More picture of Jon when he was 5 months (Jan 08)

I realised I haven't posted Jon's photos in our blog for some time. Sorry, if you're not on Facebook, but you can check them out here. At five months, Jon is about 69cm and 10kgs. He's proportionately big baby. Very nice to carry and handle. He's also more responsive now and will check out his environment more.

Playing on his activity mat in the afternoons

Little Shrek

Happy baby

Handsome little fella

Stuffing Mr Snowman in his mouth

Reading the newspapers with me

Sitting being propped up cushions

Can he sit already? Nah, he's being held by grandma who's hidden behind the pillow.

Driving test

I have to learn how to drive in Miri otherwise I would have to ask Simon or mom to drive me around should I need to buy anything. So I took my driving lessons in mid Dec 2006. After nine lessons and 1 mock test, my instructor signed me up for the test which held yesterday. I hadn't driven since before CNY so I had a couple more lessons.

Everything was fine until I drove the Kelissa instead of the Kancil. I had no difficulties driving outside the shool where traffic is heavier. But when it came to the circuit, the problem started. The slope was the part where most students will encounter problems. I just couldn't leg go the clutch enough to go over the top of the slope after stopping at the top. I realised I didn't release the clutch enough. I also realised it was because I had push my seat forward until my heel was too near the clutch. So at the last lesson, when I had the Kancil again, I adjusted my seat accordingly and watched my position of my heel.

Then came the test date on 26th Feb. Sigh, same thing happened and I rolled backwards instead of going over the slope. So I failed half the test. Why half? Here in Miri, the test comes in two parts: the circuit and outside on the roads. After my lunch break, I came back to take the 2nd part of the test. I had just reached the first junction outside the school gate and the tester said from what he observed, I could drive already. He was different from the other poker faced testers who don't even say a single word, and when they do, it's usually to ask you to go faster, or that you get out and he takes over the driver's seat coz you failed. Taking that as a compliment, I said thanks, but I failed the other part of the test. It was a pleasant driving test coz he asked me questions about Singapore and how is it in Miri.

Looks like I will be back again in two week's time to go through the circuit. I just have to take time to get used to the clutch in the test car and not feel hurried or nervous by the tester!

CNY in KL

Simon and I were in KL for a short break during CNY. We left Jon with his grandparents and I felt the separation anxiety almost immediately when we pulled away from the driveway that morning.

We stayed at Novotel Hydro Majestic, a new hotel that was just across the road from the newest shopping centre in KL. Both were opened in Sep 2007. As the room wasn't ready for us to check in, we crossed the overhead bridge to Pavilion to have our lunch and shopped.

Spacious room at Novotel. Cost RM180 without brekkie

Pavilion is huge with seven levels of shops and eateries. From the high end couture brands to your mainstream Topshop and Zara, the layout is very well thought out with different zones for different shopping needs, and yet there's aren't any obscure coners where shops are hidden. We walked to almost all parts of the mall except the end of the high end part where the Jaguar showroom was located. Well, we weren't exactly looking to buy a car.

From outside

Main atrium

Check out Coach's flagship store here

One of the performers

During the first 2 days of shopping at Pavilion, I wished I was staying in KL instead of Miri. But after the 3rd day in KL and shopping at the Bukit Bintang area, thank goodness I am not staying in KL. Otherwise I will be broke in no time! I also wished I could have a foot massage at the end of everyday!

Guess where this is taken at? Nope, not at our hotel, but in the ladies toilet in Parkson @ Pavilion. I actually sat there and rested!

As expected, most of the nice makan places were closed during CNY, so we ate mainly at Pavilion and at the Golden Triangle area.

Sausage and calamari tapas at La Bodega @ Pavilion

Vietnamese vermicelli at La Lot Vietnamese Cuisine @ Pavilion

Roast meats at Super Noodle House at Sungei Wang

Dried Mee Siam and Chicken Curry Laksa at Kopi Place @ Low Yatt Plaza

Public toilets at Bukit Bintang....wanted to try for novelty's sake, but someone beat me to it. Cost 20cents per entry and there is a max time of 15mins. Wonder what will happen when 15mins are up?

We met up with our friends in KL and also one of the hardware suppliers. Thanks to our friends who brought us out of the Golden Triangle, we went to good old Ikea where we bought lamps for the patio and photo frames, more paper for me from a scrapbooking place at The Curve. We also got to eat delicious food including Ipoh Hor Fun at Chan Thoong Kee at Jalan Imbi, zhi char at a Chinese place around KL Sentral vicinity, decadent chocolate cake at Delicious at Bangsar Village, and dimsum at Palace Restaurant at Jalan Imbi.

Adrian and Simon at Palace Restaurant...also the place where we saw many cars with dark tinted windows and body guards. Wonder which big shot was lunching there?

Steamed Fish Head (Snake Head), 3-layer pork cooked with salted fish in Szechuan style, and oyster omlette

On our last day in KL, Novotel happened to engage a Lion Dance performance in the lobby of the hotel. Super loud drumbeats coupled with clanging of symbols...Simon even received two oranges from one of the Lions

All too soon, six days in KL were up. We'll be back pretty soon......hey, there's still 1 Utama, Mid Valley and The Gardens, you know!

CNY in Miri

CNY is more fun in Malaysia than in Singapore. On CNY Eve, so many people set off fireworks to welcome the new year, it must have been a bountiful year for them coz it ain't cheap! We're thankful Jon slept thru all the bangs and whistles!

On the first day of CNY, we went to Simon's grandma's place for lunch.
Jon and cousin Megan napped together. Although Jon is 6 months old and Megan will be 2 years in May, he is almost as tall as her.
Catherine, Bryan and Megan came to pai nian too. In true CNY fashion, there were lots of snacks, and we passed the day chatting, snacking, napping and watching TV prog. Check out the guys relaxing in the new living room in the afternoon.