Tuesday 7 October 2014

Daddy Daughter Date - Overnight!

You A few weeks ago I suddenly realized that Talia has not yet had an overnight date with her dad. Determined to rectify this, I planned a one night hotel stay at Thistle JB. Later, I remembered this was the site of Ethan's first overnight stay with me too! At that time he was just 3 years old. Talia kept saying she was so excited leading up to the trip, and Ethan kept saying he was going to miss Daddy so much!

We decided to take the bus instead of driving so hopped onto the TS8 from Outram MRT at 10.10am. Talia has picked out nice dresses to wear with Daddy so I made sure I had a nice shirt too!


Crossing into Malaysia, the immigration officials stamped Talia's passport and asked, "First time?" Well not quite since Talia has crossed via the KTM a few times but this was her first time via the road route. 

We found a nice restaurant to eat in City Square that served ramen. They had a cute kids tray and Talia loved it. 


I told her that it may not be as good as the ramen we usually go to at home, but it was quite passable and Talia certainly enjoyed it. "You said it may not be good Dad, but it was good!" She beamed. 

After buying an Auntie Anne's pretzel we took a taxi to Thistle, arriving at about 12.30pm so our room wasn't ready yet. We went straight to the pool where we Had a great time swimming. 


Soon it got a little cold so we dried off and cuddles together on the deck chairs with the thick fluffy towels as blankets. The breeze caressed us and I hugged my daughter. It was turning out to be a fantastic daddy daughter date. 

After while we went to shower and change, and discovered a large hot jacuzzi bubbling in the change area. "What's that Daddy?" Knowing she was familiar wih Japan I replied, "It's an onsen, sweetie!" And she put her swimming costume back in gingerly tried it out. She discovered that putting her feet in the cold water first helped her get into the hot water. Soo. She was seimming around the 35 deg water. "This is so nice Daddy!" She kept saying. 

We got our room keys, had a shower then had a long nap. The travel, swim and hot bath really sapped Talia's energy cos she slept 3 hours until 6pm!


We got changed and walked out to dinner. Talia was wearing her colourful halter neck dress which she had kept aside months earlier for a date with daddy. 

Spending time alone with your daughter is quite different than with your son! Talia likes pretty things and appreciates nice surroundings. Ethan likes creature comforts too, but activities like cycling, exploring on trains and the outdoors are really his thing. 


Talia really enjoyed the dinner. She ordered fish and chips, but when my chicken cordon bleu arrived, she ate almost all of mine. The fish and chips was excellent, so I also ordered calamari which was similarly superb. We topped it off with a lava cake that was really yummy. "I'm so full Daddy!" 


We washed up and Talia commented, "This restaurant is old but nice Daddy." She has just discovered rustic!


We were so satiated and tired that we flopped into bed and cuddled each other sleep without the bedtime story! We had a good long sleep, rising before 8am and headed down to breakfast. We were quite the romantic pair! 


Breakfast looked nice, but as is in most Malaysian hotels the breads, pancakes and coffees were all not up to par. 

 
Talia appreciated the nice layout though and I did find some ham and hash browns which she enjoyed. The Malay noodles and curries were much better!


After her breakfast I thought Talia would want to swi, but she said she was tired again! So much like her mummy! Since it was a holiday, I said we could do whatever she wanted so we crawled back into pajamas and bed and read our Chicken Little book!


Soon she was ready to hit the pool so she donned her date dress again and we were off!


The Thistle pool is great for Talia. The only thing that could be better was if the slide area was opened up again. Looks like it's cordoned off permanently though. 


Talia is such a good swimmer it is really easy to be with her and keep her safe poolside. No floaties, no coughs and yells! She sucks and dives and swims around like a fish!


Once again, we curled up in the warm sun after the cool dip. This was one my favourite parts of the whole trip!


Words cannot describe it! Daddy-daughter outings are quite different than father-son outings. I think Talia will learn what feeling safe and healthy love from a guy is like from her dad. 


Soon it was time to go upstairs and bathe before checkout. I drew a nice warm bubble bath for Talia and she loved it!


However when she got out Talia said she wasn't feeling very well and cried, "I want mummy!" This plea did not cause panic in me, unlike with Ethan five years ago! Must be my gargantuan experience racking up! Talia had cool water, cool aircon, chocolate cake and felt better. I think she overheated in the bath and also used up all her sugars as it was nearing lunch time!

We checked out and took the hotel shuttle to JB City Square where we had lunch and caught the bus back to Singapore. Talia slept on the way, and as promised, Daddy kept her safe!


We were home at around 4pm (could have been shorter but we missed the 2pm TS8 as this was the first time i used it in the return journey). Ethan squealed in delight that we were home. I got a huge bear hug from him am while Mummy got an equally long and passionate hug from Talia!


Later I took them downstairs scootering. Talia zipped up to me while o was writing this blog entry. "Daddy can I tell you something?" I put the iPhone down. "I really love you so much," she said. We hugged and I told her I was so glad that we had this date. She chuckled, "The bed was so comfy!" Next time we will bring Ethan and Mummy along with us!