No longer airing my dirty laundry

Technically, I used to air washed laundry :p

Having a dryer is a wonderful thing. Really. All the time I used to spend hanging up laundry, shifting the drying racks depending on the weather and checking for dryness was such a waste! 

In our first home, our dryer was stacked on top of the washer. We didn't have a stacking rack, just placed a tailored plank from carpenter on top of the washer, and put the dryer on. But it was impossible to clean the floor under the combo coz it was too heavy to move. When we had to change the washer, it was a nightmare. When we had to repair the dryer, it was also a nightmare.

So for our home now, I decided I want my washer and dryer together. The downside is that our selected dryer model does not allow us to install the door such that it opens in the opposite way as the washer. 

But I already have two Ikea Samla 45L boxes for clean laundry. So I just use a box to hold the west laundry, and pull the box over to the dryer to throw in the clothes. As I like to shake out each item instead of letting each be crumply wet, this setup is much better than the stacked setup where I would have to bend up and down 50 times! Yes, that's roughly the number of clothing items every full load!

These Ikea boxes are really good. Just the right size of a full load of laundry. I bought only one lid though. I put clothes for ironing in a covered box as I don't iron every day now. The box without a lid stacks nicely on the covered box. When I need to mop, the stack of two goes on top of my dryer.

They are also easy to carry. I have to carry Sito's and my clothes for folding to our room to fold. We didn't install the common counter over washer/dryer in our laundry room as I thought it silly to make the machines less accessible for maintenance AND collect dust on the machine!

Yes, we have a dedicated laundry room!

That was the scene after ironing one day. This room gets the afternoon sun so it's perfect, though the direction of the sun alternates every six months.

But when the autumn solstice came this year, I decided that it was too hot when I wasn't drying anything so I put up an extendable rod and hung up an unused shower curtain to protect the machines and my Robot-kun charger.

Come come, let me introduce my favourite room :p

The basin is the biggest, good-looking basin we could find. It's for washing stains off before throwing into the washer. I also wash shoes and Robot-kun parts there. Basically the mud sink. But you know the usual mud sinks look horrible :p Various cloths are hung near or on it - for drying hands, wiping machines, toilet rags etc.

There's a thin movable rack between the washer the wall under the window, where I store detergent, laundry sanitiser, stain removers, bleach for cleaning the washer etc.

The washer looks lower than the dryer coz the roller stands can't take the washer drum vibrations! I can still clean around the washer but at some point, I would need to shift it to clean under it.

The wall rack was useful for me to hang up ironed clothes and also various items to be hung dry, like Sito's jogging clothes (too small a load for the dryer), Kai's school tie, schoolbags and shoes. I can turn the arms so that they go outside the window - great for things that drip and/or need more sun!

The ironing board and iron go into the cabinet on the right edge of the photo, along with other cleaning materials and stores of various stuff which I don't even know where to start describing so I shan't :p The side wall is great to hang up my Magiclean sweeper.

The three baskets in the foreground are for the kids' clean clothes. Each kid will bring his own clothes back to fold. I still hang other clothes for them - that may change if they become more gentle in future, else I fear for my wall rack!

Oh, the small stool is for me to sit on while I move clothes into and out of the machines. And to clean Robot-kun. 

Think this is also the first house tour for our home. Hope to get down to more :)

Gastro-intestinal issues

On 1 November last year, I had a shock when I went to pee. My pantyliner was yellow with - what?! Then I saw oil floating in the toilet bowl. It looked black but the toilet paper showed yellow so should be it.

It turned out that I leaked oil when I, um, flatulated. Such a polite word. I should just say "farted".

I continued to leak oil in the next three mornings. I don't know why there was nothing in the afternoons. After that, nothing until 9 March when I had oily poop. I continued to have oily poop for the next three days but only one episode of leaking oil when farting.

I went to the polyclinic on 2 November coz this was such an inconvenient bodily malfunction! Imagine if I were in the office?! Did an amylase test but all was fine. When I went back for a review one week later, I was referred to a gastro specialist at Alexander Hospital.

During the specialist appointment on 13 February, I brought up four issues - might as well!

1. Oily gas and poop
2. Cramps just before passing gas/poop sometimes - first instance after delivering Kai
3. Tummy ache with cold water
4. Gastric pain despite eating

Doc sent me for a CT scan and recommended gastroscopy and colonoscopy.

Had my CT scan on 20 March. Was injected with dye via an IV line. Nothing complicated. Doc called me two days later to say things look fine but my womb looked swollen so she would refer me to a gynae. I told her I decided to proceed with the scopes so she arranged those for me (I tried calling but the wait!) and postponed consultation until after that.

And now, I'm going to give a detailed breakdown of having the scopes. I hope someone who is anxious about getting these procedures may find it helpful...

So I finally had the scopes done on Friday, 7 June. Right after our anniversary lunch on 3 June, I had to stick to a restricted diet - from 4 June, I could not have vege and fruits, milk and soy products and red meat. I was given a brochure with the list of oks and not-oks when I went to collect the laxative - oh yeah, laxative, keep reading...

The diet was torturous!

Now, I'm not such a foodie. But I felt awful that I couldn't have the usual things. It's one thing if I decide to not eat. But you know, when you tell me to not think of a lizard, I'll keep thinking of a lizard *.*

So I had bread with butter, chicken noodle soup without vege, kosong instant noodles, mee hoon kway, hardboiled eggs and chicken rice. For drinks, I had only water and plain tea. I'm glad I like my tea kosong. I can't have my usual coffee without milk. Everything else, I feasted with my eyes by watching short reels on cooking...

Actually 6 June was pretty sad. I wanted chicken rice like for 5 June but the stall was closed! Luckily I had kosong instant noodles in the pantry and hardboiled eggs in the fridge. Must eat by 5 pm that day coz I had to clear my bowels from 7 pm. How?

With these!

I was supposed to finish four packs of the Fortrans with four litres of water from 7 pm to 11 pm. I had to "save" water from the afternoon so that the water could all be at room temperature - this was the only time I thought a water filter would be useful, no need to keep boiling water!

I also had to dissolve the Fortrans laxative in batches in my 500ml measuring jug as it was tricky pouring the white powder directly into the tall flask with its small mouth. These Ikea flasks have 1L capacity so just nice for one pack of Fortrans.

But four litres are really a lot of water to drink in such a short time. I'm not used to drinking even two litres throughout the day! The drink tasted like flat 100 plus but less sweet so not terribly nice too. Worse, from 8.20 pm, I started pooping madly, like every 10 min for the next hour before the frequency began to reduce, partly coz I was lagging behind in drinking...

By 9.30 pm, I was seriously falling behind in drinking. Eventually, I finished 3.5 litres by 11.30 pm. JY told me she skipped one whole pack of Fortrans. And I figured my bowels looked clear by 9 plus anyway. I'm not sure if water going through the intestine would just look yellow or if it was the Fortrans - but later when I wiped the table, I found that the wet powder was a little yellow on the cloth.

I managed to go to sleep at midnight, but woke to poop a few times. Even in the morning, I had to poop before I left the house. By then, I had poop some 20 times! Really 屁股开花 already... 

Btw, I had no anxiety. The desire to eat what I wanted filled my every braincell. No more cells to consider the risks, which are minimal anyway. That and the poop made me just want to get it over and done with.

My appointment was 10.30 am but I had to arrive at 9.30 am for preps. I changed into a kimono covering a surgical gown in a handicapped toilet - I wish they had a proper changing room... I was given a big plastic bag to keep my clothes and bag. I read an e-book until the nurse came to get me and cable-tied my bag, leaving me with only my reading glasses and slippers. My hair remained tied up, no hair cover.

Then they gave me Fliumicil to clear bubbled in my stomach, and inserted a straw in my right hand which would be where they gave me the sedative later. But the nurse warned me - my blood pressure was too low to be given the full sedative so I might not be knocked out!

Indeed, I couldn't be knocked out.

My plastic bag and slippers went under my trolley bed. A nurse removed my disposable underwear and another sprayed a numbing solution at my throat. I was to keep it there and swallowed only when told - bitter. I'm connected to a blood pressure reading machine. A mouth guard kept my mouth open while I lay down on my left. A nurse held my head still. 

We started with the stomach scope. The scope was a black tube of maybe 1.5cm diameter. I felt it a little but it wasn't painful. But as it moved, I could feel it going through to the stomach. 

And I could see the inside of my stomach! At one point, I saw lots of folds. Gosh, I could eat a lot and the stomach could take it :p Then I saw a thin orange tube going into the black scope. It emerged again on the screen and I saw the metal clip at the end. It pulled at a cute little blob in my stomach. 

Next, my bed was turned 180 degrees as my bum would now face the machine with the scope. I couldn't see but I trusted that they changed the scope? Haha!

Doctor said she would apply some gel first. I didn't really feel it. Also didn't feel the scope until she started pumping air inside to open up the colon. That was painful! It was like the cramps I feel sometimes when I need to poop/fart but this time, I couldn't!

The doctor had told me to just fart before she pumped the gas but I couldn't. Had to bear with the pain. A nurse held my belly to help manipulate the scope from the outside. Another nurse came to pat pat me and encouraged me to fart. 

But finally, it was over. No more gas. Doctor sprayed in water instead to remove remnant poop (I could see on the screen - yellow mucousy stuff) so that she could see better. No pain. 

Then the nurse put back my underwear and led me out to the resting area. As I was wheeled out, I could see a big cylinder of yellow solution - probably sucked out when doctor was spraying water inside.

At the resting area, I saw the uncle before him sipping Milo and eating biscuits. Strangely, I wasn't hungry at that time. When my drip finally finished, the nurse sat me up and gave me the same food. So nice to sip on hot Milo coz it was so cold there! 

The nurse went through the scopes with me and showed me photos taken. So I had a polyp in the stomach - yes, the cute little blob - from which the doctor had removed tissue for testing. There was also an inflamed part. Colon all ok. Then I could go.

But I had to make a trip to the toilet - last watery poop! But I continued to feel the peristalsis of the colon until the night...

At the follow-up visit this morning, I recorded 56/48 blood pressure - crazy auto machine! Anyway, doctor said the histology of the polyp had not come back but at the size of 1 cm, she recommended removing it regardless of the result. She couldn't remove it that day coz it would take more time, with a slightly higher chance of bleeding given the size, and I wasn't knocked out.

While waiting for her to schedule the scope to remove the polyp, the histology report came back - ok but may not be representative of the polyp given the small sample. I was reading that a small % of stomach polyps may become cancerous so ya, better to remove.

Waited a while more and got a date - subject to changes as they had to coordinate with an anaesthetist as well coz must put me under. Asked them to avoid PSLE dates :p

Now to tie back to the original reason for seeing the doctor? No conclusion, sighs... Everything looks fine except for the polyp. Maybe it's destined for the polyp to be discovered like this? Hope I don't get the oily farts/poop anymore...

First trip to Kiztopia

The kids had no school on 1 March every year, thanks to Founder's Day. This year, we decided to try out Kiztopia. 

The ticketing info online wasn't very clear if the ticket with a kid's meal was for unlimited playtime on weekdays so we decided to buy on the spot. As it turned out, 1) it was for unlimited playtime, and 2) the price increased from 1 March, sighs... So we paid $49.40 for each kid. That's $148.20 for three, ouch...

But we were there from 10 am to 4 pm, including a quick lunch. Better than a two-hour movie for $50 for five of us before popcorn?

Major ball pit!

Basketball on trampoline? Sure!

Kai's and Yang's socks were from the now-defunct NERF Action Xperience and Yu' were from Kai's trip to SuperPark a few years back.

They still enjoyed toddler play!

A s l o w moving train...

Yu sat down further in front. Kai decided to go all the way back. Yu wanted to join him but found that there was no space - Kai took up the whole carriage coz he's so big! At first, I was worried that Kai might find it less fun coz on 29 Feb, he said he couldn't understand what his brothers were playing (neither could I!) and asked Papa for a paper to do...!

Lunch at Kith

They all had fish fingers - Yang didn't like it so exchanged with Yu's fries. None of them liked the watermelon juice but thirsty Kai had his and Yang's. Sito took Yu's. I ordered a coffee for myself but it wasn't very nice...

I wouldn't pay the full $14.95 price for the kid's meals. So bought the meal inclusive ticket for an additional $3-ish. Had to fill these kids up. We all had breakfast at the hawker centre in the morning so Sito and I just pecked at their unwanted corn niblets and leftovers - we didn't jump around like the kids... 

Sito and I mostly sat at the benches near the train. The kids came over for water every so often. We took turns to see the kids play and check out the place. The toilets are just outside - slippers are provided so we didn't have to change out of our socks.

Later, we also found a water dispenser in the baby care room on the way to the toilets. Perfect coz the kids ran out of water!

We also had some fun :)

我的大白兔！

We wore our masks coz cold... 

It was 4pm when we left. The kids thought they didn't play enough. Yu wanted to turn back time, haha! But within 10 min of leaving, they got hungry *.*

Found Seoul Garden. If we had been 40 min earlier, we would have saved $35 *.* And then we forgot to use a $10 voucher.. But we enjoyed the dinner :) Sito and I haven't been there in some 20 years!

Concentrating on cooking his teriyaki chicken

Enjoying their meals with different expressions after cooking their own teriyaki chicken

Needless to say, they had their fill of ice cream! When Yu couldn't eat anymore, he offered to get ice cream for his parents - I already had enough but Sito obliged. I took a cup of coffee though. Happy :) But I had to stop at Commonwealth MRT coz tummy ache :p 

Checking out the water wheel on the way to City Hall MRT station

The small monkey is always scratching his back! I think he was the sweatiest baby. His hair was glistening the whole time in Kiztopia!

Anyway, I think we won't go back to Kiztopia any time soon. They can play whole day but the bench isn't that comfy for the parents!

Row, row, row your boat...

It was not a paddle boat; it was a cruise ship 16 floors high!

Almost a year back, the grands went cruising over the New Year and before the end of the cruise, decided to book another one and asked if we wanted to join. Back then, COVID restrictions were stricter but ok, why not?! 

With no restrictions now, the only downside was the crowds. But let me start from the top...

Day 1 - Thursday, 24 Nov

Ours was the 5D4N round trip to Penang and Phuket on Spectrum of the Seas by Royal Caribbean. We booked the 11.00 am check-in and were right on time. But it was too crowded at the taxi drop-off point to meet the grands so we went in after dropping off our suitcase. In the end, we didn't manage to check in together with the grands which led to some messiness.

Five of us were split into two rooms to combine with the grands to get senior discount :p When we checked in, the staff issued our room / ID cards called Sea Pass but the grands did not get theirs. After we boarded, JieJie got them to reissue and our old cards had to be discarded. Tip: All in the same room should check in together.

Anyway, the cruise check-in happened before immigration. Then the cruise collected our passport and directed us to a safety briefing upon boarding. And the fun started!

Our rooms were not ready yet so we headed for a buffet lunch at Silver Dining. Now, there are various dining options, depending on your room class. We were in Sky Suite so all the complimentary dining options were available to us. The dining settings at all the complimentary dining rooms were western, i.e. bread plate, forks and knives, and glasses. I had to give the kids a quick lesson the day before coz we eat local - no knife!

4G wasn't working properly even though we were still in SG. But we managed to connect to the cruise wifi over lunch using our check-in details. Wifi was part of our package so quite convenient. Even the kids got online with their own phone later.

After lunch, we registered the kids at Adventure Ocean aka kids' club before heading to our rooms on deck 13. We anyhow entered a room and later switched with Mum coz each room was set up according to the number registered - Kai and Yang were to bunk in with Mum and Dad, and Yu with us.

Going up the gangway

Kai relaxing...

A partition in the room separated the bed with a sitting area where the long sofa was converted into a bed at turndown. Two TVs but rarely used. Two entries to the bathroom but I locked one to be safe! Two basins with mirror in the bathroom so you can see your expressions as you poop *.* Haha! Yu wanted to use the bathtub but no, very cold...

Coincidentally, the boys and AhYe wore matching shirts!

We went searching for adventures. The Seaplex had a lot of things going on. We didn't have sneakers on so didn't bother with the sports in the middle. Found a motion game that the kids couldn't get enough of. Then Yang agreed to try archery - not easy!

Yu in mid jump in a motion game

Pose with resting bumper cars - when they were set up later, the queue was too long and we didn't join in

The kids didn't eat much for lunch so had hotdog buns for a snack

Very happy :)

After a few tries, he shot down a ball, yeah!

Kai found rock climbing which became his fave activity

Photo source: Dad or Ah Yee

Yu climbed pandas *.*

Foosball!

"The slides were super fun!"

Yang looked a bit big for this slide?

But we didn't go back to the slides after this time. Maybe too small, too short. Maybe there's a guide and a queue. The kids preferred to stay in the pool instead. Kai said it was deeper than he was tall so it was better than at home. Ah well!

The cruise set off while we were in the pool, about 4.30 pm. By the time we got to Gold Dining for dinner, we were somewhere out there. 

Sunset from the lounge area

Cheers!

Two of use couldn't get in the picture above so here we are!

Btw, that mojito was probably my first cocktail since I was first pregnant?! Very pleased with this happy hour drinks thingy :)

Yang's steak

Yu's burger

Kai's bolognese

Photo source: Probably Dad :p

Yu got a banana split but he couldn't eat 10% of it!

Sito and I had scallop and lobster minestrone soup, and a filet mignon. Desserts were molten chocolate cake and apple pie.

JieJie arranged to celebrate Mum and Dad's 50th wedding anniversary - champagne and cake :)

Next on our itinerary was Silk Road, a show like Cirque due Soleil. Each guest was allowed one reservation for this show. To be honest, I couldn't understand much of it *.* Just watch interesting parts like the contortionist.

Posing just before the start of the show

But that wasn't the end - Sito grabbed some pizza for supper, haha!

Day 2 - Friday, 25 Nov

The night before, the kids played games on their phone after showering and slept very late. I don't know about Kai and Yang, but Yu slept in. He got up on his own at 7.00 am for water and asked what was for breakfast but went back to sleep without responding to my reply :p

So Sito did some work on the balcony

My sleepy baby

Watching TV but he posed for me when I asked :p

As Sito had more work to do, I eventually brought Yu to the bumper car myself. The session started ahead of time so even though we were early, we had to wait a few sessions. But we managed to skip a session as they had one car with no takers - I'm a seasoned single rider so I jumped at the opportunity! Yu's legs weren't long enough so he held the wheel while I stretched a leg over to the pedal :p

Sito arrived just in time to take photos!

Finally time for breakfast - honeydew, watermelon, Taiwan sausages and milk for this one!

We eventually met up with the rest. Kai had done a couple of rounds of rock climbing. I joined him in the queue but just before our turn, it poured! So sad... Had to cheer up with lunch - steak sandwich, brownie and apple crumble all for me! Sito came to lunch later due to work :( 

He made an angry face - this was before the rain!

We approached Penang over lunch. As Adventure Ocean was first-come-first-served, we very kiasu and reached there before 2 pm opening time. I had packed extra mask, tissue, Sea Pass, jacket and water bottle in their bag. But we were told they would only need their jacket. Tip: Adventure Ocean provides everything! And, tip: kids do not need to hold on to Sea Pass!

Then we went back to the room to rest until it was time to disembark. Actually, we were nua-ing and only realised we could go down when we saw people walking outside from the balcony! Seemed like we missed the announcement in the public area; couldn't hear well from inside the room.

We booked 90-min foot massage via WhatsApp earlier in the week - RM78! Walked 30 min to get there and it was so worth it! We also found other places - 90 min for RM68-88. My legs cramped up as usual but this time was quite bad so I skipped the 10-min shoulder at the end coz the low seat made my cramps worse.

Passed by street art and a food street on our way back to the ship. Had fried carrot cake with duck egg - my first duck egg!

My rickshaw uncle :)

"Want a ride?" "Let me think about it..."

Wrapped in paper

Despite the carrot cake, we went to Silver for dinner - no kids! No "sit up straight", "stay in your seat", "don't speak with your mouth full" etc :p 

It was supposed to be formal but it didn't look like anyone bothered! Tip: No need to pack formal gear.

Had crab cake, hee :) Then we picked up the kids. Meal times at Adventure Ocean = pizza only... But our kids love pizza! 

When we dropped them off, they were in the same room. When we picked up them, Kai was in another room coz, I guess, more kids in his age group arrived. The boys said there were 11 kids in total. Means many families brought their kids to Penang. Well, not guilty :p

This evening, we went for another show - The Effectors. We had popcorn which was gone before the show even started but it didn't matter coz the show was so good! All boys were watching with interest. But Yang dozed off towards the end - think too tired, poor thing...

The day of the week could be found in every lift - Yu discovered that the tile could be changed :)

Waiting for the show to start

As we left the theatre, Yu saw the guy rounding off each show. Think that was the creative director? Anyway, Yu just suddenly turned to him and asked where he lived! The guy said he lived on the ship :) Yu seemed ok with the answer and left. So cute!

Mum and Dad watched the later show. I got the kids to go to bed at 10.30 pm as it was going to be an early day. Us too. Apparently, Kai and Yang were asleep by the time the grands were back :)

Day 3 - Saturday, 26 Nov

Yu slept in every day. I learnt to wake him when I heard Sito start the shower, got him to take his vitamins, and wash up so that we would be ready to go when Papa was done. So we were always the last to get to breakfast. 

This day, we had to be up early coz our shore excursion meeting time was 8.15 am. The thing was, Adventure Ocean opened at 9 am. During pickup on Friday, I asked about this and was told about early bird. When I called the desk, I was told to call back later but before 10 pm. When I called at 10 pm, I was told to call back the next morning at 8 am. When I called at 8 am, I got the voicemail! 

Tip: Call the concierge which linked me to the manager for Adventure Ocean. He got my request and promised to call back in 10 min and he did - to say we could bring the kids over right away!

The kids were eating / fooling around so we took them while the grands went to prep for excursion

After dropping the kids off, we went to the Royal Theatre to find the grands, and waited for our bus number to be called. A tender boat brought us to Patong beach where we boarded our excursion bus. First stop was a cashew nut factory where I learnt that cashew nuts are individually yielded from the plant - a lot of work! 

Then we visited a private museum with lots of old stuff like spittoons, typewriters, gramophones and tingkats - yes, all in the plural! Also strolled along the streets for a while. Bought mango sticky rice and mango smoothie - oh so good! 

Next were two temples - Big Buddha and Chalong. Couldn't see the Buddha relic at Chalong very well but Mum put it very well - it had seen us!

Lone bird on the beach as we approached on the pier

A sculpture of a cashew nut - just the tip attached to the big fruit

Love these spittoons!

Very nice skies and views coz it was on higher ground

The massages were very tempting at only $10 for an hour?! But we didn't have a lot of time and we were tired from the sun, even though it was drizzling a little near the museum. So we went back to the ship. But we did not get the kids immediately, heh :p

First, we had hotdogs

Then we went for a trivial - kids were better at this!

Random poses in the casino!

All closed coz we were not in open seas

I looked like I was touching the nose but I wasn't :p

My foot! :p

At dinner, the serving staff was so kind to ask after the kids but no, we decided to pick them up after dinner :p They had pizza for lunch and for dinner, oops... But did I mention they like pizza? :p

We wanted to go for the magic show but Yu needed to poop so I sent him back to the room. Sito came back too as there weren't enough seats. We tried to catch the afternoon show but again this boy had to poop *.* Ah well, his brothers enjoyed the show, as expected, and despite their complaints of "a show again?!"

Brought Yu to eat instead - Sito ate too :p

This boy ate quite a bit of fruits

Then we went for karaoke! 

Yu waited patiently with us. So when he asked to play games on his phone, I agreed immediately. Needless to say, it was another late night...

Oh, after the first day, I wore my jacket whenever I was indoors. The aircon was quite cold and I developed a runny nose. I also packed a jacket for Sito but he never used it. Kai and Yang used theirs in Adventure Ocean while Yu used his often. Tip: Pack accordingly next time!

Day 4 - Sunday, 27 Nov

We started with pool time. Then we got them out to register for the Flowrider - basically getting a wristband. Only Yu couldn't take it due to his height. But in the end, Kai and Yang didn't want to do it. 

Kai and I went for rock climbing. It drizzled a little just before our turn. This time, we were already wearing shoes and harness! But it stopped and I went first as it was the easier wall; Kai wanted the more difficult one. I was going up when it started raining again!! I was getting tired - gosh, this was no joke! And I thought I didn't want to get caught in the rain at this height so I stopped.

But lucky again, the rain stopped and Kai managed to scale his wall. But he slipped so didn't manage to go all the way up, sighs. Hope to bring him rock climbing back in SG.

It really started raining when we were both on the ground. The kids all went back to the rooms while I went to find Sito who was queueing for the Flowrider. It was a pretty long wait! Tip: Register for it early and go queue when it opens. We were watching others do it - some well, some less so. When it was Sito's turn, he gave me his ring for safekeeping, haha! And he did very well!!

Me on the wall - I tried not to look down!

Surfing on the Flowrider!

Managed to get on his knees too!

We went to Seaplax after lunch. The kids spent a lot of time on the motion game. Yang did especially well - first to score more than 10,000 points! Yu was too small to be detected by the machine haha!

Sito grabbed some pizza and ice cream to eat while watching the kids. Kai decided to get a hotdog bun - he can eat quite a bit now!

Then, Kai and I went to queue for the bumper car.Yang and Yu went to queue for archery with Papa. But somehow, they gave up and joined us for bumper car. 

Yang's brothers watching him play

Those were our three cars!

Funny belly flop competition - these two were very interested and voted for their faves!

The emcee was very good. Same guy who rounded up the shows. Sito again grabbed some snack food nearby to eat while watching :p The kids were happy to snack too!

And then, it was time for our reserved activity - Skypad, aka controlled trampolin! We found a long line and realised a reservation doesn't mean no queueing. Tip: All parties must be present in order to be given a wristband coz they looked at the app for the number. Only then could we join the queue. 

Unfortunately for us, even though we were the first of the 5 pm reservations to arrive, I was the only one in the queue when they started giving out wristbands. They were upstairs running about as Yang discovered a glass walkway - he called it a challenge :p

Anyway, I called and called via WhatsApp but no one heard my calls. Luckily, Sito came into view and I waved him down. By the time we registered, I had to let three families go ahead. More waiting....

Finally wearing harness!

Kai went up first, then Yang

Only managed to capture this coz I was next

Ah Yee caught a shot of both of us in the air!

I think I squealed a few times. That free fall feeling! I was reminded of how I couldn't swing myself too high in the playground when I was a kid. I was braver in my teens and 20s though, haha!

Dinner was a little late due to the Skypad. By then, the kids had had quite a bit of experience ordering their own food. They read the menu themselves and decided on their mains and desserts and drinks. We were free to view our menu leisurely...

Very friendly with Uncle Ronaldo

So dramatic when cutting his steak!

We were quite tired by then. Maybe it was all the waiting that day. We decided to let the kids do their fave thing - play games on their phone - and go jalan jalan on our own. Turned out Mum wasn't planning to head out anymore so Yu went over to join his brothers.

Sito was considering another cruise. I don't mind but I wonder what the kids would like. They were definitely not keen on waiting. And Kai didn't like Adventure Ocean. Anyway, we picked up a brochure with dates for the next year.

I developed a tummy ache and had to go back. We never came out again, haha! So in the end, we didn't sleep too late. Called Yu back and it was that. All of us were tired...

Random find during our short walk

Day 5 - Monday, 28 Nov

Time for home! We had breakfast, rested a bit in the room and left.

Woke to find us in SG

Yu found a ship passing by

Joining the crowds to disembark - got led to a shorter line after this stretch, yeah!

So that was the end of our cruise. It was fun, mostly when the kids were not complaining about waiting or food, or when they were taken care of by professionals! We ate a lot of desserts, which were great, haha!

Last night, Sito was googling for various cruise options, and found one round the world cruise! Eh hello, wait 10 more years ok... Kids must go to school :p

I think if we go on a Royal Caribbean cruise again, we will probably get one level down - cheaper. Less frills like happy hour drinks but those were good to have, The kids also prefer Silver Dining as they could help themselves to the buffet. 

And one last tip - maybe we should have put the many many unused hangers into the drawers coz they were gently knocking into their neighbours very often! The ship was very stable but the hangers feel the waves more than humans!!