While almost everybody I know is out, I’m sitting here, can’t quite decide if I should play the xbox 360, sing with magic sing or browse the net. Instead, I chose to watch the TV. I am not a TV person so this becomes my “do something fresh” once in a while.

After watching an animated movie and “ghost” movie on cable, I realized I do not like watching TV because they make me cry. Whether it’s a comedy or a scary movie, something about the ending tugs my heart.

I’m not sure if I had previously admitted this but I now weigh as much as I did when I was pregnant with BG. So yes, I am now 25 pounds heavier than I was few months after our wedding.

I have also accepted the fact that I am now in an age that crash diets just don’t work. So lately I’ve been browsing for hydroxycut reviews hoping to get back to good shape, to my ideal weight.

I know, I know. Some of you might be asking “why don’t you just run or jog, for a change?” Believe me, if only I have the time, I would.

My little girl will be in Senior Nursery this June. Sometimes, it amazes me how this girl who used to love staying snugly in my crossed arms, now enjoys going to school away from mommy. It wouldn’t be too long that she’d be taking those sat prep courses and be going away for college. You realized all you have is 18 years of education that she’d depend, lesser and lesser, on you. Sigh.

But as a mom, it is my duty to raise her to be independent. Hoping she’d be ready to face the world, with or without mommy.

Someone asked me about one incident that happened four years ago. She was asking me if I remember meeting this certain person while in the mall for a blue light therapy appointment. I told her I don’t think I met that person yet. In fact, I couldn’t remember if that incident indeed happened. Blame the anesthesia, that part of my memory probably got fried.

Funny though, that while talking to a friend, she was amazed that I remember an incident that happened five years ago.

If you are like me, who loves taking photos of colorful things, then Madagascar is the perfect spot for you.

Before I continue reading this jenny craig review, let me share some photos we took around Madagascar. I don’t think there’s a theme park that has no carousel. But what sets King Julien’s Beach Party-Go-Round from the other carousel is instead of the usual horses, it has the Madagascar characters that kids can ride.

Fun!

I must admit that by the time we were in The Lost World part of the theme park, we were exhausted and still full (from lunch) so we were in no mood for thrilling rides anymore. Plus, my face started feeling sunburned, I should have brought best day creams with me to the park. Oh yeah, I saw some stalls selling sun blocks.

I was suggesting to the husband he rides the Canopy Flyer. (I just realized we don’t have pictures of the Canopy Flyer ride itself so let me just describe it.) It’s like a flying vehicle with your legs dangling. It isn’t fast nor rotating. So it’s just like sitting while your seat moves… in mid-air. But he was in no mood for rides anymore after lunch.

My daughter was in the mood to ride the Dino-Soarin ride though. We have express pass (S$30 for weekdays on top of your regular weekday entrance ticket which costs S$66) so we were able to skip the very long lines.

Far far away attractions are: Shrek 4D, Donkey Live, Enchanted Airways and Magic Potion Spin. I didn’t see 3 of these rides probably because we were in a hurry. We had to do some last minute shopping, and look for the best cholesterol medications that a relative was looking for.

We were browsing for some merchandise being sold at the Magic Potion store when we saw mini ferris wheel that our daughter liked, called the Magic Potion spin.

Btw, we were given S$5 voucher for merchandise (and S$10 for food) for each entrance ticket we purchased. Vouchers can be used throughout the theme park. The food vouchers can be used not only in the restaurants but also at the food stalls scattered around the park.

Packaged with the Luge ride is the Sky ride, unfortunately for me. I’m a bit afraid of heights. I remember I was too afraid of the heights when we rode the cable car in HK Ocean Park, which was enclosed. Now you can imagine my fear as we rode the sky ride which was like a bench, no enclosure, moving up in cables.

It’s a good thing though that I was too afraid to take videos as it started to rain when we were in mid air. I didn’t want the digicam to get all wet. That’s my excuse for wearing that ugly towel over my head. At least, I’m sure I won’t get sick or have any skin infection such as eczema.

What you see in the background is real. That’s how high we were! My daughter was crying not because of the heights but because she was getting wet from the rain.

This is a shot from above (while riding the Tiger Sky Tower) of the Luge track and on the lower left side you can see the sky ride.

We stayed in a lodge, YWCA Fort Canning Lodge. It wasn’t as fabulous as Toronto hotels, but I like it and would still recommend as it is very near the Dhoby Ghaut MRT station, which is common for both the red and purple lines.

Day 2 of our trip was dedicated to Sentosa (without Universal Studios as it wasn’t open yet last Monday). I researched about what we can do in Sentosa and decided that we should try the Luge and Sky Ride.

Husband’s ticket to the Luge and Sky Ride is included in his “Choice of Thrill” package so we only had to buy tickets for me and my daughter, which costs S$13 (S$2 for the child if riding with an adult, S$11 for adult).

Here’s a photo (of the photo, too lazy to scan) of us in the Luge.

Photo costs S$15 for 1 photo but since we bought husband’s photo as well, we got the 2 photos for S$20 only.

This is a shot from above (while riding the Tiger Sky Tower) of the Luge track and on the lower left side you can see the sky ride.

We’re back!

A lot were asking for the 5-day itinerary for our trip to Singapore. I think ours is ideal for a family of 3 or more. So I’m sharing it so others will have an idea in arranging theirs. Take note though that most were done in a weekday. Traffic may be different on a weekend, and likely longer queues.

Day 1 (Sunday)
- arrival at the Budget Terminal. If you were able to catch a piso seat sale from Cebu Pac, you will arrive at the budget terminal. The next thing to consider is where you are planning to stay. If you are staying at a friend’s place in Tampines where most pinoys are, you can ride the taxi. Taxi rates are different depending on the time of day. And if you’re staying in the city, you can ride the bus to Terminal 2 for free. Then from Terminal 2, the MRT would work perfectly. Just make sure you buy the ezlink card which we were able to use for our entire stay both for MRT and bus rides. What made it easier for me to compute for our fares and travel times beforehand is the gothere.sg website.

- lunch at the park mall in dhoby ghaut after we left our luggage to the concierge
- checked in. slept. we deserved it.
- woke up at 6pm then went to esplanade for dinner at the hawkers stalls
- went to Merlion for some picture taking
- went back to the lodge to sleep. yes, we needed energy for Sentosa the following day

Day 2 (Monday)
- had to wake up at 9am for breakfast buffet (6am-10am only)
- from dhoby ghaut, we went straight to harbourfront station: vivo city (purple line). I guess this is the major advantage of our lodge. it is very near the dhoby ghaut MRT station. Dhoby ghaut has both the red and purple line.
- vivo city L3, we queued for our Sentosa express ride which also serves as our entrance tickets. S$3 for each adult or kids more than 3 years old. Purchased the “choice of thrill” for hubby, as well as Songs of the Sea tickets 2 combo A (show and meal) and 1 combo B (show and toy for our little girl)
- first stop: waterfront station. We just took some photos in front of Universal Studios which was not yet open that day
- second stop: imbiah station. We had lunch at Delifrance, and then took some more photos before heading to the Luge and Skyride. We had to buy our tickets there as the ticket booth at vivo city sells only package tickets (e.g. choice of thrill, songs of the sea combos, etc) BG’s ticket is discounted as she only had to sit in front of me.
- we walked towards the megazip. Husband parajumped and megazipped.
- went back to the butterfly park (imbiah lookout), in front of which is a small fountain where kids play. BG played while we waited for our pizza. That’s early dinner.
- had to buy clothes for BG as she was all wet from playing in the fountain
- rode the Tiger Sky Tower, which gave us a 360 degree view of Sentosa
- third stop: beach station. we had nachos for our combo A (you have the option to have nachos, popcorn or hotdog sandwich)
- sat. waited. watched the long queue for the 7:40pm show. we bought the 8:40pm show just to be on the safe side. We didn’t know if how long the rides and walks in between would be.
- watched songs of the sea
- went back to vivo city / harbourfront station
- went back to the lodge. slept

Day 3 (Tuesday)
- woke up at 9am for breakfast
- slept again
- woke up at noon. left the lodge at 2pm
- from dhoby ghaut we had to go to Ang Mo Kio station, then go to the bus interchange
- rode Bus 138
- singapore zoo 30 stops later. that’s 4pm to 6pm. Among others, there’s the rainforest kidzworld where there’s wet play. But what I love about this zoo was our elephant ride.
- night safari
- went home. this time, we chose to ride a bus express which from the zoo, stops at common hotels in the city. you can not use your ezlink card with them. A ticket is worth S$4 for adults and S$2 for kids. Too expensive but we no longer had the energy to transfer from bus to the MRT. Plus it was faster.
- slept

Day 4 (Wednesday)
- woke up at 9am for breakfast
- packed our bags
- checked out at noon
- arrived at my friend’s flat in Tampines at 1:30pm. lunch
- catched up with my college friend Maui
- met with Jacq and Iyah
- around 6pm, we and our kids went to the playground
- dinner -> wine -> bed

Day 5 (Thursday)
- woke up at 5am
- left Tampines at 6am
- bus -> MRT
- vivo city at around 7:30am
- bought tickets
- universal studios at 8am. Lots of media people. Dragon dance
- opened at 8:28am (or was it later than that?)
Battlestar Galactica
Ancient Egypt / Revenge of the Mummies
Accelerator
Far Far Away – castle
The Lost World
Madagascar

- left at 1:30pm
- arrived at the airport at 3:45pm -> flight at 5:45pm

I will update this post with links once I finish blogging about them.

My mind is always filled with vacation plans. I’m always on the look out for seat sales, as well as, accommodation sales. I guess I got addicted after going on a trip on a tight budget, and came out of it with souvenirs (pasalubong) and great photos. I realized that all the barriers to great vacations were just in my head, that I just created.

So maybe, it won’t be farfetched to start planning about Orlando vacation. Haha. Kidding aside, husband and I have carefully mapped out our family budget this year. And by the looks of it, we’ll just be in Asia for the rest of the year.