Palau Payar

When Mako asked me if they could go and snorkel with some fish, I certainly had to spend a lot of time researching on the internet. Singapore beaches are mostly man-made and with all the ships have hardly any fish. We thought about going to Bintan Island off Singapore but it ended up much cheaper to fly into Malaysia and take this tour.



Out tour guide collected us from the hotel at 7:15am to take us to the jetty (we tried to get to the island ourselves but there wasn't any way other than taking the tour). It turned out it was the exact place we got off our cruise ship in March when we visited Penang.

This time our boat was much smaller:







The sea was extremely rough. I think after this photo I stopped smiling and was just hoping to get on the shore as soon as possible...



Because we were with the tour, there was strict time schedule (which I didn't like but had no choice). We had two swims, one before lunch and one after.

Oliver practicing his emergency whistle:







It was very similar to what we did 5 years ago on an island off Kota Kinabalu with them. But this time the kids were much older so they could actually enjoy snorkeling with some fish.





Taking some bread was a great idea!

The water was very clear and there were way more fish than last time. Even Oliver could see them very well. I ordered this awesome bucket with a glass bottom for Oliver online. It was perfect!!! Some of them got too close and Oliver started to get nervous. So I had to tell him "fish only eat mummy and daddy, they don't like babies!" It worked tho!



Lunch time:







The tide came in quite fast in the afternoon and it was challenging for us to keep the boys in the water. So instead we fed baby sharks some bread:







Lots of people were on the island but most of them carried on their way to Langkawi. Maybe next time we will try that. Thank goodness the return journey was much smoother but even in the hotel I felt like I was moving with the waves...

Amazing weather and so many fish - Highlight of our trip!

Trip to Malaysia

While the kids were asleep Goichi (my brother in law) arrived from Japan around midnight. He had to work until a couple of hours before he got on the plane. I felt very sorry he finally got to Singapore but had to leave the country straight away!

We bought Tiger and Air Asia tickets for this trip. I still cannot get over how cheap they were. I guess it is an advantage to live somewhere like Singapore!

Ready for an exciting adventure!



At the low cost terminal - who was most excited to get on the plane with his cousins?



Some duty free shopping at the terminal. I thought there won't be much at the low cost terminal but it was pretty good.



Only one hour and bit later we arrived in Penang, Malaysia. I wanted to do a lunch and shopping stop on the way to the hotel as I knew they have Tesco in Malaysia (I found it funny to see you went to Tesco too Boel!).

Luca getting us a big taxi:



We got a very good taxi/van driver who took us to the biggest Tesco in Malaysia. He also offered to come and pick us up after 2 hours to drop us at the hotel.

It is always easy to have a quick lunch in the food court. Mako's family were happy to try some local foods.

Oliver was getting expert posing in the Japanese style:



Goichi and Yuzuki:



Hinata didn't really like Malay food but he was very into Indian food:



I had to make sure we get some loaves of bread to feed the fish the next day. Mako loves supermarket shopping in foreign countries. It was way cheaper than Singapore supermarkets too! Bargain!





We had two extra bags before we got to the hotel!

We booked at the Hard Rock Hotel Penang for the following two nights.



Oliver was very very happy with his own bed and his amenities kit:



We didn't waste much time after check-in. We all got changed into our swimming togs and jumped into the fab pool.

Mako bought a waterproof video/camera for this trip as we spend most of our holidays in the pool or at the beach. It was certainly a great buy!

Yap still the Japanese way even underwater!



Evening cocktails and snacks at the swim up bar:









The pool was the perfect size for families with little ones:







Happy Roses:



The kids loved the slides - there were no queues so they went down over and over again!



Even I went up to try it out:



Relaxing time away from busy busy Japan:



We had dinner at the Hard Rock Cafe attached to the hotel. The American food filled us right up!





I think they used the wrong glass to serve my Mojito - it was rather strong...



The food:





It was movie night at the hotel lobby, Hinata got to relax and chill out after dinner :)





What a fun filled day we had!

Surprise? foot reflexology

In the afternoon on Day2 Mako and I went to get a massage at the nail salon in our condo while Matthew took the kids for a swim.

I've never been to the salon before but it always looked very clean and nice. My friends told me they do nails quite well too. So I booked us for a foot reflexology.

When we were told to sit down on a very comfy leather chair, two men appeared! I've never had my feet done by a male therapist except for one occasion on a street in Taiwan! Mako started to giggle and we just thought it was so funny - Us in a nice salon with two old men.

They were very very good tho. Mako fell asleep halfway through....



Once the massage was done Mako and I hit Orchard road for some shopping. We thought the kids will have a nap in the afternoon so better to leave them with my lovely husband.
And for sure it made a difference. We zoomed between and around the shops and came home with some nice new things!! I even bought a new top :) Happy Happy days for mummies :)