Perth 2010: Lake Cave

Lake Cave is believed to be the most beautiful cave of Australia. After we bought our tickets and waited for the guided tour, I prepared her by walking her through the gallery about limestones. She seemed enthused.

While waiting and having a cup of coffee in Lake Cave Tearooms, we were very much welcomed by the bush flies. Jiejie got annoyed totally, almost wanted to fight with them. We had a chat with the waiter (or the boss him self?) from the cafe and being introduced the Australian wave to sway the flies.

She was pleased then... until the tour started. With a walk through a wooden staircase of 350 steps to access to the bottom of the doline, she began to look unpleasant...

Once we were in the doline, the tour guide gave us the history, geology, and the "Do and Don't" about the Cave. Inside the cave is huge cave lake which is crossed on wooden planks with a handrail on one side.

Lake Cave is famous for its treasured formation, the "Suspended Table".

Different lights show different beauties and we gets a taste of sitting in the underground darkness.

What did I learn? Stalactites and Stalagmites.

and straw too

By the end of the tour, timid Jiejie can't wait to get out of the darkness.

It was very cooling inside the doline. I didn't feel too exhausted to climb the staircase up. Little Bomber was dozing away throughout the tour... gave me such a good time to enjoy the tour.

It was great to have a work out and an informative visit at the same time.

Perth 2010: where we stay in MR

Judging from the pictures, I liked what i saw most in Stayz Holiday... but was really indecisive and spoiled by choices. Knowing that we have 2 elderly (with a special need on sight problem to take care of) and 2 kiddos, the room configuration and the ambient of the house/room became the utmost priority to be considering.

After a long browsing and checking, corresponding and few rounds of discussion with SC, I decided and confirmed on Gnarabup Beach House. As Jane replied my email that, "Downstairs - bedroom one has a queen bed, bedroom 2 has 3 singles ( a bunk and a single); Loft/mezzanine area - this is quite spacious but it shares airspace with the kitchen/lounge area and there is a double bed and a single up there...", I thought, we can just occupy the 2 rooms downstairs and skip the loft area. The location of the house is just 10 km away from the town of Margaret River.

The true is, it was the cheapest among all: A$160 per night per house that can fit comfortably 6 adults. [My second choice, which is very style and characteristic showing in the website, was A$310 per night per house]

Jiejie was super thrilled with the house: the verandah, the double volume of the kitchen/lounge space, and staircase. She was particularly very fond of the bunk bed, offered her self to sleep on the top bed while daddy slept below. The verandah was so inviting and made her willingly ate breakfast with daddy every morning (picture above); Not forgetting the big bathtub in the bathroom allowed both sisters had some water fun together! The wood heater that lightened up by daddy every night was an eye opening to her. You can see more on the house through here.

The neighbourhood seems quiet, I guess most of them like us, ain't local, rented a house there and were out every morning and return to the house around 5 or 6 in the afternoon. We did not get to meet the owner of the house. Perhaps they watched us from far. The house was not big, but is a good size for Jiejie to mingle around. It was like vacant for a long time, webby ceiling when you look up, dusty air when light shine in... imagine you are like powdering the sofa once you get up from the seat.. :p (it bothered me a little). Clean bathroom though. Good thing is that it provided a washing machine and we brought our own linen to make our selves comfortable:).

It would be prefect if the house is cleaner. But... somehow, I'm glad that the house wasn't haunted ;p and we checked-out the house peacefully (and little bomber slept through the nights).

Perth 2010: Gnarabup Beach

I reckon this is Gnarabup Beach, in Margaret River. Supposedly, 10 minutes away from where we stay. But... I returned with little bomber after 10 minutes of walk as I could not see the beach any close to where I stopped. Despite the terrain, it was too chill for a baby to join the stroll. It was chill for me. Anyway, it is a beautiful shoreline and some long stretches of white sand. Learnt that, this is an ideal playground for surfers.

We ain't surfers. But it doesn't bore them to appreciating the nature. It became a wonderful opportunity for Jiejie and papa to act and to snap with the nature... wonder what was she pretending.

Many of the pictures taken by SC kind of blur to show the beauty of the nature, but it can tell that she can simply turned a beautiful beachside a fun stage for her imaginative-play; that the daddy and daughter had a remarkable "connection" time together.

While I was glued with little bomber cozily in the house, the weather seemed getting cooler and turning dark. It nerved me when I was waiting the return of them, ha!

Blamed SC for causing hy returned with a runny nose, even though I see the beaming face of my girl.

Perth 2010: Busselton

I didn't snap or record much for the trip. Iphone was idle most of the time. The following pictures are all by SC. I thought that i should enjoying the trip less tense and just attend to my little ones fully. Honestly, this was a good trip for me to learn and survive from a grouchy baby and a curious pre-schooler.

This is our second visit to Perth. Mainly to get away from humid concrete jungle of Singapore as well as to reminisce Jiejie's memories of being far and cold. We have stop travel back to Malaysia by plane ever since SC bought the car. When she knew about our trip to Perth, she once asked, "can we take car to Australia?" Oppss, she has forgotten about aeroplane.

Our destination this time is to visit Margaret River. We stopped half way in Busselton mainly to see the famous Busselton Jetty, even though the Underwater Observatory is closed due to restoration, I just couldn't resist to stop by and have a close look of the picturesque jetty my self. I was intrigued by the simplicity of the blue formed by the sea, skyline and the wooden jetty that stretched nearly up to 2km towards the sea.

When we reached Busselton, it was almost 5pm. We were kind of panic as we know that most business in Australia closed at the dot of 5 (most days). But we were lucky that Sunday, we found Gale Street Motel and Villas which offered a Villa (of 2 bedrooms) at the cost of $170. Ya, I took the risk and did not book the accommodation in advance. It was the 2nd day of the trip, I was a little unconfident that we were able to depart from Perth as kids may need extra time to adjust themselve to the change.

Anyway, we were glad that we drove away from Perth city and reached Busselton, a bit late though. After checked-in, we immediately went to the one and only store which opened until 7pm that day (advised by the Motel receptionist).

While SC's aunt was preparing dinner and I was glued to little bomber, SC took Jiejie to the beach for a stroll and shooting... It was a cold windy evening.

Busselton Jetty is on the doorstep of Gale Street Motel and Villas. We went there after our breakfast and checked-out from the Motel the next morning.

It was breezy, but little Bomber was wearing 4 pieces of clothes, a pair of legging and booties. She was curious but she was tired too... She had a terrible sleepless night, wailed  almost every hour without a clear reason. Yeah, very pitiful. So was the mum!

On the other hand, Jiejie was thrilled when she knew that she had another opportunity to have sand play.

She was happily occupied with the white, infinite ground and her limited tools... plus daddy's tripod.

She was wearing a pair of long pants and 4 pieces of tops too... But I reckon she had a bit of work out, she took off piece by piece slowly.

It has been so long that I forgotten about the blueish part of the nature, the breezy and calm morning...

witnessing a simple joy of a child.

as well as admiring those lucky birds...

Telling my self that I am a blessed girl to have such relaxing morning hanging out by the beach with the family...

The first 50 meter of the jetty is still permitted, so we went to the Interpretive Centre for some souvenirs.

travel tips

If you are intend to bring your child(ren) for a trip, do read from Christie.
Childhood101 given a very thorough list of tips and tricks about traveling with kids, which helped very much on my initial planning. Especially the one reminded me to call SQ for requesting a set of baby food for little bomber. After all, my experience was 3 years ago, my memory is fading...

Christie also given a very comprehensive list on things to pack and go. Skipped the "Sleeping" part, the rest of my list were similar to hers:

Essential:
- passport, valid visa and Re-entry Permit for our case
- family travel insurance [I got ours from Tenet]
- brief trip itinerary, include booked accommodation and car rental detail
- baby stroller and car seat
- pacifier for baby!

Feeding:
- a nursing cover for breastfeeding
- a small bag of cereal plus baby biscuit for baby
- few package of HY's favourite Oreo cookies
Out and About:
- a small bag with: sunblock, body lotion & lip gloss
- sunglasses & hat
- water bottle(s)
- nappies and nappy change kit
- extra clothing & socks for kids
- baby blanket
- sling/baby carrier
- entertainment: soft toy for baby and notepad+colour pencil for HY
Basic First Aid Kit:
- paracetamol
- thermometer
- Johnson and Johnson anti mosquito lotion (just in case...)
- Mopiko, anti itching cream
Electrical and Devices:
covered by SC, mainly camera, phone charger, powerpoint adaptor, even included his laptop! He loaned the Garmin GPS from office to read the map that we downloaded from our friend who stay in Perth now.

We brought the bulky car seat for little Bomber. Mainly to save the money from renting it from the car rental agency. We went to Australia 2 times, and car seat has been in a box and on the plane 2 times. Talking about it, I can't believe that we did and we are going to do it again. I guess it is all SC's effort. His credit, absolutely. He usually weight all our luggage (and the car seat in a box as well) before leaving the house to airport. Just to make sure we are not exceeding the limit of luggage weight to check-in. 

On top of that, I also included a thermal flask and small slow cooker for the purpose to cook & keep baby's porridge. What I have missed was an immersion hand mixer. Instead, I brought my regular steel sieve to make puree.

Another personal advice for travelling with kiddos is that, travel with others. Friends or family who can help to share the burden on handle travel hiccups (if any) or help to divert kid's anxious or meltdown. Afterall, this is first trip for baby Bomber, I thought, with addition members to join us for travelling, firstly, HY will have companions. Secondly, SC and I would not be octopus parents who juggling among baby's whines, HY's curiosity, navigating and sightseeing or meal time. We were considering Perth because SC's aunt and uncle are staying there. SC's aunt is a very thoughtful elderly who cares for kids. She bought extra clothing to keep them warm and she has the right food and tidbits to keep HY munches most of the time; she also borrow snakes and ladders from her friends to keep HY entertained. By the way, she cooked while we were in Busselton/Margaret River and she brought us the nice Chinese restaurants for food (being old Chinese, they prefer rice) in Perth. I basically just need to attend to the anxious baby Bomber, sticky business though.

Seeing the world with the little ones was priceless. Honestly, HY enjoyed the trip tremendously! I enjoyed seeing her beaming from one place to another:). I will dig time to continue writing like i previously did.

getting set...

We will be leaving on a jet plane very soon^^. And I have piles of stuff to pack, a long list of things to strike off and tons of reading to do prior to the trip! On top of these, gotto "fix" hy's asthma which was triggered by the haze 3 weeks ago and xy's sudden fever yesterday.

too many things; too little time. I wonder how do other travel parents plan and execute their itinerary.

Anyway, I guess nothing is impossible if we are so exhilarate and determine. Come to think about the previous trip, it was remarkably fun; it is unforgettable bliss.

So, i continue my last part of preparation...

And getting set to see the world through the eyes of the little ones:).

single handed Saturday

The very first Saturday that I manage the kids outing by my self... as hy has to attend her wushu and piano lesson.SC was off to US that very early morning for his yearly affair...

It was surprisedly "dauntless" for me. Both girls enjoyed the train ride (last ride for hy was in June when we went for Art Garden: Children's Season at the SAM). We arrived HY's wushu class 10 minutes earlier; after handed her to Teacher Ryan, I managed to find a cooling place for my breakfast.

XY was not cranky that morning. She enjoyed her toy and the ambience while i munched my food. It gave me a short moment of sanity somehow...

I stole time to knit and to purl (my long over-due project)... to inhale and exhale; to peep on others and whisper to little Bomber pleasantly.

Soon, she whined... as expected. It was her time to have her breakfast...

As time passed by, little Bomber frowned. Too bored for her to be in the cafe for an hour, I guess.

As time passed by, little Bomber frowned. Too bored for her to be in the cafe for an hour, I guess.

She dozed off when we returned to wushu centre to pick up hy. I adore every facial reaction of hers^^. She continued sleep through hy's piano lesson.

By 12.30pm, we strolled toward the MRT station, but impromptu decision to go back to the cafe and packed 2 slides of cake to praise the day!

It was short but I am grateful to have such a moment of frown-less with the kids. Single handedly outing with the kids was not as bad as I thought.

Thinking of next outing:)...

Missy at 60 months old: wholly good time

SC and I were overwhelming by the children's laugh and quip.

when they read us as their mate;

where one of them told me that,

"I am very busy because I have to go for ballet and Chinese theater class, you know?"'

when one was sitting on SC's lap,

wanting to learn to press the button to snap,

while the other one wanting to be snapped.

I reckon 5 years old is a huge milestone to these young ladies and men.

The birthday celebration began

with the great assistance from Teacher Irene and Liang Lao-shi.

I was just carried little bomber, sang the birthday song,

ate the left over cake from hy and mingled with the children:).

Here is Leroy, the other birthday boy, showing interest into the cupcakes.

Rather than junk food party bag,

cupcakes were ordered and given as a surprise to the children.

she... probably enjoying her self in distributing the cupcakes.

Chirpy girls on cupcakes with different design:

tiara, car, flowers, heart shape, ribbon or bird.

Proud little young man with his cupcake (well, ya. didn't focus correctly)

Party bag from Leroy which I saw beaming faces immediately.

We were as jolly as the children. Really!

credit: stamp frame from "tout simplement" by Elisabeth MEY