First Plane Ride

My husband, A and I couldn't decide on our first plane destination with Kris. The conditions that we have in mind are that is near home yet enjoy the convenience of a bustling city. After much deliberation, we decided on Hong Kong in autumn with our family.

I allocated a tiny portion of the luggage space for A at which he grumbled whether do we need to bring so much kids stuff over. I sweared that i didn't pack alot of stuff for a 6 days trip. Things that I packed consisted of the following which i found it absolutely necessary just that I mis-calculated the  quantity needed. I'm new at this. Practice makes perfect!

Diapers
Pack foods
Cereals
Milk Powder
Bowls
Spoons
Disposable Bibs
Clothes
Books
Toys
Pillow
Blankets
Mosquito patches
Sun block
Other face and body products

Kris was in tip top condition during the entire trip or we may have tired her out by staying out till 10 plus pm daily, Not sure why but her appetite increases whenever we are overseas. She does not need much coaxing each night and will stay in bed till 8 plus am which is a bonus for us as well.

Plus points with traveling with the family are that we always have one another to look out for, we can take turns taking our breakfast or caring for the little ones, if you forget something you can always rely on the others, photo taking is also much easier with so many facing coaxing Kris at the other end. Kris had a marvelous time bonding with her cousins. They were always rolling around on the hotel bed, hugging each other, making funny faces to one another and most important of all, they were able to self entertain themselves.

It's amazing that with 3 kids on tow, the adults can still shop and hauled back tons of stuff. We bought an extra luggage to contain all our buys. What can I say!

Verdict
Be prepared to take turns having meal on the plane. A and I had to take turns entertaining Kris and rotating during meal times. This meant NO inflight entertainment for us as Kris will tug at our headset or glued herself in front of the screen. Kris also refused to sleep during the entire journey and was busy trying to wriggle out of our arms wanting to venture down the aisle byyy crawling. She's also being very sociable with other passengers, stewards and stewardess.

Pack an extra set of clothes for yourself. You may spilled food and drinks during the flight. Yes, that's exactly what happened to me and I didn't have an extra set of clothes!

I told A that we will not be coming to Hong Kong with Kris in the near future. It wasn't such a child friendly place especially in down town and malls. Nursery rooms are locked in malls and you had to contact the customer service center to unlock the doors. Even in the airport, the nursery room wasn't always readily available, in the transit area, there's only one nursery room per level. Not all restaurant were equipped with high chairs or children cutlery. Often, the high chairs comes without a buckle. Kris easily climb out of the chair in no sec. In the airport, Kris was served with disposable plastic container and spoon as children cutlery. Using the MTR (Subway) with a stroller in tow was also challenging as not all MTR station has escalator or lift located at their many exits.

Ocean Park is a wonderful place for kids. The facilities such as nursery room are well equipped and abundances.  There are also so many stuff to learn, play and interact. We learnt much about penguin, fox and sharks at their enclosure and had fun at the carousel station which Kris grew bored after a while of spin. However, if you want to leverage on all the ride, your kids should be around 6 years before they reach the minimum height. Traveling with kids also gives you priority to some of the attraction area which is a blessing for us under the roaring sun.

I wouldn't recommend Noah's Ark. We left the place after about 2 hours. There isn't much to play or interact as the exhibition is merely about the story of Noah's Ark which could be easily goggled on the internet. Our most enjoyable station in Noah's Ark is at the photo-taking booth. The park opposite Noah's Ark was also a disappointment. A was attracted by the flies in the park!

September month is still too warm for us especially for the little ones. Next destination will be some where cooler.

For dried seafood, you could make a trip to Tai O Village where it's famous for salty duck eggs and shrimp paste. We bought lots of dried seafood from this place at an affordable price. 

Compliments from Singapore Airlines

MMR

Kris got her MMR jab the very next day after our return to Singapore. She didn't yell as much as we predicted during the vaccination and we thought yeah we are off for a good start.

One hour back home, she started to vomit out her breakfast! Another hour later, she became hungry and wanted some milk. Bad move I guess. After her milk fix, she started to vomit out all the milk. This time round, on me. Urghhh, I desperately need a bath but she was yelling badly as her father carried her away. Fear of her vomiting again, I took over without having a bath! Oh gosh! Two of us just hurdled together in vomit. Thankfully, she slept within 15 minutes of rocking. Off to the shower I rushed while she slept in her soiled clothes.

Two hours later, she woke up. This time round by her rumbling stomach and she had loose stools. I was petrified! I goggled to check on the symptoms of the vaccination. These symptoms that she was suffering wasn't informed to us by the clinic. I called my Sister, Jo who is an expert in child bringing. We were advised that the MMR vaccination is the worst kind as children develop different symptoms. My niece, R developed high fever while my other niece, K suffered from nightmares for a week. My nephew, A developed diarrhea that smelled like sewage refuse. That's the exact same smell with Kris poo. I felt comforted.

Dinner time is coming.... I wondered what can she eat. I heard from my mum that porridge water is good for curing diarrhea and prevent dehydration. I boiled some grains with water for 30 minutes. I offered Kris a spoonful of soup and waited, she smacked her lips and open a tiny crack to taste. Next, she widen her mouth. Ok, she likes this! After 10 plus mouthful, she decided to call it quit.

She resumed her playfulness nature till bed time and I thought the worst was over in fact the worst was yet to come. I diluted her bedtime milk, however after a while she vomited all out again. Time for a pajamas change!

The next day, she woke up with slight reddish eye lids with no sight of red eye. As the day progressed, her eyelids becomes redder with some greenish discharge, and her body feel warm but she was not running a fever. Her vomit and diarrhea spells stopped. She looked lethargic with droopy eyes. She spent her day sleeping mostly.

She woke up the next few days with her eyelids glued with discharge. She was also lethargic and didn't resume her playfulness over the next few days. We decided to bring her to the doctor when her left eye also started to get reddish eyelids. The doctor advised that its due to dust and germs and not due to MMR. All these came too coincidentally together. The doctor prescribed us some eye drops which it's always a struggle dripping into Kris eyes.

One week later, she resumed back her usual self! Screaming, crawling and being playful.

Today is the 8 day after her vaccination and I hope the normal usual symptoms will not come at all!

1st Birthday Blast Part 2

We celebrated Kris actual day at Bumba Gump, Hong Kong which is located at the peak. This restaurant sells mainly seafood cooked in various style. We reached at around 6pm and the restaurant was starting to get crowded. Thankfully, we got a table in less than 15 mins. We ordered a plate of ribs, 3 style shrimps, berries salad, seafood both, grilled dory fish, mac and cheese and finally for our dessert, we ordered a mixture of their house favourite. They also have a wide selection of drinks. My niece ordered a Bubblegum mix. It was serve in a "disco" light glass. She was delighted!

For each birthday celebration, the restaurant will throw in a complimentary sundae. Kris was amused and in shocked watching the entire entourage of staff singing Happy Birthday to her.

Happy Birthday Sweetie. Daddy and Mummy love you.

Birthday Sundae

1st Birthday Blast Part 1

We celebrated this gorgeous day with our immediate family at Tunglok. This restuarant is known for its amazing Peking duck. We have a private room to ourselves which is good so that the children can run around the area.

We had an enjoyable lunch followed by a cupcake celebration for Kris. She enjoyed and laughed when we sung her the HAPPY BIRTHDAY song. 

Next we headed to Kiddy Fun, an indoor playground located on the 3rd floor of The Grandstand. It's amazing how The Grandstand had transform itself from Turf City to a place filled with hype. The admission fee is $12 for below 18 mths and $18 for above 18 mths. Weekend are limited to 2 hours playtime. The cousins had a blast running here and there while Kris had her share of fun climbing up and down the stairs and zipping through the various tunnels.

Kiddy Fun is tasty and safely decorated with pastel colored jumbo play mats. There are lots of play stuff for the children such as mini merry go round, swings, balloons, spring balls, tunnels, tampolin etc.

We decided to call it a day after 90 mins as we were exhausted but not the children or rather they pretend not to.

10 mins on the way home and after her milk fix, Kris was soon snoring away.

Recycle & Reuse Ideas

Some D.I.Y toys for Kris. Time to teach her the concept of recycle and reuse + creative ways to homemade toys. Plus, it's a real saver for both mummy and daddy.

Shakers
What you need: Large empty plastic bottles and caps.
How: (1) Throw in some caps into the bottle (2) Decorate the bottles with stickers
This can be used as shakers as part of of her music playtime or for her to improve on pinch and drop skills. Pinching a cap and throwing into the bottle each time. The caps are big enough to ensure that she does not swallow the bits.

Boxes
As Mid-Autumn festival is round the corner, there are various kinds of beautifully decorated boxes. It's a waste to throw them away, so I offered Kris one and she soon gets busy opening and closing the box, drumming and singing away.  

Flash caps
What you need: Caps + stickers
How: (1) Stick the stickers on the caps
These can be used as tools for her recognize the items and have her easily pick up the pieces. 

Plastic Cups
What you need: 2 different coloured plastic cups
She could drum / rub / bang on each cups for different sound effect and have the cups over her ears for some echos.

Have fun!