A blog for Justin and Isabelle

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July 14th, 2008 by shoppingmum

My kids love the farm. They haven’t been to any REAL farm, but they have been reading a lot about it. Besides that, they love horses. Thus, when BIL suggested that we bring the kids to the farm days ago, Justin was very excited about it. He woke everyone up early on Sunday morning, didn’t fuss at all when he’s taking his shower and breakfast and even called BIL and asked him to come to pick us up FASTER. LOL!

It took us about 2 hours to reach Farm Choichai. It’s a famous farm at the outskirt of Bangkok, and it has 8000 acres of land with cattle, horses, plantation, a dairy factory and some restaurants selling its famous steak. I would suggest that you come to this farm too, if you have more time to travel around the outskirt of Bangkok. Since it’s a Sunday, the place was pretty crowded with the locals as well as some tourists.


We took at photo at the lake before entering the farm.

 

Every tour group has a fixed time to get into the farm, so while waiting for our turn, we went to the cafe to grab some ice-cream. Don’t miss the milk ice-cream and fresh milk, they are simply yummy!


Ice-cream from Umm.. Milk!

 

My kids were a bit impatient at the waiting area, but thank god they had some cowgirls accompanying them, and there is a fish pond with lots of koi fishes.


I wear my cowgirl hat already woh, why still cannot go in?



My dream girlfriend, a cowgirl. LOL!

 

Finally, we were allowed to attend the farm at 2.20pm sharp. We went into a mini theater to watch a clip about the history and origin of the farm so that everyone will have a better understanding of the place. After that, everyone went to wash his hands, have a body spray and wash off the dirt at the bottom of his shoes. A moment later, we walked into the farm area. The tour was done in Thai, so we were pretty clueless about the explanation about the tractors. But once we got to the milking parlor, my kids were all excited again.


Oh…ini macam keh my milk milk come from.

 

 


Dairy cows for auto milking

 

Some of us were asked to try milking with hands, and Justin was eager to try. Too bad kids are not allowed…So, next time la boy.


Milking with hands.

After that, we went to the milk collecting center to watch a clip on how cow milk is processed into pasteurized milk and how ice-cream is made.

After that, we went on a tour around the cow farm on the “tractor”. Justin called it a tractor because the tractor pulls all the units together.


On tour with this…

 

There are thousands of cows here, so don’t expect to them to smell like perfume. But nonetheless, this farm is pretty clean. My kids were excited to see the cows feeding on the farm.


Cows makan makan

 

We could see some plantation on the tour, and I think they have sunflower plantation as well as dragon fruits here. Maybe there are more but I can’t understand Thai that much. :P

We arrived at the cowboy village and then again, my kids were basically screaming seeing the horses. LOL!


Mummy, horses!!! Horse carts!!!

 

My kids were eager to ride on the horse, but too bad, you need to be at least 140cm to ride on one. So, they were quite disappointed. But Justin said he will eat more so that he will grow taller and bigger faster. :)


We rode on the fake one first…Gee…the horses are so tall.

 


The rocking horse he has always wanted…but daddy said cannot buy. :P

 

To perk them up, we went for a ride on the horse cart. This is their 2nd horse cart ride, if I’m not mistaken. But they are still as happy as ever.


Very fun la…

 

There are a few shows on this farm like the animal show and the dog show, but I think the cowboy show is the best.


Cowboy show

 


Dog show

 

There is a petting zoo on the farm, and my kids didn’t want to watch the animal show. They were more interested in feeding the deers, lambs, and milk feeding the calves. We missed the rabbits so Justin said next time we better don’t forget them.


The Petting Zoo

 


Feeding the deer.

 

 


I give this calf milk milk with bottle. LOL!

 

But somewhere near the zoo, my kids got the highlight of today’s visit. Any children with the height of 90 - 140 cm can ride on the ponies! Isabelle just barely reaches the height. :)


We can ride on the ponies! So happy leh…

 

And then hoh, when Isabelle was riding on her white pony, her pony stopped to poop for a while. Until now she keeps telling us “Mei mei horse mmm mmm wan er”. LOL!

The tour ended after more than 2 and a half hours. My kids were exhausted, and Justin felt asleep when we dined at the steak house. Isabelle was starving and finished one whole plate of macaroni all by herself!


My dinner… premium T-bone steak!

 

In short, it is a fun day, and my kids are looking forward for another visit. But this time, we will go for a stay…

 

Camping at the farm sounds like a lot of fun!

July 11th, 2008 by shoppingmum

To save me from an acne treatment and some stressful hours with the kids at the office, hubby came out with a solution this morning…He has to go out to visit some customers so he brought Tom and Jerry for the kids.

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They are concentrating on…

 

 

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Tom but where is Jerry? LOL!

 

My kids love Tom and Jerry and so do many children I know. The cartoon looks pretty stupid to me, and I don’t think children can learn anything from it. But nonetheless, it’s like one of those all time favorites that will never fade in time. How come huh? Maybe it’s straight forward, the cat chases the mouse but the mouse always wins. It’s funny and it’s short, but comes with a few episodes in a CD. Kids can rot watch with the cartoons and parents can goyang kaki do something else.

Tell me, your kids love Tom and Jerry or not? You let them watch this cartoon or not?

July 8th, 2008 by shoppingmum

My kids haven’t been to Siam Paragon, but hubby and I went there before. I wanted to get some books, and if you are new to Bangkok, most of the book stores don’t have Chinese or English books, but you can find them here at Kinokuniya, Siam Paragon. So, we took a taxi to Siam Center and walk a short distance to Siam Paragon.


At the main entrance of Siam Paragon

See the MRT at the back? Justin wanted to go on a train ride, but we didn’t know where it’s going or from. I will find out one day and maybe we will bring the kids on a mini train ride in Bangkok city.

I didn’t shop that day, but only got some books. I bought some cook books too, so I don’t have to crack my head on what to cook for 6 days in a week. LOL! As usual, my kids bought their kiddie books and hubby got more Thai learning books. We went to the food court for lunch, and if you think the food court in KLCC is big, come and see the food court at Siam Paragon. Wa lau leh…very big la…

Justin’s camera skill has improved a lot. Here are the photos he took for us…



Justin took these photos at the food court.

 

Not bad huh? I will let him have this blog when he can type. LOL!
After that, we went to Siam Ocean World, which is the aquarium at the lower ground of Paragon. Don’t miss this place if you are here with kids, even if they have been to aquarium, like my kids, they will still have fun looking at sharks and fishes on the glass bottom boat ride. For adults, go diving with sharks. I was tempted to try that, but I know my kids wouldn’t let me.

On this trip, I’m really surprised to see how much my kids know about water creatures. Maybe it’s only a day after the aquatic fair, and they have read a lot from books, both of them can actually name some of the species now. :)


Justin corrected me that they are spider crabs when I said King Crab. :P

 

 


They saw seahorses but they complained that they couldn’t find leafy sea dragon

 

 


Moray eels, they are Isabelle’s favorite. LOL!

 

The boat ride was great, but too bad it’s only for one small circle. Nonetheless, I’m glad that it’s over soon. It’s a bit creepy being on a boat above so many hungry fishes lurking for meat. :P


We have kiddie safety jackets on.

 

 


A family pic on the boat.

 

 


Sharks at the bottom of our feet…

 

My kids were tired but they still wanted to finish the tour. We went on to see other aquatic creatures, and I can’t even name some of them!!!


Tell me the name of this creature, if you know!!! Please………Edited: Maybe it’s an olm

 


Now only I know that water rats are so big…

 

 


Dunno apa fish…

 

 


Justin was playing with the playful penguin which followed his hand at the glass.

 

 


But the penguin ignored Isabelle. LOL!

 

 


Isabelle was looking at a yet-to-be-classified sea creature

 

 


More sharks…

 


At the tunnel…still looking at the sharks! Of course, there are stingrays and other fishes too.

 


We sat here looking at the fishes while my kids had their milk. Nice hoh?

 

We managed to watch the clown show and shark feeding too. After that, we went to the 4D theater, but Justin felt asleep on the stroller. I carried Isabelle on the show, but she didn’t like it. She was sleepy and tired, and she couldn’t fit on the 3D glasses too.

Anyway, my kids enjoy Siam Ocean World Bangkok a lot, and so do we. Everyone was exhausted, but went home happily! :)

July 6th, 2008 by shoppingmum

We are regulars to Future Park because it’s the nearest shopping mall from our office. When I’m bored at work, I will surely hope that we can drop by the mall for awhile for some “shopping refreshment”. LOL! My kids saw the brochures and the booths being set up for days at the mall, and they could hardly wait to see the aquatic animals and crocodiles! So, hubby and I skipped work yesterday and brought them to the fair.


They were totally excited after days of waiting!

 


Isabelle kept looking at the catfish, maybe they reminded her of the catfish feeding we did last week.

 


Looking separate ways. LOL!

 

This place is totally crowded. As usual, which part of Bangkok is not crowded? So I was all paranoid about losing my kids again. :P Anyway, they were happy to see the real crocodiles. They only saw them a few times at the zoo, but not the crocodile show. My arms almost broke carrying Isabelle high up for a better view.


Crocrodiles

 


The crocodile show

They are selling crocodile meat too, but none of us tried. I ate once, and I don’t like it.


Baby crocs

 


Crocs eggs on sale

 


Fancy some frozen croc meat?

 


Makan buaya

 


Hubby said can buy and cook soup. Yucks!!! (it’s the palm of a croc…)

 


Unique home deco? LOL!

 

There are lots of fishes, clams, starfish and corals here, so my kids enjoyed looking at them a lot.


Mei mei you see?

 



Some aquatic animals.

BTW, there’s a weird looking fish call Asian Upside Down Catfish.They swim upside down!!!


Asian Upside Down Catfish

 

Furthermore, my kids had a chance to see some reptiles they read from books….


Giant Snapper

 


Gharial

 


Soft shell turtle

 


Snake neck turtle

 

For fish lovers, don’t miss the fishes on sale. There are a lot of them! I like the koi fishes, but too bad we don’t have a pond!


Koi fish

 

Somewhere at the fair, there are some booths from a hospital. Hubby was hesitating if we should show our kids the specimens, but then I said just go ahead. My kids have been reading some books from Grolier and they have some understanding about our body systems. So, they saw the real human lung, brain, heart and etc for the very first time. But the most interesting onces will be a pair of twins with the umbilical cords and placenta, as well as a dead baby about a few months old. What a great way to learn science huh? :P

Oh ya, here are some photos of us again…


Should ask someone to hold the camera huh?

 

We spent a few hours at the fare and my kids were totally tired and hungry. We went for a quick lunch before heading to the booths again. We bought something for the kids that day….and here they are…

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Their first pets…turtles!

July 5th, 2008 by shoppingmum

Our sales jobs have not fully started, so we can still manage to leave work early most of the days. Besides that, Isabelle will be screaming “Go home, I want to go (back to) mei mei’s house NOW!!! Go back NOW!!!” in the office, and it’s totally annoying. :P

So, in order to let the other staffs have a peace of mind in doing their work, we cabut fast fast with our kids. LOL! My kids will go to the playground mostly, but sometimes, hubby will bring them for a swim. We have a pool in our neighborhood where the residents can use as part of the facilities. I will come along if my dinner is a quick fix!


We go swimming loh!

 


This is fun la…

 


Water very cold!!!

 

See? Isabelle was having so much fun but Justin refused to get a good dip. The water was kind of cold that evening, and he hated it. But after a while, he began to enjoy himself floating with hubby’s help. Both of them can’t swim yet, and we are not sure how to teach them properly. They will have swimming class later and it’s part of their PE activities. I’m not sure about the age group though, but maybe they will learn how to swim from school.

BTW, they haven’t started school. We still need to fly back in August to fix our visas. So see how first la…

July 4th, 2008 by shoppingmum

I’m still a camwhore. I like snapping photos of my kids anywhere we go even if most of the places have no camera policy. Ya, I can’t snap photos at some restaurants, and the moment I take out my camera, the waitress will surely come to me and start speaking in Thai, which I cannot understand. LOL!

But I curi curi snapped a few, even at a Chinese temple we went last weekend. Here are some of the photos I like…

 


At the kiddie ride…

 

 


Having a drink at the temple

 

 


Isabelle and Thong Thong (cousin)

 

 


And here’s Justin and Thong Thong

 

There are more photos, so stay tune…BTW, I noticed that I haven’t printed any photos for more than a year. I wonder if I should just print some of them out or just get a digital frame?

June 27th, 2008 by shoppingmum

I’ve always wanted to have breakfast outside of my house. I can’t do so in Ipoh as it’s not common to do this back home. My neighbors might think that I’m weird or too free with nothing to do! LOL!

But over here, I noticed that some neighbors like to enjoy their meals outside of their houses. I saw a family having breakfast happily on a weekend, my next door lady boy (ah gua to be) enjoying his (or her) durians on a bench under his tree and some youngsters having friends over for barbecue last Saturday night. Everyone seems to enjoy their garden and food at the same time.

So, this morning, when Justin asked if they could eat outside the house, I happily agreed! They went to the playground before that, and they were too sweaty to sit in for their breakfast. Hubby won’t let them have air-conditioning in the morning, especially after a sweating session at the playground.

We haven’t bought the outdoor furniture, and maybe I will just get some simple table and chairs. No point buying those expensive wooden furniture wan la…Hubby brought out a box from nowhere (maybe storeroom la) and let the kids use it as a mini table. They sat on their stools while I served them their noodles in lotus and groundnuts soup.


It’s fun eating at the terrace. 

They liked their breakfast and maybe the morning breeze helped to cool them down too. After breakfast, they played for a little while…


Play golf again? :P

After that, we rushed for bath and getting ready to leave for work. Gosh, we were late again. All of us better get up before 7am if we want to have a relaxing and enjoyable morning.

June 26th, 2008 by shoppingmum

As I mentioned before, my kids will either glue to me at the office or mess around disturbing other office staffs. We’ve tried reading, writing with Justin, and also let them learn with Starfall with our laptops. But like most kids, it will be a miracle if they can “sit still” for 15 minutes. Thus, food bribery comes in now.

I know it’s bad to feed them junks, but as you know, junks are pretty common in the office. If we don’t buy any, BIL will also get some. The worst is hubby. He cannot survive without his junkie booster in the afternoon. He will fall asleep without biting those junks!

But I still want to control their junkie intake, thus they can only have a certain amount a day. Both Justin and Isabelle are pretty obedient so far, and they will even hold their junks in their hands and wait for my instruction to eat. LOL!


Mommy said can only eat after my nap

When they are eating, we will have a few minutes of quiet time and it’s best to get things done!

Besides that, they have a playmate at the office too. It’s not their 5-month-old cousin, but a turtle. The turtle was placed there for feng shui purpose, but my kids treat it like a pet.


There goes my afternoon nap…these kids just won’t leave me alone!

 


Having afternoon tea (fruits) with “their” turtle

 

 


I play with you ok?

Other than them taking their 2 hours nap, I’m glad that we have something to keep them occupied. At least hubby can work without disturbance and the office is QUIET!

Edited:

Bad news, my kids can’t play with the turtle anymore. It has feng shui purpose so it cannot “leave” its place. Besides that, Thai people believe that we can’t play with turtles, not good wan woh…

Aiyo, mommy has to think of something liao…

June 23rd, 2008 by shoppingmum

My neighbors must be wondering why am I spending so much time at the kitchen, even on Saturdays and Sundays. LOL! I have to cook at the time when my kids are napping or watching CD because they want me to bring them to the nearby playground in the evening. I can’t possibly cook at that time.

There are some dogs in my neighborhood, and I really don’t know why the owners don’t tie them up when they are walking the dogs. Thus, my kids really took a big step in walking by themselves as they are afraid of big dogs.


Walking to the playground

They will normally bring along their toy golf set or a ball to play on the grass. They got used to doing so in Ipoh where we have a big compound. But over here, I don’t want them to whack the balls at home, who knows if they might break some windows? :P

 The playground is not only a place for kids to play, but it is a place to meet with other mothers too. I found one who speaks very good English, and she stays opposite my house. Both our families share a common point, we leave home in the morning and only come home in the late evening on weekdays. LOL!

I haven’t bought a lot of toys for my kids here, but the other children were generous in sharing their sand toys with my kids.


Playing at the sandpit.


This is so much fun!

In return, Justin loaned them his golf set. :)

If the kids manage to get up before 7am, hubby will bring them to the park too. At least they can still play for a while before coming home for breakfast and leaving to office with us. It’s a bit hard to do this in the evening on work days.

See the recent photos of my kids? Really big boy and big girl liao huh?

June 17th, 2008 by shoppingmum

My kids are pretty bored at the office. They don’t have much to do as we are too busy to “entertain” them. Sorry ya kids? Once papa and mommy settle things down, and when the new office room is ready, you will have a room to play in…

On top of that, they don’t have playmates yet. The only cousin they have near my place is only a baby, and they can’t play with her. However, they found a new playmate who is strong and fit to introduce a dangerous game to them. Their uncle likes to lift them up in the air, and thank god we don’t have ceiling fans at home!

Of course, hubby also joined in the fun. But I warned both of the men not to do this too often because I’m worried about concussion. But then hoh, they really have so much fun playing like this.

Sigh…one eye close la….