Kota Kinabalu: Blue Sea, White River and Green Rainforest

We just came back from a trip to Kota Kinabalu (KK). The trip meant to be outdoor exploratory, adventurous, and risky, absolutely not like any other holiday trip that we made to before. The trip recruited young explorers as low as 5 years old. It was first time for our urbanised children to get so close to and cherishing the nature, so we were prepared to be a lot more patience, to coax and distract the worry little minds while enjoying ourselves tremendously.

This was also a trip that I did very little in terms of planning. CS, my friend did all the necessary bookings and planning prior to the trip. In essence, the trip consisted of snorkeling, water rafting and jungle trekking.

Day 1: Snorkeling, Sapi Island

According to YS, another friend joined us this trip, island hopping may be tiring and meaningless considering young children of ours. Leisurely spent half a day for snorkelling at the shore of Sapi Island was enough for them to have the optimum fun of the sea and the beach.

Our First Archifest: ArKIDecture X Exhale | Children Workshop

Have you ever correlate the human body system with the complex building system? Such as circulation and respiration systems in our body versus a building structure and... if it breaths. This morning, the girls and I attended an arKIDecture workshop to learn the concept of a breathable building. We were lucky to be able get the ticket for this event in Archifest, as there was very limited tickets up for grab. Here, must thank Sarah for the alert!

ArKIDecture X Exhale | Children Workshop: The Breathable City Design : Breathable Buildings.

Love that we were in the space that was walled and sheltered with rainbow-scaffolding.

Kaohsiung: The Pier-2 Art Center

From Takao Railway Museum, you can also come to the Pier-2 Art Center - one that was transformed from a disused dockside warehouse. It was abandoned and faded away of its original purpose until a group of persistent artist who injected waves of creativity and inspiration into the spaces. The Pier-2 was then released and reborn and became a huge attraction to the local and tourist to enjoy fine art, contemporary art, to explore and to contemplate.  

We were half-recharged from Old Yancheng District and were not sure to call it a day or to continue our exploratory. The girls were pretty much up to their max, in term of exhaustion: from morning to almost evening, from the hotel in Gushan to Fengshan to Yancheng, almost equivalent to from the north to the east and the west of Kaohsiung. But since we could pick a route passing by Pier-2 to get a train back to hotel, why not? We pushed our limit and encouraged the girls too- to strike off the very last to-go-place for the day.

Kaohsiung: 書店喫茶 一二三亭(ヒフミテイ)

I wanted to visit one very peculiar cafe that I learnt from Selena, the writer.  So, from the Takao Railway Museum, we walked into the old Yancheng District of Kaohsiung. This part of Kaohsiung was modernized during the Japanese colonial period and many of which were still remain the same as old days. As it's very close to the harbour, as we walked, we saw some business very much related to shipping. 

With the address in hand, this particular cafe was not too difficult to be found, among the rows of old and new buildings. Once saw this very outstanding signage of "Takao Artistry Warehouse(打狗港都文化艺术仓库)", and an enlarged black and white photo of the above, with a cut-out in the middle hung on the wall, we had arrived!

However, as the entrance was kind of set-back from the building front and the cafe sign was humble to be seen, it would be missed.

Kaohsiung: Takao Railway Museum

Do you know that Kaohsiung was called Takao (打狗)? I didn't. After visited Takao Railway Museum, I learnt that, Kaohsiung was a small fishing village named Takao, meaning "bamboo forest" in local aboriginal name. The name was changed to Kaohsiung by the Japaneses, which was also pronounced "Takao" in Japanese, as they found the name of ta-kao (beating the dog)  to be vulgar.

The main building of the railway station was kept intact- the open counter, the maps and train schedule on the wall, the desks and the chairs of the workers, the stationery, the blackboard with white chalk, the waiting benches... (can see more from here)

And I thought, the museum was just the station building.

Kaohsiung: Fongyi Academy

I first learnt about this place was from a well-known Writer- Selena, through her blog. It was a place after years of restoration and renovation to retain and repair the Academy's origin and uniqueness. Those funny figures scattered around the Academy sure attracted me to put it into our itinerary. Good place to introduce a brief history of the ancient Chinese Education and its civil examination system to the girls, I thought.

First built in 1814, the 19th year of Qing emperor Jiaqing (嘉慶), the Fongyi Academy is considered a third-grade heritage site. It has 37 rooms and the academy's internal altars, as well as desks and chairs; it was a place where prospective examinees took the initial exams and the largest Confucian academy preserved in Taiwan. (source)

Grateful

1.

This is part of the daddy's reporting since the beginning of the year, letting me know of Little Bomber's behave in the morning when he sent her to childcare center. I've resume full time working scheme and no longer able to do the sending-the-kids-to-school, witness their (either) cheeky face or grumpy face, give a hug and bid goodbye. But the daddy did one little but brilliant initiative by reporting the situation via WA (What’s App) message, almost everyday. In a line or two, he would shared with me his joy if Bomber didn't bomb him, or his achievement of handling an outburst. Sometime, I felt my presence with them and mentioned the morning incident unconciously during our dinner chatting, and Bomber would asked, "how did you know? You were not there?" Hmmm... 

She later realised that the WA conversation (between mummy and daddy) in daddy's phone containing many of her mornings' picture...

Bangkok: Eat and Shop

This was an impromptu trip. As in we were chatting about shopping and then decided to make a weekend trip to Bangkok 3 weeks prior.

Departure on Friday after work and return on Sunday night. Practically, we only had 1 full day in Bangkok. So, it was just SHOP [verb: visit one or more shops to buy goods.]

Though it was only the three of us. (Previous trip had more friends joined)

Carrbridge, The Kitchen and Carr-Bridge

On the last day of our amazing adventure in Scotland. we continued our journey, via A9 down south from Drumnadrochit/Inverness. It was a beautiful sunny day, we needed to head back to Edinburgh to catch our sleeper train back to London.

After an hour drive, I thought we were bypassing an ordinary quiet town and will be picking a regular cafe for a brunch. The town itself has an unique name- Carrbridge, the cafe that we walked into had a very common name on its front wall- The Kitchen.

Chinese Glutinous Rice Dumpling (II)

I had it last year. I am having it again this year. 

This time, coincide with our trip home, I sought my mum's consensus to do it together, to rejoice our good old family tradition. I also thought, perhaps I can show off a little of my matured skill of rice dumpling wrapping.

Pezzo and Club Rainbow Children Broke Record of the Largest Dessert Pizza for Good Cause

Last week, Pezzo Pizza and 70 children from Club Rainbow (Singapore) came together to create the largest yummylicious dessert pizza in Singapore at NUS Sheares Hall, which have made them earned an entry in the Singapore Book of Records. I was late, due to work, missed the historical moment. However, I felt the jolly atmosphere from the event. I think the kids were not just had fun, they were proud of achieving the local record-breaking pizza.

And this is to give a shout-out for a good cause.

Named Club Rainbow pizza, the pizza is topped with everyone’s favourite cocoa spread, Nutella chocolate as well as caramelised bananas and marshmallows, and then finished with heart-shaped sprinkles. In support of Club Rainbow Charity, Pezzo Pizza is making this pizza available for sale as well. One slice of the Club Rainbow Pizza goes at S$4.90; three slices at S$12.90 and a full pan at S$24.90. Part of the sales proceeds of the Club Rainbow Pizza will be donated to Club Rainbow, offsetting expenses it incurs from helping children with various chronic and life-threatening illnesses.

Review: Zno's Layflat Book

I like to do photo album, digitally or not. The process of browsing and handpicking photos, attempting to layout the pages chronologically and flipping through the pages back and forth is therapeutic. And the outcome of the hard work is... pleasing, because of the achievement of memory-calling and collating sets of photos into a book. 

When I chanced upon Zno, I decided to try my hands in making the Layflat book. I was drawn to its thick pages of high quality printing. The pages of the book are not just done on conventional paper quality, but it mounted on thick inner substrate with silver halide photo paper, which gives the book an excellent premier characters. The uniqueness of no bulging and no gutting when layflat is another special feature. Think grand and once-in-one's-life-time high quality wedding album, but in smaller and manageable scale. What's more, the special offer - $5 Trial was very attractive. 

The special offer is not just for its premium flush mount photo album but also wood custom photo frame and canvas print.

Eligibility: 1 trial item per household/account;

Note: Shipping & tax (if any) not included.

Here, I am sharing some tips of making a layflat book via Zno.

Bukit Timah Nature Reserve

We were late, in getting up from bed and out from house and breakfast on the replacement holiday of Labour Day. Yet, at 11am, Bukit Timah Nature Reserve was not too hot for a late morning trekking and mountain biking. Naturally, the microclimate of the forest is lower and the layers of green filters the sun penetration directly to the ground.

This time, from the car park at Hindhede Road, we randomly picked the nearest trail which led us to a Quarry, and a very fun playground. Swings, obstacle course, flying fox, climbing trees, etc. One part of the playground was cordoned off though. 

Not too far from the playground, there was a short hanging rope bridge for trekkers to cross. The girls were extremely thrilled with themselves conquering the fear of crossing the swaying rope bridge.

Edinburgh: The Elephant House

Right before we head to National Museum of Scotland, we stumbled upon the Elephant House- the birthplace of Harry Potter. Even we were not sure from far, it was confirmed when we approached closer to the cafe frontage, in English and Chinese! We went in and had an impromptu brunch here.

When J. K. Rowling was writing her series of Harry Potter at the beginning, she was in a needy stage, that she found it cheaper to buy a cup of coffee and wrote in the cafe the whole day than paying heater bill at home. 

Legoland @ Windsor Resort

Usually, Legoland @ Windsor has special offer if you book through its website in advance. When I decided to squeeze one day for spoiling the girls with Legoland fun, I popped over to the website to do a budget calculation. At that time, it was April/May and 25% discount was offered to any advance booking for Summer season.

Published Gate Price on the day for 1 adult: £48.00 / 1 child: £43.80 

I remember clearly that, if I went ahead with the tickets booking of 2 Adults and 2 Children, I would get an after-discount price of £137.70 for a family of 4 like us.

Very expensive, still!

I pondered for a long while. 

KK, a very old friend of SC who is now residing in London, recommended us London 2for1 attractions, with the requirement that, we need to travel by train to Windsor. Why? Simply because it is an offer by National Rail and ATOC.

There are many 2for1 Offer via National Rail to attractions in and around London, by the way.

And so, we traveled by train and retain the train tickets, then present the train tickets upon purchasing the park tickets at the counter of Legoland Park @ Windsor. To make sure we did the right thing from the very beginning, we asked at Hackbridge Station, upon our departure, if the train tickets are valid for the 2for1 Offer. [Note: Any National Rail train ticket is applicable for the 2for1 Offer]

The train (from Hackbridge) took us to Claphan Junction, then we changed to another platform for another train to Windsor & Eton Riverside Station. The girls were very excited and looked forward to another Legoland fun. The journey was bit long though, 2 hours plus waiting time and we left our lodging late. As it was out last day in London, the girls enjoyed the scenery with more green and less building outside the train, didn't complain a word. Lastly, we took shuttle bus directly to the Legoland Park. [Note, don't doze off during the bus ride, it will pass by Windsor Castle and the town]

Scotland: RedBurn Cafe

During our road trip in Scotland, we took our chances in getting a pit-stop. I didn't do much research and decide ahead where to stop for a short break from the car ride. Despite the idyllic scenery along the way, there were many places for drivers/travelers to pull over. Some gave us good experience, some not so. For example, stopping by Eilean Donan Castle was because of the need for toilet and coffee, lest on the Castle;p. And it was a great surprise.

However, stopping by Tyndrum (from Callander to Fort William) for the big sign of "Best Fish & Chips" at The Real Food gave me stomach-churning memory. SC and I didn't like the over-oily battered fish. Big Girl didn't have any issue though (Little Bomber slept through and skipped the meal). Of course, there were also times we wanted to stop, but because of the idleness of the premise, we drove further and took longer time to find our pit-stop, especially in Isle of Skye. The girls were bored and hungry.

So, be prepared with some finger food in car, if you need to.

Redburn Cafe was kind of fall into our lap, during our drive from Skye to Inverness. It was another long drive after checked-out from Broadford Youth Hostel in Skye and everyone seemed need a toilet break.

I remember there was a huge sign of the cafe along the Road attracted us, the red facade of the little house gave me homely feeling pulled my attention more. Once our car drove close to the cafe, we were intrigued by the pockets of green mushrooming on the roof.

Sewing Big

Making conventional shield to a mattress was one thing that I never think i would do. But, there was an opportunity came by and I took it up by burning my nights to figure out the complexity... isn't that complex eventually.

Feb 2016: It's My Party!

A party, just for her. 

Credit: Template from Sahlin Studio; TaylorMade Designs, AmeliaScrap, It's my party....
Photos taken by a dear friend, SY.

HAPPY Birthday, Darling.

Inverness, in Brief...

Inverness is often called the capital of the Highlands, Scotland. It is an ancient settlement, even before Medieval began. 

My husband and I fell in love with this place, charming and peaceful, urbanised yet low density, conserving the historical structures and beautiful riverside with green and breeze. Despite its cold weather, we spent a great afternoon wandering the city. Small part though, as we enjoyed ourselves very much that we’ve forgotten about time passed us by too quickly.

We parked our car in Eastgate Shopping Centre, had our quick lunch and thought, walk the city randomly- without any firm plan in mind.