Zoo with Daddy

Ii Ani and family is here for the weekend so we decided to go to the Zoo again, and surprisingly, Caden wanted to tag along as well.

So off we go…

We were so disappointed to know that the Rainforest Fights Back show was cancelled only due to some drizzling at that hour.

Daddy was so looking forward to it as Caden talks about it quite often.

Well, that means, you have to tag along again, daddy! Hehe….

At Dr. Rashid Office

We went to Dr. Rashid office again today.

Dr. Rashid was still trying to persuade me and suster to stop Caden’s milk intake in the middle of the night.

[He drinks at least 2 x 240ml at night, sometimes up to 3 bottles. Before he sleeps, he drinks at least 420ml or more]

But I am quite reluctant to do it, especially when most of the time he didn’t eat anything in the day time.

Dr. Rashid told me that in 6 months time, he will try to clean Caden teeth. Haha… I don’t think he will succeed though, we’ll see…

Overall, Caden’s teeth are in good condition. I think he still able to have those good teeth is because he doesn’t drink or eat sweet stuffs at all (cakes, candies, ice cream, sugary drink, etc).

I hope his teeth will stay this way until he is older and he could eat better in the day time, which (I hope) will stop the late night feeding.

In the Lounge as David (not Caden)

When David is reading 'David and Goliath' book with David’s grandmother.

The red hairband is Sasya’s. David borrowed it to make him feel more like David in the story book.

When David is watching 'David and Goliath' DVD

When David is singing, just like David in the DVD was

When David pretending to be Goliath who fell down after David hit him with a stone

At the Perth Airport

Yes I still carry this 16kg boy sometimes, especially when he was a little bit excited and couldn’t be controlled.

This sling indeed great. It can carry such heavy loads.

I still remember that it was not long ago when Caden was only as big as Sasya’s. At half of Caden’s weight, Ii Ani can carry Sasya’s for a long time, while I can only carry Caden for a while.

The Most Expensive Breakfast Ever

Today is our last day. As usual Caden woke up at 6am. After we were done with packing, we went out for breakfast.

It was the most expensive breakfast ever.

We went to this coffee shop nearby which served continental breakfast and kid’s meal, too.

It cost us $60 for 3 breakfast meals for Caden, the nanny and I.

The food was just okay for the price, nothing extra ordinary about it.

Cohunu Koala Park

I was told that only a few parks in Australia that allow us to carry the Koala for pictures. And if they do have, it cost a fortune.

It cost us $15/person for the park entry and $35/person to take pictures with the Koalas.

The park itself has a few other animals and a few animal statues in their premises. Caden especially like the blue Dinosaurs which looked like it was praying.

Caden liked the encounter with the Koalas very much. He touched the Koala every time any of us carried it. Too bad he is too young to handle the Koala.

He even had his own idea to kiss one of them on the back.

And of course they never take a bath. Hehe…

When we explore the park and found some deer, ponies, donkey, wolf, ducks, and swan, he was scared to get close to them or not that interested.

(Fake) Farm Stay at The River Retreat

So here’s what happen, I wanted to do farm stay for Caden but afraid that Oma will freak out and plus, I was not in the mood of travelling for hours myself just to get to the farm.

Then I find farm stay that is close to the hotel at Swan Valley area which I hope it is as clean as hotels.

Bad idea.

The cottage which consisted of 3 bedrooms was clean indeed. But there was no feeling like we are in a farm at all. The animals were very minimal, not interesting at all. There was no activity at all, eg. looking for chicken eggs in the morning.

I felt we were just in a cottage in Puncak, not in a farm stay at all.

We shouldn’t waste our money staying here.

Oh well…

We basically only used the cottage to sleep and then went out this morning as early as we could.

[Actually, we paid for a late check out until 5 pm today, but we didn't even bother; we checked out at 9am]

It was really bad! We should have been staying in a real farm or not at all.

Lunch at one of the Wineries

Great weather!!! But the food was bad! We need Asian food...!!! ^_^

@ Cuddly Farm Animals

We went to check out a local farm nearby called Cuddly Farm Animal. [Thanks again for GPS, or else, we would not find it]

We had fun there, especially Caden, whom all along is a city boy. He was very busy patting all the animals there and riding the tractor around the farm.

We all were quite scared when it was time to feed the baby cows. The babies themselves were pretty big and they were very aggressive, they showed it very clearly that they were really hungry.

We were told to keep the bottle in ready position for them to drink, even though it’s empty, because sometimes the calf could kick us, thinking that we don’t want to give them their food.

That was a little scary though. All of us were kept screaming and Caden refused to stand up by himself. I have to carry him and the bottle and keep feeding the calf all at the same time.

But it was fun… ^_^

The Margaret River Chocolate Company

No we are not driving all the way to Margaret River.

.

We went to their branch in Swan Valley. Bought a few chocolates for souvenirs and then continue our journey.

Morning of Day 3

Missing my piano at home….

Pretending to play piano while waiting for Sasya to wake up and get ready for our next adventure journey to the Swan Valley.

AQWA

This place is very similar to Underwater World in Singapore.

Two major differences are they have much more variety of marine animals and the colors of them were much beautiful than the one in Singapore.

We saw the scary big white shark (like the one in the Jaws movie). It was really huge!!!

We went to the touch and see section, too. Caden and I touched and felt the texture of a star fish.

Before headed home, we went around the area for a while.

The whole harbor was extremely quiet with only a few people walked pass us. Maybe it was not holiday season yet?

Hillarys Boat Harbour

Since daddy is headed back home to Singapore, mommy had to drive the mini-van all around Perth by herself.

It’s quite a big car, but I really enjoyed driving it. I had actually been nagging Paul to buy me one in Singapore. My current car seems so small compare to this mini-van.

We rented the car complete with a GPS, therefore, we could almost go anywhere that we want within the island of Australia. It was indeed a life-saver. Without it, we would have been stuck in the hotel all day.

Anyway, after Caden took his 1.5 hrs nap, we headed to Hillarys Boat Harbour. We wanted to check out AQWA (something like Underwater World) and the surrounding area as well.

@ Nao's

How lucky we are to have this well-known Japanese noodle restaurant within 5 minutes walk from our hotel.

Travelling with Caden, who is still a very fussy eater, is difficult. If I couldn’t find udon, chawanmushi (Japanese steamed egg) or Chinese fried rice, then that means he will not eat anything for the day.

He ate quite a lot during our two visits to the restaurant.

Caversham Wildlife Park

Today is daddy’s birthday. “Happy Birthday, daddy!!!”

Despite that all of us went home very late last night, we woke up early and went to Caversham Wildlife Park at 8.30am.

[Daddy will headed back to Singapore on a 3pm flight]

It was a relatively small but enjoyable park. All of us had fun there, except daddy with some occasional yawning here and there. ^_^

Caden loved their Kangaroo’s site. It was huge and they had close or maybe more than 100 Kangaroos inside.

There were some big ones, small ones, the one with the Joey inside the pouch, the old one, the hungry one, the timid one, the aggressive one….you name it…

We spent more than half an hour inside.

Then he went to the animal show where they showed us how to cut the lambs wool, how to handle a flock of lambs with the help of a horse and a trained dog.

We were chosen among the few to give some milk to the baby lambs. Caden was a little scared at first, but was fine after a while.

Before we went home, we visited the Koala’s site. We were so disappointed that we couldn’t hold the Koala at this park. So there, we only took some pictures and gently patted the koalas.

It was just in time for us to grab lunch and then send daddy to the airport.

Thank GOD for this Invention

Since I bought this portable DVD player last September, I couldn’t imagine living without this when I am travelling.

When we travelled, I bought it everywhere. To me, it is as important as baby wipes and extra diapers. It is always charged next to my cell phone at night and into the backpack the next morning.

Having a very active and easily bored child like Caden, who always hooked by any DVDs that I show to him, makes my life very dependent on this.

[We never use it when we are back home, though]

This evening, he was a little tired already. It was 7.30pm, passed his bedtime. And the whole reception thing was so boring for him. He was starting to make noises and refused to sit still in his high-chair.

Quickly I took out the DVD player and turned it on.

And…voila….

He was as quite as an ant.

No noise.

Not a single one.

He was sitting still, watching one of his favorite Christian cartoon characters, Hermie and Friends, while I was clapping for the bride and groom to enter the room.

This portable DVD player will always go whenever we travel for sure. It’s the only thing that could calm Caden down at whatever situation.

The Wedding

All of us were very glad for this perfect weeding for my cousin.

Our uncle had recently passed away which made a lot of our relatives couldn’t make it for the wedding.

But everything went so well since this morning and the bride looks very beautiful.

Caden attended the reception for a while and then Paul brought the kids (Caden and Sasya) back to the hotel.

I am so glad that we decided to bring the nanny along, so Paul and I could be in the reception, joining the celebration until it ends at 11pm.

The Church

Very beautiful church. Perfect wedding.

The Next Morning...

Started with breakfast at a coffee shop closeby to our hotel in downtown

Went straight to Sasya's room to wake her up and to help her clean her nose afterwards ^_^

A hug for his sister....

Took the last picture before Caden had to head back to his room to wake daddy up, while Sasya took another nap

Arrived in Perth

At last we survived the 6 hours journey. Caden didn’t stop moving around but thanks to his 1.5 hrs nap time and portable dvd player that makes him sit down for a little while.

Caden was in a good shape when we arrived, too excited I should say.

Suster (the Nanny) was very surprised how super small and minimal work done Perth Airport is. Hehe…She compared it with Singapore Changi, she thought as this is Australia, it should be better than Changi.

The picture was taken while Paul (behind) was completing the paper work for the rental car.

We all can’t wait to start our journey to explore Perth tomorrow.