I know that I promised the husband I won’t be planning any of our family trips this year. And I think I am starting to regret that I did.

Friends have been around the continent for summer. I couldn’t help but admire their photos and wish I, with the husband and daughter, could get a taste of the culture and food too as they did. My aunt also asked my sister to post photos of their China trip way back in 2007. And one couple friend will be in a Mediterranean cruise. Wow, right? I’ve also been seeing these awesome Branson vacation packages.

Hmmm, it’s now only six months (and 1 week) to go before this year ends. Maybe I could wait before we go again for another family trip, and keep my promise.

We had no regrets going back to Macau last January. We weren’t able to tour around much when we went there October last year so it was time well spent visiting the famous landmarks, taking photos and husband playing in the casinos. Plus, we were able to visit Ocean Park in Hong Kong which we also missed doing last October. Honestly, I wouldn’t mind going back to Macau again.

Same with our Singapore trip, I wouldn’t mind going back there. What I would include in the itinerary is the bird park and other parts of Sentosa such as the Siloso beach and underwater world. And I would definitely bring swimwear and pool floats for our daughter. I guess I still can’t over that my daughter expressed her desire to swim twice during that trip. First, inside our lodge which has a pool, and second, in the wet play area of Singapore zoo. You see, she’s not much of a fan of water, be it pool, showers or fountains. So I probably saw it in the Singapore zoo website that they have a wet play area, I probably just brushed it off. Sigh.

In the Ancient Egypt, there’s The Mummy ride for adults and there’s also Treasure Hunters ride that kids can enjoy. Same with Sci-Fi City. While it boasts of the two Battlestar Galactica tracks, which are both for adults, it also has a whirling twirling attraction called Accelerator, which caters to the young ones.

There’s no need to take some special hgh supplements, not even Bonamine, as this ride is not as dizzying as it looks. Like I previously said, this ride is for kids so don’t expect too much. It’s not a ride where you expect to throw up.

Revenge of the Mummy, according to my husband, felt like the Space Mountain ride in HK Disneyland. It is an indoor roller coaster with very little lights. Again, I was too afraid to ride it.

So we just waited again outside the ride. It was the perfect time for me to take some rest from too much walking. I didn’t notice how long the ride was as I was thinking of manual directory submission. Anyway, this time, husband didn’t get his photo from the ride because he said he looked awful on the photo.

I planned on riding the Treasure Hunters jeep with our little girl but when we got there, we were told that they were having some technical problems. Tsk tsk.

Battlestar Galactica has two tracks: Human (red) and Cylon (blue). I’m not really sure how different they are but they run simultaneously.

Photo is worth S$18, just take note though that each track has its own photo system.

It was fun watching it and taking videos of the rides. I thought we had to buy memory cards while we were there.

Husband was trying to convince me to try it since it was, according to him, scary only at the start. I refused. Too afraid to do it. Instead, I sat on the seat test and had my photo taken by husband.

I guess you can say that I was pushing my luck when we purchased tickets for the Songs of the Sea show knowing that my daughter is afraid of fireworks. Songs of the Sea is a light show with loud sounds, fountains and fireworks for conclusion.

We purchased 2 combo A’s (show with meal) and 1 combo B (show with Oscar toy).

For the combo A, one has the option to have nachos, popcorn or hotdog sandwich. That comes with a drink. We chose nachos as the salsa was very tempting.

An hour before the 7:40pm show, there was already a long queue. So we decided to stay in the area while eating our nachos. Our daughter was sleeping soundly. It was time for her late afternoon nap. It was also time for us to just sit down and relax as we weren’t able to bring any arthritis relief.

At the last part of the 7:40pm show, fireworks had started and my daughter panicked. Bad idea to get the 8:40pm show because by the time we entered the show area, she was too afraid to even open her eyes to see what a great show it was.

This is a shot from above (taken from the Tiger Sky Tower) where the Songs of the Sea show is.

It would be great if, in this lifetime, I can visit all the Disneyland and Universal Studios branches all around the world. I think Disney has one in Hong Kong, Japan, France and two in the US. While Universal Studios have one in Japan and two in the US (Hollywood and Orlando). I wonder if Universal Orlando tickets cost just as much as tickets in USJ (Japan).

Of course, I’m so excited about the opening of Universal Studios Singapore. They had their soft opening last Chinese New Year. Rumors has it that they’d be open by June. Oh, maybe, it’s time to start planning with friends/families for a Singapore trip next year.

I have been wanting to go to the National Museum. Obviously, I’d like to take pictures of the building, and of course, the artifacts. But I still haven’t found the time to visit it. Come to think of it, I seemed to have problem managing my time as I haven’t visited my dermatologist to check if skin needs a wrinkle treatment.

Anyway, as I was saying regarding Zoobic Safari, the muZOOeum fell short with what I wanted in a museum. Maybe, I’m just not much into archaeology. Still, it was nice seeing that the zoo has one, and that it is something that the kids could learn from.

I’m not really a fan of snakes. No matter how assuring the zoo people are, I still can’t bring myself to pose for a photo with a snake around me. I’d probably stiffen regardless of how much joint supplements I’d consumed to prepare for it. Although, I can do it in groups, like if there are many of us holding the snake with me somewhere in the middle away from the head.

But of course, not a lot of people are like me. Many are daring enough to even hold the snake’s head for a photo. That’s one of the many fun things one can do at Zoobic Safari.

For everybody else like me, we can be contented seeing the snakes inside their glassboxes.

Months before our family vacation to Macau, I have researched online on how to go from one place to another. Last night, upon arriving at the Macau airport, we queued for the AP-1 bus supposedly bringing us to the ferry terminal. But we didn’t want to wait (after waiting for only 5 minutes. We were tired and sleepy) so at the last minute we decided to just take a cab.

For those who wants to know how much does it cost to take a cab from Macau airport to Hotel Presidente (across Star World and beside Lisboa — which is across Wynn Hotel), we paid 65 MOP plus 5 MOP for each luggage. Also, HKD can be used instead of MOP.

We booked our hotel online. We chose this hotel as this is the cheapest that we can find in the area. I didn’t expect much for its price. So I actually thought the cab driver was mistaken. Boy was I pleasantly surprised to see a nice hotel. When I got into our room, I was even more pleased to see a spacious room. I even saw they have new humidifier filters in the room.

This is the lobby.

And this is the view from our room.

Note: I seem to be having problems uploading the pics.

I can’t believe we’re now just 4 days away from our family trip to Macau. It’s just too soon! We haven’t prepared as much as we should, considering the time left. All I know is that the husband want to bungee jump, I want to ride the gondola (although I’m not sure yet if BG will be up to it) and take lots of pictures. We even haven’t decided yet if we really want to cross over to Hong Kong to go to Ocean Park.

Ok, maybe we’re not as unprepared as I think we are. We have booked for our hotel rooms months ago, for one. It’s not a five star hotel, not even sure if there are faux wood blinds that I am fond of. But it is near the Fisherman’s Wharf. I am hoping to take photos of the place in the morning AND in the evening. The hotel is also near the ferry, which is a good thing as most free shuttles’ terminal is near the ferry.

Hmmm, the only problem is I’m not sure how near is “near” that they were saying in the forums.