It was back in April that I had a short trip to Bali with hubby, yes, a holiday just for the 2 of us. Thanks to mother-in-law who helps to look after Dillon and Kaith while we are away.

We spent 3 nights in Bali but in reality we only had about 2.5 days to travel around because we took the evening flight (AA free seats ma, can’t be choosy loh…). We took a taxi from the airport and it cost only Rp. 45,000 since the distance is just merely 15 minutes away from Kuta. We stayed at Febri’s Hotel & Spa, located along Jl. Kartika Plaza. I booked through Agoda and cost us about US$165 only for 3 nights. It’s a good hotel with decent rooms, friendly service and reasonably price, the pool is nice and there is also a spa inhouse.

Day 1: Batuan Temple – Tampaksiring – Kintamani – Tegalalang – Ubud – Tanah Lot

After a good night rest, we met our driver guide – Wayan Darsa who drives a Kijang (Toyota Unser) at the hotel at 9.00am the next morning. Before we got there, I have already booked this driver guide by email, the cost is Rp. 450,000 per day. It wasn’t through any friend’s recommendation, I just got it from the web and we were lucky that he is a good one.

We started off our journey by stopping by some temples, which include the Batuan Temple, a Balinese Hindu Temple with lots of pretty stone carvings and sculptures, followed by Tampaksiring Temple, the holy Spring Water Temple (entrance fee Rp.6,000 per person).

By noon time, we arrived at Kintamani Lake Batur and Volcano but it wasn’t a good time because it started drizzling at that time, therefore we stopped by Windu Sara Restaurant to have our lunch. The food was nothing to brag about at all but the environment. It was quite relieve and relax to just sit down there having a glass of beer, while enjoying the cool air and a view of Mount Batur Volcano from far, the fog was pretty thick thou.

Then we head on to Ubud town and on the way, we stopped by Tegalalang for hubby to snap some photos of the rice terrace, nice greenery view.

The Ubud market is a traditional market selling lots of arts and crafts, souvenirs and beach clothing can also be found here. Well as usual, bargaining is a “must-do” if you want to buy something here and you have to be good at it.

The next stop is Tanah Lot (entrance fee Rp. 10,000 per person), we initially plan to be here for the sunset but we were late when we got there. The sky was already too dark for any good photos, what a shame! So we have already decided to come back here again during our next Bali trip in October later.

After Tanah Lot, we headed back to Kuta and we have our dinner at Mudi Restaurant nearby our hotel. Tried the Ayam Betutu (roast chicken in banana leaves), a well known Balinese dish and I like it.

Day 2: Taman Ayun Temple – Kuta Beach – Uluwatu – Jimbaran Bay

Following a tiring day, we woke up a little late today. After breakfast at 9.30am, we headed to Taman Ayun Temple (entrance fee Rp. 3,000 per person), it’s a Royal Temple of Mengwi Empire. The temple building has multi-storey roof and has a beautiful landscape garden, definitely a nice place to visit in Bali.

The itinerary was supposed to continue with a trip to Lake Beratan but since I have to meet my boss and colleagues in Bali office for lunch at Bali Bakery in Kuta Town, we have to give it a pass this time and will go there in October.

After lunch, we headed to Uluwatu Temple (entrance fee Rp. 3,000 per person) for the sunset. Perched high on a cliff over the ocean on Bali’s south-western tip, the view at Uluwatu is magnificent; I’d say you have not been to Bali if you have not seen the most spectacular Uluwatu Temple.

When visiting Uluwatu, do not take the precaution note lightly, the monkeys here are aggressive (or shall I say are “well trained”). Take off your hat, sunglasses and any accessories that can be pulled off.

After Uluwatu, we went on to Jimbaran for our dinner. Although we have heard a lot about the expensive seafood here, but we think it’s something we should not missed. There are so many seafood restaurant along the Jimbaran Bay, with tables all set on the beach. We had no idea which one to go for, they all look the same to us; at last we dine at Blue Marlin Café.

We ordered the prawns, squid and fish, together with drinks, the bill cost us about Rp. 360,000, well that’s worth paying for the atmosphere and experience.

Day 3: Tirthagangga Water Palace – White Sand Beach – Candidasa

We checked out after breakfast, and put our luggage in the car and continue our exploring. Since we only have about 7 hours before we have depart to the airport for our evening flight, we decided to explore the Tirthagangga Water Palace at the east of Bali. According to Wayan, it is not common for tourist to explore the east of Bali due to its distance, it took us 2.5 hours!!

Tirthagangga Water Palacea very beautiful garden with lovely maze of pools and fountains, stone carvings and statue, simply elegant. Hubby spent hours taking photos around the garden.

After we left the palace, the driver guide took us the White Sand Beach, also known as The Virgin Beach because not many tourists have known about this place yet. To be honest, the location of this beach is so secluded and not even many local guides would have known the way.

Then we had our late lunch at The Lotus in Candidasa before we head to the airport.

Overall, although it’s a rather short trip and a bit rush, but we still manage to go to some pretty cool places and had enjoyed a lot. We’ll be coming back to Bali in October and that will be with the kids, mother-in-law and sister-in law’s family, and I’m already looking forward to that.

It took us about 35 minutes to reach our 1st stop – Bamboo island. The sand on the beach is so smooth and the sea is so beautiful. We were the only boat there and we feel like we have the beach all by ourselves, it’s so exclusive.

Our next stop is to Maya Bay, i.e. the film location for the movie “The Beach”. The beach and scenery is nice too but we don’t really like it because it was too crowded, too many tourist there and we can’t hardly take nice photos.

After that we went for the 1st snorkelling stop at Lohsamah Bay. I didn’t go for it, so I stayed on the boat and feed the fish with bread. Next we went to Piley Bay to see the fantastic lagoon, the water is so clear and so green, just like those that you seen on postcards.

Viking cave is nothing much, we only stopped over for photos and that’s it. The cave is a place for birds nests, according to the tour guide, tourist used to go up the cave but because the crowd was too many and it disturbed the birds there so no tourist is allowed to go up anymore.

Around 12.30pm we had our lunch on Phi Phi Don island, this is the only island aroudn here that has restaurants, hotels and shops. Scenery here is not bad but it is also very crowded, so many tourtist and just like a small town.

After lunch we proceed to another 2 snorkelling locations which is th Monkey Bay & Hin Klarng. Again I didn’t go for it but hubby did. The water is so clear and you can see so many tiger fishes there, it’s beautiful.

The trip ended around 4pm and we reached our hotel around 4.30pm. After freshen up, we went to Ruen Mai restaurant near Krabi town for dinner. This is a very nice place with garden settings and the service was excellent. We ordered Seafood To Yum (again!), Green Curry Pork, Chicken with Cashewnuts & Fried Mixed Vegetables. The food portion was good and taste really yummy especially the Tom Yum. The total bill including our beers is about 520baht. Although it’s a bit of distance to come here but I think it’s worthwhile for the good food & environment.

Take a taxi from Ao Nang to Ruen Mai at 60baht per person, most drivers would know but it’s also indicated on the Krabi town Map so you can show it.

(from top left, anti-clockwise) Fried Mixed Vegetables- 70baht, Seafood Tom Yum- 120 baht, Green Curry Pork- 120baht, Chicken w Cashewnuts- 100baht

After dinner, we had a short walk in Krabitown but there was nothing much to see there, so we went back to our hotel for massage. The massage at Sunset hotel is superb, hubby & I went for Aromatherapy full body massage for 1 hour and we pay total 700baht only, you gotta try this too if you are there.

The next day before we check out, we went to the Ao nangbeach again at 7am to take some photos, the beach at this time has a different kind of beauty in it. Overall speaking, this trip is really worth the money and we both had a great & relaxing time in Krabi.

We stayed at Ao Nang Sunset hotel, the rate is only about RM260 for 2 nights when we booked through Agoda.com, quite a good deal! The hotel is at a very strategic location, just 2-3 minutes walk to the beach, airport shuttle bus stops (150baht per person per way, if you take taxi it’ll cost you around 600baht) just opposite the hotel, with plenty of restaurants & shops nearby.

After we had late lunch, we took a walk to the nearby Ao Nang beach. It was very quiet due to low season, there’s only a few people on the beach, but we kind of like this because it feels exclusive. It is supposed to be the raining season (hence low season) but we were lucky that the weather during our stay was perfect.

There are many tour agents in the area, and many day trip packages to choose from. In the end we decided to go on the Phi Phi Island speedboat tour, which is merely 1000baht per person (normal price 1800baht). Another reason why we like to travel during low season.

We went for dinner after we booked our tour. We walked along the street and came to this place recommended by some of my friends, whcih is called Aree Bar Bar.  It feels special to be having our meal in a “small hut” and there was  only 3-4 tables occuppied, hence the food was served very fast and we could have a quite dinner.

When you walked passed McDonald’s on your left, just go across the opposite side of the road and continue to walk for a while, then you’ll see this place.

We ordered Seafood Tom Yum (of course!), Masamman Chicken, Fried Mushroom & Fried Kangkung, all of the dishes was delicious and I especially like the fried mushroom. Including our drinks, this meal cost us about 400baht.

(from top left, anti-clockwise) Seafood Tom Yum-120baht, Fried Mushroom- 60baht, Masamman Chicken- 80baht, Fried Kangkung- 50baht.

On our way back to the hotel, we bought the Banana Pancake from the street hawker and I’d say you should try this if you are there, it’s yummy and cost only 20 baht per piece. If you don’t like banana, there are more than 10 other variants you can choose from such as egg, chocolate, sesame, tuna etc.

When we were back at the hotel, both of us sit at the balcony chit chatting while drinking beer, it’s so relaxing. We have to rest early as the next day trip is gonna be tiring.

I didn’t manage to attend any seminars as I have to look after the 2, while Mr. Yiau taking pictures. Dillon and Kaith have enjoyed themselves at the play area, especially in the gym room, ball pit and the mega slides. However, while most kids enjoyed the magic show by Mr. Banana so much, it’s not something for my kids, they just enjoy running around playing on their own.

There are a lot of families and children, easily more than 300 people were there I believe. It’s not easy to keep an eye on both Dillon and Kaith especially all children were wearing the official T-shirts, all of them look so similar and it’s difficult to spot them among the crowd.

But Kaith was a lucky girl that she got spotted by the mystery hunter and that has won us a Dutch Lady gift hamper worth over RM100, well it’s not bad at all as a consolation prize since we didn’t win the grand prize. See how happy I was when receiving the hamper!! But I was indeed very happy because the person who won the grand prize 3D2N Disneyland Hong Kong trip is my friend Yatie and I’m really glad for her. (ahem, yatie jangan lupa kirim souvenirs ye, hahaha LOL)

I have also manage to catch up with Joanna and Lian, and of course the famous 5xmom (ok ok I know you, but you dunno me, hehe). Too bad I’ve missed Jansey and Karen, have both of you seen me or my kids?

Anyway, thanks to Friso and Nuffnang for such great event, I hope there will be more to come.

The lucky thing is that my husband and I both work on 5-days week, so weekend is always our designated family day. It is very important because most of the time while we are at work, we leave our kids with the maid and therefore family day is a precious opportunity bonding with the kids and spend some exclusive time with them, and it actually brings us closer to each other.

What we normally do is to bring them to outdoor activities, not so much to the shopping malls but more often to the swimming pool, park and playground. All 4 of us go into the children’s pool together, splashing water having fun, we play swing and seesaw together, we run around freely in the park chasing each other, cycling or flying a kite, no matter what we do, we always treasure this great family moment. We also love to attend gathering and parties whenever possible, I think it gives a very good exposure to Dillon and Kaith as they mix around and interact with other kids. Seeing their happy faces and how much they laughed and enjoyed the family day with us, is truly something priceless………..

I have never participated in any Nuffnang bloggers gathering before and this time, the Nuffnang Friso Family Day Out really catches my attention. This would be a great gathering to meet all the parent bloggers nationwide and also to meet their little ones in person. It’s also a great family bonding event which I’d really love to participate along with my husband and kids. Furthermore there will be talks on nutrition and parenting experiences, which is definitely useful to all parents and the magic show is going to entertain the kids a great deal, I’m sure Dillon and Kaith will be fascinated.

This fun filled event is even more exciting because it comes with a lot of fantastic prizes to be won, including 10x RM100 MPH vouchers and a 32’’Sony LCD TV and the Grand prize is a dream family vacation for 2 adults and 2 children to Disneyland Hong Kong fully sponsored by Friso!! Wow this sounds too good to be true, I have always dreaming of going to Disneyland and this trip for is just perfect for me (2 adults = me + hubby, 2 children = Dillon + Kaith), it will definitely be an unforgettable experience for us and the kids because it will be our first family vacation to overseas. We will take a lot of great pictures, and we will buy a lot of souvenirs………oops, I have started dreaming of this family vacation already and I can almost visualize that Mickey is welcoming us there right now……

The appointment was at 1pm on Saturday, hubby and I brought Kaith and also Dillon along, becasue I thought maybe Dillon can “help” to make meimei smile. Anyway here’s the story of our very first casting experience:

We reached there at 1pm and the casting director, Mr. Naufal is a very friendly guy. Although the TVC’s criteris is looking for kids aged between 12-24 months this time but he said he will give Dillon a try too since he still has the cute baby look.

So Dillon was the 1st one to go into the casting room, along with daddy while I was filling up the forms. I didn’t know how it went but according to daddy, he pose for a few shots but he never smile at all, no matter how daddy sweet talk him. *sigh*……..

Then Kaith went in and same thing, she is a little discomfort at first, later we got her some toys and she started playing. She did smile, but her problem is she cannot stay still at one point to pose, she keeps walking and exploring around, touching and pulling everything she sees, the camera and lighting also almost collapse!! (luckily she didn’t break it else mummy has no money to pay…..*phew*)

Then Dillon came in again but same thing, he is acting really cool, when I ask him to smile he just keep blinking his eyes only. Even when I use my final weapon – bribe him with his favourite candy, still he just won’t smile. The casting director even asked me if he actually does smile or not, aiks…so embarrassed…..

So I seriosuly don’t think they will be selected (mission failed), unless they are actually looking for a super cool kid that doesn’t smile and a little busy body who just keep exploring around, hahahaha LOL 

Overall this is a very good experience both for the kids and mummy, now I know it is not easy to do well in casting especially for kids at such young age, if there’s opportunity next time, I think I should do some homework and be more well prepared.

The multiply mummies who attended include mummy Peggy, mummy Evane, mummy Hooisee and myself. Mr. Yiau was also there, as I’ve promised Jennifer to taake some nice photos for her, FOC of course, hehehe. 

I only brought Kaith along since my mother-in-law wanted to bring Dillon to attend another wedding dinner, I believe Kaith has surely enjoyed herself to the fullest at the party.

See more photos here

We only brought Kaith along because Dillon was taking nap by the time we left; furthermore it’s been a while since we last took her to shopping malls.

When we reached Pavilion, we went to the Food Republic to have our meal first, we ate the chicken chop rice & spicy beef noodles at “Little Taiwan”, the food is good, environment is good but to our greatest disappointment, they don’t have high chairs there!! I almost don’t believe it after looking around and asked a few of the workers there, but that is true enough. Luckily we brought the stroller, otherwise, tell me how are we going to have our meal peacefully? Well maybe this Food Republic doesn’t cater for young children? Anyway, if your kids really must have a high chair so that you could eat peacefully, you might have to reconsider this place before ordering your food (which we didn’t coz I was so sure that a place like this definitely has high chairs, so we can’t switch to other restaurant since we’ve ordered & paid for our food)

Ok enough of grumbling, now back to shopping at Mothercare. The gift voucher we have got is only RM 50 so I really don’t know what I can to buy for Kaith. In the end I decided to buy her a long sleeveless top, I always think she looks nice wearing sleeveless….. It cost RM 53 so I only have to top up another RM 3 to get this beautiful top, that she can wear during Christmas or maybe Chinese New Year.

Kaith fell asleep during the dinner and I have to wake her up for cake cutting, and she didn’t see too happy when taking photos and lastly, Dillon has “volunteered” himself to blow the candle and cut the cake… lol

It’s just like yesterday that I gave birth to Kaith, she was only 2.88kg, so tiny and so fragile…… and now she is entering toddler hood already.

Happy Birthday Kaith, my sweetheart, I wish you grow up healthily and happily, I love you.

More photos in my gallery

So after breakfast at 9am, we walked down the road to Pratunam wholesale market for a quick last round of shopping. The place was already crowded by shoppers and I bought some kids clothing and some for myself. Ended up spending another 900baht and that’s it, my wallet is finally emptied,

We packed all our stuff, and of course I packed mine into hubby’s luggage bag as well since he only bought 2 jerseys & 2 T-shirts, there’s still ample space to put my things in, hehehe

We reached Suvarnabhumi airport around 1pm and we checked in early. Both of our luggage bags weigh only 14kg in total, well at least I know that next time I could actually buy more & not worrying that the baggage will exceeds the weight limit, hahaha LOL

2 luggage bags full, with my backpack and a hand carry plastic bag.

We hang around in this new airport & had our lunch. The food here are very expensive. We thought of going McD to eat the Pork burger but there wasn’t one in the airport, so we headed to Burger King, which we then found that it’s closed for renovation… We ended up having Pizza for lunch, not bad at all.

Our flight took off on time and we reached LCCT around 6.15pm, and I just can’t wait to rush home to see Dillon & Kaith….

I have really enjoyed this trip, but it’d be better if I have had the right companion who would enjoy shopping as much as I do, hahaha, too bad hubby only enjoyed the food while the other couple friends, I’m not sure if they enjoyed the trip though. To be frank, I haven’t had enough shopping this time (will it ever be enough?) so I’m definitely going back to Bangkok again, with my mummy friends.