7D5N Central Japan (Nov 09) - Day 1 & 2

Day 1 - Sun (8 Nov)

We arrived at T2 at about 6.30pm though our flight's departure time was at 10:50pm to have dinner with YC's family as an advanced celebration for MIL's birthday. 

Dinner at Crystal Jade

Coffee at Killiney

On board JAL

It's the last time we had bassinet seat as Shawn would have turned 2 when we next travel.  The bassinet on JAL is real tiny (max wt is up to 10kg nia).  I recalled SQ's bassinet could hold up till 16kg. Hence it was impossible for Shawn to sleep in the bassinet (he weighed abt 13kg then). 

Bassinet

Look at how the kids slept. Poor thing. They were so uncomfortable. Thankfully, Cherylin still managed to catch about 4hrs plus of sleep during the 7hrs journey. Poor Shawn, he slept for probably 2 to 3hrs only. He was able to sleep longer when we went Europe earlier this year. Hmm... can imagine - lack of sleep = cranky. That was what happened during the first day (and for subsequent days too cos i think the kids really didn't had enuf sleep thru'out the trip :P)

Cherylin and Shawn sleeping in the plane

Kids/infant meal (can't remember which is which)

(didn't managed to take picture our breakfast which comprised porridge)

Day 2 -  Mon (9 Nov)

We reached Kansai Airport bright and early (abt 6am  to 7am - Tokyo Time). 

Our first stop was visit to Osaka Castle.

View of Osaka Castle from afar

Pictures taken outside Osaka Castle vicinity

James, our japan tour guide told us something abt the flowers.  However, i couldn't recall what he had said :p

Osaka Museum

(大阪市政博物馆)

Family photo

(background is Osaka Castle)

Zoomed-in shot

Cherylin didn't want to take picture with daddy.  Hence, it's daddy alone

Inside an eatery and confectionary shop

(I was fascinated by those pretty looking snacks seen at the background)

Kids having udon for breakfast

(cost 500 yen per bowl)

Kobe City Tour
We didn't opt to visit Universal Studios cos I felt the kids were too young to enjoy the theme park.  Hence we headed to Takasaki Pearl Factory.  YC 'won' a pearl during a bingo game.  His chosen number '8' was drawn.  We headed to Kobe Chinatown and Harbourland thereafter.

Entrance of Kobe Chinatown

(opp is a Daimaru)

Surrounded by chinese shops which I wasn't too interested in

(since I'm in Japan - prefer to look at japanese stuff)

The red thingy at the background is Kobe Tower - landmark of the place

Look at the ice dessert..yummy (cost 380 yen)

The dessert shop is called Dragon Sweets

(located at Harbourland)

We went to Shinsaibashi (famous shopping strip in Osaka with a long row of shops) in late afternoon.  Our dinner was at one of the restaurants near Shinsaibashi.  Yummy japanese food.  Shawn was hungry and ate some rice.  Cherylin only ate bits and pieces of the food.  YC had to polish up the remaining food. :P

Giant crab display

Shinsaibashi

We didn't cover the entire stretch of shops. 

Probably u-turned half way thru

Night view of Dotonbori

(It's only 530pm and the sky was already dark)

It's dinner time!

Our dinner - it's very filling

(probably because we had to eat Cherylin's share

since she couldn't finish such a huge portion)

It was 750pm by the time we reached our room at Sheraton Miyako Hotel Osaka.  Rushed down to the shopping mall next to the hotel and it's about to close (the shopping mall closes at 8pm - which is early by Singapore standard).  Hence, we could only walk around the vicinity.  Tried the Salt Caramel Cake which I spotted at a cafe (cost 350 yen).  It's sweet and saltish, taste is quite unique but the kids didn't like it. 

Salt Caramel Cake

(this cafe is strange, they didn't allow takeaway)

We headed back to our hotel thereafter since there wasn't much to see and YC plus kids were very tired.

Our room

(size considered ok for Japan standard)

At hotel entrance

At hotel lobby

(Cherylin likes to take picture with x'mas tree)

Missing in action

Gosh!  It's been 2 months since I last updated my blog.  Tsk tsk.. what have I been doing.  Busy at work + planning for holiday.  Hee.. yup, I just came back from Japan a month ago.  Now planning to go F&E next year.  My colleagues and hubby teased me when they know i am reading up info, asking for tips for a F&E trip to Japan.  I sounded as if I'm going tomorrow.  Can't answer why the enthusiasm.  Not that I love Japan a lot from my recent trip.  Just feel like exploring the country more.  Better do my homework now when I'm still very hyped.  Who knows when my enthusiasm will die down right?

I've lots of stuff to update:  hotel stay at Sentosa Spa & Resort, long overdue updates of my trips in 2009, etc.  I read from papers that Minister for Health spend 10mins to blog daily.  I thought it's good discipline to dedicate time for blogging.  Perhaps this shall be my 2010 resolution yah?  Most time consuming part is to post pictures.  That's what makes blogging more 'difficult'.  :p

Merlion Shawn

Yesterday, it’s the 2nd time Shawn vomited in the car. This time he vomited all over my body as I was carrying him facing me. Yeeks, first time feeling so smelly. Luckily it’s at night and hence no one was around to see me in such a dire state. Poor Shawn, kana scolding from me for crying and crying and thus threw up. I should have comforted him right? (which I did after calming down). Think he was too full that’s why threw up so much. As he was eating on an adhoc basis (we were at YC’s grandma’s house to celebrate her birthday), it didn’t daunt upon me that he have had a lot. When he asked for his ‘nei nei’, I happily made for him and made sure he finished the milk as he dozed off.

Shawn was in a shock when he’s home. He stood quietly at the bathroom while I get ready our change of clothes. He didn’t dare move until I wanted to shower him. Sigh.. why must I kick up such a big fuss, isn’t getting dirty/cleaning up mess part and parcel of being a parent? Thinking back, I feed so guilty for reprimanding Shawn.

After cleaning up Shawn, made 180ml of milk for him. He asked for more after finishing. For fear that he’ll vomit again, I refused to make more and carried him to sleep. Thankfully he slept through the nite too without getting up for milk (which meant he’s not really hungry right?).

Now, let me talk about the funny part of this episode. Cherylin was falling asleep when Shawn was crying non-stop. When Shawn puked, Cherylin’s immediate reaction was “I don’t want mummy to be dirty; I don’t want my car seat to be dirty; Mummy, your watch is dirty also” and she kept crying even though I told her it’s ok, mummy will be clean after a bathe. ;)

F1 Staff Party (27 Sep 09)

It's not at my office this time.  We went to YC's office for the party.  I was 'wow-ed' by the office furnishing.  Very nice compared to those that I've been to.  YC said not to take picture of the interior so no photos to show.  Considering the department is serving high networth customers, it's not surprising then.

The coy engaged an Event Company for the party.  Basically, all activities were set up and facilitated by staff of the event company.  Cherylin enjoyed herself so much with activities that she loves:  glue painting, sand pictures, balloonist (he can make a barney balloon which looked like a real one, saw a tweety bird balloon too), candle naming.  There's also photo sticker for ez-link card (basically they will take a picture and make it into a sticker that's the size of ez-link card), Wii (too bad we didn't know how to play), pop corn station, candy floss station.

Children were provided with McDonald's Happy Meal while adult feast on buffet.  There were goodies bag given out too (Cherylin's favourite, she kept asking if there's goodies bag prior to the party, or whenever she attends birthday parties/baby showers :P)

Back to F1 (since it's the subject of this party), can really see the track from Padang to Esplanade Drive from the office.  The noise was so loud that it's still laudable at such a high floor, though not as screeching as when one is in the open. 

We left abt abt 10pm.  Bringing back the lovely flower balloon (surprised Cherylin didn't want any, we brought one back for Shawn).

Here are some pictures taken during the event:

Cherylin and Shawn sitting on the window bay

S:  Look mummy, I can see the racing track..

Cherylin selecting a picture for the sand art session.

See how engrossed Cherylin was.  She even replied "I'm busy" when I asked her to look at mummy for a photo shoot.

Shawn sitting on a couch and munching popcorns.

Can't remember the name of this activity.  Basically it's using the paint to colour the picture template given.  Cherylin did two and Shawn did one.

The balloonist made a purple flower balloon for Cherylin.  Purple is now her fav colour, followed by pink.

We had fun making sand candles where we could put our name/initial on the top layer.

Nite view of the race track (the window reflection is so obvious)

The pretty flower balloons.

Upset

I was upset with Cherylin 2 Sats ago.  She didn't want to go home with us that day.  Instead she wanted to go for dinner with mum.  No matter how i coaxed her (bring her to baby shower on sat, bring her to imm/jurong point on fri), she simply refused.  I can't help but felt upset.  Upset that she didn't want mummy.  Hence, i told her and mum that i'll not be picking her up on sat. 

On sat, we went to YC's ex-colleague's baby shower as plan, with Shawn.  Got a missed call from mum at 2.30pm.  I returned the recall.

Mum: What time are you coming over to pick her?
Me: I'm not going to pick her up.

Mum asked again and this time i replied "at night".

Mum:  Then I shall bring her to Suntec City.
Me:  Don't bring her out.

Mum:  But i want to go out.  I'll bring her to your place at night.
Me:  Ok, then you bring her loh.

Then, mum said something that made me sob..

Mum:  She's is just a kid, when are you getting angry with her?
Me:  Nowadays, she always doesn't want to go home.  Yesterday, she refused to go home again.. (i was sobbing then)

Mum:  Who said she didn't want to go home.  She had been asking "What time is mumy coming to fetch me?" 

I kept silence then and felt bad for treating my darling this way.  Really hope what she did was part of her being just a kid.

We went to Tampines One for shopping after the baby shower (since we were already in the east).  Picked Cherylin up at 9pm+.  Was so happy to see her.  I asked her "Do you miss mummy"?  She said "Yes" and my heart melted.

Teeth

Shawn had only 4 teeth for the longest period of time.  Think till he was 15th month old.  Now, at 19th month plus, he has 6 on top and 6 at the bottom.  Compared to others who already have a full set of teeth, Shawn is a little behind time.  Nevertheless, mummy is still happy to see all his little pearlies popping out as days go by. 

IT Products

Bought a 500gb portable hard disk from Comex at $129.  Gosh, prices of IT products really drop like nobody's business.  One and a half year ago, I bought a 160gb portable hard disk at $169.  You can see how great the difference is.

Memory cards these days are also very affordable.  I still recall when I had my first digicam in 2004, a 256mb compact flash card cost abt $90.  Today, I can easliy get a 8gb card at less than half the price. 

My faithful Avent Manual Pump

Bought the pump more than 4 years ago (when I was expecting Cherylin). Prior to the purchase, did consider if I should buy an electric one as friends had feedback that it's good - less tiring and less consuming than manual pump.


Decided on getting a manual pump because I was not sure if I would be successful in breastfeeding. Hence, better not invest so much upfront. If need be, then I could always buy a electric pump.


Never regretted getting the Avent Manual Pump. It's really cheap ($48.50 after discount) and good (effective in clearing my breast within reasonable time - at most 30mins, usually 15 to 20 mins; don't find it tiring at all). Am actually quite amazed that it had served me for so long. Also, it's very convenient for use when expressing in office since there's no need for a electric socket which means i could express as long as there's a room :)


The pump had finally 'retired' a couple of months back when I successfully stopped the milk flow.

The land of the rising sun

It's the 'to go' country in my list of countries this year. Halt the plan due to the influenza outbreak in late Apr this year. With more people starting to travel again, it makes me itch to travel again.

Finally, booked a 7D Central Japan tour covering Disneyland, Sanrio Land, Factory outlet etc. Paid a total of $4629 for 2 adults, 1 child and 1 infant (infant fare is $430 which I find it ex) travelling in early Nov. With the fall in airport taxes (down from $400+ months ago to abt $75 now) and promotion of 50% off for 2nd adult, the money saved should be enough to offset the higher Yen as compared to 2 years ago (1.27 vs 1.53).

Believe Cherylin will be very happy to see lots of Hello Kitty when in Japan :)

Afternote: I had wanted to go on F&E for our visit to Japan. However, YC is not comfortable doing so with 2 kids, 2 luggages and 2 stroller to take care of. Hence, I am agreeable to join a package tour (since it's my first time, no harm going with a tour group first). Should we decide to visit Japan again, probably we can consider F&E :)

Sparkling Nite (1 Aug 09)

As usual, the welfare team in my company had organised an evening session for staff and family members to get together for makan, quiz and viewing of fireworks from our office premise.

This time round I've included mum. When I told her so, she didn't want to attend. There's a new policy this year - whoever signed up and didn't turn up will be fined - there must have been many instances where staff didn't turn up and hence wasted on $ that were spent by the organising team. Hence mum agreed to join in the fun after I told her about the penalty that will be imposed. Keke.

We arrived at about 6.15pm (event started at 6pm). Upon registration, each of us was given a goody pack comprising box of raisin, flag, flag tattoo, bag of gems biscuit, etc. We then went to the staff lounge for the refreshment that was catered for all.


There was a quiz session where participant who gave the correct answer will receive a prize (questions were on Singapore, quite cheam i thought, e.g. how big is singapore (in km square), who is the longest serving president, how many merlions are there in singapore, etc). We managed to get a correct answer (there is a total of 5 merlions in singapore) and got a prize. Cherylin was happy to receive the prize (it's a multi colour pen btw).

There was also a birthday celebration (Singapore birthday as well as those who are borned in August) with a huge Singapore Flag design cake. Each of the birthday guy/gal was given a present. Something funny happened while the organisers were giving out the present: Shawn suddenly dashed into the birthday group and stood right in btw the group. In the end, he received a present as well (cos he was so natural that the organisers thought he was within the group). Really funny. Me and mum were laughing at that. When Cherylin saw that didi had got a present, she wanted one too. Told her she can't. Anyway, the present ended up in jie jie's hand (it's a 5-in-1 game board).







Fireworks started at about 820pm. Felt that it's shorter than what we used to see 2 years ago. Everyone was cheering as the fireworks were displayed. Shawn was saying 'pa pa' and yet shouted the cheer (by saying 'yeah') when the rest did so. This funny boy of mine seems to be 'pa pa' of anything that's not familiar to him (just like when Cherylin was a toddler).

The whole event ended at about 845pm.