Hello from Adelaide

We are back to Adelaide again for a month break. Actually break for Claudia & myself but Mr. Wallace got work to do. It’s winter here and it is very nice for me (cause I’m pregnant, I don’t feel very cool this time). Temperature is around 17-19°C in the day and night is about 7-9°C. There won’t be much traveling around this time cause Mr. Wallace is quite tight with his business trip around Australia except we will be in Tasmanian for 3 days at the end of the trip.

Above photograph was taken in Bunnings Warehouse. It is the mop head on top of Claudia head. The minute she saw it, she put it on and said she is a clown.

 

Ipoh Trip

Backdated Post.

My aunt (dad’s 2nd sister) came back from US for holidays with her son. And they are staying with my dad’s youngest sister in Ipoh. Yes, my dad side of family is from Ipoh & Perak. Dad wanted to go up to Ipoh for the weekend by himself so I offer to take him and with a warning that I’m going to bring his grand-daughter along if he didn’t mind.  My mum is not going cause she is not close to my dad’s side of family, long story.  Then 2 days before the trip my sister called to catch up and I asked her to come along.  So…it ended up that dad is stuck with the 2 grand-children for this trip.  We stayed over on Sat (29th Dec) night and left on Sunday afternoon after lunch.

We stopped at Bidor for lunch on the way to Ipoh, then Saturday’s dinner is Ipoh famous bean sprout chicken.  Sunday morning is the hotel’s free buffet breakfast (lousy).  Btw, we stayed at Impiana Casuarina (very old hotel) anyone have any recommendation for better hotel in Ipoh?  Then the kid’s go for a swim while the adults are hiding under the shade while watching over them. Then we had curry noodle with roast pork & fried chicken for lunch before we left for home.

Claudia’s new bathers. One of her Christmas gifts.

Nicholas.

 

Pick your Own

 

We went to German town Hahndorf for strawberries picking. Weather is great, max 24°C and little bit of rain. Arrive around 9:30am and we start our picking. Entry fee is AUD3.00 per adult and you are given an empty ice-cream container. There is only us and another family of four. Basically we have the entire strawberry field, hurray! We had a great time and a stomach full of strawberries for breakfast. Claudia did not help much with the picking because she is busy eating them as you can see the picture below. It is a great activity for family outing.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Hello from Down Under

 

Hello! Everyone. We are at grandma house in Adelaide. Got in last Thursday morning and it has been a week already. Weather is great. Sometimes hot and sometimes mild, ranging from 22°C-37°C.  I love it over here cause grandma has a bigger garden and it is at the back of the house. Mummy said it is safer to run and play at the backyard. Food is delicious and mummy said that I eat like a horse now. I love the fruits over here too. The only down side is, it’s very dry over here and mummy have to applied moisturize for me twice a day.

 

 

The Drummer

After we finish walked around at The Garden, we decided to have lunch at Mid Valley instead cause there are not much choice in The Garden. Then we go to Jusco just to look see. I didn’t realise that there is a decent size play area for children with rides. Then Claudia notice this big sister busy drumming to the Japanese beat song. Actually, she is very good. So my little girl got excited and joined her as a 2nd player (pretend 2nd player-cause I did not insert token for her). It is quite a interesting game and of course Claudia think is beating the drum like her favourite lion dance drum cause it does look like one of those drum.

 

Young Traveller

After the episode of posing with the mannequin. We proceed to the children department. Again Claudia found something she loves. Yes, those bag with wheel like the travel luggage bag. Furthermore, this one decorated with cartoon character and it’s PINK. She just walk around the department store with this bag and if you realised she had another one just under her armpit too. That’s not just it. She also make sure I do the same like her (slap head).

 

 

Posing with the Mannequin

Last week, we decided to go to Robinsons at The Garden. My mum is looking for some bra and I haven’t been there. So off we go. While my mum is browsing the lingerie department, Claudia seem to fall in love with this mannequin and start posing with her, talk to her and checking out her outfit too. She even asked the mannequin to wake up (slap head).

 

Singapore Trip

We went to Singapore last weekend cause daddy need to pick up some goods from the supplier. Of course we tag along again but this time I insist bringing Claudia to the famous Singapore Zoo. We had a good trip there and way back too (car journey).Claudia is sleeping soundly in her car seat.

It is a very hot day on Saturday. Reached the zoo at 9:30am and we started our journey from home at 5:30am. Claudia is not overly excited about the animal except some that she always read and seen it in the tele. Left zoo at 12:00pm and reached hotel in the city at 12:45pm.Take a 20 minutes rest and Claudia already can’t wait to jump in the pool. It does feel nice to dip in the pool and Claudia enjoy herself very much. While showering her, she requested to play in the bath tub. She is definitely a water baby. We left the next morning after the buffet breakfast around 8:30am. Short but productive trip.

 

Mandarin Class

Yup, I decided to send Claudia to a Mandarin class when she reach 2½ years old (minimum age) which will be next February 2008. I found this school on today (18 Sep 2007) Star newspaper. It called Skylace Language Centre Sdn Bhd, located in TTDI & Desa Sri Hastamas. I’m going to enroll her to “Morning Kiddie Class (Age: 2½ - 4 Years Old)”. Lessons: 30 min/term Duration: 1 1/2 hrs.

So what do they do there: -

1. Simple conversation, verbal sentence making.
2. Introduction of Chinese characters.
3. Story telling, story appreciation.
4. Recitation of nursery rhymes.
5. Introduce strokes of Chinese characters.
6. Arts & crafts.
7. Songs, games, cartoon shows and educational tapes.
8. Refreshments.

I hope they have trial class before I pay any deposit & enrollment fee. I think this is a good idea cause we definitely wouldn’t send her to a Chinese school and I do not want her to have absolutely no idea about her chinese root. Still 5 months to go. We shall see!

P.S: Just called up the centre. Managed to get more information. Classes schedule on Tuesday, Wednesday & Thursday from 10:00am to 11:30am. Registration fee is RM50.00 and 1 term (3 months) is RM1,200.00. Trial class can be arranged. For the first few classes, mother have to stand by at the centre. When your child get herself/himself adjusted to the environment, they will be with the teacher and friends only.

 

China Trip - Final

So glad to arrive at Shanghai again. Last stop before going home to my daughter. Also, because it is rest & relax day with no business meeting except out England customer still with us. He is flying back to London tomorrow as well at 10:45am and our flight is at 10:15am.

It took an hour to arrive to the hotel which is in the middle of the city (new Pudong area) which is also near The Bund and the famous tourist location. Mr.Wallace did picked a good hotel. But room rate is expensive but I think it worth it. The taxi queue at Hongqioa Airport is crazy. Six lanes for peoples with 3 lanes for taxi. Again, Shanghai is more busy than KL, I personally think.

Shortly arrived at the hotel, we decided to get lunch in the hotel itself cause we are starving. I’m so looking forward for the Shanghai Little Dragon bun but the only Chinese restaurant in the hotel is serving Cantonese cuisine and the chef is from Hong Kong. Well, no luck. During lunch we agreed to go for a walk at The Bund and the famous shopping street Nanjing street (like Singapore Orchard Road or our Bintang Walk). In between, what did I do……….I went for the in-door swimming pool for a swim, then 15 minutes steam bath and finally finish with a Chinese acupuncture massage and foot reflexology. Good life huh! I think so too. At 6:00pm, off we go for night sight seeing and shopping.

It very busy at Nanjing street, even at night on weekdays. It mainly cater for foreign and local tourist. As we were walking along the street, there are so many guys & ladies approach Mr.Wallace and our customer for fake branded watches, bags, clothing and etc until they get so annoyed. But no one approach me, maybe I’m Chinese and they thought I’m from China. There are also beggars. Mother and child/baby beggars. When they approach you, they will make the child/baby cried first like pinching them. That is the saddest part and I’m so angry with all this mothers. It also does come across my mind that are they the real mother or kidnapper. The more I think about it, the more I get angry and sad. The authority should do something about this. To me, this is child abuse. Anyway, we did not shop much except managed to get Claudia a soft toy from the Beijing 2008 Official Olympic store. Our customer bought a watch (genuine) for his wife for their anniversary. Back to hotel around 8:30pm, went for coffee cause we skip dinner. We still feel full cause we did had a lot during lunch.

Morning view from our hotel room. We are leaving this great city today. Taxi is booked at 7:30am even through our flight is at 10:15am. Always make sure leave an hour early when traveling in China. This is the one thing for sure I learned during this 4 days business trip.