SEA Games Football : SG vs Indonesia 11th June 2015

We bought tickets to watch a football match this SEA games at Jalan Besar stadium. I remembered the last time I watched a football match was when I was still in secondary school and it was some Malaysia Cup match which took place in national stadium.

We were rather late on that day because we had difficulties getting a parking lot. So by the time we reached there, we were only left with the left side of the block of seats to occupy. Thankfully, there were still seats on the first row and we got ourselves settled down fairly quickly.. but it started drizzling straight after and ah lou had to run to the counter to collect ponchos..

Before the rain:

actually, view is blocked on the first row..

wet hair and faces from the rain

It turned out to be such a boring match. SG team didn't played well, we didn't get to see the drive in the players on that day to win the match. However, there could be a few contributing factors - field was wet, referee was so strict with our team, ball control was lacking.. etc.

Nonetheless, it was another new experience for our boys. I guess they won't be asking to watch another football match so soon again!

SEA Games Opening Ceremony 5th June 2015

We had tickets to the SEA Games opening ceremony which happened on the same day after we touched down from Phuket on the 5th June. I only had 3 hours of sleep that day as Caden had a lesson in school at 9am.

We dropped the kids off at Peggy's place and went to old airport road for our early dinner. Then we took a slow stroll to the Stadium. The crowd was horrid and there was already a long queue to get into the stadium at late 6plus pm (due to tight security controls).

Finally the ceremony started at 8pm, by then I was almost at a state of zombie (but my lou was super enthusiastic throughout the night) and tried really hard to stay focused and enjoy the show..

Some highlights:

Great LED displays

still so alert...

It was almost near 10pm when we got out of the stadium after the ceremony and I was completely tired and unwell due to the huge crowds outside the stadium. We had to take a long stroll back to Mountbatten where we had parked our car and it was such a torturing experience for me since I don't usually survive well in big crowds situation (I had low blood pressure)..

 

This kind of experience, I think I only want to do it once in my lifetime! (although I think the show was quite well done as a matter of fact)

June holiday in Phuket - 4 June 2015

On our final day in Phuket, we headed to Patong beach one last time after our breakfast in the hotel. It was high tide in the morning so I told the boys to keep off from the coastline (the tidal waves looked strong to sweep them away!).

Macho boys in action:

E went down after PaPa is back with us

I wanted to stay out because I don't want to wet my dress

Last picture at the beach before we leave Patong!

The boys asked to play at the pool again with their ball after the beach outing while Winnie and myself stayed on for a while before we returned back to our rooms to pack up our luggage.

  

Koh Brothers vs Chong Brothers

This hotel has a nice pool environment

we got so tanned after these few days

After we checked out at 1pm, we left our luggage at the concierge and headed towards Jungceylon again for our lunch. This time, we ate at a restaurant opposite Jungceylon (Di Yi Jia - First House Seafood) and their clear tom yum soup and chilli Kangkong (morning glory) were really good! Both Caden and Ethan ate their pasta and I heard it was nice too.

We managed to get ourselves movie tickets at Jungceylon mall (level 4) to watch San Andreas at 2.25pm (we got in only at 2.30pm). They allowed us to buy only 6 tickets for 8 of us, on the assumption that the 2 younger ones sit on our laps. There were 3 different tiers of ticket pricing in the theatre, cheapest is for the slightly softer seats, 2nd tier's seat feels like our GV kind, the most expensive one is couple seat, which is very spacious (all in the same theatre).

The movie started with all of us standing us to sing the country's national anthem, and the quality played was alright.. however, the movie stopped 2 times in between, and I think it's probably because the tape got stuck.. so it was really quite an experience for all of us! (and definitely good fun too) Most importantly, we got ourselves occupied till 5pm!

The boys spent another 40 minutes in the arcade once again before we had our dinner. It was good fun for all of them! Ah lou and Brian went for a match on basketball too..

we came across this in junceylon

This cafe sells good mango sticky rice for THB120

sunset at Patong

The 4 boys kept themselves occupied with card games while waiting in Phuket airport for our flight back home. It was near 10pm local time and they were still so energetic! There were no shops for Winnie and me to shop in the airport so both of us were so bored...

Overall, I think the boys enjoyed this trip thoroughly, most importantly for the fact that they played together with Aidan and Elliot throughout the 4 days. There were alot of fun and laughter from them so I guess this trip will bring them good memories in future.

June holiday in Phuket - 3 June 2015

The weather was good to us on Day 3. We had planned for our island hopping trip to Phi Phi Island, organised by See Sea Blue Marine Co. Ltd. The bus trip from our hotel to the pier took about 45 minutes and along the way, Caden had motion sickness and vomited in the mini van 9we had prepared a plastic bag). Thankfully, by the time he threw out, it was near the destination so all of us in the van did not have to smell the stench of his vomit!

The pier was beautiful so we took some pictures while waiting for other groups to arrive.

we bought the fish food from the company to feed the fish on one of the islands

We were then briefed by the local guide on the day's itinerary and the dos and don'ts when we are on the various islands. We decided to follow the Mandarin speaking group because we gathered that it was a smaller group and it will not be too cramped in our speedboat (which turned out to be a wise decision, as the English speaking group's boat was packed with people). Our group made up of 3 Singaporean families (including us), 1 HK couple, 1 TW couple, and 4 Chinese nationals, plus 5 employees of the company.

It has been quite a while since ah lou and me had taken a speedboat, so my ah lou loved the entire journey!

It was the children's first experience on a speedboat and Caden seemed to enjoy the breeze alot.

Ethan was enjoying the ride and admiring the view

We first alighted at Phi Phi island after a 40 minutes ride on the speedboat. The boys were so excited about their upcoming snorkeling experience!

The beach was really crowded at 10 plus am...

With the fish food (which is bread), you get the fishes coming to you up-close..

After feeding the fish, they decided to swim...

Super hot day for snorkeling!

We were given about 45 minutes to 1 hour at Phi Phi island before our local guide brought us to another venue.. When we were wet, the journey to another island was really cold given the wind that was brought onto the boat..

Ethan was shivering!

We were then given about 30 minutes to snorkel in the middle of the sea. I think this is near the Viking cove.. I swam in the water for a while but my eyes were stinging painful after the swim. Winnie had the same problem too.. so we gathered that it's the sea salt content that is causing this.

the life jackets helped us to stay afloat!

Ethan was so comfortable in the waters

Lunch was served at a restaurant in Phi Phi island. Honestly, the selection wasn't good but food was edible. The kids had their spaghetti and its enough to keep them full. Besides our tour company, this restaurant also catered to other tour companies so the crowd was massive.

After lunch, the photographer took some pictures for us  (btw, we paid THB 1400 for a full day's photography done by them!)

  

At Khai Island, which is my personal favourite spot for the day, it wasn't too crowded near 3pm but it was extremely hot and sunny..

1 guy falling on me

2 men falling on me!

the boys were playing on their own nearby us

on our way back

Ethan was exhausted

Phi Leh Cove

Monkey beach

Last picture for the day

We were then sent back to our hotel near 4plus pm and after our shower, we headed to a nearby restaurant for our dinner - we were too exhausted to head over to Jungceylon for that day. The dinner turned out to be really good, including the pasta that the kids had ordered

he ate the whole pizza by himself again

good thai food

The sun made us all tired and exhausted and we were asleep before 9.30pm on that night!