Kanchanaburi

It's been many years since we've been to Thailand. Our last visit in 2011 was really memorable...especially staying in  a very remote village and visiting the wetlands in Pathalung.
This time we went because my dad requested us to come along to keep mum company while he played golf. I'm glad we went.

Never did it cross my mind to visit Kanchanaburi but there we were, on the first day taking a 2 hour train journey along the Thailand-Burma railway ( Death Railway)  from Kanchanaburi to Nam Tok. The day was hot and humid, only an old fan blowing in our carriage. We sat on wooden benches watching fields of sugar cane and tapioca, rice fields, and villages pass by. In the carriage, vendors walked by every few minutes selling banana pancakes, Thai goodies, drinks and dried produce. The train went over the bridge of River Kwai, passed many towns and finally slowed down as we rolled along the Wang Po viaduct, a long bridge that hugs a cliff on one side and the river Kwai on the other. We learnt that thousands and thousands died building this railway.



Second day we visited the Thai Burma Railway Centre and the Kanchanaburi War Cemetery
I highly recommend the Thai Burma Railway Centre. We learnt a lot of history there, and both Nel and Jo were intrigued by every picture and poster in that museum.

We also visited a waterfall at Nam Tok, and then spent two days in Bangkok where we shopped at Platinum mall, and walked a night street where Jo got her hair braided with blue and purple strands of yarn.
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Something  I posted on FB about a funny moment in Kanchanaburi...

 "We were walking on a street in Kanchanaburi when it began raining heavily. Taking shelter in a provision shop we tried to get a taxi home, but almost every public transport (truck n bike) that stopped by had wet seats. So for the sake of my mum, dear hubby went to the shop owner n asked if they could get us a cab. But unfortunately, hubby doesn't speak Thai, and the shop owner doesn't speak English at all. 

So dear husband, with big gestures said to the shop owner, "I want taxi, car...taxi...cover, no wet."
The shop owner smiled, and imitating hubby's big gestures said, "Ahh,..ok, taxi..." (motioning a big covered roof). 

A few minutes later, our COVERED taxi arrived....still a bike, but covered with plastic!! hahaha. :) What a fun, cramped, bumpy ride it was, mixed with occasional splashes of water from puddles and rain!! Haha :D 

Our Covered taxi.  :D

Our unforgettable bumpy, very tight, splashy fun ride!

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A Day in Kuala Lumpur

Kiddos and friends spent a day in Kuala Lumpur visiting some historical places. We began the journey on LRT to Central Market, where we walked through rain to this old shop (picture below) for a bowl of beef noodles.

This bowl of noodle tasted lovely on a cold morning. It cost RM10 though!

After a hearty breakfast we made our way to Central Market. After window shopping at Central Market we made our way to the new MRT station to get to Merdeka Station. At the MRT station, someone commented, "Wow it feels like Singapore or Korea all of a sudden!" 

At the Merdeka MRT Station, the kids recited the Rukun Negara (National Principles) and we hung around a bit, enjoying the cool aircond!

  

At the MRT Merdeka Station, a photo with the late Tunku Abdul Rahman, “Bapa Kemerdekaan” (Father of Independence) and first prime minister of Malaysia.

Our next place of visit was Stadium Negara, the first indoor stadium in Malaysia, built in 1960. The guard allowed us to enter, and the children loved singing in there because of the echo and the way sound travels. Visiting the stadium brought back memories, such as the time I watched Holiday on Ice with my parents when I was probably about 10 or so.

Batik painting in the lobby of the stadium.

The children were hungry again, and after a big lunch of Nasi Kandar by the roadside near the stadium, we made our way to Masjid Jamek.

Kids at Sultan Abdul Samad Building, built in the late 19th century.

Lots of preparation going on for Malaysia's  60th birthday 

Prime Ministers of Malaysia

We ended the day with ice cream and cold drinks at 7-11, walked back to Central Market and took the LRT home. What an exciting day it was!

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~Jo bakes and crafts

You've been fattening me up with quite a few good bakes! Not good for my tummy Jo!!

Like this  super delicious Chocolate Torte that was devoured in two days...

And this beautiful cake that you baked for yourself. You had K over, and together you did the decorations together. What a beautiful cake!!! Love it that you're now independent enough to make your own!

You've also been crafty and doing a lot of art. Here's something you did for Doodle for Google. Yours wasn't selected, but I think it's still beautiful and unique. Keep going in your art, you're getting better and so good at it!

And one last picture, you asked me to purchase you a glue gun, and the first thing you made was this beautiful waterfall piece for me.

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Camping Blue Valley Camerons

A wish come true for Jo and Nel, to camp with their Co-op friends, and WW's family. Upon a recommendation of a friend we drove to Blue Valley...to some location that's not on the map. It was basically a dead end road, at the end of a farm, and an extrance via steep stairs to a water dam and high altitude farm. Weather was cold, it rained almost non stop! (thankfully light rain), and we didn't get to see the meteor showers which was our original intention for camping. Nevertheless we enjoyed the cool weather (14C) and great company.

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Nel- Spartan Super!

Today Nel, you conquered Spartan Super (15km, 29 obstacles)! I watched you conquer that vertical wall by yourself, watched you attempt the rotating bars again and again and again despite the falls. You showed great determination n perseverance. Im proud of you. 

But today you also showed yourself a super spartan because you stayed true to your word which was to stick with the slowest member (because of her injured ankle,) to make sure you all cross the finish line together. For that I'm doubly proud of you. Well done Nel!! And of course well done to your super team that trained together every week. Proud of you all!!


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Endau Rompin again

Another beautiful trip to Endau Rompin. What makes a trip beautiful is the beautiful nature surrounding us, the sound of children's laughter and the fellowship between likeminded people.

 Jo spotted these beautiful caterpillars while on a short trek.

 While Nel was busy taking a leech off her foot, I spotted this spider going in for the kill. What great timing for some photography.

 A close up shot of the spider paralyzing and wrapping it's prey in web.

 To our joy, we managed to secure our favourite spot again, and the children as usual spent most of the 24 hours in the river or by the river, playing pretend games, building their own world with rocks and sand.

 This time WW brought PVC pipes and the fathers built a raft, which the children loved and spent hours on rowing up and down stream.

Night time is where the adults fellowship over some drinks....and we get to hear some interesting stories, while the children made their own campfire to roast marshmallows. I'm proud that the children are now able to chop their own firewood and start their own fire!!

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Frasers with Co-op

We had a beautiful time in Frasers with our Co-op Members. We'd just finished studying Botany and decided to conclude the unit with a field trip'.

We hired Mr. Durai Birdman to be our guide, and had a fabulous trek with him through Hemnant trail where he pointed out interesting flora and fauna, as well as birds. We spotted at least 30 different types of birds. The trip was also interesting as we learnt about the history of Frasers, how things were during the time when British ruled, the Japanese and the Communists.

We also hiked along part of Pine Trail, but didn't finish the trek as it threatened to rain.

On a trek with Mr. Durai as our guide

Some interesting highlights were our afternoon tea at Smokehouse, a father's day sermon by WH, a Father's day presentation by the children followed by a prayer of blessing by the dads.

During rest time the kids spent most of their time playing Chor Tai Tee!! 

Overall it was a memorable trip!

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We made macaroons!

It is lovely having Junee back with us. She's finished her studies in India n will continue the rest of her studies in Malaysia. 

To celebrate we attempted macaroons n succeeded! There were cracks in some but overall they just tasted delicious when fresh out of the oven. A lil crunchy on the outside n warm n fluffy in the inside. 

@poundthegarlic.blogspot.com 2017 

2017 so far

A lot has been going on and we have been busy. Though my intention had been to slow down this year, instead it seems to be busier than ever before.

I don't even know where to catch up on this blog. Some things the kids have been up to:

Jo sent in a resume to Kidzania to be congresskid. She made it past the interview, did a video of herself and campaigned at Kidzania. Unfortunately she didn't get in though personally I think she did great at her speeches. I guess, it's as they said, "if you wanna get in, try singing a song or something."
She didn't sing. Still it was a great life experience, all that public speaking, video making and interview was a worthwhile experience.

Both Jo and Nel are now part of ICC Words Alive group, a group committed to helping young people become better public speakers for a good purpose. Earlier this year the whole group visited Pulau Ketam as a chapter, and presented a drama. They also volunteered by playing games with the local kids and taught them English. For Nel, just being in this drama was a BIG deal!
She really struggled in her first rehearsals, not wanting to say her line because she was so conscious of people looking at her. In the end she did great! She had the role of a teacher, while Jo had the role of a busy body, which she played really well!

The first quarter of this year has also been memorable. Both girls auditioned to be in our church's Easter presentation and got in. Hubby and I decided to hang around their first few practices to observe, but what do you know, hubby got "sucked" in and ended up playing three roles, which he did amazingly well! I'm astounded, having discovered his hidden talent for acting! Proud of him.

Jo played a little child, as well as a seller at the market scene. Most of the time she was observing the director (Vince Chong)  and producers, being very curious about how a whole production is put together. I think she learnt a lot about theatre through this experience.

As for me, I accompanied Nel to her dance rehearsals to encourage her. My goal was to get her out of her comfort zone and try performing arts (dance with drama) to help her blossom out of her "shy"self. So I too hung around and joined in the warm ups. But guess what, I got roped in too, and ended up dancing! We had fun preparing our own costumes, which included ripping and smearing them with paint. Fun was also painting our own faces to look the part of occupants in hell.

The most beautiful part of it all was that, we were actually once, all together in a performance, serving our dear Lord together, as one unit, together with other like minded people. We enjoyed the weekly rehearsals, going together, rehearsing together, it was well worth our time!

Apart from that, there are our usual homeschool activities, too many to list. One memorable one perhaps was the camping trip we had in Perak in the month of March. The river was beautiful, we had great company of good friends and lovely food all cooked by the OAs.

Oh I forgot to mention, a new addition to the family. It was Chinese New Year, and I was preparing Heng Hua Mee Sua and making homemade pizza when hubby brought back a kitten!! We named him Blue. Hés turned out to be quite a tyrant...an alpha kinda male, but I've grown to love this lil fella.

 I'll conclude by saying 2017 has been a really fruitful memorable time so far. God is good!





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My first painting for the year

The space between time I paint is getting wider and wider...I hardly produce anything nowadays it seems. but nevertheless, I managed to paint something in between preparing CNY food for the family. Am happy that at least, I've so far managed one painting this year. 👀

Acrylic on paper

Traditional Heng Hua mee sua, which I prepared. Lots of hard work, but worth it!

Home made pizza with smoked duck and other ingredients

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Langkawi

@poundthegarlic.blogspot.com 2016
Written by Nel.

We decided to pay a trip to the exotic island of Langkawi for our 2016 coop field trip.

This was our transport throughout the whole 4 day trip! An Ursvan van fit for 14 people.                    

We had a really joyous time together in the van, singing silly songs and telling jokes and laughing our heads off. I think we would be best described as uncontollable and exuberant children!

                                                                         

Having googled all about Langkawi, we concluded that we should go on one of those cable cars people always talked about on travelling websites. On the 2nd day, we took a sky cab (it was kind of expensive but still worth the experience) over the valleys and mountains of Langkawi to.....

The sky bridge!

The view was breathtaking! Mountains surrounded us from all directions at different angles., 

 We inhaled the cool, refreshing air into our lungs. There were tons of heart shaped locks and key chains hanging on some parts of the sky bridges side railing. (A great place for people for taking selfies, just kiding!) But yes, there were quite a number, but still considerd not so much, tourists dawdling back and forth on the bridge taking photos.
One really cool fact about this trip is that even though my mum gets nervous around heights, She made it!! All the way across and back, we were so proud of her!  Trust my mum to overcome her fears!                                            
We raced each other back to the cable car!

On the 3rd day, we rented a boat to take us across the river along... The

Saw this cool mountain, looks like a human with a large chin. Haha...
We chugged along a swampy kind of background. I mean it wasn't muddy, but the trees alongside the river had really long roots, reaching out of the water as well as long branches. Our boatman stopped awhile near a monkey infested area to let us feed the monkeys and a monkey hopped unto our boat screeching for food! It was so cute standing on its hind paws and reaching out with nits cute and warm little hands to us children for more food. Hilariously, the adults (well some of them) were the ones scared of the monkey. 

We visited the Art in paradise Museum! It has very detailed and cool Art!

I totally enjoyed that awesome, full of close friends holiday..!

Written by Nel