June Summer Holidays Adventure to Spain and US (11 June to 24 June 2026)

11 June 2026 

It’s always a bad idea to work on the day that we would be flying. It was mad rush at work and mad rush to pack. The good thing is I could WFH so this helps to save travelling time at least. Work had been extremely hectic and crazy for the past 1 month? It’s like even if I were to work for 12 hours every day, there are still many things to do. The daily influx of emails is over whelming. 

Anyway, I managed to pack a bit during lunch time before continuing to pack after work. We had yummy fried rice by my MIL a as at home. This is Our comfort food before we fly. 

Then it’s mad rush to pack everything in the luggage when we got home. By the time I finished packing, it’s close to 9pm. We took a shower then we we are finally ready to go! 

We reached airport around 10pm. It’s Terminal 1 this time. The counter and the self service counter are not ready. We went to the toilet first then started hanging around row 3. Nowadays it’s about self service everywhere. 

After waiting a while, we managed to do self check in and tag the luggage. Then we went inside to have supper! We saw Nan Kee and so we order Bao and Mee. If not I would have ordered Popeyes. We thought that we always fly out from Terminal 1 but apparently it is not Terminal 1 as the restaurants are not familiar to us haha. I guess we touch down Terminal 1 most of the time instead. 

I am feeling so sleepy. Taking red eye flight is always so tiring after a long day at work. I hope I can catch some sleep later. 

When I went toilet, I actually saw Adeline Lim outside the toilet. I was so happy to finally see her and she looks so good! She’s traveling with her girl to Italy. We are going to be on the same flight! 

We are finally boarding the plane. It’s already 1.30am. Feeling so sleepy. Hope that I can catch some sleep.

I don’t really feel like eating so I didn’t eat flight meal. I ate one bread then I went to sleep. Managed to sleep quite a bit until 6.30am. 

Then we had breakfast in which I ate the muffin and some hot tea. 

Soon, we are touching down around SGT 9am. Feeling sleepy. I have headache and pain in my ears when we touching down. Luckily, it’s all good when we are down. 

We are back to the familiar Doha. We took a quick photo with the big yellow bear before going to Burger King for breakfast. There is mozzarella cheese sticks so I bought for lexuan + whopper set. Lexuan also wanted to drink smoothie so we went to another shop to buy smoothie, Americano and croissant (which she didn’t like it). 

Then we walked around. We came across the fifa shop! We are here to transit again after 4 years. Lexuan wanted to buy another small soccer ball which we told her we will buy when we fly back to Singapore. I bought an Argentina jersey which I always wanted to buy! I bought the kid’s one as it is cheaper and the cutting suits me and Lexuan. Yeah!

We found some seats near Gate B to sit and we saw Adeline again. Her flight is 8am+ while our flight is 9.15am. We sat here for a while before Jianhui suggested that to go to Starbucks. As usual, Lexuan wanted to order a drink. She ordered mango + dragonfruit drink while we had mocha. In need of coffee. I think I am so sleep deprived that I just want to sleep. Haha. 

Time seems to pass quite quickly. Soon, it’s time to go to our gate, C16. It’s quite a long walk over there. Most people were already inside when we reached the gate. 

So, it’s the 2nd flight to Barcelona. Boarding is a breeze. I felt really sleepy when taking off so I managed to take a short nap. The lunch is not bad. We chose some vanilla cake and omelette. Lexuan was sleeping so she didn’t eat. 

I watch the movie - GOAT which was not bad, a typical happy animation about team work. And I also watched Garfield movie. 

Lexuan didn’t eat anything so she was really hungry. She ate biscuits and snacks we brought for the flight. 

I am really looking forward to this break, to this holiday. Really appreciate Jianhui for planning this to book all the air tickets, accommodation, car, tickets, etc. I hope I can really relax myself (before I go crazy) this holiday and to really think what I wanna do for the rest of the year. One main thing I need to consider is, I don’t think I can continue to work non stop everyday from morning to night. The stress and anxiety is driving me crazy at times. When I was doing the employee survey, one question they have asked is how do we feel most of the time at work. Honestly, the 3 emotions is anxiety, helpless and worried. Though there are happy times and moments, these 3 emotions do come in very strong most of the time. 

We finally touched down Barcelona at local time 3pm+. To our horror, there is a queue at  custom. In fact the queue is not moving. We decided to go toilet first. Wonder how long we have to wait. 

We waited for at least 45 minutes before one of the staff told us to go to another queue for those family with kids. Best news ever! Thank you Lexuan! So thankful that we don’t have to wait any longer! Besides, Lexuan didn’t eat anything on plane. She’s hungry. 

After clearing customs, we went to baggage claim and our baggage is still not out. Because everybody is stuck inside, there are too many luggage on the belt and the rest of the luggage is stuck. I noticed some guys started to pack the luggage nicely. Jianhui also helped. And with this, we finally saw our luggage! Yeah! 

So happy we can finally go out. We decided to have a quick dinner at the restaurant in the airport for the convenience. It’s called Tabernnus - Rapaa. We ordered bbq wings (only 4 of it) + potatoes, Paella. Lexuan commented that Paella is Iike Fried rice but Ah ma’s fried rice is better. Haha. I have definitely eaten nicer one in Singapore.

Jianhui went to collect the metro card. Then we walked to P to take shuttle bus. Jianhui saw the hotel shuttle bus and so we rushed to catch it. Luckily, the female driver was nice to wait for us. 

We are staying at INNSiDE by Meliá Barcelona Aeroport. The hotel looks new and nice! But they charge additional EUR20 for child per night. The room is quite small but still reasonable just like the usual airport hotel. 

Overall it looks cosy, comfortable and neat. We cooked Maggie mee for Lexuan while Jianhui and I still quite okay from earlier dinner/snack. 

Then we realize it’s summer. The sun doesn’t set until 9.30pm. We watched the World Cup opening and it’s amazing to see Shakira again in World Cup. 

We slept from 9pm to 7am. It was a good sleep! 

12 June 2026 

Good morning! 3 of us had a good sleep! I woke up, feeling energized. We relaxed in the room, showered and then we walked to somewhere nearby for breakfast. 

Jianhui found Blumas and it seems like a place for the locals. There were quite a lot of office people eating there before 9am. We ordered 2 x sandwich set which cost us EUR4 each. Then we also ordered doughnut and croissant to try. The croissant is good and hot and it is only EUR1. It was a satisfying breakfast then we walked back.

At around 11am, we went out to take bus. We are taking L95 to see Sagrada Família. We didn’t have to wait long for the bus, thanks to Jianhui’s perfect timing. 

When we alighted, we needed to find toilet first. So we went to McDonald’s toilet. It is big and clean. Then Lexuan wanted to eat Ramen so we waited till 12.30pm for the shop to open. We ordered one bowl of udon and Gyoza. Lexuan likes the udon. 

Then we took the train to Sagrada Família. The Sagrada Família is a world-famous basilica in Barcelona, Spain by Antoni Gaudí. The construction started in 1882. As of June 2026, The Sagrada Família now has all 18 planned towers and has reached its full height of 172.5 meters. The place has so many tourists. We didn’t buy tickets to go inside so we just took some photos outside. The weather is really hot today. Clear blue sky with no clouds. I was honestly very shocked to see so many people here. We wanted to use toilet then we realized that over here, the toilet is not free for all. You had to make a small purchase to receive a receipt with a bathroom code. Interesting. So we bought ice cream and Pepsi. And now our cheap thrill is to buy something from fast food restaurant and find the bathroom code on the receipt. 

We also went Hard Rock to do some shopping. Then it’s time for our 2nd stop - Park Güell. We took one stop on L5 and changed to bus V19. The bus is so comfortable for this weather. 

By now, Lexuan is complaining about her black pants. I wanted to bring her shorts but somehow I forgot to put inside the bag. And we realized we had to buy entrance tickets to go Park Güell. It is also a famous park by Antoni Gaudí. It's known for its colorful mosaics, whimsical architecture, and panoramic views of the city. Luckily, we managed to buy the 3.30pm slot. It cost us EUR50. 

It’s quite a nice place though Lexuan hates the walking. We definitely could explore more without her. It is cooling when you stand in the shade. Inside the park, there are many musicians singing songs and selling cold drinks. 

Once we finished walking, we went to take bus. We took bus 24 to Fontana station. We stopped by convenience store to buy water and bread. Then we took green line to Liceu for McDonald’s. 

We are so hungry! And this McDonald meal cost us EUR23. So far, I think our breakfast is the most worth it. After dinner, we continued our journey back to last station of the red line to change to green line to Mas Blau. 

It’s a short walk to our hotel. It was a fulfilling day in Barcelona. =p

Back in our hotel, we decided to spend a bit on corona and Fanta for a little party. The corona tasted a bit bitter without lime. Lexuan initially also thought her Fanta tasted bitter and it’s alcohol. Haha. 

Lexuan and I watched a bit of Canada vs Bosnia and Herzegovina. We saw the first goal by Bosnia then we went to sleep.

I woke up a few times throughout the night. Maybe subconsciously I was worried we will oversleep and miss our flight. 

13 June 2026 

Jianhui woke up at 3am but there is no World Cup match - USA vs Paraguay. I also woke up. We ate the bread and drank a bit of coffee. 

Then we took the shuttle bus at 5am. Given that it is so early, the airport is packed with people. Wow! We managed to self check and deposited our bags. We’re taking Vueling. Clearing security check is a breeze. 

So now we could enjoy our breakfast! We went McDonald’s. It was a satisfying breakfast. Lexuan wanted her Starbucks dragonfruit drink so we bought it before walking to Gate B42. 

Our flight is at 8.15am but before 7.30am, people were already queuing up. So we also queued up. We had to take a bus to board the plane so this explains why we had to come early to queue. We had to put our hand carry bag in front of the seat if not we had to pay extra. Though it’s so empty on the overhead apartment. 

I was feeling a bit sleepy when we boarded. Managed to take a short nap before Lexuan woke me up to go toilet. Was expecting time to pass quickly but it seems to be quite long. Lanzarote is one hour behind Barcelona. 

We touched down around 10am+. As usual, the luggage will come out very quickly and everybody will disperse away very fast too.

We went to get our car from Top car rental. 

Then we cannot find our red car. Ended up we searched in the wrong car park. Haha. Our red car is like parked alone in the car park. 

Though it’s my 2nd time here, it’s so difficult to drive here with all the up and down slope. It doesn’t help the car keeps beeping. We wanted to go Burger King but there is no parking nearby. It seems to be a touristy place. Then after driving a while, we finally found a parking slot. It’s difficult to park also as it is on a slope and need to park slanted. 

We walked over to McDonald’s. Lexuan saw a noodle place (Noodle box and sushi) and she wanted to eat. You get to choose your noodles and customize your ingredients and sauce. It is surprisingly good with the fried chicken too! Lexuan is a happy girl for sure. Then we had a quick lunch at McDonald’s. I definitely hope we don’t have to eat McDonald’s again. And my ulcer is super pain today. Sad.

Then we drove to my race pack collection. It’s out of nowhere. I definitely wouldn’t be able to come here myself without Jianhui. It’s very happening with band, lots of wine! It’s really a wine run! 

Extract from website: 

The Lanzarote Wine Run is an event that combines sports, gastronomy, and wine in the unique landscape of La Geria. Offering options for both runners and hikers, it features routes through vineyards that allow participants to enjoy the natural surroundings while promoting sustainability. Beyond the competition, the event celebrates Lanzarote’s wine culture and gastronomy in a festive atmosphere, making it a unique experience for sports and wine enthusiasts alike.

Apparently, they will pick us up at 7am and drove us to the starting point. Thankfully, the girl shared this with me if not I would expect to start the race at 7am. Wonder what time will my race start tomorrow? And looking at the road today, it’s going to be a tough 12km run tomorrow. 

Then we drove about 16 minutes to our accommodation - Barcelo Playa Blanca. Wow! It looks so new and nice! The pool is so inviting! We got champagne and orange juice for welcome drink. Our tag is pink while the rest is green. I was telling Jianhui did he book us a super atas/premium room? 

However our room is not ready. So we still have to wait. We waited till 3.45pm then could check in. 

The room is not bad, still got a sofa bed for lexuan. The only thing is, the toilet bowl is separate from the shower. This means that after we shit, we have to quickly run to the shower room. Weird design. Lexuan wanted to sleep on the sofa bed. In fact I find her sofa bed so comfortable.

We relaxed in the room before we went swimming. The water is soooo cold! Especially when the wind blows. We played for about half an hour. I had to quickly ran back to our room. 

After shower, we walked to the supermarket outside. We bought some snacks and water. We also bought the ice cream. It is so good. I ordered pitaschio and chocolate. Think we can buy again tomorrow. 

Then we walked back to our room. We decided to eat Maggie mee in the room. We slept at 9pm+.

I slept with Jianhui on the main bed while Lexuan slept on her sofa bed. Her sofa bed is so much comfortable as our main bed is like too soft and the pillows are not comfortable. 

14 June 2026 

Good morning! It’s race day! I woke up at 5.15am. I had a slice of bread and coffee. It’s good that I have a strong oh no feeling so that I don’t have to worry about wanting to shit later. 

Then we left the hotel at 6.20am. It’s about 20km (about 18min) to the race pace collection venue where we will be taking the bus to the starting line. 

There were a lot of cars and people but parking is a breeze. We quickly walked to the toilet then I boarded the bus. 

The bus left at 7.11am sharp and we reached the starting point at around 7.22am! It’s so windy and cold here! Luckily i got my raincoat with me so I totally hid myself in it. There is no toilet too. Need to wait 2 hrs in this windy and cold terrain. In fact people start to drink wine now. Haha. It’s very happening at the starting point with Zumba and music. In fact, a lot of them were dancing to Zumba! I didn’t on data as I am trying to save battery. And I am totally clueless of what’s going on given that the Emcee only speaks Spanish. Haha. 

So there is bag deposit here. No wonder everybody wears their jacket and pants here. Think I am super hero to just bring my handphone and raincoat. Haha. 

I queued 2 times for the toilet then it’s almost time. We started the race at 9.30am! So excited to start the race! Everybody started the race quite fast. As usual, I am trying to settle my rain coast and shorts. My running shorts seem to be dropping off. Haha. 

It was quite a challenging run as we got to run on the volcanic ash. A lot of effort for sure with up and down slope. And I don’t have water. We finally got a water point at around 6km when everybody has their bottle or wine glass. I got to drink with my hands. Basically at every water station, there is wine. There are people actually stopping by to drink. I guess more for the trekkers who are also doing 12km. 

There are people performing along the way out of nowhere. Very nice atmosphere. 

Then it’s downslope for the last 2km! So shiok! Happy to see Jianhui and Lexuan! I did it! Thank you dear for signing me up for this race! Honestly, I definitely won’t do this without him! It’s scary to do this alone! 

And I am so thirsty! We used the coupons to exchange for 2x glasses of wine, 1 can of coke and ice cream for lexuan. Then we went back. 

I can’t wait to shower! I feel that I am sunburnt. Haha.

Then we went for lunch at Breeze. It’s buffet style and it cost EUR15 for Adult and EUR7 for kid. Not too bad as we ate some pizza, pasta, sausage and chicken. 

Then we went back room to relax. Usually we will have time to take nap but in our recent trips, it’s hard to take nap. 

Then we went swimming at 5pm. Today water seems to be warmer. But it is still a torture for me to run to the room from the pool. It is so cold! Haha. I went back to the room to shower first. 

Then it’s dinner time. We chose Molino De Sal - Spanish food. We ordered garlic prawns, mixed paella, fish and chips and nuggets. The paella is super big portion. It was good. Overall, the food is good. 

We ended the dinner with our favourite ice cream! Jianhui tried Vanilla which is normal. Pitaschio as usual was good. 

It’s 8.30pm and the sun haven set yet. 

We slept at around 10pm. 

15 June 2026 

I had a lot of dreams. I woke up at 5am and then played phone for a while before sleeping again. 

Then I woke up around 7am+. We waited for Lexuan to wake up before going down for breakfast around 8.30am. 

The you-tiao wanna-be and omelette is good! Other than that, nothing much. 

We went to the supermarket - Hiperdino nearby to buy our favourite biscuits. We realized there was a mailbox there so I decided to post some of the postcards here. 

Then it’s time to check out. Drove 45

Mins to Club La Santa. There are many cars parking outside. We found the supermarket but no more Ironman water bottles. They only have Club La Santa water bottles. We bought 2 anyway. Our old Ironman Lanzarote water bottles are happy to be back. Haha. 

Lexuan played at the monkey bars and playground swing. She’s happy now so we can drive to our accommodation.

It’s about 30mins drive to Rosamar Apartment. We could park our car along the road. This apartment is cosy! The kind that we like. It’s quite cool that there is no key but only the link to click slide open to open the gate. 

Lexuan is excited to go swimming again. I accompanied her to swim about 45 minutes.  It feels like a sports boot camp for me here as we have been swimming almost everyday + my run yesterday. Talking of which, my upper shoulders and thighs actually aching a bit. This shows that I got put effort ok. Haha. 

Then it’s World Cup time - Spain vs Cape Verde. Ended up it’s 0-0. Cape Verde’s goalkeeper is the saviour of the day! 

Then we went out for dinner! Luckily, we managed to find a parking place near there. We’re going to Lexuan’s favourite Asian noodles place. Even I was looking forward to it. The noodles (With egg and prawns) and fried chicken was really good. Lexuan made me spend EUR3 for the kiddy train ride. 

It was a quick dinner and then we went back. This is going to our favourite place here for sure. 

16 June 2026 

I couldn’t really sleep the whole night. I guess it’s too much of social media before I slept. Ops. Lately I have been watching a lot of social media on Ayden and Elio (童童）. I find both of them very handsome and cute together. I seriously hope that they will have more collaboration together. 

Jianhui and I had coffee and biscuits while waiting for lexuan to wake up. Then we went to McDonald’s for breakfast. Breakfast at McDonald’s is actually quite expensive at EUR26 with just 2 meals. 

Then we went back and it’s swimming time again for Lexuan! She simply loves swimming! We thought that it is quite cloudy but ended up both of us were quite tanned after this round of swimming. Jianhui and I were joking that we had to stop booking hotels with swimming pool. 

We went for a short car trip, about 30 mins away as Lexuan doesn’t want to take ferry to another island. She told us that when she is 23 years old, she would bring us back here again then we can go take ferry. Haha. By then I would be 57 years old. Not sure if I will still enjoy travelling haha. Anyway, it’s a sweet thought as she also said that she would drive us around with her bf. 

There are a lot of roundabouts in Lanzarote. And it is so confusing. So sometimes we ended up exiting at the wrong exit. We drove about 26 minutes to Ensenada Martin Morales. It’s looks like people’s private property though. Anyway, we took some photos and wanted to leave since Lexuan wanted to go toilet. This is when Jianhui realized that he lost his specs. We checked through the video and realized that he had his specs on when we were here. So we went back to find. Luckily, Jianhui managed to find it. Honestly, it was so well camouflaged that it was a bit hard to find. 

We don’t have ideas where to eat so we decided to go Rooftop Terrace Cafe at Biosferra cafe as suggested by Lexuan. She wanted to drink the slush. We ordered chicken wings, kids hotdog bun and nachos! For the nachos, we ordered the normal one when we wanted the one which looks similar to what we used to have at Billy Bombers. Overall the food is not bad! We were so thirsty that we ordered 2 bottles of coke. 

We rested a while in the room. I managed to take a short nap. Then we drove out around 5.30pm to Mirador de Acercamiento to see air planes taking off and touching down. It’s really up close to the air planes. 

Then we went back to the same place for noodles as dinner! We are truly Asians! We also posted our postcards! Hope that my friends will receive the postcards! 

It’s already 8pm but the sun is still very bright. I actually forgot that this is their summer so the sun set much later. 

We watched a bit of France vs Senegal before we slept. Good thing of travelling to Europe during World Cup as as you get to watch matches at decent timing. 

I had quite a good sleep till 3.45am. At this accommodation, Jianhui slept outside in the living room while Lexuan and I slept together. Quite cosy to have the aircon. We “donated” our blanket to Jianhui as his bed doesn’t have any blanket. The pillows are very low.

So far, the airport hotel still have the best bed and pillow. 

17 June 2026 

Good morning! It’s going to be a long long day today. We will be flying to Madrid and from Madrid to Miami! Oh my god! 

Jianhui and I had some biscuits and coffee in the morning. I have no feeling to shit yet. 

Then we checked out and drove about 10mins to the airport. It’s about 5am+. 

Traffic is smooth to the airport and we could find P4 quite easily to return the car. Then we walked over to departure hall. There was a queue but queue is moving fast.

My baggage weighs 22kg so we transferred 2kg to Jianhui’s backpack. Then my luggage is exactly 20kg. 

The boarding pass is digital if not you have to pay to print the boarding pass. It is still early so we relaxed a while before we went for breakfast. We ate croissant and sandwiches. 

Soon, it’s time to board. We had to keep our hand carry small and light as we cannot put in overhead compartment. We boarded at 7.30am and took off exactly at 8am. I slept about an hour on the flight. Then it is about time to touch down Madrid. 

Madrid is an hour ahead of Lanzarote. We touched down at 11.20am. Not many people check in luggage so we could get our luggage quite quickly. 

We walked to Terminal 1 to get our boarding pass and check in luggage. We are taking Air Europa this time round. There is quite a lot check to be done - ESTA and we needed to show that we have a valid travel itinerary to leave US. Luckily there isn’t a queue now so we could get this settled quite fast. 

Then we went to find food to eat. We walked towards Gate CDE’s Burger King. It cost us EUR35 for whopper meal, nuggets + chicken wings + onion rings. 

Our gate is finally out and it is at Gate A13. Toilets everywhere long queue except the ones near the customs. We cleared customs quite fast. Then it is a long walk to our gate. We bought some snacks to bring on plane as we have run out of snacks. Just in case Lexuan got nothing to eat on plane.  

We queued like super long at Gate A13. Jianhui was so lucky to be selected for additional security check. I nearly thought that he was selected to upgrade to business class. Haha.  

We had to take the bus to the plane and for some reasons we kept on waiting and waiting. We waited to board the bus and waited on the bus for the bus to move.,

Etc. We were so worried that our flight is going to be delayed again.

Finally boarded at 3.47pm when our flight is supposed to take off at 3.25pm. We are finally flying off at 4.30pm. I want to tune to US timing now. So, it’s 10.30am in US. Haha. So I must stay awake. 

I took a short nap while taking off. Then I watched Moana 2 which is not bad. Jianhui thought that they will not serve us any meals but they did. Lexuan’s beef lasagne is good! For once, she ate quite a bit of the flight meal. I also ordered pasta but mine is vegetables lasagne which isn’t that good. 

I played the word puzzle until stage 20. It’s addictive but tiring for my eyes. Still got 3hrs+ to go. I slept a while and then I watched Ice Age 4. 

Lexuan slept for about 2 hours. They served us some food though they forgot to give my portion to me haha. 

And we finally touched down at US timing 7.30pm. Lucky the customs and baggage is very fast. Then we go to door 7 to wait for our shuttle bus. We’re staying at Element by Marriott. Luckily we didn’t have to wait for long. So happy to be able to check in hotel without waiting much. 

This hotel room has the cooking stove, office work desk and it is big. The layout kinda compartment the beds from the kitchen/office desk. I don’t like the shower head as the water is too weak. 

We cooked Maggie mee and then we slept at 10pm. 

I dreamt about Mavis and HC. 

18 June 2026 

Good morning! We had complimentary breakfast so we went to eat after Lexuan had woke up. The waffle making machine is a hit! We had fun making the waffles. It’s yummy too! 

Good that I managed to shit. Jianhui went to collect the car around 10am while Lexuan and I relaxed inside the room. We got white car this time round! The thing about the cars here is there is no car plate number in front. You can only see the car plate number behind. 

We checked out around 12pm. It’s really hot! I think the weather is as hot as Singapore except that it is not so humid. We drove about 10mins to McDonald’s for lunch as Lexuan is hungry. This McDonald’s has a lot of World Cup decoration. We got another World Cup squishmellow and Son for the World Cup’s cup. We need staff’s key here to use the toilet. 

Then it’s shopping time at Target. Lexuan simply loves shopping at target as it has all the toys and candies and stuff she watches on YouTube. All the nee dohs are sold out here. She told me she wanted to buy Jolly Racher candies for her friends to try. So we bought a big pack.

It’s convenient to use the toilets at Target so we went a few times. Just one trip, and we spent USD100 at Target. Haha.

And we drove about 40 minutes to our next rest point, Target! There’s five below too. So Lexuan was really excited! There she goes happily shopping again. I bought another Owala from Target. When we were paying for the stuff at five below, the staff scanned a toy that lexuan has bought from target. She voiced out to the staff. We showed the staff the receipt from Target. I am glad and proud of her for voicing out. 

It’s another 40 mins for 31 miles to our next accommodation - Holiday Inn Key Largo. We checked in around 4.30pm. This resort is more old school kind. Especially the toilet. It is spacious though.

Then Lexuan and I went swimming! I like the pools here coz it is warm. It was fun playing with Lexuan and I become one shade darker again. It is really like summer holiday. 

After swimming, we drove to Domino opposite our resort. We ordered one large hawalian pizza + chicken wings + coke. The fifa sticker on the coke is bigger than the one we had from Spain. We are definitely drinking a lot of coke for this holidays. Total damage is USD37. The pizza is a bit too salty to me as they put bacon and garlic as well. 

When we reached our resort, the radio was playing careless whisper. It’s one of my favourite songs! That was when Jianhui told me the MtV of careless whisper was filmed in Miami, Florida. So much feel! ❤️❤️

There is ice here and so Lexuan is really excited to collect the ice in the bucket for our party. The thing is we didn’t have beer opener, but luckily Jianhui managed to open one after watching a few YouTube how to open it without beer opener.

We slept about 10pm since there was no match to watch. 

I didn’t sleep well as Lexuan kept on intruding my bed space haha. I woke up a few times. 

19 June 2026 

Happy Friday! We decided to eat breakfast at the resort. It cost us USD19 per pax and Lexuan eats for free. 

The freshly baked croissant is not bad and the baked potatoes. 

Then we tried to do some laundry. It cost USD2 to buy the detergent and another USD to wash our clothes. We tested one round before we washed rest of our clothes. It’s quite fun. 

We went swimming and it was fun together with Jianhui too. He taught us how to do spinning dumpling. Lexuan is happy to have her red big ducky, red dumpling and green colour hoop as toys to play in the pool. We are definitely one shade darker again!

We’re going car trip again, about half an hour to southern end to Starbucks. The Starbucks is situated at Islamorada. Lexuan ordered her butterfly drink which is a bit sour. We ordered the usual Iced Mocha. I also bought Starbucks stickers which cost USD4.95. 

There is an arcade next door so we spent USD20 for lexuan to play the arcade games. The typhoon machine is very fun. It is like 3D motion rides. Lexuan tried a total of 3 times. She also caught many rubber ducky and one ball. 

Then we drove another 15mins for lunch. We’re going to The Crooked Cock Seafood Market. It is empty and really like a seafood market instead of restaurant. We ordered a steamed lobster platter and fried fish for the day. It cost us a total of US70+. Everything in US is really expensive. It was really hot waiting outside and the food took a while to come. Lexuan was so hot that she wanted to go back and sleep. The good thing is, she likes the lobster and ate a bit. 

Then we quickly drove back. The weather is really hot. We stopped by Walgreens for shopping. And we found FIFA merchandise! In the end, we spent USD150 here! Wow! So happy that I managed to get some FIFA World Cup merchandise. And we got the sticker book too! 

Then we went back to our resort. She’s a bit sick with sore throat and flu. Hope that she gets better tomorrow. 

Lexuan wanted to swim again and of course I got to swim with her. The pool was super crowded though. Think it’s still better to swjm in the morning. We played for a while then we went back. 

Lexuan was super hungry and wanted to eat Maggie mee. She is truly an Asian. 

It’s kinda nice to relax early in the room. We watched Scotland vs Morocco match and ended with 0-1. We wanted to watch Brazil match but was just too sleepy. 

We didn’t sleep well as Lexuan is a bit unwell and so she kept on waking up and making noises. Hope that she is better tomorrow. 

20 June 2026 

It’s Saturday! We are going out for morning’s

Breakfast. We drove to the one opposite our resort - Doc’s diner. It’s crowded. 

We sat beside an US old couple. They started chatting with us and told us this is popular place for them. We ordered pancakes, scrambled egg with toast and Key lime pie which is like cheesecake. The kids’ meal had Mickey pancakes. Overall the food is good. The damage is USD45 after tips. 

It started raining at around 10am. So today’s weather is not so sunny now. We drove 30 mins to the Target. Lexuan slept on the car. Then she saw Dollar tree and wanted to shop inside. The cards there are cute and cheap! 

Then we went target to get water and for lexuan to shop for toys. She is always very amazed shopping in Target. 

We then drove another 30mins to the next MacDonald for lunch. For some reason, Lexuan wanna eat McDonald’s. There’s live broadcast of World Cup at McDonald’s. And there’s a playground for Lexuan too! I saw that they are having the pineapple squishmallow so I bought happy meal for takeaway too! Haha. Netherlands leading 3-0 when we left. Final score 5-1. 

Driving over here is slow moving. The distance may not be far but it takes a while to reach the place. We wanted to go public park but the parking lot is super crowded. So we decided to drive to our accommodation. It is a short 6miles but it takes us about 30 minutes. It’s

Because of the traffic’s lights and generally slow moving traffic. 

We finally reached our 2nd last accommodation - Monte Carlo by Miami Vacations. It looks nice! Hehe. 

There is only valet parking so we have to load our luggage to the luggage trolley. Jianhui is like a bell boy helping us push the luggage trolley to our room. Haha. 

The apartment is so nice and new! A good one for final leg of our holidays! 

We went to check out the pool and it’s so crowded! I guess we can only go swimming tomorrow morning. There is pool on level 1 and 5 but the one on level 1 is under renovation. We also walked across the car park to the beach. The beach is not so crowded.

Then we went back to our room. Lexuan is still having flu so maybe it’s better for her not go swimming today. 

Before we went for dinner, we asked the staff to help us print the parking display pass for World Cup tomorrow. We need to display that at our car dashboard tomorrow to drive to the stadium. 

For dinner, we decided to walk to somewhere nearby. We decided on Norman’s American Bar & Grill as they were showing Germany vs Ivory Coast match. And at this moment, Germany scored a last minute goal to win the match. 

We ordered burger, grilled chicken tacos and mozzarella cheese sticks. Lexuan likes the cheese sticks. Overall, the dinner was not bad. We saw the staff moving the TV inside and so we asked them why. They told us that it was going to rain. It doesn’t look like it is going to rain soon to me.

We passed by Walgreens and it’s shopping time. Lexuan wanted to buy more palini stickers so I let her buy 7 packets. I bought another World Cup shirt, a transparent bag (as Jianhui read that we had to bring a transparent bag), a World Cup blind bag squishy. I also bought some magnet and souvenirs. Lexuan was happy to find her dot dot ice cream and she made me buy SpongeBob SquarePants ice cream. 

When we are back in our room, it started to rain heavily. So now I understand why they call here flip flop weather! It’s like Singapore. 

Anyway, I am kinda sad that we cannot find World Cup in our room. I guess it is a good time for us to sleep early again. Haha. 

The bed is so soft that I didn’t sleep well. I kept on feeling that I am rolling off the bed. Plus Lexuan kept on moving around throughout the night. 

21 June 2026

Happy Father’s Day to all daddies especially to our irondad, Jianhui! We love you!

We went to Pink cafe for breakfast. And the damage is USD90+! So scary! We only ordered strawberry waffles, one egg set, 2 coffee, 1 cold drink and 1 strawberry milk shake. The food is not bad but just too expensive. The whole place is very pinky and nice to take photos. 

We walked past the souvenir shop and Lexuan happily shopping for her needoh. We saw Groot TY toys too. Haha. 

It’s swimming time. There aren’t many people so just nice for us. There is hot tub too which is too hot for Jianhui and Lexuan. I kinda like it though. I like swimming in Miami coz it is not cold like Lanzarote. Haha. I injured my poor right middle finger when touching the floor of the pool. 

Then it’s rest and relax time before we go for our World Cup game! We’re watching the match - Uruguay vs Cape Verde! 

We left our hotel about 2.30pm. It’s about 20mins away but estimated travelling time is 40minutes. 

We missed the Yellow exit 2X. We went one big round and ended up back at exit 2X. This seems to be better route as it is not jams. And we finally reached at 3.35pm, an hour later when it should have been a half an hour ride. 

The parking lot (Lot 13) is big and all the cars parked orderly. We parked our slot at 1404. I guess it could be difficult to find our slot later so we took photos too. It was hot so we wore our caps. Lexuan was like melting. There were a lot more Uruguay fans. Loving the mood! 

It was an orderly and short walk across the bridge to the event. Security check is a smooth process. I purposely bought the clear bag for this event. They checked the tickets at least 3 times when we were walking in. 

We walked around before we rested on the grass patch with other fans. It is cooling and nice. Cape Verde fans were on high spirits and cheering around. I took videos of them and had a picture with them too! 

There was a lot of food but expensive. The coke cost USD7! We not sure how it works but to enter to the food area, we had to have our credit card authorised USD25 and then we picked what we wanted.

We got Chicken tenders and Fries + hotdog 

Soccer bag ice cream + coke. There isn’t any queue for toilet. 

Then it’s time to go into the stadium! Our seats are high up and there is shade. In fact there is shade for the whole stadium! Nice! The atmosphere is really good! I am very well entertained! Loving live soccer match! 

We have a special guest - Luis Suarez! The stadium erupted when the screen shows him. 

And the most amazing thing is Cape Verde scored first! The whole stadium was really excited! Though Uruguay scored the equaliser shortly and half time ended at 2-1. Nevertheless, it was exciting as Cape Verde seems to have more ideas on how to attack.

There was such a long queue for toilet. So long then we missed the first part of the 2nd half. At the 61th minute, Cape Verde scored the 2nd goal! The whole stadium was so excited! 

In the end, the game ended at 2-2. Lexuan was really happy and excited! She has totally enjoyed the match like us! We quickly left the game and went to the toilet. We then went shopping at FIFA store. We bought US mascot Clutch squishmallow and a shirt. 

We then walked to our car. Given the crowd, it was quite a quick walk to our car. And we left the venue very quickly. I am very impressed. 

The gps shows that we had to drive like x2 distance back to our hotel. What should be a 30 mins drive because a 45 mins drive. But I guess at least there wasn’t a jam back to our hotel. We finally reached after 45 mins before 10pm, ahead of what we expected.

Jianhui had to wait to hand over the car to valet. So Lexuan got so shower first while I cooked Maggie mee as supper for us.

Lexuan is really sweet. She told us she will try to bring us to watch World Cup when she grows up. That’s really a sweet thought. ❤️

We slept at 11pm. 

22 June 2026 

Good morning! Our last day in Miami before our evening flight. Our final 2 flights back home. I miss home and Singapore food but definitely not looking forward to be back at work. For this trip, Lexuan is like my mirror. She will always remind me to smile and ask me why am I not happy. I guess a lot of times we we didn’t know our faces shows unhappiness when we don’t mean it. Thank you Lexuan. Mummy is happy to have on this holidays with you and Daddy! It’s just that I am stoning at times = not smiling. This does not mean that I am not happy okay. ❤️

We walked to Publix to get breakfast. We managed to buy croissant and Fried chicken   (8 pieces) forUSD10! Not bad! 

Then we went swimming again! This is our 8th time swimming for this trip! Definitely a swimming boot camp. And I have become so tanned! 

We extended late check out at 1pm and this cost us USD60. I guess at least we don’t have to rush to check out at 11am. 

We checked out at 1pm sharp and we are driving to Lexuan’s Captain Candy shop which is at Lincoln Road where I wanted to go. 

We were so lucky to have a parking lot. Over here, you pay the parking lot using the PaybyPhone link. You will input the location code and then add vehicle (if you have not done so. And then you will pay. It is that simple. The parking cost USD2.41 for an hour. 

We saw a jersey shop and went inside shopping. The Brazil kid jersey is expensive - USD140! Jianhui was watching a bit of the soccer - Argentina vs Austria. 

Lexuan was really happy to find her Captain Candy shop. She was really skipping to the shop. She always does that when she is happy. So this is a candy shop where you get to choose whatever candies you want. They have a wide variety of candies I must say. They also have giant gummy bears. We spent USD22 for her candies. She bought a total of 400grams of candies! 

Then we went to Starbucks for toilet. Once again, you need a passcode to enter. We bought ice mocha and Lexuan’s sweet drink. I extended the parking for another 15 mins so that it won’t be so rushed for us. 

Then we quickly drove to the Miami Beach signboard. The weather is brutally hot. Lexuan is complaining non stop when we were walking from the car to the signboard even though it was a short walk. So we just took a quick photo and then we waited in shade for Jianhui to pick us up. 

We are only 10 miles to the airport but it will take us 30 minutes. When we are near the airport, we looked out for the car rental car park. Returning car is a breeze and it was done in less than 5 mins time. 

We then had to the MIA mover (which is their shuttle train) to the airport. When we  reached the airport, we figured out that we had to go Gate E. Our flight is delayed to 8.55pm. Sad. This will mean that we will touch down later too. 

We went to queue at Qatar and the web check in queue is faster. My luggage weighs 25.5kg. Gosh. So I had to get rid of the weight to pass to Jianhui. In the end, I donated 3kg to him. His back pack become 17.5kg. 

We then slowly cleared the custom which was fast too. The security check is decorated with World Cup flags. 

Then we relaxed at around Gate E33. Lexuan was happily charging her tablet. We like it here as we can watch the match France Vs Iraq which got halt due to the thunderstorm. So glad that our match didn’t rain last night. 

I bought pizza (Cheese and Supreme) + wings for dinner. The supreme pizza was good. Jianhui said that it was good because of the onions. Lexuan is happy as she got Lamine Yamal sticker from the cola bottle. 

We boarded the plane at Us timing 7.15pm. It’s going to be a long flight to Doha. Following Doha timing, our flight is 2.40am to 4.35pm. There is free wifi and we could watch World Cup once connected to their wifi on our mobile device. 

For dinner, I had chicken and mashed potatoes which is same as Lexuan. I quite like it actually. Time seems to pass by so slowly. And my screen is not working either. 

I slept for a while then it’s 2am+. Definitely need to sleep a bit more to kill time. Anyway, Qatar is not bad. They served us Vanjlla Haagen Dazs ice cream! Yummy. I managed to sleep another 1-2 hours before they served breakfast. Lexuan’s is some blueberry pudding and it’s actually quite nice. I had omelette + mushroom + spinach. Jianhui had noodles. 

There was a long queue at the toilet. So we literally waited maybe 20 minutes. We are touching down Doha and then we will stay over at the airport hotel for one night. This definitely sounds very motivating though we got to wake up early for tomorrow early flight. 

2 weeks of holidays flew back so quickly. It was another memorable trip that we managed to achieve a lot of things together. 

This is one flight that I didn’t really watch any movie. Tried watching the Jurassic world but it was kinda boring. 

Touched down at Doha timing 5.40pm. Was really surprised that we didn’t have to clear customs. We could just walked to our airport hotel - Orxy Airport Hotel. The room is big and the bathroom looks amazing. Most importantly, it is at the airport and we don’t have to take any shuttle bus. Now we are only left with one more flight tomorrow!

We had a good shower and then we went downstairs for dinner. Lexuan chose her ramen. Haha. The Gyoza doesn’t look like

Gyoza. And the fried chicken karrage is over fried. Then we went to Burger King. I am so sick of the burger and fries. Lexuan is happy to eat mozzarella cheese sticks.

There’s nothing much to buy so we went back to our room. Sadly, there is no live soccer to watch. 

We managed to sleep at Doha timing 10pm+. 

24 June 2026 

We woke up at 5.50am. We had our last 2 packets of Kopi Gao Siew dai and Bin Bin. 

Then it’s time to check out. We left the room before 7am. It was a super long (at least 20

Mins walk) to Gate E7. The shops here look nice and new. Seems to be newly renovated. And it looks kinda like Jewel. Haha. 

When we reached Gate E7, we could start boarding the plane. It’s going to be another 7hrs+ flight. Definitely seems more “friendly” compared to yesterday’s 13hrs flight. We can’t wait to be home. For our local food and back to home. 

Thanks to Jianhui’s recommendation, I watched the movie Mercy. It was good. Very intense and exciting. Lexuan and I had noodles while Jianhui had some sweet pudding. Qatar’s sweet delights is always nice. The 2nd meal is some puff which is so-so. 

I also watched The Bug’s life which is not bad too. I usually like to watch cartoon on flight. Short and sweet. We touched down at 9.35pm. Now that we got flight tracker, we can track our flight live. 

Home sweet home. Always good to be home! 

While waiting for our luggage, we actually met Edwin, Stephanie & Family + Ming Yao and his wife. What a coincidence! They just came back from holidays from trail run 50km. Amazing. 

Luckily, we didn’t have to wait long for our luggage. We are finally on cab back to Senja! 

This was an amazing trip as usual and I will always remember we had this trip during the World Cup 2026. It’s rare that we could watch World Cup during normal day time or night time since we were jn Spain and US. I always find waking up in the middle of the night for World Cup is so tiring. I got to do a nice wine run in Lanzarote and our first World Cup live experience in Miami. All thanks to Jianhui’s perfect planning. We are so lucky to have him planning the trip for us. He will always plan ahead of the activities and doing all the homework the night before  while Lexuan and I relaxed. We had a great time together as family and a good break from work for sure. Thank you Jianhui and thank you Lexuan for being such a good girl too! 

Our flight for this trip: 

Qatar (SIN to BCN) - Vueling (BCN to ACE) - Ryanair (ACE to MAD) - Air Europa (MAD to MIA) - Qatar (MIA to SIN)

Summary of our hotels for this trip: 

INNSiDE by Melia Barcelona Aeropuerto - Barcelo Playa Blanca - Rosamar Apartment - Element by Marriott Miami International Airport - Holiday Inn Key Largo by IHG - Monte Carlo by Miami Vacations - Orxy Airport Hotel 

Overview review: 

Room - Rosamar Apartment 

Bathroom - Orxy Airport Hotel 

Bed - INNSiDE by Melia Barcelona Aeropuerto

Facility (swimming pool) - Monte Carlo by Miami Vacations (All the pools are nice, but I voted this as the best because of view of Miami Beach and the weather 🤭) 

Comfort - Rosamar Apartment