We've made it back alive from our holiday to Australia!  Suffice to say that the little one had the most fun.  Some firsts for him:

1) Riding on an airplane
2) Lapping up ice cream and enjoying it
3) Chasing a peacock around the Cataract Gorge Reserve in Tasmania
4) Playing with water in a fountain
5) Sitting in a car seat without screaming for more than an hour (with lots of entertainment from grandparents of course)
6) Learning all about Australian produce like Oranges, Apples, Cherries, etc...

Some firsts for us:

1) Surviving the holiday!
2) Changing a poo-laden nappy of a toddler standing up in an airplane toilet's changing table - TOGETHER (we barely fit in there together)
3) Balancing an 11kg toddler on your chest for 2 hours without moving because he won't fit in the bassinet
4) Packing all your stuff + shopping within the 20kg luggage restriction set by SIA

It was quite an adventure!  Marc knew right away that he was on holiday.  Despite having not slept much the night before, Marc started running up and down my parents' place once we arrived in Melbourne and was absolutely thrilled.  He remained that way the entire trip - partly because he had 2 sets of grandparents to entertain him and partly because he was going out everyday.  I don't think reality has really set in yet, as he came home and started bolting around the house, pointing at familiar objects.  We can't really understand a lot of what he's saying (it all sounds like 'Ah-Guh'), but we can sort of guess. 

Marc's sign language:

1) Hands together in prayer - he wants to eat or if you are eating, he wants to eat what you're eating
2) Coming up to you and grabbing your food off the plate - he wants to eat what you're eating
3) Screaming and hanging onto Mummy's legs - he wants to eat or he wants milk
4) Clapping hands - he's happy or he thinks he's done something very well
5) Bobbing up and down in a robot-like fashion - he likes the music and is dancing to it
6) Running up to something, pointing and shouting "Ah Guh" - he recognises the object/item/person and is naming it (he has been known to do this to shrubs and we think he may be scolding them, but we don't really know why)
And yes - half of his hand actions all relate to food.  This child is food-obsessed - he inherited that from me so I don't blame him.

We have also noticed that he has learnt so much on this trip.  The exposure and constant attention really does make a difference.  He's much more responsive and aware of his surroundings.  He's also started to chat up ladies and girls.  He points and shouts at the lady packing vegetables at the supermarket, the waitress at the restaurant, the air stewardess - as long as they are female, he'll try to get their attention.  I don't have any doubts that he's heterosexual. 

He also had his first kiss on this trip!  We visited C & E in Melbourne, who whipped up a real storm for breakfast at their lovely home.  Marc kissed their daughter, L, who is about 8 months old not once, not twice, but three times!  Marc's grandfather was quite impressed, needless to say, when we told him about it when we got home.

The next challenge?  Settling Marc back into his normal routine, and getting him ready for school as he starts playschool in Feb!

The day after Thanksgiving, we set off on a 5-hour drive to Lake Placid, a village in the Adirondack Mountains in Essex County, New York state which is best known as the two-time site of the Winter Olympics in 1932 and 1980. This trip is an early birthday treat from BusyHubby who absolutely hates the cold so I was really really happy when he agreed to bring me to this freezing winter wonderland!

We arrived in Lake Placid at around 5+pm and checked into the Crowne Plaza Resort & Golf Club. It was already dark by then... see the lovely view from the balcony of our hotel room! It was almost fairy tale-like! ;p

Every morning, we'll wake up to this view... really wonderful feeling and it almost felt like we had been transported to another world! The lake in the picture is Mirror Lake... ironically, downtown Lake Placid is located along Mirror Lake and not the nearby Lake Placid ; p I took a picture at our balcony every morning and was captivated by the variations in colors of the sky, lake and surrounding houses each day.

We spent our 3-4 days there exploring the various olympic sites like the Olympic Jumping Complex, Olympic Center & Museum, Olympic Sports Complex... to some people, this may sound very touristy, but it was a really interesting experience for us to see these places for the 1st time and I think we can probably appreciate winter olympics events alot more now : ) Of all the sites we visited, the most memorable one is without doubt the Whiteface Ski Area. The Whiteface Mountain, at 4867 ft is the fifth-highest mountain in NY State, and one of the High Peaks of the Adirondack Mountains. We took a Cloudsplitter Gondola ride which brought us from the base lodge to the top of Whiteface Mountain's neighbour - Little Whiteface (3676 ft) in less than 15 mins!  The view from the top of Little Whiteface was HEAVENLY! Till now I still can't stop looking at the few pictures we took up there!

For those of you who are planning to come to NYC, take a few days off from the buzz of busy NYC and drive up to the Adirondacks region... even during non-snowing months (it apparently snows 5 months in a year!), I'm sure the views are spectacular in a different way. It'll be the most memorable part of your trip.. guaranteed ; p

I'm back in (cold cold) NYC! How I miss the sunny weather in Texas... anyway, since the last time I blogged in Austin on the 4th day of our Texas road-trip, here's what we did over the last few days : )

We left Austin after breakfast and drove about an hour to Pedernales Falls State Park in Hill Country. The Pedernales River runs over limestone formations in this park, forming "cascading waterfalls" when the water level and flow is strong. Unfortunately when we were there, the water level was not that high hence we couldn't really see any cascading waterfalls. However, that also meant we could walk over the limestones and see the river close-up : ) The view of the river and limestones was really beautiful!

Next we visited a "Wildseed Farms" and a vineyard located near Fredericksburg in Hill Country. By then, it was late afternoon when we finally stopped for lunch at Fredericksburg.

After lunch, we were ready to explore the Enchanted Rock State Natural Area! The Enchanted Rock is an enormous pink granite pluton which together with its surrounding land, forms this State Natural Area. We started on the Summit Trail which climbs 425 ft in 0.6 miles. The path was actually not that steep, and since we were climbing on rock and not soil, the ground was pretty sturdy. But there were areas halfway up the trail which had huge rocks which we had to conquer in order to proceed further... that was quite a scary experience for me! Was ready to retreat back and was scolding myself for adding this to our itinerary! BusyHubby on the other hand was having lots of fun climbing and kept telling me it's just a very "gentle slope"! We did make it to the summit and I must say the hard work was worth it! The view of the Hill Country was beautiful from the top and we also managed to catch the sunset : )

We then drove back to San Antonio to spend the last 2 nights of our road trip.

Day 6

Our first stop for the day was to the Alamo, which is best known for the Battle of the Alamo which was fought in Feb/Mar 1836. This battle was part of the Texas Revolution which was the first step by then Mexican President’s attempt to retake the Texas province after an insurgent army of Texan settlers from the US had driven out all Mexican troops the previous year. The entire siege lasted 13 days during which around 180 Texans fought over 2,000 Mexican soldiers. Only 2 Texan soldiers survived the battle. Since 1836, Americans on battlefields over the globe have responded to the exhortation, "Remember the Alamo!". The Alamo is now a historic landmark and is opened to the public as a museum. I think the Mission San Jose was much nicer and "real"... the Alamo seems too "done-up" with nice trees and was full of tourists.

 

After lunch, we went to SeaWorld San Antonio! I was quite disappointed when I found out the night before that the waterpark in Seaworld (The Lost Lagoon) is closed since beginning October (they usually close when the weather gets colder). But we still decided to go ahead, hopefully the other exhibits and shows in SeaWorld will be worth the steep entrance fee of about USD50 per pax. We got up close and personal with dolphins at the Dolphin Cove and watched a performance by seals and a huge walrus. Next we caught the "Believe" show where we saw the spectacular performances of "Shamu", the stage name of Sea World's numerous adult killer whales.  Strangely, parts of the performance where the trainers had close interaction with the Shamus like hugging them, kissing them brought tears to my eyes! We really enjoyed the Shamu show so much that after dinner, we went back to SeaWorld to catch the special Halloween show at 8.30pm : )

Day 7/8

We left San Antonio on a 12noon flight the next day and were supposed to arrive back in NYC at ard 7pm. But just when I thought we were about to land, we were informed by the pilot announced that due to bad weather, all airports in NYC were closed! We had to land in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania : ( After a long "leaving/not leaving Pittsburg tonight" episode, we were finally informed that we have to spend the night in Pittsburgh and since hotels within 40 miles of the airport were all fully-booked, we had to spend the night on the hard floors at the airport! Well, after the initial shock and frustration upon hearing the news, we managed to find a cosy little spot at the airport to lay the thin blankets provided by the airline and could even surf net on our laptop. It was quite a fun experience on hindsight ; p We finally board a plane this morning and arrived back in our NY apt at 9+am.

What a memorable week! I'm so proud of the itinerary that I had planned for this Texas trip... given that I had only one day to plan before the trip (last min notice from BusyHubby) and had to research on hotels and places to eat along the way : ) Hope BusyHubby enjoyed himself as much as I did!

I'm in AUSTIN now!

Day 3

Early yesterday morning, we started our drive from San Antonio to Austin. They're only about 1.5 hours drive away, but we decided to take a longer scenic route which brings us past the Guadalupe River in the Hill Country. The Texas Hill Country is a beautiful 14,000 square mile area in the heart of Texas and is made up of over 51 cities/areas with natural wonders and tiny towns. During summer, lots of people swarm to Guadalupe River to tube down the flowing water. It's now too cold for that so the river looks deserted. But this place sure looks peacefully charming. 

We stopped by a historic town in Hill Country - Gruene in the city of New Braunfels for lunch. Gruene was where German farmers who arrived in Texas in the mid 1840s settled down. It is now a historic district with little quaint buildings selling antiques and a few restaurants overlooking the Guadalupe River.

After lunch, we drove to San Marcos, another city in Hill Country and visited the Texas State University-San Marcos Aquarena Center, an environmental learning center. We took the glass bottom boat tour where a guide explained and pointed out to us interesting aqua life that can be seen through the glass bottom at the center of the boat : ) The Aquarena Center also features a Wetlands Boardwalk which surrounds a shallow water habitat and showcases the flora and fauna of a wetland ecosystem.

After sneaking in some shopping at San Marcos Prime Outlets (OF COZ this will be on the itinerary that I planned ; p), we continued driving and arrived in Austin in the evening. Didn't do much at night except for a nice dinner at South Congress Ave.  On the way to dinner, we drove past the Texas State Capitol which looked really beautiful at night!

Day 4 

We started the day at the Lyndon Baines Johnson ("LBJ") Library and Museum. LBJ (1908-1973) was the 36th President of the US from 1963-1969. He was Vice-President to JF Kennedy and succeeded to the presidency 2 hours 8 min after President JFK was assassinated in 1963. Learnt quite abit about US history and past presidents during this visit.

We next visited the State Capitol again as we wanted to see the interior of this magnificent building which houses the chambers of the Texas State Legislature and offices of Texas Governor. This 1888 state capitol is the tallest capitol building in the US (even taller than the National Capitol in Washington DC) but is second in total size to the National Capitol.

In the evening, we went to the Congress Avenue Bridge to watch the evening Bat Flight! Austin is home to the largest urban bat colony in North America and it is supposed a very impressive sight when more than 1.5 million bats emerge at dusk from the underside of the Bridge. There is even a Bat Hotline we can call for the daily estimated flight time! July-Sep are the best months for viewing… so the bats view we got today didn't seem that impressive.

BusyHubby finally decided to clear his block leave! We both really love road trips and decided to do a mini one in (still sunny) Texas, aka the Lone Star State : ) Texas, the 2nd largest US state in both area and population, is often associated with cowboys due to its long history as the center of the American cattle industry. I'm now in San Antonio, TX after 2 days, blogging from my hotel! Here're the highlights of the first 2 days of our road trip.

Day 1 

We arrived in San Antonio ("SA"), the 2nd largest city in the state of Texas at ard 2pm. We first went for a late lunch at Mi Tierra, a Mexican-Texan style restaurant which is open 24 hours at the historic "Market Square", rich in Mexican culture and is home to a variety of interesting shops, galleries and restaurants. We ordered the Nachos Mi Tierra (bean & cheese nachos topped with guacamole and beef) and Deluxe Mexican Dinner which came with beef steak, cheese enchilada, crispy beef taco, guacamole, Spanish rice and refried beans. What a spread to start our trip!

Next we explored downtown SA. It's not a very crowded city and people we saw on the streets look alot like tourists. The place we love the most in SA is the famous San Antonio River Walk (aka El Paseo del Rio)! It is one street level beneath downtown SA and forms a 3-mile winding loop along the SA River. It is lined with bridges and restaurants (without touting waiters like Boat Quay.. hehee).

The River Walk dates back to Sep 1921 when the city was hit by the worst flood in its history. In 1929, an architect Robert H. H. Hugman proposed developing the area into an urban park with restaurants, shops, apartments, and a walkway, but met with obstacles in convincing city officials of the financial viability of his proposal. It was only many years later that the River Walk was finally completed.

Day 2

We started our day at the Natural Bridge Caverns, the largest underground attraction in Texas! The name “Natural Bridge” was derived from a 20m natural limestone slab bridge that spans across the cavern’s entrance. This “bridge” was left suspended when a sinkhole collapse below it.

We took a Discovery Tour which brought us on a 1.2km and 180ft deep walk to explore large underground chambers and huge formations. The caverns are still very active and growing and we can feel water dripping constantly throughout. It is this water which causes the formations to retain a waxy luster. The tall and thin columns you see in the pics are stalagmites which rises from the floor due to the dripping of mineralized solutions and deposition of calcium carbonate. Interesting underground experience!

Next we went next door to the Natural Bridge Wildlife Ranch. This Ranch is done “African Safari” style and hundreds of exotic animals roam freely on the ranchland! We drove our car through the park slowly and cautiously, not knowing what animal we were going to see at the next turn.

The "deer-like" animals you see are "Aoudads" from Africa. They were pretty aggressive and came very close to the cars! See how the 2 aoudads were harassing the car in front of us! At one particular stretch of road, there were more than a dozen HUGE ostrichs and longhorns blocking the road! One of the ostrichs even poked our car a few times (luckily it's a rented car.. haha)!

After the fun we had at the Wildlife Ranch, we visited a place more solemn and historic - the San Antonio Missions National Historic Park which houses 4 of the 5 Spanish frontier missions within 2-3 miles from each other (the 5th being the famous Alamo which we'll probably visit soon). These missions were built by Catholic religious orders to spread Christianity. These people supposedly walked all the way from central Mexico (as riding horses or carriages was forbidden by their vows of poverty) into the wilds of Central Texas, hoping to build here a community of God, free from the corruptions then occurring in colonial Mexico. We were too tired to explore all 4 missions, and decided to just visit Mission San José , the most historical and of most architectural interest one which was established in 1720.