KLC & Jolly Phonics

Attended this talk today together with 3 other FB group mates. I must admit I know zilch about phonics, but there's been plenty of talk on my FB group regarding it. What draws me to the talk is because I heard from a group mate that Marymount Kindergarten is using this school of phonics. She happens to be registering her son for MMK too. As a result, most of us turned up at this talk.

Love

That moment

That moment indeed...

Club Med Bintan - Misc Info

Activities Listing

Map of Club Med Bintan

Spa and pricing

Spa and Pricing

Spa and pricing

Club Med Bintan Day 4

Mixed feelings - Last day of Club Med Bintan, boohoo!! P turns 20 months today, hooray!!

We got up early and went for breakfast, making sure to get a few pieces of bread. And it was feed-the-fish time again! The tide was really low and fishes were swimming at our knee level, trying to get a piece of bread. P seems to have gotten over the novelty of it, and asked to be brought back to shore where she can play with sand.

It soon got too hot, and we retreated back to the pool to have our final 游 in Bintan! Guess how erratic the weather was? It started pouring when we got back to our rooms! Hot sun one moment, and heavy rainpour the next.

Check out was 11.00 AM, and instructions were left under our door the day before. It also states that we can leave our luggage at our door, so we don't have to lug it around until we leave the Club. The bus would depart from Club Med at 1.00 PM, and so we had 1 hour to spare before lunch. First, I ordered my last alcohol at L4 bar, then we went to the Petit Club for P to have a last blast. Unfortunately, the power was out due to the rain and it was dark and hot in the room. The GOs ushered the kids out for an early lunch, so we left with them and heard commotion at L1. The GOs were leading the crowd in a sun-dance, hoping to drive the rain away and welcome the sun. P and I were happily dancing when Hubby interrupted our dance at 12 noon to go for lunch. Naturally, P put up a crying fight but luckily it didn't last for long. Pasta was the special menu today, and the chefs would whip up yummy cream/tomato pasta based on the ingredients you choose. I didn't expect the pasta to taste good, but it was superb! Before we had desserts, a quick check at the time shows 12.45pm. Panic!! We were supposed to be at the lobby 15 min before. We grabbed an ice cream cone each and raced upstairs.

Last alcohol in Bintan

We were given our ferry tickets and asked to check that the lugagge we left at our door earlier was in place. Several GOs also started gathering at the boarding porch to bid goodbye to the guests. The guests boarded the bus and the Chief of the Village, Mei, gave a goodbye speech. Mei was really great! We see her a fair bit everywhere during our 4D3N stay, and she's probably the only one who remembers P's name, always greeting her cheerily when she sees us.

At the ferry terminal, people formed long lines, waiting for the ferry gate to open for boarding. We just hung around at the seats till we saw the q moving. It turns out they are granting priority boarding for people with young children, and the guy manning the q gestured for us to move forward. Haha, thanks to P, we managed to get a window seat this time. Again, P took her nap on the ferry, so the ride was uneventful, phew! Boats seem to have a lulling effect on her. She slept on the ferry to Bintan, and slept on the ferry back to Singapore. One thing we know for sure, she's not prone to seasickness.

Taxi q was really long when we got out of the terminal. It was lucky my parents came to fetch us, else we'll definitely need to call a cab!

Bye Club Med for now, we hope to be back soon!

Club Med Bintan Day 3 - Afternoon

We headed to the beach in the afternoon, where P continued to do her land reclamation work play. She saw a sailboat near the shore, and told me "sit boat". I'm continuously amazed by her speech development. Put her on the boat and she was quite thrilled, but the GOs had to use it so we had to disembark. We walked towards the watersports shack and asked if there is any place we can see fishes in the sea. The GO directed us to the rock pool at the other end of the beach (if you face the sea from Club med's main building, it's on the left), and true enough, schools of fishes swimming around. The GO also suggested for us to head to the Terrace restaurant, grab some bread and feed the fishes. Even more fishes will come when there is food. Didn't manage to get any pictures though, as our phones were quite a distance away. Hubby braved the journey to the restaurant and came back with... 1 piece (seriously?!?!?! of bread. He said he was too embarrassed to ask for more, lol. Luckily, that piece of bread lasted for a while and the fishes certainly seem happy with the meal.

Dinner was to be at the Terrace restaurant. It's by the sea, and you have to make reservations at breakfast if you want to dine there for the evening. In addition, they are not open daily (only Mon/Wed/Sat), so do take note. You can also request to see the menu at the Waterfall restaurant when making the reservations. Basically, it's a semi-buffet where they serve you a starter and a main course. You can get other appetizers and desserts from the buffet table. If we could choose again, we would skip this and head back to the Waterfall, due to the following

1. No breeze!!! Reminds me of the poolside dinner we had on Day 1. It was a sweaty and sticky meal. Didn't help that P was being difficult (prob due to heat) throughout the meal, and both of us raised our voices at her
2. Lizards on the celining/wall hovering above the buffet spread. I was horrified and petrified to go get food. I can't look up without shuddering.
3. Food wasn't very fantastic. You'll get a much better variety at The Waterfall restaurant.

My starter - Coriander leaf chicken salad. This was good

Kid's and Baby's food section = Fast food like nuggets, fries, spaghetti

Hubby's starter - Gado Gado

I chosed the Ayam Penyet for my main course while hubby got the Beef Steak. My Ayam Penyet came out nicely, very flavourful chicken with rice and chilli for dipping. Hubby's steak didn't fare too well. It was tough, presumably due to the cut of the beef. P whined and whined while we ate.

We beat a quick retreat after finishing our mains, and hubby suggested to check out The Waterfall restaurant for the offerings. It had everything that hubby wanted - Prawns, mussels, scallops, salmon sushi (his fav)... A GO by the name of Robert joined us at our table. He's from South Africa and does the golfing coaching. I didn't eat much, but it was just nice sitting in an aircon place to escape from the heat.

It was close to 9pm by the time we are done with dinner. We headed down to L1 with the intention of catching a drink at the bar, but it turns out that the kids were having a Super Boys vs Wonder Girls program at the theatre. P was getting sleepy but she clapped her way through the program.

Watching the program with mama

Parents were asked to dance with their children

The La Fiesta show started at 9pm, and P's eyelids were drooping. We started to make our way back to the room so she could rest for the night, but oh man, what a crying episode she put up for us. She cried her way back to the room, asking to go back to the theatre. We didn't have a choice except to go back to the theatre. Her crying finally stopped and she stayed awake for 1.5 dances before dozing off again (this time for good, phew!). We watched the rest of the La Fiesta show, and caught a drink at the bar before calling it a night.

Club Med Bintan Day 3

It's Day 3 and we awoke to a surprise - 4 monkeys outside our balcony! P couldn't stop saying "hi" to all of them, haha! One of them took the ashtray on the table but it must have been too heavy and the ashtray went crashing to the floor. Luckily it didn't shatter into pieces. These monkeys are really mischievous. Another one got hold of hubby's shorts, which he had placed outside to let it dry. The monkey bit and tugged it towards the edge of the balcony and we were quite sure the shorts were a gone case. At the last minute, the monkey decided he has better things to do, and leaped off the edge, giving hubby a chance to save his shorts, lol. Lesson learnt: Do not leave anything at the balcony, and keep the screen doors close in the mornings coz that's when they are most active.

Oops, they've found hubby's shorts

He's going to run off with it!!

After P had her fill of saying "byes" to the monkeys (which have taken off long ago, but she still thinks they are somewhere near), we went out for breakfast. The spread is almost similar to what we had yesterday. I finally understood why online comments/reviews warned that one might get sick of the food after 2 days. If you re someone who is fussy about food and only eats certain food, then your options would be pretty similar for your stay. Luckily, I'm super flexible on food and the menu, albeit similar, still makes me feel like I'm eating new food daily. P had a medley of cereal for her breakfast. She usually can't eat much because of the milk she drinks the moment she wakes.

It was still quite early when we finished breakfast. We were planning to hit the pool at about 10.30-11am so we can catch the aqua aerobics. We walked towards the sports centre, but found that the counter and most activities only start at 9am. With no other plans in mind, we headed to Petit Club where P could play with other children. I realised children between the age of 2-3 are quite territorial and most have yet to master the concept of sharing. P was inside a toy house and she stepped out to show me a toy. 2 boys went in and shut the door, refusing to let P in. P was heartbroken, I think mainly because they didn't want to play with her, and also because they 'took over' her toy. She cried for a good 5 min, pointing at the toy house and muttering some stuff every now and then. So far, we've been asking P to step back when other people 'invades'. I wonder if that is healthy as it seems to be inculcating a wimpy behaviour in her. I sure hope she can stand up for herself next time, but I don't know how to teach that to her. Very soon, the children needed to get ready for their trip to the beach, so we took that as a cue to leave.

Swimming time again! Unfortunately, P didn't fare very well in the waters today. I think the water was quite cold today, and she doesn't like it even with her thermal wear. She spent a huge bulk of her time on land, walking on the water edge. We are heading to the beach after lunch, and I hope she will be able to do more later!

Prefer to stay on land and watch papa doing aqua aerobics

Only man in the pool doing aqua aerobics, hehe.

Club Med Bintan Day 2 - Night

As expected, P took an almost 2.5 hours nap. When she woke up, it was dinnertime. The restaurant was crowded, probably the most crowd I've seen so far in the restaurant. There were tables of people standing around and toasting each other, sure gives the TGIF feeling!

P had fries, bolognaise pasta and rice with miso soup for dinner. I thought she would do spectacularly well with the pasta, but it seems babies get sick of the same food too. She gobbled up the fries and moved on to the rice.

It should have been around 7.30pm by the time we are done. Club Med has nightly shows at the theatre, starting at 9pm. With just 1.5 hours left to the show, we decided to stick around at the L1 bar till its time for the show. Luckily, there was a children's event at L1 next to the bar. It was called A Touch of Asia, and the GOs sat around making fishing rods and toy swords from leaves. P got a fishing rod but we forgot about it and it got left behind. Sadly, I didn't get a picture of that.

There was also a face/tattoo painting booth where children can go to. P saw one of the GOs painting a bear on a boy's hand and she looked interested. However, I was quite concerned about her OCD clean freak behaviour, and highly doubt she would sit thorough the painting process. Surprisingly, after the boy was done, she sat down on the chair and held out her hand. I requested for a butterfly and knelt next to her trying to keep her calm. She was composed and managed to get the butterfly painted. Guess what's next? After I brought her aside, she asked me to wipe it off!! Lol, a leopard never change its spots!

Getting a painted butterfly on her arm

The children's event ended at 8.45pm, and they started a pre-show dance. P really outdid herself in this. Grooved and shake and twirled with the music, it was much joy watching her dance. 15 min of dance, and everyone made their way to the theatre.

The GOs put up a spectacular performance, of dance and comedies and audience participation shows. It ended off with a mass dance section, including P's fav hit Gangnam Style. It was so good that P refused to leave after the event. Each time we try to move away from the theatre, she would cry and point in that direction.

Mass dance

After a long night, it didn't take much coaxing for P to fall asleep. I slept pretty well compared to the previous night and everything's great!

A nice margherita - The beauty of Club Med

Club Med Bintan Day 2

A blazing thunderstorm swept through Bintan Island at the wee hours. At 3.30am, I woke up and found that I couldn't get back to sleep. Also, my stomach was churning presumably from the sumptuous dinner I had. Hubby and P seemed to have slept well though :) I slept at around 5.30am and woke up just before my alarm rang at 7am. The thunderstorm has reduced to a drizzle, but it's still rain that will mar our plans for the morning.

A fish pond that makes P go "fish!" each time we pass by

We went for breakfast and I didn't dare to indulge myself as my stomach was still a bit upset. Got some congee and pancakes for P. The congee was quite good and she had more of it than anything else. P started saying 游, but it was still drizzling when we finished breakfast.

Definitely an omelette for me!

Looking longingly at the pool

We decided to visit the Petit Club once again to see if we can find anything for P to do. They had a 'classroom' for all the Petit Club children to gather in. It looks like an indoor playground with various toys and reading materials. I asked if P could enter and play with the toys although she is not 2 yet, and the GO said yes, phew!! We spent the next 45 min or so in the playroom. From the program schedule, the kids are supposed to have some trampoline activity outdoors, but I guess the rain really spoiled it for them. The kids stayed in the playroom, all the way till we left.

The 'horse' was blur because hubby push it while I was taking the shot

Kiddy chairs where children do their coloring

I like the clouds decor on the ceiling!

P's fav spot in the room

Playing seesaw with Ziyan (3.5 years old from Taiwan)

She saw children doing coloring and she joined in

GOs put Pororo on TV, and hubby got P to watch with him (hubby likes Pororo, haha)

Seeing that the rain has more or less subsided, we went back to our rooms and wanted to head to the pool. However, a quick look at the time tells us that lunchtime is in an hour. It won't make much sense to swim for only 30 min, then go back to our rooms to prepare for lunch. Besides, we were looking at going to the beach too. In the end, we decided to head to the bar just next to the pool, have some drinks and check out what's happening there. There was an aqua aerobics session in the pool, with music and dance moves. P very much wished she was in the water, but still she clapped and danced with gusto together with the GOs beside the pool.

At the stroke of 12, we went up for lunch. I got some penne pasta and rice drizzled with soup for P, and was pleasantly surprised she liked the penne pasta, finishing the whole lot that I took for her. A GO called Robert (from Sydney Australia) joined us at our table and we learnt that he has only been here for a week. He started working with Club Med some 2 years back, and has worked in China and a couple more places so far). We had a pleasant lunch and conversation with him (but I forgot to take a pic!).

P started looking longingly at the pool, so we knew its time to head back and prepare for her 游. Boy, was she excited when I brought out her thermal wear. We swam at the pool and managed to catch the golf chipping event at the poolside. The idea is to hit a tennis ball (using the golf way) to a flag guy who is standing on a surf board in the middle of the pool. If he catches it, you gain 1 point. P was more interested in retrieving the tennis balls which had fallen into the pool though, haha.

We decided to head out to the in the midst of the golf chipping action. I'm quite curious to see P's reaction when she comes into contact with sand. She's really particular about cleanliness and doesn't like foreign objects on any parts of her body. I put her down on the sand and she was fascinated, brushing her soles back and forth the sand like a bull preparing I charge, haha. We walked to the edge of the water, and found that we could venture out pretty far (at least 20m) before the water becomes deeper. P also took in her first taste of seawater when a big wave crash over us. We retreated to the shoreline and played with the sand toys ($2 from Daiso). P was quite upset about getting sand on her knees when we sat down. She pointed to it and asked me to brush it off for her. I was like, oh no, she doesn't want to play? Luckily, she accepted it after I showed her my legs were also covered with the same offending object.

Her 1st contact with sand

The 2 dots loves of my life

 Before I knew it, P had become a land reclaimer in Club Med. She would dig a spade of sand from the dry land, walked to the water and dumped in the pile of sand. She did it at least 20 times. Other times, she will scoop some water, head back to the dry land and pour the water into some dug holes. Hubby and I were delighted, she could keep herself occupied while we lie in the waves.

The action for the afternoon must have been too much to bear. P conked out after her bath and milk. It's going to be one long nap.