Phuket seen through the eyes of a 5 years old

Bearbear on the plane from Singapore to Phuket - he likes to read the in flight safety information such as where to find the emergency exit and etc.

Bearbear loves taking photos. Since I gave him my old Minolta digital camera, he has taken lots of photos. I have compiled below some photos he took during our recent trip to Phuket, Thailand. Sometimes his chosen objects are rather weird. Let's find out.



1) Fierce looking fish displayed at the seafood restaurant. Bearbear cannot understand why people dare to eat something so fierce looking.



2) Beautiful light in a Middle Eastern restaurant. Bearbear was fascinated by the dim red light here.



3) Another lovely light caught Bearbear's eyes at the Italian restaurant in the hotel we stayed in.



4) Bearbear took this photo for me while I was stirring my watermelon juice with a straw. I like the mood in this photo so much that I use this as my profile photo ever since.



5) This tiny crab appeared on the path from our hotel to the jetty. Bearbear was so excited to have spotted this creature. "He's like Mr. Crab in Spongebob - he has very big claws!" He said.



6) While we were on the jetty, Bearbear took a photo of our hotel.



7) The Jetty - quite abandoned in the low season.



8) View from the jetty - a private beach is begging to be explored.



9) Sea view from the jetty.

Hotel Review: Amari Coral Beach Resort in Phuket

Phuket's Patong Beach where one can easily find cheap massages, barbequed sweet corns, cheap necklaces and probably future wives.

Back in October when Bearbear was having his autumn holiday, we took the opportunity to go island hopping. From Singapore, it only takes about 2 hours to fly to Phuket.

Phuket is the largest island of Thailand, approximately the size of Singapore. It is situated off the west coast of Thailand in the Andaman Sea.

This time we chose to stay at Amari Coral Beach Resort which is located at the quiet end of Phuket’s most popular beach, Patong.

Amari simply blowed my mind away from the moment I set foot on the resort until I left. I was there for a short break (approx. 1 week) with Petty and Bearbear. We stayed in one of the suites overlooking the smaller pool. The room was clean. The staff were ever smiling and willing to assist you.


View from our suite overlooking the smaller pool.

On the day we checked in, to my disappointment I noticed that the hand shower at the bathtub didn't work. A couple of light bulbs also needed changing. But all this was fixed as soon as I called housekeeping.


A room with a view. Shame for the f*cking weather.

Ocean view is abundant in Amari. Every room here has ocean view!

The hotel is tucked away, sitting on a hillside away from the busy Patong main beach. I personally think that staying in Amari is just perfect - you are away from the noise at Patong main beach but you are also near enough to get there.

Getting a taxi from the hotel will cost you Baht 200 one way (USD 5.70) which I think is a bit pricey for such a short journey. But then you can always walk to Patong Beach. It's only 5 mins away!

However, this hotel is not good for disabled people and guests with babies. As it sits on a hillside, there are lots and lots of steps to walk! It will be a problem to push baby stroller all the way to the breakfast table.


Very calm and clean water. Good for a dip. But some people choose to fish instead.

On the plus side, the hotel is beautifully landscaped, planted with lots of tropical flowers. At night, when the lights are on, the beauty of the hotel property comes out. This is, I must say, one of the most romantic hotels I've stayed in.

Amari also plays with your senses. Scented oil made from lemongrass, lavender, jasmine and eucalyptus are placed in all the public toilets and changing areas. I was so impressed by it all I even bought a few bottles of scented oil and a burner to bring home. You need a burner to burn the scented oil.


Hotel's poolside food is excellent but choices are quite limited. After staying here for a few days we were forced to repeat our orders.

The hotel food is excellent. You must try La Gritta Italian restaurant. It's pricey, even by European standard, but the setting by the sea is worth every penny of it. It's so romantic it makes you want to weep for the sheer beauty of it all.



Looking at the jetty from a distance.

To top it off, the hotel has a jetty which is within walking distance. Don't be put off by the walking distance - it's just a gentle walk. It's a must for hotel guest. There are deckchairs on the jetty and there is a bar too. From here you can jump into the sea or do a bit of snorkeling.



I'm quite impressed by this jetty. Not crowded here as most hotel guests are too lazy to walk the distance from the hotel.

One word of advice - do not rely on the hotel for entertainment. The lounge singers at the Lobby Bar were not so good during our stay there - giggling nervously while singing. One gets the impression that they're so amateurish. Oh, but then, if you need 'real' entertainment you can always go to Patong where there are lots and lots of go go bars with endless supply of hot girls.


Patong's night life (credit to Boon and Thing)

In my next post I'll show you more pics of Phuket seen through the eyes of a 5 years old. Stay tuned.

How can you tell you're living with little monkeys?

For those of you who have kids, you'll know exactly what I'm talking about. Just right after you've tidied up the whole place, tucking away all the toys at places where you think they can't be possibly found again, oops, just as you turn you back, all these toys mysteriously reappear at places where they don't belong even though you've probably told your kids HUNDRED TIMES not to leave their toys everywhere.

Today I suddenly come to my senses - Hey, instead of getting flipping mad over a storm in a teacup, I've decided to take it like a good gentlewoman would - I just have to learn to live with the fact that I'm living with MY KIDS under the same roof! So it doesn't really matter if they leave their stuff everywhere, right?

Below are all the signs telling you that - hey, there's a monkey, or two, living here.....



Sign No 1: Bearbear's elephant watering can is forever sitting next to my herbs and stuff in the kitchen.

"Mama, I'm going to help you water your plants." He says.
"You mean, you want to splash water all over MY kitchen floor?" I say.

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Sign No 2: Fridge door - this is my area for putting up shopping list, bus schedule of our condo, fogging schedule etc but Bearbear finds space here to hang up two soft toys for himself and his little brother. This is also a place where Bearbear shows off his colouring talent.

My goodness, he even puts up HIS OWN photo on the fridge door - an old photo taken when he was about one year old. I did try to remove the photo and hide it somewhere but Bearbear managed to locate it and put it back up.

"Mama, I like to see my photo on the fridge. I think it looks nice here."
"????!!!"

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Sign No 3: Bearbear's pencil (the one with a red butterfly on top) is a fixture in my study. I wonder why he's still keeping this pencil - both wings of the butterfly have long been ripped off!

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Sign No 4: What's this robot doing on my bookshelf? I don't want it HERE!

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Sign No 5: You'll find some creatures with tiny feet sharing your shoe rack. The pair of green crocs in the pic below belongs to baby Piggy. His shoes are slowly taking over the limited space on our shoe rack.

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Sign No 6: Bearbear likes to keep his toys in the bathroom. Look, here's Ben 10 Wildmutt who constantly stares at me while I'm having a bath. Not a comfortable thought.

Bearbear likes his toys but he doesn't realise that for people who don't appreciate Ben 10 Wildmutt, it's a damned fugly looking monster!

OK. Enough of this ranting. Time to go and tidy up again.




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Mr. Peacock Made My Day

On the weekend we wanted to take the boys to Underwater World, an oceanarium showcasing marine life from the region. It is situated on Sentosa Island of Singapore.

However when we arrived, we were so put off by the long queue. We ended up having ice-cream just outside the entrance to Underwater World.

Bearbear made us promise him that we'd take him there again on a WEEKDAY. We presume it'd be less crowded on a weekday.

Anyway, as we were having our ice-cream, we felt incredibly bored. Petty, at this point, was boiling hot, both from the heat and the fact that he let the boys down.

"Singapore is just too crowded. A small island with too many people living here." Petty was complaining and I quite agreed with him.

Just at this moment, we saw this gorgeous looking peacock roaming about on a field in front of us.



Bearbear called out PEACOCK! MAMA LOOK PEACOCK!

And all of a sudden, this hauntingly beautiful creature, behaving much like a magician, shook and spread his feathers and turned himself into something like this!



A small crowd by now was formed in front of the peacock. He wasn't shy at all. He kept parading his feathers, turning from one side to the other and back. Very good showmanship. I found it quite amusing.

Then he turned towards me and stopped. Gotcha! You're now in my Picasa web album.

Thanks for making my day Mr. Peacock!

Cars for sale!

These offers are opened to everyone who can take delivery of the cars from our Swiss residence.
Here we go - who wants to buy a car? Petty and I are selling our cars. Details are below.

His.
BMW 335 i Coupé.
It's sold for CHF 62,800. Original price when he first bought it brand new was CHF 90'100. What a bargain, ain't it?


Front view of Petty's cool baby

All the technical information of the car is as follows. Sorry it's in German. It's beyond me to translate all these technical terms into English.

Fahrzeugdaten
Inverkehrssetzung: 4 / 2007
Fahrzeugart: Occasion
Aussenfarbe: grau mét.
Kilometer: 19'800 km
Getriebeart: Handschaltung
Antrieb: Hinterradantrieb
Treibstoff: Benzin
Türen: 2
Sitzplätze: 4
Innenfarbe: braun
Hubraum in ccm: 2979 cm³
Zylinder: 6
Leistung in PS: 306
Leergewicht: 1600 kg
Verbrauch: 13.2/6.7/9.1 (St/Land/Tot)
CO2-Emission: 218 g/km
Energieeffizienz: E
Neupreis: CHF 90'100.-
Preis: CHF 62'800.-

Bemerkung
Spacegrau Metallic, Leder Dakota Sattelbraun. iPod Anschluss, Lordosenstütze für Fahrer und Beifahrer. Mit 4 kompletten BMW Winterräder. Unfallfrei. Aus 1. Hand. Nichtraucher Auto.

Optionale Ausstattung
Garantie: 3 Jahre oder 100'000 km Gratis-Service: 10 Jahre oder 100'000 km (Ab 1.Inv.), Leichtmetallfelgen im Sternspeiche 230 19J, Metallic-Lackierung, Elektrisches Glasschiebe-/Hebedach, Fernlichtassistent, Scheibenwischer vorne mit Regensensor und automatischem Einschalten der Abblendlichter, Vordersitze heizbar, Leder-Ausstattung, BMW Individual Dachhimmel Anthrazit, Skisack, Innen- und Aussenspiegel automatisch abblendbar, Interieurleisten in schwarz, Tempomat, Diebstahlwarnanlage mit Fernbedienung, inkl. Innenraumschutz und Neigungsalarm, Park Distance Control vorne und hinten, HiFi Lautsprechersystem Professional, Navigationssystem Professional, Paket Comfort, Paket Dynamic, Paket Lederausstattung Dakota

Serienmässige Ausstattung
6-Gang-Getriebe, Antiblockiersystem (ABS), Bremsassistent, M Sportfahrwerk, Automatische Stabilitäts- und Traktions- kontrolle, Dynamische Stabilitätskontrolle (DSC), Servolenkung, Wegfahrsperre, Leichtmetallfelgen V-Speiche 188 17J mit Pneu, Bereifung mit Notlaufeigenschaft, Uni-Lackierung, Grün getönte Scheiben, Farbkeil in Frontscheibe, Aussenspiegel rechts und links beheiz- und elektrisch verstellbar, Fahrerseite asphärisch, Einstiegsschienen, Stosstangen in Wagenfarbe, Aussenspiegel und Türgriffe in Wagenfarbe, Nebelscheinwerfer, Drittes Bremslicht, Bi-Xenon Lichtanlage, Tagesfahrlichtschaltung, Leuchtweitenregulierung automatisch, Abblendlichtausschaltverzögerung 'Follow me home', Scheinwerfer-Waschanlage, Scheibenwaschdüsen beheizbar, Zentralverriegelung mit Fernbedienung, Kopfstützen hinten, Vordersitze elektrisch verstellbar, Fahrersitz mit Memoryschaltung, Vordersitze höhenverstellbar, Rücksitzlehne geteilt abklappbar, Kindersitzvorrichtung ISOFIX, Sportsitze vorne, Sport-Lederlenkrad, Multifunktionslenkrad, Lenkrad längs- und höhenverstellbar, Airbag Fahrer und Beifahrer, Seitenairbags, Window-Kopfairbags, Mittelarmlehne hinten, mit 2 Getränkehaltern, Armlehne vorne mit Ablagefach, Cupholder vorne, Gepäcknetze an beiden Vordersitzen, Beide Make up-Spiegel beleuchtet, Gurtstraffer vorne, Klimatisierungsautomatik, Pollenfilter (Staubfilter), Interieurleisten in Titan, Bordcomputer, Info-Display, Aussentemperaturanzeige, Drehzahlmesser, Wartungsintervall-Anzeige, Reifendruckverlust-Warnung, Elektrische Fensterheber vorne, (AUX) Auxiliary InlineSystem, Bavaria Business CD mit Antenne, Ent- störung und LS



Side view. As sleek as a panther.



Leather seats in light brown


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Hers.
Audi A3 SPORTBACK 2.0 FSI AMBITION.
It's sold for CHF 30'700. Original price was CHF 46'800.



Front view of my agressive looking baby


Additional technical information. Sorry it's in French.
Marque: AUDI
Modèle: A3 SPORTBACK AMBITION
Type: A3 2.0 FSI Ambition
Typ: Lim / 5
1ère immatriculation: 1.2006
Kilométrage: 26500

Equipements de série:
Boîte manuelle à 6 vitesses, Différentiel à blocage électronique (EDS), Régulation du dérapage des roues (ASR), Système antiblocage des roues (ABS), Assistance de freinage, Châssis sportif abaissé, Programme électronique de la stabilité (ESP), Direction assistée dépendante de la vitesse, Système antidémarrage, Vitres teintées, Verre isolant, Rétroviseurs extérieurs droite et gauche à dégivrage et à réglage électrique, côté du conducteur asphérique, Couvertures pour les seuils de porte, Poignées extérieures en couleur de la carrosserie, Phares antibrouillard, 3ème feu de stop, Réglage de la portée de l'éclairage électrique, Essuie-glace AR intermittent avec lave-glace, Gicleurs du lave-glace chauffables, Verrouillage central avec télécommande, Appuis-têtes actifs, 3 appuis-têtes AR, Siège conducteur réglable en hauteur, Siège passager réglable en hauteur, Dossier AR rabattable en parties, Sièges AV de sport, Volant sportif à 3 rayons, Volant réglable en hauteur et profondeur, Airbag conducteur et passager, Airbags latéraux, Airbags rideaux pour la tête, Système de protection contre les chocs latéraux, Rouleau pare-soleil pour lunette AR, Porte-boissons AV, Cendriers et allume-cigares, Vide-poches sous le siège passager, Couverture de compartiment de charge, Prétensionneurs de ceintures AV, Ceintures de sécurité à 3 points à toutes les places, Applications brillantes, Système d'information pour conducteur, Indicateur da la température extérieure, Compte-tours, Indicateur des intervalles d'entretien, Lève-vitres électriques AV et AR

Equipements spéciaux:
Pack Cuir Nappa + Sièges de sport, Boîte automatique à 6 rapports Tiptronic, Peinture métallisée, Barres de toit brillantes, Open Sky System, Sièges AV chauffants, Accoudoir central AV, Tous les deux miroirs de courtoisie éclairés, Climatisation à régulation automatique, Régulateur de vitesse, Système d'alarme antivol avec protection intérieure, Contrôle de distances pour stationnement arrière, Radio Concert

Fiche technique:
Cylindres: 4
kW/ch: 110 / 150
CH fiscaux: 10
Boîte de vitesses: m6
Carburant: essence



Please buy me. I'm far too sexy for my current owner.



Audi's special Open Sky System



Red leather seats. Sexy, ain't it?

If you're interested, do drop me a line at my gmail address. Please act quickly as we've purposely priced the cars lower than market value so that we can get rid of them asap. Let's hear from you!

As free as a bird on Friday

Bearbear and Piggy go to nursery on every Thursday and Friday. On these two days I usually fill my diary with appointments to see the masseur, doctors, friends and do my weekly food shopping.

But today, a Friday, I was absolutely free! I had no appointment at all!!

What a luxury. You will treasure this kind of freedom when you have kids. Somehow you need a break from your kids, although you do miss them terribly when they're not around.

With all the time in my hands, I could manage to take my sweet time to cook myself a very good lunch instead of having the usual spaghetti with Bolognese sauce from the jar.

Voilà, here's the end result - Pan fried beef entrecote with tomato salad. Simply delicious.



↑ Pan fried beef entrecote with tomato salad


It was a hot day today. 26℃. So I decided to have my lunch on the terrace. While eating, mom called from Subang Jaya.

For those of you who are unfamiliar with Malaysia, Subang Jaya is a township next to Kuala Lumpur. If you don't know where Kuala Lumpur is, then I don't think you want to know about Subang Jaya. Anyway, it was a wonderful surprise to hear from mom and I was so glad to know that she was safe and sound.

Mom was here during the summer of 2005 but she found Switzerland a bit too cold, too quiet and too boring. I remember a conversation we had during her stay here.

Mom: "It's as quiet as in the grave yard here. How can you live here for so long?"
Me: ..............



↑ Close-up of the beef entrecote with tomato salad


In order to avoid having the boring bread/pasta/rice, I chose to have sweet corn as my side dish instead.



↑ Boiled Spanish sweet corn. Very sweet indeed.


Cherry is in season now. Why not have it as dessert?


↑ Fresh cherries, handpicked from the local supermarket Migros


After such a heavy meal, I couldn't be bothered to move anymore. Where's my deckchair? It's time to lie down, put my feet up, have a light lemon chilled drink with ice cube and enjoy my weekly dose of The Economist.



↑ My favourite deckchair on the terrace


The Economist arrives in our letterbox on every Friday, as punctually as a devoted lover.


↑ How to get him out? Good question.


When I felt too sleepy from the heavy meal, I let myself doze off on the terrace. Gentle breeze from the lake was caressing my skin. Today was such a bright sunny day. Zurich Lake was extremely blue. The hill on the other side of the lake was greener than green could be. A few sail boats, aimlessly, floating on the lake. I was suddenly exceedingly moved by the beauty of it all.

And I knew, mom would disagree with me.



↑ Zurich Lake in summer


As I glanced towards Zurich city at the far end of Zurich Lake, an ordinary day didn't seem so ordinary anymore. One could easily be mesmerised by the blueness of the lake.

Summer time in Switzerland is like poetry in motion. And life is sweet.



↑ Zurich City lies at the northern tip of Zurich Lake

Heaven on earth

Woke up this morning at 5 a.m. Couldn't get back to sleep. Twisting and turning, twisting and turning but still, I just couldn't get back to sleep. Then I looked out of my bedroom window and THIS WAS WHAT I SAW - gorgeous red cloud covering the whole sky at dawn!

The beauty of it touched me to the core of my heart. Thank goodness I woke up like this, and here I was, confronted by the divine beauty the world was offering.



Out of my window, the street light was still on. The water in Zurich Lake was as calm as someone who had just swallowed tranquillizer. Like a mirror, the water was absorbing and reflecting the redness from the sky.

I couldn't help wondering - who was THE PERSON behind all this? Who was THE PERSON who had gone to great length to create such beauty for us to enjoy? I am not a religious person but at this moment, I thought THE PERSON must have loved us to such an extent that HE/SHE was generous and kind enough to create scene after scene of great beauty, just for our viewing pleasure.

We see beauty everywhere, everyday, and yet we choose to overlook most of it.

Perhaps this place where I live in, is not far from heaven on earth.

A tropical paradise in Bali

In April, Bearbear and I were supposed to join Petty on a trip to Bali and Singapore, leaving Piggy behind to be looked after by my mom-in-law. But thing didn't turn out as planned. My in-law fell ill and I ended up looking after Piggy. In the end all of us stayed behind and Petty went alone on this trip as he had some business to attend to at his Singapore office.

While in Bali, Petty stayed at Hotel Padma.

According to the brochure from Hotel Padma, the hotel property is situated on Legian's legendary sunset beach just outside Kuta. It is spaciously set within a romantic garden landscape providing guests with a village-style hideaway.

Petty found his stay totally satisfying as the hotel has a number of good restaurants and the hotel staff are all very friendly and efficient. Below are some pictures taken by him during his one week stay there. To me, it's a holiday that slipped away. It could have been MY holiday too!


↑ Hotel garden sprinkled with Balinese lanterns at Hotel Padma



↑ Poolside area - it's truly a tropical paradise




↑ Walkway leading to the hotel lobby




↑ The fierce and scary looking Balinese mask




↑ Hotel lobby - what's that thingy hanging there?




↑ Hotel garden oozing with Balinese charm




↑ Fish fountain




↑Triple frogs fountain




↑ Legian beach with its big wave

It's a shame for the beach at Legian. According to Petty the water here is quite rough which makes it better to surf than to swim. Oh dear, perhaps it's a good thing I didn't make it to Bali after all (sour grapes...).

Of Porsche, Ferrari and Superwoman

↑ My mom is a superwoman

Bearbear has just turned 5. Sometimes he totally amazes me with his words.
Overheard while Bearbear was playing Lego with his good friend Manuel.

Bearbear: Meine Mamma ist eine Superfrau. (My mom is a superwoman.)
Manuel: Wirklich? (Really?)
Bearbear: Sie kann meine ganzen Spielzeuge reparieren. (She can repair all my toys.)
Manuel: Du bist sehr gluecklich! (You're very lucky!)

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↑ Bearbear's dream car - just like Sally in the movie "Cars"

One fine morning, while driving Bearbear to the day care centre, he spotted a white Porsche on the road.

Bearbear: Mama, when I'm big enough, when I've enough money, I want to buy a white Porsche.
Me: Good idea. If you can afford a Porsche, that means you're doing quite well. Mama'll be very happy. Not everyone can afford a Porsche you know.
Bearbear: Yeah, after buying the Porsche, if I still have some money left, I'll buy you a red Ferrari.
Me: Oh Bearbear you're so generous.

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↑ What do you like to watch tonight - Tom & Jerry or CNN?

While watching TV together, Bearbear started the following conversation with me.

Bearbear: Mama, do you like cartoon?
Me: Yeah. When I was a kid, I liked Micky Mouse, Donald Duck, Tom & Jerry and Woody Wodpecker. I still do actually.
Bearbear: I like all kinds of cartoon and CNN.
Me: I can understand why you like cartoon. But why CNN? It's all about news.
Bearbear: Then I know what's going on in the world.
Me: .........

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While clearing Bearbear's school bag, I found a piece of paper written in broken German "Ich ha dich ser gern", accompanied by drawing of hearts and stars, signed by Melanie. Obviously it's a love letter from his little girlfriend who is 6 years old.

Me: What're you going to do with this letter?
Bearbear: I think I've to take Melanie as my wife because she likes me very much.
Me: What about Laura? I thought she liked you too....
Bearbear: Yeah, but I think Melanie likes me more than Laura does.
Me: Bearbear, you know, you don't have to take someone as a wife just because she likes you. You have to like her too.
Bearbear: I do like Melanie!
Me: OK. but you're only 5. You'll have to wait until 18 before you can think about taking someone as a wife.
Bearbear: What? 18? How many nights do I have to sleep before I become 18?
Me: Many many many.....nights my dear.

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