever he is sitting on it :) Today I managed to let Nico has a Happy 1st Birthday by giving him a Merry-Go-Round cake on his special day. Daddy and Mummy hope that this can be part of your happy growing up memories! One day when you grow up, we hope we can see you smile again when you are looking back at these photos...
 

And, Special THANKS to all the Uncles & Aunties, for your generous Presents & 'Ang Pows'! Most of all, THANK YOU for coming ^^ We really appreciate your presence on Nico's 1st Birthday Party :)

A Day Out @ Pavilion KL ~

Date: 11.12.2012

Today is Selangor Public Holiday. Hubby is working but Kimi does not need to go to school. So Mummy and Kimi out for a day trip... As recommended by a few friends, I decided to visit Pavilion KL. It has been a long time since I last went there. I was informed by friends that the Christmas decorations there are very beautiful with 'Choo-Choo-Train' ride. Kimi can has a ride on the train and Mummy can view the Christmas decorations.

Kimi is so excited over the Christmas Decors and Trees!

~ Breakfast with Lovely Kimi ~

 

 

Activity after Breakfast - 'Choo-Choo-Train' Ride'

(RM5 per person per ride)

 

~ Self-Portraits - Mummy & Kimi  ~

 

~ Lunch before heading back Home ~

 

Mummy and Kimi had a great day! We spent 3 hours at Pavilion just to play around at the Concourse area with the Christmas decorations, to take pictures (Mummy shoots for Kimi and Kimi shoots for Mummy & our self-portraits) and to eat delicious food. We really enjoyed ourselves so much ~

Company Trip to Macau & Zhuhai : Day 2

Zhuhai - I think this is a place which I think I will not consider to go back there again. If you are a first time visitor, no harm going for a short trip to have a try. But if were to compare between Shenzhen and Zhuhai, I think Shenzhen will be a much better place for me.

Day 2 - We started our journey from Macau to Zhuhai after breakfast in the hotel. Macau to Zhuhai is just a sea away... Not very far, is just like Johor travel to Singapore. You can just walk over. Very convenient but super crowded with people! The short journey might takes you 3 hours to reach... Very scary experience! I personally experienced it on the last day of the trip. I will further elaborate it a bit on my next blog.

This blog will be for my Day 2 experience in Zhuhai. The itinerary:

After breakfast, tour begins by visiting Zhuhai Lovers Road, Statue of Fisher Girl, Shijingshan Park (include cable car), Mei Xi Memorial Arch, Silk Factory, Jewelry, Gongbei Underground shopping malls.

Actually our Zhuhai trip cannot consider a fulfilling one without this cable car's journey at Shijingshan Park. It makes us remember our Zhuhai trip after the cable car ride. It is quite a exciting experience as the cable car is an open-deck type. No door, no window, nothing! ONLY ONE place to sit on it or shall I put it this way... Mmmm… only has a place to put your buttocks. Hehe! But we do enjoy the scenery a lot throughout the whole cable car's journey up to the hill. On our way down the hill, we choose to take the rail slide back down. This is another exciting part about this tourist attraction. Very good experience!

Photo courtesy from my Boss camera ~ My colleagues on their way down the hill. 

We wasted some time in this Silk Factory and also one Chinese Medicine factory.  It is included in the tour so no choice need to join in the crowd. But one scary thing in Zhuhai is that, their sales persons are really very sticky. If they cannot get to sell anything to you, they will even follow you all the way until the tour Bus.
We find it very annoying! But then no choice, as this is their way to earn a living in there!

 

@ Gongbei Underground Shopping Mall and Zhuhai Lovers Road ~

Basically, Day 2 in Zhuhai was a quite a long day, as we spent most of our time listening to the sales girls promoting their products to us. Nothing much to expect in Zhuhai I would say... And the weather was a bit out. We were expecting a very cooling day, but it ended up to be a sunny day! Weather forecast was wrong on this day. Even the tour guide also quite surprise over the sunny temperature that we had as the day before we arrived, it was quite cold according to him.

To be continued….. :)

Company Trip to Macau & Zhuhai : Day 1

Macau - I think this is the place where most people will consider to go on a short vacation if one has not enough annual leaves to apply by end of year. Hehe :) It is cold in November (almost similar to our Genting Highlands' temperature) and most of the hotels are nicely decorated with Christmas theme. A very beautiful place to visit during the end of year!

 

This time to Macau is a company trip. The decision was made by Boss so we just followed. To me, it was a bit rushing trip as we were following tour and the rain had made our journey a bit not so smooth upon arrival in Macau.

 

Day 1 - When we arrived in Macau, it was a rainy day. Luckily we had a tour bus to sit on, so no need to be under the rain at most times besides visiting the tourist spots. A few tourists attractions need to walk a bit far as tour bus can only park at certain designated venues. So we walked under the rain, either with an umbrella or a raincoat or with a jacket which in hands. A very memorable day to start with....

 

Day 1 Itinerary - Standard tour package I supposed ~

 

Pick up from airport, visit Ruins of St Paul’s Cathedral, A-Ma Temple, Venetian Casino, shopping at local food product, then check-in hotel.

We checked-in to the GrandView Hotel Macau at around 5pm. Refreshed ourselves and then had our dinner in the hotel's restaurant. After dinner, we took a cab to go to Wynn to view the Wynn Macau Fountain Show. This Fountain Show operates every 15 minutes and last for around 1 minute+ per show. So we managed to view 2 times with 2 different fountain shows. Very impressive and very beautiful!

 

After that we walked to the indoor to view the Prosperity Tree and Dragon Show at Wynn Hotel. This show operates half an hour one time. We stayed back to view the two different shows. Very nice! Really worth the night trip...

 

 

And our Day 1 ended with a short supper time at a cafe nearby our hotel…

 

~ Some of our Delicious Food on Day 1 ~

 

 

According to my colleagues who had been to Macau, there are a few more tourist spots that were not covered in our trip. Macau is very convenient where most of the major hotels do provide shuttle buses to go to the tourist attractions. However, our Day 1 trip was also quite a short one together with the tour guide. We only have half a day to use, hence, we couldn't cover all the places. Haha... To think it positively, this gives me a chance to come back to Macau again, to visit the remaining places which I do not manage to visit at this round.

Macau – A very beautiful country at night ~ I do hope that I can find a time to come back here again for a short vacation to finish visiting the places which I have missed out at this time.

11.11.2012 - Our 5th Anniversary

11.11.2012 ~ Five years ago, we vowed to each other on this very special day ~

Carrying the title of Mrs. Ong for 5 years, a lot of things have changed.... I am now a mother a two boys, a woman with heavier weight than 5 years ago (sigh!) and a wife with unlimited housework need to do... But I am sure there is one thing has not changed! The Love & Concern we have for each other ♥ ! Hubby, thanks for everything!!

Our simple dinner on this special day ~ The food was very delicious! Hubby praised me for introducing this place to him. Hehe :) Glad that he enjoys the food so much! Although simple, I enjoyed the time that we spent together.

Not to forget my favourite 'Latte'!

A night with only two of us during the dinner... Suddenly missing the two boys a lot.. Hehe :)

A Baking Session with Kimi

On Tuesday evening, when I picked up Kimi from the Nursery, the teacher there passed me a note informed us that this Friday they are going to organize a Class Party. This party is to mark the last day of school and also a farewell party for the children who are going to Primary One next year.

On the note, it is stated, 'The children will have potluck session to share goodies brought from home'. Oh... such a late notice, what shall I do then? This is my first experience and I am not too sure what I need to prepare for Kimi. Not wanting him to bring junk food to school, so I spent a Tuesday night to think of what Kimi can bring for the party.

Finally, I decided to bake for him :) I searched a few recipes online which were suitable for kids. At the end I had 2 in mind. So on Wednesday lunch hour, I made a trip to the bakery shop and bought the ingredients needed. After work on Wednesday night, I tried out for the first time so that I can know what to adjust on the recipe. I want to make sure that the cakes are edible when Kimi brings it to school on Friday.

Thursday night, the real baking started!

This is what I bake - Banana Muffins ~ I choose an easier and healthier recipe for the kids. Hope they will like it!

The ingredients were 2 portions which I tested to bake on Wednesday night.
On Thursday, I doubled up the ingredients because 2 portions can only bake around 11 muffins.

Kimi - The Baker Assistant of the Night!

 

 

 

The outcome after 10 minutes (half time) & 20 minutes (full time) of baking ~

 

 

And the little assistant comes again....
This round is to help to arrange the muffins into the box properly.

 

Finally.... There are ready to be served!!

 

Hope the children @ Kimi's Nursery love the muffins ;)

 

Banana Muffin's Recipe which a friend of mine shares it with me. The recipes she shares uses cups as measurement. I calculated them into Grams so that easier for me to measure the ingredients.

Recipe:
2 medium size bananas (Mashed)

2 eggs

120g Canola Oil

100g Icing Sugar (But I replace this with Brown Sugar)

130g Self Raising Flour

1/2 teaspoon vanilla essence (Optional)

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 Baking Powder (This one I add in myself as my first attempt the muffins look flat. Hehe....)

Methods:

1) Beat eggs, sugar and canola oil for around 5 minutes until they are foamy.
2) Fold in the raising flour and mashed bananas.
3) Add in some vanilla essence (if needed)
4) Spoon the mixture into the paper cups until they are around 3/4 full.

Preheat the oven at 170C. Bake for around 20 minutes or until they are golden brown on top.

This is a very easy recipe and it only takes me around 20 minutes for preparations and 20 minutes for baking. Not hassle and easy to clean up the mess after bake.

I double up the portions and it can bake for 24 - 26 muffins.

Kimi loves it very much and ate up 2 muffins after they cold down. I stop him from continue to ask for more because I worry later not enough for him to bring to school to share. Hehe :)

Nico with his Swollen Eye!

Last weekend we were back to Taiping to visit Nico. When we reached at night, we were a bit shocked to see his swollen eye. MIL told us, on Thursday morning, Nico woke up with an insect bite's mark on his face.... And towards the evening, the mark started to swell and it became like this on the next day.

My poor boy! Luckily he did not find it painful and did not cry after the bite. He could play with us and laugh out loud as well. Moreover Friday is a public holiday, the pediatrician was closed and we couldn't send him for a check-up. Sigh! Didn't know what to do at that time and so worried that it might affect his right eye. His Daddy was so worried and kept on asking me for a solution.

So, I ended up using the the skin cream which I have at home to apply on Nico's face to see if it could help to soothe the redness and hopefully not so swollen. Thank God! On the next day, the redness seems to be better and his eye can open bigger to show to us. And on Sunday when we returned back to KL, his face recovered almost 80% and we could see his double eye-lid again. My baby Nico is back to his chubbiness look again!

Note: I personally find this cream is very useful on certain skin problems. I have been using this cream since Kimi's baby time until now and for now on Nico as well. So at my house, it will never running out of this cream.

According to their website, this cream can soothe all the rough spots. Wholesome ingredients are carefully blended to create an ultra-rich, soothing skin crème for baby’s tender skin. Sweet almond oil, aloe vera and beeswax absorb quickly to soften, nourish and re-condition dry skin.

More information: http://global.burtsbees.com/