Phuket - Day 1 n 2

I was too tired to post last night, having slept just 2 hrs on sun night, partly because hubby was marking n didn't want to sleep early n partly cos Raeanne woke up at 2+am n didn't settle until 3+am.

Day 1
The plan was to book the cab n have it waiting downstairs while the adults load the luggage so that we let the kids sleep as much as possible. But in the end, had to wake a sleeping Raeanne at 6am cos mil said must let her pee before going up the taxi but as I expected she was grouchy n refused to pee. She only peed after we reached the airport n checked in. Mei mei on the other hand only woke up when she was in the cab. The flight was short n smooth though Raelynn was a bit grouchy towards the end. Think she was hungry. Booked a taxi n a half day safari tour for the next day.

Luckily we reached the Marriott Mai Khao Beach slightly after 9am. We were welcome by jasmine lei but waited at the lobby for a long time. Even had time for Raeanne to do some coloring at the Kids Club. It is open to all kids but only those above 4 yrs old can be left there alone. Our room was still not ready by 10am so we decided to head straight to Turtle village and we had breakfast at coffee club which was a recommended cheap n good place for Thai n western food. True enough, the thai mains were cheap, only 100thb, which was SGD4.20.

Ordered a soupy rice with minced pork ball for Raelynn n Raeanne, asked for no salt but it was still too salty. Next time, should ask for no salt. But no prob, just asked the waitress for hot water, n diluted the soup. They ate a lot cos very hungry by then. The hotel called us just after we ordered the food but we wanted to eat first. Decided to go to the Turtle Mart supermarket to stock up on fresh produce before going back to the resort so that we can cook. In the end, we bought some frozen chicken drumsticks, small cabbage, fresh mushrooms, baby corn, a papaya. I had brought from home rice, dried scallops, dried silverfish n ikan bilis for stock. Too bad, the pork didn't look fresh or we can vary our cooking a bit more.

When we saw our room, everyone was wowed cos it was so big. The rooms are big n the kitchen is well equipped with 4 electric cooker stoves, rice cooker, kettle, blender, toaster, microwave oven. It even has washing machine n dryer n ironing board. I. Managed to go to the spa at the nearby JW Marriott hotel while everyone else had their afternoon naps. The 2hr massage was relaxing but steep ($200) but I expected it but at least it was convenient. After I came back, the kids showered n we went for dinner at Turtle Village again, this time at Bill Bentley pub. the ribs were great n food servings were large. We shared a bottle of Thai Singha beer since it was the same price as fruit juice. Mei mei had her first Phuket hotel cooked soupy rice n she ate a lot. :) Went to the supermarket to stock up again, bought macaroni n bee joon this time.

I ko at at 10+pm thailand time (1 hr later than sg time) with Raeanne. Ironically, though the guest bedroom was so big with 2 twin beds, she ended up squeezing with us. :p

Day 2


Raeanne woke up early cos she has not adjusted to Thailand time but we were still almost late for our 9am meeting with the guide. It was a 45 mins ride to Island Safari but RA fell asleep in the mini bus. The ride was quite windy and I was a bit nervous due to the effects of our car accident. Kept worrying that the driver will misjudge and the kids will be in danger. Paranoid. :P


We did a lot at the tour, ox cart ride, orchid farm (not much blooming orchids), photo with buffalo, Thai papaya salad demonstration, monkey show, baby elephant show, elephant ride. The kids were tired n hungry but we took the opportunity to feed them at 1pm when choosing photos. On the bus ride back, it was Mei Mei's turn to sleep but Raeanne did nap for a short while.

When we reached hotel, the adults had cup noodles while I cooked some miso soup macaroni for Raeanne since she didn't want to nap anymore (used instant miso soup as base). Then we watched the panda dvd that i bought from singapore. Wanted to bring the kids to the swimming pool but it was hot n later found out the pool is closed at 6pm. So I cooked dinner instead, chicken apple soup, fried lettuce with mushroom n carrots, n canned teriyaki sardines with fresh cucumbers. The kids love the soup n apple n Raeanne ate two small bowls of rice. :)

Hubby went to the Kids club to borrow some DVDs n while Raeanne n MIL watched Lion king, hubby n I sneaked out for ice cream at Swensons n shopping at Turtle Mart n Jim Thompson. RA fell asleep on the long sofa just now but woke up to cry, think will have to let her sleep with us again. :p Tom is the last day n we have no plans except to bring the kids to the pool n the beach. :)

Blood

Yesterday, we were surprised when the maid told us there was blood in the potty after Mei mei farted. Examined her anus n found a 'crack' n it was bleeding. Not sure if it's a anal fissure cos her stools have been a bit hard. Applied destine n will monitor for time being.

Mei mei can say more words now. Last fri, she can say dog dog n Monday, she said duck duck. :)

Dr review

Saw the dr on Monday, After comparing the x-rays taken 3 weeks versus new x Ray, she said that there was 2-3 degree of shifting for t5 so recovery is not perfect. Felt very guilty when I heard that cos I had to take care of myself (showering, eating etc) since hubby had his hand op, I have not been very compliant with the brace since after cny when the initial pain eased. Also because I felt discouraged when she said 6 more weeks afterbthe first review. Sigh. :p but at least she said it's still ok, cos 30 deg is considered bad so she said i can take out the brace. But try to minimize 'nodding' actions. Referred to physiotherapy, first session on thurs so hope massage will ease the pains.

Raelynn is 15 months old!

She is 9.9kg, 74cm today. She has 6.5 teeth, 4 on top n 2.5 on the bottom. Cheh cheh was only 9.1kg at 15 months but looks older because she has longer hair. Mei Mei is always trying to take a spoon to feed us (strangely not herself), may be the first step toward self feeding. We have stopped cooking porridge for her cos she doesn't like. She prefers plain porridge or rice with savoury dishes. Last Sat, brought her to Jap restaurant and she ate 1 piece of tamago (egg) sushi and rice with pork shabu shabu soup (gave her the lean pork, carrot, tofu and veg). Today, she ate plain porridge with stir fried pumpkin, steamed fish and steamed spinach. She's drinking 220ml of Friso3, even more than Cheh Cheh. I think I can give up thinking of bringing the baby bjorn to HK cos by June, she may exceed the weight limit. :P

Glad that she can eat outside food cos we won't have to always cook separately for her. At this rate, there'll be no problem for her to adjust to eating outside food at HK bah. I'm prepared to bring a travel cooker otherwise. But think shouldn't need to cos there's always bread, porridge and rice, eggs at hotel. The most, bring a thermos flask of hot water to rinse the food before giving to her if it's too salty.

She loves to drink water and especially loves to drink water from my water bottle cos I put in a straw so that I can drink easily without bending my neck.

The happiest thing for me is that she has finally learnt to call Mamee last week. The reward of me playing with her more often in the day now that my shoulder aches are getting better. Sometimes it still sounds like she is calling Mei Mei but at least it's an improvement.

Phonics?

Raeanne's cc will only start teaching phonics next year but I am thinking of starting her early on weekly enrichment class. A bit worried cos that day, ask her to read to me n she chose her favorite book (beauty n the beast). She read the first page in entirety 'once upon a time, in a faraway land, a young prince stays in a shining castle'. But the next page, she went blank. Which shows that it is pure memory, she does not recognize any of the words at all. She doesn't even know the phonic sounds of the 26 alphabets. Hubby asked me to teach but I told him I can't cos I don't know phonics. More confident to teach Chinese. :p

Called 3house phonics enrichment at Tampines Central CC this morning, n they have weekday night class, 730-930pm every Thurs. $100 for 4 lessons, got free trial too so think I will bring her for it. Actually, they have a new class on sun morning 1130-130pm but I think timing not good. But the class is not accompanied by parents, afraid she won't be used to it. Hubby thinks she definitely won't take it well.

Asked some Jan08 mummies and a few of them said Leapfrog phonics DVD is good. So, decided to buy from Amazon and give it a shot. If it's really good, will buy the numbers DVD too. Until now, she can't count from 1-20 without omitting 6 or 16 or both. :P

Updates

Have not blogged in a long while cos kept watching the different korean drama dvds that hubby bought for me. Just a quick update

Last Tues, let Raelynn try the Thai basil chilli minced meat that I fried. Poor gal, so hot that she kept sticking out her tongue. After that, she refused whatever food I gave her. :P

Tues afternoon, Maid's agent came to speak to Filamie, and she has agreed to renew contract and we will let her go on home leave from 2 - 11 June. It will be a long 10 days without any help. But managed to convince hubby to go for a short 4d3n holiday to HK disneyland from 7-10 June so at least got something to look forward to. :)

Last week, Raelynn has recently sprouted a lower left incisor so she has not been drinking much milk. Luckily this week, her appetite has returned to normal.

Not sure what's wrong with RaeAnne these 3 days. Every night she wet her bed, previously she will wake up around 1am to go toilet. Last night, finally we buay tahan n put on diapers for her after she slept. End up she pee in her diapers, then wake up n change into panties herself. :p

Happy V Day!!!

Happy Valentines to dear wifey as well!
May you stay healthy and lovely!!

Happy Valentine's Day!

Been a long time since I posted cos I got gastric flu since chu3 and had to see 24 hr clinic. Took me 1 long week and another visit to the GP before I finally recovered. :(

Happy Valentine's Day to hubby! Thanks for remembering and getting a new Swatch watch for me. So sweet! :) We didn't go out for Valentine's day lunch nor dinner but we sneaked out for a short while in the afternoon (RaeAnne woke up by then, oops!) and had a heavy tea at F.I.S.H. Tampines1. Didn't manage to buy hubby a gift yet cos he didn't see anything that he fancied. Hope he can find something on ebay later. :P

Happy Rabbit Year!

Today is 初一, Mei Mei woke up at 6am and cried so loudly at 7am that she woke up Cheh Cheh (she cried cos she wanted to touch her pee in the potty and was stopped by the maid. :P). End up we woke up early but went back to sleep. It's a good thing we did not make any plans for CNY visiting today. Just wanted to pop by ILs place and maybe my mum's place. My bro came over for a while in the morning cos he helped my mum deliver some CNY goodies to MIL. In the end, we popped over to ILs place at 5pm, had steamboat dinner there, then my bro picked us up at 7+pm and we went to my parents for a short while.

Measured Mei Mei today, she is 73cm tall and according to maid who weighed her on Wed 9.4kg. :)

Raelynn is 14 months old!

Today is 年三十, the last day of Tiger lunar year and also the day Mei Mei turned 14 months. She is trying to wear her own clothes n will stand on any circular eg. Book or placemat n pretend it's a weighing scale. She cries easily when she is hungry or sleepy. Have let her try a few foods so far cos she is such a glutton eg. Waffle, corn bread, bun, mushroom, tingkat soup, crab n even fish maw n abalone today.


We did not go to ILs place n my mum's place for reunion dinner today. I cooked the soup (chicken stock with fishballs, fish maw, prawns, scallops, mushrooms, vegetables) while hubby cut the abalone. Simple 2 dish reunion dinner for us. Hope that we will 年年有余,代代平安,哈哈(虾虾)大笑 this whole year.