Dalat - The French Alps of Asia (Part I)

Dalat is eight-hour away from Ho Chi Minh City by bus. It is different from most other places in Vietnam. Dalat was where the French chose to build villas and houses for their summary get-aways during the French Colony. It is an European/French style resort destination built in the highlands. Hence it is sometimes called the French Alps of Asia.

I must admit I was a little bit disappointed when our bus first arrived the town. Having left most of the planning and preparation of this trip to the husband, I did not read much on Dalat and was half expecting something Shangri-La. It turned out Dalat was not exactly Shangri-La style. The town looked busy.

However, I soon fell in love with this unique place. It is tranquil on one hand - with its pine-covered hills, picturesque Xuan Huong lake, vivid blue skies, fresh air and French-style resorts, it is also lively on the other - just look at the night market, the alleys of shops and cafes, the roundabouts and motorbikes on the road. Yes there are motorbikes just like any other cities in Vietnam.

It is not exactly utopian but it is definitely a holiday paradise.

View of Dalat town from cable car station



The valley and the Xuan Huong lake in the evening, from our hill resort



If I did not fall in love at first sight for Dalat, I did for our resort - Dalat Cadasa resort. It is one of the few heritage resorts built by the French on poetic hills and overlooking the picturesque lake in the valley. It comprises as many as 22 fully refurbished villas, each unique on its own. Just look at the pictures here will take your breath away.



Dalat Cadasa Resort

Breakfast hall made of glass panels, right in the middle of the garden

Our villa on the hill, with the back window facing the lake

If our holiday had been longer, we would probably spend one whole day in the resort by doing nothing. But we only have one and a half day here so we don't have a minute to waste. To travel in and out of the town, we rented a motorbike. Yes, if you hadn't have the gut to rent a motorbike in Ho Chi Minh City, do it in Dalat, it is the best way to get around this place.

Our first station - Dalat Railway Station. This Art Deco creation was designed by French architects in 1932 and opened to public in 1938. Inside the train station we saw one Plateau rail road carrier and one steam engine locomotive. Both are quietly parked there to tell you something about the history of this place and the people who had come and go.


Dalat train station

The Plateau carrier

Taking a cable car ride over the pine forests, transquil lakes and farm houses, what better way to look at Dalat from this angle?

Cable car station

Cable car above pine-covered hills

Dalat Palace is one of three palaces and summer home of the colonial-era, last emperor of Vietnam Bao Dai. We actually thought it was a palace itself but it is apparently built to be a "Palace hotel" with its majestic style and historical architecture. It was built in 1922 under the French Governor. It is full of antiques inside. The front garden is huge and it's overlooking the Xuan Huong Lake. It rendered most hotels in Ho Chi Minh City just too average.

Dalat Palace

Inside Dalat Palace hotel

Front garden

We went back to the town center to have our lunch. The streets are bathing the sun in a hot and bright afternoon. Below is a photo of the one of the streets, on the left are are a row of cafes overlooking the street below. At the end of the street is the roundabout and the lake is just across.

Dalat street and its French symbol

Our cafe is right at the end of the street, with a glass panel separating us from the traffic and the heat outside, it is just the right spot to enjoy our food while comtemplating about a unique place and its past glory.



Our cafe at the corner of the street



Ho Chi Minh City - Traditional yet modern, old yet new

I don't have any idea about Ho Chi Minh City before I went there, the only things come into my mind are Vietnamese War, French Colony, Motorbikes and Beef Noodles, yet I know none of them in detail. Hence, I was quite excited and looked forward to our 4D3N trip in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. It felt like quite an adventure.

I was expecting a city pretty much like a city in the current North Korea now or in China during the 80's. What unfolded in front of me as I took a bus from the airport to the city center and toured around the city center by foot, is a city traditional yet cosmopolitan, old yet new, exciting yet tranquil. It has a mix of everything - modern Asian culture, typical Western influence and ancient Vietnam history, yet they seem to blend in perfectly well.

Coming out of the airport and into the city is quite an experience, especially by a local bus. There are motorbikes everywhere. Car, taxis and buses are surrounded by motorbikes, the drivers need to horn every one minute in order to get moving. 

This photo I took does not do justice to the real traffic. You hardly see cars on one side and motorbikes on the other, and you hardly see them stop for traffic lights. It just seems very, very chaotic but the traffic seems to flow. Learning to cross a street in Ho Chi Minh is quite an art, yet most tourists mastered it rather quickly, not without a few high blood pressure moments though.

Motorbikes in Ho Chi Minh

We went straight to the city center in District 1 after checking in our hotel. There are some really stunning and grand buildings such as the Reunification Palace, the Post Office and the Notre Dame Cathedral. I like especially the french colonial influence on the latter two.

Reunification Palace

Post Office

Cathedral (Right) and inside of the Post Office (Left)

Where we spent most of the afternoon is the War Remnants Museum. If you have to choose one museum and skip all others, it has to be this one. You can't understand Vietnam or Ho Chi Minh without reading about the (American) Vietnamese War.

Weapons used by Americans

Exhibition of war photos and posters

After the heavy stuff, it is time to explore markets and food. I am not very fond of going to night markets in any asian cities because of the suffocating crowd and the endless pushing and bargaining. I am just not a shopping type. As for food, we did not have any must-go places, we were quite happy to just try out street food or step in a restaurant where most customers are locals.

Street food stall

Arranging fresh fruits

Food stall at the famous Ben Thanh Market

This is the famous Vietnamese beef noodle from a street stall. We both agreed it tasted the same if not better than in a restaurant. We tried different variety of noodles for a few days, so much so that during the last day in Dalat, the husband declared "I had enough of eating raw vegetables!". He is refering to the fresh vegetable and herbs they serve in a plate for you to dip into the noodle.

Noodles are not the only food they have in Ho Chi Minh though. There are very nice restaurants offering a large selection of Vietnamese cuisine. Most of their food use lemongrass and fresh herbs heavily.

There are many western cafes in town too, you will be spoilt for choices. Some of them are so posh that we don't quite dare to venture in even though we have a few million Dong in our pocket. This is the new and modern part of the city. It is amazing how fast they have developed since independence some thirty over years ago.

Most tourists opt for day tours out of the city to nearby scenic places during their stay in Ho Chi Minh, while some (especially westerns) will wander around the streets for days and weeks until they sink in. We only stayed one day in Ho Chi Minh city. We booked an early bus the next morning to a highland resort place called Dalat. I am glad for our choice. All the noises in the city can be quite overwhelming, it is also humid and dusty. And as I am not into shopping and nightlife - both are the highlights of the city - I can't wait for my 2-day getaway before heading back to it on the fourth day.

KL Camp Day 02 - Of SkyTrek, Tele-match and Chili crab

Breakfast is always my favorate part of the day when I am traveling. I like to wake up early to a fresh and quiet morning in a new place. I'd usually take a walk before I enjoy my breakfast. And my favorates are hot pancakes with thick honey, omelet, some bacon or ham for a protein packed delight, and of course complemented by a cup of hot coffee.

It was not the same for this trip.

Breakfast was supposed to be from 630am to 730am today followed by morning devotions. Since Kah Yen did not sleep very well last night, I decided to let her sleep as long as she wish. She woke up at around 830am, and by the time we made it to the dining hall, it was almost 9am and the entire hall was empty. Yes we were the only one (together with my roommate who kindly waited for us to come down together) eating in a big hall contains at least 20 round tables! Due to the short of time, I decided to give Kah Yen the hotel-cooked chicken porridge. It was not the healthies of choices I know but porridge was her favorate and hence the easiest to feed her. I fed her using one hand and ate my own breakfast using the other hand, yes I mean really hand. It must have been quite an unsightly scene but again when you are a mother there are just things you care less nowaways.

We rushed to finish our breakfast and waited for our bus to go to park Taman Pertanian for the SkyTrek. The SkyTrek adventure is basically jungle trekking from a height via a canopy. It tests your agility, challenges your fear, walk, crawl, glide and swing through different challenges in the sky, in total safety while appreciating the wonders of the Malaysian Tropical Rain Forest. I could have been really excited over this in the past when I was single, but being a mother somehow changed me - I see life as more fragile and precious and I generally avoid risk-taking. It is unbelievable because just two years back I went on mountain trekking and spent seven days sleeping with lychees and woke up to the sound of wild boars.

I had good excuse though because I needed to stay back and look after Kah Yen. The entire thing took about two hours there was no way I can leave her with somebody she is not familiar with for so long. So we stayed in the base with many other babies and young children and their mothers. I also took her for a walk in the park, we enjoyed the morning sun and the greenery.

SkyTrek - The low level for children

Kah Yen and other toddlers stayed behind

Afternoon was back to the hotel with some tele-match games along the poolside. I chose to go back to our room so that Kah Yen can take an afternoon nap. That's the thing when travelling with babies, you just got to be flexible and plan around their timetable sometimes. To me her sleep is important and I choose not to compromise too much. After her nap we still had time to join the rest and received a good dose of afternoon sun before dinner.


Dinner was on our own. Our group decided to drive out to an apparently famous seafood restaurant in town. I was not a big fan of seafood, I was hoping we go to somewhere nearby so that Kah Yen can come back in time for her bedtime. But, since we were in a group I don't want to see as too anti-social or too child-centered, so I went ahead with them. 20 over people in 4 cars, it took us more than an hour to find the place, and it was way passed Kah Yen's dinner time, luckily I had some biscuits with me to give her. We finally reached at 8pm and I immediately gave her the porridge and she finished in 10 minutes. That's quite a record for her! I brought her to look at the fish tanks and she was very happy to see the many different kinds of fishes, prawns and lobsters.



Kah Yen running outside the seafood restaurant




Kah Yen amazed by the big fishes and lobsters


I once heard a friend saying that food was her passion before she became a mother, but after she had baby, she was no longer passionate about food because for every meal, 80% of her time was spent feeding the baby and the rest 20% for herself, by then the food would be cold and she would rush to finish it while still keeping an eye on the baby. I am sure most mothers share her sentiments, me included. Hence it was worth mentioning that for that night I was really lucky because Kah Yen spent first half of the night playing with her crayons and second half playing with Emma Jiejie. I enjoyed my food slowly and joined the adult conversations and at some point nearly forgot she was with me. So I was not exaggerating when I said that it was my best Chili crab ever since I became a mother.

Kah Yen and Emma Jiejie

KL Camp Day 01 - I almost got kicked off my own bed!

We just came back from a 4D3N church camp in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. "We" means Mummy and Kah Yen. Yes this is the first time I went overseas with her alone, Daddy cannot join due to work. I guess that made our trip kind of special. While I enjoyed every moment spending together with her, I have to be honest that traveling alone with her without Daddy was not easy.


We left early Wednesday morning. Thankfully my cell leader family opted to drive so we can share their car, instead of taking the coach. I have one backpack filled with our clothes and Kah Yen's cooking equipments, milk and bottles, one day bag for her milk and food on the road, each bag itself is about 10kg. I can't imagine how to carry the bags and Kah Yen if I have to take the coach.


It was a long journey. We set off at around 930am and only reached Grand Dorset Hotel at Subang KL at 4pm. Kah Yen was quite easy as usual throughout the ride. I guess she is already used to travel long distance after her trip to China and Ipoh, Malaysia. She enjoyed her new baby seat, took 2 naps and finished the porridge I prepared for her. All was well except she was terrified by flies at our lunch stop. It was her first encounter with flies. There were so many flies on the table that Kah Yen refused to sit in her highchair. I had to carry her on my lap and feed her.


There was ice breaker games after we arrived. Kah Yen was a little bit cautious at first but she was quickly warmed up after seeing many other children running around on the floor. Yes that's the good thing about this camp - it is a family camp and there are a lot of kids and babies. I let her run around in the crowd while I participated in the games. I am glad to see that she was not frightened by so many people.


After games, we checked in our room. I was pleasantly surprised to find out there was already a baby cot in our room! I was not sure if the hotel has baby cots, and there are so many other families in this camp so the chance of getting a baby cot is not high. In fact I was already mentally prepared to let her sleep with me. So I was really thankfully for the baby cot. There is also a nice corner table near the washroom for me to prepare Kah Yen's food and milk. Yes I brought a mini slow cooker and rice and ready cut vegetables just in case there is no suitable food for Kah Yen! This is the first time I brought slow cooker for a trip, after getting some advise from other mummies. Apparently this has been quite a common practice among mummies who travel with young babies. 

There is already a baby cot in our room

This is what I called "The cooking and milk station"

I gave Kah Yen a quick shower and we came down for our buffet dinner. The hotel has specially prepared a dining hall just for our camp group. Yes everyday we have round table buffet! Dining with so many people together made Kah Yen excited too. She finished her food very fast for every meal and after that would insist to come down for a walk. She enjoyed walking around the hall so much, and she even went up to the stage! 

Kah Yen's first buffet dinner in the hotel

Kah Yen watching performances while having her dinner

She ran to the stage after dinner

This little girl obviously does not have stage fright

After dinner we proceeded to another hall for worship and word session. I decided to go back to our room after the worship so that Kah Yen can sleep early. There was some struggle whether I should stay through the entire session or go back to let her sleep early.  I decided on the later because I really did not want to compromise her sleep, and the next day is filled with activities, she might not be able to get a good nap.


Kah Yen did not sleep very well in the night because the air conditioning was quite cold. I have tried my best to adjust but it still felt cold! I have very thick quilt so it is not an issue. Her blanket is thin and it was no use trying to cover her anyway because she will just toss around and kick off the blanket. In the midnight, after hearing her crying I decided to bring her to my bed, at least I can try to cover her with my quilt. 


I made the wrong decision. Every time I tried to cover her, she would kick and cry. She really didn't like the thick blanket on her. And she tossed around so much that she always ended up sleeping sideways instead of straight. It was a single bed and when she slept sideways, her feet was practically on my face, if not my tummy. And as she moved, she would kick my tummy, my chest, my head and my face! I was half asleep and thinking if she kicked one more time I would throw her back to her cot! No I did not think like that, instead I was thinking "Whoever says co-sleeping is a wonderful thing is a complete liar!". Because my baby wants nothing to do with me when it comes to sleeping. I was sleeping on the side which is near the wall but not completely next to the wall (Her side was blocked by the baby cot so it was safe). I think after sometime I ended up lying on the extreme edge of the bed with half my body in the air and one hand pushing against the wall so that I will not fall into the hole!


And that's how my first day of camp ended.

The wheel on the bus go round and round

No. This is not a post about the song. This is a post about our bus ride from Ipoh, Malaysia to Singapore on Sundat. It took us an entire day. Exactly like the song says 'The wheel on the bus go round and round, all day long."

Did you ever complain that you do not have enough time with your baby? Not if you have taken him/her for a bus ride from 1030am to 830pm, exactly 10 hours with her - skin to skin. It surely sounds overwhelming if you have an active toddler. Luckily for Kah Yen, we do not have to squeeze our brain juice to keep her entertained. Here is Kah Yen teaching you how to enjoy a long bus ride:

1. Eat, Eat and Eat

Kah Yen had 2 milk feed and 2 main meals on the bus. Surprisely, she finished all her milk and porridge without any fuss. She is usually not an aggressive eater at home. She is contented to finish 80% of her milk, and you can't lure her by any means to finish the remaining 20%. As for solid food, she can sit still and eat only if there is something in front her to keep her occupied. Not Iphone or Ipad, but any other toys, a small cooking set or a piece of paper with some crayons. While we were on the bus, I did not have to take out anything to entertain her. She ate like she had been starving for the past 3 days. Maybe the bumpy ride really helped her stomach to digest faster. Or maybe it is an universal truth for adults as well as babies - when you have nothing much to do, just eat, eat and eat.

2. The magic seat pocket

Kah Yen was fascinated with the seat pocket in front of my seat. And she did all kinds of experiments with it. Put in her small water bottle, it fit. Take out her bottle, put in Mummy's big bottle, it fit too. Now how about we put in Mummy's big bottle, then put in my small bottle, it fit both. How about adding one small piece of biscuit? Oh it dropped through the hole to the floor. One more time, it dropped again. Ok let's not waste my biscuits. Let's take out all the bottles and do the experiment again. The magic seat pocket kept her occupied for nearly an hours.

3. Curtains - Open it, Close it, and Peek-A-Boo

She loved to pull the curtains open, and close them again. After a few rounds she put Mummy's water bottle on the window and played Peek-A-Boo with it. She would close the curtain, and told me "Bottle no more", and then open the curtain and said "Peek-A-Boo"! She played with it again and again for many many times, with the same excitement. Her interest in it could have lasted even longer if the bottle can also play hide-and-seek like Mummy does.

4. What's outside the window?

You think it is so boring to look outside the window. Not quite so for Kah Yen. She would shout "Bus" each time there is a bus pass by. Same goes for cars. Mummy will try to point out the different colors of the buses and cars so that she can be engaged even longer. Other than buses and cars, she also managed to spot some birds, a few cats and even a fly on the other side of the glass.

5. Let's play funny faces

She can be self-entertained by playing all the funny faces and make silly noises herself. Her tongue is super flexible, she can stick half of it out of her mouth and let it dance and whirl about. Husband said that's not funny especially with all the saliva running down, but I have no objection to it because 1) That's what babies do 2) It is cute and she is happy 3) Tongue movement helps her speech development.

6. Sleep only if you absolutely need to

We adults will usually doze on and off throughout a long bus ride right? Unless we are watching a movie or reading a book. Shouldn't babies fall asleep even more easily by the rocking effect of bus. I thought so. But apparently it does not apply to a toddler with excessive energy. She slept in the morning for 2 solid hours, but that's the effect of sleeping at 11pm the previous night after a wedding dinner. So I was expecting by 3 to 4pm she would be down again for an afternoon nap. After patting her for half an hour, her eyes were almost half closed, but the moment the bus stopped for toilet break, she jumpped to her feet and from then on protested each time I tried to let her lie down again. The battle stopped finally by Mummy giving up completely.

Of course Mummy will never let our together-time being wasted without reading her a book or teaching her a few new words. I managed to teach her to respond to the question "What's your name?" by replying in her cutest voice "Kah Yen". It is not yet field tested and still Mummy thought this is brilliant. The only regret is I forgot to sing her the song "The wheel on the bus", what a perfect time to teach her the song!

Kah Yen's CNY China trip in pictures

I have not written anything about our CNY China trip yet. I was flipping through the photos yesterday, and instead of writing about the journey hassle, the challenges of adjusting to cold weather, the milk-pumping and the falling-sick episode, I am just going to share about some of the memorable moments for Kah Yen in pictures.

This is Kah Yen sleeping peacefully in a baby basket on a SQ slight to Bei Jing. We took the 9am morning flight, reached Bei Jing at 3pm. Kah Yen had her breakfast in the airport, morning nap and lunch on the plane.

We didn't have any time to take photos at Bei Jing international airport. The transfer from the international terminal to domestic is so troublesome we ended up missing our transit flight. After paying for 2 more full fare tickets and waited for 3 hours, we finally boarded the plane to Wu Han and reached our hotel at an unearthly hour - 11pm. Everybody was exhausted, and Kah Yen already started to have running nose because of the cold weather and lack of good nap.

We rested in the hotel till noon the next day. This is Kah Yen finally came down to the hotel lobby, fully geared up in winter clothes and ready to set off for the remaining journey. Poor baby looked so tired.

This is Kah Yen at MacDonald waiting for our 3pm inter-city bus. All the earlier bus tickets were sold out, we had to wait for 3 hours. Thankfully the heater and the french fries made her much better.

We finally reached home at 8pm. It was so good to be home. Our family and relatives warmly welcomed us back. Home cooked food was waiting for us, and Grandma had cooked porridge for Kah Yen too.

This is Kah Yen sleeping like an angel at home, after 2 long days on the road. Thank God for keeping her safe and sound.

This is Kah Yen back to her cheerful and playful self after warming up with the place and the people. She loved her walker, we don't use one in Singapore, but it proved handy and useful in winter China because it prevented her from crawling on the cold floor.

This is her cousin "RuYi KorKor", who doted her a lot. He loved playing together with her in the front yard.

And teaching her how to ride a baby bike.

And taking photos with her. The boy on the left is Kah Yen's small uncle. He is only 6 years old but yes he is Kah Yen's uncle. A smart boy who likes to eat and talk.

And this is Kah Yen's cousin "Xuanxuan JieJie", who is only 5 months older than her.

And who is never shy in front of the camera.

Who liked to play with Kah Yen too.

And one day both went to the town for shopping together, or rather for a helicopter ride, while the adults were busy checking out roadside BBQ.

The days went much slower in a winter country side but still two weeks had come to an end. In between Kah Yen had fever and diarrhea for a few days. She lost almost 2kg of weight, as a result, she had sharper chin and double-lid eyes. 

Thank God the return trip was much easier because my brother drove us all the way to the airport, we also had enough transit time to catch our connecting flight. We took a midnight flight back to Singapore, both us and Kah Yen did not rest very well but thankfully, we were back safely and she recovered in 3 days.

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