Legoland: Everything is Awesome.

We went to Legoland in Malaysia to meet our wonderful friends for the last weekend of our break.  They lived on our street in Bangkok and we all bonded fast and have created a forever friendship.   They moved on to the International School of Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.   KL is only a four hour drive from us, but due to Malaysia law, they are not allowed to leave until the end of Dec for tax reasons. 

 Legoland seemed like the best place for us to all meet....it is just a border jump for us and still in Malaysia for them.  It is also ALL things Lego and they were the ones who turned us onto the toy.

The group. 

I was never a lego fan until I was an adult.   I had a neighbor growing up who had buckets of them, but my brother and I never understood the draw.  Having two kids who do enjoy legos, we can now spend hours building and being creative.  With today's technology, I love that it is still remains popular.  Liam loves it too and it a great builder even though he is only three.  

We went on a Saturday, but the place was not crowded and we got onto rides very easy.  There was even times when they just kept letting them go and go until we said stop.  They had roller coasters to lego displays.  Amelia liked the thrill rides and Liam liked the slow rides (so much like my brother). Malaysia is also cheaper then Singapore.  This was great for us!   

The splash ride.  

We decided to stay in a nearby hotel instead of going home that night.  The hotel was in the harbor that looked onto Singapore.   It was a cool area and one that I would definitely go back to for a weekend getaway.  The weekend went way to fast and I am already missing our friends :(.  

Yahoo for Legoland!

One of the MANY lego displays.  Liam wanted to have his picture taken with them ALL. 

Boat Quay, Singapore...Made of Legos.  This is the area Wade works.  So much detail!

Liam and Anna.  These two have a special bond.

Liam got his face painted early in the day.  It had melted within an hour and we had to wash it all off. 

This was Liam's favorite ride.   He would have spent ALL day on it.  

The infinity pool at the hotel.  It was rooftop.  

 

The plate of bacon our friend's ordered.  Malaysia is a Muslim country and most of it Halal.  They can't get pork products in KL, so they have to get it while they can.

Krabi, Thailand

Last week we had no school.   Hating to waste time off without travel, I started to search for good travel deals out of Singapore.  I happen to stumble onto a 75% off flight sale at AirAsia.  Too good of a deal to pass up and husband approval I booked a trip to Krabi with some other friends from work.

Rented kayaks for an afternoon.

Poor Wade having to work, I was traveling alone with two kids.  But the resort another family (who is also from Bham) had found, was perfect for us.  Kid's club, pools, and easy accessibility to paradise. It also offered babysitting service, so one night we hired a lady-boy to watch 4 kids while the adults played.    The resort allowed us to swim/relax and the area allowed for quick boat rides to nearby islands.  

It was a quick trip and made me miss Thailand food and people.    I am hoping to make it back once again! 

Cave of fertility on Railay.  Poor kid had no idea when I told him to say "cheese".  Amelia couldn't understand why I was taking pictures of mushrooms.

Swimming pool ocean. 

Boat to the islands. $12 total for the day.

Thai long boats

Little crew....they all got along so well. 

Kid's Club. 

One of the pools.  Way cheaper to enjoy drinks here then in Singapore. 

Holiday Inn Ao Nang

We went to this place twice to eat.  Great service.  Teaching the kids to be fire dancers. 

Kid's table.

Don't Blink

I was just looking at posts from the past and realized I never added Amelia's "3 sec" of fame.

Right before we were getting ready to leave Thailand, Amelia got a call to try out for a commercial. She had gotten these calls a couple times before, but they never turned into the real thing.  Leave it to timing, that when it finally did, we left a couple weeks later and never knew if it aired.

The day of shooting we were on set for about 5 hours.   This created 3 secs of airtime.  Amelia loved it all, but I was surprised how much ($$$ and time) goes into so little.

Over the summer we found the commercial.   As life moved on, I actually forgot about it.  This blog is meant to be a way to look back, so now I post it for property and to have something to show to future boyfriends.   With the experience, "Token" added a little money to her college account.  However, she has since been in retirement.

Here you go...just don't blink at the very beginning.  

Long Weekend

I didn't know we had Monday off until the week before.  A pleasant surprise and needed.   We had no big plans and spent the days at kid friendly places around Singapore.  

Jurong East Water Park: Singapore is $$$, but this place cheap.  $4 for all of us.  Liam LOVED the lazy river and after the 20th time in it, I started to hate it.   We will be back. 

Poor Amelia was too short for the slides.   

The highlight of the weekend was Amelia lost her first tooth.  She was SUPER excited.  Pulled it out all on her own (she wouldn't let me near it).   The tooth fairy also made a visit. 

Liam, Cecile, and I went to the zoo.   For some reason he insisted he had to get a picture (again) with the polar bear.   We didn't last more than a couple hours.  Due to it being a public holiday the place was packed. 

Amelia said that after each weekend, Mr. Lewis asks what they did.  She was VERY excited to share about loosing a tooth and I had to take another picture to show her new smile. 

Beach Day

Not sure what happened to what I wrote before...it is now gone.  No energy to do it again.   

We went to East Coast Park in Singapore looking for a play area.   No play structure found, but we did find a nice beach.  Spent the day relaxing and playing in the sand.  Great location for a beach fix, but I don't know if I will ever get use to the BIG boats in the seascape.

Boats in the background.

Sandcastle

Liam's castle.

I discovered that Singapore had wild monkeys.  I hate moneys. 

Asia Light

Crazy! We have now been in Singapore for over a month now.  Routines have started and all of us are starting to figure out the ins and outs of at least the area we live in.  I have found where to get good meat, baking items, the closest mall, how to get around (fast vs. cheap), and a lot of other little things that making living easier.

This past month has also shown to be true when they call Singapore "Asia Light".  For Asia, it is the closet place I can find to a Western civilization without having a Target or Costco.  Where Thailand is the "Wild West" of Asia and anything goes, Singapore is orderly and predictable.   At times I may say boring, but it is also comforting.  Having young children, I can definitely say why it is one of the best places to be an expat family.   It is safe....just follow their laws.

I find it ironic that the initials and what most people refer to the Ministry of Manpower is MOM.  Singapore government is a MOM.  It is always watching and making sure you do it right and it's in the system.  The first couple of weeks the hoop jumping was driving me crazy, but like child birth, now that it is over, we are enjoying just being here.

The one thing I am struggling the most with is how expensive it is here.  Being someone who is cheap, I struggle rationalizing paying big bucks for things I know shouldn't cost much.  Singapore is living up to its title as most expensive city in the world.  The perk?  Everything is imported and I can find most anything I want or miss.  I just have to find it for the right price.

I have struggled to find things to post about that are interesting while we are here.  I promise to search, but you may have to be a little bored as I figure it out.

BKK weekend

It was less then 48 hrs, but the tiredness I feel today was worth it.   The kids and I boarded a plane late Friday night for a quick two days in Bangkok to see old friends and meet a new one.

We spent the whole time in our old neighborhood.   It made me miss what I once knew and the best relationships we have there.  I also filled my suitcase full of stuff from a morning of shopping.   I have enough chili powder for a year.

The whole reason for the trip was to get some baby snuggles from Sidney, who arrived three weeks earlier.   Liam also got to hang with his BFF and Sid's older brother Ryley.   Amelia also scheduled in a bday party and a sleepover.  Food a major area in my life,  I ate as much Thai as I could.   But don't worry, I also brought seasoning packets back to get that fix when needed at home.

They partied hard....then crashed.

TROUBLE

It was hard not getting a picture of Rye not naked.   Natural born nudist. 

Baby Sidney.  What a cuddle bug.