Leisurely Langkawi

We were on holiday in Langkawi from 19-21 September 2008. We drove to Kuala Kedah (1 1/2 hours from Island Glades, Penang) and took a ferry from there (another 1 1/2 hours). Julian slept on the ferry ride to Langkawi.

Soon after we arrived on Friday, we had our first 'adventure' in our rented car. You see, in Langkawi, rented cars come with a minimum amount of petrol and the first thing you're supposed to do is to fill the tank up. Our car had so little petrol that we couldn't even reach the nearest petrol station in town! Luckily, after a quick SOS call, we were back on the road :-).

We decided to stay at a beach hotel so Julian could go to the beach easily. Our choice? Sunset Beach Resort - and we were not disappointed.


[Room Inspection: Julian exploring the spacious Sunset II room]


[Sea View: The view of the sea from the breakfast area of the resort]

Since Julian is still too young to appreciate any of the 'touristy' things, we decided on a different kind of itinerary this time. Well, first thing's first - we went to the beach. Julian enjoyed himself playing in the sand. He also had fun playing with the water.


[Fun with the Sand: Julian enjoying the sand with his 'sand toys']


[Fun with the Waves: Julian and Mummy taking in the waves]

It rained on the second day, but we still had fun. We visited the mini science centre called Petrosains Playsmart at the Telaga Habour Park. It's a great place for kids. Julian could run around safely (it's fully carpeted) exploring the various exhibits. There was also a ball pool - Julian's favourite.


[The Pump: Julian experimenting with the pressure pump]


[Having a Ball: Julian in the ball pool]

Lunch was burger and pizza at Sun Cafe. We had more beach-time fun in the evening. Dinner was at a Russian restaurant. We were there with a lovely couple we met (Hi J, C & V!). They're on holiday from Sweden with their son who is just two months younger than Julian :-)

After relunctantly checking-out on Day 3, we went to Kuah for lunch and a quick grab-and-go round of shopping (took less than 30 mins). Then it was off to the jetty for the ferry home. Julian didn't sleep this time round but no worries, he didn't get seasick :-)

Oven Update

Just an update on what's been baking in the oven recently.


[Tuna Cheese Bread Pudding]


[Close-up shot of a slice of Tuna Cheese Bread Pudding]


[Sponge Cake with Zesty Lemon Icing]


[Close-up shot of the Sponge Cacke]

Both were 'experimental' projects, baked for the first time with success :-)

Sebai Sebai Thai Restaurant

On 6 September 2008, We had dinner at the Sebai Sebai Thai Restaurant at Lintang Batu somewhere off Greenlane. If you're coming from Gelugor, you should take the flyover at the RECSAM roundabout and turn left after the Hindu temple. The restaurant is next to a children's playground nestled in a housing area on the left.

This was actually our second visit. We tried their Thai-style kangkung (RM8), green curry chicken (RM15) and fish cake (RM5 for 2 pieces).


[Thai-style Kangkung]


[Green Curry Chicken]


[Fish Cake]


[Salad]

On our previous visit, we tried their deep-fried kangkung (RM8) and deep-fried garlic squid (RM12) which were delicious!

Our Rare Outing

On 5 September 2008, we managed to go out for a rare outing - just the two of us, a.k.a. dating :o).

Mid-morning saw us having breakfast along Gurney Drive. We had hokkien lor mee (hokkien mee + lor) with pork ribs. Each bowl was RM6.50.


[Hokkien Lor Mee]

Then, we managed to catch a late morning movie at GSC in Gurney Plaza. This was our first movie at a cinema in about one-and-a-half years *sad*. We watched You Don't Mess With The Zohan. Quite funny and entertaining.

After the movie, we had lunch at BBQ Chicken at the ground floor of Gurney Plaza. We had their set lunch. The Korean Charbroiled Chicken was RM14.50 per set while the Hot Hot Drumstick set was RM13.70. Both were quite tasty, especially the Korean Charbroiled Chicken. The restaurant claims that they only use olive oil for cooking.


[Korean Charbroiled Chicken]


[Hot Hot Drumstick]

Julian Update

2 September 2008 saw Julian visiting 'Aunty Nurse' at the Taman Tun Sardon clinic for his routine check-up. He weighed in at 9.5kg. He's still in the lower section of the normal range but putting on weight according to the weight-gain curve.

At night we took him for his Chicken Pox vaccine in Taman Pekaka. Daddy was vaccinated too because daddy's never been 'poxed by the chicken'.

Some updates on Julian's development which we left out in the previous post:
He can now point to various parts of his body when asked - nose, ear, mouth, head, belly button. He can also point to these parts on someone else's body e.g. Daddy/Mummy's ear, etc.

Julian seems to be able to understand quite a few words now. He can't verbalise them but can point to a good number of things correctly. On 12 September 2008, he showed us that he could also point to himself in response to questions like "Who is Julian?" and "Who is a good boy?". Daddy and Mummy are really proud of him! :-)

Let's Go to the Zoo

National Day (31 August 2008) saw us in Taiping for Julian's maiden visit to the zoo.

We left Penang late in the morning to arrive in Taiping for lunch. We ate at Mr. BBQ Restaurant. We ordered stout chicken, sweet and sour cuttlefish and squid, and "choy tarm". The cuttlefish and squid dish was novel to us. Julian had homecooked porridge brought all the way from Penang in his magic porridge pot.


[Cuttlefish and squid dish]

Then, we were off to the zoo! It was crowded due to the holiday. The first thing we did was to hop onto the zoo train. It gave us a good preview of the animals. Julian pointed with interest to some of the animals he saw.

The train ride was a good decision because it started to rain shortly after the ride ended. We did manage to visit a few enclosures for Julian have a walk-around. At this age, he is more interested in walking around that to admire the animals. Anyway, it was good for Angie and I because the last time we visited the Taiping Zoo was when we were still little kids.


[Oh, deer!]


[Let me go, Mummy!: Julian at the giraffe enclosure]