Singapore

Finally, in Singapore.  Brother and sister hotel power!

Annick in her traditional holiday pose - mouth open, ready for food.  This was a nice piece of dragonfruit that made for a really terrible poop incident later on.

Jason reads the Economist in his business hotel room overlooking a construction site (Luca was chuffed!)

Luca likes to go to pay phones and call Nonna.

Mmmmm, sugar cane!

Ee Kiong koo still has the touch, or at least, doesn't make her cry now.

Luca continues his photographic series, "my relatives at mealtimes through my fingers".  Note artistic orange rubbish truck in foreground.

Banana leaf dinner?  Yes please!

Yay, we meet up with some of the Singapore cousins!

Luca was too tall to travel the metro for free.

By the end of the holiday, Luca was eating well again, possibly because we convinced him that noodles and pasta were pretty much the same thing.

Inside the amazing domed gardens at Marina Bay - this one was a Mediterranean climate, which also encompassed the temperate parts of Australia, California, South Africa and lots of other places.

Annick slept through most of it though.

This was the wet canopy dome with its own waterfall!

Luca's shorts are a bit big for him, but I think he kept making this happen on purpose.

Finally, all tuckered out on the flight home.  What a nice holiday!

What Annick did today

Something she does every day, plus something she will probably do every day from now on, but hadn't done very much at all before!

Malaysia - Melaka

Luca spent the five hour bus journey to Melaka being cheeky.  Annick, despite what you see here, did NOT spend the five hour bus journey peacefully sleeping.

 In Melaka, yet more durian!  The best of the trip, at a plantation.

We stayed at Uncle Thomas and Aunty Josephine's amazing house in Melaka.  Annick had no interest in the grand piano or luxurious rooms or beautiful garden - she just wanted to work out how to get the duck to turn on the water.

But she still had time to eat lots of durian.

We were spoiled and taken out for all sorts of amazing food, including the family's own Japanese restaurant, lots of local treats and a private room in a restaurant that came with a karaoke machine.  Here is Luca singing one of his standards, Phil Collins' 'One More Night'.

Annick took advantage of the frangipani tree.

Luca dips his feet in the pool!

 Luca enjoys some beef noodles YUM.

Luca and Annick and Carol in the swing - Luca was mystified by how the swing somehow knew how to start when he got in, and stop when he wanted to get out.  It must be magic!

Testing out the pool some more.  Maybe we should get in.

La petite princesse.

Annick learned how to walk along pushing the stools around the bench, waving and saying 'bye bye!' as she travelled.

Finally, in the pool!  And they almost didn't get out - if it weren't for some persuasion, they might still be in the pool right now.

Yay!

Luca was very busy providing tea and coffee for everyone else.  Standard cost, "three dollars".  Although mama got a special price of "two sixty".

MORE DURIAN.  Here is Jason learning how to crack one of the pointy buggers open.

Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm.

Sadly we had to leave but were kindly given a lift to Singapore, stopping in JB for this AWESOME INTESTINE BREAKFAST.  Thomas introduced each dish, "here is the big intestine, and this one is the small intestine from near the arsehole, and this one is the female intestine from next to the birth canal..."

Annick enjoyed every kind.

For Nonna, in Toronto

This week Annick learned how to say 'Annick', although apparently we have been pronouncing her name wrong as she says it 'Nannie'.

Meanwhile, for the past week, Luca has been telling us that he wants to go to the airport and go an an aeroplane.  When you ask him where he wants to go, this is what he always tells us:

Malaysia - Taiping

From Penang to Taiping via a hair-raising 120kmh journey in a banged up old Merc taxi with no seatbelts in the back and no child seats down a busy freeway competing with big trucks.  YES.  But at the end was 3 kor's house, an oasis of calm and I think Luca's favourite place of the whole trip.  He always was happy to go "back to aunty's house", where there were toys and quiet and cool and snacks.  Thank you 3 kor!

Many aunties on this trip - we visit ku ma at her lottery ticket table in town.

Jason and Annick pay respect to mama's paternal grandparents before a yummy Siamese lunch (with lemak laksa 'snack' after') at Uncle Heng and Aunty Sutien's house.

Yet more durians - Annick liked how they were pointy.  She also liked eating them.

4 kor gave Annick two dollies who Luca has named Clara (pink) and Sesame (green).  Annick knows all babies need feeding, so this is what she generally helps them out with.

And Aunty Sally, of course!

You need mangosteens to counteract the durian, although Luca only realised he liked them on our second-last day in Singapore.

Possibly the best thing about Malaysia to Luca (after aunty's house) was the ridiculous number of diggers.  They were EVERYWHERE.

Annick takes a warm weather snooze.

We went to Sepetang for a seafood dinner, but Luca spent most of the evening checking out the fishing boats coming in and out of the marina.

Annick preferred cuddles.

Luca REALLY liked the fishing boats.

And he missed out on this!

We went to visit mama's maternal grandparents too, and Luca and Annick helped keep everything clean with some big big leaves.

At Tua koo and Tua kim's house in the swing - there is a photo of mama probably at the same age in this swing.

Annick drinks freshly squeezed orange juice in the 'rat restaurant' and survives!

Jason takes Annick's leg for a walk around Lake Gardens.

Birthday roti for the birthday boy at his favourite roti joint.

And then birthday dinner thanks to Aunty Sally, plus cake!

Aunty Sally opens up the glory of her jewellery box to the kids.

Annick gets started early.