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We almost didn’t make it for our June 2018 vacation….but we’re glad we finally did!

Work has simply been crazy and pooling together our schedules combined, has made this getaway a hard knot to unravel. In the end, we could only travel on dates when our older girl was away at camp. It wasn’t the best arrangement but we were looking forward to having some time to rejuvenate with the younger ones in some sand, sea and sun!

Thanks to Beautiful Krabi, which offered the best bang for our budget: pristine beaches, magnificent national parks, outdoor and water activities all rolled in one — and ONLY an hour or so plane ride away!

As usual, we were looking for a family -friendly resort that could accommodate the “truckload” of us and offer us a convenient yet contained base for which to explore all our activities — we were excited find it in Panan Krabi Resort.

A Little Corner to Chill in Ao Nang

We booked our entire 6 day, 5 night stay at Panan Krabi Resort, which is a fairly new resort snuck in the corner of busy Ao Nang.

Tucked inside away from touristy streets, yet right in the heart of town, Panan Krabi Resort offers both location and privacy. A 5 -min walk and you get to Starbucks, McDonald’s, Subway and tons of eating and food outlets, intermittently stacked between tour booking services and massage parlors.

Panan Krabi Resort is not a beachfront resort nor does it have a private beach but it makes no apologies for it with a gorgeous view of a huge mountain and TWO pools –one on the rooftop with a gorgeous view and one with a kids pool and slide on ground level!

It is however, a 10min walk to Ao Nang Beach but we didn’t need to troop there as the resort was self-contained with enough to do. Needless to say, we spent a lot of time there and the newly furnished kids club!

**Side note: Look at that gorgeous mountain….Krabi is full of these…the naturalist in me is “drooling” from an overdose of polished urban spaces that are missing ruggedness.

When we were there, the resort was still undergoing some renovation work in certain wings in certain blocks and it felt slightly raw depending on which wing or block you stayed.

It’s understandable to have teething issues but the hotel makes up for this with with genuine hospitality and sincere service. The staff are friendly, warm and welcoming, and nothing is too small to ask for. I approached them to arrange dinner and a external massage and the staff were ever obliging and warm.

One of the staff Bean, was so cool to share with us his experience and advice regarding tours and whether we could safely kayak in the given weather and helped on several occasions to get us where we needed to go. *Grateful* always…for cool service!

Ok, let’s cut to the chase. Our favorite things to do during our stay. Let us “show” you around the Panan Krabi experience…from our family’s perspective!!

Reception & Welcome

We arranged for pick up once we landed and were swiftly brought to our resort about an hour’s drive from the airport.

Once we arrived at the hotel lobby, we had our luggage swiftly taken aside and brought to the welcome lounge where we were handed…

…Cold towels to freshen up!!

We were invited to partake in the small bites and drinks at the lounge.

The open lounge is accessible like a central “living room” where guests are welcome to relax with some free-flow biscuits, snacks and traditional lemongrass drink. The kids visited this area many times during their stay ? for obvious reasons!! And I was happy for obvious reasons—no need to feed them!!

My favorite part of the lounge, the floor tiles. Love black and white on the FLOOR. Who else agrees??

Look at those happy no longer hungry faces!!!Check in was smooth and we were taken to our rooms.

Our Room Experience

We booked a suite for our stay which came with a small but separate living area, a large king bed and a warm welcoming jacuzzi tub. The kids had their own deluxe interconnecting room.

We were thrilled to be able to have our own private cordoned space yet be within reach from the kids! Can’t you hear me screaming ….”FINALLY?!”.

The rooms were also tastefully decorated with a modern garden theme.

We enjoyed the comfortable beds, fresh clean sheets and the luxury of having our own ensuite jacuzzi tub to relax in.

Loved that the room provided beach slippers AND bedroom slippers to convenience our use of casual footwear outdoors.

The view from our room was partial mountain and sea view. We spent many hours in this super power jacuzzi bath. Such a treat for the fun-loving babies and for all my aching muscles!!! Behold the view from our room…

Food & Feasts

Breakfast was inclusive of our stay and it was served at the main hotel restaurant international buffet style. The hotel was pretty well occupied for the last three days of our stay but we never had to contend with queues or crowds for peak hour breakfast.

The spread was a satisfactory mix of local and western flavours. More of an American buffet breakfast style with some local fare. Most days we skipped lunch!

The kids had fun assembling and constructing their “self-made sandwiches” from different stations. “Subway” experience, case they wanted to work there one day ?.

There are many dining options in and around Ao Nang. Plenty of restaurants on the street just 5 min away but with four kids in tow it was easier to eat in and we did for at least two of the days.

What we really enjoyed though was our in-room dining experience or room service. Room service was priced very satisfactorily at $180 baht (about $10sgd) for a good sized burger/pizza. And we would order some to tide over dinner considering most days we were abit too full after breakfast to eat lunch and only needed a nibble at dinner! The portions were generous and meaty!

Look at that huge chunk of meat!

Well divided by the four hungry kids, gone in 50 seconds.

Newly Furnished Kids’ Club

The kid’s club was also where we hung quite a-bit while we were there. The kids club is newly furnished and appealing more to preschoolers and toddlers —which was perfect for us! It’s facing the pool, so if the kids are ok, they could even play behind the glass doors and you can have a dip in the pool!

The colourful room is brightly decorated, has an indoor toddler playground and age-appropriate puzzles and toys. A majority of the books were in Thai and hopefully they would include more English titles in time.

Here’s a glimpse of how the little ones spent their time there, while we went for massages and sorted out our tours.

I spent some time trying to solve this wooden puzzle! ? I do wonder sometimes what motherhood has done to me.

The girls could engage in simple guided craft. Here they are attempting a paper flower with the help of the kid’s club staff. I like that they were usually the same staff so the kids saw their familiar faces and could warm up to them over our stay!

Finally, the best part of our stay…

Splashin’ Good Fun

We spent so much time this holiday relaxing by the pools and it was a real luxury to…just looking at the 2yo lounging in this first shot cracks me up!

The ground pool had jacuzzis which the kids enjoyed, a pool bar with super cheap cocktails and a simple kids slide and water feature.

We even spotted a resident monitor lizard by the pool side area which the kids were playing “hide and seek” with for a few of the days we were there!

The pool bar where you can order nibbles and get cheap mock tails.

The rooftop pool is small but boasts gorgeous views and it’s my favourite spot in the hotel. The backdrop of the pool is this fantastic looking mountain which tips towards a view of the sea. Super cool and relaxing.

Our serious and fun shots…

Reality check: Ok this next photo is me looking a tad worried my phone will drop INTO the water…but the hubs looks cool enough to buy me a new one if it happens, right?!?

We are parents first, then heavyweight champions after this shot. Putting it down in my resume.

Don’t we look like we’re having fun? I love that gorgeous mountain. Can’t. Stop. Gushing.

All in all, we were grateful for a relaxing time away to chill, bond with each other and have a little something for everyone to enjoy in our short stay.

Loved reconnecting with nature, sunshine and the great outdoors. Thank you Panan Krabi Resort for making us feel welcome.

Stay tuned for our next blog post on what we did in Krabi and the activities we explored.

Disclaimer: We were sponsored a complimentary room for the purposes of this review. However, the opinions expressed in this blog are our own.

{{Giveaway & Sponsored Post}}

Is Your Child Reading Well?

Does your child read and how much time does he or she spend time reading in a given day? 

It may appear that I’ve asked a redundant question: our children go to school don’t they? Shouldn’t they be reading something and reading enough?  

Perhaps cursorily so- with the obligatory 5-10 minute “silent” reading imposed before the typical school day starts. 

Apart from formal English lessons where they comb through the requisite Stellar books in the classroom and the occasional series from the library,  time for reading may in fact be short.

A good part of the day is easily spent clearing homework set from school, or rushing between tuition, extra-curricular classes and activities. For most, it could be hard to find downtime just to read amidst all these nagging priorities. 

Has reading for pleasure become a lost art? 

What really has become of it?

Reading in Jeopardy 

It isn’t surprising that reading has faced some stiff competition from an onslaught of digital entertainment and the rise of smartphone use among the young. 

Distractions, distractions.
The headlines are depressing and statistics don’t lie. A large proportion of people are preferring online pursuits to reading. 

“Children’s reading shrinking due to apps, games and YouTube” a Nielson Book Survey of 2000 British children reports with a staggering 50% of family households now owning at least one tablet. 

That was in 2013, mind you.

Our very own local broadsheet, The Straits Times declares a similar toil on reading: “Low reading rate: Lack of interest, time cited as factors”, according to a 2016 National Arts Council (NAC) Survey. 

Of the 1,015 Singaporeans and permanent residents surveyed, 56 per cent had not read a literary book between March 2014 and March 2015. And it does not help that a large proportion of people prefer online pursuits to reading books.

So how should we encourage children to read and to be excited to do so? 

ilovereading.sg Magazines 

My kids have always been fairly motivated readers and manage to sneak books in between their daily routines. I do notice their preference for comics and reading magazines and they tend to pick these up and devour them easily. I believe this is true for most children.

First, these are bite-sized and colourfully illustrated. Next, they contain puzzles and activities to make reading fun! 

Recently, we had the pleasure of reviewing a suite of reading magazines in that category by ilovereading.sg, a Singapore-based enterprise, where reading is regarded serious business.

 With their tag line “Cultivating Minds”, the publisher hopes to partner parents in providing good content and reading material for children and young people, in hope of inspiring all to read. 

Content is pleasantly packaged into assorted themes and topics that appeal to various age groups. Articles are presented in various genres and text types in bite-sized portions with huge illustrations so reading doesn’t look tedious. 

Here’s what is recommended for different age groups: 

1. Storytime (From 7years)

For young readers and lower primary school children, Storytime is a kids’ magazine packed with fairy tales, myths, poems – all beautifully written and illustrated, with kids activities like puzzles, games and colouring too! 

Every issue of Storytime comes with five classic stories, one or two poems and an extract from a favourite children’s book.

My younger kids enjoyed the activity sections and filled those in quickly! 

2. “I” (From 10years)

“I” is pitched at learners “who have little interest in the English language, see no reason why they should mind their commas, who cannot seem to get past the first page of anything they read”. 

Wow. It is hard to find a magazine catered to woo reluctant readers!

True to its name, ” I” , is all about the learner. 

It features  articles and comic strips of various sub-themes such as Chow Down (food), Line of Work (career), Music & Drama, among others.  

Articles are youth-centric and deal well to serve adolescent’s growing pains: from life hacks of becoming a confident person to managing anger and stress in a smarter manner.

3. INSPIRE (From 11years)

INSPIRE is an English Language magazine targeted at young readers between the ages of 11 and 14. 

This magazine hopes to present “fascinating stories, both fiction and non-fiction”.

 The range is comprehensive in INSPIRE with human-interest true life accounts, to opinion pieces, travelogues, narratives and descriptive texts. 

Texts are authentic and realistic with a good emphasis on general knowledge issues which promote good issues for discussion and debate!

4. iThink (From 14years)

iThink is specially designed for the readers between ages 14 to 16 years old. iThink symbolizes the magazine’s focus on critical thinking. “Is Pop Music Trash Now?, for example, presents a critique on the pop music industry and stories provoke critical evaluation in the reader. It is good companion magazine for advanced readers in Secondary school. 

iThink was nominated Best Educational Title in 2016 by Singapore Book Awards 2016.

Why we like ilovereading.sg magazines:

• Exposure to text types : The magazines, in particular, I, INSPIRE and iTHINK closely follow the standard and format of texts outlined in the MOE English Language syllabuses, while maintaining the quality and concept of an interesting non-academic magazine. Readers get adequate exposure to text types and writing styles, that are crucial for expanding the breadth and depth of their language skills. If your kids, are not reading widely enough, the magazines will ensure you do. 

• Engage: There is always an intention to engage the reader with post-reading activities such as language games, crossword puzzles, word search and anagrams. The ” I” also contains a generous sprinkle of spicy info bites (Now You Know), tickling brainteasers (Tease Your Brain), YouTube videos, SEL questions and word banks. Engagement in reading is essential. It allows the child to process content and reflect on their reading, making it more intentional. 

• Educate: Post-reading follow up is critical and the more advanced magazines have dedicated worksheets that mirror the school exam format to provide readers with additional practice on exam-type questions that assess listening, oral, reading comprehension as well as writing skills. At the end of almost every article, there is a word bank that immediately helps the reader tune into contextual vocabulary and expand it fast and effortlessly. They also welcome student essays which are tweaked and given a makeover.

Disclosure: All views are my own. A subscription of the above magazines was sponsored for the purposes of this review. 

*****

{Giveaway Alert: Get Your Free Copy of Storytime/I / Inspire /iThink Now!}

The good folks at ilovereading.sg are giving away 1 FREE issue of a magazine of your choice for 20 lucky MOBM readers! 

To participate in the giveaway, click here! 

Terms and conditions

1. This giveaway ends on 29May 2017; 2359hrs. The winners will be randomly selected from Rafflecopter and announced on this blog post the following day. 

2. Winners will be contacted via the email address provided and will have 48 hours to respond; failing which a new winner will be selected.

3. By entering this giveaway, you agree to release your email address to the sponsor for verification, contact and marketing purposes.
This giveaway is in no way sponsored, endorsed or administered by, or associated with Facebook.

***All the best!!**

Congratulations to these 20 lucky readers!

1. Karen 

2. Carol Mei Mei Lim

3. Robert Sim

4. Ann

5. Joyce Ong 

6. Sue Tan

7. Dawn Lim

8. Shirley Chin

9. Michelle Lim Yan

10. Christy Wong 

11. Jazry Chan

12. Evonne Lee

13. New Siaw Hoon

14. Jessie Lee

15. Winnie Lam

16. Rebecca

17. Angelina Joelyn Lee 

18. Stephanie 

19. Chua Huay Wen

20. Joanne Soh  

The publisher will be contacting you shortly.