Holidays: Adventure in Surabaya

Baby Boy had a treat by his grandparents, who brought him for a short holiday to Surabaya, Indonesia.

Interestingly, the name Surabaya came from "suro" (shark) and "boyo" (crocodile), two creatures that fought each other in local legend.

One of the highlights was to visit a factory, which is like Disneyland for Baby Boy. There were tractors and forklifts and cranes.

Watching the tractors at work

Getting a personal tour of the plant

And a special ride

Comparing his miniature crane with the real thing

Another highlight was a visit to Sidoarjo, where a "mud volcano" erupted in 2006 (and is still erupting, albeit at a much slower pace). It's also known as "Lapindo", named after the oil and gas exploration company that was deemed responsible for triggering the mud eruption.

Nature: Glamping it up at Janda Baik

It was the year-end holidays, and in line with cuti-cuti Malaysia, we decided to return to Janda Baik in Pahang.

It's just an hour's drive from KL, on not too windy roads, to cool fresh air and natural jungle beauty. We fell in love with it during our last camping trip in 2014.

(Read about our previous rough-it-out fun adventure here.)

5-Star Camping

This time, we decided to level-up and stay at Sailor's Rest, a homestay turned glamping campsite —one of the first, if not the only, in Malaysia.

The campsite layout

Glamping, or "Glamorous Camping", is ideal for those who want to get back-to-nature with all the creature comforts. We took two glamping tents — a 2-bedder and a 4-bedder — which came with beds, plush pillows and quilts, a stand fan, light and power points! It was really five stars by camping standards.

Set against a misty highland backdrop

Spacious and comfy ... definitely how camping was meant to be

But in case you forget you're actually there for camping, there are still insects and bugs and a night-time chorus of frogs to remind you. And being right next to river (the main attraction for us), the sound of running water is a soothing lullaby.

The river at our doorstep

Sport: Snow & Ice

Girl had a wonderful opportunity to go to Hokkaido with here grandparents. She saw snow for the first time, skied down the slopes ... and injured her arm.

Hitting the slopes

Ouch!

To make her brothers feel better about staying home, we went for the next best thing ... ice skating!

Belle of the Ball

Girl has been watching Youtube tutorials and decided she wanted to make a tutu skirt for an upcoming birthday party.

So we decided on colours, sourced for the tulle and started work. Here goes nothing!

Materials all ready

Wrapping the tulle around a cardboard to ensure each length is consistent 

One roll done

Cutting one end of it to create strips

Tying the strips on the ribbon. We had to redo it a few times to get nice neat knots.

Ready for the ball ... I mean, party

Tada! Proud of my girl!

Sport: Overcoming Obstacles

In one of my more adventurous moods, I enthusiastically signed the kids up for the Junior version of the Spartan Race — an international obstacle course challenge held for the first time in Malaysia.

The promo ads and Youtube vids promised mud and dirt and more mud.

The kiddos took a look at the vids and didn't object violently, so we were set. The biggest issue was trying to decide which shoes to wear!

The 3 older ones were running in 3 different non-competitive races, based on age group.

We were told to arrive at least 1.5 hours before our race. We parked at Setia City Mall on Saturday morning and walked to the transport hub to catch a shuttle bus to the race venue. It was a long line, but also a good place to meet some familiar faces. The organisers arranged for the children to get on the bus first, so our wait was much shorter.

Upon arrival, we made our way up a muddy track to the registration booths, where we signed in and received the numbered headbands and t-shirts. We were greeted by long lines of mud-covered guys queuing for the showers!

The younger kids went first, and parents were allowed to accompany them, so I went in my Croc sandals (which got stuck in the mud at the first obstacle) and camera. Am proud to say that Baby Boy managed the obstacles comfortably without needing much assistance.

A series of obstacles on the course

Go under ...

and over ...

Cooking: Meals in a Box

Mama doesn't cook.

Thankfully the kiddos have great grandparents who ensure they are well fed and not starving. Which is a big reason why Mama never had to cook.

Another big reason is because Mama dislikes the preparations and shopping involved when it comes to cooking. Jamie Oliver makes it look so easy because everything is at hand — just toss this in, sauté that and add a drizzle of olive oil.

Not so in real life. There's always a missing ingredient, a mad rush to the grocery store, and leftover fresh produce that ends up rotting in the fridge.

So when I heard about Urban Stove, it seemed like the solution for lazy people like me. All you need for 3 home-cooked meals packed in a box and delivered to your doorstep.

I decided to try it out and ordered the Thai Green Curry, Ayam Masak Kunyit and Linguine with Chicken Cacciatore — stuff I would normally only dream about cooking at home.

Meals in a box. Like take-out. Only not.

Each meal packed and labelled separately for easy storage.

Since it was the school holidays, Girl and I decided to make it a parent-child bonding activity. We started with the Thai Green Curry.

So you know what everything was ... including idiot-proof instruction sheet

Fresh vege and basil leaves

Girl, being the more culinary-skilled of the two of us, did most of the work while I supervised and tried to make intelligent-sounding comments.

Some washing and chopping and putting it all together

And we were soon done (after fixing a hiccup of the rice cooker cable that was not pushed in properly).

Lunch is served! Portion for 2 but enough for 3 medium eaters 

It was a fun cooking experience. The curry was a little too spicy for our liking though — probably something in the paste — but Girl was enthusiastically and encouragingly eating up her portion in between mouthfuls of cold milk.

Parks: Walking with Elephants

I've heard a lot about the Kuala Gandah Elephant Sanctuary in Pahang but never made my way there. After all, it's in a different state, and I really didn't know what to expect.

Thanks to my friend who made all the arrangements and allowed us to tag along with her family this past school holiday.

It was a pleasant and relatively easy 1.5-hour drive from PJ, mostly down the Karak Highway with a 10-km trunk road to Lanchang. There is a huge sign right after the Kuala Gandah toll so you'd know to turn right.

Nice scenic drive

Hard to miss this

There were several packages available for visitors. If you just wanted to bathe the elephants (the main touristy attraction), it's RM10 per adult, RM5 per kid, plus RM50 for a guide fee (for a group of up to 10 pax).

Since it was our first visit, we decided to take the educational tour package for RM120 (we took 2 packages because of our large troop). This included a guide, a chance to get up close to the baby elephants, food preparation and feeding. The elephant bathing was an optional extra. There were different coloured stickers stuck to our ticket to show what we paid for.

There were several informative exhibits near the reception lobby.

Games: Solving the Rubik's Puzzle

The kiddos' uncle, Ah Ku, is a whiz at the Rubik's Cube. (Not bad lah ... go university, at least know how to play Rubik's Cube).

So when Boy got a Rubik's Cube gift one day, he asked his Ah Ku to teach him.

It seemed a pretty tall order ... but both guys rose to the challenge.

It took a lot of time, practice and persistence (and patience!!). Ah Ku was very systematic, and Boy practiced hard to master each step before bugging his uncle to teach the next step.

Very patient tutelage with a persistent student

Strategies & steps

Some secret coding

But amazingly, Boy did learn to solve the Rubik's Cube. (Something Mummy will never be able to do in her lifetime.)

Here's a video of him in action with a dexterity that belies his 8 years of age!
*proud Mummy's chance to show kid off*

Nature: Our Turtle Adventures

One of the purpose for our recent holiday in the East Coast was to enjoy the natural beauty of the beautiful Malaysia. Some of the things I really wanted the kiddos to see were sea turtles nesting and fireflies, so I planned a couple of excursions for our time there.

Turtle Watching

Turtle nesting season in the east coast of Malaysia is from May to September.

We got in touch with Pak Su, a well known local expert guide who brings tourists turtle watching nightly at Teluk Mak Nik, Terengganu, which is about a 15-minute drive from Club Med Cherating.

Turtles usually come up at night, so the meeting time is 9pm and can last till past midnight. Mindful of that, we "strategised" to go turtle watching on the first night of our holiday so the kiddos would not be too tired out from a whole day of activity and will be able to stay up.

We arrived at 9pm at the meeting spot. A small crowd had already gathered, comprising guests from various hotels.

After an introduction and briefing from Pak Su, we crowded around a small basket of green turtle hatchlings from Pak Su's hatchery (he buys the eggs to hatch them in his hatchery). They were the cutest little things, with their tiny little flippers. We were repeatedly reminded not to use flash while taking photos to avoid damaging the newborn turtles' eyes.

Holidays: Mad for Club Med!

Malaysia is blessed with so much natural beauty and attractions. So this year, we wanted to do more Cuti-cuti Malaysia holidays instead of going for overseas family vacation — with four kiddos and the weak ringgit, the exchange rates and airfares wouldn't make travelling very fun.

The East Coast has always been a favourite, and I really wanted the kids to see turtles nesting (more about this in another post). One day, hubby saw an ad for Club Med Cherating, and it seemed perfect for us. So we booked online and went for a 5-day get-away in mid-July.

We did a 3-hour road trip from Kuala Lumpur to Cherating, Pahang. Smooth highway drive for most parts, and the kids slept through a good portion of it. We started at 11am and reached at 2pm. Check-in time was 3pm, and we weren't sure if they would let us in early.

But after the guard at the guard house verified our reservation and asked us to wait for a while, we were allowed to enter and were greeted enthusiastically at the lobby by the waiting GOs (or Guest Officers).

The guardhouse: Entry is only for guests with bookings

After a briefing, the GOs led us to our rooms while giving us a tour of the resort and its facilities. The resort is a little old and rustic, not too luxurious, but perfect for a back-to-nature retreat. We had read reviews that the rooms were quite basic, so our expectations were quite low, but it wasn't too bad — clean and practical. It helped that we had connecting rooms, so it gave us a bit more space. Perhaps the air-conditioning could have been colder.

The pathways to the rooms

Basic but clean and functional rooms

After a very tiring past few months with work and school, we really thank God for a fun yet restful time away with the family. I felt absolutely unproductive (didn't even touch the 3 books I brought), and what a heavenly feeling that was! Some of the main draws or highlights of the trip for me are:

A "Bao Kar Liao" stay
This trip cost about RM1.8k per adult (including the RM100 Club Med membership fee and RM100 extra for connecting rooms) and RM1k per kid (excluding Baby Girl) for a 4-night stay. It seems high, but compared with what we would have spent abroad, it was relatively cheap.

Besides, all the food and drinks and activities were included in it, so it was stress free because you didn't have to worry about meal times or carrying your wallet around to pay for stuff. The flip side is that you get lots of snacks and drinks available round-the-clock, and we had to limit the kids to 2 sweet drinks a day.

That includes you, young lady!

The noodle house is good for a mid-afternoon meal, but I personally found it a bit bland. The finger food and afternoon crepe party at the bar area is pretty good! The international buffet spread is wide but after a while, it may get a bit repetitive. That's when you would want to head over to Rembulan restaurant by the beach for a change of scenery (and it's quite a scenery!). We didn't manage to get dinner bookings (they get booked out by 8.30am every morning), but we had lunch there twice.

Smaller buffet at the Rembulan

But the ambience is worth it

Baby food. There are facilities to do your blending and stuff in the baby room. But you can also place orders with GOs for specially prepared porridge during meal times. Baby Girl also enjoyed the blended vegetables and chicken nuggets from the buffet line.

There are ample activities for everyone to choose from.

A typical day's events

Hubby took part in the ping-pong competition. Got medal some more!

Upping the challenge: Mini tables ftw!

You do have to pay extra for the spa, photographs (from RM30 to RM80 per pix!), boutique purchases and excursions (read my next post to find out how to do it cheaper). But otherwise, you can still enjoy a full holiday without forking out extra.

Sport: Climbing Walls

We were blessed by a few friends who brought kiddos out climbing at Camp 5, 1Utama.

Big Boy had a try at climbing during a friend's birthday party a year back. But it was the first time for Girl and Baby Boy.

Our friends spent their time knotting and re-knotting, belaying the kiddos, and encouraging them as they made their way up and down. It's a long-suffering role, so am thankful for the opportunity. 

There's the Cicak Club for kids and many more challenges on the walls, which we hope to try out in the near future.

Girl trying out the auto-belayer

Baby Boy made his way up high ... Proud mama!

Siblings belaying siblings