Tebrau City-Baby Room

Tebrau City's "Baby Room" (Rating: 9/10)

• Sink (soap dispenser was filled)
• Step bin for disposal of soiled diapers
• Hot/warm/cold water dispenser (placed next to sink)
• 4 individual cubicles, with curtains to be drawn for privacy when nursing or feeding
• 6 diaper-changing stations (each fitted with safety belt to secure baby)
• Sarong stand ! with spring and sarong
• Spacious room with sufficient space to accomodate several families with strollers
• Seats for parents (2 sets of seating, each to accomodate at least 2 adults)

Travel Plans As-It-Became

Malacca did not materialise, so no little nonya outfit for Megan or myself. However, we did survive an ugly battle with a NOT RELIABLE car rental company (Convenient Car Leasing, CCL) and of course, the much expected traffic jam along the causeway, and ended up in... TEBRAU CITY, JB.

Yours truly was quite proud of herself when she found a rental car within 1 day, and at what I thought was a reasonable sum of SGD140 for a Hyundai Trajet. Problem is, CAR DID NOT HAVE HORN. Yes, you heard me - the company leased out a vehicle which did not have a working horn. And when we called to ask for an exchange, the guy said "No need horn lah, not so nice to horn people oso wat... I never use horn when I drive you know... people may think you are rude...so just drive safely lah, no need horn lah...." WTF/

The subsequent conversation was of course not pleasant, and I do not want to recall any of it. Other half blamed me for being a silly bargain-hunter (and I blamed him for signing on the invoice/contract without reading it!)

Anyways, we did rent an 8-seater (Honda Odyssey) and it was roomy enough for all 6 of us and Megan. Tebrau City wasn't difficult to locate (other half rented the GPS gadget from AVIS as well), although he did miss a turn and we took an extra 20-30min to reach the massive mall.

The first thing we did was to go to the loo (other half does not believe in rest stops, he thinks we may be burglared or kidnapped, or murdered if we do stop). And then it was off to feed everyone at this chinese restaurant called "East Court", which was supposed to serve tim sum (but tim sum was only to be delivered after 3pm). We had unexciting roast meat and other stuff. Nothing to rave about but tea served there was good. And service was acceptable (except that this restaurant does not have a washroom).

Then it was of course off to do some shopping. My conquest was boring to say the least - pediasure, drypantz, enfapro, stationery. But the savings were substantial and I am very pleased.

I must say Tebrau City is rather family-friendly. Megan was very much amused at its arcade which featured a play area (RM3 for 20mins). And the facilities at the changing room was very comprehensive. Infact, its "Baby Room" is inspiring me to blog about baby rooms in shopping malls :)

Akan datang: Tebrau City's Baby Room & Arcade

How To Choose BOOKS FOR TODs

I gotta admit I am crazy about shopping. And books are simply too irresitable. I guess its confesssion time that I started to build a Dr. Seuss collection even way before Megan was conceived ... but hey, reading the book itself really made Horton the elephant much more alive when you watch the animation :)

As a teenager, I never really mind the creases on my paperbacks (many of my friends went crazy if they creased the spines on their fave titles - it still baffles me). I love reading and I will hold the book which every way I can just to get through the novel in the most comfortable fashion. My friends were all excellent contortionist. They could read a paperback twice, TWICE I say again, and it looks good as new ?! It is not to say I do not take care of my books. I have my pet peeves - I can't stand dog-ears on pages. Hasn't anyone discovered a bookmark? Or have a spare bus ticket to stand-in for one?

Anyway, I digress. Toddlers, babies must have books. Infact, we must allow them to explore this object in whichever fashion they deem fit. They do strange stuff with books, and its lovely to watch them flip the pages (which they will past 12mths, when they master their pinser grip). That is not to say that you can't start reading before age 1. Infact, you must ! But with a baby that is able to sit up, or even better, a tod who can sit on a chair, reading becomes a REAL pastime.

I give myself certain criteria when selecting books for my tod:

It must be toddler proof. And BOARD BOOKS do the trick just so well. Like mentioned earlier, babies do strange stuff to books: they drool, they chew, they flick it around. And guess what ? It's fine-let them do just that. Afterall, when you gave your tod a book, you had the most nobel intention of wanting him to love books!

Board books are easy to maintain/clean Just pick up some tissue, or in my case, I'm a cleaniness freak, I use alchohol wipes to clean the board books when Megan was little...

It must be the right size. Ok, I didn't read about the size of books for children anywhere. So this bit of advice, I figured it out along the way. If you really want a title that does not come as a board book, go ahead, add it to your home library.

We have many early readers which of cos, Megan doesnt not understand a word of, but the illustrations are interesting and the stories are such classics. I make sure that they are small enough for her little hands to handle. Something like the ladybird eary readers (the square ones) seems to be very popular with her. It isn't too big, or too small to make her feel that it is a 'toy', and not a 'real book' and it fits easily in my bag for trips :)

You want to see your child pick up a book and do stuff with it :) he may flip from page 1 to end, he may look at the cover and fiddle with the price tag. But whatever it is, take cue from him and follow his pace. Megan loves Goldilocks at one point last year. She will take the book from the bookshelf and say "Bear-bear, poor-le" (it means bear's chair is broken). Yes, I was very glad indeed.

It must be colourful. Need I say more? But the watercolour illustrations which are so lovely and beautiful does not attract the kids as much (the peter rabbit's colours does not seem to attract them as much, probably because the palette is much softer than the vivid colours). So when you purchase your children's books, you may like to take this into consideration, as those with watercolour illustrations also often cost a lot more (need to pay the illustrator/artist you know).

Remember, your darling is barely 2yo and asking them "don't do this" and "dont' do that" will not exactly help him associate pleasant thoughts with this 'reading/book thing' which we parents are so into :)

Commercial-break: the pic here shows a board book I've recently purchased. It is cut out to the shape of a puppy and the story is about the mommy & poppy dogs teaching 'Patch' the puppy some manners. Megan isn't into dogs but she loves the story about mommy asking 'Patch' to go play on her own cos mommy needs some sleep...heheh, I love that bit a lot. I stocked up 5 extras, pl email me if you like to buy one ($3).

Travel Plans v.1

I had wanted to introduce Megan to flying for some time. We never found the right destination, nor the time. Or the volunteers to accompany us on the trip (I need a holiday and some time to head off to the spa or mall you know...)

Grandaunt #2 to Megan suggested a road trip to Malacca and Papa said why not. So our travel plans as of now, version 1 says:

• Drive to Malacca with grandaunt + uncle (the 2 auntys are preparing for the finals)
• Go stay in a boutique hotel (as featured in the last megadrama of 'peranankanism')
• Buy wooden clogs and beaded slippers for Megan
• Buy peranakan baju for Megan (for CNY 2010! or the August wedding party)
• Buy matching peranakan baju for ME :)
• Eat nonya food, assam laksa, chendol, kueh-kueh, chicken rice balls

Sounds promising yeah? But no plans are plans till the father makes PLANS to go.

My Girl is a swimmer alright!

We went for a Sunday swim today - which is rare cos the papa is usually hard pressed for time on a Sunday (sleep deprivation is a constant battle for him). The pool was certainly crowded and we were almost denied access (the SAFRA pool isn't open to "public" over the weekends we were told) but Megan and I went in anyhow... How could you disappoint a tod !!! tsk tsk...

There were lots of preschoolers and several tods her age but Megan was more interested in those that can swim. She saw lots of boys diving into the pool and splashing around. So she copied the boys. And her head went under the water-finally ! :)

She must have had a couple of gulps of chlorinated water but boy, was she pleased with herself ! I picked her up almost as soon as she went under (least she got frightened) but our bold swimmer was quite calm and composed as I got her standing up again, and we continued 'walking' around the pool.

Making Faces

With so many uncles teaching my little girl how to smile, grin, pout at the camera, she is fast becoming very good at making faces of all sorts ! :)

Trivia:
Megan's uncles ranged from 3mths old, to 28 yo :)

Kick-Kok Shoes

I got the lil one a simple dress-up set last christmas as she was getting curious and excited about the heels my cousin wore. My grandma called them 'kick-kok' shoes and the sound of it must have really amused her cos she became quite fascinated with these heeled footware :)

Now at 21 mths, and finally speaking more than monosyllabus, she could say "kick-kok shoes" (perfect pronounciation !).

I very quickly took out my camera phone and snapped this pic before my tod rushed off for "house calls" in her kick-kok sheos (see her black bag? its her doctor play bag).

Swimming

We went to for a swim yesterday as it rained heavily on Tue (which was her appointed-promised swim day at Aunty EJ's). We had the whole children's pool to ourselves - which isn't good news cos I was hoping she will meet some other children. She was attracted to the 'adult' pool as there was more activity going on.

She spotted this lady diving/jumping into the pool and was fixated on how her head went in and out of the water. The next thing I know, she did not want me to hold her... she decided to stand in the 0.5m pool on her own, in the midst of nowhere (we weren't even near the edge of the pool) and started lowering herself into the pool till her chin touches the water! And she must have like the feeling of being immersed in the pool cos she kept repeating this motion and tried to immerse herself lower into the water each time.

I was hoping to see her ready to submerge her entire head into the water, but I guess she wasn't ready for that challenge :)

Still, I think Megan is one bold rascal.