Tuesday, December 23, 2008

Beached

For our vacation this year, we decided it might be nice to go to the beach again. Jesse loves the beach and since Mom was also in town, we took a short break at Port Dickson. This time around, we decided to stay at the Avillion.

Bedecked

all hands on deck


Avillion is lovely little resort in Port Dickson. Accommodations are wooden chalets on stilts. The balcony overlooks the tide, which is always a lovely thing. Jesse spent so much time out on the balcony that we had to keep it lock at nights in case the kid sleptwalk himself out and over. :)

Petting Zoo

pets galore


Despite being quite old now, Avillion still has plenty of things going for it. There is the chalets, of course. There is the open roof shower for some al fresco showering experience. There's a nice family pool, and one more for adults only. And there's plenty of activities for kids, including a game room, and a nice petting zoo.

Beach Bum

beach bum


The highlight for Jesse, however, is the beach. This is a kid who really loves his sand. Thankfully, the staff at Avillion keep their stretch of private beach in great shape - removing ever single shred of rubbish by hand, including dry leaves and junk the ocean washes up. Strangely, however, he refuses to touch the water. Which is not a bad thing since PD water is kinda icky. :)

Two grouses, though. The damn restaurant's too small. Every morning, we have had to wait in line for 30-45 mins just to get a table for breakfast. It's a pain. The other complain is the lack of parking space on the vicinity. We had to park across the road and take a treachrous walk across a busy street just to get back to the hotel.

Anyway, it was a lovely idyllic holiday. Too bad we couldn't afford to stay another night. *sigh*

Thursday, December 18, 2008

Sex Talk

Sorry kiddies, its not that kind of sex talk. :) But seeing as to how family and friends have been speculating about the sex of our 2nd child, I thought I'd talk a little bit about that.

My father is convinced that our new baby would be a girl. "Just look at Jesse," Pops said, pointing to that twist in Jesse's hair where his parting line began. "It's off to the side." Apparently, if a kid's parting starts at the centre of his head, his sibling will be the same sex as he is. At least that what my father says.

Mae has her theories too. "Look at my breakout," she says pointing at her less-than-porcelain complexion. "While boys will give you beauty, girls will rob you of them," says my still-lovely-and-beautiful wife. *Ahem!

Mom is far less scientific. "I think it'll be a girl," she proclaims, "because I'd like a grand-daughter." She then crumbles under the pressure of her own prediction. "Maybe it'll be a girl," she says but only to finally settle for, "I hope it's a girl". Poor Mom had always wanted a girl but fate dealt her a three-of-a-kind Jacks instead, in her real life game of... erm... poker. Heheh.

Big Brother is Watching
big brother is watching


Anyway, during our last visit to the doctor, we had spotted a dark shadow between Baby's legs, putting the matter to rest, at least for awhile. Until yesterday, when we visited Dr. Huam again.

We looked intently on the screen as the good doctor carefully negotiated the handpiece all over Mae's tummy. As she did, Baby gave us quite a show, moving arms and legs about, yawning and just plain being cute. At least as cute as a foetus could be. Jesse was thrilled that he was starting to recognise bits of his little sibling on the ultrasound. Then came the highlight.

"I dun see anything there," I said. Doc nodded, "Yup, it looks like it might be a girl." And there was joy and laughter all around. In any case, we'll have to reconfirm on our next visit in January. Who knows, the little tyke may be hiding his family jewels. But as of now, it's a girl.

Good girl!

Tuesday, December 2, 2008

Moved To Tears

We have finally moved house over the weekend. And no, it wasn't so much an emotional time, as it was frustrating. I hate moving.

I hate the whole deal about moving. I hate packing. I hate unpacking. I hate carrying stuff. I hate arranging logistics. I hate carrying stuff. Yes, I said that already, but I can never say it enough. I hate carrying stuff. The whole carrying stuff thing leaves an undesirable taste in my mouth, not to mention excruciating pain in my upper back and my heels.

Sometimes I thank God that Mom put me through school and whupped my ass whenever I floundered in school. Otherwise I might have ended up in a job carrying stuff and that would really, really suck balls. (And I don't mean that in a good way!)

But sometimes I ask for it. Despite hiring movers to help me get my stuff, the sight of three elderly guys carrying huge boxes of my crap guilted me into helping out. Unfortunately, I was the only one in my house up to the task. It was either me or my four-year-old son, my pregnant wife, my good old Mommy, or my skinny imp of a maid.

Anyway, the house is a mess, both of them. A lot of out stuff are still in boxes in the new place. Meanwhile, the old place looks like a post-apocalyptic wasteland. You'll be surprised how much junk someone can amass in seven years in a 900sqft apartment. Despite having thrown out bags of stuff over the last couple of weeks, we still have plenty left over to bring to our new home.

As for the new home, it'll be some time before it starts feeling homely. It'll also be awhile before we get around to having curtains. Heh. But, we're settling in. Jesse loves the place. Mom is thinking, maybe she's ready to leave Taiping for good. Thea Vy, our Cambodian maid is thrilled, despite the fact that she'll have twice as much floor to mop. As for Mae and I, this is a home 6 years in the making, and we may even start appreciating the fact once the horror of moving has worn off.

I'd upload some pics but I'm still reeling from the weekend that was. I'm sure I'll get around to it, eventually.