weekend getaway

短短四天已令小朋友樂而忙返（大人也何嘗不是 : P）！上次來新加坡rafael 還只是兩歲多啊，聖淘沙只得數間酒店... 光陰似箭啊！

去得聖淘沙，當然要去環球片場啦，趁哥哥和amy忙著玩遊戲，我也和heather拍拖去 : P

由開門10點玩到7點關門，當然開懷大笑啦。

garden by the bay 很不錯，除了這個skywalk！點解？因為我畏高... : P

i want to go to taitung again!

rafael just told me this today. be honest i am quite surprised to hear this. after all, there is no theme park (but there is water park in the hot spring hotel), no swimming pool and no kids club. i think he enjoyed this trip because he got another two kids as company in the journey, that they could entertain themselves most of the time!

indeed i enjoyed this trip a lot too. especially we did survive the "no-wifi-no-tv-minshuku". that is totally out of my surprise!

there are lots of playgrounds......

and parks......

kids spend their time in reading when there is no ipad and tv : )

and card games too!

thank god...... the weather is awesome though the forecast said raining : P

a fun experience in feeding animals in the farm.

a visit to taitung

we have been to taipei several times and it's time for us to explore some other attractions of taiwan apart from eslite and coffee alley.

thanks our friends for their thorough planning and making all the preparations, we finally set our destination to taitung - a place where we need to take a three-hour train from kaohsiung! but luckily kids can always entertain themselves throughout the whole journey by smartphones and snacks : P

taitung is such a nice place - surrounded by mountains and fields, and a lot of parks and playgrounds.

this children story house - i think the kids will be happy to stay there reading story books and comic books for a whole day!

this is the first time we came so close to the pacific ocean...

to be continued....

summer arrives!

the long awaited summer has finally arrived! kids are happy because they can stay home all day watching cartoons and playing toys (what parents we are!). parents are happy too because both amy and i took a few weeks holidays to stay with the kids : )

apart from doing nothing at home, we also spent a week in thailand to enjoy sunshine and beach. but out of our surprise the weather in hong kong seems much hotter, in fact it was quite chilling at night in thai...

but anyway kids were still excited... probably not because of the trip itself but watching cartoon network at hotel and sleeping together with us for all the six nights in thai....

the sea view was really beautiful especially during sun set...

and this is the first time that we celebrated birthday overseas : )

oh i forgot, kids love summer because it's the time for ice-cream!

reading papa

在台北的忠孝敦化區，有這麼一間明亮怡人的繪本店，好像森林中的一間糖果屋。

there is this cute and bright picture book store in taipei.



在我忙著照顧兩歲小人兒的時候，你化成最有耐性的故事爸爸，讀了一本又一本。

while i was busy taking care of the two-year-old munchkin, you became the most patient storyteller, reading to our boy one after another.

聽說不是每一個爸爸都會為孩子講故事的。嗯，我好喜歡你會。

and i really love you for this.

leftover food log

mac 應該沒看過廚餘日記，所以我有點驚嘆他竟想出這不用打不用氹不用罵的文明方法，來迫靖愷盡量吃完他的食物。

asking rafael to finish his food has always been a chore. during our trip, mac came up with this idea to motivate/force rafael to do so by taking a photograph to record his leftover food at every meal. i was pretty impressed because it worked better and is more civilised than scolding or nagging. to play fair, we will of course photograph everyone's including those of heather.

why adults love holidays?

除了唔駛返工、鍾意幾點起身都得之外，對於我來說，最少仲有以下五個原因：

窗外是湖光山色，不是別人屋企；

食完早餐之後去的地方是泳池，不是office，還可以趁機在小朋友前炫耀自己的身手；

每天穿的是泳褲或短褲，可以食幾多幾肥膩都得，唔怕皮帶太緊；


雙人床上只睡兩個人，而不是三個人或者四個人；



最重要的是，可以連續一百四十四小時看著哥哥和妹妹的點點滴滴！: )

why kids love holidays?

因為日日都有雪糕食！

a little grown-up

yes i am talking about heather. she is no longer a small tiny baby sleeping in my arms but a little grown up toddler! why she grows so fast? probably because she is quite a big eater (and i bet she ate even more than rafael during the vacation last week!)

p.s. please excuse her eating manner! : P

summer holiday

夏天應該甚麼也不做，每天躺在沙灘椅上曬太陽和游泳（順道也看看別人游泳！）

在沙灘漫步也不錯‧‧‧如果你想苦練鐵沙（腳）掌的話！

rub-a-dub-dub

在台北住了一晚溫泉酒店，靖愷從此愛上家族泡湯。

從前他都只顧著玩不願洗澡，現在只要問他要不要跟妹妹一起泡，他就立即跑過來自己脫掉衣服。

夏天不怕孩子冷著，我也正好在兩個豆丁戲水時忙別的。昨晚忙著收拾時，還聽到有人唱起歌來。

我們家裡沒有浴缸，兩兄妹暫時就只好親密地擠在嬰兒浴盆裡。但願快些找到新的房子，然後建個大浴缸一家慢慢泡！

rafael is addicted to family bathing after his first-ever experience with hot spring in taipei.

i've always loved having a relaxing bath too. wish we can find a new place soon with space for a nice big tub so everyone can get in.

king-sized bed

one of the best things about travelling is, we can all cuddle up on the same bed and still feel there's enough room for everyone.

我愛旅行。

我愛酒店的特大號床。

我愛和你們捲在那大床上，一家人也不擠。

a love-filled taipei

喜歡台北捷運將priority seats喚作博愛座。在台北的五天，我們出外主要利用捷運，我揹著妹妹，每一次也有人讓座，然後看到靖愷，又再有人起來，更試過有人爭相讓座。我們沒有刻意站到別人的座位前，但總有嬸嬸、大叔、中年的、年青的，很快就留意到我們，然後熱情地揚手請我們過去。

每一個車站也有可以換尿布的洗手間，有些有家庭廁，還有些有溫馨哺集乳室。「溫馨」 聽來很肉麻，但對有需要的人來說，卻是真的窩心。

回來在網上隨便搜尋一下，才發現原來受感動的不止我們，更有新加坡和大陸作家撰文表揚台北人的文明。

香港自誇是asia's world city，怎麼在關愛的層面上，無論是比較軟件或硬件，我們都像是asia's developing city。mac說或許是因為我們背靠祖國，是真的嗎？

we're impressed by taipei - people share their seats with us every time on the metro, each station is equipped with washrooms with diaper-changing stations, and some even with family washrooms and breastfeeding rooms. in comparing the family-friendly facilities (if they are ever present in here), i couldn't help but question, how can we dare describe our place as "asia's world city"?

伸延閱讀：

李承璋：新加坡可以向台北市学习什么？
沈寧：台北六日

i'm back

回來了，幾星期前妹妹病了，還證實患了哮喘，她倒是只發燒了幾天，做媽媽的竟自己元氣大傷，一直提不起勁寫。嗯，其實我也樂得看mac的字。

回來了，台北五天遊。妹妹十一個月，第一次一家四口外遊，比想像中輕鬆，雖然最後一天發現走路太多負磅太重腳上長了個水泡。我們算不算minimalists？四口子合共帶了一件不到17kg的寄艙行李，加爸爸的小背包，和日常出外用的lesportsac weekender。不止一個朋友問，你們會帶helper去吧？吓，難得幾天可以不見她喎！

回來了，追了兩天google reader仍有1,000+條feeds未看。努力中。

回來了，不用上班兩星期真爽，連工作的郵箱密碼也忘得一乾二淨了。

we're back from a 5-day trip to taiwan. thought we did pack light - one 16.9kg travel bag + two small hand-carry items.

have you fastened your seatbelt?

妹妹每朝起床後，不要看她傻乎乎的樣子，她最懂自得其樂，隨手抓起身邊的玩具，便能夠樂上好一陣子。


希望你日後搭車搭船搭飛機，睡醒後都是這樣子，不要鬧扭彆 : P

please fasten your seatbelt

哥哥最近的口頭禪：「巴斯光年，一飛衝天！」


咁你究竟想飛去邊呢？

cocoon

實在太愛峇里酒店裡的梳化床。

無論一個人、兩個人．．．

i just love these cocoon-like sofa bed at the bali resort. they are super comfy for one, two...

還是三個人，都一樣舒適。or even three...

如果家裡有個花園，真想買一套帶回家，閒時就鑽進去，避開一切煩惱。

how i wish we could have a garden so i can bring home one and dig myself in it to get away from any trouble.

kids club

兩口子的時代，選酒店總想避開大集團旗下的那些，好讓我們可以寧靜地避世。Kids Club? 與我何干？

有了個豆丁，我們選酒店都要看看那裡有沒有Kids Club。

我愛看靖愷與其他小朋友玩，也愛看他怎樣用有限的語言跟來自不同地方的小朋友溝通。

到峇里的第一天，來自澳洲的七歲哥哥Lockhan就盯著你要跟你一起，你們約定在泳池游水、又在kids club一起將西瓜打破、盪鞦韆、畫畫，和自製泥膠。

兩歲不足的澳洲小妹妹Amber一看到你就要跟你搶我們帶來的沙灘玩具，你沿著泳池一直追著她把玩具搶回來，害得她媽媽要立刻給她買自己的一套。臨走的一天，你這倆小無猜卻一起玩起煮飯仔來。

在泳池，你成為三歲印尼姐姐Nadia的copycat，一會兒一起去澆水、一會兒又為我煮晚餐。翌日你們一起到塘裡釣魚。我和爸爸都有收穫，你和Nadia的魚餌都給魚仔吃了。

回來了兩星期，這些那些，你到現在還有說起。

偷想，到你和妹妹都可以託管在kids club的時候，我和爸爸就要將你們賣豬仔，然後一起去做spa！:P

we almost only stay at hotels with kids club these days. i just love watching rafael play with other kids, and observing how he communicates with kids from around the world with his limited english.

and i'm secretly wishing that he could get used to the kids club idea so that we can put him (and his sister) there for a few hours while mac and i sneak away to have a long-waited couple spa.

kids

i love watching rafael play with other kids.

我最愛從旁觀看靖愷與其他孩子玩。

i wonder if you could hear rafael's giggles in the video, but at one point he really couldn't stop laughing at the silly games he and his new friend were playing.

i always try to be as silly as i can when i play with rafael, but no matter how hard i try, i could never beat the real kids. and somehow i think the laughs rafael have are just not the same as when he plays with other kids.

and that's why i think siblings are so important.

常覺得，靖愷的笑聲，在與其他孩子玩的時候總是和平常不同，像是格外天真。

很久很久以前，在我還是單身的時候，在巴士上看到一對父母帶著一雙小女孩，兩個女孩自得其樂天真地大聲傻笑，像是世界上只有她倆。從那一刻我就決定，我生孩子一定不要只生一個。

a pleasant flight

靖愷說：飛機起飛啦！
rafael: the plane is taking off!

我們再試驗靖愷的耐性，選了偏長的機程到峇里去。

連上機落機每程超過五個小時被困在機上，靖愷算是乖了。去程的時候睡了一小時多，回程雖然未能入睡，但在少許吵鬧下總算捱了過去，並未出現上回在新加坡回港打翻整盤飛機餐的尷尬事件。

爸爸和我還一心多用各自在兩程中看了三部電影（我看了很想看的500 days of summer，up和julia & julie！），嘩，仲想點！

we decided to test rafael's patience limit and try a longer flight to bail! we were stuck in the plane for more than 5 hours each trip and luckily rafael was behaving okay. of course there were a few tantrums, but at least he didn't overthrow the food tray as he did last time we flew back from singapore. and both daddy and i could even finish 3 movies during the two flights! what else could we ask for?!