Week 55: Dec 31 to Jan 6

Monday morning we again slept in and missed breakfast. After we all got up, we went to the bank to close our account, then had some lunch. We went to Michelle's at the Pavillion for a last catch up and the kids had a swim, then we went back to Dua to pick up some of our things we had left and to say goodbye to the Leech family. We went out for dinner and then went to Ed's for what was supposed to be a few drinks. As we had to leave for the airport at 3 am, we were still undecided about watching the fireworks at midnight. Not long after arriving at Ed's we decided to just stay up, the fireworks were spectacular and we had one of the best views in KL.(I wanted to put video up of the fireworks, but will have to wait until we have better internet). By the time we waited for at lest half the crowd to dissipate and walked back to the Prince, it was almost time to get a cab to the airport. We got to Singapore by 8 and got a cab to the black and whites in Sembawang. I wasn't sure what to expect but out place was perfect! It's a colonial 3 bedroom house in a patch of military housing, out near the zoo. It was so quiet and peaceful and we all crashed into bed. Later in the afternoon we walked to the nearest shopping centre for some groceries, then got a cab back because it was almost half an hour away.
Wednesday we went into the city by train. We went to vivo city mall, then to Marina Bay Sands and went up the top. After looking around a bit we had dinner at one if our favourite places to eat, Todai. We had a yummy seafood and sushi feast, topped off with macarons.
Thursday we stayed in Sembawang. Steve and the kids went for a swim at the Terror Club, the social club for Defence people in the afternoon. For dinner we went to a local Chinese restaurant, the food was so good and the butter prawns were amazing!

We got up early on Friday morning and went to the zoo. We had breakfast with the orangutans, it was a great experience and Steve and I had a python around our neck. For someone who doesn't even like looking at snakes through the glass at zoos, I was surprised I actually did it! The zoo was fantastic and the way the animals interact with the people made it even better. When we got home we were invited to the Aussie bar across the road that they open up on Friday nights. We met the RANLO and his wife Tonya, as well as some other Australian and American families based in Singapore. We had a great night!

 
Saturday we caught the train back into the city. Steve and the kids went to Sentosa and did a few of the activities there like the luge and Segway. I went shopping on Orchard Road and met up with them in the afternoon. We picked up some dinner (a whole roasted duck for $15) and headed home.
We had a relaxing morning Sunday and packed ready for the cruise. In the afternoon we went to the Terror club and met up with some of the families we had met on Friday night. The kids swam, then we had a game of beach volleyball. We ended up staying for longer than we had expected and had dinner there as well.

Week 54: 24 to 30 dec

Monday morning Danae got a birthday cake at breakfast from the resort. We did a little last minute shopping in Patong, then checked out and went to Katathani resort. We spent the afternoon relaxing and swimming. In the evening we went to the buffet dinner, we were a bit peeved at having to spend $600 on a compulsory dinner and that not only did that not include drinks, but the prices for drinks were inflated, but it was spectacular.
The kids woke up to new iPod touchs from Santa on Tuesday morning. I got a new Canon DSLR and Steve got his Ripcurl watch. We spent the morning by and in the pool (a different one to the day before). Then for lunch we went up to our room and had our complimentary fruit basket and the birthday cake they had left in our room the night before for Danae. We spent the afternoon relaxing and checking out our gifts and found a local restaurant for dinner.
Wednesday was a fabulous day. We went down to the beach after breakfast and spent most of the day down there. Steve and the kids swam in the morning while I read under the shade of our umbrella. We had lunch on the beach, then Steve and I got massages on the beach nearby where the kids lay on our deck chairs reading. After that we had one more swim, a cocktail or two and went to shower for dinner. We ate at the same local place for dinner.
Thursday it was time to pack up again and go to our last resort in Kamala. It was pretty secluded and right on top of a hill but as soon as we saw our room we were all amazed by how fabulous it was! The main part had a living room and kitchenette with a bedroom off it. The kids had a separate room and ensuite off the main room and they both looked out over our own infinity pool overlooking Kamala bay and the ocean.
It was so quiet and relaxing, but by lunchtime Friday we were feeling a bit restless so we took a tuk tuk back into Patong for the afternoon and evening and spent a lot of the time at our favourite bar playing pool. After dinner we went back to the resort.
Saturday we had to be out of our room by noon because they had other people coming at 2, they would have let us stay if no-one else was coming. So we left our luggage and went into Patong again until it was time to go to the airport, our flight wasn't until 9. We mostly stayed around Jungceylon, the new shopping centre, and had lunch at an Irish Pub there.We got to the airport in plenty of time, and our flight was delayed another hour. By the time we got to the Prince Hotel in KL, it was almost 2am.
Sunday we slept in a bit, had a wonder around the Pavillion (Lachlan and I went to have a Gong Cha tea, because we had missed them), then went back to the hotel for a swim. In the evening we met up with the Leech family at Dua, Lakshmi looked after the kids and the adults went out to La Boca for dinner, then onto Healy Macs, Havana Bar and Yokos. It was a good night and again we didnt get back to Prince Hotel until after 2am.