Happy 6th wedding anniversary. Rare me-time that we have nowadays. We spent most of our dates at concerts! The latest one was Eric Chou's one and it is the best one out of the 4 that we had gone for this year. There was dancing, great lighting, different stage set-up and performance structure. Good way to celebrate the anniversary~




Came back from Voyager of the Seas with the entire family! With 4 generation travelling together, we took the easiest option and went on a cruise. My grandma is wheelchair bound and the cruise is a good vacation to just relax and eat. My parents also couldn't get off when the ship docked at Port Klang and Malacca cos they had to take care of my grandma. They felt rather bored but was glad that we had a family trip. For us, it was a relaxing trip which as things were confined in the ship. We spent some time shopping at the malls at Port Klang and Malacca but couldn't do it for long as the kids cannot sit still in the stroller when we shop. They of cos enjoyed themselves despite this being a smaller ship cos they will just enjoy themselves no matter where they are, as long as they are with us.

Voyager seems so small as compared to Marina. The games in the arcade were spoilt and the kids couldn't play. They were playing in the pool for a while before the lifeguards told us that zeth is too small to be there. The slides are too scary for keath and the nursery only had drop off options. There were no kids programme and we didn't drop them off at the nursery cos they had separate care options for those below 3, 3 to 5 and above 5. Cos they are in separate age group, Keath didn't want to be in the nursery alone. So basically, we just kept eating, walked around the ship, takes photos, went down the ship, nap and the time for the whole day was easily filled. When the kids sleep at night, we took turns to sneak out to the casino. But I had to come back when zeth cries cos he will won't stop crying until he sees me. Enjoyed myself for this trip as the kids are big already and also cos there is help from my parents and ws when we are tog. Very hard to go on a vacation as the hub is not able to take time off from work. I need to figure out how I am to spend may 8 days of leave in dec all alone.













We ditched the kids and went to Alin's concert at indoor stadium today! Her songs are always so k-able and we decided to buy her tickets 3 months back when he told me that he is going to hold a concert here. It is so difficult to have a date with him as the kids wont allow us to. Keath will keep saying that 'but i like you with me' when i say i want to go watch movie/ out with daddy. It is hard to leave as he looks sad. Moreover, it is a sat where he usually is able to spend time with us. But this time round, it didnt take me a long time to leave the house as i prepped him one week ago already. So in a way, when today came, it wasnt a surprise and he could accept it more readily.

Wa, being able to sit in the car without the kids, eat in peace without having to feed them + myself, be in peace with not having to talk to/ listen to 2 kids talk at once is a good break, go into shops without having to rush because the kids will be restless is a really good break. When can i do this again!


Anyway regarding the concert, Alin's vocal is good as always. She is also humorous and there isnt any awkwardness when she talks to the audience. But it is clearly a low budget production. No separate dance crew, no props, 3 set of outfit which do not look good on her. Her dancing is akin to not dancing, but she is someone who sings and not dance. Her vocal was strong and steady throughout and is actually the most melodious when there is no accompanying music. A very good live ktv session!

The last CNY, Zeth was a 4 month old baby. This CNY, he is able to run around freely. Fortunately for us, the house visiting schedule for all sides of the relatives can be accommodated. We also had time to make sure that the kids take their 1 nap before continuing with all the visiting. At the end of the day, they didnt become cranky and overtired kids. Felt so relieved and had a good rest at the end of chu yi. Was very proud of Keath this year as despite being shy, he still forced himself to tell the relatives who gave him angbao 'gong xi fa cai'. Zeth on the otherhand was able to do the gongxi gongxi gesture when he was given the red packets. Very cute! They then made sure that they pass their angbaos to me for safekeeping. Even though Zeth is generally more sociable, he is becoming more conscious of strangers around him and wouldnt allow strangers to freely carry him anymore. He can wave goodbye and all that but wouldnt want to be carried. At least he is not afraid of people whom he has not seen before and can be in the same space as them! It is generally a smooth cny. Next year, we should be able to see the 2 brothers playing more with the other kids during the house visits!








We took leave that day to spend time with each other. Really, when you have kids, it is impossible to spend time together. We have zero time. So we decided to go to USS since it has been many years since we last went there and the kids wouldnt be able to play at USS yet. And yes, how are they going to endure the queue when they are able to play. We then went for a dinner and movie. It was good to be able to spend time like this. More off days for us please!





Happy birthday to myself. Had a steamboat dinner with my family on a weekday night at Holland Village before we went to haagen dazs to cut the icecream cake on my bd eve! Then there was another cake cutting at mil house and office on the actual day. Was really surprised that my colleagues knew and bought me a cake. Took birthday leave 2 days after my bd and went home to sleep! And then went shopping and waited for darl to come watch a movie with me. He gave me an iphone 8+ for my bd! Yea, that pretty summed up my 31st birthday!




Okay, we are back from our third cruise! So have tried star cruise, royal carribean and genting dreams. Hahaa, and our verdict is that royal carribean is more suitable for families. The genting dreams was quite disappointing for us actually. The food is really so mediocre and they dont serve supper. The spread of variety is wide in star cruise and quality is better in royal. Theirs... hmm, i wasnt like your full-buffet-full during all the 4 days. I was counting on supper where i could grab some bites when the kids sleep! You know how it is eating with kids, you got to rush all the time.

As for things to play, the arcade at dreams is sooo tiny. Royal one is so much bigger and some of the games are free. There is also a parent-accompanied baby/toddler play area at Royal while the one at dreams, you got to deposit your child (2 & above) at the childcare centre if you want them to play. This is quite a nono if you have very young kids. But dreams has very exciting water slides which would be good for primary school going kids. No need to go adventure cove for those slides!

We alighted at Phuket on the second night, 7pm. The ship will leave on the third day, 10am. So by the time we got to alight the ship, it was already 8.30pm! (got to queue up to take their feeder ship that will take us to the coast. it doesnt stop right outside the phuket coast!) Then we took a cab to Phuket town and reached there at 9pm. Nothing much to shop as the mall will close soon at 10pm. So we basically only shopped at the department store and the supermarket. So much for paying $60 for a taxi to and back. The kids zonked out when we reached the ship back at 10.45pm. Not a good timing leh, i didnt realise this when i booked this trip. I also bought wifi from them at $57 for 4 days. It was essential since im always stuck in the cabin but it was sooooo slow. You cant even load social media properly. Got to wait for 15 sec for one post to load the pictures, unless you surf at like 3am.

Dreams on the other hand, is good for its casino. Very very big and you can play in SGD. (although i have no time to play as i'm pretty much stuck in the cabin with the sleeping baby. the in-laws and hubby played.) Royal's casino is small and you need to play in USD, costs quite a lot this way and you got to change currencies. But what is nice about dreams is its newness. Everything new = everything looks clean and more appealing looking.

And then a big boo boo - on our 4th day back to sg, the ship got technical fault leh! The ship had to be stopped in the middle of the sea while they try repairing it. They say that the computer system was done and they couldnt automate the driving of the ship. So after they failed repairing it, they had to drive the ship manually back to sg with the company of a few other smaller ships guiding by its side. Overall, we experienced a ship delay of 5 hours. I have never heard of ship delays! But too bad, it's not 6 hours, if not we could claim travel insurance for travel delay. But i would say they tried their best to compensate us for the delay. We had free tea and dinner and also a $200 voucher to offset our next genting dreams trip. I have asked them about the t&c of the voucher but they have yet to firm smth up. Said will inform us about this later. Ha, if the voucher is like no strings attached, we may go back again if the price is reasonable. But if not, royal would still be our preferred ship.

Overall, ok la, relaxing trip as always cos it's cruise. A good time for the pil to relax also. Keath also enjoyed himself doing nothing and enjoying our company. Cannot imagine taking a flight with the 2 kids yet. For now, cruise is still our comfort zone for a holiday.