Shirt: River Island

Sweater: River Island

Pants: H&M

Shoes: Pediped

A friend was just commenting that we love traveling to Oz an awful lot and it’s true, we do love the place. It’ll be our third trip down in 3 years so I guess it’s safe to say that it’s turning out to be a family favorite. To borrow the words of Dr Seuss, “it’s opener there in the wide open air.” There are mountains and rocks to be discovered, quaint little shops, farms, playgrounds, markets, beaches and the coffee…seriously, I have sweet, sweet dreams about the coffee in Melbourne. Plus it gets cold in winter and the crisp, cold air is a welcome change from our ridiculous heat.

I know it can be costly to travel with the entire family so imma share some holiday planning secrets for all you family travelers on a budget.

1. Flight tickets.

Airfares take up a large chunk of the travel budget and there’s no way around this so act fast when there’s a sale. The moment I have travel dates in mind, I start monitoring the various airlines for promos. Scoot was having a 30% off flights to Sydney and we got our tickets for $357 per person including taxes. Shortly after, Tiger airways was having a domestic flight sale for AUD $44 each way. And if you don’t already know, Jetstar has a system called the price beat guarantee where they’ll give you a 10% discount off the lowest price you can find on any other airline. Make use of it.

2. Accommodation.

With kids, it makes the most sense to go with an apartment instead of a regular hotel. We can get really gorgeous 2-bedroom apartments from Airbnb and Roomorama for under $200 per night and we have access to all the comforts of home like a washing machine, dryer and kitchen facilities. Like this charming artist warehouse turned apartment that I booked for our Melbourne leg was $170 a night.

photo by airbnb

3. Driving.

We usually drive when we’re in Australia because between taking public transport and driving, I’ll take driving any day. No waiting for buses, struggling with bus routes or squeezing with everyone else on a crowded train. With a GPS installed on the phone, navigation is a cinch and we can take day trips out of the city to explore surrounding areas any time we want. All we need to do is just get in and go.

On this note, car rental prices can fluctuate quite a bit so you’ll need to do some homework and book when prices go down.

4. Food.

Ok, eating out in Australia is really pricey. There’s no $2.50 bak chor mee available and the average cost of a meal is about $15 per person on the low side. So the first thing we do when we settle in is head to the nearest Woolworths to stock up on supplies like bread, milk, cereal, egg, fruits. And then we go to places like Queen Victoria market to get some of that delicious free range bacon. Lots and lots of bacon. And maybe some wagyu beef to throw on the grill for dinner.

Some days, you’ll want to eat out so plan your itinerary and stalk the group buying sites like Groupon, OurDeal and Living Social for restaurant discounts.

5. Activities.

If you like doing touristy things, get the iventure card so you don’t have to pay full price on all the attraction entrance fees. Alternatively, group buying sites will also have discounts on various attractions.

6. Other activities. 

When you’re done doing the touristy things, there are lots of other fun stuff that are free of charge. Keep a lookout for events and street performances (so excited that we’ll be there for the Vivid Sydney Doctor Who light up on 1 June), explore weekend markets, visit playgrounds (Australia has some unbelievably awesome playgrounds), have a picnic, feed the birds, there’s so much to be done.

photo by vivid sydney

I’ll be posting updates about the trip on the fly when we’re there so check back next week for itinerary plans, aight?

So yesterday while he was sleeping, I couldn’t resist and did this. The hair is all his, by the way.

Say hello to my little columbian drug lord baby. You may call him Pablo.

Typically, I’m not real fond of being out in the blistering heat and jostling with the crowd but looking at how excited the kids were, it was hard not to share their enthusiasm. Like Kirsten jumped out of bed shouting “RACE DAY!!” and then proceeded to sit down and eat all her breakfast so that she would be able to “run super super fast.” It was so cute because she was convinced that eating more food was going to help her win the race.

Last year, she was completely pooped after running like all of 5 steps and spent the rest of the race shuffling her way miserably to the finishing line. This year, she was determined to run the entire 800 metres without stopping.

Well, what a difference a year makes. This time around, she blitzed off from the start and ran all the way without any breaks. I could tell that she was a little tired around the 500m mark but she made a determined face and kept going, looking secretly pleased every time she overtook someone. With all her girly tendencies, I was afraid she’d turn out to be the helpless damsel sort but it certainly looks like this girl inherited my competitive streak. Self high-5, heh!

Truett already nailed last year’s run so this was easy peasy for him. He put on his shades and zig zagged his way through the crowd without even breaking a sweat. Metaphorically speaking of course, because it was impossible for anyone not to sweat in that crazy heat.

In short, he came, he ran and got his medal.

Ok, medal showing off time.

All in all, a fun, outdoorsy morning. I mean, yes it was hot and crowded and technically, I could replicate the run at my void deck instead of traveling all the way to the Padang but there’s something special about going for a scheduled run with customized t-shirts and race bibs and medals. I’m glad the kids loved it.

Dress: Poppy

Shoes: Holster

Attitude: A Kirsten Kao ® original

I think it’s a special brotherly thing. Tru adores him to bits and he’ll spend time coming up with all kinds of crazy ideas to make him laugh.

In fact, the first word that baby Finn learnt to say is “kor kor“. Not “mama”, who’s the awesome source of all his delicious milk. But “kor kor“, the beloved big brother. Every time Tru comes back from school, the little guy will kick his legs in a frenzy and go “kor kor kor kor kor…”

I managed to catch one of their interactions on video yesterday. I might be biased here but it’s really, really sweet.

But there are a few moments that I remember with remarkable clarity.

We were at the beach and my dad brought me for a swim in the water. He had me in his arms and we were having a good time splashing around when for a brief moment, I went under the water. It was no more than a few seconds tops but those seconds felt like an eternity. I remember the burning in my throat as I swallowed mouthfuls of the salty sea water. I remember tasting the water and thinking that I’ve never tasted anything so salty and foul in my life. I remember how cold the water was. And most of all, I remember the awful, paralyzing terror of at the thought that I was going to drown.

Several years later, I eventually learnt how to swim but till this day, I hate the sea. I don’t care how clear and beautiful the water is. I hate how salty it tastes and I’m terrified that I’ll be attacked by horrible sea creatures.

***

Recently, we started the kids on swimming lessons. It started out fairly well, where they learnt how to blow bubbles and do the hand motion for the breast stroke. Then they progressed to swimming short distances without swimming aids. It was a really short distance like an arm’s length from the edge of the pool but they were supposed to do it on their own.

Kirsten took a deep breath and flailed her way to the edge. She got submerged, drank some water but she got out, rubbed her nose, smiled and was ready to go again.

Truett did the same thing but halfway in, he suddenly realized that he was all alone in the water and completely panicked. So when it was time for the next lap, he clung on to the instructor and refused to let go. She was all like “you’ve got to let go I’m holding you…” but Tru kept asking, “are you going to let go of me?” I think she was trying to motivate him with reverse psychology because she said “If you keep asking me, I’m going to really let go of you.” And she did. Just for a brief moment.

For 3 nights in a row after that, he woke up screaming in the middle of the night. The third night, I held him for almost 15 minutes while he cried and cried and cried uncontrollably. Finally, after he stopped, he said that he dreamt he was stuck in the water. Then in a quiet voice, he asked, “Can I stop swimming classes? I think I don’t want to go anymore.”

My inner tiger mom wanted to teach him to to face his fears like a man. I mean, tons of kids have learnt to swim that way – by getting thrown into the water. Besides, Kirsten is a year younger and she’s doing fine.

But I saw the very same look of terror in his eyes and all of a sudden, I remembered exactly how it felt to be terrified of drowning as a kid. So we held him and told him it was ok if he wanted to stop his swimming lessons. We would pick them up again when he’s ready to give it another go.

Top: Goat Milk NYC

Pants: Ralph Lauren

Suspenders: H&M

Cap: Gap

Socks: Etiquette

1. Aedes mosquitoes are identified by the black and white stripes on their body. Sort of like a zebra, but much, much smaller. And way less cute.

2. Only the female aedes mosquito bites people while the males just sit around and eat fruit. I hate to say this but females are usually way more badass.

3. They can breed in pools of water as small as a 20-cent coin. Like I said, badass.

4. The eggs can lie dormant in dry conditions for up to about nine months, after which they can hatch if exposed to favourable conditions, i.e. water and food. If I haven’t made their badassery clear enough, this should drive home the point because even their unhatched babies are badass.

5. The mosquito can lay eggs about three times in its lifetime, and about 100 eggs are produced each time. I guess if I had to deal with 300 babies, I’d go around biting people too. I have 3 babies and I already feel like biting people from time to time, just saying.

6. They like to lay their eggs in clean, stagnant water. Apparently mozzies can have OCD too.

7. Peak biting is at dawn and dusk. It’s their form of stealth attack, be warned.

Ok, there’s a point to these nuggets of information, which is to help you guys in your quest to exterminate them. I suppose if you’re the badass sort, one way is to arm yourself with those electric mozzie zappers to electrocute those little bloodsuckers if you see them around but it’s like having to fight zombies when they’re already fully grown and shuffling their way towards you with their jaws open.

A far more effective way would be to wipe out the babies before they get to the bitey stage. Or better yet, don’t even give them a chance to make babies.

Which is why we’re all doing the 5-step Mozzie Wipeout to eliminate stagnant pools of water in our homes, even those as small as a 20-cent coin.

To wrap up, these are some of the common areas that aedes mosquitoes love to breed:

• Ornamental containers
• Domestic containers
• Refrigerator trays
• Flower pot plates/trays
• Toilet bowls/cisterns
• Hardened soil in plants
• Gully traps

All it takes is a little vigilance from all of us so let’s all do what we can to stop the spread of dengue. For more information, check out the the website here. Or go like the Stop Dengue Now Facebook page and follow @NEAsg on twitter for live updates.