Growth Chart for My Little Ones

Tuesday, September 30, 2008

24 Sep 2008 - I can see it.....

This is related to the blog entry that I've posted about one month ago.
Remember A.N.L....J.G.A.S.? :-P

20 Sep 2008 - Jerlene is a strong girl

We brought Jerlene for a scheduled vaccination this morning. Her growth and development are ok. Although she's small, she is growing on her own curve which is perfectly fine. Jerlene took two jabs (booster for DTP and booster for Hyp-A) today and she was a strong girl. She did not cry and scream when the jabs were taken. According to the PD, the booster for DTP will most likely cause Jerlene to have fever. As such, we had been monitoring her closely but there is no sign of fever or any discomfort at the end of the day. She was as active as usual.
In the evening, we went for a wedding dinner at Noble House. As such, I let Jerlene wear a new dress, which I've bought last year in Australia. Though still a bit big, but she looks quite pretty with it. We did not finish through the dinner because Jerlene was feeling very sleepy at about 10 plus. She hardly slept during the day. As such, we left before the last two dishes.

19 Sep 2008 - Bye Bye Osaka

We left for Kansai International Airport early this morning. We took the Airport Bus where the pickup point is right in front of our hotel. This marks the end of our Osaka Trip and overall, it was an enjoyable one! Hope the info and pictures that I've posted will be useful for those who have plans to visit Osaka in the near future.



Bye Bye OSAKA!!! :-)

18 Sep 2008 - Day 7: Shinsekai, Den Den Town and last minute shopping

Today is our last day to walk around in Osaka. As such, we had reserve sometimes to buy souvenirs and goodies back for friends and families. However, before we went shopping for those stuff, we decided to visit one more place, Shinsekai (New World).
Shinsekai is a thriving area reminiscent of the downtown mood of Osaka during the 1950s/60s. It is famous for the Tsutenkaku tower, Jan-Jan Alley and the huge blowfish lantern suspended above the street.


It seems to be the 100th birthday for Billiken as there were banners all over the place.

We started our shopping today at Den Den Town. As I've mentioned in my earlier blog on Day 3, we have already shortlisted several Wii accessories. So without wasting much time, we went straight to the shop and bought Wii Fit (game and balancing board), a Wii gun, a DS Lite casing and a DS Lite stylus.

After that, we walked over to Dotombori and Shinsaibashi area for more goodies shopping.

We came across a shop that sells Grilled Crab and we bought some to try. The taste was great but it was a bit expensive.


We shopped till about 9pm before returning to our hotel. We had to pack our luggage before we sleep because we need to check out early tomorrow morning.

17 Sep 2008 - Day 6: Osaka Castle and Rinku Outlet Shopping

This morning, we went to Osaka Castle to have a look as it is not far away from our hotel. This castle was founded on the site of Ishiyama Hongan-ji by the great medieval warlord Toyotomi Hideyoshi as a symbol of his achievement. The construction was launched in 1583; however, the castle was heavily damaged when Hideyoshi lost the Summer War of Osaka. Repeated reconstruction and renovations over 400 years have made it possible to preserve this Osaka's symbol.

After yesterday's experience, we decided to give it a miss to enter this castle. However, we took quite a number of nice photos outside of the castle ground.



It was a hot day and after walking around the castle for close to an hour, we were all very tired. I cannot imagine if we were to climb up the castle like yesterday. Next, we took the train to Rinku Town which is one stop away from Kansai International Airport.
There is a Factory Outlet shopping complex of premium brand and beside it is a place called Rinku Pleasure Town where kids will enjoy.


When it comes to shopping, no one can beat Jerlene, the super shopping queen. See how excited she was........


After about 2 hours of shopping, we took a break but Jerlene was still full of energy.

After we had enough shopping, we walked over to Rinku Pleasure Town for some fun.

There was an indoor playground that charges 500 yen per child per hour. It is much bigger than Go Go Bambini in Singapore. We decided to bring Jerlene in for some fun.




Indeed, it was great fun not just for Jerlene, but for myself as well. I finally had the chance to play "things" (such as the bouncing castle) that I've missed out in my childhood. Jerlene had so much fun that she refused to leave after one hour had passed. She also made some friends with a few Japanese kids in the playground. I took quite a few videos of Jerlene having fun and below are just a few. You can see more at http://www.youtube.com/geniuswwf.



After the fun time at the indoor playground, we went to a store next door that sells all kids stuff. More importantly, the price is very reasonable. We bought a lot more things from this store than the factory outlets that we went earlier. By the time we left Rinku, it was already very dark.
Before going back to our hotel, we decided to go one more place, Tenjimbashisuji Shopping Street. This arcade is the longest (2.6km) in Japan. However, because it was already quite late, most of the shops had already closed.

End of Day 6 and tomorrow will be the last day in Osaka.....time really flies....sigh.........

Saturday, September 27, 2008

16 Sep 2008 - Day 5: Himeji and Kobe

Himeji is pretty far from Osaka but it is still within the region that is covered by our Kansai Thru Pass. The journey to Himeji took about 1.5hrs. When we reached there, it was already lunch time. So we had our lunch along the shopping street before proceeding to Himeji Castle, our first destination of the day.

Himeji-jo Castle is one of the four castles named as national treasures. In 1993, it was registered as a world cultural heritage site. According to traveller's comment, it is one of best castles in Japan.


Before this Osaka trip, there were friends who told us that it is impossible to carry a baby to the top of the castle. However, I decided to take up the challenge. Jerlene was sleeping in her stroller when we were buying the admission tickets to the castle. After we entered the entrance, a staff came to us and said that stroller is not allowed in the castle ground. I almost "fainted" because that would mean I have to carry Jerlene all the way while she's sleeping and I can't bear to wake her up.

There were so many steps and up slope in the castle ground and after about half an hour of climbing up with Jerlene in my arms, we finally reached the entrance to the castle's main tower.
There was a sign here that says "No resting place in the the castle's main tower". As such, many people, including us, took a rest here before proceeding to the tower. We sat in the shade under a huge tree and Jerlene finally woke up. When she saw the big open ground, she immediately become very cheerful and active.


We rested for about 15mins before moving on to the main tower, which is 7 storey high. Initially I thought since Jerlene had woken up, my life will be much easier as she can now walk by herself. However, the moment we entered the tower, I realized that I'm totally wrong. In fact, I had a tougher time in the tower because the stairs going up from one floor to another were very narrow and steep.

I had to carry Jerlene on one hand and hold onto the support with the other while climbing up the stairs. By the time we reached to the very top of the tower, I was totally exhausted BUT I had a sense of great achievement and satisfaction.
We had a great view of the surrounding area from the tower.

We took a short rest here before going back down. Going down the stairs was in fact harder than climbing up because the steps is simply too narrow and steep.
The tickets that we purchased include the admission to a Japanese Garden (Koko-En) which is 5 mins walk from the Himeji Castle. This garden is composed of nine different gardens, built on the archaeologically excavated site of samurai houses and roads. We took quite a number of great photos in the gardens.





Our next destination is Kobe. The train journey from Himeji to Kobe is about 45mins. By the time we reached Kobe, it was already evening. One good thing was that we managed to see the sunset, which is very beautiful.


One major structure in Kobe is the Akashikaikyo Bridge. This 3,911 metre suspension bridge connecting Honshu and Awaji Island has the world's longest span between the center columns. The reflection of the romantically lit bridge illuminates the water and downtown Kobe.
We returned to Umeda after that and walked around that area. There was a Ferris Wheel on the rooftop of a building called Hep Five.

We were totally exhausted by then and decided to call it a day.