It has been a while.....

I just realized that it has been over a month since my last post.  Sorry family and friends!  Everyone is always busy with life but trying to add in the blog posts get a little hard.  I promise to try to keep up with it from now on.  Well, I will try my best.

Since the last post we have gone to Bintan, Indonesia and Kuantan, Malaysia for some beach time as well as a hugely anticipated trip to Legoland Malaysia for our little Ninjago guy.  Mason was so excited it was crazy.  Here is a rundown of our adventures.   Uh, you may want to grab a coffee before you start into this extremely long post......

Bintan, Indonesia

Chris had a long work week so we decided to hop on the ferry on Saturday morning and spend the day and night in Bintan.  It is quite easy to do but of course just takes time.  You have to be at the ferry about 1.5 hours ahead of time but the ride is only about 45 minutes.  Once you are there you get to get your Visa and then head through customs.  It actually went quite quick but we were ready to just get to the beach.  We stayed in a Chalet right on the beach and the place we stayed had great food and a nice beach.  Sadly our room was very run down and rustic.  Well, there was rust in the bathtub.  The other negative was the little tar balls that you would get on your feet and in your swimsuits if you were in the ocean.  Minor problem that we ignored since we were enjoying our time on the beach. 

Our 'rustic' chalet on the beach. 

The beach was very nice and the waves were perfect for the kids to have a great time in.

This is what they did pretty much all day.  Kids!

Kuantan, Malaysia

The kids had a Friday off so we decided to make a long weekend out of it in Malaysia.  We really enjoyed this weekend.  We stayed at the Hyatt Regency right on the beach and had a wonderful time.  The rooms were great and so was the beach, pool and food.  We had to drive about 5 hours but it was a pretty drive with all the palm tree plantations and of course it was fun to check out Malaysia.  Driving was interesting with all the passing of the big trucks on the smaller roads but we survived.  Of course no trip is complete with a fun bathroom experience.  Poor Haley has not quite figured out how to pee while squatting over a hole in the floor.  I don't care for it either.  Men have it so easy! 

Two cuties stuck in the sand.  They spent the entire weekend on the beach or by the pool.

Another nice beach.  The undercurrent was a little strong at times but we were still able to have a great time.

As expected the kids had a great time digging in the sand.  This time we were even nice enough to get them some shovels and sand toys. 

There was a walkway that went over the rocks to the beach on the other side.  We decided to leave the private beach in front of the resort and walk down through the public beach to check it out.  This is where we had a great learning experience for Haley.  We were greatly out numbered by the locals and they were very curious and of course were checking us out.  I could feel the stares but they were all nice and smiling as they checked us out.  Poor Haley was happy to get out of there and said she didn't like all the eyes on her.  It was good to explain to her that they were curious to see her and check out her hair and eyes, etc.  Most of the women there are completely covered so we stood out in our beach clothes.  I was glad my shoulders were covered. 

View before getting to the walkway.

So this was interesting.  You can't take your dog, cat, horse or snake (what????) on the walkway? Uh, maybe I am not okay with this.  Good news.  No snakes seen!!!

View back towards the public beach.

Hamming it up for a pic.

We needed a break from the beach and sun so we hit the pool that was very nice.  Food and drinks here were also very good as well as a lot cheaper than what we are used to in Singapore.  Yes!

Drink time!  The kids loved ordering mocktails and the guys were good at making them "fancy" as the kids would say.

Some of the scenery on our drive back.  The palm tree plantations were beautiful to look at.

This is typically what the towns looked like that we went through.

Food establishments.  The kids weren't brave enough to try one even though Chris was all for it.  He lost!

And finally our trip to Legoland.  I am so glad we finally got there since Mason has been asking to go since we got here.  Legoland is just inside Malaysia so it took us about an hour to get there since we had to go through customs and all that jazz.  It was a pretty hot and sunny day but all the lines for the rides were shaded and some had fans.  We were lucky in that it was not packed and the longest we waited for a ride was 20 minutes.  We walked right up to a lot of the rides.  Sadly we found out that lil guy is not a fan of roller coasters.  Haley was having a great time on those rides.  Funny since she is the child that gets sea sick and pukes all over me.  Go figure!  Anyway, we really enjoyed the day and will definitely take the kids back. Notice some big smiles on Mason's little face in the pics.  Spoiled!!!

 These were quite impressive and just a few of many representations of the surrounding countries.  Some of them had cars/buses that moved around and others had fountains or boats.  One even had two boats that fired canons.  Very cool!

 Our very cautious driver that I think will not be too bad when she is actually old enough.

 He did great but I am scared to death of the thought of him behind a wheel.  Ha!

The current promotion included a mini figure with a kids lunch.  They got to pick out all the different pieces and could trade with staff that they ran into throughout the day. 

Last weekend we made a short trip to Arab St. but sadly the kids were a little worn out so it was a very quick one.  We tried to get them to try some more different foods but were only successful in getting them to try some falafel and hummus.  I am definitely going back since they have a ton of shops with amazing fabrics and carpets.  We need some carpets for sure and I would love some pillows or cushions made.  We atleast made it into the Sultan Mosque before heading back home. 

 

Making our way to the Mosque.  Prior to going in you have to leave your shoes outside.  Sadly you have to do the same to enter the bathrooms located outside.  They have hoses with the faucets to wash your feet as well as your hands but I was still not thrilled with bare feet in the stalls.  Ick!

 



 They apparently can pack in 5000 people at once.  That is crazy.

 If you are a woman wearing a tank top and/or shorts you can't go in unless you wear a robe they provide.  This is me burning up in the large and scratchy and completely non breathable robe.  I am trying to warn my hubby that I am going to pass out and he needs to hurry the heck up!!  I know, fabulous!

Sadly this is the only other pic of the area we have.  I hope we go back and get some more pics of some of the stores.  The fabrics were gorgeous.

Hope you enjoyed our little adventures!