 Dream big, live simply, laugh often and love a lot! That's what we've been doing on this Grand Tour. We've been driving across the states of Johor, Melaka, Negri Sembilan, Selangor, Perak, Pahang, Penang and Kedah, soaking in the sights, food and culture. You can read our entire Malaysia series here! Dream Big We've been dreaming big! I've decided I would like to co-author a book, do up photography, video content of road trip through North and South Island New Zealand in a camper van in honour of my dad. I know he would have loved it so much to go on a trip like that. It is more than travelling on his behalf, it is making that last thing we shared come to life. Some background: I've sat with my dad on countless occasions along hospital corridors, in the clinics and by his bed side for hours in the two years he battled the cancer. Those times gave me an insight I never had of my old man. I still remember the day he showed me the channels he subscribed to on Youtube vividly. We sat waiting for his number to be called in the Haematology Department at Singapore General Hospital. He whipped out his iPad as usual and went: "I'm watching this ang moh build their own container house". It was the "Life uncontained" channel on Youtube! I've never seen him so excited! Mind you, he had a rare blood cancer that sucked the life out of him. We would discuss the progress of the renovation every week and when they missed a scheduled upload, we'd comment about it. It was something special between us! I still watch it weekly. I wish he was here to see the completed house. After showing me the "Life uncontained" stuff, he went on to say "You see this van, they can cook, got toilet and he drive all over and travel". I was in absolute shock because I WATCH VAN LIFE VIDEOS TOO!? and I'm also crazy about living out in the nature and HGTV/renovations. His eyes sparkled and I could tell he was so excited about it. We watched several episodes from the Chinese van life channel. He would occasionally say "How good can travel everywhere and do this...Singapore don't allow, they should allow this". New Zealand was also the last place we planned to go as a whole family just before the pandemic hit. My heart aches as I'm writing about this now. (I did New Zealand for my honeymoon and you can read about it by clicking the destinations tab and selecting New Zealand!)  His last birthday cake-cutting with the little greedy one! I'm so glad we've come up with a meaningful way to memorialise my dad. We miss him terribly. The only issue is....we can't make the trip. Airfares alone are $8000-$9000 for all of us. Camper rental would cost another $6000 for a month. That's not including camp sites, fuel, food and attraction costs. We estimate that a trip for a month to properly cover the North and South Island would cost more than $20,000 cash. It didn't cost this much pre-pandemic! The costs have doubled! We are determined to make this work and at the same time we would love to continue travelling long-term. We've come up with a series of products that we are excited to launch very soon. We hope to get your strong support so that we could make this plan work in the near future! Living Simply We've been living simply and enjoying the simple pleasures of life: Food! There is where I made the MISTAKE THAT ALMOST KILLED ME. It was a regular evening, we were happy to visit a cafe near our apartment to enjoy a good meal after a good day of homeschool and content creation. I was excited to see a delicious chicken burger picture on the menu....  Great ambiance, good service and they serve amazing food.  Yes, we've been taking gluten-cheat-days because who can resist a scone and an awesome croissant?!  Most cafes in Cameron Highlands serve scones! It is like a tradition they from the colonial times when the Brits used to sip their tea and ate scones in the tea rooms here.  hmmmmmm.....  The queen of the house must have her coffee!  Babyccino! It is warm milk with cinnamon or cocoa powder, without coffee. The kids licked it dry!  They love fish and chips. Oh they would love the crazy amazing ones Debra and I had in the UK..  This was the amazing chicken burger! Notice the ring on top? Chicken burger and a golden ring on top. What would you assume it is? An onion ring right?! Lo and behold, I put the WHOLE THING into my mouth and it tasted nothing like an onion ring. It was a calamari! I spat it out immediately but it was too late. I’m dangerously allergic to calamari/squid/shellfish/Molluscs. I experienced TWO episodes of anaphylaxis over the years after I ate steamboat and fried food contaminated with squid/shellfish. Had swelling all over, couldn't breathe properly, very very high heart rate + crash after that and had a whole body of rash. Ended in emergency to get jabs that didn’t help much. Each time it took two weeks of medical leave to recover from it. Debra was immediately alarmed, she witnessed it first hand the previous time it happened. (Sorry I scared the crap out of you!) I drank my coffee and assumed it would wash it down fine. After all, I didn't swallow the calamari. I only felt a little tired which I assumed was normal post-meal tiredness. We went to the supermarket to get some groceries and that was when the serious reaction started. The little tiredness became extreme exhaustion and I gradually felt more and more confused + brain fog. I stood in the supermarket thinking "buy toilet paper" and I did walk to the aisle. When I arrived at the row, I stood there staring at the toilet paper in a daze. I completely forgot where I was and why I was there. My body was reacting to the "toxins" and I think my blood pressure fell. We managed to get back safely and I collapsed in bed. I slept/concussed for an entire 12 hours. Thank God I'm okay now! I'm a little ashamed because I tell my students this all the time! READ, DON'T ASSUME! But I did exactly that and it almost killed me. It is so important for people will allergies to READ, ASK and CONFIRM that they aren't any allergens in food they purchase outside of home. It is a matter of life and death. You don't always come back from an episode like that. I woke up a few hours after collapsing in bed to this magnificent night sky. I grabbed the Leica with whatever energy I had and snapped these shots. Living simply took on a whole new meaning. This sky reminded how I first fell in love with photography. It showed me how small I was and I was in a place that made me feel so alive.   The amount of stars I could see with my naked eye despite some light pollution  This is already mind-blowing.  I cannot imagine how I would feel if I saw the northern-lights or night sky in a dark sky reserve.... Laugh often and love a lot Travelling slowly has given us so much time to look beyond the shopping and attractions. It has given me time to look beyond our homeschool schedule or work demands. It has given me more time to enjoy our children. It has dawned upon me that every day that passes is one less day I can put them to bed and kiss them goodnight. It is one day less I could tickle their tummies and have a little monkey on my back.  I found this post on Instagram and it is like that life-saving model you drew for your problem sums that enlightened you!  It is wise to number our days and understand we don't have a lot of time left. It could be a blood cancer or just a calamari ring.
Dream big, live simply, laugh often and love a lot! p.s: Updates from our whirlwind drive to Penang for finger licking good Dim sum coming this Thursday!
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 It always scares me when I see ads on the newspapers promoting package tours that list 4 to 6 European cities for a 10 to 12 day trip. You'll spend an entire day on the plane and another day jet-lagging while they drag you across more than 1000kms in the coach. I'm not sure if that's a $5000 holiday or paid torture. Here are 4 reasons why you should travel slowly! 1. Travelling slowly helps you relax (and maybe make a baby :p) Have you ever got back from a vacation and wished you had another to catch up on rest? We've been there and we hated it. Packing less in a day helps you enjoy the lull moments sitting by the pool or taking a stroll around a picturesque nature reserve. It helps us unwind from the stresses of having to meet schedules and answer millions of emails right from the time we wake up. It is a great opportunity to not set an alarm for the morning! It gives you the opportunity to spend quality time with your loved ones and come back feeling recharged! I'm not joking about the baby part! We all know someone who is stressed out with trying to conceive. After years of not being able to conceive in the midst of their hectic stressful lives, BOOM! A good slow relaxing trip and congratulations! They are pregnant! We can attest this worked for us!  4 city people in the mountains getting all amazed by the low lying clouds, REALLY COLD rain and crazy refreshing air. It is remarkable what sitting outside, just looking at nature in daylight + 19 celcius can do for your mental health. I cannot emphasise what wonders this slow trip has done for our mental health as a family. We can focus better when we need to. We have that bandwidth to write blogs, take photographs, write a book, draw and design! The kids are more willing to do their school work, focus on reading and enjoy countless hours of open ended play. 2. Travelling slowly saves you $$$ Long stays on Airbnb are almost always cheaper. You also can ask for better rates when you stay longer with a hotel too! Less commuting = less costs! You save time and energy packing and unpacking again and again. Settling longer in a place also means we are more willing to cook/make simple meals, make our own cup of tea and coffee. Instead of eating at touristy places, we use Google Maps and look for great local reviews for awesome food. We've been able to find many food options throughout our trip that cost between 50 to 70RM (About S$15.80 to S$22) for the entire family. 3. Travelling slowly allows you to find hidden gems! Travelling deeply and slowly, you get to fully immerse yourself and enjoy a place. That's exactly what we've been doing! We found places other explorers mark as "Great View" on google maps in Cameron Highlands and roamed the around on foot to find our favourite satay man in Tana Rata. He sold a satay for 1RM and cooked them over coal... (See pictures in this post) Because we get to spend more time at a place, we tend to go exploring the area beyond what the travel guides point us to. We go beyond what Google Maps recommends! That was also how we found these eateries when we explored Ipoh...  Get there early! The queue starts around 6pm and gets crazy by 7pm!  Price and portions were very reasonable  We still think about the taste...  We cannot think of an equivalent in Singapore. It tasted so good we keep talking about going back for more!  They weren't stingy with the ingredients!   She had the fish noodles that smelled a tad too fishy for me but she thoroughly enjoyed herself  We chanced upon Dekori Premium Cafe in Ipoh while searching for ice cream. We actually found another shop but didn't like what they offered and decided to walk around the streets. Found this just across the road and it was amazing!  Very nice ambience and the seats were comfy!  Wow...this was decadent and the chocolate tasted incredible!  The kids had this milk-based ice dessert with fresh strawberries, kiwi, almond, cashews and corn flakes.  Just look at the focus and smile....no words needed on how they feel!  Look at the size of this shaved ice dessert!?  Debra loved this! It's really cute too. You get to fill the teddy's bath with milk! 4. Travelling slowly gives you unexpected adventures (my favourite reason for travelling slowly!) We've seen most of the places we could in Cameron Highlands and decided to explore the surrounding areas in Perak (Ipoh). Mossy forest and Parit falls in Cameron Highlands were closed when we wanted to access them because of landslide and maintenance. I chanced upon this cave on google maps while looking at the terrain layer. (Please try this, it is most amusing for those who enjoy seeing 3D maps!). The interesting "T" shape caught my eye and you won't believe what we found....   Gua Tempurung (Tempurung Cave) is just about 30 minutes by car from Ipoh.  You are in for some adventure if you choose tour 3 & 4! You'll put on a helmet and really go crawling and climbing through the cave. We opted for tour 1 because we had two little ones with us!  Gwyn got a little bit scared having to enter a hole in the rock. She overcame her fear and has been asking us to go back to the cave!  This cave is of epic proportions! In fact its the largest you'll find in Peninsular Malaysia!  Gwyn got a little bit scared having to enter a hole in the rock. She overcame her fear and has been asking us to go back to the cave!  The cave was humongous and that meant we had to climb quite bit of stairs. It was cool but very humid inside. It was a good workout!  We took it slow so we had time to pose for fun pictures!  Look up and appreciate the textured formations! We even found some bird's nests and bats (too dark to catch a shot)  We were just amazed that we live in such a beautiful world.  It was the first time the kids ever got into a cave. No rush! We just soaked in the majestic rock/mineral formations. The kids are now hungry for more adventure!  There's always light at the end of the tunnel right? Next time you travel, try travelling slowly! Hope you'll find it as rewarding as us!
If you've found other amazing food, scenery or relaxing places around Malaysia, please share them with us! Click the chat button or any of the social icons at the bottom. We'd love to connect!  Thanks for following along our Grand Tour of Malaysia! We've done, Genting, Cameron Highlands and Melaka over the past 34 days! If you are curious as to why we've chosen to travel so slowly, you can read it here! This blog post's inspiration came most dramatically on a starry starry night as I enjoyed the cool 18 celcius night breeze with several bugs as company in the balcony. Cameron Highlands rarely has clear skies at night. That special night, the clouds cleared, the massive full moon shone and the stars appeared. I sat there in awe of that indescribable beauty. Most unexpectedly.... A shooting star suddenly cut across the night sky  A starry starry night... I made a wish. I wished that our Grand Tour will never come to an end. I wished that we would be able to make travelling our way of life. I wished that I could live out my dad's last words. I know of so many people who would have these thoughts... Why?! Of all dreams, you dream to live a life on the road? Why not dream of owning an expensive property on prime land or an expensive car? Gold? silver? stocks and bonds? Why won't you choose stability for your family? Why can't you be like everyone else? I did. I chose the Singaporean way of life back then. I studied hard for 16-17 years and had a career I loved. The stress of raising a young family and growing a small business had a significant impact. For many years, my health was poor and my mental health was dismal. I lived vicariously (& precariously) through others and their dreams. I watched countless films, followed many YouTubers and read blogs. But these people inspired me! Their hopes and dreams showed me that there was something more. These 3 teams/people were the MOST impactful: 1. Tim Slessor and team (1955) The First Overland from London to Singapore in two Land Rovers. Back in 1955, you don't have highways and the first generation Land Rovers were far less comfortable than a regular hatchback today. That spirit of adventure gets me SO excited. This trip also inspired the Last Overland. The dream of making a similar trip consumes me! 2. Ewan McGregor and Charley Boorman. Two men on their motorcycles riding 3 epic journeys. (Long way down, Long way round, Long way up) I have special respect for people who take journeys on two wheels. You are exposed to the relentless elements and the terrain is very often unkind to bikes. The camaraderie, the open minds and the tenacity in these guys inspire me the most. 3. 7 years ago while I slipped down this rabbit hole, I found out about Juvena Huang, a Singaporean lady who rode to Europe from Singapore on her old Vespa, ALONE! A regular person with a big dream, she has given me so much inspiration and courage to overcome our fears of the unknown.  That is why we have been on our own little Grand Tour experiencing epic wonders  I wish he was here to see this spectacle On a stormy night in December 2021, daddy breathed his last in the ICU. Just a week before that he sent his last WhatsApp message to us... “尽量享受人生，感恩。” (Enjoy life as much as possible, be grateful) I spent many nights thinking about my life. Am I really living my life like I'm enjoying it? Did he say those words from the hospital bed tinged with regret? I still feel an immense guilt that we couldn't make a last trip together. The pandemic didn't let us have our way.  We walk through the tea plantations and talk about how daddy would have loved it. He would have had so much fun filming on his video camera! We have scones, cakes, coffee and tea thinking about daddy’s smile if he were having it with us. We walk through the Parksons emporium and thinking about how happy he would be shopping there.  We think about how he would beam with joy holding these two AND travelling.  We are taking small steps toward the epic. We travel in honour of a man who worked 40 years of his life, always loved his family tremendously and didn't spare any expense taking us across the world on amazing trips. He infected us with this love for the journey and travel. To be brutally honest, we cannot afford any of the trips taken by the 3 inspiring people/teams mentioned above. Looking at the airfares, accommodation and transport costs scare me. We are cracking our brains on how and where we should go next. We are working hard on new merchandise on our store, remodelling it so we can work remotely from anywhere. We are working on our story-telling, photography, art so we can create value and perhaps raise the funds we need for a life changing journey.  I'm immensely grateful that Debra loves the journey as much as I do. Her support, her art and her love keeps us all going.  We are also very grateful Mr satay man along Jalan Besar in Tana Rata has been providing fuel for our hungry tummies....  1RM per stick. They taste phenomenal.  VERY FRESH fruits and veggies...  Cakes, strawberries and chocolate make amazing fuel too... Help fuel our journeys!
Help share our posts, like them if you enjoyed reading it! Drop us a comment or a word of encouragement (we need lots of it!). Link us up with sponsors or other inspiring people who can give us a boost in this journey. We are in the midst of creating content of our journeys through Ipoh and its caves. Stay tuned for Thursday's and next week's editions! This is our story, this is our Grand Tour. What's yours? What inspires you to travel?  After a month on the road, travelling across 6 states and 2500kms later, we asked ourselves.... “where do we go from here?” “Is this the end?" After a disastrous AND delicious time in Melaka, it really felt like the end of the road for us because we had to return to Singapore. The Singapore government had announced that even those with a recorded previous covid-19 infection had to take their booster jab to maintain their vaccination status and so I had no choice but to get it. It was unpleasant to say the least and it took me out for two days… We sat down with the kids and weighed our options before taking the journey down south.  ​Dead asleep and I couldn't wake them up! ​The immigration officer was kind enough to come out and look at their faces. If you remember from Part 1 we spoke about why we took this trip. Grieving is a process and we are still in the process of processing our pain and loss. We are very grateful that this trip has given us time to rest and reflect. We’ve come to these 3 conclusions that will shape our lives and the road ahead. 1. Less is now more Experiencing a death of a loved one was a rude shock to how short life is. Yet, many of us spend the majority of our time focusing on things that in the grand scheme of things, matter very little. We have learnt that when we say no and do less, we can live more. Furthermore, when we let go of things we don’t need, it gives us more time to focus on people, experiences and our surroundings. When we left for this Grand Tour, we basically packed our entire lives into a tiny hatchback (supermini class). That has taught us to let go of things we don’t need. Less is now more. We even went back to Singapore to drop off the things we didn’t need. Throughout the trip, we’ve realised how liberating it was to have only things we needed. Shutting Hiro & Jack Co. for an entire month wasn’t an easy decision. But it has helped us rethink our business model and plot the days ahead. Restructuring the entire business that we’ve painstakingly built over 6 years is an even harder decision. We are learning to say no and do less. We are working on a smaller product range that best reflects less is now more.  4 of us + Gluten Free food supplies + ​School materials + clothes and everything else in our little car. 2. Slow is now the flow Slow is a healing and liberating way of living our lives. When we say slow, it doesn’t mean the opposite of fast. Neither does it literally mean slow. Slow is living at a pace where we can live intentionally while making meaning and connection. Too much of our life is about “everyone else is doing this”, “I will lose out if I don’t do it” and “faster is better”. In this busyness, we’ve turned our relationships into transactions. Friends are just people who help fix your loneliness. Family is just there to provide for you. We’ve forgotten the joys of genuine connections. We’ve lost the ability to enjoy the flow of our daily lives. Fast has erased traditions and cultures and replaced it with convenience and more work. It sounds very abstract but let me just illustrate this. We live in a society that gives children 30 minutes (or less) to queue and inhale their food + rest/play daily at recess time. Under Ministry of Manpower laws, meal breaks are supposed to be AT LEAST 45 minutes long. If we can do this for adults, why are children treated differently? Do children have no rights? I don't know why this is still acceptable in 2022. I grew up in a family where we eat quickly and get on with our lives. It was not until later in life that my parents and I travelled Europe and we realised people made meals a very important time of making connections with other people. 2 hour meals were common and coffee breaks were part of life. I got to experience this in depth when I studied in the UK and I loved cooking and sharing a table with people. But these experiences are incompatible because our society is built upon faster, cheaper and better. We just cannot afford to savour the flow of our lives. We inhale our grab food orders at our own desks. Family meals are brief and functional. Travelling helps us see life in a very different perspective. Travelling slowly allows us to live this perspective. In our “slow” Grand Tour, we’ve taken our time to eat and connect with the kids. We took time to enjoy visual aspects of our food, the smells and the textures of our food. We actually discussed how it felt eating our individual dishes!  I think mummies will all agree to this: once you have a kid, you'll forget how your food taste like. Actually some can't even recall if they've eaten. SLOW has allowed mama to taste her food and smile again!  Matthias has learnt to appreciate the different textures. ​He even picked out the curry leaf smells infused in the meat and asked if he could eat them.  More than just trying to survive, humans turn to food for enjoyment.  I've learnt to appreciate how dishes are plated! I've learnt how colours can turn on our appetites. ​  Gwyn tried truffle fries for the first time and she loved the aroma. She noticed that the grated cheese was twirly! How cute!  We need to reclaim our meal times! It is more than just trying to survive. It is both a sensory and social experience we share with people we love. ​  Instead of rushing off, I thought reading the kids a story after our meal would be nice. True enough, it felt so special! ​ We want to make slow the new way we flow. We want to reclaim our time, rest and freedom from the world that has taught us that they don’t belong to us. 3. The grand tour is now our life We are making the Grand Tour a model for our lives. We do less, we live slow. We love travelling but more than that, we would like to have deeper connections, understanding and authenticity in our relationships. We want to love ourselves and others. We are definitely still working out how we can continue travelling, homeschooling, remaking Hiro & Jack, growing this blog and engaging our audience. It really isn't about gaining more wealth or becoming famous. One thing for sure we know we want is to HAVE TIME to grow into the person WE WANT to be. The person we CHOOSE to be. According to Maslow, this is can be defined as Self-actualisation. It is the highest level of psychological development, where personal potential is fully realised. (Source: Wikipedia) This means we will be growing our photography, writing, illustration, design and authoring skills through Hiro & Jack Co. We hope to produce content, stories and products that people connect with and enjoy.  So what are we up to now? We are back in the highlands! The climate here is doing us tangible good. At 5000ft and a daily average of 19 celcius, we are at home. We are less irritable, feel a lot more relaxed and inspired! We will be spending the rest of the month here taking inspiration for more stories and a brand new product range. More than that we are taking more walks, cooking more/enjoying our food and connecting with each other. If you would like to connect, share ideas, collaborate or work on a sponsorship, simply click on the chat button or drop us an email at [email protected] anytime! Stay tuned and follow us on Facebook & Instagram!   These eateries we recommend survived the pandemic. We are grateful for that and we made sure we patronised them when we came this time! They have a unique flavour that you just don’t get from our gentrified malls in Singapore (and to some extent Malaysia too). Brands with food from central kitchens that they just reheat are being sold to us at a handsome profit. These businesses have the financial backing that many small eateries don’t and they repeat themselves like clones in every mall. Our hawkers and small eateries are the ones that form the unique character of our collective food culture. We need to support small businesses that continue to contribute to that. Drum roll….. 1. 北栈食馆 Bei Zhan Restaurant (Non Halal, Chinese Cuisine) Address: No. 43 Jalan Kota Laksamana 2/17, Seksyen 2, Taman Kota Laksamana, 75200 Malacca Opens Daily, 11am-230pm, 5-9pm This is almost always our first stop on any road trip. They pride themselves in home cooked dishes that we are familiar at a Chinese restaurant. Amazing taste, affordable prices. They do serve seafood like crabs, scallops and prawns as well as roasted pigs. We ordered the “boring” regular stuff because it was the taste of home!   Steamed Grouper (Hong Kong Style)  Sweet and Sour Pork  Minced Pork with Egg Toufu  Stir fried Shanghai greens  Bitter Gourd Fried Egg  Gingko Nut Pumpkin Yam paste 2. Jonker 88 (Chendol Jonker 88) Address: 88, Jalan Hang Jebat, 75200 Melaka Opens Daily, 9am to 530pm, Friday and Saturday 9am to 730pm You really need to have a lot of patience and plan your route carefully to score a place in there. They are ALWAYS packed and there is always a queue. The shop is right beside the statue of of a very famous man from Melaka, Datuk Dr. Gan Boon Leong (he was a famous bodybuilder who won Mr Universe). They are famous for Baba Goreng Goreng (Fried delicacies), Baba Laksa and their Cendol. We were lucky to have a bench seat to eat our Cendol/Shaved ice.  The gula Melaka was to die for.....warm caramelised aroma on cold refreshing ice.  Look at their flushed faces! The shaved ice was the perfect solution!  So packed we only got bench seats, a long line of people were still waiting outside... Oh the warm gula Melaka just blows your mind away. Its caramelised sugar taste warms your heart as the cold ice cools your body from the tropical heat. The jelly and red beans added to the myriad of textures. We enjoyed it so much we had a second round at an alternative location behind the main Jonker street the next day. The Kappan House Restaurant Address: 20, Jalan Tukang Besi, 75200 Melaka Opens Daily, 11am to 8pm  Another day at Jonker Street they kept asking for the "sour ice dessert"! ​It's actually jelly with passion fruit sauce. Sure keeps them cool and gives them lots of energy.  It is a small charming place. A classic shop house that fits less than 20 people. Expect queues. It seemed like 3 people ran the entire shop and were pretty overwhelmed at times. I liked their shaved ice thingy but the Cendol was better at Jonker 88. Selvam Restaurant Address: 3, Jalan Temenggong, Bandar Hilir, 75100 Melaka Opens Daily, 8am to 8pm Our favourite Indian restaurant in the whole of Melaka! Maybe even Malaysia! They serve amazing South Indian cuisine on banana leaf. It is walking distance to the Dutch Square and Jonker street. It is hard to miss the green signage and painted exterior.  Vegetable rice set  Briyani rice set with chicken  For those who know matt, no, he didn't eat the cucumbers. HAHA!  Debra says this is goat intestines and she loved it.  I loved this! Fried but still soft and juicy  Come early to get your favourite thosai and masala thosai!  Remember that it is called Roti (Plain prata) or Roti Telur (Egg Prata) in Malaysia. Name differences aside, taste equally awesome though! I absolutely love the flavours in this shop. The spice level is acceptable (Debra begs to differ because she isn’t very good with spice haha!). The curries are all delicious and portions are generous. Fried meats remain succulent and veggies were well flavoured. One thing about Indian cuisine is the explosion of flavours that I just can’t get enough of. Its one of those places that I order as much as I can eat without worrying about the bill. A Vegetable rice set is RM7, Masala Thosai is RM3, and Roti Canai is RM1.20. Very few of us have the tenacity and time to whip up these amazing Indian dishes on a regular basis. There is SO much heavy cooking and effort involved. I’m so thankful for businesses like this! Bonus We know there’s many out there who are huge fans of Chicken rice balls. We don’t like that super famous ones along Jonker. We just never had good memories of eating chicken rice balls. We decided to give it a try by ordering supper via Grab Food on one of the days from this Hawker Stall: 海南鸡饭粒MVKKK Hainan Chicken Rice Ball (Located in Restaurant Ming Huat) Address: Jalan Ujong Pasir, Melaka, 75050 Malacca  It turned out fine! The kids actually liked it and Debra said it was quite delicious. Only cost RM8.90 for 6 balls with chicken on Grab Food Do you have any recommendations that you think will join this favourite’s list? Let us know in the comments and we will go and try them! We are due for a major announcement about our shop! Follow us on Facebook and Instagram to stay updated!  We drove 5.5 Hours from Brinchang Cameron Highlands down south to Melaka. Traffic was quite smooth other than a small delay near Kuala Lumpur. The children have grown accustomed to journey on the road by creating a sort of routine. First, they sing along to songs we save to the playlist on Apple Music, then they start observing their surroundings and make silly jokes about number plates on other vehicles. Some can be really funny! We saw Matthias’ car “MAT”, a “WTH” and funniest one was “PEE”. Then would start annoying each other and we’ll tell them to be quiet. It will then go strangely quiet and then they would somehow end up asleep. I was worried before the trip that these two would struggle with long journeys. As we drove into the city centre of Melaka, it became quite apparent that it wasn’t the same again. Numerous hotels and eateries that have been part of Debra and my growing up years have shut for good. It was heartbreaking seeing MANY shops shuttered, buildings and entire developments abandoned. Abandoned buildings have just got to be one of the most melancholic things to look at. Here are just some of the victims the pandemic claimed... X Emperor Hotel Melaka X Ramada Plaza Melaka Hotel X Equatorial Hotel Melaka X Mahkota Hotel Melaka X The Jetty X Capitol Satay Celup  i’ve never seen the front door shut at this hotel. It was a very sad sight. If you zoom in, you can see weeds growing out of the building and false ceiling panels probably missing from falling off.  The entire Jetty used to be an amazing place to take a stroll, have dinner and enjoy a drink in the evening. It now lays abandoned and the authorities have since reclaimed the sea around the Jetty and sealed its fate. For decades we visited Melaka for the long weekends, school holidays and the numerous church camps. We’ve made so many memories in Melaka that it is always a little bit of a homecoming whenever we come back to the familiar food places or hotels. So you can imagine the sombre feeling Debra and I had coming back to a very different Melaka. The sombre feelings became something of a nightmare as we entered the Mahkota Hotel/Resorts/Apartment estate. We booked an Airbnb apartment in the estate not knowing the Hotel/Resorts have shut down and abandoned the estate. The dodgy looks are a far cry of what this place used to be. The lawn and hedges were overgrown and full of weeds, it looked like something out of a horror movie. We collected the keys from a mail box filled with junk mail and took the really dated lift up to the unit. In the unit was when our nightmares played out. We took off our shoes and walked onto very dusty floors. The aircon had no airflow despite being set to 16 celsius and max fan speed.  We used TWO wet wipes to wipe the handle of the fridge and it was FILTHY​  Opened the cupboards and they were all grimy and there was an infestation of mould. This place was a health hazard. The cutlery were all oily, grimy and felt like it was left used. ​  The mould hazard wasn’t enough. We had lamps that had exposed wires. Some Airbnb rental proprietors are just shamefully neglectful  The bedsheets smelt really old, had a million other people’s scents on it and you can smell it as you enter the rooms. I flipped open the blanket and someone’s long hair immediately greeted me along with a jumping insect I wasn’t able to catch. It was the last straw for me. ​ We made a quick decision to leave the unit immediately. We sent the hosts a message about a refund and cancellation but there was no reply. Now we were stranded. The accommodation we were supposed to stay for a week is unliveable and we had no where to stay for the night. After about close to 6 hours on the road, we had two hungry kids and tired parents. But the worst was really feeling extremely suffocated by the heat after more than two weeks in the mountains. Back in the car we blasted the air-con and frantically searched for a new Airbnb unit but it is difficult to get anything so last minute. We decided to look for a hotel. DING DING!….the low fuel warning beep and light came on adding on heaps of anxiety. We are running out of fuel, hungry and have no place to sleep tonight. I drove to the nearest petrol station, fuelled the car and Debra grabbed some snacks for the kids. I drove to the nearest hotel (a boutique hotel) and left the 3 of them in the car while I tried to secure accommodation. Sadly I had to walk back to deliver the news that the hotel was fully booked. It was the super long Hari Raya + Labour Day weekend. This has got to be the lowest point of our Grand Tour. We drove to Double Tree by Hilton and tried to get a room. The staff was very helpful and gave us warm cookies after hearing about the horrible evening we’ve had. The prices unusually high because of the super peak period and last minute booking. We were advised to book online because there were better discounts but the prices didn’t differ much. It was also too overwhelming for us to register an account and fill in a plethora of information to get a booking at that point. We left Double Tree and a 3 minute ride later, we got to Holiday Inn. The staff were even more helpful, they managed to find a connecting room with exactly the sleeping arrangements we wanted. No crazy forms and without a whole load of registrations, swiped the card and off we went to our rooms. We were just thankful we didn’t have to sleep in our car that night. Reprieve and coming back to life We had a good night’s sleep and woke up early for breakfast in the hotel. It is rather nice to have delicious food without having to cook it or wash dishes after eating in the morning.   We braved the heat and set out for Jonker Street and Dutch Square. We saw the fortress walls, the river and had yummy Cendol/Shaved ice. (Check out a guide to our favourite food places in Melaka!) The place seems to have come back alive after restrictions were eased and many more people local and foreign have started streaming back! Even the pigeons were out in full force. Kind of silly rocking and trying to stay balanced?  A little colonial history lesson with the kids  The river coming back to life  Matt calls it the vomiting fish fountain.  Not all the shops are back but it is enough to draw the crowds back We didn’t last very long out in the blazing sun and almost 100% humidity. We went back to the hotel by late afternoon to rest for the day. The kids had their first swim in weeks and spent time being children. We topped up their lego sets and they were thrilled to have many more hours of open-ended fun. Debra finally found time to read her Harry Potter book that she always wanted to read but never had the opportunity to. Me? I’m enjoying penning my memories for myself and all who read our blog! We are plotting our next moves, a revamped shop, more travels and more of the odd life. Stay tuned for our in-depth feature of 3 eateries in Melaka we MUST visit every time we come here!  One wrong decision and it could be painful psoriasis, eczema flair ups, debilitating headaches, loose stools, smelly farts, poor gut health, increased irritability, allergic rash and even anaphylaxis. The reality is, it isn't easy feeding a family when ALL of us have food related allergies. We suffer from gluten/wheat intolerance, lactose intolerance, oat allergy, shellfish allergy and onion allergy. It’s crazy! Being the main person in charge of everyone’s daily meals, my biggest concern for this month-long road trip was the accessibility of food that was safe for us. Having your own kitchen in your home base can be difficult enough. Travelling makes food preparation even more challenging. Don't get me wrong, we LOVE travelling. We long for life on the road where we are free. We accept that without the lows/challenges, there isn't the highs and triumphs! Understanding the challenge and preparing for it The fact is, Asian countries are far behind in legislating compulsory allergy warnings and labelling on all restaurant menus. There is also little awareness of the seriousness of food allergies. Supply of gluten-free products are scarce and expensive. A regular loaf of bread can cost just $2.50 but an equivalent loaf of gluten free bread can cost between 400% to 500% more. I made the decision to cook at least one meal a day so as to not overwhelm our systems and end up sick. My 1st hack was to bring 2 bottles of Zyrtec-R allergy solution and a half-used bottle of Lee Kum Kee Gluten-free Soya Sauce. Asian cooks can't live without soya sauce but do you know it contains GLUTEN? Second hack is to deliberately make stops at major supermarkets before checking into our accommodations to stock up on wheat free/gluten free snacks just in case we were not able to find any suitable snacks in the smaller shops (especially when up in the highlands). We found these at really good prices at Jaya Grocer in JB and Cold Storage in KL. They also carried a good selection of GF Barilla Pasta, Bob’s Red Mill products and other GF premixes for cakes and pancakes. Pre-marinated frozen meat varieties we bought were very useful for our meals too!   Breakfast Breakfast so far has been easy to sort out - eggs or corn/rice cereals with fresh milk from the supermarkets for the kids and a big batch of mochi brownies I had baked the day before our trip (lasted about a week). Vincent and I are not big on breakfast, but coffee is an absolute must. It doesn’t help that we are such picky drinkers that we had to lug along our smaller Nespresso machine and all our favourite capsules. No lactose-free milk in the places we shopped at, so it’s long blacks or americanos or BOH tea everyday for me   Lunches and Dinners On days that we don’t eat out, our meals mostly consist of rice/hash, vegetables, fruit, nuts, eggs, tofu, pork and fish. I must say that the best meals were made from the fresh veggies we bought at the Cameron Highlands Pasar Malam. A bunch of completely unassuming vegetables and fruits for all of Rm10. (So fresh that we even found a tiny earthworm at the bottom of the bag the next morning in the fridge!) You can read about our awesome time and see the mind-blowing views here.  Vincent and Matthias are now willing eaters of cucumbers and brinjals because these were so crunchy and tasty! And OH! The strawberries! It’s not exactly peak strawberry season now so the prices were slightly different at 1+1 box for Rm15 OR 2+1 for Rm25 (depending on stalls) but it didn’t really matter to us because every single strawberry in the giant box was a deep ripe red with no bruises whatsoever, complete with bright green sepals and they smelled AMAZING. We only bought a single box (Rm10) because we didn’t want any to go to waste in the event we failed to finish consuming them. I remember telling Vincent earlier today that I’d totally be making strawberry bakes and frosting all the time if we lived here because 1. price, 2. the consistency of colour and taste of every strawberry.  Fresh produce aside, I had other things to adapt to, like cooking in someone else’s kitchen. Up to this point, we’d lived in 3 Airbnb apartments. House #1 The JB apartment that we started our trip with is not worth talking about. It looked the best and most promising prior to arrival, but the kitchen was absolutely unusable and grotesque. Let me just simply put it as the house had a mould problem. We left after a single night. House #2 in Bentong, Genting Highlands surprised us with clean surfaces, sheets and upholstery. It actually smelled clean. The kitchen was equipped with an electrolux oven (which we didn’t use). It came with mugs, plates (no bowls), the usual cutlery (but no teaspoons! We drank coffee with tablespoons haha), a small non-stick frypan (but no spatula) and a medium sized pot. My biggest pet peeve is disgusting dish sponges and while the sponge in this house didn’t come with food residue like the previous house, it had a strange odour to it. Thankfully we managed to solve it with soap and boiling water and basically revived it’s freshness. Grabfood/Foodpanda options here were extremely limited. I think at one point I remember seeing only a single restaurant on it despite having many local zhichar restaurants within a 10min walking radius. We had many simple but satisfying home-cooked meals here which the kids found comfort in. The Electrolux induction cooktop here was an absolute breeze to use. I honestly enjoyed cooking in this place until the day we ran out of pasta/noodles on the last night and I had to cook rice. First ever attempt at cooking rice in a simple pot turned out surprisingly decent (credits to YouTube of course).   House #3 in Brinchang, Cameron Highlands which had a large and new Panasonic rice cooker! You can imagine how excited I was. Rice cookers are essential items in a (mostly GF) Asian home. (We spotted 2 other families carrying their rice cookers into their cars as they checked out from their apartments too!) The kitchen here was half the size of the previous one BUT it came with bowls and teaspoons and a microwave oven! The single ceramic cooktop here was not as great as the induction top, because temperature control was relatively inefficient. Add to that, a stone wokpan that wasn’t nonstick in the middle and we got quite a bit of charred bits on our dishes this time around. We also had to get our own spatula and dish sponges in the end because theirs was mouldy. We aren’t big on diy steamboat meals, or steaming dishes but this kitchen was well-equipped with steamers and steamboat pots. Apparently people in Cameron love a good steamboat meal which explains why you can find restaurants offering them at almost every corner! FoodPanda/Grabfood app offerings are pretty decent here. You’ve got the usual Starbucks, CoffeeBean, Maccas, Marybrown, Dominoes, PizzaHut and some other local restaurants. Delivery fees and food prices are reasonable too. We haven’t had the need to use any food delivery service since the start of the trip but I thought I’d check and have backup plans for meals. Some advice for anyone booking entire apartments on vacation with intent to cook meals:
Mummy needs a holiday too right? Some days we just decide to take small risks and eat out. Some particular cuisines are safer. E.g. Eating Sushis, rice bowls and Korean dishes is relatively safe because they are mainly rice based. But I still had a spell of bad headache from this meal because the soup had onions in them. Sometimes we just indulge and pay the price later on. It's a holiday and we all just want to enjoy really tasty food! Bak kut teh and Hor fun turned out alright with no immediate reactions.       We take risks and try to mitigate them. E.g. Chocolate ice cream doesn't hurt the kids but the gluten from the cone does. So we let them lick/eat the ice cream and not give them the cone. The kids ENJOYED their fish and chips and then had eczema flair ups and became really irritable. Some risks however we don't take. Vincent stays far far away from shellfish because his allergy can kill him.   I’m really looking forward to the next leg of our trip. We are done chasing mountains and we really miss the awesome views, fresh air and cool temperature. Back to the city, we’ll probably be eating out more, especially with greater availability of allergy-friendly and familiar food establishments!
 We've been chasing the cool weather and mountain top experience for the past 2 weeks on this road trip. Rolling for more than 800km and finding ourselves above the clouds at more than 5000ft, we find solace in the quiet and beauty of our surroundings. If you missed out on the start of our journey, read it HERE! After an exciting time in Genting in Part 2 of our journey, we drove on towards Cameron not knowing what to expect. I remember taking the arduous journey to Cameron Highlands as a child with my parents in a 40 seater coach on the hundreds of bends. I remember that it was a beautiful place but after more than 2 decades, it has become fuzzy. Debra and the kids have never been to this part of West Malaysia. We descended Genting and took the highway up towards Brinchang via Tapah. We were a little flustered on the way down because Gwyneth was car sick and vomited on herself. We were stuck behind a VERY SLOW driver who constantly used his brakes haphazardly. My anxious mind went into overdrive worrying about how both the kids are going to cope with the hundreds of bends up towards Brinchang in Cameron Highlands. Debra calmed me down and we took a break at a nearby supermarket carpark. We cleaned up the mess and changed her into new clothes before stocking on some groceries. The bottle of Lysol (hospital grade disinfectant spray) came in handy. My fears and anxiety was unfounded because all my passengers are champions! We conquered the bends up towards Brinchang over tarmac that has been patched so many times it is almost like the moon's surface. The Malaysian truck drivers we met on the way were nothing less than legends. They drove MASSIVE trucks round tiny bends and were so thoughtful towards those stuck behind them. They looked out for traffic on the opposite side and gave us the right indicator light as a signal to safely overtake. Enjoy some of the bendy dizzy parts where the roads were still smooth enough to get a video recorded....  Our first reward midway through was this waterfall. Everyone's spirits were lifted by the majestic sight. At this point we had no idea what awaited us at our final destination. This was going to be our 3rd AirBnb apartment since we started the trip. The first one in Johor was dusty, mouldy and nothing like the pictures. The apartment in Genting was clean, spacious but was plagued with loud vehicles racing up the hill on the weekend.  The apartment up in Brinchang, Cameron Highlands exceeded our expectations! This was the view that greeted us...  We took the rest of the day off after the eventful journey! I'm so extra thankful that the two little ones quickly adjust to new environments and new beds. They haven't shown signs of difficulty adjusting to being 5250ft above sea level nor complained about the weather being 16-20 celsius. In fact, we've all been restful and happy in this climate. In fact, the climate is the reason why we've been chasing mountains. The only thing struggling with it is our little hatchback on inclines because air is thinner at altitude. This affects the fuel-air mix and reduces performance of the engine. Grateful for the little electric motor helping us scoot along when the engine struggles.  We woke up to smells of espresso in the apartment because we packed our machine and capsules in the boot. Debra and I are unapologetically addicted to our coffee. Haha! Road school continued and Matthias had Tamil lessons, tackled models for problem sums and read the BFG. Gwyneth perfected her upper and lower case letters, practiced reading aloud and basic Tamil vocabulary.    We visited the local markets/Golden Hill night market and got REALLY fresh and tasty groceries! Debra cooked tasty home cooked meals for us! All of us have got gluten/wheat intolerance and it really isn't that easy to get gluten free meals in this part of the world. Even in the major cities like Singapore and Kuala Lumpur, we struggle to find affordable gluten free options. Debra will be adding her touch to our blog on a post about FOOD this week! (Food makes her smile wider than her husband can LOL!)   We chose not to pluck our own strawberries because it costs 4x more to get the same amount of strawberries. We bought them at the market instead. Just look at how red they are! One thing we always do on our trips is to intentionally choose to travel slowly. We can pack our itinerary and return needing another holiday but we choose to weave our lives in with our journeys and take it slow. It allows us to take it in fully and really make lasting memories of it. "Though we travel the world over to find the beautiful, we must carry it with us or we find it not." - Ralph Waldo Emerson  You cannot visit Cameron Highlands and not visit the tea plantations. This place is just steeped in history and....TEA. Fun fact: A DRINK was a driving force behind colonialism. Tea was a powerful driving force that drove British colonialism in India and beyond. It brought great wealth to the empire because the British/Europeans were CRAZY about tea. To think that one would travel halfway around the world to ensure supply of a drink is unthinkable. In 1929, a British entrepreneur surveyed Cameron Highlands and started tea growing and processing. He changed the landscape of this amazing place forever. 93 years later, his company Boh Tea still thrives here. In more recent history, Communist terrorists once hid among the vegetation during the Malayan Emergency. We spent a morning each at Cameron Valley Plantation and Boh Tea Plantation. The views just blew our minds. It reminded us that West Malaysia is beyond the glitzy cities and exciting resorts. For those of you who are old enough to remember, the rolling hills/clouds reminded us of the Windows 97 wall paper....haha! But honestly, it is way better. It is comparable with the rolling hills in New Zealand. I thought I should warn city drivers who are less aware of the "wilder" roads here. As with many roads in the Cameron Highlands, it can be dangerous to drive in wet weather because of reduced visibility, slippery roads and possible landslides. Landslides are a natural occurrence anywhere with cliffs, mountains and valleys but it is made worse by deforestation/human developments. We do see the authorities are making great efforts to mitigate these landslides through reinforcing cliffs with rocks, concrete or plants. I hope people will continue to make efforts to sustainably develop the Cameron Highlands because it will be such a pity to lose this precious gem in peninsula Malaysia. Cameron Valley Plantation (Teahouse 3) We visited all the plantations in the morning (9/10am) to avoid crowds and traffic. If you are able, come on weekdays that aren't school or public holidays. The roads in Cameron Highlands are mainly one lane for each direction so it can get quite congested. We temporarily ignored our gluten/wheat intolerance and indulged in scones with cream and jam. Of course our guts weren't very happy after that but we all had BIG smiles!   We decided not to pay RM3 each to walk through the plantation and opted for the 4X4 tour through the plantation in classic Land Rovers. Adults pay RM18 each and kids below 110cm pay RM12 each. Oh the landies just brought back memories bouncing behind an SAF Land Rover in my Army days. The quintessential diesel fumes + smell of burning oil will be something of the past as we all start to drive hybrid and electric cars. The kids were absolutely THRILLED bouncing behind the landie. The driver was one with his machine and could probably drive through the plantation blind and FAST. The food and experience here was better than the Boh Plantation.    The views weren't the best but even the carparks are picturesque. You can build Gardens By the Bay 10 times larger and more impressive but nothing beats the raw beauty of nature.  Boh Tea Centre The plantation is situated deep away from the main road. A bumpy small single lane road leads to the plantation. You have to be vigilant and slow down at bends because many sections of the road are only passable by one vehicle at a time. When in doubt, just give way and let others pass. You go over the edge, it is a long way to tumble down. After about 10 minutes down this mountain road, you'll see a huge carpark where you'll definitely spend time taking many photographs like we did! To get to the Tea Centre, one will have to climb 100+ steps up the side of a hill before you'll be rewarded with incredible views and tasty food.    We didn't manage to have a factory tour because of maintenance works. Another reason to come back again! We did however get amazing shots of the place. As an avid photographer, i still feel that the best photographs cannot substitute seeing it with your own eyes. The fresh cool air, warm sun rays on your skin and just feeling really small in the wondrous vastness of the landscape. Simply priceless. We have one last leg of this amazing grand tour. Having chased the mountains, we are all kind of hungry. So that's your clue! Caught a really sweet moment between these two. They are such darlings when they aren't bickering!  If you have young children with allergies or are planning a June holiday road trip, we'll be sharing more about cooking on a holiday and our favourite food places in the next two instalments!
We are happy to connect and share in detail about our trip if you have questions! Click on the red chat button and we are happy to chat!  WHY ARE YOUR KIDS NOT IN SCHOOL AND AT A THEME PARK IN APRIL?! Because we are SPECIAL! 😂 Almost 8 years ago when Matt was born, we were MOE school teachers. We've seen so much of what school is for the vast majority of children in Singapore and decided it wasn't for our kids. So yes, we have gone through the difficult process of getting officially exempted from school and approved for homeschooling. (We are happy to connect with anyone who is considering homeschooling and share how we navigated the entire process! Just click on the chat button!) Homeschooling, Road Schooling and Unschooling is exactly what are doing with our kids turning 8 and 5 this year. Let's define this for those who aren't familiar with it: Homeschooling: Children are schooled at home, usually by a parent or parents at home. Unschooling: Instead of following a rigid traditional syllabus full time, learning is self-directed by their interests. Although we try to do this as often as we can, we are still bound by the fact that our children will have to take their PSLE exams later on. So we do engage in curriculum-driven learning to ensure they will be ready for the statutory requirements. Road Schooling: Yes it means what it means! We've packed up our lives and are working out a life of schooling on the road as we travel, work and learn! THIS SOUNDS IMPOSSIBLE! Learning can be done ANYTIME and ANYWHERE. Many of us have been made to think that learning only happens when a student is seated quietly in his chair behind a desk while a teacher talks on. The fact is, very little meaningful learning is really happening. The BILLION dollar tuition industry in Singapore is the greatest single piece of evidence that proves this. IT HAS BEEN A GREAT WEEK OF LEARNING! We've based ourselves in an apartment for the past week in Genting Highlands. We've driven the winding roads and marvelled at the beauty of the rain forest and cool weather! We learnt about altitude and how Bukit Timah Hill is 164m and the Genting resorts were 1645m above sea level. When we walked among the clouds and feel that sense of wonder, we learnt that clouds are AEROSOLS - a suspension of air and liquid droplets! We enjoyed the sounds of the forest and researched on a variety of flora and fauna including ORANGE MOSS! (We've only seen the green ones!)  I've learnt as an adult that what we do to nature profoundly affects the future custodians of Earth - our children. Gwyn was visibly upset when she saw the construction team across our apartment cutting down the trees and preparing the ground for construction. She kept saying "they are ruining MY forest! MY forest!".
WE CAN LEARN WHEN WE ARE HAVING FUN AT THEME PARKS TOO! The children have learnt a great deal in the few days we've visited the arcade and theme park! We've learnt to plan our time, budget and route around the place. We've learnt to be resilient when our feet are hurting having walked more than 10 thousand steps in an afternoon. We've learnt to be patient and gracious when papa led us the wrong way and we have to walk back up the steep hill. We've learnt to maximise fun with the limited tokens we have in the arcade card. We've learnt that it is okay for children to be afraid of loud noises and wearing the ear muffs help them cope + protect their ears from excessive noise.  THE WORLD IS OUR CLASSROOM We know that learning can happen when we sit down and complete our workbooks. But learning happens in more ways that we can ever imagine. On this grand tour, we learn whenever we feel the wind in our hair, the exhilarating rush on theme park/cable car rides and journeys across the world. Learning is not the product of teaching.  BACKGROUND 6 years ago Debra and I (Founders of Hiro & Jack Co.) decided to take a grand adventure and start our very own company. At the same time we also started a family and decided to walk their learning journey with them. We grew a business, home schooled and built a family all at the same time. Quite often in the flurry of being busy, we forget that to make time for the ones that mean the most to us. In December 2021, I (Vincent) lost my dad to a rare blood cancer. The journey from diagnosis to death was a very difficult one. It was made worse by the separation, isolation and distancing needed during the pandemic. I was privileged enough to be able to spend many days of alone time with my dad although it wasn’t at the most exciting of places; the hospital’s specialists clinics. After his death, i realised how important it was that we made memories together. As much as i’m grateful that he provided for us as we grew up with more than we can ever ask for, it was the memories of travelling together, having meals together and facing the doctors together that i cherish most. It is about making the journey together. Debra, the kids and I are still grieving his passing. It is hard especially when the children cry and say they miss their ye ye. It still breaks our hearts that he is not here with us anymore. It is still incredibly difficult for us to juggle our grief, homeschool, work and the day to day pressures of life.  WHAT SHOULD WE DO? We knew we needed a break away from the daily grind to just enjoy each other and the journey. We needed time to find ourselves, relax, reflect and reconnect with each other. We looked for destinations across the world from Svalbard to Panama and also across Europe. To be honest Malaysia isn’t our first choice because we grew up visiting Malaysia. However, the pandemic is far from over. Flight routes that usually took 12.5hrs took 22hrs with crazy detours and absurd prices. Car rentals are more expensive than actually buying a car. PCR swabbing two young kids multiple times just takes the fun out of the experience. Then in late march 2022, both Singapore and Malaysian governments announced the reopening of the land borders. WHY WEST MALAYSIA? Being a familiar place, it actually played to our advantage. We knew of places that we would all enjoy. If you are fully vaccinated, there is no swabbing or quarantine requirements for Singaporeans travelling to Malaysia via land border. Just make sure you get your My Sejahtera app, verify your vaccination! If you want a full step by step guide on how to navigate the procedures to smoothly enter Malaysia, please let me know in the comments!  Day 1 (Johor) We spent our first day just across the causeway to ease the children into being away from home. They have not had conscious memory of living out of their suitcase, sleeping in an unfamiliar bed and not going home. To some this may be unremarkable but we thoroughly enjoyed watching television together, eating together and putting our work away. We gave each other full attention. It felt really nice to not be rushing for our next destination or for the next task. Day 2 & 3 (North South Highway to Genting Highlands) We took a 4.5hour drive from Johor before we arrived at the amazing Genting highlands! I absolutely love the all-year-round 19 degree celcius temperature. Matthias exclaimed “It’s the first time in my life i’ve seen a REAL fog”, Gwyneth marvelled and squealed “HEY! That’s from Andy’s!” as her Cbeebies programme came to life before her eyes. She saw really old and tall trees as well as HUGE ferns. Debra and I just enjoyed the thrill of the mountain road and we drove through the clouds. The view was just gorgeous. I’ve been to Genting countless times but it’s just different every single time.   I thoroughly enjoyed the liberating experience of driving the wide expanse of roads at 110km/h across hundreds of Kilometres. (Unlike some people who chose to illegally do hands-free autopilot driving and post about it LOL!). Long drives really are therapeutic and heals the soul for me. I think i no longer have the stamina to do 17 hours at one go from Singapore to Phuket though. (Read about it here! ) I tried using the adaptive cruise control but i just found the acceleration too aggressive when tackling hills. Proud to say i did all the driving MYSELF! Isn’t the view just INCREDIBLE?!  We’ll update you guys about our adventures as we go along! We will be spending close to a month in Malaysia so do stay tuned for updates!
Leaving you with this reflection: We snapped this selfie shot and didn’t realise there was a rainbow until we looked up to the sky! Sometimes we just need a new perspective to see the rainbow that was there all along. All we need to do is to look up! |
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