Meet our new alarm clock soon!

And so... we will bring you into a little secret of ours, or rather not so secret. 

First comes love, then comes marriage, then comes family - the daughter and the son, and then love continues to be fruitful and multiply...

No caption needed

We are 16 weeks! We are expanding by another 2 little feet, we have promotions and shift in ranks within the family. Jare will have a little minion and Jazz will have 2 little minions to boss. Yes, we are excited to be welcoming the smell of another baby after this long. It was planned, it was wanted and we had really wanted just one more.

We know the pink or blue too! It was most natural that the girl wants a little sister and the boy wants a little brother. I'm not kidding you, but I really prayed, almost earnestly for a pair.... of twins! fraternal twins, a boy and a girl. Oh well, this doesn't run in our hereditary history and I guess, God didn't want to give us what we couldn't handle. ONE is perfect.

The gender reveal began with the kids bugging to bake some cupcakes together....

Baking cupcakes

I took the opportunity to hide something under my sleeves....

Dessert with agenda

 I sneaked coloured cream into their cupcakes. Told the kids that their cupcake has got a colour inside. If it's blue, it's a little brother, if pink, a little sister.

It's Blue!

A little of bad photography and lighting. But you got it, it's BLUE!

And so was Jazz disappointed? A little she said, but she went on to proclaim that boys are cute. She rattled on, "Actually Jareth is cute, I asked him to draw a heart, he drew me a peach. I asked him to draw a machine, he drew a shoe and I asked him to draw an apple, he drew a heart. He's funny!"

And for Jare, he was almost expressionless. He checked out his cupcake and went, "Why is there blue? What is your colour, jie jie?" I almost fainted. Did he think it could be different?!!!  

As for us, the parents, all we can ask for is another one healthy little boy. I'm thankful that he will complete us. Three has always been on my mind. Just three. FULL STOP. Though I've to admit, I've been so comfortable with Two. The thought of gloriously graduating from parenting babyhood and toddlerhood was just so complete. Now that pregnancy comes again, we will welcome it with tremendous joy.

Some decisions needed to be made early just to deter the word 'regret' from creeping in later. It will be sad looking back at something you could have done, but did not. It just bothers me a little when older folks I meet, often tell me to have more children. It must be some golden advice I can't relate to or have the experience as of  yet.

My friends who are trying to conceive, trust me, you've been constantly in my prayers. May there be joy and celebration in due season. Keep trusting and praying.

Behind the scene

Pictures of behind the scenes when we tried taking the 'pregnancy announcement' photo. Now we know why that boy has been beaming so widely.

I am so thankful too, for friends who have been really patient and understanding with me, I'm ready to venture out more often now. I've taken victory over morning sickness, no more scrambling for plastic bags or running to the toilet bowl. I'm looking and feeling more like a human now. The past weeks took a toil on me. It felt almost like Js were malnutrition and left to care for themselves, while I juggled between morning sickness, decent meals and motherly duties. 

Glad I'm back, almost in full function. Thankful too, for my Man who stood between the gaps of my lapse. You ate whatever I could present on the table during this period of time, regardless the taste or texture. 

Anticipating our brand new alarm clock next April! 

Bintan Lagoon Resort - Exploring with kids

Our resort adventure begins the next 2 days upon arrival. Land sports and water activities did not quite define our character, plus we had young and old folks in tow, it seemed better to stay tame. We had planned for some beach and water play instead. That's how boring we are, I guess.

We explored the resort on a Monday and Tuesday. It was bare empty with few humans doing any activities. Sounds very much to our advantage, but it really feels like some drowning business in there.

We discovered 2 pool areas, at different parts of the resort. One seemed more for adults and the other with shallow pool and slides for kids. We went for the latter of course. Towels were also readily available by the pool. Complimentary.

So you know, you get excited and hipped kids when you tell them they are going for a dip in the pool.

J poppers!

Breathtaking view of the adults pool

Enjoying my shade

Slide play

There were 2 winding slides to get on for play, but were unable to whoosh down smoothly without any self help, we had to push ourselves down during mid way. The kids enjoyed their water and slide play nonetheless. Just be cautious that one of the slides ends in the deeper pool.

After water play, we paid for the kids to get their hands on some batik painting. Which Jazz thinks is the highlight of her trip. Batik painting with frame was about $16. It takes some time for it to dry and frame, so we collected them the next day.

Batik painting

Masterpieces collected and framed

The kids friendly activities in the resort were mainly the swim pool, beach for sand play and kids club where you can pay hourly to have your kids play in an enclosed area with toys and activities. I think there will be a child sitter to care for the kids, while parents can take some time out.

Everything in the resort has to be purchased and paid for if you would like to engage or use it. Some other activities were Karaoke, board games, table soccer, outdoor gym, games room and quite a few others which we didn't interest us much.

All transactions in and out of the resort are in rupiah. 

Kids' club

You may also feed the kois! Purchase a pack of fish food ($4) to feed the kois in the pond, just outside the hotel's lobby.

Many many kois!

Exploring the beach is a must. The blue waters beneath and clear sky above made up a really scenic view. No haze. Quite a gem sight, I thought. Even though nearby, we don't get such a true blue nature in Singapore.

We brought along beach toys for play. However, it gets crazily hot in the late morning. Do prepare loads of sunscreen, caps, sunglasses and water. There are a couple of deck chairs with large umbrellas, but good shade is a contradicting find on any beach. We finally found a coconut tree to shelter the kids for sand play.

Brought along our beach toys

For the folks who doesn't quite like the sun and heat, you'll be thankful to be sipping drinks in the restaurant by the beach, while watching your kids play. Outdoor and indoor seating available. Drinks bar opens in the morning, but lunch begins at 11:30pm. Oh, do note, Bintan is an hour behind us. The Rice restaurant serves a good mix of food, Chinese, Western and Indonesian cuisine.

Rice restaurant

Fire crackers?!! Looks fun. If we saw this in the night, we might try.

We needed an early lunch on our final check out day, so we hopped over to another restaurant at the Golf area. Forgot its name, but many restaurants were not open for lunch near its main lobby. Do get staff to call check for you, before bugging over.

We settled here with an almost similar menu as Rice, a mix of cuisine. We ordered their Indonesian cusine, Gado gado and Nasi Goreng. They were good for eat, but not anyway near yummylicious.

Gado - $12, Nasi Goreng - $18.50

On the day of check out, all you had needed to do, was to stay in your room at the time the resort advised. Their friendly staff will come for the baggage to assist check in, at the ferry terminal. After which he will come for his guests, to send them over on his buggy. He does the room check out too, if there are no outstanding payments. All easy and convenient.

Needless to say, we had tremendous fun with our personal buggy! The thing we will miss about our stay.  

Buggy ride

It was a rejuvenating get away from the usual mundane tasks. Anywhere, anytime and quality time with the people we love is always a good breather from life's busy days.

Up in the next final post will be our venture out of the resort.


Previous post on Bintan Lagoon: 
Bintan Lagoon Resort -  Villa Stay

Bintan Lagoon Resort - Villa Stay

Early this week, we planned a short getaway to Bintan, Bintan Lagoon resort. The man had a complimentary stay at its villa (SAFRA) and we thought it was quite a deal to getaway.

We bought to and fro ferry tickets from Journeyful. The sail journey was about 90 minutes per way from Tanah Merah Ferry Terminal and disembarked directly at Bintan Lagoon Resort. A shuttle bus arrived to bring us to the resort's lobby. On our return, we went there on a buggy, chauffeured by their staff. Very friendly people in there.

Js were extremely excited to get on the ferry for a 90 minutes sail. Thankful none of us got hit by seasickness, and checking in and out of the customs were very smooth too. We checked in our luggages and food, which were picked up by the resort staff to send them direct to our villa. This got really easy on us, we only took care of our hand carries.

Bookings made through SAFRA was the Cempaka villa. A single storey house unit, with 3 bedrooms (queen bed each), 2 bathrooms, kitchen, living, dining area and BBQ pit. We knew it was huge for us, so we asked our nearing pioneer generation folks, my parents to join us 3 days and 2 nights at the resort.

We were welcomed by this beautiful villa sheltering an electric buggy. The buggy comes complimentary with each villa and proved really useful for us to conquer distance in its huge resort and on a hot sunny day. It became a popular ride among Js, who took turns to control the wheel. Glad it was comfortably enough for 4 adults and 2 little ones to ride on.

Cempaka villa

In house furnishing

Both bathrooms came with standing shower and simple toiletries for showering. Bath and face towels included, but no toothbrush and paste. Extra towels were found in the wardrobe. There were no tissue papers, only toilet papers. Might wana self bring some tissues if you're going.

The master bedroom had a TV, so there were two TVs in the villa. One in room and one in the living area. Our local channels like channel 5 and 8 were received but not HD images.

Here's what I checked out upon my entry, the kitchen! A section I always conquer and am concern about.

Cooking needs

There were utensils, cutlery, plates, bowls, woks, pot and pans. In addition, there was a microwave, refrigerator, rice cooker, toaster and an electric kettle. Which we only used to boil water for hot coffee and milo. Though we brought mineral water along, the villa comes with 4 bottles of complimentary drinking water. Think it was 500ml per bottle.

Dish washing liquid and sponge were available too.

Kettle

We were quite turned off by this kettle, but used it nonetheless. At least, that's not how I maintain the use of my home kettle. If you're uncomfortable, can always bring one along. Voltage and plug is the same in Singapore.

The villa was really old and run down in most corners. Curtains and bedsheets were very seasoned too. The place was relatively clean, but you could tell it's highly due for a major makeover.

The room booking didn't come with breakfast and having done some research of what we'll be in for, we decided to pack some meals over. There were quite a number of restaurants within the resort, but they were not exactly yums and very pricey. 

Frugality runs in me, especially in times like this. Instead of having all meals out, I packed 2 meals of breakfast over, brought food to BBQ for first night's dinner and prepared a meal of lunch. It seems better to check in (at Singapore custom) any raw food you're bringing in. Less chances of being confiscated or fined, I guess. On the declaration form, we were advised not to declare too. It really is almost impossible to whip up a meal if you don't bring anything from Singapore, I've no idea where's their nearest market or supermarket. Everything is just touristy there. If you're prepared to pay an exuberant price for their food, you may travel in light.

Do order your BBQ food items 3 days in advance, if you are planning to BBQ on the day of check in. You should email to ask for their grocery list (pastry and bakeries on list too). Here are some pricing I checked. Prices are in IDR, but I converted them approximately:

Ribeye steak (100g) - $9.80 
Sirloin steak (100g) - $5.90
Chicken wings (100g) - $3.90
Chicken or beef satay (1/2 dozen) - $5.90
Prawns (medium, 100g ) - $4.90
Charcoal (5kg) - $9.80

Quite a premium, but the most convenient 'supermarket' around.

Hired a 'kitchen helper' too

So yeap, we made sandwiches and french toasts for breakfasts, BBQ food for first night dinner, brought salad for greens and fried bee hoon for next day's lunch. Simple meals that brought comfort and delight. And of course, if you have no intention to 'work' for food this vacation. You may check out their in house food menu, to dine in the comfort of your villa.

Transactions are in Rupiah. Good to experience the days of being a 'millionaire.'

Pizza and Pasta at about $18

We had a self proclaimed sumptuous, BBQ dinner and ended our night early. Next day, we spent our morning and an early afternoon exploring the resort. Up in next post, soon!

This share is updated as at November 2015. Am sharing this post to benefit families who might be wondering what to expect in the resort since SAFRA owns a couple of units there. And there wasn't much recent information we could gather while planning our trip.