The Lost Jewelpet

Meet Sapphire the Jewelpet. She was 2 days old when this picture was taken. It is the only memory she left with us. We bought her at Puroland, when dear princess set eyes on her. We tried to show her others but her heart was set on this. It slept with her in the night and throughout the next day, it accompanied her as we went shopping, sitting snuggly in her backpack which she carried front facing so she could keep an eye on Sapphire, which she named 'Jewel'.

While waiting for our flight to come home, she took Jewel out and took a photo of her at the terminal. I then stuffed Jewel into her bag so that it will be safe in there. She watched some movies and played games on board the plane and then fell asleep around 2-3am, and when we arrived just after 6am, I waited till we had landed before waking her up so that she could sleep a little more. When we were halfway on the expressway home, she suddenly asked where Jewel was and I told her that it was in her bag and she said, no, that she had taken it out during the flight. My heart sank as I knew it was gone. I told her that and she started to cry. I tried calling the airport but they said we had to go down personally to lodge a report. Hubby took her down after having a nap and didn't even make it through to the lost and found counter. They wouldn't let him in, so he checked at the info counter and they made some checks and said nothing was found in the aircraft. I could have told him that without him even making the trip. Someone would have pocketed it. If she had told us she had taken it out, we would have remembered at the end of the flight but she told neither me nor her dad. :(

We were both very upset by the loss and I tried searching on the internet without much luck. I also sent out messages to friends going Japan, Taiwan, Korea, to see if they have any luck in finding a replacement.

What broke my heart the night of our return was that princess was concerned that her pet had been dumped into a dustbin somewhere, or that she would be in a washing machine with her tag all intact and that it'd be ruined. The next morning, she said she didn't sleep well the night before, thinking of her precious pet.

I really hope to be able to find a replacement for her and will continue in my search and also through the kindness of friends who travel.

Meanwhile, at least we have this picture of her which my girl took.

Road trip to Malacca

Riding on the tailwind of our Japan holiday, we made our way to Malacca with aunts, uncles and cousins on a one night stopover. The trip was for shopping and eating, and we did a lot of both. It was a really intensive 2-day fully-packed trip. The girls were shopping most of the days and the men were left to mind the kids at the pool or in the mall. I am so thankful to both uncles for their patience in caring for all 4 kids while we were busy scurrying around for the best bargains. This time, hubby did not join us, but it turned out that most of the shopping was done for him. Very pleased with my buys. There was such a wide variety and I was spoiled for choice. I wanted to buy him everything! Hehe. He doesn't shop at all, and also in Singapore, it's difficult finding clothes in his size, so I went crazy.

We left Singapore at 8am and arrived in Malacca around 12pm, as we made many toilet stops along the way. I had the front seat in the car, so this was my window view. :)

We had booked to spend the night at Equatorial Hotel, but as we were early, we couldn't get our room keys, so we set out to have our lunch at a nearby restaurant called Ole Sayang.

I love the container for the rice but couldn't find it in the shops to take home.

Ayam pongteh.

Chap chye.

Sambal Udang.

Love the colours of this wall at the side of the restaurant.

After lunch, we made our way back to hotel to leave our bags and set off for some retail therapy at the very big mall right beside our hotel. Yippee! The men and kids got bored and decided to go swimming at the pool, and we were left on our own for 4hrs, us 4 ladies. At the end of of it all, we picked up some cheese tarts from this shop called Opps. I love their packaging and the very colourful, cutesy image.

Business seemed good as the chiller was mostly empty.

Aren't they all so pretty?

Pretty, right, both the box and bag?

We also stopped by a bubble tea shop and can you believe the price?? It costs M$1.80! That equates to S$0.75! We ordered 7 cups. The pearls were of a very good quality unlike those sold at the cheaper shops in Singapore. The texture is equal to that sold at Koi.

We had dinner at a seafood place facing the sea in the Portuguese town. Someone recommended that we try the seafood at No.7 stall.

Carollers entertained us while we waited for our food and little kids dressed as elves and santarina went around offering sweets at the tables to little kids, and some little ones went around with a little donation tin, although that was optional. It was lovely to see them share the Christmas spirit and also their generosity in giving a little something to those around them. The houses were all beautifully dressed up for Christmas but I did not take any photos of them. I sent the girl off to take photos and this was the only photo she took, while the rest were videos.

It was an extremely long wait for our food, almost an hour, so when it was finally served, everyone was onto the food and thus no pictures were taken except for the calamari which was placed in front of me. However long it took, it was well worth the wait as the quality of the food was excellent. The garlic prawns and scallops came in gorgeous sauces.

Mango juice was highly recommended by our server and princess could hardly refuse it as mango is her number 1 favourite fruit. After taking a sip, she turned to me and told me I HAD to try it, and so I did. It was very nice. :)

Breakfast on the second morning was at Jonkers 88. If you intend to visit them, take note that they do not open their doors till 10.30am, so there is no need to rush out early in the morning.

Lots of people were there when we arrived at 10am. While we were waiting for them to open, we popped in to a shop nearby. I managed to snap a photo before being stopped by a staff member. No photography allowed.

They have an extensive menu to choose from.

The desserts area.

Kueh Pie Tee.

The decor of the coffee shop was very unspoiled, very rustic, and I loved it.

Both uncles had the nasi lemak, which they claimed, wasn't that great.

I had the fishball noodles, and found the sauce too salty for my liking.

Both aunties had the baba laksa which was pretty good.

Saw this beautiful and impressive snowman at Aeon mall, made from recycled plastic bottles.

Shopping in Tokyo

I was very selective in the merchandise that I bought on my trip. Even though I had packed an extra suitcase for all my shopping stuff as well as a fold-up bag, I didn't want to fully utilize both, so in the end, I managed to squeeze most of the shopping into the suitcase. Shopping is not the expensive thing. It's the airport transfers and travelling 2 or 3 times in cabs in the city, tickets to Disney as well as to Puroland that put a dent in our budget. Most of the bento shopping I did, those bento books etc, were actually affordable and the books were half the price of those sold here in Singapore.

Princess was given shopping money by her granny and grandaunt in Ireland. It was supposed to be for her shopping in Disney but in the end, hubby paid for her stuff, so she spent most of it at 100 yen shops. This is her loot.

As for me, these were the stuff I picked up.

I'm sure there are other photos of things I bought but my photos are all over the place at the moment so will update as and when.

Pokemon bento

This bento was made on the day we got back from our holiday. I had bought some pokemon-shaped seaweed and have placed pikachu on the onigiri. There was a fish sausage which was supposed to be an octopus but the girl was very hungry and pestering for her lunch, so I couldn't give it eyes and a mouth. There was blueberry and corn bits and a chewing gum wrapped in pikachu paper. In the bowl is seaweed soup with pikachu sprinkles which cannot be seen.