Saturday, June 17, 2023

Bangkok with Kids, Day 2 Part 1, Pattaya, Magical Ice of Siam

We have no idea that the sun rises so early. By 6am, the sky was bright. We didn't have the curtain drawn and Daddy Lim woke up. It seems like his life mission is to wake us all up when he is bcos he was so noisy. Zzzzzz. 

We had an incident back in Singapore the evening before. While snowboarding, my SIL had tried to call all of us. We found out later that our faulty digital lock died on Popo, who went out to run an errand, didn't bring her physical key and was locked out. Poor Mochi was locked in the house without dinner. While we know that he would survive a night without food, we were worried and wondered what kind of havoc he would create. All went well and the problem was resolved in the night. Mochi got his dinner too. 

There, there, doing his affectionate dance whenever he asks to be fed.


Back to our Bangkok morning, Daddy Lim was so noisy at 6ish in the morning. He was scrolling FB/ IG with loud enough volume. He was coughing and clearing his throat. Zzzz. 

The kids continued sleeping. Zaky was probably tired from all the snowboarding. Nana had mastered the power of sleeping in. 

This was the neighbourhood. 


The hotel room came with a little balcony/ planter. It was great for coffee. 

Maybe more for drying clothes bcos it was so freaking hot. Lol.

We tried waking the kids proper at 7.30am for bfast. We almost decided to head down ourselves and I got to wear Zaky's slippers. I only packed his bcos Daddy Lim and I didn't mind wearing shoes all day long. 
We barely stepped out of the room before Nana decided to tag along and Zaky wouldn't stay alone in the room. 

I had to "return" his slippers and wore his tracks, bcos they were big enought to slip in and out, like slippers  Hoho. 

The (many) dogs were barking and we were trying to figure out why. 
Nana was already decked in the oversize T-shirt and pants that she bought yday. Yes, that is the spirit; I didn't bring enough clothes. We either have to recycle the clothes, buy new clothes or go naked. Hoho. 

The hotel provides free flow of bread, strawberry jam, hotdogs and coffee. We topped up with cup noodles. 


After bfast, we explored the hotel's pool that looked meh. I am not sure if it was the pool tiles or the water. I wouldn't want to swim in it. 

We packed up and checked out at 9.30am. Our 2nd luggage had appeared. The smaller one was hiding in the bigger luggage when we came. 

Remembering to pack Tiger. 
It used to be much "bigger" in relative to Zaky years back. 
We booked with Pattaya Cab. The car was already waiting. I had thought that I had booked a van only for a Totaya Fortuna to turn up. It was a little squeezey in the back. 

The ride to Pattaya is 2 hours by car. I managed to work for the 1st hour. The 2nd hour was more difficult to tolerate - we got bored and squeezy. It was just highway along land of nothingness. 


 Zaky was whinny, until he felt asleep. Lol. 

Finally! The Magical Ice of Siam.






It was super weird bcos the sculptures were made in white, to create this illusion that it was snow cold but it actual fact, it was freaking hot under the afternoon sun. 


We had to change into the boots and overcoat. No, they didn't smell bad, definitely better than the snowboard boots the day before. Then, we were brought into this big freezer. Literally, a freezer. 




There was the ice slide that Nana tried despite being paika. She didn't want to be left out and survived alright but we had to stop her after 1 slide. 

There was this another part that Nana wasn't able to enter on her wheelchair. Daddy Lim accompanied her while Zaky and I explored more. Snow!


Snow sledding!

It was tiny and we didnt stay long bcos Pappy and jiejie were not with us. We went back to the ice part and had our "special" drinks. 




The "special" drinks were actually cola or orange soda. After that, we got to smash the ice cups. 

We didn't stay long, it was way too cold and too small. We had lunch at the cafeteria, Daddy Lim said that it was snacks, not lunch. 

And mirror selfie before we headed to our hotel. 



Mummy Lim













Friday, June 16, 2023

Bangkok with Kids: Day 1, Ski365

Finally! Finally! Finally! It is finally our turn after seeing who and who, so and so went holiday at where and where. Hohoho. The kids had been looking forward to traveling too. Who doesn't love a holiday?

Our flight to Bangkok was via Scoot. A 2.5 hours flight is definitely tolerable via budget. Our flight was at 8.20am and bcos we had a paika and had requested for mobility assistance, we were denied online check in. We were out of the house at 5.30am. Bye Mochi, see you in 6 days' time. I wonder if Mochi would miss us as much as we would miss him. 

The airport was busy even at 6am. We were denied self check in too and had to join the Q. Bangkok, here we come!

We had to check in the wheelchair and crutches. They then provided the airport wheelchair, which was super bulky. We headed for bfast bcos mummy too cheapo to order inflight meals. Daddy Lim and the kids shouldn't have much to complain bcos bfast was hot and yummy.

We saw sunrise and Nana went crazy, she goes ga-ga over all sun rises and sets. 

The gate opened at 7.20am and we went to the gate early, in case extra checks were needed. We were the 1st to board the plane bcos of the paika. Not bad!
During the earlier live chat with the scoot agent to request for mobility assistance, there was this silly conversation on whether Nana is mobile. Well, not without the crutches and the crutches need to be check in. The agent asked several times, so not mobile? Not at all mobile? Zzzzzz. It turns out, Nana's ankle had improved quite some and she is now able to put some weight on it. Thus, she was able to hop and limp to the seat. 

Why only us? Bcos I paid extra for Daddy Lim to have the extra legspace seat leh. He complained too much le. He had so much space and was a happy man. 


The flight was alright. Zaky downloaded movies on Netflix, Nana was engrossed in her Stephen King book. 

Zaky asked 2x if we had inflight meals, that I eventually offered to buy him an ice cream. Lol. 

We arrived on time and to the Land of Smiles..  and shopping... and good food. Hoho. We took time and waited for the crowd to disperse before disembarking. Daddy Lim was anxious about the huge crowd at immigration. No choice, we have a paika. 

A wheelchair had been arranged for Nana when she disembarked. 
All thanks to her that we actually had express service in clearning the immigration! We didn't have to wait at all and were brought to an empty counter. Happy siol. 

We took a taxi from the airport to our hotel, PP@Rangsit. We were told that it was outside of Bangkok actually. We booked that hotel, as it is near to the Future Park Mall, our only destination for the day. 

The ride took about an hour. It was only after we were on the way that I realise that there was no meter in the taxi. S**t! We ended up paying THB900 and I have no idea if we were conned. Nana said that at least the taxi driver was friendly. Ok lor, we paid for "friendliness and entertainment" that we didn't need. 

Checkin was at 2pm. We left our bags and headed to the Future Park Mall for lunch. We were starving and ended up in a western food restaurant. Right outside the restaurant, some pasar malam stalls were operating. I was very excited. Hoho. We literally kept walking and eating and repeat, both before and after the official lunch. 




We had Thai milk tea, chicken satay, 冰糖 
strawberries and grapes, and the list goes on. 

Nana also bought the elephant pants that she had been eyeing on for months. It is not only her, she came with plenty of requests to also buy for the 3Fs and her friends. 

The reason for visiting the Future Park Mall, and not any other mall, is bcos of this - ski365. 

Yes, Bangkok has a snow simulator and coaches snowboarding/ skilling. I was eager to learn my basics so that I could snowboard with the family in December. We are heading to Japan to snowboard and I gave up on my lessons in Korea 4 years back after a hard fall and hurt my tailbone. 

We booked 4 hours private lessons, costing us THB7,500 (SGD300) back before Nana fractured her ankle. We went ahead with the lessons, and Nana had to wait for us. Fortunately, the book kept her entertained. 

I got pink boots!
But had to change to ugly black ones bcos they were too small and hurt my toes after the 1st hour.
The lesson started from the most basics. How to wear the boots (they were stinko!), the snowboard, move with one foot straped in, balance, etc. We then sat at the bottom of the stimulator and were brought automatically up to the top. That was the easiest part. Lol. 

I was tired 1 hour into our 4 hour lesson. Lol. I took the excuse to entertain Nana and left the boys. I is clever. 

When we came back, the boys were doing some pro looking toe side craving. Backwards ok, don't play, play.




Did we last the full 4 hours? Almost. I got bored after the 2nd hours. I seriously only want to learn the basics. Daddy Lim gave up after the 3rd bcos his toes were hurting. Only Zaky kept going until almost the end. He is good and very yaya about it. He said that he should have trained to be a snowboarder instead. Singapore no snow lor. 

I was very happy to learn how to stand up on the snowboard, I didn't manage to do that in the snow the last time and didnt dare go up the slope. I thought maybe bcos I am now physically stronger. Then Daddy Lim told me that it is actually much more difficult on real snow bcos it is much more slippery and the snow sinks and... never mind. Sob. 

There were plenty of dinner choices and we ended up in the Thai foodcourt bcos the last experience at Platinum Mall was great. This one was lousy. Maybe it was the wrong choices of food. 
On day 1, I basically only remembered to take pictures of the food when they were already in the tummy. 

This was Nana's boot noodles, she said that it was very nice but very spicy. It even burnt her lips that she had to cool down with macha ice cream., coated on her lips. 

We left for the hotel after dinner. Nana had done enough shopping for the day, while the rest of us were tired, especially Zaky. 

Given that the hotel is in some ulu places, I was worried that it would be bad and managed expectations. It wasn't and was quite decent.


As per the last Bangkok trip, we had the display of the day's loot. Nana won totally. 

Mochi got a Starbucks shirt, I bought school socks and the rest of the loots were all Nana's. That probably explained why she was very happy despite all the waiting that she had to do. 

We called the night off early. Zaky took the top deck, while Nana was in the bottom. Daddy Lim and I had the big bed. My only complain? No, not small bath towel (tehy were decent hotel towel sized) but the pillows were damned high. Zaky and I used flat pillow at home and Nana usually doesn't even needed one. 

Good night!

Mummy Lim

Saturday, June 10, 2023

Updates on the Paika

Unfortunately, Nana is still very paika. Her next appointment will be in mid July, which marks 3 months of being in a cast. 

Bcos of her lack of mobility, we also see her a lot more at home this school holiday. She didn't want to inconvenience her friends. So sad for her. I also miss our evening trips to blk 四百多. She used to frequently accompany me in the evenings after dinner. It is our little escape, little walk to buy snacks and/ or bread for bfast. 

Last week, I offered to wheelchair her to the 7-11 to buy bfast. We have switched her bulky rental wheelchair for a super lightweight travel one, in view of the upcoming holiday. This wheelchair is much smaller and narrower. Luckily, Nana is lean. Her only complaint is that she needed to cross her legs, else, it takes effort to sit ladylikely in the wheelchair. Lol.


The other problem, which will further inconvenience people more, is that this wheelchair doesn't allow her to self wheel. Somebody will have to push her.

While on the wheelchair and without the aircast, she realised how much muscle she has lost and started giggling away. 



The fortunate thing is that she is young and would be able to build back the muscle quickly. 年轻就是本钱. I was talking to one of the cycling kakis this morning. He is a SAF medic and advised for Nana to start the stretching exercise ASAP. 

Nana said that she had been "stretching" her ankle every night when she flops to sleep on her belly and her foot is extended. Hello, stretch intentionally and strengthened the muscle lah. Lol. 

Mummy Lim

Saturday, June 3, 2023

Mochi Showered

Cats don't need regular showers bcos they self groom themselves very much. They also don't like showers very much. While Mochi's nails are trimmed regularly, whenever the sofa screamed, showers are another thing bcos showers do not fall under my area of responsibility. We agreed on once a month, so that we can apply the tick medicine on him after his showers but that never happen. 

We bought a pack of 3 tick medicine. That is supposed to be applied monthly but lasted us almost 6 months bcos 有猫没有冲凉. Zzzzz. Mochi's last shower was before Nana fractured her ankle, then Daddy Lim kept procrastinating bcos nobody else wanted to help him. 

It is time. In fact, long overdue. After I cleaned Mochi and Puffy's cage this morning, I dragged the cat to the bathroom. Nana was gamed to help despite being paika. I thought about giving Mochi catnip before the shower but didn't have time to figure out how. Anyway, his shampoo is supposed to contain catnip but seems to do nothing much to sooth him. Lol.  

We didn't take long. Mochi at some point was meowing pitifully. Sorry, not sorry. At least we got done fairly quickly and made sure that he was well washed bcos this is meant to last at least a month. The last time Daddy Lim showered him, Mochi looked that he was barely damp after the shower and Daddy Lim blamed it on his water resistant fur. 

All done!




He didn't look very happy after his shower. 

You know how some cats/ dogs are actually just fluffy and are super slim when they are wet? Mochi is none of that. He is still very chonky, whether wet or dry. Hohoho. Sorry ah, all living things get fat in our household.

Mummy Lim