Oct. 10, 2009 - I have moved

HERE

 

• Post A Comment!

Jul. 12, 2009 - Some thoughts..... Not all of them are original

There are some laws in the universe that work regardless of our belief in them - like gravity for example.  The principle of sowing and reaping is another. 

There are consequences for breaking rules.  There is safety in obeying the rules even when it is not convenient or pleasant.

Woman was made for man - not the other way around.

Anyone can love someone that is lovable.  There is no reward in taking the easy path.

Once words have left our mouths, they can not ever return.

Words have the potential to make or break.  God created the world with a Word.  What do I create with my speech?

Don't be so open minded that your brains fall out.

If you don't stand for something, you fall for everything.

If you aim for nothing, you are bound to hit it.

If you go in search of yourself you will get hopelessly lost.

Only dead fish go with the flow.  Be a salmon!

If it is crowded and popular it is probably not from God -
(Matthew 7:14 - Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it.)

• Post A Comment!

May. 22, 2009 - Fort Worth Zoo

On Wednesday, John took a day off so we could all go to the Fort Worth Zoo. It's half price Wednesday!

Love those gorgeous flamingoes!

Joey got sunscreen all over his face! Poor kid got bitten by fire ants at the off-site parking lot even before we got into the zoo. We were just coming out of the car, and he stepped on an ant pile. He's so nondramatic, since he has such high pain threshold, thanks to his SID/ASD.

Josie, checking out the animals so intently.

Guess what! She's looking at those elephants! Thank goodness she didn't ask to ride them this time.

Josh's all geared up to brave the heat and the animals!

Another word for zebras...... yeah, Marty! (from the movie Madagascar.)

This mountain goat just stood there like a statue begging to be photographed.

The kids enjoyed feeding the birds. These birdseed sticks cost $1 each.

John bought one each for the boys, but Josie got a couple for free because of her smart mommy! :)

They managed to lure the birds down to eat on their sticks.

There were a lot of these birds, but most of them were way up high, not caring to be fed. It's probably because they were full from the abundance of tourists feeding them.

Daddy had to lift Joey up to feed a bird.

We took a snack & water break.

Josie driving away with her animal friends.

I like my 50mm lens and I don't like it at the same time, but I think I've finally figured out how to manually focus my pictures!

Love those penguins! They look like they are having a meeting.

We all had a great time checking out different animals at the zoo.

Story of the Prince Alligator and Princess begins here.

It was love at first sight ............. she saw him, and he saw her.

"Princess, will you give me a kiss?"

"Sure, will do, my Prince Alligator!" -- he didn't change into a prince like a frog prince did, what happened?

Josh, checking out a turtle.

Joey loved the reptile house, "Daddy, look at that!"

The tree monitor said hi!

Interesting-looking lizard. I bet its head would puff up real big if it was mad!

She's enjoying herself thoroughly, even offered to carry the backpack that held the water and the snacks.

In total amazement of seeing these fun reptiles! (I'm guessing she's thinking as long as these are behind the glass, she's safe!)

She's finally in a good mood after getting over the initial disappointment of Daddy not wanting to carry her all through the zoo. (She really needs to walk more, both the boys had to walk on their own since 2 or 2.5 years of age since their younger siblings are only 2 - 2.5 years younger. She already has two extra years of pampering!)

"Would you like to share some of my candy?"

"Too bad, my mommy said you can't have any candy!"

Very beautiful looking lizard!

Josh had fun at the Fort Worth Zoo!

My favorite is seeing the flamingoes.

They seemed to really have their own personality.

Some are nonchalant, doing their own thing.

while some are bickering and fighting for their territory.......................... just like a human society.

• Post A Comment!

May. 22, 2009 - I Dreamed ...............

Yesterday, I woke up with a start. I dreamed that I had cancer and only had a few months left to live. It was a horrible feeling, leaving all that I'm familiar with, leaving my family and friends, preparing for the unknown. Yet, within me, I know, death is not the end. It's a new beginning.

 

I guess, you could aptly say, what I'm thinking in the daytime, surfaces as dreams at night.

 

Since last year, we've had friend after friend sharing their struggles and their sorrows with us. First, it's a dear friend's daughter (she's 6) who has an inoperable brain tumor. At first, the doctor's prognosis was not good, saying she has only a few months, but a miracle from God pushed through, and she's doing considerably well for over a year. http://www.carepages.com/carepages/nickylee

 

Then, we heard that a woman (John knew about their family since they also grew up in Dallas) a few years younger than me (she's only 34) had Severe Aplastic Anemia. It's a disease of the bone marrow, where it stops producing enough red blood cells, white blood cells and platelets for the body. So, all of a sudden, she had to stay away from her children and husband, because she could get sick from them. Her friends, family and strangers heard of her story, rallied and organized bone marrow drives to find a bone marrow match. Recently, Jodie had a bone marrow transplant and is reported to be doing well. Praise God! http://www.carepages.com/carepages/jodiegee

 

Beginning of this year, we heard from a girlfriend in town who found out she had breast cancer, and Flora's my age (36). They acted really quickly, so she had a mastectomy done within a month, and later started on chemotherapy. I couldn't help feeling for her and her family for what they had gone through in the short months of discovering the cancer. http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/flora (password: floralin)

 

Soon after, we started hearing from John's friend (I think he's younger than John) from college that he had been ill while serving as a missionary doctor in China. At first, they couldn't figure out what he had, but he was in really critical condition, he had kidney failure, lung failure, bone fracture, lung infection, and inability to walk. Then, they flew him out to Hong Kong, and finally the doctors there figured out he has cancer, Multiple Myeloma. http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/wayneho He has a wife, and two young children.

 

All these friends are American Chinese friends we have in the States. All these incidences made me think, "Has cancer become more and more prevalent, even in our generation, or is it just us?" When we talked to our friends in general, it seems like it's just us. Some even commented, "Well, you guys know lots of people!" But, really, we don't. We're not really a 'social' family compare to most of my counterparts, so I doubt we know 'more' people. But these incidences are alarming! Why's this happening? Is it the place we live in? Is it the food we eat? Or is it our genes have gone totally bad? Flora's not my first girlfriend who has breast cancer. My spiritual mentor who's about five years older than me had breast cancer in her early 30s. My girl cousin in Australia died of Leukemia at the young age of 19.

 

Some days, I feel like I can't bear to read one more update from them. Some days, when I don't get any email updates, I think, "No news is good news!" My heart weighs heavy, but I also see God's faithfulness shines through in all these people's stories. Their faith in God is unwavering, they all know, even in their sufferings and sorrows, God's love is enough. They are letting God carry them on His wings, so they will soar like wings of the eagles.

• Post A Comment!

May. 14, 2009 - Almost Got Quarantined

The Sunday after we got back from the Genting Highlands, Josie told me right before bedtime, "Mommy, I don't feel good." I felt her, she was fine. She's a smart kid who would pretend to cough and then asked for cough drops (to her, it's candy!), so we didn't quite believe her and sent her to bed. In the middle of the night, she got up at 2am with an alarmingly hot fever, crying. After calming her down, she managed to sleep the rest of the night with the other kids. The following day (Monday), she was very hot and lethargic. I just let her sleep in my bed, and helped her feel comfortable that whole day. I'm not the type of mom to get all nervous just because one of my kids runs a fever. And normally, I won't take them to see a doctor for a cold or a fever. I usually let the fever run its course and rarely give them fever reducer because I believe that a fever helps the body fight off infection. They just need to rest and let their immune system do the work.

 

On Tuesday, my old friends from AOG church that I grew up in wanted to come visit me. I was hesitant because we would be leaving on Wednesday, and with Josie sick, I really didn't want to see any new people. They insisted on coming, so I put up a pretty face and let them come. While they were here, Josie proceeded to vomit and coughed like a barking seal. I knew her airways were constricted, that was why her coughs sounded really bad. Immediately, I knew what she had. She had croup. I did a search on the internet, and knew what I had to look out for. At this point, I pretty much had to eat my words (I just had a conversation with my sister-in-law about us not going to the doctor's much in America) and take her to the doctor's. So, my old friends became angels God sent in disguise to take us to the doctor's. Josie, then, was very upset (because I had company and left her in the room with Daddy), crying because she just threw up, and felt bad due to the fever. A doctor's visit seemed inevitable!

 

They took us to the Hope Children Hospital. After the nurse took her temperature, she immediately prepared the suppository fever reducer for her. I stood firm and said no to that. Later, when we saw the doctor, Dr. Chong, he also pressured me to give her the suppository. After listening to her coughs and checking her vitals, he concluded that Josie had croup. I knew croup when I saw one because my boys also had it before. The coughs sound like a barking seal, and it gets worse when the child is crying or upset. I wasn't too concerned about Josie, because she was fine, but the doctor put a lot of pressure on me to give her all kinds of medicine. When he found out that we were actually traveling the following day, he laughed straight to my face and said, "Well, if you don't follow my instructions, you probably won't get into Singapore." He then mentioned that with the swine flu pandemic scare, Singapore was especially vigilant in scanning body temperature on all arrivals. That day was April 29th, the world was in the swine flu craze all of a sudden when Mexico declared a national emergency. Dr. Chong prescribed five different types of oral medication for her, one antibiotics, one fever reducer, one for the coughs, one for the swelling, and one for the phlegm. Then, he also prescribed six doses of suppository fever reducer for us to use on air, so she would not be having fever when we land in different airports. By that point, I really started to dislike him. He tried to make me feel panic and when he saw none, he said, "I would have admitted her today if not for your traveling next day." Then, he smiled, and said, "I doubt you guys would be able to get out of Malaysia." Josie got a nebulizer treatment right there and then, and he ordered us to come back again in the evening for a second treatment.

 

When we came back for her second nebulizer treatment, I saw Dr. Chong there again. I asked him to write a letter for us, proving that all Josie had was croup, and not some swine flu that was going around the world. Once again, he showed me his disdain, "No, it won't work! They will not believe a piece of paper. You won't be able to touch down in Singapore even if you try!" I asked him, "Why not?" He then reiterated that we needed to use the suppository fever reducer on Josie because that was the only thing that will reduce the fever surely and quickly. He added, "Well, that's not good stuff. Make sure you make her drink plenty of water, because it's going to be tough on her liver." Yikes! Why would I give my child something like that voluntarily? Regardless, I knew he was just showing off his medical knowledge and wanting to make some quick bucks on panicking parents, and when he saw that I wasn't panicking, he simply toned up his pressure talk. I didn't know about all the different medicines that we were prescribed until I went to check out at our initial visit. Another thought here: In Malaysia, the doctor's clinic and pharmacy are usually one entity, making medicine prescriptions part of their moneymaking business. In my humble opinion, I think there's almost a guarantee of abuse. What doctors won't prescribe more medicines to boost their earnings?

 

Let's see here, this is the receipt of our doctor's visit, and the consultation fee was only RM$30, whereas the medication cost us RM$111.70, and the two nebulizer treatments were RM$46, with a grand total of $187.70.

 

 

Well, needless to say, the only medication that's of any value to us was the fever reducer. After we got back, and I showed John all of Josie's medications, he was flabbergasted. "All that?" he managed to ask. "Yeah! All that, plus the suppository too!" After I told him about the side effects, John did not want to use it on Josie. Neither do I. I just felt 'pressured' into accepting all the medications. If we were in the U.S., we might take a doctor's prescriptions but we might or might not fill them, depending on if we felt the need to or not. But at Hope Children Hospital, I didn't have a choice. All the medications were all labeled and prepped when I checked out to pay for the bill. I told John that she had croup, and told him to go read up on it on the internet. He too, agreed with me, "It's a virus, why's the doctor prescribing antibiotics?" "Beats me! I don't know either," I chimed in. He was thinking in terms of US dollar, so when I told him that the doctor's bill was RM$187.70, he thought that was cheap, but I knew it wasn't. Oh well, we got ripped off! All I wanted was an oral children's fever reducer.

 

On Wednesday, we tried our best to make our flights on Air Asia to go smoothly. This was already a tough point, because when I booked these flights, I didn't know that we would need to pick up our luggage in KL, recheck the luggage for the other segment of our flight to Singapore. So, after realizing this fact, the one and a half hour of transit in KL was quite tight. My friends didn't think we would make it. For a while, I almost thought about buying brand new tickets to fly directly from Penang to Singapore, but just couldn't stomach the extra RM$1000 cost, so I didn't. If our kids were all healthy, this would have been quite tough to handle already. Imagine, with two flights back to back, lots of rushing and running to get our luggage and then run to the international counter to check-in a second time, with Josie sick, and me, feeling unwell as well, the challenge just increased its level of difficulty two fold. 

 

We flew from Penang to KL without any incidence. Once we touched down in KL, we split up into two groups. John took the boys to collect our luggage, while I went with Josie to the check-in counter to check us in, and telling them that our luggage would be coming shortly. First of all, Josie was sick, so she was quite unwilling to walk. Secondly, flying Air Asia meant you would have to walk, and quite a bit of walking to get from the plane to the building at the airport. Thirdly, I had no idea where we were supposed to go. So many challenges! Once we were off the plane, Josie had been crying about wanting to be carried. Not knowing how far we would have to walk, I couldn't risk picking her up, because the longest I could hold a 33 lb. child is maybe 3 minutes top. So, I held her little hand, and with a carry-on bag on the other, we braved the crowd and got inside for check-in. Then, I navigated my way through the check-in counters, only to be told that we weren't at the right one. They pointed us to the international check-in counters on the other side of the airport. So, we trudged over there, all the while, with my poor Josie, crying and moaning on and off, lugging a bag. After checking in, I promised her I would get some cold drink for her. Not carrying any type of cell phones with us, I had no idea how to reconnect with John and the boys. So, it was a bit of 'good luck' that while on the hunt for a cold drink, we bumped into John with all five pieces of our luggage. Checked those in, and we were set! I sat there, saying to myself, "Yeah! We made it!" Almost. Now, we just have to make sure we were all fever free, so we could enter Singapore. I quickly popped some Panadols into my mouth. See, I was beginning to feel sick since Tuesday. Then, I gave Josie some oral fever reducer, and hoped for the best.

 

We got to Singapore, and sure enough, there was the temperature scanner. We walked towards the immigration counter, while this person who was working on the scanner watched us walk by. A woman came up to us, and make the boys walk again, because somehow they sneaked by the radar. Phew! We made it. That's half the battle. Now, we hoped to make it to Hong Kong and eventually back to the U.S. two days later. We spent two days in Singapore, well, we should all be relaxing! but instead, we were busy meeting up with my old friends. I just kept taking Panadols to keep my fever down, and make my runny nose and coughs better. Josie was still sick, with that bad croupy cough, but she did not have any more fever. On Thursday, Josh started to cough and run a fever. I was like, "Oh no! This is unreal!" I prayed that God will let us back into U.S. safely and quickly. I was already homesick by the third week of our vacation. I told John, "If I ever plan another vacation this long, please shake me and make me come to my senses! This is 'killing' me......."

 

On Friday, our flight was scheduled at 6:40am. Fortunately we stayed at the Changi Airport's Crowne Plaza Hotel. So, it only took us less than 5 minutes to get from our hotel to the airport. But still, we had to check out at 4am. Our flight to Hong Kong was uneventful, but I was manning the kids' temperature closely, since I read that Hong Kong was on the swine flu alert, and I did not want us to get stuck there. Once we arrived at the Hong Kong airport, we had to go through security again, to get to our connecting flight. We took our time to use the rest rooms, so by the time we tried to line up, we were the last ones in the queue. Needless to say, our party of croupy-coughing kids were faced with suspicion by the other travelers who were spotting face masks, and nervously applying antibiotic hand-sanitizer. Unfortunately, my kids weren't well versed in social etiquette, so they frequently coughed with their mouths wide-open, and their hands were touching things all over. I saw quite a lot of stares and frowns of judgement from other travelers.

 

We finally got on our second flight of the day, flying from Hong Kong to San Francisco. I heaved a sigh of relief. It was too early to let my guard down. Because almost within a minute of taking off, and that was before the seatbelt signs were turned off, Josh promptly threw up all over the floor before him. Since I was sitting with the boys, I had to alert the flight attendant that I needed something to clean up the mess. They acted quickly, handing over a bunch of wet disposable towels and a plastic bag. Of course, John rose up to the occasion and quickly cleaned up Josh's mess. We knew it was just something Josh did whenever he had a bad cough. He's my only kid who throws up regularly. If he eats too much, he throws up. If he has a cold and a bad cough along with it, he throws up. It's so common that we no longer make a big deal out of it. But, during this swine flu scare, what's worse than exhibiting flu symptoms was traveling with flu symptoms. Immediately, Josh's vomit incident sent people's radar up.

 

Usually Joey would be able to fall asleep in no time if he lie down on his seat during long flights. But this time, he couldn't get comfortable. Then, I felt him, and he was burning up too. "Oh no! This can't be for real!" I told myself. I have three sick kids, and one sick adult (including myself) in our party. The only one that's not sick was John. Could we possibly get back into U.S. safely, I wondered to myself. So, armed with the kid's Panadol, I made Joey take two chewables fever reducer. I was hoping that it would make him feel more comfortable, and make his fever go away. This flight was going to be a long one, I told myself. It would take us 12 hours to get to San Francisco. That's half a day.

 

Josh ate the first meal they served on the plane, and minutes later, he threw up a second time. This time, we were well-prepared, and he was actually holding the vomit bag, so none got onto the floor. By this time, the passengers all around us were quite concerned. But, I had no idea their level of alarm until I was greeted by a uniformed gentleman. He knelt down next to me and asked, "Ma'am, are your children sick?" I swallowed hard and answered, "Um...... yeah, my daughter has croup, and my other kids caught it too." He had no idea what croup was. So, I had to explain that it's just a common childhood sickness, and told him that we had Josie's doctor write us a letter proving that she had croup. He informed me that the other passengers were concerned about their safety, and he needed to ensure the safety of everybody on the plane. I asked him, "Are you the pilot?" My mind was racing, entertaining the possibility of getting kicked off the plane. (Too bad! We're already in the air.) He said, "No, I'm the purser. Here's my card. May I have the letter from the doctor?" I handed him the envelope with the letter, forgetting that my receipt was tucked in there too. "Here. We have been staying in Malaysia for the past month." I thought that fact might help us since there was no swine flu cases in Malaysia yet. He pondered upon that fact and assured me that he would have it back after he had a meeting with the pilot, "Ma'am, I'll let you know our decision after I discuss with the pilot what we're going to do. As you know with the situation with swine flu, we really don't want you all to have to go through the quarantine process. That would be a huge hassle!" Wow! He actually used that word 'quarantine'. "Sure, of course! I understand the situation. I really want to get home quickly too." So, he took the doctor's letter and disappeared for a good hour. I had no idea what a purser was. When he first mentioned it, I thought, hmm....... like a bouncer? Haha! I came home and looked it up, oh, it's like a security/safety officer on a commercial flight or ship.

 

 

The doctor's letter.

 

 

What it said...........

 

So, we almost got quarantined, if not for that letter. I bet the purser and pilot looked up what croup was during that flight from Hong Kong to San Francisco. I almost wanted to kiss the ground when we landed on U.S. soil. It sure felt good to be home! When informed of our third flight from San Francisco to our home city, Joey grunted, "No! Not another one!" We told him, "We need to. Do you want to get back home?" He reluctantly consented, but made us promised him, "No more! No more airplane!"

 

Phew! We're back. But what a way to end the trip!

• Post A Comment!

May. 16, 2009 - The Passover Lamb

For some reason or another I am not able to upload any more photos this evening.  Maybe I have reached my graphic quota??

I wanted to show you a photo of our Passover meal with the lamb, bitter herbs and unleavened bread.  We ate really quickly, we did not sit around the table, we did not dress up fancy and we all wore sandals.  We do a lot of entertaining but this was different than our usual meals.  We had no ceremony and after we had eaten, we moved away from the food.  We then sat around reading from Leviticus 23 and Exodus 12.  There were lots of questions and answers and fun!

Exodus 12: 3 Tell the whole community of Israel that on the tenth day of this month each man is to take a lamb for his family, one for each household. 4 If any household is too small for a whole lamb, they must share one with their nearest neighbor, having taken into account the number of people there are. You are to determine the amount of lamb needed in accordance with what each person will eat.

8 That same night they are to eat the meat roasted over the fire, along with bitter herbs, and bread made without yeast. 9 Do not eat the meat raw or cooked in water, but roast it over the fire—head, legs and inner parts. 10 Do not leave any of it till morning; if some is left till morning, you must burn it. 11 This is how you are to eat it: with your cloak tucked into your belt, your sandals on your feet and your staff in your hand. Eat it in haste; it is the LORD's Passover.

• Post A Comment!

May. 16, 2009 - Preparing for Passover continued

• Post A Comment!

May. 14, 2009 - Genting Highlands Thrills Part II

Second day on Genting Highlands, we went for the Outdoor Theme Park.

The carousel outdoor was bigger and prettier than the one indoor.

Beautiful colors!

I rode the horse with Joey. (The indoor carousel could only hold the kids, no adults allowed.)

Nothing beats having two hotel rooms between us and the kids, I slept so well. We got the cheapest hotel (First World Hotel), but upgraded for RM$10 per room per night to the new wing.

The boys on the Astro Fighter ride.

Josie and me. It had to be a 'green' one! Lately, the kids had been wanting everything 'green'. Green gummies were almost all gone from the huge gummie bears container.

Josie and Daddy on the Flying Dragon rollercoaster ride. We had to beg for a long time, because Josie was just a hair shorter than the height requirement.

Josie was doing very well on the ride.

I had to stay with Joey because he did not want to get on the ride. "Scary!" he said.

Josie tried out the Rodeo Rider children's ride.

It's similar to space shot, except much milder. She looked a little worried, when they moved up and came down suddenly! She's a brave girl to try out the ride, because Joey refused.

Genting should put more of an effort to decorate this old antique car, it just looked ....... so sorry.

The kids were attracted by the fish in the koi pond.

We didn't even buy the fish food, we were just there, and the fish went wild with anticipation!

After going through the Pirate Train ride, Joey took a picture outside.

"Oh yeah!" he totally felt like he was a pirate!

We paid the extra fees of RM$10 per person to ride this Corkscrew rollercoaster ride.

All through the ride, I heard my brother and his girlfriend screaming! Fun!

Then, we for the Antique Car ride. First round, Josie drove my brother and his girlfriend. Joey and I were in another car, while Josh and John waited for their turn.

After we all had a turn, Josie insisted on going again. So, I went with her, while John went with the boys. This was when I realized that Josie wanted to be the 'driver' and 'was' the driver in the earlier ride. I was surprised because I rode with Joey on the first ride, and he did not want to have anything to do with driving. He just wanted to ride. It gave me a glimpse of understanding of my children's personality! (Because we usually feel that Joey's so 'garang' (fierce) and has a temper, he would naturally be very independent and wanted to do things himself, but really, he wasn't as independent as we thought he was. On the other hand, Josie's showing her strong personality more and more as she grew older. Though she's the youngest, her bossiness and domineering personality became clearer. Oh, I hope when she hit adolescence, we would be all right with each other!)

Josie, at the wheel!

Later, we went for the Pirate Ship ride, John stayed with Joey and Josie because they were too short for the ride.

Thrilling! Your heart might skip a beat when the ship paused for a moment up in the air because you feel weightless for a second!

John's turn to ride the Pirate Ship. Josh wanted to do it a second time with Daddy.

Joey and me getting on the Cyclone! His height barely qualify him for the ride.

Yikes! I think I got a bit bruised from this ride.

John and Josh on the Teacups. I disliked this ride with a passion, it made my head dizzy and muggy!

Josie loved this ride so much that we rode this repeatedly later while the others went for the boat ride because she couldn't ride due to her height.

It's fun! Joey loved it too!

I have no problems with rollercoaster rides, nor height. I like fast and rough rides, but I finally found a weakness of mine. Once, when Josie and I were on the Flying Elephant ride together, she wanted to ride it on her own. She stood up to wave at me while the ride was going on, my heart --- stopped for a few seconds! It went weak for a while, and my fear for my child's safety overcame me with trembles down to my knees.

Joey, getting ready for the boat ride! (But sadly, he was not tall enough to ride.)

My brother on the bumper boat.

Josh was having the time of his life here!

He really knew how to navigate and bump other people's boat!

Jackson and Stephanie.

We got caught in a rain, so we let the kids play in the kids' playground here.

Josie finally got a chance to ride on an elephant, even though it's a fake one!

Nobody wanted to try this Space Shot ride with me, except Josh.

Whoa! We were heading up high!

Once we were up on the top, we stayed for a while, before........

it dropped us a few hundred feet in high speed! My heart almost leaped out, but wasn't scared. It was a great ride, but nobody wanted to go again, so we moved on.

We went on more rides till almost the park's 7pm closing time. Everyone was tired and cold by the time we went back indoor for dinner. We all had a good time, and it was good that nobody was hurt. (Well, except that I got this bad bruise on my back and one on my knee.) We probably won't be back, but the kids said they could stay for a few more days.

• Post A Comment!

May. 13, 2009 - Genting Highlands Thrills Part I

Josie's first ride at the Genting Highlands' indoor park.

It's a very smooth, mild ride with different vehicles. This turned out to be her favorite indoor park ride, which later she rode like 10 times in a row when the park was close to closing, of course, with different vehicle each time.

Bumper car fun!

This is Josh's favorite! The boys (including John and my brother) also did this like a gazillion times.

 

That's me, trying out the bumper cars. It could get quite crazy, and totally not my cup of tea.

My brother, a kid at heart!

John in action!

Joey just loved tagging along the ride.

Getting ready for a rollercoaster ride.

Yes, we are ready!

"Let's do it again! And again and again!" said Josh.

"It's cool!"

Riding in a decorated car across the ceiling.

That's the one we rode in, looking like lots of flowers.

Some decorations all around.

The Incredible Hulk! So tacky!

More tacky decorations! Green Statue of Liberty riding motorcycle!

The kids were excited to ride on the train. (Yeah, Josh, you can turn the head, but can't make the eyes look this way!)

Choo-Choo! Chugging away..........

Hi! Josh!

Hi! John!

The kids also enjoyed the Merry-Go-Round.

They just didn't like taking pictures that much.

We did split up into two camps, John and I took Josie for her favorite ride, while the boys went with Uncle Jackson and Stephanie for bumper car fun.

Now, she's riding a fire engine.

A Police car.

A tractor.

A tow truck.

And an antique automobile.

The Ferris Wheel was a very bright and breezy ride.

Our party was split up into two groups, and we had fun waving at each other!

My sweet Josie, making funny faces!

My happy girl! So many rides and absolutely no waiting time at all! (It's great to go on vacation when everyone's in school.)

There was a waterway around the restaurant areas too, where you could ride a gondola with a fake person.

John and me on the gondola ride.

The kids were amazed at the beautiful lights under the bridge.

They were just randomly waving at people.

One last round of bumper car fun for everyone before we're done for the night.

How do you explain over and over again why she can't ride because she's too short?

Finally, we got her to ride at the Junior Bumper Car section, but there wasn't anyone else.

Then, we did the Merry-Go-Round again for her sake.

It's very pretty!

We had matching jackets from Hanna Andersson. :)

Josie and Mommy!

Oh! We're getting tired since getting up at 6am to catch the express bus from Penang to Genting Highlands that day.

It's something fun to do with the kids, and so cheap! We only spent a little more than $320 for all 7 of us, including express bus rides (both ways), 3 rooms for 2 nights at the hotel, indoor and outdoor park tickets for everyone and food!

Caught a shot of them on the rollercoaster ride while we were on the Ferris Wheel.

Time to hit the sack!

• Post A Comment!

May. 9, 2009 - Penang By the Storm Part II

We went to the Butterfly Farm in Penang. It turned out to be one of the best memories of our Asian trip.

So many butterflies!

The butterflies were attracted to Josie's red jeans.

They seemed to think that she's one big red flower. Josh sort of regretted that he did not wear his red shorts.

We'd never seen so many butterflies flying around before. It was simply amazing!

Joey had no problem coaxing a butterfly to stay on his palm.

We'd had butterflies landing on us without us knowing. 

I got a butterfly on my palm too!

Some species seemed to like pineapple juice, while others enjoyed flower nectar.

Josh posing with a butterfly.

Josh & Mommy.

A green lizard.

Stick insect.

Leaf insect.

We saw a butterfly laying eggs. It's really amazing!

A colorful butterfly sucking nectar with its proboscis.

Of course we had to tell Josh that he's not supposed to pluck any flowers here.

There was a scorpion pit filled with scorpions. Yikes!

I'm guessing that's a moth from how the wings were resting.

After many attempts, Josie finally got a butterfly on her finger.

A millipede pit, and we found one renegade one outside too!

"Oh, the butterfly likes me!" piped up Josie.

"Mommy! I got two butterflies!"

Joey's in paradise because butterfly is one of his favorite things.

"Don't you fly away!" she scolded a little........

"That's my princess hat!"

She finally got two on her hand, that deserved a shot!

What a joyful expression!

Longhorn beetle.

A gecko.

Man-face bug.

Some sort of frogs/toads. They looked very interesting with triangular eyelids.

Joey loved pointing to all the creepy crawlies and calling out their names.

Josie enjoyed seeing all kinds of bugs.

So many butterflies!

Afterwards, we stopped at the Tropical Fruit Farm for some refreshments.

John wanted me to take a picture of him eating a banana.

The kids totally zonked out on our way back.

John's first time driving in Penang. We circled the whole Penang island that day!

Gurney Drive.

It held so much memories for me growing up in Penang.

Josie's favorite guy in Penang, my brother Jackson.

Our family at Gurney Drive, after eating at Coffee Island Restaurant.

A group picture with my mom.

After a huge meal, the kids voted to go to the Youth Park again. My brother suggested that I should take a picture of the kids on this dinosaur. It's been there since our days, and we had pictures of us (me & my three younger brothers) sitting on it when we were little. 

• Post A Comment!