Tuesday 17 April 2012

A few things about our Malaysia Trip

It is not exactly a holiday because we went back to my husband’s parents’ place, but to me it still felt like one because I do not need to work and do not have to do the usual cooking, laundry and house cleaning. Yes even I am surprised that my definition of holiday has changed so much after becoming a mother.

It is definitely a holiday for Kah Yen. She got to spend so much time with Daddy & Mummy. And suddenly there are so many people doting on her – her grandparents and great grandma. And we had so many outings, something we can’t even do it once a week in Singapore.

We took a night bus back. Our bus left at 1030pm and reached Ipoh at 630am. We really don’t want her to sleep too late so we put her to bed at 8pm at home, hoping that when we set off to the bus station at 9pm, she will be in deep sleep and I can carry her to sleep in my arms without waking her up. That’s just our wish. We should have known our daughter better. The moment I carried her out of the house, she jumped up and looked around her. She became wide-awake and was happily pointing at cars, buses and lights outside the taxi. This was the first time she was out in the evening so it was understandable she was so excited. Since there was nothing much I can do I decided to cut her some snack, hoping she will be exhausted and collapse right into my arms the moment we got on the bus. I was wrong again. She did not fall asleep until we passed Malaysia custom; it was almost midnight by then. Thank God the bus ride was smooth. The chair was wide and can recline to nearly 180 degree. She could lie flat and sleep, at the expense of Mummy of course. I could only lie on my side and had to keep the same position for almost the entire trip.

Getting her to take her nap on the first day was a real challenge. Without a baby cot, we placed a single mattress on the floor sandwiched between our bed and the wardrobe. We also put Sofa cushion on both end of the mattress to prevent her from coming out. It was all in vain. She was so excited seeing such a big mattress and big cushions that she turned the whole area into her play gym. She climbed up to our bed, dived down to the cushions and rolled on the mattress. She also easily crossed the cushions to come out to the rest of the room. The more I tried to put her down, the more excited she became. In the end I just put her down for the last time, said my goodbye, and came out of the room. Good that she did not cry and chase after me. I spent the next 10 minutes lying on the floor outside the room and peeped from under the door. I saw she happily walked around, climbed up and down for a few more times, talked to her self all the while. And to my surprise and great delight, after a while she decided she was really tired so she climbed back to the mattress and cuddled her Baby Pooh and slept! Too cute, I should have placed a video camera inside the room.

The following days were much easier because she got the idea that the area is for her to sleep, not to play. Also since she is coming to 17-month old, I think it is a good time to stretch her morning nap to after lunch so she takes only one nap a day. It worked perfectly well. We can bring her out in the morning and come back early for lunch. After lunch and shower she would knock out completely for at least 2 hrs. I have dreamed for this day to come for a long time. When she needs to take 2 naps it is so difficult to plan for outing!

We brought her out to 3 different parks during our 1-week stay there. One of the highlights of the park trip is fish feeding. We have never brought her to feed fish before. And guess what? When we first passed her a small piece of the bread, instead of throwing it to the fish, she put it right into her own mouth! Luckily I was fast enough to stop her. We got the bread from a family who was also there with the kids, I am pretty sure it is expired bread. We can’t blame her though! We did not teach her how to feed the fish before passing her the bread; being a baby of course it is only logical she thought that’s for herself. I still can’t help laughing when I think of this incident. Thankfully after a few times of demonstration she finally got the idea, she learnt how to feed the fish and she loved it.

She also saw waterfall for the first time in her life. The waterfall is at least 10-meter high. She was completely thrilled. She pointed at it all the time and signaled us to go nearer and nearer.  I was so eager to explain to her what waterfall is. First I told her that’s “Shower” – hoping she can associate it with water coming out from shower cap, but I think she got confused because she only sees shower water inside our toilet. Then I tried to tell her it was “Rain” – water dripping out from sky. But I think it is best I just told her it is called “Waterfall”, instead of depriving her a new word in her vocabulary.

I also brought her to a kid’s café at a shopping center nearby my in-law’s place. I never had a chance to bring her to any in Singapore because I basically don’t know where they are. I have been hearing other parents visiting those places so I wanted to check out. The place is called Kids Zone. The ticket is RM 10 and you can stay for as long as you wish. At first I was very excited seeing so many things inside, but after staying for a while, I realized that most toys or play stations are not for her age. We only tried the free rides, the kitchen station and the supermarket station. Frankly I don’t think I will bring her back to any of these kids café again before she is at least 2 yrs old. Firstly it is not age appropriate. Another reason is I don’t want her to pick up bad manners. While I was there, kids pushed me to get their way through; they knocked on me without saying ‘Sorry”; and more than once older kids just came and snatched toys away from Kah Yen. I believe at as young as 2 years old kids should be taught manners – saying ‘Please”, ‘Thank you”, “Excuse me” and “Sorry”. It is the parents’ responsibility to teach them.

We took a morning bus back to Singapore. It took us 10 hrs to reach home. I am so glad that Kah Yen was not cranky at all throughout the entire ride. She took her meals and milk and slept, and was contented to just play with the curtains and look outside the window when she was awake. That’s very good job for a 16-month old!


Kah Yen and her Ah Zhou (Great Grandma)

Kah Yen's playdate with her cousin

Kah Yen and her Ah Ma (Grandma) at the park

Kah Yen on her first big swing

Kah Yen and Daddy admiring the waterfall

Kah Yen enjoying her free ride

Kah Yen on merry-go-round with other kids


2 comments:

  1. How brave of Kah Yen on the swing. Sophia refused to get in one last weekend. I guess she must have been scared by the sight of a 5 month old dangling in the swing next to hers. It was perfectly safe and the baby didn't seem to mind but I guess it must have looked uncomfortable to Sophia.

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  2. Does it come with the Baby seat? If not then it does look scary to her.

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