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!