I thought we won’t be going anywhere this year, but I was wrong. Hubby has finally agreed to go for holidays this year end, but we won’t go for oversea trips. It’s best not spend so much money on vacation this year, unless we have already made a promising return on investment. I guess only the professional Marketing Company can help us out if we want to make money fast enough! LOL!

Initially, SIL invited us to join them to Hong Kong, Macau and ShenZhen for a week, but after hearing so many places in 7 days, both hubby and I chickened out. We know that we will be carrying our kids and pulling the luggage bags from one place to another, and rushing for planes, trains, and boats. So it doesn’t sound like a relaxing vacation for us, even if it’s a free and easy trip.

By yesterday, we have finally come out with our vacation plans. We will go to a resort for a short trip in November, and another short stay at a horse club and resort by year end. As you know, Justin loves horses. Thus, I think both my kids will enjoy the stay at the horse club where they can ride on ponies for so many days!

After that, we will spend a few days in Chiangmai in January to enjoy winter in Thailand. It should be quite cold by then, and my kids have already pick the resort of their choice. I just have to make a reservation soon to make sure that we have a room secured!

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We went to a few places with our friends for the past few days, but I guess you can check out Mummy’s in Vain and Lovely Mummy’s blog for more updates. I think I will only write about the cruise dinner we went together as it’s something I have always wanted to try.

We were trapped in a bad traffic and got lost searching for the pier. Thank god we managed to ask for direction from the local Thai people, but we were led through some back lanes, alleys, and we were so doubtful about the route! It’s something like driving madly (eager to reach the destination in time) in some Jacky Chan’s moving, and almost hit into some pvc fence installation or fruit stalls in his movies. You know what I mean?

Luckily, we managed to arrive at River City in time. We got on board after making the necessary payment, and we were glad that we got a table without any reservation.

Isabelle couldn’t get her eyes off the guitarists.

Over dinner, we broke a plate at the table, but we were not asked to pay for it. My kids didn’t eat much though and went for the chips. Oh well, it’s not like we are coming here often. Frankly, the dinner is below expectation for 1700 bahts per adult, but I like the night view on Chao Phraya River. Too bad my camera can’t snap nice photos at night, so it’s such a waste. Hubby said that we shall do this again, but not on expensive cruises.

Here are some photos we took that night…

A family photo is a must!

Took some photos with the Monkey King

Me and the kids on the deck…

Again, the view is nice. My kids enjoyed it a lot when we were on the upper deck where everyone was asked to keep their heads down when the cruise went beneath the bridges. It’s quite fun. Actually, I’m not tall enough to reach the bottom of the bridge, but I saw some Middle East men lowering their heads and it’s so funny. LOL!

So, if you are wondering if you should try the night cruise and dinner on Chao Phraya River, my verdict is, go  for the night views but not the food. Seeing the Grand Palace at night is breathtaking, so don’t miss it.

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 I know that we won’t be going anyway except travel around Bangkok or fly back to Malaysia for the next couple of months, but I still enjoy teasing hubby about our honeymoon. Previously, we made a promise that we will go on a trip together, without the kids, even just for a few days. I will be in cloud nine if he agrees on a romantic trip abroad, but judging from the current recession and our new business, it’s impossible for us to have a nice trip like this.

Thus, I can only daydream at the office that I’m somehow sunbathing on a nice beach in Key West.

The beaches in Key West Florida seem to be very nice! From link above, I found out that the nightlife is Key West is pretty interesting. Hubby and I can hardly go out at night because no one helps us to watch the kids. I would love to spend a night drinking and dancing with him once again, like we used to do.

Too bad that Key West is so far away from here, so the flight tickets will be extremely expensive. That doesn’t include the accommodation and my shopping expenses yet! So, I better stop daydreaming and get back to my paperwork. *blek*

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My kids love dolphins. They watched a dolphin show once at Safari World, and since then, they are fascinated with dolphins. If there is a chance, I hope that we can join one of those dolphin eco tours in Key West. Seeing the dolphins in captivity is different than interacting with the wild dolphins. That’s how I feel.

If you are interested to know more about how can you interact with wild dolphins, which are generally curious about humans, check out the details offered by Key West Vacation. The tours include snorkeling in the sea where you can enjoy the wonder of colorful tropical fish and coral reef. I would love to go for snorkeling again because it’s been years since my last trip! However, I hope that there will not be any tiny jellyfish as I was strung by them in Pulau Paya!

By the way, the trips offered Key West FL are quite personal if you don’t want to join in a big group of strangers. You can easily organize a family trip as long as it doesn’t exceed six persons in a group. I would prefer to have a smaller group too, if possible.

For the time being, it’s impossible for us to go to Key West. But then, we can always organize a snorkeling trip around Thailand when my kids are ready for one. They are way to young to swim in the sea!

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My kids have been talking about going to the beach for some time, and so am I. LOL! It’s been years since my last trip to any beaches in Thailand, so I was dying for a trip! When hubby agreed on going to Pattaya on Saturday night, all of us were so excited. The children packed their simple bentos full of cookies and junks for the journey before going to bed.

Surprisingly, both our kids woke up at 6am on Sunday morning, even before hubby and I managed to get out of bed. That’s how eager and anticipated they were. I prepared some food for them for the picnic and off we went to pick up BIL’s family who were going with us too.

It took us about 2 hours to reach Pattaya, and the weather was great. It’s been raining cats and dogs in Bangkok these days, but it was so sunny yesterday.

Pattaya, here we are!

Can’t really open our eyes. It’s so sunny!

There are a few attractions here in Pattaya, but we were only interested to go to the beach. We found a less crowded beach somewhere between Pattaya beach and Jomtien. There were not a lot of people here, so it’s perfect for us.

We found a shady spot…

We are at the beach now, yippie!

We forgot to pack the sand toys for the children, so they played with the sand with their sandals for awhile. Shortly after, someone came selling sand toys to us and my kids could have more fun building their “sandcastle”.

Use our sandals first la…

Yeah! Got toys liao…

As usual, I enjoyed the sun a lot and took lots of photos of the topless angmoh girls, my kids, and the view.  The only thing I don’t like about the beach is it’s not totally clean. But well, it’s hard to find a clean beach now…Or maybe Rayong is better???

Not so clean due to the tide, I guess….

Oh ya, for my friends and family back home, here are some photos…

The leng chai koh koh…

The chubby mei mei…

 
The sleeping Thong Thong…

Something bad happened in the afternoon though. There was a family having a picnic just by our side. Their children went for a swim in the sea and 3 of them almost drown. We were playing by the waves and I heard the boy calling in Thai. Hubby thought that they were playing but I said they might be drowning. A few people heard that too and some men came to rescue.

The waves were strong, and kept pushing the children away. It took them a few minutes to get to the children and everyone was glad that one of the farang (foreigner in Thai) is a good swimmer. He managed to grab 2 children while their father got the other one. I tell you, everyone on the beach was worried. It’s like seeing the children drowning before our own eyes. Gosh…I’m glad that they are all saved, especially the older girl who’s holding onto a younger sibling. She was conscious, but motionless when they brought her up. After vomited some water, she looked better but still very pale. The ambulance came shortly after and brought the girl to the hospital.

Hubby almost jumped in, but then…..you see the photo la…Justin refused to let go of pa pa loh. My kids were very scared.

I dunno where the float came out from, but hubby pushed it to the rescuers in the sea.

The family involved thanked the farang. He’s one good swimmer!

After seeing this incident, my kids realised how dangerous it is if they go to the sea unattended. Before this happened, Justin wanted to go to the water by himself, but we stopped him. I guess he understand the reason now.

We left the beach at about 4pm and headed to Nong Nooch Tropical Botanical Garden and Resort. This is such a nice place, if you have kids and enjoy photography. I snapped more than 300 photos here. LOL!

Nong Nooch Tropical Botanical Garden and Resort

Actually, we arrived here kind of late, so we missed all the shows. Next time, we will come early, and spend a night in Pattaya so that we can have a nice walk in the big garden.

There is a small petting zoo here, and my kids went for horse and elephant riding again.

Mei mei, there’s a foal!

Can I ride on the dockey? LOL!

Waa!!! Stupid goat, go away!

I love horses!

Another family photo…

Mei mei, hold on tight ya? Don’t let go ya? (Justin really likes to watch over Isabelle)

Thong Thong is curious about anything!

On elephant ride. Too bad the professional cameraman “sao gong” already!

Feeding the elephant

We took a ride on the tour bus around the garden, and snapped more photos at the Cactus Garden and French Garden. We should really come here earlier as it’s getting sunset and the park closes at 6pm.

At the Cactus and Succulent Garden

At the French Garden

Have a stroll on the Sky Walk

The view is nice, that’s why I snapped so many photos. LOL! We should come here again some day…

We were the last visitors to leave the garden. Gosh, it gets dark earlier now, so it’s hard to have a lot of activities in the evening. We went for seafood as I was starving. It’s too dark dining on the beach, so no more photos on the nice big prawns we had.

It’s a nice day trip to Pattaya, and my kids were exhausted. They basically slept all the way back to our home, and they fussed a bit when we woke them up for shower. Have to take shower la, so “dirty” after a fun day in Pattaya.

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 We were very indecisive of where should go last Sunday. Everyone was so relax and Isabelle and I slept until 9.30am. LOL! We were just like pigs, lazying around and doing nothing much. But after breakfast, BIL gave us a call and ask if we would like to visit Dusit Zoo in Bangkok city, and both my kids were excited about it. They got ready in lightning speed and urged us out of the house ASAP. LOL!

The traffic was great that day, and in fact I like the street along Si Ayutthaya. Those trees reminded me of our streets in Penang!

Along Si Ayutthaya

The royal palace is just nearby but we didn’t stop by to have a look. However, we bumped into 2 royal cars, and those cars are nice!

Dusit Zoo is just somewhere around the corner, so it’s not too hard to find. The children were all seated in strollers, so we decided to have a nice walk in the zoo rather than using the mini train.

We don’t have to walk much!

The mini train

But of course, the kids got out from their strollers once in a while to get a closer look of the animals. Then hubby and I would have to push the empty strollers and from the look on hubby’s face, I knew that he must be thinking, “Why so mah fan want to take strollers around? Some more 2 strollers. No need to bring la.”

Mei mei, you see?

More shots taken at the zoo are…

Got tall tall girraffe leh…Where’s the zebra? (They were somewhere further away).

Mommy, this tiger is WHITE!

The white tiger

This zoo no real elephants wan, only fake ones…

But this fake dino is cute!

Must at least take one family photo wan…

After awhile, Isabelle was pretty bored. I think she’s sleepy, so she got grumpy. On the other hand, Justin was still excited to check out as many animals as he could. This little fella really likes animals and SIL joked that he might either be a vet or own a farm next time. LOL!

I love the zoo.

Mommy, why so long wan?

The evil mommy “bribed” the grumpy girl with junks….and…

…Ice-cream.

There’s a lake where you can have a ride on the peddle boats. We might try that next time as everyone was exhausted after the walk. So we went to Siam Paragon shortly after. Everyone’s yearning for AIR-CONDITIONING after spending an afternoon in the sun!

We go shopping again loh…

If mommy can find any one of those reno hotels, I would check in and take a nap. I was so tired! Nonetheless, a little shopping trip at the beauty hall can also do the same trick.

Bought beauty products again.

Ah….I need more whitening masks. LOL!

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My kids love the set of books from Grolier, and even if they can’t read the text, they enjoy looking at the pictures or ask us to read to them. One of their favorite topics is about space. If you ask Isabelle if she would like to go to the space, she will happily answer “yes”, if mommy is coming along and if the space is not dark. LOL!

If we have a chance, I would like to bring them to visit a space center, but too bad we don’t have time for traveling now. However, if you are interested to bring your children to US, don’t miss the Kennedy space center discount. I guess most children will love to see the capsule available in Early Space Exploration. Not to mention, they can actually see a real astronaut!

If possible, I hope that we can have a long holiday in the states. I sure wish to join in one of those New York tours and have a shopping spree in New York! However, I’m not sure if I can afford to buy that much at those designer stores! LOL! My children will love to have a ride on the double dcker bbus, and we won’t miss the All Loops Tour to check out the streets in NY.

I guess I can’t plan for a holiday now, but I can always check out the updates from the newsletter sign-up of Trusted Tours and Attractions. They offer online travel guides and discounted tickets to various tourist spots in US, so it’s easily to plan a trip there without killing my wallet. Most importantly, you will stand a chance of winning a $150 Mgellan’s Gift Certificate if you sign up before August 31st, so hurry up ya?

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Justin has been asking us to go to Disneyland for some time, but I don’t think we can make it anytime this year. We will be very busy at work throughout the year, so I can’t think of having a trip away now. However, we will try our best in planning a trip to Disneyland, and maybe it won’t be too costly if we can get those discount Disney World tickets and fly with AirAsia. LOL!

I guess time is the major constrain now and we really can’t squeeze a week out for a holiday. Maybe a year from now, our business will be more stable and we will have more time for holiday. So, kids, be patient ya?

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I told hubby that I need a vacation this year. I’ve been working “hard” for so long, I deserve a nice holiday. LOL!

If only we can afford one of those all inclusive vacation packages now, then we will fly over to some nice beaches right away. SIL mentioned about her credit card is running a promotion with some nice hotels over Thailand, so maybe we will arrange for a trip later when we are not too tied up.

There isn’t a lot of public holiday in Bangkok, so it’s hard to have a weekend getaway. Gee… I miss the beaches so much!

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A friend of mine is going to Gold Coast soon. She got the cheaper flight tickets from AirAsia, but I wonder if the plane will be the same as the normal ones I take? Flying 6 hours in a small plane can be really tiring, but if I get back and walk around once in a while, it should be better.

I have only been to Melbourne previously, so maybe we should plan for a trip to Gold Coast next time. We supposed to go Australia this June, but I guess our vacation is being canceled again due to our next plan to Bangkok. But never mind, there’s always next time. It’s not like I need to visit the place urgently and get myself a Gold Coast Plastic Surgery. LOL!

So, for this year, we will only travel around in Thailand. Koh Samui and Chiang Mai are some of the places I have in mind, and hubby plans to bring the kids on a train trip from Hatyai to Bangkok too. Let’s see how can we arrange these short trips for the kids. As long as we can spend some holiday together as a family, it doesn’t matter if we are flying to Australia soon.

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