After a full breakfast of nasi lemak and roti canai, we are off on our second leg of the road trip and set off at 8am.
Ipoh - Thean Chun
Our trusty GPS brought us to Ipoh for lunch and we ate at Thean Chun for some authentic ipoh hor fun and tasty side dishes. Ipoh is an interesting town with little shops that i'm so keen to explore but couldn't. Guess i have to save it for next time, whenever that may be.
JY the explorer with her apple sun-hat, she kept yanking at the sunhat strap so hard that she almost choked herself.
Don't be deceived by her smile, she barely sat in her chair for 2 minutes before clamouring for attention. WJ & me took turns to gobble down the ipoh noodles while carrying her outside.
Me gobbling down, J'Y looking at Uncle Edric but no, she's actually not hungry. This is her first day of her solid food strike, refusing all the porridges i bought for her from stalls & hotel. Afternote: Malaysia has little liking for porridge as i have such difficulties looking for it from stall to stall.
JY and WJ, i love those cane shops seeling cane furniture (background shop) and i'm so tempted top buy those cane baby chair for JY except that the thought of tying the chair to the top of the car due to lack of space refrain me from buying one.
Our accommodation at Penang is a far cry from Sekeping, it's neither lush or quiet. it's a typical boutique hip hotel, spacious and modern. It's close to 4pm when we reach so we decided to spend the remaining day at the hotel vicinity and had dinner at the Japanese Restaurant. It's quite dramatic because JY vomited just before dinner is served and we hurriedly bring her back to clean up.
Next morning, we visited the Peranakan Museum. Nice and extravagant collection of the Peranakans in Penang.
JY in this 100 years old chair, designed for lovers to face each other while conversing
We walked 2 streets down to a chinese temple and had yummy lor mee. eh, and that's about all the exploration we did in Penang! JY trying to tug off the apple sunhat & finally relented for it to sit on her head.
The tricycle w the mee stall.
Along the way, saw this dog sleeping in the same position as the elderly man
The rest of the afternoon was spent lazing by the pool. we bought some swimming wear & diapers for JY at the nearby Gurney Plaza and off we go! Her first experience in the pool is such fun FUN FUN! WJ brought her around splashing around the pool & JY worked & pumped her arms & legs non-stop again, the little tike was throughly exhausted that she fell asleep after her bath.
On the check-out day, she was curious about 2 jie-jie jumping around her and they too are curious about JY.
This is our first overseas adventure as a family and it's a road trip up to Malaysia on our trusty little white Vios, with WJ helming as the anchor (& only driver). I , the one with the prior driving experience to Malaysia barely touched the steering wheel, am entrusted with the important task of entertaining Jingyi the entire 1600km we covered over 8days 7nights.
The Preparation I started to pack & got ready all the logistics ready for Jingyi and it's one heck of logistic nightmare for mummy. WE packed it all the night before & load onto the car and next morning we are off at 7am.
Food enough canned babyfood for breakfast, lunch & dinner. Cereal, 3 kinds of baby biscuits. 2 milk bottles/teats, washing detergent, plastic bib,thermal flask, water bottle,cutlery,bowl, diner placemat, sack seat.
Sleep Travel babycot, 2 pillows,2 bolsters,blanket,cuddly toy
Car Ride A bagful of toys, plastic bags (in case she puke),essential oils for travelling
Bath Bath, Shampoo, Diapers, Diaper cream, Wet wipes, Moisturiser, 5 different creams for her senstive skin.
In the end, we gathered everything in 1 huge luggage, 3 different bags & 1 plastic container for JY's food stuff. 3/4 are filled up JY's stuff, i cant believe it. one trick, i could have offloaded some containers & lunch box i brought along.
On the Road Slight jam at 2nd link, but all's well past 10am. Jingyi took the car ride pretty well & adapt better than i expected! With her fussy only maybe 40% of the time, and sleeping 30%, the rest of the time we basically played with her toys & whatever she can get her hands on (window sunscreen,scraps of paper, sweet container, my hand, etc)
1st Day & Night - Sekeping Serendah Retreat With some rest-stops in between to take a break from the monotonous car ride, we finally arrived at Sekeping Serendah Retreat - Glass House. Situated between lush foliage, the environment was cooling and back to basic nature accomodation. It's a cross between a very nice camp and chalet.
This retreat is owned by a Nepalese who also is the caretaker. He forgot to prepare for our dinner, which is supposed to be a sumptious BBQ, instead we had take-away indian food which is cold and forgettable. Though the bathroom was a bit eeky because it smelt like wet not-very-clean dog. However, the natural environment is tranquil and peaceful and was soothing to fall asleep.It was such fun reliving the joy of sleeping in a mosquito net on a cool cool night.
JY tumbling around bed, inside the mosquito net
Next morning, JY woke up bright and early at 615am, and ended up waking everyone up as all of us shared the upper floor. JY was grinning gleefully & tried to be quiet at my hushing for a good 10mins before finally bursting out with a yelp.
Introducing Uncle Edric, Uncle Jesper, Uncle Boon Chuan & Auntie Justina who love JY to bits. The travel companions kept each other entertained throughout the trip.
