Malaysia August 2007

Back in December last year, I won a trip for two to Malaysia, all expenses paid with $1000 spending money, as you can imagine I was ecstatic! Only drama - What to do with my baby boy? Well I held out on taking the trip for as long as I could, I figured that after Harrison turned two would be a good time to go.

While Harrison stayed home with his Auntie Amanda, Graham and I jet setted abroad (and yes I did stress about him the whole trip, but we got through it!).

Day 1 - August 2nd - Well this was pretty much just a travel day, we arrived in Kuala Lumpar at about 11pm, then we caught the KL Express Train from the KLIA Airport to KL Central then caught a taxi to the JW Marriot Hotel. I must say the hotel was lovely it was a 4.5 star hotel - my theory is that if you get a robe and slippers in your room then it is classy!!!!

Day 2 - August 3rd - Today we pretty much trekked the entire city, 1st stop was Aquaria found below the Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre, it was good, but I kind of felt like if you have seen one Aquarium you have seen them all. One advantage though was that you could actively participate with the marine animals, they had small tanks were you could get your hands in and touch sting rays, star fish, cray fish, small sharks etc.

Here is a picture of Graham feeding some stingrays:

2nd stop was the Petronas Towers. Apparently they were previously the tallest buildings in the world until the 'Bamboo Shoot' in Taiping (Taiwan) took, over. I kept looking at them though and could only think of that scene in the movie 'Entrapment' where Sean Connery and Catherine Zeta-Jones walked on top of the bridge that divides the two buildings.

It is free to go to the observation deck, on the bridge on the 42nd floor but we didn't get there until after lunch time and apparently all tickets had already been allocated by 9am so we missed out, I am not bothered though because the bridge is only half way up the buildings and we would get a better view of Kuala Lumpur from the KL Telecommunication Tower. For some reason we took about a million pictures of the towers both day and night shots, here is a few of the better ones:

and next the view from our hotel room:

We then spent the rest of the day doing some shopping in the many shopping complexes and of course phoned home and spoke to Harrison before he went to bed - this was my daily ritual, I would not have been able to sleep without having a chat to my little boy.

Day 3 - August 4th - Today we went to the Batu Caves, it is a short drive out of Kuala Lumpur, but Graham and I decided to attempt to catch the public transport for a locals view of travel. It wasn't too hard, we caught the KL Monorail to Titiwangsa station, then hoped on the number 6 bus out to the caves. The travel was fine, but our bus driver was a bit dodgey - he took a 15 minute smoke break half way through the journey - but we got to our destination in the end - even if it did take about 2 hours to get there!

The Batu Caves form part of a Hindu temple where the locals celebrate the Taipusam Festival. At the base of the caves are a whole heap of monkeys, they seemed quite tame, but there was no way in hell I was going to go near them, let alone touch them. To reach the caves you need to climb 272 steps - pretty much everyone stopped half way for a rest!

Here is the view of Kuala Lumpur city taken from the top highest accessible point of the caves:

After our trip to the caves we decided that it was too hard to bother with the buses again, and instead hoped in a taxi and headed back to the city.

We got the taxi driver to drop us of at the KL Tower, and we went to the top. It is apparently about 421 meters from bottom to top, it is not as tall as the Petronas Towers but appears to be because it has been built on a hill. The view from the top was very good and because it was a relatively clear day we could see for miles.

We then walked back from the tower to our hotel - yes today we literally did walk for miles. After a short rest we then hoped into a taxi to China Town and did some shopping in the Petaling Street markets!

How do these people get away with selling so many copy items, you could buy everything from cheap Gucci bags, to DVDs, to Billabong gear. I was in my element and loved haggling with the sellers to get a good price. Graham on the other hand hated it, and refused to buy anything that was a fake. I could see a small vein throbbing in his head by the end of the expedition! Here we ate traditional Malay food and it was really yummy - Graham was convinced that he was going to get food poisoning though, and I am happy to report that he didn't!

Day 4 - August 5th - Today once again we put on the comfy shoes and walked and walked and walked. We headed out to the Central Markets and did some souvenir shopping, this had quite a lot of lovely shops and was definately much less stressful then Petaling Street.

We then headed out to check out the National Mosque, when we got there it was closed to tourists for prayer so we looked around outside, and continued to explore the surrounding area.

After a quick trip back to China Town to get a few more bits and pieces (at my request) we headed back to the hotel to freshen up then to go out to dinner. We ended up going to dinner at Planet Hollywood - I guess going to a tourist trap like this is a bit disappointing, but I think we both just needed a bit of western food! On the plus side we were there during happy hour and I got 2 for 1 Long Island Iced teas and Graham of course got 2 for 1 Jim Beams.

Day 5 - August 6th - On our final day in Malaysia we took things fairly easy in the morning, had a sleep in and slowly packed our bags. We checked out of the hotel and then went to Zoo Negara to fill in the time before our flight. It was nothing fantastic, but it was something to do.

We then made our way to the airport for our journey home, it was a red eye flight and arrived in at Adelaide Airport at 6am on 7th August. As you can imagine I couldn't get home quick enough to my boy - and of course it didn't take long for tantrums to start and life got back to normal!

Harrison Turns 2 - Let the parties begin!

On Sunday my little Mr Harrison turned 2 - two years has just flown by so quickly, but they have honestly been the best and most rewarding couple of years of mine and Grahams lives.

Of course we did our best to spoil him (without going too overboard). Graham and I bought Harrison a train set, some Wiggles DVDs, some cars, some books and some other bits and pieces.

We spent the morning of his birthday having a bit of family time and playing with the new toys, Harrison was so distracted by his new toys that getting him to eat breakfast was a challenge in itself. As a result he threw his first tantrum as an official two year old!!!!

At lunch time we had some of the Grandparents and uncles and aunties up for a bit of a gathering, and Harrison was once again showered with gifts - he was a much loved but spoilt little boy!

I spent the night prior to his birthday making his birthday cake, it turned out well but took bloody ages, somethings are sometimes just easier to get someone else to do it for you!

The cake must have been good, because every one made sure there was only a little left over!

PARTY NUMBER 2

Well today Harrison had a little kids party at Snakes and Ladders in Gawler, I was unfortunately suffering from another cold, so I was glad that I didn't need to do a thing. We had a host who played pass the parcel with the kids, served their food and made sure things ran smoothly. I sat back had a hot chocolate and chatted with the rest of the mums.

And what is another party without another birthday cake.

In all we have had a great few days, we have so many new toys that I may have to put a few away in the spare room and bring them out gradually - Harrison just gets really worked up and focused on the new stuff that he is little bugger when you try to get him to do something!

Anyway Happy Birthday Mr Harrison - Mummy and Daddy love you very much XOX

One month of live shows........

Ok, so it has been a month of live shows for both myself and for Harrison. I have been to shows that I would normally not go to, where as Harrison well he has seen everything you would expect a nearly two year old to enjoy.

Here is our month in Summary:

21 June 2007 - MAUDE MAGGART

I won some tickets for the Adelaide Cabaret Festival to see 'Maude Maggart' at the Adelaide Festival Centre. This is a show that I never thought I would ever go to - I mean Cabaret, and who the hell is Maude Maggart?????

Well Maude Maggart is the sister of Fiona Apple who I think had a few hits a couple of years ago - she may still be around but not that I have heard. The show actually consisted of Maude on stage singing old style cabaret songs while a guy played the piano - to set the scene the audience was seated on cosy little round tables that sat about 6 people, each table had a candle centerpiece and it was dark except for the spot light on stage. Champagne was the drink of choice to show a spark of sophistication!!! In all the show was very good, and I even toe tapped to some of the 1930's to 1960's music. It was a mind broadening experience!

25 June 2007 - DOROTHY'S DANCE PARTY

Well what is a month of shows if we cant include a Wiggle theme. Since Harrison is obsessed with the Wiggles, I took him to Dorothy's Dance Party at the Starplex in Gawler, the show did not feature Murray, Jeff, Anthony or Greg (oops sorry new wiggle Sam) but it does have all the favourite characters such as Dorothy, Henry, Wags and captain Feather sword.

If Harrison was at home he would have boogied his little legs off, but for some reason he was in awe of his idol Dorothy and just wanted to sit on my lap and wiggle his toosh.

We are going to the Wiggles actual show in December this year, but this was a good warm up to the real thing - And hey, by supporting the Wiggles franchise I am sure I am doing my bit to keep the Wiggles as the top Aussie money earners!!!! (HMPH)

27 June 2007 - HUMAN NATURE

Yes for this concert I was paid to be there but I thought it was worth a mention. I worked these guys at the Entertainment Centre, I have never been a fan, and wasn't that interested in working them when I got my shift. But honestly as lame as it sounds, these guys were fantastic, I watched just about the whole show and was just as enthralled as the audience. I now have a new respect for Motown music - these 4 guys pulled it off with a lot of class. (Lisa please stop laughing)


29 June 2007 - BARRY HUMPHRIES BACK WITH A VENGEANCE!

This is another show that I got some freebie tickets to, I am not a Dame Edna fan and definitely would not have gone to this show if not for the whole free ticket factor.

I can say that I did have some laughs through out the show, and in some parts I wanted to run out of the theatre screaming and tearing my hair out at the same time.
I liked Barry Humphries characters 'Les Stralia' and 'Dame Edna' they were both quite funny, but the other characters that he did bored me to almost tears. I don't have a warped sense of humour or maybe I was too young to appreciate some of the humour!

11 July 2007 - NEW MACDONALDS FARM

I took Harrison to see New MacDonald's Farm at the Norwood Town Hall, he loved this one, he jumped around, wiggled his butt and had a generally good time.

When he wasn't dancing, he was raiding his bag and eating just about everything I had packed for him. The dancing must have worked him up an appetite because I have honestly not ever seen him eat so much


18 July 2007 - CAT

This was a play based on the book 'Cat' by Michael Dumbleton and Craig Smith. It was aimed at children under 3 and was played at the South Australian State Library.

Harrison was a little under the weather when we saw this, a few nights of an Asthma cough had worn him down a bit, but regardless he really enjoyed this. The actors walked around acting like cats, dogs, mice and birds and encourage the children to copy. All the kids seemed to get involved even younger babies seemed to respond.

Below is a great photo of Harrison taken when the play had finished, but 10 seconds after the photo was taken he fell off the little stool and cried for about 10 minutes! But in all was a great day and very educational.

To live is to travel!

Ok, using travbuddy.com i did a little calculation to work out how much of the world I have so far been privy to seeing, I thought that I had done a fair bit of travelling but alas it is coming up saying that I have so far only seen 7% of the entire world. Here is my map:

I guess considering I am still considered young (not middle aged yet) I still have lots of time to increase my percentage. I think that I would like to be in the percentage of around 50% before I take my leave of absence from this world.

At this stage though while Harrison is still young, I think ill make a point of making sure I have Australia covered a bit more, but once he is old enough and the finances are a bit better - Look out world!!!!!

First Haircut - sorry I know its lame, but still important!

OK, I know I haven't updated my blog for awhile, I do have stuff to add, I just need to find the time to do it!!!!

Well here is a quick post just because it is another Harrison first - yes today I finally took him down to the Hairdressers for his first haircut, Graham has nagged me for awhile telling me that Harrison's baby curls were starting to look more and more like a mullet cut, but I just couldn't bare to cut them off!

The hairdresser today, put Harrison in the little car seat and took one big snip and the curls were gone, I had to look away like I was having an injection or something!!!!


I guess by those few snips of the scissors, that is the official last 'baby first' and now it is just all child and toddler stuff, he is certainly not a baby anymore!!!!

My baby's first trip to hospital.....

What a week it has been!!!

On Sunday night, Graham and I noticed that Harrison's breathing was not normal, so we took him to the doctors and they told us to take him to hospital for oxygen, in a mad panic we then took him to the Women's & Children's hospital, where he was basically admitted into a ward straight away.

I then spent two nights with him where he was given Ventolin for the treatment of Asthma every hour! It was a bugger of a night because he kicked, screamed and cried every time we tried to put the mask on his face but we got through.

Here are some photos of him in the room, the photos were taken with my camera phone so not really the best quality but you will get the general idea!!!

And of course to keep him amused most of the time he had his own TV which played the Wiggles generally for the whole time we were there - after two days I was completely wiggled out!!!!

We are now on Asthma watch, for the next few days we need to give him Ventolin every 4 hours then once that has completed, any time he has a bad cough, or wheeze he needs to have his puffer.

Harrison is too young to officially be diagnosed with Asthma but the Ventolin his helping so chances are he probably does have it! I guess I am going to have to research this a bit more and do what I can to prevent further attacks!

My Mums Group - A Big "Cheers" to great friends!!!!

Here is a blog dedicated to the good friends that I have made through my mums group.

I guess the journey started when a group of girls got together through CAFS to do fortnightly mums group information and get together sessions. The content of our sessions didn't really matter too much, because we chatted between ourselves, learnt from each other and formed friendship bonds very quickly.

The photo below was taken (I think) in late 2005, and from memory I think the ages of the babies at the time ranged from about 14 weeks to about 20 weeks.

From Top Left we have: Vanessa & Emily, Jackie & Abigail, Laura & Harrison, Amy & Bailey, Stacey & Harvey, Suzanne & Declan

Bottom Left: Nat & Jayde, Sue and a doll (LOL - Jake was home sick for our first group shot) and Carol our CAFS co-ordinator

As a group we continued to try and get together once a fortnight after leaving CAFS (exception of Nat & Jayde - they never came back - we must have been a scary bunch!), this worked and continued for a few months, then as we all started to go back to work, catch up times became a little harder, but we have still managed it!

These photos were taken at Gawler Fasta Pasta, in commiseration of Suzanne, Chris & Declan leaving to live in Queensland - (we miss you - come back to SA). Missing from the photo is Stacey and Harvey, they unfortunately left early in the evening because Harvey was a little unsettled. Sue and Jake were also missing due to other commitments.

As you can see from the below picture, we have even managed to get the 'husbands' in on the group!!!

From Left: Declan Chris & Suzanne, Harrison Graham & Laura, Bailey Scott & Amy, Abigail, Adrian & Jackie, Emily James & Vanessa.

Not long after Suzanne left for Queensland, Stacey Andrew and Harvey left to go and live in country Victoria, good for them, but bad for us. Our little group has dwindled, but despite distance and work hours we have all remained close, and our babies - well should I say toddlers are now growing up together and forming their own special bonds!

The above photo is our most recent taken on the 25th May 2007, Suzanne Chris & Declan came back down to Adelaide for a christening and we all had a catch up at the playground at Gawler Caravan park where they were staying.

The babies are now very much toddlers, and as we all get closer to the the 'terrible two's' I am sure we will continue to have each others support (it will be especially needed to help us mums recover from a morning of toddler tantrums!!!).

And as for our little mums group, well it is going to be expanding with Sue and Amy both due to have their second babies soon and Stacey and Harvey are coming back to SA to live in a few months. As for Suzanne and Declan - flights are cheap and email is free so we will definately continue keeping in touch!!!! (as per my previous blog on my QLD trip)

So girls - if you get a chance to read this:

"A BIG CHEERS TO US, OUR FRIENDSHIPS, AND LEARNING FROM EACH OTHER!"

Love Laura
xox

A week in Queensland

Ok, well last week Graham, Harrison and myself spent a lovely week with our friends Rachel & Michael and their children - Courtney, Jacob and Kayla-Jayde in sunny Queensland. The weather was perfect, it was around 30 degrees everyday in comparison to cold and raining in South Australia! (I am not complaining because we certainly need the rain) We stayed in a holiday village just outside of Surfers Paradise called 'Ashmore Palms', and as much as I was quite hesitant about staying there in the first place, it turned out to be quite a lovely place - and it certainly kept the kids occupied with the playgrounds and swimming pools when we were not out at the theme parks.

We went to every theme park that the Gold Coast had to offer. Our itinerary went like this:

Sunday - We arrived in Coolangatta via Jetstar Airlines
Monday - Dreamworld

Tuesday - Wet & Wild

Wednesday - Explore Surfers Paradise

Thursday - Sea World

Friday - Movie World

Saturday - Dreamworld & White Water World

Sunday - We left for Brisbane to spend a day with Suzanne, Chris & Declan

Monday - Depart Brisbane via Virgin Airlines back to Adelaide

So where do I start, well I guess at the beginning with Dreamworld. I have been to Dreamworld a few times now and it is always good fun. the rides such as 'The Giant Drop' and 'Tower of Terror' never disappoint - they definitely kept Graham and Michael amused!

For Harrison I guess the highlight of his day was the new feature of 'Wiggles World', Harrison is a total Wiggles nut, when the Wiggles are on the TV you can not get his attention, he goes into a Wiggles Zone! I tried to get his photo of him with all his favourite characters but he would not get out of the 'Big Red Car' and we could only get him with Henry the Octopus:

Day 2: 'Wet & Wild' this was a great sunny day, but the water was freezing there seemed to be no heating to it at all. I don't have a photo but Jacob and Kayla-Jayde were maniacs in the kids water park area, they loved it, whereas Courtney was fearless and went on all the scariest slides that even I was too chicken to go on - she was like that at all the parks, it was great!

Harrison, well he just laid back and enjoyed the atmosphere!

Day 3: "All roads lead to Nerang" ok a bit of a joke between us adults on the trip. We decided that today was the day to head into Surfers Paradise. We were all set to catch the bus, and we made our way to the bus stop - except we got on the bus on the wrong side of the road and instead of heading to Surfers via Pacific Fair we were headed to Nerang. Ok, this was a small mistake, because luckily when we got to Nerang station, there was a connecting bus leaving straight away to Surfers.

(Here is a photo of Surfers Paradise taken from the eye at Seaworld)

Ok, so do you think we learnt from our little bus mistake, well think again! After our day in Surfers, we caught a bus to Pacific Fair (We got that part right!). When we pulled in, I saw a bus on the other side of the road saying 'ASHMORE', we all sprinted off the bus and headed over. My mistake, yes ill admit it, but we ended up speaking to the bus driver behind it, and he told us that yes he went to Ashmore (even though the front of the bus said NERANG).

Well yes he definately went to Ashmore, but via the back streets of Nerang. It took us over 1 and 1/2 hours to get home (should have been a 15 minute trip if we did it correctly!). Good job we were not on the Amazing Race because I think we would of got eliminated!!! Sorry guys!!!

By the time we got back to the Holiday Village, every single one of us was grumpy and stressed and well over the QLD public transport system!

Here is a photo of Jacob, Kayla-Jayde, Harrison & Courtney taken near Cavill Avenue in Surfers Paradise:

And here is Rachel, Michael, Courtney, Jacob & Kayla-Jayde taken as a token of their first real family holiday:

Day 4: Seaworld - probably the highlight of my trip, this was the day that Rachel and myself did the dive with the Dolphins. We had such a great time, I think I can say for Rachel as well but it was defiantly well worth the experience and the $165 dollars to do it (crazy prices - Graham & Michael didn't think it was worth the money of course!)

After we got home from Surfers, my sister Amanda and nephew Tre arrived later in the evening to spend two days with us in sunny Queensland!

Day 5: Movie World - Well today was a great day, Amanda and I actually caught up with our Uncle John and Auntie Marina who were also holidaying on the Gold Coast. Here is Uncle John with Wonder Woman:

There was a new ride in Movieworld from when I was here last, it is the 'Superman' Roller coaster and it was very fast and very exciting, and yes I managed to get Uncle John, Graham and Tre on there in one go - Amanda was a chicken and sat with Harrison instead:

Harrison had his turn though, there were some water fountains in Looney Tune Village that he loved, we got him down to his nappy and he ran a muck, I think we sat there and watched him play for about an hour

Amanda and Tre also had a great day, here is a photo taken in the Wild West area:

Day 6: Back to Dreamworld and White Water World - today we went back to Dreamworld to have another go on some of the rides, considering it was the weekend it was not too busy. The difference today was we hopped between two parks. White Water World is right next door to Dreamworld and very similar to Wet & Wild - It was good, more water and of course the kids all had a ball - what is it with kids and water!

Day 7: Today we all went our separate ways, Amanda and Tre left to catch a plane back to Adelaide. Rachel, Michael and the kids headed back to a day at Wet and Wild and Graham, Harrison and Myself checked out of Ashmore and headed to Brisbane to meet up with our friends Suzanne, Chris and Declan.

I met Suzanne after I had Harrison in our mums group - every one of the girls in our mums group have now become great and valued friends - I love all the girls and babies all to bits!

Seeing the boys play together was great, they really interacted well - definitely not babies anymore!

Suzanne and Chris treated us to a lovely dinner, a walk around the area where they live and then we finished the night by putting the boys to bed, then out the back for a spa! It was just what I needed to end a very long and busy week.

We flew out of Brisbane Airport the next day back home to Adelaide, which was cold and wet when we got of the plane - but yes it was great to get home and get back to normal!!!!