A Taste of Tokyo (Day 1 & 2, 12-13 July 2011)

Moshi moshi!

Here I am in Tokyo, somewhere I've always bugged Nick about letting me tag along on one of his business trips to no avail, but I've made it on my own, thanks to an event that Misys is sponsoring.

My boss had been traveling the past month and was also concerned about the radiation after the March 11 earthquake, so I volunteered, heh heh. The best bit is, I've got one of my gal pals for company - Joanne decided to tag along on a whim, and brought little Rayhan too.

And the bonus is that Rena is also in town, our trips overlapping by a couple of days and so we all met for dinner this evening.

I spent the day overseeing our booth at GMS 2011, where our consultants and sales manager conducted demos and generated leads plus we had two presentations at the forum. Had lunch with my colleagues Reiko and Sumiko but we ate Japanese-Chinese food!



Joanne and Ray managed to find their way to Disneyland and spent the day there, melting in the sun.

When I returned to the hotel, Rena and her travel companion Flora were waiting in our room and after a quick change, we left and wandered around the Shimbashi train station trying to decide what to eat. In the end, we decided to take the JR Yamanote line to Shibuya, where we saw the famous crossing at the Hachiko exit.



That done, we tried to locate a Burberry Blue Label outlet nearby but failed and ended up at a restaurant along Meiji Dori where everything is 270 yen. Deciphering the touch-screen menu was a little challenging, luckily they had a Nepalese waiter who spoke English.



Flora was really taken with Ray and patiently entertained him while me and Rena binged. Ray was a handful and refused to eat, we all had to take turns distracting him with our phones and cameras so he would open his mouth and eat some rice!

The food was alright, a tad salty. Had myself some Japanese beer, think it was Asahi. Then it was back to our respective hotels, Joanne made plans to meet Rena and Flora tomorrow while I work, so at least she has some company while she sightsees!

Yesterday we arrived late in the evening. It was my first time on the A380, I found the flight pretty smooth.



We took the airport limousine bus to town, we were too late for the direct one to Daichi Hotel Tokyo, and took one that brought us close enough, to Imperial Hotel. From there we hopped on a cab to the hotel, it was only a couple of traffic lights away but the starting meter is 710 yen or about SGD 11.


After checking out the room (love the amenities provided and automated toilet bowl!), we went in search of food and ended up at a little restaurant beneath the train tracks opposite the hotel.



Ray was cranky from all that travel, Joanne and him have a love-hate relationship! One minute she's smacking him for misbehaving, the next she's sayanging him! LOL! Had some soba noodles and fried rice, food was too salty for my liking but it did its job.



Tomorrow is another day of work, and then I am on leave on Friday to sightsee and we depart on Saturday evening, giving us half a day to sightsee some more and shop.

Babes in Bintan (Day 3, 10 July)

Home sweet home!

Didn't do much today before checking out. Some folks went swimming but we just chilled in our room and packed. I had cramps and Sasha had her fever.


Lunch was a leisurely affair since we had time to kill before the ferry transfer. The kids played bingo while the adults whacked the buffet.



Before we knew it, time had run out and we made our way to the ferry terminal via the hotel shuttle. Unfortunately the factory outlet near the ferry terminal had moved so we just sat down and waited.



The ferry itself was nice, think it was called Aria Bupala. The ride was smooth despite the rain, the kids were hungry by the time we arrived at Tanah Merah. Thank goodness for mummy, she had made their dinner and brought it over to my house without being asked!

Babes in Bintan (Day 2, 9 July)

What a packed day!

Right after breakfast, we had a little cake-cutting and sing-song near the lobby for Vim and Kevin. Swana had brought a Cedele sugee cake and her colleague Cherie made some Cancerian crab ornaments to embellish. Nat tried to restrain Gigi from stealing some cake before it was cut, to no avail. Gigi just brushed her off and gobbled a piece before nonchalantly saying, "I do already", and shrugging her shoulders!



We then walked to the resort centre to check out the facilities and entertainment area. There was archery, shooting, a large trampoline, horse-riding and an elephant park. Kenny bought 3 horse rides but in the end, only Riley was brave enough to go for a ride so me and Kaelash used up the rest.


It was a little hard to keep my balance, the horse was just a pony and I felt like I was torturing her!

Next were the elephants, we were too cheapskate to buy rides and just viewed them from far but a couple of caretakers brought their elephants close to us and encouraged us to sit and take photos, and Nick gave them a small tip after. Nat was terrified but didn't cry. The skins felt really rough, but the elephants themselves were gentle.


Back at the resort centre, we decided to bowl. The hotel had given us some complimentary games and we formed 2 teams. My team was doing well but the other team caught up towards the end. Kenny is a serious bowler, and I actually managed to knock some pins. I even got a strike! The kids kept cheering for us and in between we fed them lunch from the food court.


After a short siesta, some of us gathered on the beach. Sasha had a mild fever from her jab given the week before, we had anticipated it and kept her out of the water, even though she was itching to get in. Nat opted to blow bubbles and play with sand.



The guys took a group photo, comparing who had the biggest tummy...if Kevin had been there, he would have won! Nick stood out like a sore thumb, manjan with no tummy!


Next was a dip in the pool, didn't stay too long because Nat was showing signs of a runny nose.


Dinner was at The Kelong, we had to hop on the resort shuttle and luckily I had made a reservation because it was packed. We split into two tables, some of the dishes were alright but it was mainly average fare. Kaelash had a NUS coupon for 20% F&B discounts so we made the most of it.


At one point when I brought Nat to see the fish tanks, a fish escaped from the net it was in and flopped on the floor. The waiter soon caught hold of it, but at least Nat got a bit of a show.

The designated girls' night turned out to be a non-event, everyone was tired from the long day and I ended up just chatting for a bit with my sister in her room before returning to mine.

Babes in Bintan (Day 1, 8 July)

We are on our first family holiday, actually there's more than just the 4 of us, we're in a group of 22! 15 adults and 7 kids, namely:

1) Nick, me, Sasha, Nat and Wendy
2) Kevin, Swana, Gigi
3) Kaelash, Jeanette, Riley
4) Kavi, Ananya, Khin
5) Vim, Ajen, Diya
6) Jalen, Judy
7) Kenny, Felina, Sarah

It's taken a couple of months to plan, I helped make the Nirwana Resort and ferry arrangements. Because there are travel trade folks and NUS staff among us, all our rooms were booked at a very good rate i.e. 155 nett per night for travel trade and 160 nett for NUS vs the internet rate of 195++. Plus, with 20 or more passengers, we got $4 off the ferry prices as a group booking.



We were late getting to the ferry terminal this morning though, Swana was late picking us up...Kevin was a tad hungover. But eventually we reached and got ourselves checked in together. There was a slight delay with the ferry departure but the ride was uneventful. The kids were all excited and no one got seasick.



We were too early to check in, only a couple of rooms were ready so we killed time by having a buffet lunch, where we bumped into Andre Achak. Nick, Kaelash and Kenny all knew him from some Catholism classes. Nat and Gigi skipped their nap and once everyone's rooms were sorted, we hit the pool.



Finally Sasha is used to the water, she didn't want to leave at the end! Nat was super-clingy and scared though, took a while to warm up.


Once everyone got ready for dinner, we hopped on the resort shuttle to bring us to the resort centre which housed a food court. It was funny because the ride lasted all of 30 secs, just up a slope in front of the hotel when everyone was expecting to travel some distance.

The food court looked kind of dead though, we were the only ones around. Prices ranged between $7-12, and the Japanese food was pretty decent. Fed the kids teriyaki rice and had a bowl of ramen for myself. Gigi was so sleepy, she fell asleep as soon as Kevin held her.


We had designated tonight as the boys night out...with the kids and all, had to take turns for some adult get-togethers. The boys ended up sitting at the cafe chatting about politics and housing, and polished off a bottle of duty-free vodka.

The girls gathered in Judy's room, which was adjoined to Felina's. Riley, Gigi and Diya were put to sleep by their mommies and then we indulged in juicier conversation topics and managed to finish a bottle of vodka too.


After midnight, we wished Vim a happy birthday and took turns to find the boys and wish Kevin too. Part of the reason we picked this weekend to go was because it coincided with their birthdays.


Jeanette was a tad high, it was quite amusing especially when it came to debating certain subjects which arose in our girly conversations and we wanted to get the guys' perspectives. Men are really from Mars!

Lost

Mitra is in town and he came over for lunch at 110 today, along with Anju and Jana who was also in town. Jana has been appointed the new director at the Institute of Policy Studies so he will be spending even more time here.



Aunty Sarda, Aunty Susi and Ma split the cooking and we had a relaxing afternoon just chatting and talking politics...what else! Mitra and Jana had not seen the kids for a while and were amazed at how they've grown.

There was more entertaining yesterday evening at my house. Baba and Aunty Irene came over for dinner, she wanted to collect the Prada bag I helped her buy in Florence.

Earlier in the day, I went to collect Sasha's first passport from ICA. Had a scare when the officer asked for my IC, I couldn't find my wallet in my bag and panicked! I knew I had it just 15 mins prior when I paid for the cab but somewhere in between I lost it.

I retraced my steps back to the security scanner and entrance to no avail, but when I reached the main road, there was my Miu Miu wallet lying by the side of the road. Phew!

I know I was really lucky no one spotted it for 15 whole minutes, the good thing was the grey colour blended with the road, plus we had alighted before the taxi stand so less people passing by that particular spot. 'Heng' ah!

L is for...

...Lau Pa Sat.


It wasn't supposed to be though, we had settled on dinner at Liang Seah Street after work but I ran late at work and he offered to come to my area instead and what the heck, Lau Pa Sat started with 'L'!

I ordered some satay from Fatman Satay (nothing great!) and he had mee goreng and I had bee hoon goreng. Conversation was limited, because we were sharing a table with some strangers.



As Swana and Kevin were babysitting, I offered to get milkshakes from Once Upon A Milkshake at Maxwell and we had dessert there. While I was on the line checking with Swana on what she wanted, she exclaimed that Nat had just puked on her.



I contemplated not telling Nick so as not to worry him and tried to leave the place as fast as possible without rousing his suspicion but he was actually content to linger on at OUAM and so I told him the news to get him off his butt!

Worked like a charm, he got all frenzied and drove like a madman home, all the while asking me to call and check on the situation, even when we were downstairs! Turned out to be a one-off, not gastric flu or anything, phew.

Run, Sasha, Run

Sasha has ants in her pants, the girl just cannot sit still! Having barely mastered walking, she is constantly running all around the house, falls are common because she tip-toes! When she feels pain, she'll hold her head and beat the floor.



Her vocabulary is increasing, she can say clock, bus, moon, star, cloud, colour and point to a bunch of things in her books. She says 'milk' when she sees her feeds, and when done drinking she'll say 'no more' and command you to 'cover' the bottle. She snorts and moos, she can't say 'cat' but will say 'meow' when she sees one.

She says 'mummy' with a slang i.e. 'Ma-may', she can recognise 'mama' and 'Nani' too. When she wants something, she'll demand, "I want, I want" and when she wants to get down from being carried, it's "walk walk".



She loves Twinkle Twinkle Little Star'. When I sing "Ring-a-ring-a-rosy', she will twirl and flop on her bum at the word 'down', which she shouts out herself. She climbs like a monkey on the gate or the playpen, an accident just waiting to happen!

She's no longer vegetarian, she's ok with chicken now. Have started giving her more chunkier textures. She's gotten pretty attached to Wendy while I was away, am trying to stake back my claim!