Ian's 1st LEGO set!

it seems like every kid is sure to own a lego set (well guess we din have such privilege when we were younger and had to share with our cousins) and some wks back ah mu told us there was some lego sale at GWC and we checked out and bought Ian's 1st lego set and he was most pleased to play with it upon returning from the trip coz we got an add on set which has animals and he just saw some of the animals during the Aust trip so he could identify with the sheep, dog and cow....here's Ian with his animal farm, yea he built it on his own (except wonder how come there is a TALL tower hhmm his animal farm with a condo tower?? hhmm) guess that's his fav toy now!

9 FABULOUS days at the down under!!!!

Perfect and fabulous trip! Guess we enjoyed and savor every little bit of the trip...glad the little one we brought along was totally cooperative and were tempted to go for a trip again hahaa...took over 700+ shots of the trip so here are the highlights! Glad we took over 1h+ video of the trip so we could recall the moments of this trip =)

Day 1 - we took a evening flight into Perth and were worried how the boy is gonna nap and all....coz we were touching down close to midnight but he was totally entertained by the food we brought up the plane and thanks to ah mu who kindly prepared a goodie bag for the boy to enjoy on the plane...he was thrilled by the puzzle (as usual!) and only dozed off when he was buckled up when we were landing! What a flight, he was talking all the time and trying to make friends with pple ard coz he was pacing up and down the aisle going for his pee breaks!

day 2 - We barely had 5 hrs of zzz coz the sun was out real early like 5am+ and we were all excited to start on the trip...even Ian woke up real early to the new environment and started checking out on po2, ah gong and dayi! We had a lazy day so we took the bus to Fremantle and of coz savor the fish and chips at Cirecello! this pic looks like we left Ian back at hotel huh....of coz NOT he was happily sipping his orange juice beside =)
It was a super hot day and read that the summer was coming early...it was 35degree for that day ONLY coz the rest of the trip was chilly and sunny =) SHIOK@!!!

Day 3 - we finally had time to venture to the Swan river (where our appt overlooks) and we were heading out down southwest for the trip =) in our super huge people mover car we rented Hyundai I-max (which we did capture the pic later on) and we took abt 3hrs to reach our next stay

With the car, we went sightseeing ard perth city and here we are at the King's park and always loved the glass bridge they have (coz Spore's tree top walk at macritchie is always so narrow and short) and we had the gd time walking ard the garden (which is so much bigger at our SBG) and we chased birds and the weather was gd!

Our 2nd stay was at a Farm Stay at dunsborough and it was real nice place but we headed for this ice-cream factory which is just 2 min drive away (before they close at 5!)

the good thing abt travelling in Aust is when they have winery or any factory producing stuff they have a playground for the kids while the adults are busy...so here's Ian busy in this HUGE playground while we were savoring the ice-cream hahaa but we brought him in after we saw this sign...dun wanna sell our son to the circus hehe

Day 4 - we awoke to the birds singing in the farm stay, it was just nice to wake up in this cold weather (which we never get in Spore) and then we proceeded to have bf then to the animal feeding at the farm where the owner will give out feed for us to feed the animals on the farms...there were sheep, ponies, emulas, chickens....

Day 5 - the highlight for animal feeding was to pick the eggs fresh from the coop....yes, the chickens were still laying eggs when we went in to pick the eggs hahaa...this one we picked even had poo with it coz po2 was telling us sometimes they poo together with their eggs hhmm an experience and best of all, it was cold so there weren't any unwanted flies (as compared to if we were to visit a chicken farm in Spore/Msia!!) hahaaa...we did this animal feeding for both mornings we were there and it was totally worth the stay coz we had a bungalow all by ourselves =) and even our own courtyard! Suddenly mama rem her dream of being a farmer...perhaps we could come Aust and be a farm stay owner?? Hhmm save up $$ huh

Then we drove down to margaret river for all the cheese, yogurt, chocolate tasting....it was real close by so it was gd drive down....here's the Margaret river chocolate factory and we could view how chocolate was made thru the viewing glass....they had generous BIG bowls of chocolate for us to take and sample...hhm its more of snacking rather than sampling....Ian had dunno how many handfuls of them! Endless request of them hahaa and of coz we too...even po2 couldn't resist it!!

Then we proceeded to some jam factory where we just went tasting and then went to Margaret River dairy coy where we had cheese tasting, yogurt tasting where u can see a satisfied Ian who had cupfuls of them coz we then realised each of us took a cup for him (coz we thot he was having the same cup but after checking so guess he had at least 3 cups) worth our trip down huh hahha we did go a nuts and cereals factory as well and we could sample as well hehee and there was a huge soccer field where daddy went kicking balls with Ian, gd to work out the limbs after all the sitting in car and eating nonstop hahaa
lastly we came by this Candy Cow shop where they sell all kinds of candy and fudge...ya sample somemore but Ian was thrilled by the soft toy...guess who is the cow?? hehee then it was time for lunch and hit the road for Ian and the folks to nap =p after a heavy lunch!

After all the eating, how could we just go back to the farm...we had to work out so we headed to the Cape Naturaliste Lighthouse (which is a highlight to the place coz there are 2 lighthouse at each end of the southwest and one could walk from 1 lighthouse to the other) 6 yrs ago we visited the other light light (Cape Leewin) and here we are at the other....we trekked to the whale lookout pt (it was a long trekking so we did wo the old folks) and dayi was our porter hahaa to carry the pram coz some road were too rocky for the pram to go and glad we did some work out coz we ate too much

Then when we were back at the farm, we finally spotted the kangaroo (which is owned by the farm) and were told they are nocturnal which means they come out at nite so they were hopping ard so we dashed out with our feed which the owner has placed in each cottage! We had the feeding all to ourselves and we were just glad we spotted them!
The best time of the day was gathering ard the table for dinner...we managed to cook every dinner so it was home cooked food every nite yummy! Glad we brought the chef aka po2 and dayi as assistant hehee...we had rice for several dinners (po2 could cook rice with a pot coz there weren't any rice cooker...amazed man!)
This cottage has a fireplace which was a 'toy' for daddy every nite coz he will try start the fire which did keep us warm coz it was real cold at nite....Ian will never fail to try blow out any fire daddy started coz he wanted to sing his beloved bday song hahaa....guess there were smoke coming out of our chimney....a real nice cosy farm cottage we had!

And we had supper at nite which we got a pint of Strawberry cheesecake from the ice cream factory...ya did I say it was cold?? hahaa the ice cream makes it more shiok! We finish the pint in no time...guess it was nice to travel in big grp coz we could just buy stuff and share it huh!

Day 6 - time for us to move on to the next destination, had to bid farewell to our BUNGALOW hehee and here's our car waiting for us in our garage hehee...just a step away from our place...shiok huh!
Then we went Yallingup shearing shed where we fed sheep again....but the thing abt the sheep here is they make real LOUD and LOW BAH sounds...even Ian was mimicking them hahaa...then we proceeded to see how the shearer shear the sheep to get wool....it was an experience to see it and we had chance to feed the baby lambs milk......Ian was surprised to see them drinking from milk bottle as well hahaa gd thing he din ask to drink milk!

After we checked in our nice Mercure apt, we headed to the Busselton Jetty....it's under refurbishment so we could come back some time later to see the jetty down up with viewing of the animals under the sea and all....but we had gd time just seeing the sea gulls flying past!

Day 6 - we headed to Bunbury Dolphin Centre where we get to see how they feed sea turtle and then we went the viewing gallery to see if any dolphins were swimming past and we did see some dolphins swimming past and guess they din come up shore for us to play with them but it was an eye opener even as we went to watch videos on them and din know they were such fun creatures...they will take octupus and toss to fellow dolphins and play in the sea! Oh of course must show some beautiful flowers we saw along the way coz that's the season for them to bloom coz its SPRING!! We saw many wildflowers, lavenders and all....glad Ian posed for this shot hehee coz he thot daddy was hiding in the bush coz he was looking for daddy

After we had nap on the go, we headed to donnybrook where we saw alot of apple tree and cherry blossom (who says must go Japan see cherry blossom?) we saw lots of it and here we are at an apple plantation....guess its not the season to pluck apple but then again if we come in Summer it will be too hot to pluck apples hhmmm just see the apple trees will do huh and we got some dried fruit at the factory (it was interesting to hear how they puree the fruits and then make into slabs of dried fruit and we had sampling again hahaa) and of coz we passed by some farms and got some apples and pears (it was cheap selling by the cartons and we almost wanted to buy a carton home hehee)

Oh the highlight of the apt we were staying is there is a pool at the premise....coz thot we had nothing to do at nite we could swim but it was too cold even tho it was indoor pool...they had heated jacuzzi but was crowded when we were there so we just swam...surprisingly Ian was the one who wasn't as cold as us strange huh....he was happy to swim ard with his turtle and the turtle caught alot of kids' attention guess its bright and fun huh

Day 7 - before we checked out we had to go the beach for some fun....we din have much time to do for previous days coz we were so busy out whole day so we took an hr for Ian to do some digging and daddy 'vandalised' the beach hehee...but this was a peaceful beach...prior we read it was white sand and blue sea and when we came, we were totally awed by the beauty....so tempted to come back again and then laze on the beautiful beach, the water was so so clear we wanted to dive in but it was cold with the wind blowing so we hesitated....hhmm we shall be back huh!

Along the way to Perth city, we came by this orange town called Harvey...if u see the shelves of our supermarket, they do import their orange juice so we came by the Harvey Fresh orange plantation coz we heard there's a BIG orange which we could climb and it overlooks the whole orange plantation...it was a lovely sight just seeing the orange trees...guess we have never see this before and even ah gong was fascinated by it! po2 was taking some orange which fell off the tree and Ian had some samples of them! Then we went to buy apple and orange juice....regretted not buying some of the interesting juice they sell coz we were busy buying their wines which came in paper carton form =)

Day 8 - When we reached Perth city, we knew we had to visit this Japanese restaurant Matsuri which mama came with dayi and po2 abt 10 yrs ago coz they served real yummy nice Jap food and the waitress they take orders with a palm...so pro hor when 10 yrs ago palm was such a hot thing and so high tech man! It was a BIG treat for all of us! For the rest of the day we were busy shopping at Harbourtown opp our apt stay....its the factory outlet kind and had lots of brand from Nike, Fila, Adidas to Pumpkin patch and bookstores...we had so much to buy heheee gd shopping place esp Fri when it closes at 9pm!

Day 9 - We headed to Subiaco town 1st coz previously a friend brought us to this town and we thot there might be some gd buy coz there's a market and some shops...so we did buy MORE and then went Fremantle for more buys hehee....here we are at the other Fish and chips shop called Kailis and they sell abalone for pple to bring home....guess alot Sporeans go there to buy stuff back tho we felt it was not cheap but the other cirecellos F&C shop was better =) hheee made a verdict but it was such a contrast in weather when we reach fremantle last wk and then again...it was having dark clouds the day we were leaving and started raining, it was cold...we were just so glad the rainy weather came only after we left coz we saw so much of sunshine and gd weather when we were down southwest! tho it was cold, Ian still nonetheless had lots of fun in the playground with the swings and slides!

The last stop we made was to the King's park to see the nite scene...it's always nice to come once in day and another at nite coz the whole city looks so different....to bid farewell to the city! Just loved the time together as a family and time to plan for next trip!

We went to mushroom farm today!

Following the fire station tour last wk, Aunt Chris has invited us to this mushroom farm (Mycofarm) along Seletar Farmway and we are glad we came coz there's so much to learn abt mushrooms and the kids loved mushrooms when we were there (as in love eating them haha)
But besides Seth and Joy, Ian din know any of the jie2s (yes it was whole load of girls at the place hahaa) there were 9 kids....guess alot of laughter and noise from the kids during the tour hehee but it was kindof raining so din manage to see alot more but still its was a fruitful one (besides our buying I mean hhehe)

We were introduced to the Shitake mushroom and could see them sprouting and glad the kids din attempt to pluck off hehee...but these mushrooms were staying in cool rooms!!! There are harvested within a few days hhmm kindof tempted to get 1 and try to grow but with our climate quite hard huh unless we blast the aircon everyday hhmm

And there the guide explaining the no. of cycles the log could go thru and how they bundle the white oyster mushroom's log so that the mushrooms grow only in 2 directions unlike the shitake they allow them to grow in all directions....

Here's 1 of the white oyster mushrooms...they feel real soft....if only we could try to grow them then no need to buy whole loads of mushroom every wk hehee

And it was 'testing' of food time....when the kids were 'scrambling' for more samples hehee here's Ian with the mushroom bak kwa! Yummy huh but of coz for a buy who just love the bak kwa no matter its meat or mushroom or anything...he just love biting them =)

And then it was the endless quest for the mushroom floss!!! Yea the kids had endless handfuls of them (gd thing we weren't asked to go off after endless times of requesting for it) and this was the final cup for Ian....yes, we did get a box from the farm....hhmm more of a snack to them I guess but it sure tasted yummy hehee...can munch the mushroom in it...and the owners did cook us a plate of mushroom and it sure tasted yummy...oh boy, were we hungry or what?? hahaa but we got their mushroom sauce as well, gonna cook this wk =)

And here's the big box of mushroom we got from the farm....fresh from the harvest, we do see their brand at supermarket altho we usually get the pasar brand coz mama used to cooking white button mushroom which they dun have but glad we are introduced to more varieties of mushroom and could get them when we are on our way to po2's place I guess!

Then near the corner, we came to this animals resort, not v much animals and it was bad weather but we just walked ard the farm to check out for future visits! Alot of dogs tho and some are for sale...

And here are the 2 boys with the horsie! So happy to see the horse moving its head for this shot otherwise it was muddling with its grass...kindof 'touristy' before we embark on our real farm tour hehee we will be back again! But for the mushroom farm guess we won't be able to get such privilege again coz today was Aunty Chris' BIL who brought us ard and had all the privilege to come up close to it!

Since we were so near po2's place so the kids went there for nap instead and we were gearing up for Joy's early bday celeb! The kids were happy to be together for the whole day and the finale was the Princess cake....hhhmm Ian was going thru all the steps of the 'cake ceremony' hhmm capture this shot, who's holding the knife?? hhmm well guess it was a yr again when Ian was so fast in blowing out Joy's candles....so glad he din do it again this yr altho he did try to blow out the blown out candles hhaaa....just an early birthday wish to Joy!

Ian turns 31 mths old....

This mth, we see a boy who has turned quite cheeky and speaking longer sentences....yet a boy who seemingly wants his way and quite stuck to routine (sometimes) eg certain things must be done by mama or daddy only and will scream when its not done. Trying to break this bad habit of yours....and Ian has also learnt to scream when he doesn't want mama or daddy to 'disturb' him...wonder where he learnt his 'trick' and we had a 'screaming' session when we started pouring water on Ian last Sat (after he attempted to water us with his watering can) and he knows by screaming we will shun or stop....hhmm gonna make sure u dun scream like other kids coz u never did scream and dun like kids screaming (coz u will comment it is so noisy!)

Last mth, mama tried painting with Ian and he just stop after getting some fingers dirty....this week, he has done well just sitting there for half hr or so doing some doodling with the paint and guess u have almost perfected drawing circles and attempting to do the other shapes but Ian still loves blue and sometimes taking purple as substitute...wonder why this preference for color even when he's real young

We have switched to taking hot milo for breakfast since Ian's lingering cough makes us wonder if the cold fresh milk he takes is causing it...well its more economical to make milo anw and he's never tired of milo...we wonder why he just loves milo. Being an easy eater, now mama is trying all sorts of funny fruit juice for ur 'afternoon tea' and he will just gulp it down (altho there are times he takes small sips of the funny concoction hehee) he's such a willing 'try-er' and just getting all the different fruit into him....tried honey but he shunned off coz mama earlier warned him its med-icine! hahaa will try again some time later....

Altho Ian's asking for school and say he won't cry when go to school, we are still holding back....read a book and said for boys (generally) they shld be kept home till 3yo coz of the gender make up, they will grow up being more secured boy hhmm wonder how true but well guess until any major 'shake up' then we will decide again for now, he's such a mummy's dear boy (for now)

There was an occasion mama got quite mad with Ian's morning fussing and mama kept herself in the room for some cool down time and upon opening the door, there was Ian waiting for mama to come out of the room....hhmm was puzzled why it was quiet outside the room and thot better check on Ian and there he was having some time out also and it was much better after the 'episode' anw just learning to embrace the boy as much as the boy is embracing mama =) well we are all fallen humans rite?

Ian's enjoying so much of Sun Sch, he is asking for the songs he sang at Sun Sch back home, the last road trip to JB we brought along the CD and it was endless 'request' but glad he's asking for such songs rather than some cartoons or shows....he even learnt a Hokkien song from Sun Sch and quite surprised he could sing some of the words to mama (coz mama din go Sun Sch with him for some wks) and we just realised the song is available at po2's pl and yest he was asking non-stop to repeat the song and the VCD was in karaoke form hahaa so he had karaoke session with po2 =) such a cute scene but forgot to take pic....

Well to mark Ian's 31st mth, we will be going for a long trip for the 1st time hehee...guess he's not as excited as mama huh =p

Aeroplane....AEROPLANE!!!

These days, Ian gets real excited when he sees aeroplane and he can even spot 1 tiny one flying past our place....sometimes mama thot he must be joking coz it can be quite a few times within a short span of time but to mama's surprise, its always spot on and its really tiny from where we see...guess Ian can really catch view of small objects now huh....but yest after he said aeroplane but mama couldn't see any, he was saying 'Sorry, its a bird...' hahaaa it was quite hilarious coz the bird was flying so fast he thot it was a plane! well well been preparing Ian if he wanna take a plane he must do this and that....hhmm just counting down to his 2nd flight, guess he can't quite rem the flight he took last yr to BKK, he shld rem better this time =)

Our Mid Autumn Festival....

So glad we din plan any outdoor activity for the day coz the weather was quite bad for any outdoor fun....and po2 planned for a steamboat dinner which was perfect for the weather and after we had the yummy dinner, the kids were thrilled to have their lanterns along the corridor...hhmm they were perified with the candle fire but managed to capture this shot with them smiling away hehee

But Ian was most thrilled with this pomelo lantern which ah mu has attempted....he was so game to carry it once he set his eyes on it....hahaa he 1st went to 'bounce' it against the wall with the 'piong piong' sound and then he went on to 'scare' his older cousin with it...sigh how mischievous but we all caught the look on his face hahaa...this boy can be quite cheeky huh! Well and while the kids continue their fun along corridor with the usual 'gardening', the adults savor on the mooncakes (thanks jiu2 for getting the durian mooncakes and the gifts from ur Germany trip!) Another warm family gathering =)

Another trip to the Central Fire Station!

This time, our church friend Chris jio us to go for a walkabout the Central Fire Station coz her neighbour has been asking her to visit the place and so we tagged along coz it would be more informative compared the last visit we went!
Here's the grand lady building....looks really cool from outside and we were early to meet the rest! Well we din know beside the fire station building which we went some wks ago, there's also a museum beside and a souvenir shop...the last visit we went was barely covered in 30 mins but today we stayed for 2hrs there!

Here we are with other 6 families which totalled up to 10 kids and we were quite amazed by the commentary given by Mr Segar (he's Chris neighbour) but pretty impressed by his knowledge coz he's been at the force for 27 yrs! Now he's stationed at the museum (which we got to hear more stories) for 3 yrs and guess he shld be retiring in 2.5yrs time...and he was introducing to us the ambulance which is under the care of the fire station as well and while we were there, we experienced a call for the ambulance to ferry pple to hospital...felt so real when we heard all the siren and all there!
Here we are checking out the CPL (the ladder that brings firefighters to height to save pple from fire!) and on the right there is some mist gun which thrilled the kids so much they mostly got wet

Here we are at abt 5 storey high...the last visit we went to 8 storey high....and this time was without harness and all (checked with the guy controlling it and guess we could do without so as to save time but we guess it was coz the Sep was their 100th yr commemoration so they had all the photography/drawing competition so things were done more properly and all!) but we are glad to capture some shots with pple we know...will get pics from ah mu and fam! See them waving to us at height...

Here we are in front of the fire engines which we never get such chance to capture photos in real life coz we have to make way for them to save lives...

And here's a boy so game to climb up the fire engine to check out the huge vehicle!

And this time we understand the fire fighters are to slide down the pole to cut down the time to save lives...and there is actually a Spore style of sliding down (which the arms encircle the pole) which is diff from the American style! All thanks to Mr Segar who explained it all to us!

Then we moved on to the air con museum hehe where we checked out the old fire engines and aren't we glad the fire engines today look so much more stylo and efficient...

here we are hearing the explanation of the improvement done to the old fire engines to what we see today...behind is the steamer kind of fire engine which runs on water steam...hhmm guess it takes forever for the water to be pumped out huh?

Here's Ian trying to climb on the fire engine which he has tried to attempt to all possible ladders or steps hhmm busy legs running...

Yup that wraps up the tour today...dun u think we got info to share today than the previous trip? It sure makes a worthwhile trip to revisit the place but guess we were privileged to see more stuff the last time we went so glad we made 2 trips...will come again some day and maybe pop by to say Hi to the friendly Mr Segar =)