Holiday : Penang Butterfly Farm

I have been trying to catch up on my blog and i'm still struggling. Look at my last post was a month ago.  I have so much to note for  my boy. When it comes to the time updating this blog.. i lost most of important elements.. sigh sigh..

Yea... many events took placed the moment i'm writing this. I was too busy with the rest.. hahaha.. like baking, shopping online (for my boy of course), tot school, watching TVB series....  Promise to catch up real soon.

Alright! Back to this topic..  hub was not a big fan of any local places of interest. Ever since the birth of Baby J, i can see his eagerness to bring his darling boy yea, not darling wife for a short getaway during short public holiday. Public holidays used to be our rest day at home to avoid traffic!

I wasn't too keen considering the amount of preparation bringing a baby out whole day and yet i do not have the heart to reject. I believe there were more pros than cons so i just got it going.

We started the journey rather early after Baby J had his breakfast. Since we will be out whole day, i have to pack his lunch and his ebm too. I just need to latch him after lunch and that would release me of bringing the pumps out.

I was hoping to try out at a recommended eating place (see.. i forgot the name already.. hahah.. will update if i ever recall) for English breakfast. Unfortunately it was too packed. In order not to waste time, we headed to the nearest local market in Tanjung Bungah for hawker food.

We reached Penang Butterfly Farm at about 10:45 am. I bottle feed ebm Baby J before we go into the farm. Hub got the tickets. As usual, you will get a discounted price with MyKad. Info here. It was free for Baby J.

This was like my.... f i r s t ???  visit to this farm?? I'm not a big fan with the fact being a Cameron girl who visited such farm when i was small. To my quite surprise, the number of butterflies in this farm was much better than in Cameron. I'm not sure if it was the size of the farm. This farm is quite small in comparison to what we have in Cameron. Therefore, you really get to enjoy butterflies flying around you.

We walked around and was busy taking photographs. I love to believe Baby J would understand and enjoyed looking at the butterflies. We just explained as much we can and my little boy seems to understand. He was looking around and made no fuss in the whole experience.

We spent approximately 40-45 min at butterfly farm before adjourning to a reserve near by.  It was Teluk Bahang Recreational Forest. It was quite quiet. I was really watching out and my senses were on high alert. We managed to walk up a little. Surprisingly this was actually quite a nice place to getaway over the weekend. The air was fresh and the forest feel was so natural. They hav places where visitors can do picnic and swim. Water quite clear.

Since we are not into the swimming part, we just stop at one area, took out my boy's lunch and let him enjoy his lunch in this natural place. Yea.. i called it little picnic for my little boy.. haha!!

We left after Baby J finished his lunch. I have not been to Hard Rock Penang so far, yea i know how pathetic i was, so i insisted to check out the hotel since i saw some posting on their children's water park. We will be back one day when Baby J enjoys water play.

It was lunch time and we were searching for some decent lunch. Finally landed in Strait Quay, Tanjong Tokong for lunch. Lunch was good. We walked around Strait Quay after lunch before landing in Paragon shopping mall. Wrong time to visit Paragon where traffic was bad. It was so packed and we were too tired by that time.We just quickly ran down to their groceries to grab some stuff, quick patrolled over the shops and left real soon. 

 

On the way home, we just dropped by at the Batu Lanchang wet market to grab some fruits/meat for Baby J. By the time we reach home, i think it was about 4-5 pm.

Truly exhausted but it was a happy & wonderful day!

Holiday : Penang Hill

This was our first mini holiday to Penang Hill during labour day.

Baby J just turned 8 months old.

As usual, each outing needs to be planned properly.

I need to make sure my 'handbag' needs to be filled with all his necessity

within the scheduled hours.

Happy Wednesday morning!

Can see his sprouted gigi?

On the way to Penang Hill. The journey was just about 15 min  :D

Local ma...

We stopped for breakfast in one of the coffee shop next

to the Penang Hill big roudabout.

It was election period. We were happy to see how they campaigned.

Can you spot the Ubah hat? One of the candidate with his team

were socializing with the rakyat.

Opposition won the last election in Penang and this year

they are working hard to maintain the government.

Personally, i have seen improvement over the last 4 years 

under the opposition gov. LGE has done a great job!

Penang Hill was under major renovation. 

I was impressed with their new outlook.

We bought our tickets. The queue was long, mostly Malaysian.

An adult ticket price will cost RM 30 per pax.
But if you are holding a MyCard (Malaysian Citizen),
ticket will only cost RM 8.

2 tickets cost RM 16 and it was FOC for Baby J

The queue to the train platform were long too.
However the waiting time was short.

Baby J was curious to see so many people and
makcik2 were trying to make friends with him.

I realized the platform was not so stroller friendly.

They do not even have a special lane for baby or people with special needs.

But they have a private entrance for citizens who were living up the hill.

This can be an area to improve.

The train was too packed. I have to carry Baby J.
I felt he can suffocate sitting in the stroller.

We have to carry the stroller into the train as quick as possible

as you do not want to be pushed. People were rushing in to secure a lift.

The step could be dangerous if we were not careful.

Look at the crowd behind us.

We were at the front cabin.

Please ignore my giant arm. i know .. i know.. :(

The journey took 7 minutes?? 

 (oh dear, i can hardly recall now, it was just like 4.5 months ago??)

I can only recall it was fast. They have upgraded the train service.

We reached the top about 10 am ??

Nice weather. View of Penang island.

Penang hill looked different compared to my last visit, 10 years ago.

We walked around this area.

This is the new hawker centre "The Cliff Cafe" and the only one up there.

They have all the local food. We did not order anything since

we just had our breakfast. Just bought 2 bottled water.

It was Baby J's feeding time. I warmed up my EBM quickly

and fed him. We took our time since there was no rush at all.

Warm??

There was on open space. Quite clean & spacious.

oh, i forgot to mentioned there was an Owl Museum beside The Cliff Cafe.

We did not visit. Maybe next trip when Baby J is older.

We walked around and decided to rent a cart to
venture into the inner side of Penang Hill.

I cannot recall how much we paid for the golf cart.

The chinese uncle driver was very friendly and he 

was introducing some of the key spots
when we passed by.

Monkey Cup Garden

Some tycoon's bungalow

Tree top bridge (broken & no budget for reconstruction) 

I forgot what the uncle said about this old treasure.. ops..

Just strike a pose laa.. 

Baby J enjoying the ride

Weather was good

This is the only hotel up on the hill

After spending good 2 hours, the weather got cloudy.

Time to leave before the rain starts.

Queuing for the train

My baby was just too tired.

It started drizzling when we reached the hillside.

It was just a short trip but i called it a holiday. :)

We enjoyed ourselves.

Life is more meaningful with this little munchkin.

You can find more info about Penang Hill here.

Baby J : 7 months old

A special date to remember. 

31st March 2012

Conjunction with Easter Celebration

I was water baptized, finally returning to Abba Father.

I have been a lost sheep for years. 

Nothing satisfies compared to the Love of God. 

He has never abandoned me no matter how misbehaved I was. 

He has never looses me from His sight and has 

been calling me to return home thru many ways.

Trust His plan. Submit to Him. He never fails. 

Baby J was dedicated to the Lord on the same day too. 

Blessed child of the Lord and forever he will be.

Family Trip to Cameron Highlands

Renee and Sonia came back to Penang for a short holiday. 

Sonia enjoyed her 1st trip to Cameron last year and they were back 

again this year to visit Jia Yue, short getaway.

8 of us traveled from Penang. 

We stopped at Ipoh Fushan for dim sum breakfast. 

Aunty Veron who has motion sickness, drove up the hills and she was doing great. 

Guess she may be making more trips to Cameron 

using the Simpang Pulai highway. 

Even though the condition of this road is better than 

the old Tapah-Cameron road, there are few sharp corners 

that drivers need to be extra cautious. 

A lot of accident had happened. 

Oh… what about my little boy. He was doing great too. 

Grand aunt Veron entertained him during the journey 

and he slept thru when were we going up the hills.

We stayed at Cheefoo School. 

 This was the chalet we rented.

Family photo

This living hall with a fire place

This chalet can accomodate 9-10 pax, 3 rooms with attached bathrooms

Grand aunt with the 2 princess

This resort is sited on 6 acres of land surrounded by hills 

and greenery forest. 

It’s located outside Brinchang and has a complete privacy. 

We rented 2 chalets. Price was reasonable. 

As a Cameronian, I must comment this place is far much better 

than any local hotels & apartments. 

I found it hard to share when someone asked my suggestion on 

accommodation in Cameron. 

Why? The weather is cold and damp. 

Sometimes you can get moldy smell from the room,

from the bed or the blanket…  nyeewww…. 

Probably these will be the few I would recommend. 
Some are not cheap. 

But, you will be happy with their environment.

1. Cheefoo School (there are some pre-requisite to rent this place. You can find out more here)

2. Sonny Ville Bungalow   

3. Cameron Highlands Resort

We did not visit the tourist areas. 

Traffic was not bad as it was not a holiday season. 

We visited a cousin’s strawberry farm. 
It was my little boy’s first trip to the farm! 

I really hope he will continue to experience nature in his life, 

not only as a city boy… 

Tasted strawberries and he loved it!  

Well, strawberries were not recommended for baby below 12 months. 

We broke some rules. Just tasting, merely tasting…  :D

Look what we have here : 
gooseberries, farm chicken, mushrooms, beans, strawberries.

Fresh !   Fresh  !   Fresh!

Everyone had a great time!

Back home, my mom was busy preparing food!

 As usual. My favorite.

The girls were having great time. 

Very soon Baby J will join them. 
He won’t be polite. Heheh..

Homemade scones & strawberries jam. English breakfast at home.

 

We had steamboat cum karaoke for dinner one of the night. 

Steamboat is a must try. 

It’s all about the hot pot of soup in the nice cold weather. 

Food quality. So-so.

Oh.. I missed karaoke sessions!!

Nothing fancy up there. Just family time.

New Food for Baby J 

Rock Melon with cereal

Millet + Quinoa + Baby porridge

Millet based porridge

Activities

Baby J started crawling. 
To prevent him from bleeding (exaggerating), hahaha..  

I will leave him on a mattress or EVA foam puzzle.  

Normally will entice him with toys or teeters  to move his butt. 

Our house is covered with wooden flooring. 

So, it’s not an issue at all if were to leave him on the floor too. 

I don’t believe in over protecting our child. 

They learn each time they fall, don’t they ??  

So long it’s not too dangerous or life threatening. 

 Baby J played a lot in his rented jumperoo  and exersaucer. 

I sew more taggies for Baby J in different shapes & sizes

He's not a big fan of taggies until today.

.He swam over the weekends

Trying to get him hold his own milk bottle.

Failed.

My Brave Heart!

Daddy took baby for evening walk

Daddy kept complaining about shaving his hair. 

Such a brave boy. No crying. 

Ah ne ne shop cost about RM 5 for a nice hair cut.