First half term break in Dubai (30 May to 2 June 2018)

Half term break- a phrase uncommon to schools in Asia. We have always known all breaks as school holiday. Here in international school , there is spring break, winter break , summer break and in between there is also some short half term break. This is the kids first school holiday after starting school in April 2018.

30th May 2018

Early in the morning, instead of running to our room to wake us up or go downstairs to read a book or have breakfast, they are unpacking their bags that they bring onboard when we leave Singapore and also the things on their table. This is the first time they unpack on their own accord , my heart warms a little when I see this. Look at their serious and attentive expression.

We then had some breakfast and I told them over breakfast that I am bringing them to “happy”. We were supposed to go to indoor playground the other day so they are associating the playground with “happy”, so the kids were super elated when I mention this. They quickly finish their breakfast and go shower. This is the first time they go shower on their own. Such cute kids.

After vacuum and cleaning up, I steam some red bean bun for the kids. They happily ate the bun and we took a Careem cab to Pan Emirates Home Furnishing. There is a $20 discount so we paid $21, it is pretty pricey for a 15 minutes ride if we were to pay the full price!

Red bean bun

Kids were really excited to play at the playground. It is a really good size playground considering its free. I went and shop around, bought a couple of things while the kids played.

All went well until Qin started to pick things and eventually accidentally cut herself with a piece of glass. She was still very brave although it hurts a lot, hopefully she can learn a lesson from this and not pick up everything on the floor.

Daddy picked us up and bring us for a quick lunch at The Mall of Emirates and we head home for nap while daddy go to work.

A hearty lunch! Burger, hot dog, fries and a ice cream swirl.

Close up on my burger with a beef patty and huge deep fried portobello mushroom!

31st May 2018

Second day of term break and IT IS A VERY SPECIAL DAY FOR MY BIG BOY! After driving his cute Mitsubishi Lancer for 10 years, he has been looking for his next ride. We went to almost all car showroom we know, searching second hand option on Dubizzle and even researching different specifications each model offers. And God prepare a great car for us, it is a second hand Ford Explorer XLT v6 3.5L Engine. Although it is second hand, but it has been keep in really good hand. And the car plate is very similar to our previous car.

While daddy is picking up the car, we went and buy McD to eat at home. As this is the month of fasting, some restaurant can only do takeaway during daytime.

This McD is newly opened and beautifully designed so we started taking some photos 🙂

But once they see the playground, no one wants to take photos anymore.

Mummy, there is a playground here!!!!

And daddy got his car after settling some paperwork! Look at his happy smile. He is really happy and busy exploring the features of the car.

Such a happy big boy!

And we took the new car home for lunch! Yum!!!!

Mummy, look at my burger. so yummm

Fries are really good!

Qin ate so happily until her tooth gave way and came out! And one more tooth down! Her bleed has not stopped and she already kept asking if she can continue eating… girl ar….. wait a while…..

More fries please!

Wefie with naughty face!

And I did a mini test drive after my nap!

At night I cook some simple dinner and then we just hang out at night. Xin makes “extra eyes” for everyone.

Extra eyes….

1st June 2018

Morning woke up earlier to make simple breakfast for everyone before church.

Mummy, fruits are my favourite!

Breakfast on my newly bought table mat

It was a last minute decision and we have decided to go to Fujairah for a day trip. Quickly packed up sunblock(weather is really hot these days hitting up to 46 degree Celcius in the day time), mineral water, snacks, umbrella, blanket for kids to use in car, swim clothes, towel and a change of clothes plus slipper.

So after church service, we are on our way to Fujairah. Fujairah is one of the seven emirates that makes up United Arab Emirates commonly known as UAE. Instead of having skyscrapers like Dubai, it has a lot of rocks mountain and some off road tracks leading to some of their attractions such as Al Bathnah Fort and Masafi Fort just to name a few. Their beach is facing the Gulf of Oman whereas Abu Dhabi and Dubai are both facing the Arabian Gulf.

Are u guys happy to be going on a spontaneous road trip? 🙂

Our first stop is to Wadi Siji. Wadi is Arabic for dry riverbed or valley oasis that looks like a water pool. It is summer now so it is dry most of the time. Wadi Siji is known for being one of the oldest dam build in UAE in the 70s. There is nothing much to see this time of the year but we had fun driving through the rocky roads, a bit of an adventure I must say.

We stop at a random spot and start picnic-ing on our sweets….

A lot of rocks formation and sands and rocks mountain along the way …

For lunch, we takeaway from KFC as it is not open for dine in. While we were busy buying food and going to toilet, Xin went to one side and ……..

When we asked what is he doing… he is actually writing a mini travel diary. I love how he organise his stuff and now starting to write a diary when no one teaches him about it.

We then go to Al Bathnat Fort to have a look…. it has quite a few scenic photo spot …

We are little model

A nice fort facing a majestic mountain.

Al Bathnah Fort

A jump shot is a must ! Both getting good in their jump shots!

And a wefie with sweet boy

Weather is really hot so we went back to our car and drove to Friday Market at Masafi town. We bought some mangoes @ AED 10/kg. We sample some at the stall and it was really good.

Since we are in Masafi Town, we decided to drop by Masafi Fort to have a look.

And a nice pose from my girl

We are all the way up here mummy….

There is a hot spring park called Ain Mudhab. We went and have a look. It is 2 dirhams for adult and 1 dirham for kids to go in. The swimming pool is closed , otherwise we could visit that for an additional 5 dirhams each. There are quite a few playground inside so kids were enjoying themselves and I took a shot of them running back to me when we were about to leave.

Carefree girl and boy! Stay this way…

It was still hot when we left the park so we went to Carrefour to buy some stuff and cool down before bringing the kids to the beach. It was their highlight of the day as they kept asking if the next stop is going to the beach.

Umbrella beach is a public beach and we parked and then the kids played by the water.

Enjoying the black sandy beach

We brought water and give them a wash before heading for dinner. We had grilled prawn, mixed grill (chicken, beef and mutton), biriyani and tauboleh. Kids were really tired and fall asleep on their way home.

2nd June 2018

We slept in until 9 plus in the morning and get Qin ready for her Chinese class. While she is in the class, I make lunch and cut the mangoes we bought yesterday.

It was good with a hint of chempedak taste.

Mangoes from Fujairah

After lunch, kids were enjoying playing blocks and toys in their room and Qin’s tooth once loosen and drop again. It is the second one in the span of 4 days.