Exploring Our Children’s Potentials

The four of us (and Wilson’s parents) went to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, last week for a 3-day-2-night stay at Swiss Garden Hotel.

We didn’t stay long at all as we’re there mainly because Wilson and his Dad had tickets to catch the ATP World Tour, Proton Malaysian Open, on Thursday, October 1st.

[And I mean, both father and son were really there for a good 10 -12 hours that day! They left the hotel just before 11am and came back at 11pm! Goodness. You’ve got to be a real tennis fan to enjoy THAT many hours of tennis in a day!]

Anyway.

I sure wouldn’t want to just stay at the hotel for one whole day … and so I told the kids, ‘Let’s go out and have a little ADVENTURE of our own around KL!’ (Wilson’s Mom stayed and rested at the hotel)

And.

‘Let’s try the TRAINS!’ (instead of getting here and there by taxis)

So the three of us went to the hotel’s concierge to get some info, got ourselves a simple little map from them and walked to the nearest train station (some 10-15 mins walk from the hotel).

And here are the photos!
(all photos are taken with my Canon Ixus)

*Get ready for a long post*

[Oh btw before I start sharing how it all went, it was my third ever trip to KL and my first time going out and about KL without Wilson. I’ve never taken the KL trains or known anything about its public transports until that day. So yep, everything was TOTALLY new for the three of us, which made it all the more exciting!]

Now. Back to our train trips.

One thing we immediately learned about KL’s trains is that, there are THREE different ones!

The KL Monorail, STAR, and Putra.

In Singapore, everything is ‘connected’. Even when you need to change ‘trains’ because you’re changing routes, you’d only need to walk across the platform OR walk a bit WITHIN the train station.

It’s totally different in KL.

The trains are apparently not connected, and changing trains means you need to ‘get out’ of one’s station and go to ‘another’ station.

And so if you look at the picture above, well … that’s Anya holding onto my monorail ticket.

My wrong ticket, because apparently we’re supposed to take the STAR line which is across the street from the KL Monorail’s station (thanks to a bystander who nicely pointed it out as the three of us waited for the ‘wrong’ train to come).

Anyway, since I thought we should go and check out Suria KLCC together (which is next to the Petronas Twin Towers), we went to buy the STAR line ticket (RM 1.20) and went from Hang Tuah station to Masjid Jamek Interchange.

[The kids were excited, asked lots of questions, AND occasionally sang ‘Indonesia Raya’ and ‘Majulah Singapura’  together!!]

Upon reaching Masjid Jamek interchange, we exited the station, crossed the busy street (read: almost everyone jaywalked there) and went ‘underground’ to take the PUTRA line which goes straight to KLCC station.

[This was AFTER I asked around a LOT for directions]

And in the end, we reached Suria KLCC *YAY* and immediately went for (our late) lunch at Nando’s!

Yummm …

Then, we went to check out the Petronas Twin Towers‘ gallery!

[watching the ‘lightning demo’]

Btw, all tickets to visit the Skybridge were sold out by the time we’re there (ie. 3pm). The staff told me that about 1000 – 1500 tickets are sold real fast each day and if you’d like to get them (even for an evening session), you should come at about 8.30am!

After checking out the place, we stayed at Suria KLCC, got ourselves some snacks before heading back to the hotel by trains.

You know, I must say I was pleasantly surprised to see how Anya and Vai didn’t whine despite the long walks. I carried Vai on and off (each time lasted for only a minute or two), but that’s about it *well done kids*

And btw, to keep them ‘engaged’ while walking a lot by the roadside, I told them to look out for big trees and how the pedestrian walkway is often ‘damaged’ by their growing roots. AND hey, they’re VERY excited about it and kept on looking out for ‘evidences’ of ‘chopped tree trunks’ or ‘cracked walkways’!

Anyway.

The kids napped upon reaching the hotel, and the three of us had a good water-play at the hotel’s pool just before dinner.

A ‘fully utilised’ and adventurous day for the three of us, I reckon.

Something that we’ll remember and treasure together.

PS: You know what, when we’re back in Singapore, someone told me that we actually took the LONG way around to reach Suria KLCC! We should’ve walked towards ‘Pasar Seni’ (turn left upon leaving the hotel). The train there will take us straight to Suria KLCC! Oh well …

I have SO many photos of our recent trip to Kuala Lumpur to share.

Yet to find the time to write them all out.

Anyway.

Here’s a shot I took with my Canon Ixus.

Of Vai and Daddy at KL’s LCCT which stands for ‘Low Cost Carrier Terminal’ (called ”Budget Terminal’ here in Singapore).

I feel the shot ‘represents’ how Vai sees his Daddy these days.

(read: He’s SOOO into being with Daddy. I guess at 3 years old, he’s entered the ‘age’ where Daddy is the MAN he wants to always be with)

Last week we all went to check out Marina Barrage with Wilson’s parents (who’re here to visit us for a few days)

We were there at about 6pm, and the weather was really NICE and breezy! (Too bad that we have YET to buy a kite!)

The kids started out playing at the rooftop garden, and ended up getting all wet at the water play area (ground level).

It was fun.

The only ‘slightly inconvenient’ thing is, you’d need to walk quite a bit from the Marina Bay MRT Station to the shuttle bus stop that’ll take you straight to Marina Barrage.

The weather was all good that day, so we’re fine with it. I guess it’s just a little harder if it rains and you’re traveling with young kids in tow.

Still, we think it’s a great place for families with young kids.

[Photos were all taken with my half-broken Canon Ixus. Can’t zoom in or out. And, notice how the photos are all a little ‘blurry’ *smile* Still better than my phone camera, I say]

We all go through tough times.

Unimaginably difficult life challenges. Sufferings. Difficulties that no one else would seem to ever understand.

And the reality is, each of us would go through such situations, regardless of our academic accomplishments, work achievements, beliefs and religion, or material possessions.

And recently I was reminded again of this statement:
what makes a person more mature in the eyes of God is not the actual suffering itself, but the person’s RESPONSE towards and during the challenging situation.

[as shared by Rev. Billy Kristanto on one Sunday service]

I can still vividly remember how Rev. Amin Tjung (who battled cancer for about 6 years, and passed away 2 years ago) still smiled, greeted, listened, and encouraged others.

Though he was in total pain in the final hours, he chose to remain silent and even when he spoke, he didn’t utter any words of complaints.

I know he totally got his strength and courage from God alone. He remained faithful and strong till the very end.

But even after ‘knowing that’, I’m still totally amazed at how he really managed to have such an attitude and response towards his physical suffering.

Many of us, including me, would’ve easily complained when we go through even the slightest discomfort.

We would most likely ‘concentrate’ on OUR OWN problems and not care nor think about other people’s need and situations.

So my thought on this is, I guess in the end it’s about :

… knowing what we should do in times of difficulty
… applying what we know
… and most importantly, keeping our faith, trust and hope to the right Source

May God, the Redeemer and Source of Life, give us all the strength and perseverance we need to go through life’s challenges.

However big. And however small.

Now this was what happened.

Instead of putting on his pants, my 3yo son chose to fling his batik shorts everywhere around the bedroom.

AND soon after, I heard Anya going, ‘MOMMMMM, … Vai’s pants are stuck on the ceiling fan!!!’

GREAT.

And so I gave both kids the task of figuring out HOW to get the pants down themselves, ie. without OUR help whatsoever.

[It’d be faster to get the shorts down myself, but neh, THAT wouldn’t be fun. I would want the kids to learn a bit about problem-solving and responsibility … the task kept them engaged and thinking for quite a while too!]

Anyway.

In the end (after I hinted how they’d need to get something that’s taller than them to help them reach out to the high ceiling), this was what they did [see picture above, which I quickly took with my half-broken Canon Ixus]

Vai got himself a broom, and Anya stretched her arms and poked the shorts with a stick (you know, the one you’d use to lift your hanger high up or bring down your laundry’s bamboo poles … umm, if you live in Singapore you’d know what I mean, hehe)

Oh well.

Kids.

How can life with children be dull? *smile*

PS: Just in case you’re wondering, … no, the previous home owner did NOT install a switch for the ceiling fan. And no, I have no idea why Vai ‘rode’ his broom … haha.

I have a few people asking me about this and I just thought of sharing it here with you.

In order to submit your vote for Our Everyday Things under the ‘Best Parenting Blog’ category in the Asia Pacific Blog Awards 2009, you would need to cast a vote for ‘each and every other category’.

So yep, you’d need to click and choose a blog under each category before you click ‘NEXT’.

And at the end of your 12 clicks (there are 12 categories in total), you’d be able to click ‘SUBMIT’.

To see little ‘screenshots’ of what the websites are like under each category, you can cast your vote from this link : http://www.awards.nuffnang.com/

Once you know which sites you’d like to vote for, you can always do your voting from the Voting Poll on the right sidebar of my blog. It’d take less than 15 seconds to complete the process each time!

…

Another question that I often get is, ‘Can I cast my vote more than once?’

And the answer is, ‘YUP!’

In fact, you can cast a vote every two hours every day, right until the closing date (ie. 11 October).

And I really hope you can support and vote for Our Everyday Things right until the very end ya …  THANKS SO MUCH!

…

And one other thing, please don’t forget to hop over to Dumex Mamil Gold’s I’m a Mom contest and vote for my site as well ya …

You can enter the site from this link:  http://www.natural-defence.com (and click on the ‘Blogger Moms contest’ link on the top left hand corner)

Voting can be done every day until 10 November (you’d need to fill in your IC number or your passport no.)

Thanks everyone!

We’re off to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia today!

So far we’ve tried taking the bus from Singapore, and driving all the way from Johor Baru.

And this would be our first time flying there on Tiger Airways from the Budget Terminal to Kuala Lumpur.

Will share how things go!

Till then …

Here’s a bit of news from me!

Remember I shared about our behind-the-scene video shoot earlier this month and how Vai wanted to get down and be with Daddy instead when it’s time to shoot?

Now THAT video clip is out, everyone!!
(and I’m impressed with how the clips are all nicely edited together! I mean, with Vai ‘in it’! Hehe.)

And here’s a little more info about what it’s about:

I am one of the five blogger moms in the ‘I’m a Mom’ online contest organised by Dumex.

And from today till November 10th, everyone who lives in Singapore (citizens, permanent residents and foreigners with Singapore addresses) are all invited to participate and vote.

The blogger mom with the most votes will win and results will be announced on November 17th!

And ummm … I’d be so very grateful if you can support and vote for me in this contest!voting for me in the Asia-Pacific Blog Awards – Best Parenting Blog category – too, I mean *smile*

(For this Blogger Moms online contest, voting can be done once a day)

Errr… other than

Thank you SO much!

Anyway, click HERE to hop over to their website, check out the video clips and vote for meee … ! *smile*