First Child - Second Trimester (2/2)

6 December (Tuesday)- 25 Weeks and 2 Days (Operation Day)

Before entering third trimester, i encountered a nightmare in my pregnancy.

Exactly when my baby was only 25 Weeks and 2 Days, i had sharp pain in my tummy.

At first, i thought it was a baby kick which caused the pain, hence i just brushed it aside and prepared myself to go to work. However the pain is getting more pain and more regulars.

After showered, i just sat down on my bed and the pain will come when i tried to walk. My hubby who was preparing breakfast for me (since i was pregnant, my hubby told me not to cook because he did not want me to be near the stove), came in and saw me sitting down and asked why.

I told him about it and he asked me if i want to see gynae. I told him to wait and see first. However the pain was sharper and more regulars and hence we decided to take a taxi to go to MAH to meet my gynae (her clinic only opened on 8.30am). Once we reached there, we noted that she was on leave and overseas, hence the nurse from her clinic tried to call her covering doctor which open only at 9am. I was sitting down on the wheelchair then and waited inside her clinic. It has been past 9am and the nurse could not contact her covering doctor, we went to her clinic and the light was still off. 

Since my pain was getting unbearable, i would made "ouch" sounds here and there. Thereafter the nurse brought me and my hubby to A&E located in MAH. I was being brought to the observation ward. Few minutes later (i guess), the covering doctor came and checked on me. The heartbeat of the baby was fine, she tried to diagnose my problem by pressing my tummy to find the root cause of the problem. The pain was on the below right side of the tummy where the appendix is.

They wanted to do blood test, urine test and ultrasound scan on me to know the cause. However my blood pressure was at the lower side and i kept shouting of pain. In the end, they called a surgeon and the surgeon suspected that i had Appendicitis, Before surgery, he told my hubby and i on the risk of having Appendicitis surgery during pregnancy which is preterm labour. My hubby and i cried on the spot and i told the surgeon to try to keep my baby inside my tummy if possible since he was still very small. The surgeon told us that he will try his best for the sake of mother and baby.

The Operation was scheduled to be at 11.30am and i remembered i was half conscious in the ward around 3pm. Thereafter, we were being informed that it was not Appendicitis but Cyst located near Appendix has ruptured which caused internal bleeding and caused the pain. The doctors did 5 key holes on my tummy (open surgery was not an option considering i was pregnant then) to clean up the internal bleeding.

Thank GOD, my baby was fine and preterm labour was unnecessary. 

My parents and in-laws flew over from Jakarta to Singapore after getting calls from my hubby in the morning (before operation). They reached hospital at night and i could saw their reliefs when they saw baby and i were fine.

8 December (Thursday) - 25 Weeks and 4 Days (Discharged/Readmitted Day)

Two days later, the surgeon and my Gynae gave me a green light to be discharged from hospital. Once i reached home, i vomited more than 10 times within 2 hours. Luckily my parents and in-laws were still in Singapore, hence my hubby and i would not be so lost.

My hubby then called my surgeon and he told us to go back to MAH immediately. I vomited again in the taxi (luckily we brought plastic bag) and in the observation room in A&E. I was immediately put on drip in case i was dehydrated. I was then brought to Hospital Ward for further observation.

Everyday, my surgeon and gynae would come to check on me. On Friday, i had spotting (fresh blood colour) and my gynae started to test my contractions level and gave me some medicine to strengthen my pregnancy. 

On Saturday, my surgeon gave me a green light to be discharged the following day (Sunday), However i did not pass my contractions test even on the test on Sunday morning, hence my Gynae told me to extend another day in hospital so as she could monitor me closely and to avoid preterm labour.

When i was discharged on Monday morning, my Gynae gave me some medicine for contractions and told me to total bedrest at home as i was given One-month Hospitalisation Leave.

My in-laws went back to Indonesia on 15 December, knowing that my parents would still be in Singapore to take care of me at home. 

Seventh Check-Up (19 December - 27 Weeks and 1 Day)

Since my operation, i could not eat as much as before and i started with soft food (ie porridge, few days later then rice with soup and etc). Lucky for me, my parents and in-laws were still at home to cook healthy food for me. My in-laws went back Jakarta few days after my discharged because i was recovering well and my parents were still around to take care of me at home. 

My hubby and i took taxi to MAH for follow-up with surgeon (to remove the stitches) and he told me that my wounds are recovering well. He also mentioned it might be because i am pregnant and hence the body will recover from wounds faster.

My hubby and i took taxi to MAH for Gynae Check-up (my hubby always accompany me for every Gynae Check-up). I was not allowed to take bus/mrt by families and hence take taxi to MAH.

It was my Glucose Test Day, hence i was asked to fast 8 hours before. They took my blood sample once i reached the clinic, then i was given a bottle of sweet drink (it tasted like sprite with more sugar on it) which i need to drink within 10mins. Two hours later, they took another blood sample to test if i have diabetes. 

On this day, i lost some of my pregnancy weight and hence my total pregnancy weight became 1.4kg. My baby as usual always bigger than expected hahaha, he was 1.38kg. The Gynae mentioned that i should still rest at home and minimise walking if possible as my placenta was still at low position.

Once i reached home, i told my parents that my gynae said baby and i were fine. Hence I told them that they could go back Jakarta. In addition, i told them that hubby could cook lunch and dinner for me (his office is near home) hence they did not worry about my meals.

During recovery, i noticed that my baby always on my left side. He seems to know that i had wounds on my right sides and still on recovery stage (i avoided painkillers and hence the i could still feel pains the first 2 weeks after surgery). Thank you baby for being understanding.

First Child - Second Trimester (1/2)

Entering the second trimester which people said is more stable, hubby and i were more at ease. We also decided to keep quiet from our friends as i wanted to know if anyone notice without us announcing hahaha (to see how fat i was in front of them).

Research on Baby Items
Hubby and i did some research on big items to prepare baby arrival (i.e. pump, baby cot and stroller). We went to mini baby fair in Takashimaya to look at the actual items to learn what to expect etc.

Therafter, our conclusions are:-
1) Breast Pump
- It has to be light enough so that i could bring to office everyday to pump milk.
- It needs to have a good review especially on the suction and backflow.

2) Baby Cot
- It has to be sturdy enough to carry our baby especially if he/she will be very active.
- It has to fit our door so we could move from 1 room to another room.

3) Stroller
- It has to be lightweight so it is easier for us to commute since we do not own a car in Singapore.
- It has to be easy to open and fold with one hand so we have no problem in boarding or alighting bus.

Forth Check-up (5 October - 16 Weeks and 3 Days)
During our last check-up, our gynae told us that we might be able to see the gender of our baby in the following scan (after 4 months). Hence my hubby was busy teaching my baby to open his/her legs during our scan so we could have idea on his/her gender on the next scan.

I gained 1.5kg at this time and baby was 124mm. Gynae told us that baby is too big, hence she asked me to cut down sweet food (ie. cake, ice cream, chocolate and etc).

The gender of our baby is.............
Please refer to below on my hubby's hand-written journal

We also asked our family members to guess the gender before we reveal the answer.

And we noted that mothers' instincts are no joke hahaha because only the mothers guessed it right.

Decision on the BIG Items
As per above consideration on pump, baby cot and stroller, we decided to go for Baby Fair in Expo with my parents in-law so that they could give us some inputs on baby cot and stroller.
Our decisions were:-

1) Breast Pump - Spectra 9+
I was contemplating between Spectra 9+ or Medela Freestyle as both are lightweight and small in size and have similar suctions. However Medela is much more expensive than Spectra. Hence decided to buy Spectra 9+ instead.

2) Baby Cot
We walked around to see the baby cot and decided to purchase Milano Cot 4in1.

3) Stroller
After walking around all the stroller booths, we finally went back to Combi Booth and decided to purchase Combi Stroller Handy 4 which only weighs 4.9kg.

Babymoon
On October 2016 (18 weeks+), we went for our babymoon to Taiwan. It was unplanned babymoon because the flight tickets were purchased before i was pregnant (when there was Scoot 1-for-1 Promotion). The dates were also decided by my two other friends. Hence total four of us.
The trip will be covered in different blog post.

During the trip, i had a lof of rashes on my tummy area, i guess it was because it was the hot weather and the food that we ate were all the street foods. Luckily my Bio-Oil helps to reduce the itchiness and redness. In addition, my feet were swollen after coming back from Taiwan which the gynae guessed were because we walked too much during our holiday.

Baby's Name
Since we know the gender of the baby, my husband has been busy finding baby's name. He listed down few names and we decided with....CALLEN TAN

Fifth Check-up (4 November - 20 Weeks and 5 Days)
From the day i knew i was pregnant to date, i could consider myself lucky that my pregnancy was quite smooth sailing. Vomited 5 times in total, nausea only due to the strong smell and no particular craving on food.

On the fifth check-up, we did an Obstetric Ultrasound Uterine Doppler Scan at another clinic assigned by our Gynae. The scan is basically did a full scan on the organs and bones structures of the baby, from head to toe. They also did some measurement on each organs.

During our scan, our baby was super active that the person in-charge keep sighing and said that our baby is super active and hard to take photos of the organs and measurements. She even advised us to take our lunch first and come back later. Since we had lunch before we went there, we decided to continue. There was a period where i felt uncomfortable as my visions were getting blurry and felt like vomiting, hence i asked the person in-charge if i could be excused for a while to to go toilet and told her the reason. She suggested me to sit up for a while instead of lay down, but it made me worse and i almost black out. She then asked me to lay on the side instead. It really helped and slowly i was getting better and she continue with the scan.

Once the scan were over, we went to our MAH to meet our gynae with the scan results on hand.

The result of the scan is that all the organs are functioning well, but the measurement of the baby was too big compared to average (ie head, tummy, and leg).

I gained a total of 3.5kg up to date and baby was 439 gram on that day and the gynae added my diet plan which was to reduce carbs and replace white rice with brown rice as possible. In addition, they noted that the baby's heartbeat is quite fast, hence i was given aspirin for the baby which she mentioned safe for the baby.

Sixth Check-up (25 November - 23 Weeks and 5 Days)
On Week 21, i started to feel baby's kick...Yipeee i was super duper happy. However i think baby was still shy from his Papa as he stop kicking when my hubby touched my tummy to feel it.

Subsequently, my hubby found a way to trigger baby's kick which was to sing a children song for baby. Baby seem to like a song called "If You're Happy and You Know it". He will kick few times whenever my hubby sang this song to him.

Subsequently, baby will kick when time to eat or after eating...hahaha no wonder he is a big baby.

Hemorrhoids
On the morning before going to Gynae's clinic, i noticed some blood when i passed motion in the toilet. I was shocked and scared because i did not have such problem before and i heard bleeding during pregnancy is not a good sign. Luckily for us, we have gynae's appointment on that day, hence i told my gynae about it.

She checked and noted that i had Hemorrhoid and prescribed 5-days of Suppositories.
Hemorrhoids are blood vessels in the rectal area that have become unusually swollen. Hemorrhoids can be itchy and mildly uncomfortable – or downright painful. Sometimes they can even cause rectal bleeding, especially during a bowel movement.
Hemorrhoids are common during pregnancy, particularly in the third trimester.
Suppositories are solid, bullet-shaped preparations designed for easy insertion into the anus (back passage). The suppository dissolves at body temperature and gradually spreads over the lining of the lower bowel (rectum), where it is absorbed into the bloodstream.

Gynae Scan
I gained 5.1kg in total and my baby was 935 gram which average baby is only 600grams+. So Gynae continued to ask me to monitor what i ate to control the weight gain of the baby.
I guess its like Daddy like Son, because my hubby love to eat too.

Treatment of Hemorrhoids
After insertion of Suppositories for 2 days, i noted that there was no more bleeding from anus area. However i noted brown spotting on my vagina and it was getting more. I called the clinic on monday morning and they asked me to take MC (medical leave) on that day and bedrest at home.

I guessed i was worried, i cried in office when i heard i needed bedrest. But after 1-day bedrest, the spotting was gone. Happy!!!.

Thank you for reading my blog. Stay Tuned for the next post>>>>

First Child - First Trimester

Find a Gynae

After getting a positive test from the Home Test Kit, i started googling between TMC (Thomson Medical Centre) and MAH (Mount Alvernia Hospital). Government hospital was not in my option as i was scared of the long waiting. For private hospital, TMC and MAH are not that far from our home and more pocket friendly compared to Mount Elizabeth or Gleneagles Hospital which are nearer to our home.

Thereafter, i decided to use MAH after the following consideration:

1) I asked my hubby to check which is nearer between TMC and MAH from our home. He said not much difference. Hence both are the same for distance.

2) I read from online that MAH is more supportive on the lactation as i was hoping that i could full breastfeed my baby. Hence i decided on MAH.

Next was to find Gynae. I prefer to have female doctor instead of male. Read more reviews online on the recommended female Gynae from MAH and read a doctor name Dr. Goh Shen Li. Hence decided to give them a call since they open on Saturday morning (I did my test pack on Saturday morning as i have posted in my previous post named "We are EXPECTING our first child !!!".

First Check Up (28 July - 6 Weeks 2 Days)
I wanted to meet the doctor as early as possible (excited parents to-be) hahaa...But the nurse who picked up my phone told me that it is better to meet the doctor after 6 weeks from the first day of our Last Menstruation Period. She explained that because we could only hear the baby's heartbeat after 6 weeks. Hence we followed the suggestion and scheduled our first visit after 6 weeks.

So, our first Gynae Appointment was on 28 July 2016. Nervous because did not know what to expect but yet Excited because finally i am pregnant (wish come true).

When the gynae did the scan, my first question was is it one or two (twins)?. We did not have twins gene but in case, just ask haha. Luckily for us, it was one. It was my first pregnancy and i prefer it to be not twins so that we will not be double shocked with it. We could hear the baby's heartbeat...OMG, it seems so surreal to me and hubby. Baby Size was 5.3mm. The gynae said the baby is healthy and the Estimated Due Date ("EDD") is 21 March 2017.

I was given Folic Acid, Vitamin B16 to reduce the morning sickness as i have vomited twice and Hormone Pill to strengthen the Pregnancy.

If you have read my earlier blogs about my hubby, you would know that i married someone who is romantic and prefer personalized gifts. For my pregnancy, he has started to write a pregnancy journal on weekly basis to record the milestone and updates of baby. Example of his hand-written journal is shown below.

Second Check Up (11 August - 8 Weeks 5 Days)
Up to this date, i only vomited total of 5 times (either morning before go to work or evening after work). I have found a trick to reduce my vomiting which is by eating snacks in between my meals. 
Thank you baby for being so co-operative and mummy never vomit in work at all, so no one know i was pregnant haha.

The 2nd check-up, baby size was 21.1.mm which is more than what my baby apps said. The EDD was changed from 21 to 18 March 2017. But baby said baby is healthy.
This time around, she stop prescribing me the hormone pill and told me to continue with the Folic Acid and Vitamin B16. Told me not to take any other vitamins until next 3 weeks.
I had blood test in the clinic to check on diabetes, hepatitis  and etc.

Pregnancy Journal hand-written by my hubby.

Third Check Up (9 September - 12 Weeks 5 Days)
Up to this date, i did not gain a single gram on my weight. I asked the gynae if it is normal, but she said it is normal. Hence i was happy and told my sisters and they were shocked and jealous about it.

The 3rd check up, baby size was 67mm which is bigger than average as mentioned by gynae.
This time around, we could see the shape of the head of the baby, baby's hands and legs. Hubby and i were so excited and hope we could see baby scan everyday hahaha. The result of my blood test from previous visit was all good.

There was a virus spread in Singapore named Zika and it is dangerous for pregnant women. My hubby was more cautious than myself and decided to prepare extra protections as shown below.

Pregnancy Journal hand-written by my hubby.

During my first trimester, i did not have a craving on food. But i had stronger sense of smell and will feel nausea when i smell coffee, aromatherapy, cooking smell, raw fish smell and strong perfume.
In Office, i put unused tea bag to neutralise the smell of coffee and aromatherapy and it was actually helped. 

Thank you for reading my Pregnancy Blog, please stay tune for more.

We are EXPECTING our first child !!!

Our Baby Plan

Once we married, we wanted to enjoy "our" time first and decided to delay our baby plan.

We married in May 2013 in which we might have "snake" baby if we never delay and it will clash with my hubby. Hence we decided to delay to wait for next Chinese horoscope "horse" in 2014. However we can make plan, but LORD's purpose will prevail. I was not pregnant and never get "Horse" baby.

The next Chinese horoscope is "Goat" which my mum kept reminding me not to have one as it will clash with me. Hence we delay another year.

We counted the months and tried to have "monkey" baby naturally instead of going for IUI or IVF by the following:-
1) Drank Chinese medicine as per recommended by family and relatives;
2) Went to Chinese doctor (sinseh) as per research from internet and recommended by one of my friend. As per her checking, my body was too "cold", hence she gave me herbs to boil to warm up my body.
3) Heard tip from friends (put a pillow under the hip after sex to allow the sperm to travel faster).

However we missed the year again. I was already quite disappointed and just kept praying in temple to give us a baby so as to complete our family. 

However i got another tips from my friend which is to use Ovulation Test Kit. I used it for 2 months and ta....da....I was successful in my 2nd attempt.

Pressure from family, relatives and friends

My hubby and i are Indonesians and it is abnormal for the couple not to have child in their first wedding year. I felt pressurized during our first CNY as married couple as EVERYONE asked whether i was pregnant and when i am going to have one.

We decided not to go back to Indonesia for the following years hahaha just to avoid those questions.

When we give congratulations to our friends who just had baby, they ALWAYS asked when is our turn. It made me hate going for full month celebrations.

Sometimes it is not that the couple did not want to have one but it is just that we are not trusted with one yet. Hence please please please do not asked married couple when is their turn to have babies. They might look alright in front of you and give so many excuses but they were devastated inside. PLEASE BE MORE CONSIDERATE !!!.

Blessing can come anytime and at the least unexpected

In 2016, we decided to take things slowly and just enjoy our life by travelling more places whenever we can. We traveled to 3 places by mid year and booked our 4th one for October trip.

Blessing can come at the least unexpected. After our Penang trip in July 2016, i felt my body was tired and i guess was because of the walking that we did in the Penang and because my "monthly guest" is coming next day. I normally feel more tired about 1 week before my "monthly guest", hence i found it normal. 

 12 July came and the "monthly guest" was not here. I was not suspicious as my cycle is ranging from 30-33 days. 13 July came, 14 July came and my hubby was already excited. He started to rub my tummy and talked to my tummy as he was confident that i was pregnant then. 15 July came and we decided to buy test pack after work.

ON 16 July 2016 (Saturday), i decided to do pregnancy test in the morning and i saw TWO CLEAR LINES...Yipeeee I am pregnant. I came out from the bathroom and showed it to my hubby. He asked me what does it meant and once he knew, he hugged me tight hehehe...Finally!!!.

I was so happy that i informed my sisters via Whatsapp but told them to keep it a secret from my parents. My parents will be coming the next day (morning), so wanted to tell them face to face.

To be fair, we also kept it from my in-laws till the next day. 
On Sunday morning, we skype with my in-laws and i showed my test kit. My Father In-Law did not know what was it hahaha...so my Mother In-Law told her.
I also showed to my parents my test kit hehe yipeee...so both families knew about the good news. FYI, it will be first grandchild for my in-law but third one for my parents.

I still keep it from my friends as people said not to announce before 3 months.

Penang, Malaysia (3D2N)

My hubby's family and my family are the opposite in terms of travelling. My family love travelling while his is not so into travelling. They have not been travelling as family except during graduations. 

My parents taught us to treat our parents in-law as we treat our own parents. Example, if i travel with my family, i should travel with his family too. Hence i would ask my parents in-law if they wanted to have family vacation. And we had 2 vacations so far (first was to Bangkok with my youngest brother in-law before he departed to US for study and second was to Penang).

My hubby and i went to Penang in 2014 for my hubby's birthday (supposed to be surprise but ended up not a surprise, will cover it in another blog post. Penang was chosen by my parents in-law because they wanted food trip.

Flight
There are a lot of direct flights from Singapore to Penang and we have decided to choose Tiger due to its better timing. The journey took about 1 hour and 25 minutes.

Hotel - Le Dream Boutique HotelThere are a lot of hotels in Penang and it is better to know your main purpose to go Penang before deciding on the hotel. The locations are as GeorgeTown, Gurney Drive, Batu Feringghi and etc).
You may wish to refer to http://www.penang.ws/where-to-stay.htm for guidance.

For us, we are not beach people and we choose to be close with food, so we chose to stay in Georgetown area. I chose Le Dream Boutique Hotel because of its good review from TripAdvisor and it was relatively new hotel.
Location :
- It is walking distance from Komtar and Prangin Mall, so it is excellent for a budget traveler who will take a bus from Penang International Airport.
- It is walking distance to all the local and famous food (i.e. Lembuh Kimberly, Carnavon street etc).

Room :
- The room is spacious but do not expect any nice view as it is within the town.
- The room is clean with complete necessities (i.e. toothbrush, hair dryer, tea and coffee and mineral waters).
- Free wi-fi is quite strong for simple surfing (i.e searching for famous food in surrounding and its map).
- The air-con is very strong, hence it is a good escape from the scorching hot weather outside.

Bathroom/toilet:
- There are 2 types of shower head, the rain shower head and the body spray. It is good to give options for different people with different preferences.
- The bathroom and toilet is clean.

 Service :
- The reception staffs are very fast and attentive in the check-in and check-out process.
- The breakfast is good and have adequate variety. The staffs are good and fast in clearing tables.
- There is a personal touch as one of the staff would address the guest by name and would asked for our feedback on our stay and food.

Facilities:
- There are 2 jacuzzi on the rooftop, i did not try them
- There are complimentary free flow drinks from 5.30pm to 7.30pm
- There are complimentary snacks, ice cream and coffee from 2pm to 12am.

 Overall, i enjoyed my stay in this hotel and would definitely come back to this Hotel if i ever visit Penang again.

Transport

We relied on our foot to move from one place to another, however we also hired a driver for 1 full day to visit those far places (ie temples) and to drive us from hotel to Airport on our last day.
I got this driver contact from TripAdvisor forum and hired him for my trip in 2014. His name is Morgan and he replied promptly in umogan@gmail.com or Whatsapp in +60 17 4031294.

Review: He always reached our hotel earlier than agreed time, he is friendly and always replied promptly via WA or email. He would also give suggestions on the places to go or places to eat.

Food
1) Joo Hooi Cafe (Jalan Penang)
We ordered Char Kway Teow, Penang Road Famous Teochew Chendol, Fried Oyster and Penang Asam Laksa. Please note that this is not cafe like a normal cafe setting with air-con. It is like a normal shop house with fan and with plain table settings.

Location :475 Jalan Penang (Opening hours 11.30-5pm).

 Review:
- Char Kway Teow : It is good, we love it.
- Chendol : It is very refreshing to eat something cold in the hot weather and it is not too sweet which suit our taste. Since you are eating inside the Cafe, you do not have to queue outside, just placed your order from inside.
- Fried Oyster: It is not bad but a bit oily.
- Asam Laksa: I love the laksa because there is a mix of sour and sweet and not so thick soup.

2) Tiger Char Kway Teow (Kafe Ping Hooi)
We stumbled this place when we were walking around near our hotel and decided to give it a try.

Location: 179, Carnavon Street, 10300, Georgetown, Penang. (Opening hours: 8am to 2:30pm daily)

Review: The prawns are plump and juicy, the char kway teow is less oily and a bit of spicy with duck eggs. I would say that the char kway teow is better compared to the one at Joo Hooi Cafe.

Nearby this stall, there was a long queue from a stall named Pitt Street Koay Teow T'hng which is located at 183 Carnavon street. We wanted to give it a try but has no seats available and the take away is in the normal plastic bag instead of tupperware kind. So we decided to give it a miss.

3) Poh Lay Duck Meat Koay Teow T'hng

We stumbled this place when we were walking around near our hotel and decided to give it a try due to its long queue.

Location: Junction of Lorong Ngah Aboo and Lebuh Kimberley, 10100, Georgetown, Penang. (Opening Hours: 7:30 am to 11:30am. Closed on Mondays).

Review: The soup is super hot which we prefer for a soup dish, the food is light and yet very good. The meatball is very good and can tell that it has more meat than flour, hence very satisfying.

4) Penang Coconut Jelly

Location: 201, Jalan Dato Kramat, 10150 Penang

Review: It use real coconut and its refreshing dessert and suitable for Penang weather.

5) Ah Leng Char Koay Teow

Location: Kafe Khoon Hiang, 358 Jalan Dato Keramat, 10150 Penang, Malaysia. (Opening Hours: 8am – 2pm. Closed on Thursday.

Review: This place was brought by my driver in 2014 trip and we think that it is better than the Lorong Slamet's Char Koay Teow (overrated, please refer to my other blog in 2014 for more details).

6) Black Kettle Cafe

We were tired of walking and wanted a place to rest our feet and with air-con. We stumbled this cafe when we were walking and decided to give it a try.

Location: 105, Beach Street, Georgetown10200 George Town, Penang, Malaysia
(Opening Hours : Daily - 8.30am – 12am)

Review: the ambience is good to chill out and not noisy. The croissant is not crispy enough despite i have requested for it to be heated up.

7) Hon Kei Food Corner

This is the most favourite place for my hubby and my father in-law. We ate twice for dinner at this place. This place is famous for its soup dishes from fish to porridge. You may also choose if you want to eat porridge or vermicelli or thick/thin noodles and the parts of the pork (i.e minced pork or intestine, liver and etc)

Location: 45, Lorong Kampung Malabar,George Town, 10200 George Town, Malaysia

(Opening Hours: Open daily except Thursday from 9am – 3pm and 5pm – 12am)

 

8) T&t Prawn Mee Shop
We tried to go to Siam Road Char Kway Teow twice and noted that it was not open on the day we went. Hence we asked the driver for a recommendation for a food, and he suggested this place.

Location: 127, Lorong Selamat, 10400, Penang. (Opening Hours: Monday to Saturday, 8am to 10pm; Sunday, 7:30am to 6pm. Closed on every Wednesday).

Review: The prawn mee is not bad, we prefer the claypot type because the soup is more hot and more satisfying.

Places to Visit

1) Kek Lok Si Temple

2) Reclining Buddha Temple (Wat Chayamangkalaram)

3) Standing Buddha Temple (Dharmikarama Burmese Temple)

Please refer to my reviews on each of the places above in my previous blog in 2014.

Thank you for reading my blog and hopefully it helps in your planning trip.

For our Penang Trip video to show more details please go to my hubby's youtube found in Penang - Trip

Krabi, Thailand (4D3N)

For our 3rd year Wedding Anniversary, we decided to go somewhere new and more relaxing place aka no shopping. After discussion with hubby, we decided to go Krabi, Thailand. Reasons were because we have never been there and there is direct flight from Singapore to Krabi.

There are 2 areas in Krabi called Krabi Town (city area) and Ao Nang. Krabi (nearer to beach). We decided to stay in Beach area so it is easier for us to commute.

Flight
There are 2 direct flights from Singapore to Krabi such as AirAsia and Tiger. For this trip, we chose Tiger due to its better timing and the journey took about 1h45m. There was a delay during our departure, do not remember how long but if i am not mistaken it was less than 1 hour.

Room decorated for our Wedding Anniversary

Hotel - Aonang Cliff Beach Resort
I chose this hotel because of its good review from TripAdvisor  and it is located in Ao Nang and i was not disappointed at all.

Location : This hotel is strategically located next to McDonalds, Starbucks, 7-11 to name a few. We did not eat either from McDonalds nor Starbucks but located few steps away from 7-11 is very convenient for us as we always buy our drinking waters from there.

Room : I am very particular about cleanliness of the hotel room and thankfully this hotel did not disappoint me. The room that was given to me was spacious, big and it has Cliff view.
This hotel has some extension and some of the rooms are located uphill and requires more walking. Lucky for us, our room is located at the front building, hence less walking. However some of the rooms are away from the lift which are not sheltered and it was a hassle to walk especially when it was raining.

View from my Hotel Room

Bathroom : The bathroom is separated from toilet and the sink which is a good idea as different people can do different things at once. However the toilet door is not up to the ceiling, hence the unwanted smell from the "big business" could be blown to the bed area. Be prepared to spray some of your perfume when it happen. 

View from Hotel's Infinity Pool

Transport
1) Airport to Ao Nang
As we were there for only 4D3N, we traveled light and decided to take bus to Ao Nang instead of taking taxi.. The bus fare was 150Baht per person which can be purchased from the official counter inside the airport (after exit from baggage claim). Thereafter, proceed to outside the airport to look for white colored bus and informed a personnel who collected the receipt on your hotel name. 

Receipt of the Bus

The journey took about 45-60 minutes,depending on the waiting time at the airport and how many people dropped off along the way.

2) Ao Nang to Krabi Town
There is a night market at Krabi Town. Noted from my research that it is only available from Friday and weekend nights. Please confirm with the locals if you wish to go on weekday nights. For me, i went on Saturday night.

There are few options available to travel from Ao Nang to Krabi Town
1. Take a tuk-tuk taxi.
2. Use a public transport called Songthaew (white-colored  pick-up trucks with two benches installed in the back). This should take about forty-five minutes and will cost about 60B one-way. You can wait at the bus stop in Ao Nang – it will have a huge sign “Ao Nang- Krabi Town”.
3.I saw a lot of tourists renting a motorbike in Krabi. You may wish to do so as well to travel around within Krabi. 
4. Hotel/resort may provide transport to Krabi Town, please check with them.
5. Some travel agents along Ao Nang Beach will have a package tied with their Island Hopping package. We took this option as the car will pick up and send back to our hotel.

3) Island Hopping
I normally prefer to walk within air-con area than under the sun. However, since we have decided to travel to Krabi which is famous for its island hopping, i guess it is incomplete without trying them out.

We walked from our hotel to Ao Nang Beach and noted that there were sooo many shops selling their island hopping packages. Since they know that we are foreigners, normally we are charged higher than the local Thai people. Hence please do not buy your package from the first shop that you went. We went to a few places to compare the places and prices.

We decided to choose Stronger Travel & Tour which was located on the main street facing to the Ao Nang Beach. I could not remember the exact price of our package but it includes going to Hong Island, Kayaking and return transport to Krabi Town. Please remember to bargain with them.

Review on the Stronger Travel & Tour as follow:-
1) Transport from hotel to Krabi Town and return
There was a slight delay from the agreed time to fetch us from hotel. They picked us with a van with air-con. Noted that the van is not solely for me and hubby but they also fetch other guests in their respective hotels. Hence i am not sure if taking the public transport is better than private van like us due to the time of fetching each guests.However maybe with the air-con, it is better to use the private van, considering the weather in Krabi is hot like Singapore.

Our transport to and from Hotel to Krabi Town

Once they send us to Krabi Town, they would tell us to meet them at designated place at certain time.

There are a lot of local food available in Krabi Town Night market, we also bought some snacks to bring back to Singapore, For shopping, most of them are T-Shirt, hence not many things to buy.

2) Island Hopping 
There was a slight delay from the agreed time to fetch us from hotel. They picked us with a sheltered pick up truck which installed with two benches installed at the back (no air-con). Similar to above, they would go to other hotels to pick up other guests, hence the journey from Ao Nang to the designated boat terminal varies.

Once we reached the designated terminal, we have to wait another few cars which carries other guests and apparently we have to wait one of the car which was late for more than 2 hour and some of the guests were unhappy and cancel the trip and requested for a refund. We also thought of cancelling the trip but we thought of wasting time to travel here again tomorrow, hence we just waited and proceed.

Instead of longtail boat as per what we have paid, we took the speed boat and it cuts the travelling time.

(i) Our first island - for photo taking only

 

 

                             

(ii) Our second island - for snorkeling and having lunch (lunch provided by the tour agent)

                      
                      
                      
                             
                              
                     
(iii) Our third island - cannot alight here, just take pics from the boat

                      
(iv) Our forth island - can swim here and it has benches for people to sit while having snacks and toilet.

                     

                     
                     
                     
The island hopping ended after the forth island trip around 3pm. On the journey back, we were given a tin which we passed around to give tips for our tour guide. For hubby and i, since we had kayaking, we did not alight with the rest of the guests and being transferred to Ao Thalene.

3) Kayaking
Since my husband and i traveled to Krabi in May (rainy season), it was not advisable to do Kayaking in open sea. Hence we opt to Kayak in Ao Thalene.

It was my first Kayaking and it was not easy as it used a lot of arm muscle. However the view at Ao Thalene was breathtaking. The guide who brought us to Kayak was super good, he was funny and patient. He brought us to the mangrove and took a break in the middle of the sea where there were thousands of crabs and starfish. 

                             
                     
Ao Nang Beach
We walked along Ao Nang Beach for some photo taking.
  
Random place nearby our hotel



Food
1) AoNang Boat Noodle
This place is located few minutes away from our Hotel AoNang Cliff Beach Resort.
We were seated on the 2nd floor and the place was made from bamboo, hence it makes us feel colder than the outside temperature.

Our First meal in Krabi was at this place. We tried few dishes (ie Boat noodles soup with Pork, Grilled Pork, Tom yum soup and Thai iced milk tea). Our fav was Grilled Pork as it was cripsy and yet juicy. Both soups were good too. They also gave us watermelon as dessert.

After trying other places for our other meals, we came back to this place again for our lunch on the 2nd last day. We ordered Papaya salad Thai spicy, Fried spicy kale with grilled pork, Green curry, Coconut shake and Green tea with lemon shake.
Green curry is too sweet for our taste and we preferred the Grilled Pork instead of with the vegetable as it was less crispy. For drink, i opt for Coconut shake instead of Green tea with lemon shake.

 2) Street stall Food

When we were looking for a place for dinner, we saw some people at this stall and decided to give it a try. 

Review: the place is alongside the road, hence please be aware of the mosquito around.  The food is normal and not worth to go back.

  

  

3) Bangboo Seafood Restaurant

We decided to give this place a try because we saw a lot of people was eating there.

Review: We have to wait for very long for our food to be served and the food served were warm instead of hot. The taste wise was normal and the price is at the higher side compared to Ao Nang Boat Noodle which served better food.

  

4) Mango Shake and Banana pancake with chocolate filling

I heard the banana pancake with chocolate filling is famous in Krabi, so decided to give it a try.

There were a lot of stalls nearby our hotel.

Review: The skin is similar to our prata in Singapore but thinner and crispier. The combination of banana and chocolate is nice. Please try it when you are there.

For drink, we opted for mango shake. It was because the weather in Krabi is super hot and Thailand is famous for its mango. So kill 2 birds with 1 stone.

5) Coconut ice cream

Another famous snack from Krabi is Coconut Ice Cream and there were some of stalls selling it nearby our hotel.

Review: It is refreshing but the portion is quite small, please order 1 per pax if you want to be fully satisfied.

Massage
AttA-Rak
This place is higly recommended from the TripAdvisor and blogs. Despite there were so many massage places nearby, we decided to give this place a try.
I love massage and i always try to always go for massage in every places that i visited.

Review: The front desk is located in the basement. There is a booklet with different prices for different type of massages and all written in english. My hubby and i picked the Back and Shoulder and Hand & Foot Massage for a total of 1.5 hours.
We were given a hot ginger drink before our massage and a towel to refresh ourselves. Thereafter we were directed to a place for us to soak our feet and foot scrub. Thereafter we were directed to a room for our massage, each bed is divided by a cloth as a curtain.
The massage was good and i felt rejuvenated after that.

  

  

Thank you for reading my blog and hopefully it helps in your planning trip.

For our Krabi Trip video to show more scenery, please go to my hubby's youtube found in Krabi Trip.