Topics to blog about:

- May Day

- Parking at junction

- Uncle Jianfeng

- iPhone

- Santa claus

- Pluto/Chip & Dale / Cinderella / 3 blind mouseketeers

- love of mayo

We had lunch at Old Airport Road Hawker Centre and then proceeded to the hotel at about 2pm.  We managed to check in promptly and earlier than the stipulated check in time of 3pm.  After Gong Gong arrived (he went to Comex first), we proceeded to the Sky Park.  The view of Singapore city line was breathtaking.  After having enough of the view at Sky Park, Daddy and Megan went for a swim.  Megan missed her daily nap as there was too much to do.

After the swim and wash up, we took a bus to Marina Square for dinner at Kenny Rogers.  Megan insisted on taking the upper deck of the double decker bus we took.  After dinner, Gong Gong and Po Po left for home.  We gave Megan a choice of whether to walk back to the hotel or to take a cab.  She chose the cab even though she initially wanted to take a double decker bus again.

We went up to the Sky Park again to admire the night scenery.  It was even lovelier than the day view.  Megan also got a balloon flower from the balloon sculptor.  After that, we had an early night.

When we woke up, Megan requested to go swimming again.  Unfortunately, we had to check out early to make it for Megan’s ballet class.  Megan accepted our explanation but requested that we come back to the hotel after ballet!  Another time, dear…..

When we asked her whether she wanted to see NDP fireworks, she declined and said that she wanted to hide in her room (she was frightened by fire crackers in Kukup).  Since the next day is a working day, we decided to watch the NDP from the comfort of our home.  We ordered Pasta Mania in for dinner.

Megan enjoyed the first part with the marching contingents and requested for more soldiers marching during the show segment.  She also stood ramrod straight while singing the National Anthem.

During the show segment, when Taufik Batisah started singing “We have a vision for tomorrow”, Megan dropped what she was playing with and rushed in front of the TV and sang, “Just believe, just believe”.  Taufik continued “We have a goal for Singapore”.  Megan went, “This uncle sing not nice” and went back to play with her toys.  Megan’s timing was impeccable and Daddy and I couldn’t stop laughing.  Perhaps it was the remix version that did not strike a chord with our little girl.  Kit Chan sang Home to close the parade.  Megan once again rushed in front of the TV to watch.  When I asked her whether she sang well, Megan replied, “This 姐姐sing very nice.  That uncle sing not nice.”

Apparently Megan has learnt the ABNN phrase from her classmate.  The first time she disclosed it to us, she whispered it to us and followed with a loud roaring laughter.  Sigh.

Our flight on 28 Jul was a night one.  Daddy had to collect Megan from school and then Mummy from work.  We then rushed home and gave Megan a shower and we were ready to go!  After a 1.5 hours flight and a 45 min land transfer, we arrived at the Avista Resort & Spa, Phuket near Kata Beach.  As usual, it was a good choice by Daddy!  On arrival, we were presented with mini flower garlands and a welcome drink.  Megan also got a key chain.  She was delighted with her gifts and unexpectedly enjoyed the welcome drink.  Once the administrative stuff was settled, we were off to check out the room.  While Daddy and Mummy were busy trying to take photos of the room before it was messed up, Megan went around exploring.

We woke up to a rainy Thursday morning.  After breakfast, Daddy and Mummy mulled over our programme for the day (since it was rainy).  As the rain has stopped, we decided to just go ahead with elephant “trekking” which is actually a 40 min ride on an elephant up a hill.  It was quite an experience.  Mummy is initially quite worried about getting a little seasick as the elephant swayed left and right, up and down.  After a short distance, we got used to the ride and it was quite enjoyable.  Shortly after, we reached the highest point of our ride and the keeper helped to take photos of us on our mount.  The way down was quite scary for Mummy as I struggled to hang on for dear life.  For some reason, I keep sliding off the seat (the seat belt is just a rope across the seat).  On disembarkation, Megan and Daddy fed bananas to the elephants.  The elephant left some mucus on Megan’s hand while she was feeding it.  She didn’t like it and didn’t want to continue with the feeding.  We then went to Kata centre where we had our lunch stop.  After lunch, we took a long walk back to our resort.  We then went for a short swim and napped after that.  After our nap, we made our way to JungCeylon which is a major shopping centre at the Patong area.  There is some laser show at the fountain.  Within a minute, Megan was requesting to leave.  She didn’t like the loud sound (though it really wasn’t that loud).  We had braised pork leg with rice for dinner at the food court.  Thank goodness Megan enjoyed it a lot and asked for seconds of both the rice and the meat.  After dinner, we walked around the stalls as Mummy wanted to buy a bikini and a cover up.  In then end, I bought only a cover up for the next day.  We then walked down the happening Bang La Road which was a riot of neon lights, music, go-go bars, street vendors and people.  It is a pedestrian mall and Megan gamely walked with us without any complaints at all.  We didn’t want to stay too late as we have an early day the next day.

We went island hopping on Friday.  After much mulling, we finally decided on a speedboat trip, vs a ferry one.  We had to wake up at 6+, in time for a quick brekkie and then the pick up at 7.45am.  It was sunny and I was hopeful that we will have a good day.  Our speedboat carried about 35 tourists in all.  The tour operator offered seasick pills and I got a little worried, especially for Megan.  Our first stop was Maya Bay (The Beach) at Phi Phi Ley which we reached after 1 hour from Phuket mainland.  It was totally overrun by tourists!  I likened us to refugees.  Megan was happy playing with the water and was also adventurous enough that she wanted to explore the area behind the beach, even leading the way.  Unfortunately, the clouds darkened and rain fell.  From Maya Bay, we set off for some sightseeing around Phi Phi Ley… Phi Ley Cove, Viking Cave and Monkey Beach.  The monkeys were quite entertaining with their natural antics as they scrambled for bananas given by another boat.  A little monkey walking gingerly and another swimming with a banana in its mouth were some of the adorable stunts.  We then proceeded to a snorkelling spot near Monkey Beach.  We fitted Megan with the smallest life vest available and sent her down with Daddy first.  She seemed to enjoy it initially but that soon turned to panic as she ingested some sea water.  We brought her up immediately and I kept her company watching the activities from the boat.  We then proceeded to “Long” Island for lunch.  Thereafter, we set off for Khai Island where we disembarked.  The water was clear and the sand was fine white powder.  However, it was also overran by tourists.  We waded into the water for a closer look at the fishes.  Megan, following her panic in the sea earlier, was adamant not to go into the water this time.  The skies opened again and we boarded another speedboat (as the original one had 1 engine down) back to Phuket.  The canopy was quite useless and we had water raining down on us for the trip back.  We used the towels to cover our heads and looked all pathetic.  Nevertheless, I enjoyed the experience.  Fortunately, all 3 of us held up well and didn’t get seasick during the trip.  Megan was also an angel (for the most part).  After this long day out at sea, we had a quick dinner and then an early night.

We woke up to a sunny Saturday, our last day in Phuket.  We had breakfast and walked down to Kata Beach.  It was beautiful!  After playing around for a little while, we decided to go back to the resort to change into our swim suits so that we can cavort more on the beach.  We hired a tuk tuk back and forth.  We spent a few wonderful hours lazing at the beach.   What’s not to love with the soft sand and clear turquoise waters?  I also enjoyed sharing the experience of playing in the water and catching the waves with Megan.  Megan enjoyed it so much that she was plonking herself down on the sand any opportunity she got and requesting to stand on her own while catching the waves.  She protested a little when we informed her that it was time to go.  We had to offer to adjourn to the swimming pool before she was willing to leave.  We spent another hour or so at the pool, had lunch and then had a mad rush to wash up and pack up to make it to the airport in time.

I enjoyed Phuket tremendously and believe we will be back more often.

Megan: Mummy, marry me.

Mummy: I have already married Daddy.

Megan: Then Daddy will marry me.

Mummy: But Daddy has already married me.  He can only marry 1 person.

Megan: Then Gong Gong will marry me.

Mummy: Gong Gong has already married Po Po.

Megan: Then Po Po will marry me.

Mummy: But Po Po has married Gong Gong.

Megan: Then who will I marry?

Mummy: You have to wait for your Prince Charming to come when you are bigger….

Megan: Daddy is my Prince Charming.

Mummy: Daddy is mine.

Megan: Mummy, get me a bigger dress (think she is referring to a wedding gown).  My Prince Charming is coming…

“Ride a cockhorse to Banbury Cross, with rings on her fingers and bells on her toes, she will have music wherever she goes”

Now Megan sings very frequently.  Usually she sings her princess songs with “Just Around the River Bend” being the favourite choice of song.  However, her pronunciation is still suspect and we sometimes have no idea what she is singing about.

We bumped into Megan’s classmate Hiu Thong and her mum in the toilet.  The girls were rather happy to see each other.

On another trip to the toilet after that, we realised that another of Megan’s classmate Nicottle is there with Hiu Thong.  Now the girls were thrilled to see each other there.  Hiu Thong and Nicottle then started attacking Megan by tickling her.  Megan was laughing and struggling so much that I was struggling myself to keep Megan on her feet in a dirty toilet.  They told me that they are tickling Megan because Megan is scared of tickle.  We followed them back to their table and they kept tickling Megan until I could bear her weight no longer.  We said our goodbyes.

After we went back to our table, Megan requested to look for them again.  I delegated the task to Daddy as it was a physical task.  When he brought her to them, they attacked her again.  After that, Megan admitted that she likes them to tickle her.

The girls are so adorable.  Hope they keep on enjoying each other’s company in the next 2.5 years of nursery/kindergarten.

She would tell us that she wants to go Penang.. she wants to go to the Big House (Kukup)… she wants to go on durian trip…

She even said, “Tomorrow no school.  I need a holiday.  Let’s take aeroplane to Penang.”

Gosh, girl… you really know how to enjoy life  :)

We had 2 celebrations for her… one in school and another one with Gong Gong and Po Po.

For the school celebrations, we prepared goody bags for her friends.  Megan was also very generous.  She kept saying that she wants to buy lots of things for her friends.  We bought her a Snow White cake from Bengawan Solo.

For the home celebration, we bought her a Patissier Strawberry Shortcake but she didn’t really like it.

Megan is now wary of fire after her fireworks burn.  She turns away when we lighted the candle.  Her friends even made fun of her (a little) about it and Mummy has to explain that it is ok to be careful of fire.