traveling

Few days ago, hubby was asking me why didn't we travel yet this year? He said Portugal is a beautiful place that he'd love to go again. Coincidentally, the Lisbon Tourism Office has invited some Asian media influencers to promote Lisbon and it reminisces our memories in Lisbon and Porto.  Xuan and Cheng upon hearing our conversation chipped in they want to go to somewhere cold, so Budapest is the best because they get to experience overnight train and the weather is perfect (it's nowhere perfect. Instead it was freezing cold but the kids love it). Apparently they forgot that we have used up our quota for this year. Last year was a crazy one that we went to Tokyo, Bali and Eastern Europe. This year we have covered parts of Italy and Slovenia. Spending quality time with family is the best thing in life. Cherish every moment we have.

Slovenia

We got back from our trip in Italy and Slovenia with good friends and it was a wonderful vacation. Although stressful with kids, we still very much look forward to a break as such for family bonding. Slovenia is unassumingly beautiful, clean, safe and not overcrowded. We could have stayed longer given the weather there. Hubby's colleague shared that it's only a few hours drive from Munich and Slovenia is full of tourists, mostly from Germany. We do not know if we ever have a chance to go back there again. But I will just say that I have ticked this off the places I want to go, so proud of myself that we made this choice despite many transfers to reach the destination with so many children in tow. Been there, done that!! The only thing that I hope I could have changed is, to go there earlier because it got really warm when we reached Milan and Summer is real!! The next time we go, we should consider mid spring or autumn. hahaha!!

speechless yet confused

My bro in law hosted a BBQ party for us during our visit to Singapore two years ago. Then my bro and he decided to have some beers and chill by the jacuzzi pool right in front of the yard. Xuan is very impressed, perhaps at the chillaxing moments they had and still talks about it even now. I think he secretly wishes he could join them when he is big.

Now, here is the dilemma. Hubby has been telling the boys that drinking is not good for health. But he is also mindful of his words that the kids might misunderstand him and convey wrong messages to people around us like my siblings without our presence. The boys are confused because when the father says drinking is no good, they will argue that their big uncle and Uncle Billy drink too, so do their aunties, Uncle Chee Wen and Wee Lium Koko. Ya, sometimes my parents even siblings joke among ourselves and call each other by name, 酒鬼 jokingly.

Xuan asked the father if drinking beers by that sense is allowed? Hubby cant say no to Xuan so he admits that he too drinks when he is out with his colleagues especially on business trips in Germany because they dont drink plain water.

Parenthood is always a dilemma, leaving the kids and even adults speechless. Yet confused.

During our trip to Eastern Europe last year, we were on a transit in Kosice, Slovakia. It is a beautiful medieval town despite freezing cold weather. The train station somehow was packed. And we saw a lot of gypsie-look people who kept staring at us and coming to us for money.

We were intimidated. So we sat at the waiting room. There was one blond hair lady sitting next to us, working on her laptop. We felt at ease with her, people came and went. A young man came in and asked us for money. He got an earful from this lady, we didn’t exactly understand what she said but from her tone of language, it wasn’t something nice. So the young man left.

We took this opportunity to tell the kids that there is no free lunch in this world and nothing comes free. We must work hard for what we want instead of getting free money. The boys said, I think mei mei will be a beggar when she is big because she has been asking around for things she wants. We must stop her bad habit.

Hubby and I looked at each other, speechless.

We could never relate begging with their poor little sister. But she is very persistent in getting things done in her very own way....

麦当劳

传说世上最美丽的麦当劳是在波尔多，我们不经意的打卡去，却又没有什么照片留念。只记得隔壁的一班年轻小子很友善。后来又听说最美的在布达佩斯，这一次我们再忙也要抽空去看了一下，顺便坐下来解决午餐。这里的设计果然很有意思！

Getting older

Feeling funny, emo and old looking at these pics. You are growing up too fast!! 

想家吗？

布达佩斯真置金秋时节。公园里一望无际的金黄色，美丽如画。这座城市充满活力，不愧是东欧的巴黎。只是天气太冷了，我都不想呆在屋外。这一趟旅行，问了孩子以后想不想在外念书、工作等。看起来奕炫最想家。他说他选马来西亚，还要跟我们一起住。我说好吧，等你们大了，各自长翅高飞，请许我和爸爸一点空间，让我们去走走透气。他说好，他会请假陪我们。弟弟说他会选择扎科帕内，因为他喜欢那里会下雪。我问，那你不想我们了吗？他说，不想了，你跟爸爸老了，应该不会在人世了，所以我住扎科帕内，没有牵挂。

波兰：低调的华丽

从布达佩斯搭夜车到克拉科夫，2天2夜在这老城里，我和老公竟然觉得时间很不够用。真的还没好好沉浸在这老旧和忧伤的世界里，我们就往下一站去。来到了扎科帕内，这个波兰的冬季首都，我们趁着阳光明媚，去了一趟海洋之眼。第二天，老天不负小瓜们的请求，下了一场雪，白雪纷飞，小瓜们玩得很兴奋。还要把雪团装在盒子里，带回房间。只是妹妹还小，不知道玩雪的乐趣。这一趟波兰之旅应该告一段落，下一次，如果还有下一次，应该会很遥远。

海洋之眼

终于来到了这个华尔街日报称世界必访美丽之湖之一，不能说是此生无憾，湖泊没有想像中的大，倒是跟孩子下山的经验让我毕生难忘。其实付了不少的钱上了马车，一路上山往湖泊去，然后还要走一小段路才能抵达海洋之眼。路程中，我们都愧疚于那两匹马载着一班很有重量的游客登山，所以誓要带着小瓜爮着下山也不上马车。赏了湖，太阳公公就躲起来了，只看见湖泊还有雪山被浓雾笼罩，呈现一种朦胧的美。扎科帕内的秋末初冬，湖面还没结成冰，所以今年的秋天不算太冷。我倒想赞那两个瓜跟我们一起走下山，应该是8-9公里的路，用上1小时的时间，是天亮走到天黑都不发牢骚，所以真的是超棒！所以生气时，跟他们说的气话，下次我跟daddy来就好了，暂时用不着。

travel books

Finally completed our travel book of 2017. I have a habit of making our travel memories into a book, and because going to Europe is always my big travel of the year, I make it into hardcover to remember the memories I have with kids. My kids love traveling just like me, but I think they enjoy long-haul flights more than the scenery. This year, we have no places to go. Put a stop to Europe, like finally!

我写巴黎

第3次来到这个城市，都是秋天，它还是一样美丽动人。秋天的巴黎，天气渐冷，人潮却不见得冷清，旅人比起5年前更多了很多。巴黎人比10年前友善，富有人情，更愿意以英语沟通。虽然变得繁杂了，风景依旧。除了铁塔，值得留恋的应该是巴黎人的生活。关于巴黎，知道的都是两个极端的说法，一是治安败坏、罪案猖獗、街道肮脏、充满尿骚味的地方，二就是浪漫、富有浓厚文化、艺术气息的城市。所谓的浪漫之都，是好多人向往的世界名胜地。还没有机会走出优雅的巴黎，我已经遗憾当初的北法之旅没有成行，却又对南法充满憧憬。世界真的很大！

The boys on the go

This just shows how much my kids love taking planes because they get to watch movies and play games during the flight. They have so much fun flying and always look forward to going places. Our flight out of Paris back home was 2230 hour and they were supposed to sleep few hours later after we were onboard. But the boys refused until the father forced them to. Cheng was sulky because he wanted to finish his favourite movies, The Boss Baby and Lego despite they had been watching for numerous times. Before they got into their seats, we walked past the business class cabin and they were in awe with it. “Wow, wow, wow...,” was all they said and we could only smile at the passengers sitting there. They really know how to enjoy life at this young age. After our trip, they will tell me how much they miss taking planes. I just rolled my eyes when they asked me if there is in-flight entertainment on the journey to go back to Kelantan. Well, I booked an budget airline and there won’t even be any meals. 

personal shopper

I did not tell the world that I was going to Paris, the city of love or a shopping heaven for luxury stuffs. But I made offers to some close friends if they wanted to get some designer items because women just can’t resist it. Now that I have paid so much airport taxes for the tickets which I myself am not a shopping person, they are actually riding on me to get the things they want with the refund. I dread the moment when the credit card bill arrives and I have to ask for money. Some are kind that they offer me to keep the refund, again as a friend, how could I do that? It saddens me that while I value the friendship hence the offer to buy for them, some can be so calculative by paying me the exact amount downright to each single sen. Money does matter. Some thought they should just pay me by following the exchange rate they see in the internet, forgetting that transaction via credit card is higher. While I didn’t make a single sen out of the deal, I took some time off to get the things they wanted which at the same time I sacrificed my time with family to explore the cities. I spent on public transport for my family and to make things worse, my credit card got blocked so I had to make a call to ask the bank to unblock. I can’t help thinking that why some can be so hard on me. So I understand why my sis only opted to buy for her really close friends during her flying days because some people have no common sense as such.

Well just a rant!!

Jetlag

We have been traveling quite a bit with kids and I would say the kids handle jetlag way better than us adults. Unfortunately, I may have to change my statement. While everyone was asleep last night, baby XY was up and talking to herself. She kept asking for milk and didn’t want to stop. The father then took over and pat her to sleep. I didn’t realise when but eventually she did. I’m surprised that a baby like her still got jetlag. I guess it doesn’t help that I chose to touch down at night so that we can get rid of the jetlag faster. In fact my family (except youngest sis) is all here to wait for the grand arrival of my nephew. So big sis and hubby came to pick us at the airport. Upon reaching home and unpacking, we thought we would hit the sack sooner. But we decided to enjoy the instant noodles. Yesterday my kids got up at 1330 hour. Today I got up at 1045 hour while the rest are still sleeping. I hope this gets better despite me falling sick! This holiday is tiring that I feel shivers since the day we departed Paris to leave for home. I guess my body has been overworked and lacking the water intake. I better get fit soon!! Now I’m worried that I can’t wake up on time to go work tomorrow!

Porto

波多真的是坡多。走没几步路就要上斜坡，斜度还真有点像首尔， 这石子路给人的感觉又是不一样的画面。OK啦， 就像布拉格好吗，只是多了份热情。我们也太喜欢这地方了，风景优美，老城区极有特色。昨天一步一步爬上路易一世大桥，夕阳斜照，脸上自然又冒出了几个黑斑， 还好秋风阵阵，值得值得。今天我们都要好好的跟这城市道别， 下一次再回来应该是好多年后的事了。还有两个晚上，这个美丽的假期就结束了，伤心难过之余，是时候收拾心情回家！

Underrated Portugal

Unlike many other European cities, Portugal is probably underrated and always gets neglected by the Asians. Despite we were conned by the taxi driver when we first reached here (we paid €6 more for our ride from the airport to hotel. And instead of giving us the balance of €2, he returned 2*€0.50), this country really took us by surprise in many ways. It's so so so beautiful that 6 days is just not enough to cover Lisbon and Porto. If one has visited enough major European cities, I say, Portugal is just so well recommended and worth a visit! We feel safe walking around the cities but be prepared that it's flocked by tourists from neighbouring countries. The cities say "mass tourism kills Portugal" tells us that their folks have been much affected by the tourists. Traveling with 3 kids in tow, we take longer to cover all those places and it's already an excellent achievement we walk from the morning till night! Tiring it is, but everyone loves it. Yesterday, when we were taking a stroll in Porto, hubby said, this place is so stunning that we should come back few years later. He hardly mentions that he will revisit a place but he is giving Porto an exception! And we didn't have time to visit Coimbra too. 

I love this, “都说了从来没有不留遗憾的旅行，留点遗憾才让我们去弥补未完成的那一块。” So this probably motivates us to go places again next time! 

Paris after 5 years!!

It's a mixture of feelings coming to Paris! It has been 5 years since we last came here! Xuan was merely one year old back then and today our not-so-small family has grown to 5! We were relieved that the kids were behaved throughout the flights, even baby XY! Her first trip ever in Europe and we both agreed that we can take her out more often in future because she has been excited, although she refused to sleep. Looking at her sleeping in bassinet, hubby was beaming with joy that it felt like yesterday when Xuan was sleeping inside, then Cheng and now XY! Traveling with kids makes us become more approachable that strangers tend to start a conversation with us. So we were told to treasure these moments more when the kids want us so much, before they lock themselves in the room to play games or chat with friends. Time really flies and those parents miss those moments! Tell me about it right, I get annoyed when my kids keep asking and looking for me. But they grow up so fast. We even feel that XY has grown up overnight in this 14-15 hours of journey.

I have been sharing with my friends that the most favourable season I wished to travel in Europe was between September and October where the weather is getting chilly and we are not required to layer ourselves up. I have OCD for packing my luggage and can't seem to bring everything. But my job doesn't allow me to take leave for holiday during the period so I have never been away. This year I read that autumn came early, I thought the weather would be very cold when it was my turn to fly. So I got the kids some thermal wear prior to our departure. Surprisingly, it's not!! The weather here is just so lovely that we only put on a thin jacket when we are out. But kids being kids, Cheng thought it would snow later and hoped he got to feel the snow again. My friend who resides in Paris told us that it has got warmer these days before our arrival. I guess we are just so lucky! Xuan has been collecting dried maple leaves on the street and this reminds me of my mum. Exactly 10 years ago, she was excited to see those leaves in Frankfurt and picked some to bring home to show my younger brothers and sisters!

See, aren't we all growing older and wiser! And one of the signs of getting older is picking up a jetlag easily!

Mini reunion with friends in Paris. All are my batchmates and our children, minus XY! So kind of you guys for having us, and even called for UBER for us, what a memory since we missed the train, haha!

Random memories

While everyone was in their sweet dream, I tried to close my eyes and get myself to sleep too, but I guess the coffee was too strong so I couldn't. Then I recalled our Europe trip 10 years ago, on a classic tour where we covered places like Italy and France. Also, the hostel we stayed in London. It was a hostel with very good rating. Hubby, my then boyfriend has been excellent in looking for cool places to stay with reasonable prices when we are abroad. The receptionist was very kind to leave us a message that we had a few calls while we were out sightseeing. An old friend who studied in Manchester couldn't make it to London to see us, back then social media wasn't widely used, I truly appreciated her effort to chit chat with me over the phone. We hardly meet nowadays but she is an old friend who never fails to wish me on my birthday. Also, a cousin who resided in Ireland who shared a few travel tips with us. It has been 10 years! I tried to google the hostel recently and found that it has been upgraded to premium hotel. We were there for two weeks, before coming home, my parents missed the children so we made a call back to Kelantan when we were in Rome. My bro updated them on the Taiwanese drama which took a few years to finish. I must say recollecting random memories like this is just so sweet!!

Trip planner

Hubby used to be our trip planner whenever it involved trips to Europe. However, his work has been quite hectic recently and all he does is to throw some ideas and let me read up the info. It's not so bad after all, I begin to learn more about those places and I'm fascinated! So as usual, after hubby threw his idea on going on tour in France, I have been very much looking forward and planning for our family trip since then. I was reading up quite extensively and keen to see Mt St Michel. Probably 人算不如天算, we have some other ideas and put the Mt St Michel aside. It's a sad decision, but I'm sure I will pay it a visit one day.

Going to the BMW Museum

My boss went on a work trip in Europe and shared some pics with me. To my surprise, it was still snowing in Munich although it's spring. Then I showed hubby those pics and he was in disbelief. This morning, as I briefly surfed the facebook on my phone, I saw two friends of mine who are on vacation in Munich. I have fond memories of Munich because I went there twice and it was a base for us to travel to many other places. I always remember how I took the kids out strolling along the street and we were just so overjoyed. How lovely Xuan was that he walked quite a distance, chewing on his pretzel and playing the snow. Even now, the boys still ask us to take them back to Munich, just for the snow. I guess it is one of the sweetest childhood memories we bring them. But how strange it is that I have not set foot on the ever famous BMW Museum. Haha...

小甜点

每次出国, 我们都有去麦当劳和星巴克的习惯。不为什么, 只是想试试他们的汉堡和咖啡。半年前和老公跟孩子踏上十二天的欧洲之旅。我如常在布鲁塞尔的星巴克点了一杯红茶。说也奇怪, 那时怀着妹妹, 我对咖啡真没有什么兴趣。可是那杯红茶也不便宜, 好像比我常喝的咖啡贵。我现在想起来, 可能是他们找错钱。。。真遗憾!! 然后还有马卡龙, 托我姐的福, 所谓世上最好吃的法式小圆饼我应该试过了, 只是觉得它们太甜了, 还不是我的菜。反而炫对它爱不释手, 一直要我买给他。我嫌价钱贵, 还是回来马来西亚买比较划算, 就这样欠着他。这几天, 他又囔着想吃马卡龙, 看来我只好将就了。。。