The JJ Twins!

January 1, 2024January 6, 2024

Europe Dec 2023

Us kids had been waiting a super long time for this trip, first planned circa July in the year, finally the day arrived (more like night since we took a night flight out to get into Europe in the morning)!

Nice festive decor at Changi!

Soon it was departure time!

SQ324 from SIN to AMS.

Daddy get some serious Priority Passenger Service treatment!

Check out the SQ bears (chef edition, this time round we get both the boy and the girl versions!).

Flight time was 14 hours thereabouts headed from SIN to Amsterdam, but seemed a little shorter (13 hours from Paris back to SIN).
What do we do but the obvious!

Day 2

Zaanse Schans village with traditional windmills, clog making and cheese making factory.

Clog Making at Volendam!

Madurodam, little miniature village with some rides and Dutch history.
Miffy! Did you know Miffy is Dutch!

Pretty much hang around the Amsterdam main shopping belt around Dam Square.

Eagle-eyed Mummy spots Primark, her fav go-to in Europe! We have dinner near Dam Square after walking past some shops selling magic mushrooms (who thought there would be magic mushrooms outside of Super Mario Land!) and space cakes!

Manneken Pis (yes like the little boy from Brussels) – voted #1 fries in Holland.

Who needs space cakes and magic mushroom when you have the best fries!

Day 3
We take it easy a little today since everyone was trying to adjust to local time, and after day yesterday!

We headed went back to the Dam Square and have some time shopping for souvenirs, tulips, clogs and the likes. There was the option to visit Anne Frank’s house which we passed on since tickets had to be prebooked ahead (The Diary of Anne Frank, which is apparently the most translated Dutch book in the world!).

Take a canal cruise and get off at Gassan Diamonds to visit the gallery. It was interesting to see intricate canal system and boat houses in Amsterdam.

Day 4
Today, we travel to the busy port town of Rotterdam. We see the De Verwoeste Stad, a sculpture by Ossip Zadkine which commemorates the bombing of Rotterdam during World War II, marvel at the innovative Cube Houses, a unique housing project that survived the war.

Next, visit Markthal Rotterdam, the country’s 1st covered market that features 96 fresh produce stalls and 20 hospitality and retail units on the 2 lowest floors. Designed by Dutch architects, this covered food market is shaped like a giant arch. A staircase in the centre of the market, named the Time Stairs, displays a permanent exhibition about the history of food and artefacts found during the excavation of the site. In the afternoon, we travel to Roermond designer outlet, close to the German border.

We spend a couple of hours there, had lunch and then drive a further 1.5hr to Cologne to see one of the most fascinating old towns in the country. We reach late in the evening and headed straight for dinner at a traditional German bierhaus (Didi says he has space cakes in Amsterdam and now beer in Germany – like Orion beer factory in Oakinawa!) thereafter check in to our hotel, the Mercure Koln.

Day 5
The next morning we explore Koln town, mainly around Cologne Cathedral, a gem of Gothic architecture and one of Germany’s most visited landmarks. While Daddy, Mummy, Gugu, Yeh Yeh and Mah Mah (pretty much everyone else had been there in the past) it was the first time they were visiting around Christmas.

Lighting Candles inside Cologne Cathedral

There was a Christmas market adjacent to the cathedral, Weihnachtsmarkte Koln, bustling with stalls from souvenirs fashion and food for the last minute Christmas shopper. Daddy says the brats have bratwurst and crap (actually it was creppe!) and choco fondue and some warm ribena milk thingy which is supposedly warm wine which folks sip while strolling around the market (we find out they gave us the zero alcohol version but of course burps!). There was even a some stage performances. Really like pasar malam style…

We turn travel 5 hours south-West towards Reims via the Belgian border. Mummy gives us 30mins game time during this time.

In the evening we went to another bierhaus. Even though Reims is in France it’s proximity to Germany meant we (oops the adults) would likely get some good beer!

Mummy wanted to get escargots but in the end we went with beef stew and more fish and chips, obviously with beer to boot!

After dinner we took a stroll along the French Christmas market at Reims just a stone’s throw away from restaurant and our hotel.

Day 6
We headed out towards Epernay, Champagne region and visited Maison Mercier, one of the largest and longest Champagne houses (since 1858!) in France. We took a tour down into their cellars 30m below ground, and a 30min train ride around the sprawling 18km network of tunnels in the underground labyrinth. Whee!

Mummy bought some bubbly, her happy drink! We find out they are the same family as Dom Perignon, Moet Henessey, Krug having been acquired by LVMH since 1987. At 20 Euros a pop daddy had been mumbling the whole way to the airport we should’ve bought more!

2 hours later we get into Paris city.
We embarked on a city tour and immerse in some of the most iconic sights of this timeless city – Napoleon’s Arc de Triomphe, Champs Elysees (shop dou nei sei) Boulevard and Eiffel Tower. Thereafter, we check out Fragonard Perfume Museum, one of the largest perfumeries in France, and indeed, it also happens to be an awesome place to purchase exclusive French scents that won’t break the bank. We get the best-selling Etoile (made of Ginger, Bergamot and Apple), Frivole and Diament. FYI #funfact, did you know that perfume came about because one of the French kings, King Louis XIV was so terrified to bathing they he forced court officials to create a new scent every week and said to spray his visitors with perfume upon entering his palace. He was said to have had only 2 baths in his adult life – both occasions recommended by his doctors! OMG… I don’t need to be a doctor to tell you bathing is good for you!

We walked towards the Louvre.

We spend the rest of the day at Galeries LaFayette where mummy gets a new bag as Christmas pressie!

Day 7 – Merry Christmas!
We hang out around Paris City on Christmas morning, and take a river cruise along the Seine. There is a point in which we see both the Eiffel Tower and the Statue of Liberty! The original apparently since the one in New York was a gift to America.

We go scouting for Chinese food after setting for McDonalds the night before!

Day 8
Next morning we get up early to head to Paris Disneyland. We take the train past Gare du Nord to Marne-la-Vallée-Chessy station about 45 mins away. From there it was a short 2 min stroll to the gates of what was supposedly the happiest place on earth.

We have a super early breakkie but when we were about to leave, we spot Yeh Yeh, Mah Mah and Gugu having breakfast!

We skip the character meets and go straight to the rides. First up was Pirates of the Caribbean boat ride. All aboard! Ahoy mate and who do we see but Captain Jack Sparrows!

We find the Indiana Jones roller coaster ride. Mummy chickens out halfway in the queue and ditches us. We take the first car and daddy’s right behind. At the end of the ride we were blown away. Whoa this was our biggest roller coaster ride thus far!

Mickey and Minnie Mouse in Euro Disneyland!

Dumbo!

It was such a cold day to be out queuing for rides in the open, seems our old man caught a chill. At which point we thought it wouldn’t be worth queuing up anymore for rides so we paid for the Express/Fast Pass for the Buzz Lightyear ride, at 12 euros a pop per pax it seems OK to escape queuing in the cold. Poor Daddy. Slept like a log all day when we got home to nurse the cold.

So tired, and Daddy wanted to take an Uber back to the hotel, but turns out the metro ride took only an hour to get back to our hotel!

Day 9
We head to the airport to catch our flight back from CDG TO SIN…

Merry Christmas 2023 from all of us!

December 17, 2023January 6, 2024

Capri by Frasers Changi, Singapore 27th-29th Nov 2023

Back to Changi Capri Fraser!

Hasn’t changed much really since our last visit during COVID in Sep 2021, save for the reception which has been temporarily moved to the rear-end of the lobby in view of some reno works (the games corner at the lobby is still available with some really good board/card games, along with the Spin & Play (Laundry/Games room on each floor).

We’ve been here a couple of times now (first was when it was still SHN during COVID!) and always seem to discover something new in this somewhat of a gem tucked away in an otherwise unexplored part of Singapore (note NeWater Visitor Centre which we wanted to visit but unfortunately did not get this time round – tours don’t run daily and should be booked out ahead).

We also discover another way (other than the basement via the carpark) to get into an otherwise nice and quiet adjacent mall.

Note we get a somewhat smaller room (looks to be the lead-in category vs. the previously upgraded room).

Not an issue since one of us kids fit snuggly into the ‘sofa-bed’ – given it was a 2-night affair, both Jie Jie and I had a go at that!

Being at the far east, we decide to check out Changi airport, a mere stop away from Expo/Changi City Point, but not before finishing up work – though the pool outside looks so inviting!

Managed to sneak in a note for Daddy – he’s such a sucker for our littl’ notes! 🙂

We get on the MRT and there was an incident where someone dropped his phone into the gap between the train and platform. Poor guy looked as though he was going to cry but Daddy does a good dead, goes up to him and punches the emergency button to report the issue. Way to go Dad-O!

We get to Changi Airport and find our way to Jewel.

My, look who’s here?

It’s a me-Mario! And Princess Peach!

Turns out it was the Mario’s Pipe Around the World exhibition at Jewel!

We head back to the expo to grab dinner thereafter headed back to the room!

Later in the night Daddy and Mummy wanted to grab us supper from Mackers but it appeared it closed at 10pm, as with all the shops/restaurants at the mall (would’ve thought Macs would at least be opened till late!), but oh well…

So again in a blitz the 2nights come to a really quick end (and nope Daddy didn’t get time to swim with us in the pool as he promised!) and we’re looking forward to our trip to Europe for Christmas 2023.

Stay tuned!

Flashback and kick-blast from the past!

December 16, 2023January 6, 2024

Staycay at Ritz Carlton (Nov 2023)

Whaddayaknow Daddy says lets head to the Ritz for the long weekend over Deepavali!

Good thing rooms were still available considering it’s the long weekend (though not officially the year-end school holidays yet!) – you know what that mean; a bag full of school books and Mummy’s homework in tow!

Anyway he arrive in early Sunday arvo and were informed the rooms were ready. How nice considering this property does not participate in the Marriott Bonvoy programme. Daddy drops us off at the porch, offloads the bags, zips down into the basement and comes back up to the checkin.

We get a room on the (8^th?) but didn’t seem too high up… had a nice view of the Kallang (without the river) though!

…and the supposed infamous Ritz octagonal bathroom with tub with iconic bubble bath – no need for any other B&B bathbombs!

There is also a kids room which we checked out on the 2^nd floor but seriously for the infants/toddlers!

We reluctantly leave the room (after much coercion from the adults!) to explore.

Lo and behold what do we see at the basement towards the pool/gym – why not 1 but 2 grand pianos!

A Yamaha we see and a Kawai – guess which one Daddy makes a mad dash for!

Walkway to Marina Square and Millenia Walk! (Didi and Daddy walked the same way when going to the 2022 NDP, then at the Marina Floating Barrage)!).

We come back to some late night screen time and make a mad dash for the room – guess who’s playing but Mr Shark!

And a surprise turn down service (with mints and oh-wait, a cake we see!) – they must’ve known it was Daddy’s upcoming birthday! Happy Birthday Dad-O!

Rise and shine.

We hit the pool for a bit.

Noteworthy mention of Mr Water Balloon made by Jo which burst and flooded the floor!

Staycay at the Ritz ended in a blitz for sure… and we’re ready for the next!

June 8, 2023December 17, 2023

JJ in KL Jun 2023 (2019 reprise)

We check out from St. Regis at 2-ish, dashed home, repacked another set of clothes and we’re off again for a week on the road – a reprise of our roadtrip from June 2019!

We split this week into 2 segments, the first half in KL and the latter part in Klang so it made sense that while the first would be at Hilton Doubletree KL (revisiting this since our last visit pre-Covid 2019), the 2nd was Hilton Doubletree Shah Alam I-City, a fairly new Hilton property which opened just 2022. This comes highly recommended by Gugu J and Grandpa J who typically stay here when travelling here for work or to visit family given its location conveniently smacked in between KL and Klang.

We kickstart the trip with durian!

Nothing much has changed about the hotel.

Welcome by the standard DoubleTree Cookies!

Lounging by the Executive Lounge at L34…

Settling into our room… Daddy adds on a rollaway bed which the were nice enough not to include in the final bill.

What’s a day out without Mummy’s homework!

Breakkie at Makan, most of the setup is identical to what we recall it to be, save for the new honeycomb!, green corner and Kidz corner (thankfully we didn’t see this previously lest Daddy make us sit there!). There’s also the live prata station that whips up a wicked prata.

And what’s a holiday without our usual prep time, and TV as reward! As if a deja vu we get so engrossed with TV and again miss the opportunity for a dip in the pool. You can checkout the pix from before, nothing much has changed on this front.

We spent a lot of time on the 34th…

Hilton DoubleTree Kuala Lumpur

After 3 days, its time to leave. We checkout at 3pm from KL and make our way to Klang/Shah Alam.

Interesting that the Doubletree Shah Alam is located adjacent to Wet World (or was it Water City) Shah Alam. Parts of it looks like Sunway Lagoon which we also wrote about back in 2019, OK maybe just a subset of it, and not as big.

In the absence of an exec lounge, there are welcome drinks and daily snacks/canapes at the Axis Lounge.

They upgrade us to a Deluxe Family Suite, but because this is a fairly new (small-ish) property there is no executive lounge, but in the absence of which, invite guests to the Axis Lounge for welcome drinks and light bites. Here’s also a nice gesture with welcome amenity.

Hilton DoubleTree Shah Alam

For the record, it wasn’t all work and no play!

There’s a fancy Games Room on Level 5, gym…

And an infinity-like pool!

We lap up breakkie and head to Kidzania. This was totally unplanned since we only considered Petrosains which we we planning to visit on Friday. Nonetheless Daddy found out that Kidzania had reopened which he thought surprising given the SG one shuttered indefinitely, so we check out tickets the night before. Note you get a discount for repurchasing this before 12pm the day which we unfortunately did not qualify for since we only booked it past dinner the night before. Anyway they’ve all gone cashless so remember to book out your tix ahead. There is also a pre-registration (uploading a selfie of oneself) prior to arriving at the gates.

We proceed with our check in and boarding passes were now in the form of wrist bands. Boarding was a breeze with the automated facial recognition.

Seems some of the store fronts have changed. Notable updates include A&W for McDonald’s (you do need to pay to ‘work’ there since you would get to keep the meal you whip up, comprising burger/hotdog, root beer and waffle ice-cream.

Here’s us enjoying the fruits of our labour…

The others include:

1. F&B: Yayoi, Subway and Tealive. Daddy quipped ‘for the life of me can’t figure out if it’s pronounced Tea-live, or Tea-life’! Note Tealive (whatever and however its pronounced!) had the longest wait list so take note if you’re a fan of bubble tea and making your own bobas, do make sure you register early (yes as simple as rockin’ up and telling the kakak your name so she notes your name on the record).

Well F&B here implies food outlets with a kid training centre and a separate food outlet operating at what Daddy says are astronomical prices!

2. Non F&B – well Foodpanda has a delivery system which we enjoyed doing. Here’s a pic of us with Pao Pao.

We didn’t realize the last trip that there was a parents lounge which our parents this trip took turns hiding at (grandpa and grandma pretty much camped there for most parts).

Here are some of the other random pix..

Working at Foodpanda (with Pao Pao in the back!)

Didi doing his delivery rounds, part-timing as a housekeeper at the hotel, and moonlighting as a wannabe-magician at what must have been his favorite gig at Urbano’s Magic Shop.

Jie Jie at the florist, and her own delivery round.

At the hospital!

Some other miscellaneous jobs…

Daddy says he was on this radio station a couple of times previously…

Map of the park

Us in the prison, and the parade where we meet the mascot KZ, and a final family pix before we head out.

At the end of the day, we earn like $200 KZ Dollars between Jie Jie and I – the equivalent of 2 erasers which we redeemed! Life must be hard as an adult… working your butt off all day for a day’s wage which buys nothing more than an eraser…

June 4, 2023June 8, 2023

Birthday StayCay @ St. Regis (Jun 2023)

The mid-year holidays are upon us!

Ahead of our week long road trip (revisited from 2022 which we did same time last year (*knock knock* on Daddy to get this posted since its a year long overdue!), Daddy thought it’d be a good idea to celebrate our birthday with a StayCay at St. Regis!

Conveniently located along Tanglin and tucked in a little inconspicuous nook which we never really took notice of despite visiting Focum and Tanglin Mall!

Seems to be one of those sit down check-in concepts and Daddy duties beckon…

There’s a nice sit down bench in at seemingly larger-than-usual elevator.

Getting into our Lady Astor Double Room, tucked away at the corner.

Some nice birthday amenities – thank you for the nice gestures! And did we mention the amazing butler service that the folks at St. Regis are really well known for!

Soon enough its back to prep time!

Heading out to dinner at the nearby Tanglin Mall! Not to be mistaken by the adjacent Tanglin Shopping Centre which is now shut!

Its a long day and we tuck in for the night, but not before a long bubble bath…

Exploring the grounds – pool and gym…

After a hearty brekkie at a very picturesque Brasserie Les Saveurs!

January 22, 2023January 24, 2023

Bali, Indonesia (Jan 2023) – CNY

JJ in DPS 20th – 24th Jan 2023

So here we go again guys…

TheJTwins in Bali for Round#2.

So it must have been that Daddy and Mummy wanted to escape the harsh wintery cold in Korea from last month that they planned for a beach vacation in the tropics soon after!

Actually it appears Daddy, Grandpa and Gugu-J had it organized back in Oct so we have a little CNY get-together this year – a far cry from last year when borders were still shut, reunion dinner setup was 5-max per table, masks-on during Lo-Hei (how very odd and un-CNY-like!).

Well, no such problem now!

We get organized for an early pick up in the morning and JieJie and I hit the sack early the night before so we would all be bright eyed and bushy tailed.

#throwback to 2018 – our last trip to Bali.

No prizes for guessing where we’d be staying, we head back to the all-too-familiar Hilton Bali Nusa Dua, Benoa. Daddy and Mummy apparently had been to Bali few times (on one occasion whilst Gugu-J was here!) and prefer the Hilton over Marriot and Melia (all within the same Nusa Dua enclave). What better reason also since Grandpa-J is an ardent Hilton loyalist.

We arrive at Denpasar airport late morning and get picked up by the Hilton driver.

He spoke to Grandpa, Gugu and Daddy about some important (G20 back in Sep2022?) meeting recently in Bali when he drove some important people in his van (not in their ‘designated’ car codenamed ‘The B****’ flown in AF1/AF2 since that would have been way too obvious!). Daddy was apparently in the same seat as Mr. Joe (last name we won’t divulge!) We were obviously coaxed to take a pix!

Familiar surroundings…

Sprawling grounds and breath-taking backdrop amidst the Indian Ocean.

Buggy ride to the Nusa Dua lounge while waiting for the room to be ready.

Hanging out

Our originally booked Family King Deluxe which we camped out at for the first night.

We were subsequently upgraded to the Villas. Daddy says they must’ve been really kind (and hugely generous) since both rooms were accorded upgrades to the Villas, 5011 and 5012 both adjacent to each other (maybe thanks to Grandpa’s HH Diamond!).

There are even 2 outdoor showers! Like who would actually use one?

Buggy rides are cool but nothing beats the awesomeness of powering your own buggy!

On day 2, we drove to Ubud to see the Rice Fields
[Disclaimer: Rental car and obviously not the buggy].

Tegallalang Rice Terrace.

More pix…

Lunching mid-way at Ubud Swing restaurant before our almost 2 hour drive back to Nusa Dua.

While distance wise it was only some 40km away, the travel time was due to the narrow trunk roads cutting through different small segments of town (some were mainly making and selling rattan-ware/furniture, some glassware while others were peddling fruits/vegetables.

There’s still time to hit the beach before dinner.

CNY Reunion Dinner…

Playing pool after dinner – check out the original expert and her moves.

Early morning CNY Day CRABBING (originally planned for but dampened by the early morning downpour)…

We did head out eventually and (guess what?) rescued 2 fishes!

We did have a 2nd attempt at it the next morning, but unfortunately found nothing more than some nice(r) seashells. Thanks Gugu for being a sport and getting us up before 7!

CNY morning breakkie, thereafter more pool!

And remember the fishes at the lobby? Hello again!

CNY bai nian!

In the afternoon Yeh Yeh, Mah Mah, Gugu and Mummy head to the Mandara Spa while Daddy chaperone’s us… I think we had the better end of the stick, WOOO! BTW Daddy tries to coax us to go to the Jungle Kids Club! meh…

Jie Jie wanted to take this funny elephant looking water spout/tap…

While walking back to our villa, we spot an all too familiar face, oh hello! But look there’s an army of them! And they all look the same! Yikes! Beware the monkey troops have taken over!

Soon it was our final night (we call in dinner) and packed up for an early morning check out..

Rise and shine! Guess who’s the last to crawl out of bed?

Bags lined up for collection while we have breakkie at the Nusa Dua Lounge and waiting for our airport transfer.

Bags lined up for pickup!

See ya Bali, until the next round, Terima Kasih for yet another great trip, special shout out to Eka, Pak Bagus, Pak Kevin, Pak Ougy and Astuti for great service at Bali Hilton!

December 28, 2022December 28, 2022

Seoul, JeJu Island, Busan, Daegu, YongPyong – Korea (Dec 2022)

1st travel right out of COVID, and we head to K-Land!

(Daddy promised to writeup on our Cruise to Nowhere which he still hasnt! We were on the Royal Caribbean this time last year as a form of escape being the only place we could pack our overnighter and clear immigration while borders remained shut… yes, he’s been procrastinating but will hopefully get to it soon before our Bali 2023 trip over CNY!)

—

Back in July Daddy and Grandpa and were contemplating between Korea and Japan (which only announced full resumption of travel circa Oct) so it became fairly straightforward that it was back to Pororo Land once again!

As prep for the trip, Mummy lets us binge watch Crash Landing on You (CLOY) and Attorney Woo… tsk tsk tsk.

Headed to the airport for our red eye flight into Seoul, arrive in to a Incheon close to 7am the next morning.

Lounging in the lounge while Mummy the seamstress mends “someone’s” pants – de ja vu of a previous trip we had to sit put at the aiport while daddy had to literally run off to Changi City Point to buy some new boots (since we had some old pairs ‘crocodile-mouth’ after having not worn them for some time)!

Jie Jie and I were hardly asleep for the entire duration of our flight save for the 40 winks we stole in between our dose of movies and game (Biobot some old school 2D Mario Style arcade game) – Daddy says we were at it again the entire flight back…

Domestic Flight from Gimpo (Kimpo domestic terminal) to Jeju.

Welcome to Jeju!

Daddy slurping up his Abalone seafood soup while we kids got our special He Bao Dan (sunny side up egg).

Tangerine farm! Last we were here it wasn’t snowing.

Not only was it not snowing last we were here, we even brought Mummy Koa along! This time she stayed home to guard the other stuffed Koalas.

Blast from the past (from 2014!) when the tangerines looked and definitely felt much bigger!

Then and now. 5 oranges per person but I think Daddy easily ate 15 before scouring for 5 to chuck into his basket!

ATV ride! Our first since the last we were here Daddy says the only thing we could ride was strapped to our storo (baby stoller!).

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/MgeJtySdxgY

Here’s a pix of Jie Jie in her yellow helmet then and Didi lounging while waiting for the boys to finish their ride (Daddy and Yeh Yeh)!

At the pier in Jeju…

Catch another flight out from Jeju to Busan thereafter traveled by road to Daegu.

At the Inter-Burgo Hotel Daegu when we encounter the first snowfall in the trip when it starts snowing right after breakfast!

Busan Gamcheon Culture Vilage.

New soft toys!

Us mucking around in the snow.

Be careful Daddy says, ‘don’t eat the yellow snow!’…

Temperature was a biting -15 degrees C on average (real feel was closer to a frigid -20 when the winds came a blowing)…

Temperatures in Dec this time round seemed way colder then expected since the coldest months would typically be around Jan/Feb. In fact, Jeju airport was closed for 24hours with flights in/out cancelled due to heavy snowfall just 2 days after we left!

Onward to YongPyong (Pyongchang) where we revisited Dragon Valley Ski Resort, the original site of our 1st snowman, Snowy. And now behold the amazing, bigger better and colder yet Frosty.

Then and now…

Went up the cable car to the sky observatory,

Us skiing. Mummy skipping the skiing this round though still ranting about her last (mis)adventure heading up the slopes in the ski lift…

Lotte World.

Daddy says this is our 5th year back, unfortunately we didn’t get to go to the main entrance which we took the customary photo still in previous years but this is a close second. Since we only had like 4 hours here today we managed to do only 2.5 rides (Wild Valley 4D ride which made Daddy green in the face (yeah he almost puked but was just trying to pull the usual strong-man ‘Dad persona he usually does. To his credit though we didn’t know it was going to be a 4D rickety rock-and-jerk-a-lot kinda ride until 5 min before we started (despite being in queue almost an hour!). Next ride was a ride out shoot out ride (Wild Dragon shooting Jo seems to recall,very similar to the Legoland car ride) except this was shooting dragons. FYI Mummy turned out the winner for this round. 2.5 rides since we were essentially in queue for bumper cars until we decided to give up and head back for the parade at 8.

Adults lug heaps of shopping – ginseng, Oddbot soundalike Odbo and healthy liver.

Literally buying up a segment in the shop…

Playing game at hotel lobby past midnight. We absolutely love this hotel with the cute fella in the lobby (we reckon its the Novotel Ambassador Yongsan)…

And still playing game throughout the entire duration of our flight home.

Incheon airport Line Friends vs. Pink Fong.

Sorry din get to take the same shot with Line Friends (whom Daddy says is still there when he was here couple of weeks back, and yes lucky him stayed at Lotte World Hotel) since we’re on Asiana today and in a gate farther away from him).

Headed back on our return flight. Full 6 hour of no sleep! Every Daddy’s nightmare (not on the flight but when they start getting cranky at home!)…

Play play play from daylight to sundown (literally till landing in Singapore – check out the view from the window!) – the only time our masks come off and we’re off the screen are during meal times!

Merry Christmas 2022 to all!

March 20, 2022January 6, 2024

Mandarin Oriental Singapore 18th Mar 2022

So we head back to Mandarin Oriental on 18th Mar 2022 for Mummy’s belated birthday weekend (we first visited on 26th Dec 2020).
We kinda liked MO and enjoyed the food at Melt Cafe so that was it. We were by this time FOMO (Friends of Mandarin Oriental!) so they were kind enough to accord us an early checkin. Daddy says not really due to being FOMO but prolly cos global travel had yet resumed in full force so local establishments were still promoting the local staycation options! Anyway we rock up round about noon but were informed our room was not yet ready. bummer!

Lobby looking rather Oriental… But amazing architecture (very similar to Ritz Carlton!).

Anyway they allocate us a temporary holding room 1524 until our room was ready. We get comfy and check and nooks and crannies. Room though mare seemed tired, worn and dated…
The MO juice was yummy though!

Didn’t seem too long after when we get a call informing us our room was ready and someone would meet us there with our bags and key cards.

This was to be a Premier Room with additional roolaway bed and add on of 2 breakfast for us kids.

The view from our room facing Suntec and the Marina Square rooftop tennis courts!

Ooh and welcome amenities + (smallish) cake for the birthday girl!

Once done exploring the room guess what, assessment books come up from hiding and it’s prep work time again – aka time behind bars!

After sometime we get the green light to have some chillax time. Remember these were days is SMM (safe management measures and only vaccinated individuals were allowed to use the pool), that also based in the reserved time slot – each guest could book on a first-come-first served basis an hour per day use of the pool. Since we got in really easily this time we get slot from 5-6pm and head down on time.

We head to the adjacent Marina Square for dinner. Ooh look what do we have here but Pororo Park! Looking very similar to the original park in Seoul.

Some nice balloon sculptures.

And wait, Poli!
Checkout Daddy squeezing himself into the kiddy ride. What a big kid, Lol.

Breakfast at Melt was always a highlight!

November 30, 2021January 6, 2024

Royal Caribbean Cruise (to nowhere!) Nov 2021

Disclaimer: Daddy’s been kind of on our backs (does buggin’ count!) for some time now, wanting us to get back on track on bloggin’ our cruise trip from back in (Nov?) 2021! Truth is, Didi and I have written in part our drafts but Daddy seemed to have misplaced it! So bummer, its been > 2 years so suffice to say it would be quite challenging now having to write retrospectively…

Nonetheless here we go…

Its smack in the middle of COVID and borders have been shut circa 18months.

Most folks are now up to speed and onto their 2^nd jabs yet still no signs of borders reopening.

Still amidst that comes a glimmer of hope for cross-border travel!

Royal Caribbean along with another liner announce a cruise-to-nowhere, or what Daddy says, the closest to getting on an airplane – complete with passport/immigration control.

Passports in hand (good thing we checked our passport which at that point in time was already growing mouldy though still valid!), so here we come!

Pre voyage day we had to prebook activities and dining options, and not forgetting select the check-in slot which ran hourly. We think apart from the cabin classes (first and suites), it was fastest fingers first (i.e. you’d need to log in to the RC app couple of weeks prior to departure to select your choice slot – obviously the earlier the better given most popular activities get fully booked early.

Recall we’re still knee-deep in COVID mode so passengers were advised to arrive an hour earlier prior to their (designated), or selected check-in slots for pre-departure ART tests.

Oh hello, Royal Caribbean, what a mighty grand lady of the seas, here we come!

Daddy reminiscing his sea-faring days on the other grand ol’ dame, now supposedly converted to a hotel!

We opted for self-park (flat circa $50 payable on exit via self-pay ticket, else you risk paying in excess of an astronomical $500! see below), thinking hey we might be nice and early – no crowds! Until we found out we had to find our way to the concourse “bag drop off area” + check-in, which was by which time overflowing with passengers…

There was a system where you would drop off your bags, wave goodbye until you see them onboard (we find out they would be tagged and delivered directly to our cabins).

Once bag-free we take the elevator up (for 3^rd/4^th floor, and make a bee line and wait in queue to get ART swabs shoved up our nostrils. Once done, wait at the holding area for about 45-60mins and wait for your COVID negative results to be sent via MOH SMS.

One done we could proceed to the boarding gate (so airport-like!) and clear immigration.

Daddy did have some issues getting through immigration but glad that he eventually did!

Phew.

Ahoy mate! We head for the gangway and make our merry way onboard!

There was a reminder on the pitfalls and woes of problematic gambling. Actually the ship was big enough to explore without even stumbling onto the casino (Daddy says its somewhere near the adults-only pool/Solarium so that’s obviously off-bounds for the kiddos) – this seemed to be the differentiating factor between Royal Caribbean and the other cruise operator we were initially contemplating between – the latter touted as a floating casino with peripheral activities rather than a family entertainment cruise with a casino as one of the entertainment options!

Oh p.s. pro tip was to get on the ship’s WIFI (which was possible as soon as you get quayside waiting for the ART work completed) as early as you could to book out dining and activity slots.

By the time we get onboard, we were greeted with our cabin keycards, and we make a dash for our cabin which was located in the forward section of the ship (we had to walk around orientation of the main deck en route…).

Final dash to #148 – a family balcony deluxe (sorry guys no fancy suites with fancy dining options – Daddy thought there were more than enough standard dining options anyways without the need therefore for further topups!).

Pretty snug. Nice and cozy 3-nighter for the rest of our cruise.

We make our way for an early dinner (the RC is still alongside the Cruise Terminal and scheduled to depart only around 8pm.

We wave goodbye to the mainland and soak in a beautiful Singapore night skyline…

Have a stroll around the mighty huge ship while eventually finding our way to what would have been touted the most popular activity onboard – ‘ Bumper Cars!’ in the entertainment hub – with Playstations, pool, ping pong tables, foos ball and housed the Hot Dog stand!

We come back to our cabin with a turn-down service! Haven’t seen this in a while for sure!

The morning after Day#1!

The next couple of days were just a flurry of eat, play, watch, eat, watch play and Repeat.

A couple of noteworthy activities include, but not in cascading order of fun:

1. Movie Screening (Tom and Jerry!)

2. Northstar – paid tour up the observation deck/crane (Didi was a little sick at this point!)

3. iFLY by RipCord (checkout our separate post on this!)

4. Scavenger Hunt – some pix from this (and oh, by the way, we met our classmate Wei Zhe!)

5. Towel Making

6. Origami Folding & Pop-up Card Making…

7. Bumper Cars (we hear the arena could intermittently be converted to a laser tag arena though we didn’t see this during the duration of our cruise).

8. Foosball and XBox mania!

9. Adventure Ocean Kids Club? *meh*

10. Table tennis, and of course more eating!

Other random pix – cool elevator, and more dining (WindJammer is by far our favorite and more popular as an all-day family dining option)…

On the final night Daddy and Mummy let us stay up later –

After dinner we head to the pool, couldn’t miss night swimming on a cruise (not many were there guess they had other stuff they wanted done before the cruise was over!)

Later in the evening we find out there was a Magic Show – Busters? He was quite a class act – juggling, balancing + juggling, and even had a sidekick Donkey who literally made an ass of him!?

The final morning we get up mighty early – apparently there were staggered check-out slots depending on cabin numbers (yeah right, more like cabin classes)… so we had an early breakkie and watch as our cruise ship glides back into the cruise terminal.

The whopping $514 parking fee had it not been for the park and sail coupon…

At the end of the day, keep calm and just smile!

November 8, 2021November 11, 2021

Picnic at the Great Outdoors!

Picnic at the Great Outdoors! Courtesy of Amex.

Daddy rounds us up and says we’re going to a picnic in a couple of weeks – how very unlike him at all. Fancy him sitting on a grass patch…

Anyway invites are soon in order, albeit a little late given the 2 weeks’ prior notice compared with the > 1 month’s notification year ago.

One for the record – last year’s Amex Plat Af’Fair via Virtway Events Portal.

Throwback to Daddy running around his avatar silly – ultimately finding his calligraphy, bouquet of flowers and Comic Strip!

This time round it would be in a hybrid form – physical Picnic Plush event (takeaway so you can partake of the food and picnic at wherever you please), followed by an evening livestream concert again for you to enjoy from the comforts of home or wherever you would be from 730pm on).

Guess what, Jason Mraz the man gave the JTwins a shoutout! No kidding…

So prep to the party started 2 weeks out with folks getting an EDM mailer soliciting an option of either:

Full event (Picnic Plush + Livestream Concert), or
Livestream Concert only

Knowing Daddy – he goes all out for Option#1 with further info on selection of meal option* + drive through timing for collection at the designated venue, post which a notification that a car decal would sent within the next couple of days leading up to the event.

We ended up going with Picnic Delights by (hi again) Masons!

*Picnic Delights/Classics by Masons, Specialties by Hopscotch or Signature by Halia for a Halal option.

Good job to the team for putting together and curating a list of picnic spots to enjoy the Great Outdoors in collaboration with Tatler! [Click below for the Top 10 Picnic Spots]

Saturday comes, and we make our way to Masons @ 8 Lock Road and although the dark clouds loomed, we were greeted by some sunshine from the team.

Surprisingly no queue and the drive through collection was really quick and efficient – scanning of a pre-shared QR code, member verification and sighting of car decal was all it took and off we headed to the pitstop.

The pit crew help load the loot into the boot…

Only thing was none of the food seemed kid friendly from when the previewed the menu, and while Daddy had given us his word on Macker’s breakie for us kids – we had to make sure he made good his word.

So out we went towards Hort Park (literally across the road) and made another pitstop for drive thru at McDonalds PSA, and boy was that a bee line – 40mins from when we got to the start of the line to when we made off with our orders. By which time however it was pouring! Still to satisfy Daddy’s curiosity we stopped by Hort just to recce if there was some shelter for us to take refuge in with the picnic basket in tow but decided otherwise when da Boss (not us for sure, but lets not get into that for now!) vetoed we should head home in view of the rain!

Back home we offloaded the stuff – boy there were loads of stuff.

We gobbled down our usual staples of Fillet O’Fish and Cheeseburger and then watched the grown ups wolf down their lunch.

Good thing about events like these – there’s always games – recall good ol’ Jump, Jump Reindeer for Christmas last year!

This year it was Pacman reloaded and Snake (yikes) [rebranded as Baggin’ Sunshine] with more booze prices up for grabs.

I tell you Daddy was engrossed, and glued to his phone all afternoon but we came in only a measly top 16 at best – he was obviously grumbling away…

Nonetheless he did tell us we won something at the lucky draw (we think it was a sure-win spin though!).

Fast forward to the evening live stream at 7.30pm – given it was obviously way past our bedtime, Daddy did record snippets of it, especially the shoutout part (to the JTwins)!

So much for a picnic which we brought back home (we’ll get to Hort Park at some point hopefully in the not-so-distant-future to unwrap and use the picnic mat + board games provided!).

For now, here’s to Jason and the team for putting together a Great Outdoorsy event for the year, and Jason Mraz himself with I’m Yours!