"A Blog by A Young MOM, who may not be classified as young anymore but blogging about LOVE, LIFE, FAMILY, and now WORK with the Ups and Downs and the Ins and Outs of Everything~"
Showing posts with label malacca. Show all posts
Showing posts with label malacca. Show all posts

Tuesday, April 6, 2010

Festival of Qing Ming @ Melaka

This year, our Qing Ming Prayers were planned a little earlier than the previous years. We even left earlier at 6.30am with the kids still in a daze from their early wakey.


The day is still night...





Never leave with a cuppa.. hehe we had McD's for breakfast. Fast and efficient while on the go.





While the 2 big babies were snoring away,





Javier kept himself busy with hub's iPhone




We arrived at Melaka at around 7.45am and the sky was still in between grey and blue. We quickly setup the scene before the sun rises to avoid the heatwave.



Beware 'the one' has erected from its grave
(that's Nancy btw)





The little ones helped out too





Except for Javier who was glued to me which makes me his twin!





The kids having fun hiding under the shady umbrella





Later, 'Young Ye-Ye' joined in the fun





The boys were bored so they end up digging the ground looking for worms to scare each other





Then, we took turns to say 'HI' to the oldest YONG. Cecilia also danced to Wonder Girls', "Nobody" with her butt shaking left and right. I'm sure 'the others' enjoyed her mini performance.





The amount of money the late 'Mr Yong' received were about 6-8 big bags in total.
Wonder if he managed to spend them all... HMM






Oh... we're just waiting for FIL's dad to finish his buffet breakfast..





Love is everywhere.. it even happens in the cemetery.. He said, "Soft Cushion". Then, I said, "Picture looks like taken in a resort!". He said, "This can be a resort!".





Cam-Haws!!!






Yeap! That's a whole pig. Every year, a pig gets to travel to Melaka.
FIL is trying out the meat... Cc said it was dull.. HAHA of course! Who ate it first?
Someone, somewhere once told me, 'they' lick them.




After prayers, we soon left and have proper breakfast. It was only 9.45am therefore, the only place that's open around the corner was McDs'. Oh dear. McDs' twice a day and it was between 6am-10am. Oh well! After breakie ended, after the 3 SILs' have bragged about boys, the Mark X headed back to KL while the X-Trail began it's journey to Melaka Town.

We arrived at our hotel too early so we had to wait at the club lounge where the view was magnificent.



While I watch the business news, the kids hogged Hub's iPhone



We finally got to our room 45 minutes later. We checked ourselves into a Club Suite complete with Club Facilities.

Judith's Doggie and Javier's Mickey too tagged along quietly inside our luggage





Only 5 minutes ago we entered the room and the kids have searched high and low for the perfect hide n' seek spot.





Spa amenities...




After the kids took turns to soaked themselves in the tub, we ordered room service for lunch. We eat and eat only. HAHA!


Yummy!!! One plate for each of the kids.. We let them eat then we finished what is left on the plate. The portion was big so no worries, we have our fair share.




Javier's 'Fish N' Chips'





Judith's big plate of '½ Chicken with Mashed Potatoes'





Joe's favourite, 'Spaghetti Bologna'




We always choose hotels with swimming pool unless it's really unavailable then the kids will just have to settle with bath tubs instead. So, whenever we booked a getaway with the kids, the first question directly will be, 'Do you have a child's pool?' then it will be, 'Is there a bath tub in the room?'. These 2 are the most important things to inquire. HAHA!



When it doesn't rain, the kids get to waddle the pool while I take a rest under the sun. But sadly, it wasn't sunny. How to sunbathe without the help of rays? Freezing disappointing!





These deck beds are so cute... I just want to cuddle in them but it was soaking wet.. duno who so irresponsible. There's a reason it's cushioned OK?





The weather was cooling and the wind was blowing everyone's patience away... HAHA.. the kids were freezing and I was trying to stay warm.




For dinner, we took the shuttle service to Mahkota Parade where we ate Japanese Cuisine.


Soft Shell Crab Maki




Ginger Beef Maki



Melaka food portions are huge.. Hubby and Me were trying our best to finish what we ordered.




We walked over to Padang Pahlawan and saw this cute advertisement with a little boy which resembled Javier.



The kids were having fun taking turns to have a picture taken with the AD which prompt Hubby to make a comic version of it.



Sis asked me to visit her friend's Skinny Yogurt booth in Padang Pahlawan which we savored on healthy yogurt with fresh fruits! I told her I would try to look out for it but it was easy to spot as the booth was brightly lit and it's pretty eye-catching. Too bad, the owner wasn't there because if she was, I would ask for a free serve.. Oh I'm only kidding.. but the guy at the counter was very friendly. :)





I had strawberry yogurt topped with cranberries... WOO-HOO





Hubby preferred the Plain Yogurt topped with almond and passion-fruit syrup.. heavenly! It's healthy yogurt. Costs more than RM5 and less than RM10... it's a deal because it was fulfilling.





On the last day, we checked out and went for a movie. We watched, 'Clash of The Titans' at Padang Pahlawan then had lunch before leaving Melaka. The kids were goo-goo-ga-ga-ing over the cute rice balls and I really miss these balls. Can't remember when was the last time I had them.


There were plenty of rice balls I remembered and somehow we managed to empty the plate




On the way out from Melaka, I asked Hubby to stop by Tan Kim Hock because I love their cendol. I'm not really fond of this mouth-watering drink but somehow, I'm in love with this particular one. I also did some food souvenir shopping for the folks back in KL.


Yum! Even Hubby and Joe enjoyed a bowl each. So, if you guys are leaving Melaka, don't forget to stop and take a sip. It's along Jalan Laksamana Cheng Ho. You should try their durian cendol.



Tuesday, April 7, 2009

The Return of Tomb Sweeping

…. that’s what Hub told me. I always thought it’s called ‘Qing Ming’ in English too. I googled… and I found out that it’s also called, ‘Clear and Bright Festival’. It’s a festival to remember and honour ancestors at grave sites or maybe I should put it as tombs as it sounds much more historic. Lol.. anyway, we went down to Malacca (my hometown-oh how I missed you) to the ‘YONG’ tomb site. All the ‘YONGs’ are and were there. We visit Jake’s grandfather (FIL’s Dad) every year without fail except for the certain years that I was expecting.

So, we left very early at about 5.45am.. we arrived at about 7am using the Ayer Keroh exit. The ‘YONG’ cemetery is located behind Jaya Jusco. Right after you pass JJ on your right, at the traffic light, take right. Oh.. why am I telling you the directions.. silly me.

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Hub with his Ipod all geared up to take-off

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Cc carpooled with us

 
 
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Judith battling with sleepiness

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We’re reached the Ayer Keroh toll

Relatives from Malacca and Singapore came too. One big family spring reunion. We started off with the sweeping of the grave’.. it means sweep-la; sweep clean, then.. lucky young ones repaint the Chinese characters written on the tomb. When all is clean and done, offerings in form of food, tea, flowers, etc are given.

 

 IMG_3125IMG_3128      Uncle Keat from Singapore checking if it’s durable paint…

IMG_3127 IMG_3126 TaKu reserved the umbrella first while Fei-Po decides to release some puffs.

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FIL making sure everyone does something

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Hub assuring his Uncle that he isn’t going vegan with his hairdo

 
 
IMG_3132 Happy Little Javier
 
IMG_3138 Cc trying out.. maybe she’ll do this on OT days

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Yes she gets bitten by mosquitoes too

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Kids hanging around Nancy

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Sorry you guys… and sorry piggy

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Jake the porky slayer

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FIL firing up the joss sticks

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We lined up to pay our respects

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  Erm… he’s personalizing his respect plan

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All the goodies for ‘YEYE’

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Javier left his building blocks at home.. so he’s improvising now

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Cc and Judith asking if ‘Elder Yong’ has finished his feast

(this is how it works… take two 20 cents, ask permission, shake, shake, shake then throw.. if both are heads/tails; means he isn’t finish eating.. if one is head and the other is tails; it means he is done chowing, full + with big tummy!)

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While they wait…

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While we wait….

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Fei Po says, “Start Smoking”

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The ALPHARD is burning!!! HELP!!

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Open burning happens in the family only once year

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Umbrella Man

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Vampires hiding from the sun

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Reduced to ashes

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Fei Po’s turn to do something.. ALAS

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Sweaty Pretty Umbrella Girls

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Picnic site.. haha

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My kiddos' sweating it out in the heat

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Fei Po doing what she does best... cut and distribute to family members

Before we leave, we took a family picture. Though not everyone could make it, it was a great day. This time, we arrived early, did everything breezily and braved the oven-baking sun without much hassle.

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We are the YONGS'

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Bye Bye.. See You Next Year!