Beijing - Day 6

This is the first time all of us, including hubby and I are joining a tour group. It is really no fun!!! Early hours, mad rush, waiting, etc. The look on Kelly's and Kerryn's faces tell it all.

Our first stop of the day was万寿寺, the most amazing thing about this place must be the giant buddha statue which is sitting on a thousand smaller buddha statues! It was such a majestic view but too bad photo taking is not allowed.

The second stop was颐和园, the Summer Palace. We got a shock when we entered the doors. The place is huge and its so huge that it is impossible for a person to walk the entire place in a day, it takes about 2-3 days to cover each and every part. With 2 kids in tow, we were restricted to the nearest hut and an island across the 17 holes bridge. The temperature for the day was 0 (zero) degree celsius, the four of us were freezing cold and surprisingly Kelly and Kerryn took it well. Part of the surface of the lake is becoming ice.

The third and last stop of the day was紫禁城, Forbidden City. Although the weather is cold but we were lucky that the locals do not visit at this season, all the places of interest were considered not crowded and that made handling the 2 children easier. After visiting the whole place, leaving us tired and cold, we were happily in search of the Starbucks long heard of through news but to our disappointment, we can't find after searching almost the whole palace. Since it was close to dinner time, we decided to make our way back to our hotel which was just 15minutes walk away and on our way back, we stopped by at a local restaurant for dinner.

Beijing - Day 5

Before the trip, hubby and I were already thinking about going to either Shengzhen, Guangzhou or Hong Kong to look for our friends and we concluded that we will only decide when we are in Shanghai, mainly depending on the kids' conditions.

Last night after dinner, we decided that we will be going Beijing instead! We booked the tickets while at Uncle Yong's place and today, we are at the airport, getting ready to go the ever famous Forbidden City!

The blue squarish animal that Kerryn is pointing to is not in anyway related to water or energy saving, it is actually海宝, the mascot for Shanghai World Expo. Kerryn calls it the 'cute cute'.

By the time we reached, it was already evening and after calling a few travel agents, we are all set to go visit the palaces tomorrow!

Shanghai - Day 4

After many days of China-Chinese food, we longed for some normal, not so salty and oily food. A Hongkong-Chinese food will be fine as we were looking forward to porridge and wantan noodle. Who knows other then ordering a variety of porridge, we also got ourselves the roast meat platter and spare ribs.


After breakfast or rather lunch, we went on to Nanjing Road for a walk. Since the brunch did not satisfied us, we asked Uncle Yong to prepare a home cooked dinner. Finally we got claypot boiled soup, decent vegetables, some other dishes and my favourite Lala!

Shanghai - Day 3

We made a trip to the biggest shopping mall in Shanghai and 明珠塔. The kids enjoyed running around and playing at the various playgrounds in the mall.


Uncle Yong meet up with us at dinner time and after dinner, we went to this newly found culture-preserved backlane which was converted into pubs and bistro.

Shanghai - Day 2

Uncle Yong will only join us for dinner today as he has got some business meetings so the day is for me to plan. We brought the kids to Nanjing walk in the morning, trying to find a local restaurant for breakfast.


We were lucky to find one that offered soupy noodle along with yummy side dishes suitable for the kids. Kelly was fascinated about the cold weather, she totally enjoyed it.


After breakfast, we took a train to Xiangyang market for shopping but was totally disappointed upon reaching. They used to be at an outdoor area where there were about 400 stalls selling almost everything but after moving indoor a few years ago to this current location, the feeling of the market us no longer there. It is now more like our Far East Shopping Centre. After walking for a while, the kids got tired and we took a train back to rest, of course not forgetting to get some snacks along the way.



For dinner, Uncle Yong brought us to this very nice Chinese restaurant named after 乾隆. The setting and service standard was superb. We had 热黄酒, super spicy beef, yummilicious soup, etc, we enjoyed this meal heartily.


After dinner, we stroll to Nanjing walk and upon Kelly's request, we took a train to the other end of the road where we settled down for another round of beer while the kids had hot chocolate, cake and popcorns.

Shanghai - Day 1

Our ETA at Pudong airport was supposed to be 0635hrs but we reached 30mins earlier because our pilot decided to speed since its midnight and most likely there is no traffic police on duty.

I was most delighted to see Uncle Yong again after so many years, he did not changed a bit. Upon walking out of the airport, we nearly froze. It was so far the coldest day within a month, temperature at 13 Degree Celsius.

After checking in to our hotel which was conveniently located at the Bund, Uncle Yong and myself went out for breakfast while the 3 took a rest in the hotel room. We chose a Shanghainese eatery for a local taste. The fried onion noodle, steamed soup bin and pan fried bun was delicious but way too oily and salty for my taste. There weren't much change from my last visit 5 years ago. The few same things that you can't miss must be the rude and uncared attitude, speaking loudly, messy traffic and people spitting. I guessed all the above = CHINA.

Dinner got to be my favourite Nanhua Fish Steamboat. The same restaurant is still located at the same venue with the same settling, nothing change a bit. A revisit with my 2 princesses is a totally different experience. 5 years ago, I was with Uncle Yong and his whole bunch of business friends from China, Malaysia and Singapore. We drank and ate liked there's no tomorrow, we were out from day to night, we walked miles and miles in the cold weather but this time round, the food we eat and even the places we visit got to be kids friendly.

Baby Jayden turns 1 month old

The last time we met Xintian, she was only 2 months pregnant and now, we are at baby Jayden's full month party. We had a good time catching up and shall see one another again nearing to Christmas.

Ladies Night

Today 4 ladies left their children at home and came out for a chilling session. I guess we need to do that often to stay sane!

Maidless for 5 weeks

It's almost 5 weeks since our maid left. Since the maid we choose was detected with TB, we concluded that it's fated that we should not have maid for a while. Initially we were still debating whether to have a maid or not due to the upbringing of our girls, since the maid did not come, we decided to go maidless till we give up.

It was really tiring initially, cleaning, bathing, cooking, playing, entertaining non-stop. Once we got the routine up, life begins to brighten up. Kelly is definitely a great help, she helps to put the toys back, put the clothes into the washer, fold the clothes, etc. We shall set our target to be Chinese New Year and review our maid decision again.

Parents-Teacher session

It's the year end Meet-the-Teacher session again. This time round, Kerryn came along for 2 simple reasons - first because there is no maid at home and second because we are getting her to be familar with the school since she will be going to school soon. Kerryn seems to love the school, she can't stop running around at the outdoor area.

Teacher Raynie and 都老师 were praising Kelly from the start to the end. I guessed it should be the same for all the other children.


We left for Compasspoint for McDonald's breakfast, as per requested by Kelly. Before music class, we walked around and saw the winter wear in FOX. Out of fun, we let Kerryn and Kelly wear. They turned out to be surprisingly cute and nice. Doesn't Kerryn looks like Southpark? Out of impulse, we bought them without knowing where to wear them to. The very same hour, we decided to go Shanghai!