Let's Be A Kid Again at Port of Lost Wonder

The day before our family swimming escapade, my husband and I toured my "very impressed with Singapore" brother around Sentosa Island right after we were through with Sea Aquarium. After a long and tiring along the island, we ended up resting somewhere on Palawan Beach. For the nth time that we were here on the island, it was our first time to be in this part of Sentosa. We rested for a while watching some happy Indian family playing rugby at the shore. We also saw Port of Lost Wonder and it was 'inviting' us to try it and have a dip. So we 'accepted' the invitation and came back the next day, a Sunday, a family day! Hohoo!!! While we were swimming, my brother spent his entire day at Universal Studios alone. We purposely did not accompany him at USS because we've been there thrice! 

We parted ways outside USS, wasted no time and headed immediately to POLW located at Palawan Beach. Tired to walk, we rode the Sentosa Express and in a few minutes, we alighted at the last station, the Beach Station. We walked a few meters and we finally reached our destination. 

It's swimming time! 

This felt like a teaser. Meaning, we were so near with our family adventure!

CURIO EXCHANGE

Adventure started here. We paid S$15 only for our son's admission while ours were free! Yes FREE! Cool, right?! 

Paid the admission fee and we were given a Port Pass. Curio coins are to be picked-up here. 

What are Curio Coins? 

These are like a "currency" in which they can "buy activities" that are taking place all day in POLW. The pass helps to track of completed activities. The more you participated in the activities, the more you reap rewards.  

Photo Credit: www.sweetmemoirs.com

This I will keep as a souvenir. My son's 1st Port Pass! :) 

Port of Lost Wonder

Just by looking at it made me want to swim pronto! I was really excited for my son. I know how he loves water so much! Dominating the entire pool is this humongous pirate ship. I can see my son had a blast with this family-friendly, first ever kids' club by the sea here in Sentosa particularly on Palawan Beach! I personally love the pool and the totality of the whole resort itself. It is perfect for your little darlings. They have crews that keep a lookout for the kids. It is safe to run too, as the floor is rough (don't know what it's called) and you won't get slide easily. You know kids are always on the run, literally. 

I was really happy because it was only the three of us. My husband is an Overseas Foreign Worker (OFW) in Singapore and spending more time with him is so precious for me and my son.

 I guard my son first while my husband had to do his part first, taking pictures! Hahaha! And then he ordered delicious foods for us and later joined us in the pool.

#mamaJackieSelfie (Didn't noticed the garbage bin beside me.) 

Felt like raining, son?

The crew approached us here. This was not allowed. No climbing up on this basin-like thing. Opppssss! 

The water was cold at the beginning but was long gone once we were used to it. 

Let's not stop yet, papa! Put me down! hehehe

One of the rules: Babies/Toddlers MUST wear diaper. 

Up for a slide. 

Their turn (slide).

Palawan Beach (outside POLW).

Port Belly

Hungry? Fret not. Port Belly serves yummy foods such as what we ordered below which were my son's favorites. By the way, outside foods are not allowed inside. 

Photo Credit to the owner.

All for the three of us. And we didn't finished everything. Not because it was not yummy. But because it was more than for two and a half bellies. 

We were not able to participate in other activities as swimming alone made up our day. Swimming was our way of bonding and making up for lost time. We felt like a kid again. We swam, dived, glided, played with our son and it was so exciting! Relieving life at its finest. I am so thankful for having a child because we get to relive life again, seeing the world again through his very eyes. I am forever grateful to God for that. My son (us too) was overjoyed by it. I'm sure most kids did. 

Thanks for reading! 

xoxo,

jackie

A Taste of Genting View Resort

#ThrowbackThursday

Motherhood really is not an easy job, hence the late post. Nevertheless, the memories linger like it was only yesterday when everyone was so happy and everything was so right. 

Hotels in Genting Highlands were all fully booked. So we settled for Genting View Resort instead. It is situated 10 kms. only from the foothill of Genting Highlands (our main destination) so it was not bad at all. Since we had a blast already at Genting Highlands the night before, a good night sleep was all we ever needed. And we did! Really. Partly because we were so freaking tired and partly, we had a nice and cozy hotel to sleep in. We got two apartments for a family of sixteen. Ours had a huge living  and dining. It has three huge bedrooms and a store room. It felt like we brought our house along with us. There was no need for an air-conditioning units as the weather was really cold. It was a refreshing stay for the family because the surroundings were clean and green, abundant in trees, nice landscape and most of all, there was silence so you can really relax at the same time commune with nature. It was far from  the bustling city making our stay more relaxing and satisfying. 

Once we woke up, we ate our breakfast and wasted no time. We went out and and stroll around the resort. We didn't really got to stroll the entire resort (time constraint) but what we saw was really breathtaking. It was nature at its best! 

Since I enjoyed the surroundings so much, I can't resist but snapped loads of photos. 

Enjoy! :) 

The view from our balcony.

Foggy, cold and green morning.

The hotel that we checked-in. 

Let's GO!

I love the terrain!  

The long & winding road.

Enjoying the view. 

Other family members were booked in one of the apartments.

My nephew Andrei & niece Denn Denn (in-laws).

(L-R) My mother-in-law, brother-in-law & nephew-in-law.
More family members inside. Some were eating, sleeping, resting, and relaxing. 

Choose apartment of your choice. 

Because of the cold weather, no swimming for me. 

My son's fan, his grandmther. He didn't mind the freezing water. Brrrrr..... 

My son's fans were getting bigger.  At the center is my sister-in-law. 

Father & son bonding. 

Inviting me but no thanks. It was still cold at around 12 noon! 

We checked out at around 2:00 o'clock PM off to Kuala Lumpur. We wanted to experience the city life and up-close with the famous and once considered the tallest building in the world, Petronas Twin Towers. 

You can check it here for more information if the hotel. 

Thanks for reading! 

xoxo, 

jaq

Hello, Awesome Malaysia!

At last, I'm gonna be blogging my son's birthday celebration last August 28. I was really busy juggling my time as I have no household help anymore since we returned from our two months vacation in Singapore around first week of September until now. It's a good thing I know how to multitask so I carried it out quite well.

Time flies so fast. It seems only yesterday when I discovered I was pregnant, gave birth via CS section, celebrated his 1st basketball-themed birthday party at a hotel in the city, got married and now, the love of my life turned 2 years old already. Two years of happiness, pure joy and contentment. No amount of material things can equate the child God gave me. A blessing and truly a gift from Heaven.

For his second birthday, we celebrated it in Malaysia as planned. It became even more special because it was celebrated together with my family-in-laws who flew  in to Malaysia from the Philippines, the day before my son's birthday while my husband, son and me took our early flight to Malaysia  from Singapore where we were based at that moment.

It was actually a scheduled out of the country annual family vacation from the side of my husband. To make the vacation more meaningful, there were actually four reasons for the said trip.

• Aug. 28 - My son's 2nd birthday 
• Aug. 31 - My niece-in-law's birthday
• Sept. 5 - My sister-in-law's birthday
• Annual family vacation 

We really had a great time especially that it was my son's birthday. Being a mother, the joy seeing my son happy is priceless! With the trip that we had, I saw how my son enjoyed his day. I can't help but took lots of pictures of our trip.

This picture was taken on the eve of my son's birthday, We snapped pictures and our son gamely posed and mimicked our faces. So cute!

We were two hours early for our scheduled flight. While waiting, we saw this machine that will massage our feet for free! We grabbed the chance quickly fearing others might get ahead of us. Hahaha! It was really soothing especially with Lee Min Ho (Korean Superstar) at my back watching me. We didn't eat breakfast yet so we just had coffee at The Coffee Bean. 

Now boarding. 

Aug. 28, 2014 7:30AM - Departed Singapore's Changi International Airport, boarded TigerAir Flight No. TR2462 and arrived safely (thanks God) in more or less than an hour at Kuala Lumpur International Airport. 

Waiting for the train (KLIA Ekspres) that would take us to KL Central. We took the non-stop route to KL Central, then we rode a monorail and stopped at Imi Station, where our hotel was nearly located.

We took the train all by ourselves. Hahaha! Just kidding! We had a very comfortable ride with KLIA Ekspres. Well, aside from not so many passenger at that time, the train was very spacious, the seats were comfortable, equipped with digital entertainment and luggage racks. And most of all, it was the fastest way to travel to the city in less than 30 minutes! 

This was the hotel that we used to checked-in. It was not as grand as other hotels, but we had a nice stay. The staffs were pleasant and the hotel was more than decent enough to call our home while we were in Malaysia. 

Walking around the city to look for something to eat. And KFC was what we found for lunch. It was the only familiar restaurant. We can't decide that time what to eat because we were running out of time. 

Due to time constraints, the driver of the SUV that we rented out told us that this was the spot that they could take us to the famous KL's twin tower because at this time (almost 3 PM), traffic were building up and we had no luxury of time. We still had more places to go. 

Next stop was Istana Negara (National Palace). It is the Official Palace of His Majesty The Yang di-Pertuan Agong (1957–2011). Converted to Royal Museum year 2013 to present. 

It was only on the main gate that tourists flooded for picture taking. 

Our new Malaysian friend (at the back, center), the driver of the SUV that we rented out. He was a funny guy. He not only drove for us but was also a tourist guide telling us a brief information of a particular place, or any interesting facts about the country. 

The Bat Cave at Langkawi, Malaysia was our second to the last tourist spots that we went to for that day. We didn't climb up the stairs to where the bats were. Well, again, due to time constraints. But the The Lord Murugan Statue was beautiful! Such an awesome view and we didn't leave without photos taken. No way! 

According to Wikipedia, 'Lord Murugan Statue' (Tamil : முருகன் சிலை ; Bahasa Malaysia : Tugu Dewa Murugga )^[1] is the talleststatue of Hindu deity in Malaysia^[2][3] and second tallest statue of Hindu deity in world, only second place to theKailashnath Mahadev Statue in Nepal. It also the tallest statue in Malaysia at 42.7 metres (140 ft) in height. It located at the Sri Murugan Perumal Kovil at the foot of Batu Caves.^[4] It took 3 years of construction and unveiled in January 2006 during Thaipusam festival.

Well, before we left, we bought souvenirs for our family, friends and love ones. 

At last, the highlight of our trip, Genting Highlands otherwise known as Resorts World Genting. Located on top of a hill and to get up there, we chose to ride a gondola lift (Genting Skyway) which was one hell of a ride! Woah! I was really scared (you know, the heights & all) but I really had a great time! The view above was spectacular! An amazing view not anybody can see and experience! I was lucky to have gone there twice already. 

Photo Credit: Yahoo

Photo Credit: Wikipedia

Photo Credit: Wikipedia

Now this ended our day 1 trip in awesome Malaysia. Happy Birthday once again our dear son. Looking forward on your 3rd birthday. Hope to celebrate it in Hong Kong, Disneyland! 

Thank you for reading! 

xoxo, 

jackie :)