US California Trip (May 2017) – San Francisco Day 4 (Mama’s on Washington Square and California Academy of Sciences)

Posted in Eating Out with Kids, Food, Holidays, Travel Planning, Travel with Kids, Uncategorized, USA by jahbella

I had many breakfast places listed for our time in San Francisco, IHOP was after all only a skip and a hop away (pun intended) and Boudin’s Bakery was also not too far off. However when a friend gave us a very timely recommendation on Facebook, the night before our last full day in SFO, we decided to give it a try.

Mama’s on Washington Square opens at 8am but we read that many people come up to an hour before opening time to queue for the first seating. An hour was too ambitious for us so we decided to take a chance and arrived at 730am. The queue was already long and we were 2 tables short of the first seating. While the wait was long, it was rather pleasant because they had a very good system going. We were ushered into the restaurant at 825am but soon learnt that that was not the end of our wait. We queued along the counter and were tempted by all the baked goods. We finally got to the cashier where we could place our order at 840am and then we were seated shortly after at 850am. The reason why we had to queue to place our order is because they try to only take your order as a table is being cleared for you. It took another 20 mins for our food to arrive but I will tell you that it was soooo worth it! Mama’s French Toast, Banana Pancakes and Dunguness Crab Benedict! It was so good that we wanted to come back again tomorrow before we head out of the city but it was a pity that they are closed on Mondays. Next time for sure!

We headed to California Academy of Sciences after breakfast. Thankfully they opened at 11am that day, we were running really late for their usual 10am opening time because of breakfast. Haha and you know how I can’t stand to deviate from schedule :p We joined the longest queue we saw which was for the ticket booth but my very observant husband noticed that the self service machine had no queue and told me to try it! Voila! So yes, please use the self service machine to buy your tickets 🙂

We were initially contemplating whether to drop this attraction and try something else. We weren’t sure how interactive it would be and whether it would capture the kids’ attention. I will tell you now that this is an absolute must do! I am so impressed by how they curated their content in a way that appealed to all age groups. There is literally something for everyone and each subject matter is presented in a way where you can simplify it for the young ones like Jah and Bella, yet still impress and wow the old cynics/ parents who think we have seen it all 😉
My advice to you would be to head straight in, to look for the planetarium show ticket queue as the tickets for shows run out very quickly and they have different shows for different times. There is also a show for smaller kids in a smaller auditorium in case you think your kids can’t cope with a long show.
We learnt about earthquakes and entered an earthquake simulator. Climbed up the Rainforest exhibit which is kind of like our Cloud dome at Gardens By the Bay but ends up with you being at the top of the Rainforest surrounded by free flying butterflies. We went through this exhibit 3 times!!

The kids also discovered dinosaurs, tickled starfish and stared at scary alligators. We were there till almost 4pm and yet we could not finish everything! Oh how we wished we lived in SFO. The kids asked to come back again but we had to break the news to them. Sorry kids, this is our last day in SFO on this trip but I promise you guys that tomorrow will be even more fun! 😀

JahBella’s Mummy

Next Up – Swanton Berry Farm and Monterey Plaza Hotel & Spa

1) How we survived flying 15 hours with the kids and coped with jetlag

2) US California Trip (May 2017) – San Francisco Day 1 (GoCar & Pier 45)

3) US California Trip (May 2017) – San Francisco Day 2 (Lori’s Diner, Cable Car Tram and Koret Children’s Playground, Hog’s Island Oyster Bar)

4) US California Trip (May 2017) – San Francisco Day 3 (Ferry Plaza Farmer’s Market and Children’s Creativity Musuem)

7Jun2017

US California Trip (May 2017) – San Francisco Day 1 (GoCar & Pier 45)

Posted in Eating Out with Kids, Holidays, Tips with Kids, Travel Planning, Travel with Kids, Uncategorized, USA by jahbella

We arrived in SFO bright and early at 9am on a Thurs (gained a day after having also departed at 9am on a Thurs woohoo!) Check out our post on how we survived our 15 hour flight with the kids here.

We breezed through immigration quite easily but ended up waiting quite abit for our transfer from airport to hotel. There were several options like airport shuttles to city hotels that charge on a per pax basis and honestly may have been faster, given that we waited 30 mins for our driver. However we didn’t know if the kids would be cranky after a long flight and whether we needed to deal with tantrums so we had preferred to pay slightly more for an option with a meet and greet service. We paid about USD110 or so for a meet and greet service that would chauffeur the 4 of us plus our 3 big suitcases in a huge MPV and send us directly to our hotel.

We arrived at our hotel (Hyatt Centric @ Fisherman Wharf) at 11am. Our room was ready shortly after our arrival (normal check in time is 3pm) but we decided not to bother freshening up in case we procrastinated and got too tempted by the beds. We headed straight for our planned activity which was just a 3 min walk away – GoCar.

We had pre-booked a 2 hour tour slot with GoCar, it is essentially a self drive tour using a 2-seater scooter car which was fitted with a GPS that will guide you along the route and give you a commentary of the sights on the route. There are options ranging between 1 hour to half a day but we chose 2 hours as we figured it was bearable for the kids and would be just enough to take them to nap time.

This was taken by Jah while I was driving!

The pre-briefing – I promise I was not sleeping

The kids totally enjoyed the novel experience of the ride and were happily pointing out the sights and views. Less ideal for the parents because we were focusing on driving the Go Car and ensuring that we were driving on the correct side of the road!

The GPS worked fine for us, up till our half way point at the Golden Gate Bridge and then it kind of all went downhill from there. (No pun intended) After a few detours because several roads were closed on the route and we couldn’t follow where the GPS wanted us to go. We found ourselves on the ‘fringes’ of the demarcated route which also meant that the GPS would stop working as it was no longer within ‘the zone’. By that time, we were past over our 2 hour tour time (which meant incurring extra charges on a per minute basis!!!) We were essentially circling round and round and the adults started to panic as we noticed that we were getting on busier roads with faster cars and no longer recognise a lot of the road names. To be fair we were given a hard copy map to use if the GPS should fail us but it was impossible for me to drive and read the map at the same time and my 6 year old passenger wasn’t much help at that point. Thankfully we had set up our mobile wifi by then and Joel reminded me that I could use my handphone GPS to navigate us back. Phew! We got back to the pit stop at 230pm (30 mins late) and the staff was nice enough to waive the extra time incurred because they realised that there truly were a lot of road closures that day.

It was truly a nail biting experience for us haha and a true test for any marriage I tell you!

We had a quick lunch at the Codmother (a fish and chip food truck) across from our hotel and proceeded to our room for a much much needed nap.

We dragged the kids up after a 2 hour nap and trust me it was an almost impossible feat but we had to make sure that we got dinner in those tummies and that everyone quickly adjusted to the US time zone.

Our hotel was located in the touristy Fisherman Wharf area close to Pier 45 so we took a slow walk down towards Pier 39 and found ourselves at the Crab House for a seafood dinner and a glorious sunset at 8pm!

The kids entertained themselves with carousels rides and a 7D shooting game at the pier after dinner. We had quite the blast before heading back to our hotel at 10pm. The kids definitely didn’t want their night to end but we decided to call it a night as most places were closing for the day and the adults needed their sleep. :p

It was an awesome Day 1 to our much anticipated trip.

Jahbella’s Tokyo Adventures (Jul 2015) – Ninja Restaurant Akasaka Review

Posted in Eating Out with Kids, Holidays, Japan by jahbella

One of the main things which we were worried about when it came to visiting Tokyo with the kids, was food. We heard that most places in Tokyo or at least those that would be serving the more ‘authentic’ Japanese experience, would not be too child friendly (think small places/ no high chairs/ unfriendly chefs/ zero tolerance for kids who make a pip). So how do we ensure that we get a decent experience (i.e no fast food) but yet feel welcomed and have the kids enjoy themselves.

Taking the train to Akasaka

A friend who had just returned from Tokyo recommended that we try the Ninja Restaurant at Akasaka. The Ninja Restaurant Akasaka is basically a themed restaurant which served mainly course meals and is ‘set’ in a Ninja village. The experience starts from the moment you enter their doors and its main entrance is so non-descript that you can’t even tell what’s behind that door on street level. In fact you wouldn’t even notice it unless you were looking for it. Trust me, we were looking for it and we missed it. :p

Upon entering, your Ninja guide would take you through the ‘village’. Through trap doors and door ways with low beams and ceilings. Lots of bending down and going down narrow stairways before you eventually reach the main dining room. It was all very dark so please excuse our photos which were all taken in a very dark restaurant. Oh and we couldn’t take any photos of our ‘journey’ through the village for fear of falling.

We prepped Jah way beforehand for fear of his reaction to the ‘scary’ ninjas and the dark restaurant so thankfully he was perfectly fine and loved the experience. However we totally forgot about prepping Bella, actually it would have been quite impossible to prep her. She was and is still currently in the phase of “I’m scared of everything” (come on! She was even afraid of standing next to cute ole Winnie the Pooh at Disneyland..sigh). So there was a bit of resistance from Bella and she insisted on sitting on Joel’s lap through the entire meal which was well not the best dining experience for him.

Anyway we were led to our private dining room, yes a private dining area/ room even though it was just the 4 of us. Thank goodness so that we could have some privacy to calm Bella. Oh yes and because we had kids with us, the restaurant had advised that we could only book the 5pm to 7pm dinner slot as they do not allow kids after 7pm due to the ‘nature of the crowd’. While some people might feel ‘discriminated’ by this, I felt that it is a very good system to ensure that the kids were allowed a friendly environment and no one was going to be upset that they might be seated next to kids. 🙂

Don't be fooled by this peaceful moment...Bella was super jumpy hahah

Don’t be fooled by this peaceful moment…Bella was super jumpy! Thank goodness for a private area!

We were asked to pre-order our sets when we made our email reservation so that the kitchen could ensure that they had the ingredients for what we wanted. They had a kids menu available but we chose to order 3 adults meals to share amongst the 4 of us because we weren’t really keen on the kids menu. However a recent check on their website shows that they have updated their kids menu offering a little and even offer a kids ninja bandana as part of the set. Would have been nice if they had it during our visit 🙂

That is where she will stay for most of the meal…:/

We ordered their 2 sets of their Tasting Course as well as their Jyubei course. The courses were delivered one by one and only after you have completed each course. So you would probably buffer about 2 hours for the meal. The food was good! Some dishes probably alittle ‘stranger’ than I would have liked but we all loved their beef. In fact the kids were fighting us for the only course of beef that we ordered..grrrr…We didn’t take photo of a lot of our food because we were so caught up in eating, the entertainment and also with pacifying with Ms Bella so honestly the food photos don’t do the meal much justice.

Yes..all edible! Jah was made to believe that they gave him Ninja power!

Some of the courses were accompanied by a bit of fanfare – like dry ice coming out of a ‘treasure box’ which they would ask you to open and also get you to crack the magic egg, or a ninja sword display before you were served your next dish as well as some drama as your ninja server prepares your stone boiled soup.

Magic box…

Magic egg???

Dramatic Sword Display with fire!

Stone boiled soup (The soup was cooked with hot rocks in the pot!)

We were initially concerned about whether the kids could sit through a 2 hour meal but with the fanfare and entertainment, the kids were entertained (or at least Jah was..Bella was just always on edge every time the Ninja reappeared with food :p)

They rounded up the meal with a private Ninja Magic Show where a magician would come to your private dining area and perform a few magic tricks. Jah was amused and annoyed all at the same time because he felt tricked by the magician’s ball disappearing from under the cup act. :p

Bella totally suspicious of our Ninja magician (Note no photos allowed during the magic show)

What impressed me about the experience was the fact that the show didn’t just end with dinner. Our Ninja server engaged us and the kids all the way as she was escorting us out of the ‘village’ and even needed Jah to help perform some ‘magic’ before the door would finally open to let us out. They even took their act all the way to street level as they bid us goodbye.

It was an awesome first dinner out in Tokyo and truly a wonderful official start to our Tokyo Trip. 🙂

JahBella’s Mummy

More of our kid friendly Tokyo Adventure coming up soon…

In the meantime, you can read about…

8Feb2015

Penang Holiday (Oct 2014) – Yummy Food Outside of the Hotel!! Fishing Village Seafood, Nonya Breeze, Golden River Zi Char)

Posted in Eating Out with Kids, Holidays, penang by jahbella

So yes while we thought that the food at the Hard Rock Hotel Penang was pretty awesome, we did still head out for our food fix. No, travelling with two young kids was not going to prevent us from savouring the good food that Penang had to offer. We just had to think alittle more creatively and do alittle bit more research and planning. This meant no Gurney Drive Hawker Centre (although I would admit that we did try one evening but it was pouring!) and also meant that exploring the alleys and road side hawkers of Georgetown was out of the question. However I have to say we did really well and so if you are looking for something alittle more kid friendly (places where there are high chairs), something super yummy and authentic and something that won’t break the bank…Read on for our 3 recommended restaurants in Penang and we will let the photos do most of the talking…;)

Golden River Zi Char

Located in Batu Ferringhi and a 3 min taxi ride away from Hard Rock Hotel Penang. This zi char restaurant was not found on the main thoroughfare and we actually had to do abit of way-finding in the rain (walking over from our tailor) but we were well-rewarded with good homely zi char food.

Nonya Breeze

I did quite abit of research on this one..more so because I really wanted to try the Nonya food in Penang but most places were either really far out from where we were or were supposedly so good that you had to wait a long time for your food. Waiting is not really an option when you have kids who like to do things really ‘chop chop’ – yes I think they inherited that trait from me. :p So I kept Nonya Breeze on my ‘standby’ list of places to eat at if we were in the vicinity of Straits Quay Mall. I have to say that this place did not disappoint because Joel actually requested that we come back the next day for lunch. So please do not be shocked by all the photos, we ate there on 2 separate days!!!

Fishing Village Seafood

This place is really really rustic and you would need a driver to bring you in and preferably wait for you to finish. The drive was approximately 15 to 20 mins from Hard Rock Hotel Penang and in the other direction away from the city. So plan this for a night where you just intend to have dinner and head back because there is nothing much to see or do in that vicinity. The food though was worth it and we even indulged in some crabs which we don’t normally have when we eat with the kids. Portions are not huge so we managed to order quite a number of items and finished everything! (Note – there were only 3 adults and 2 little ones).

Rustic side of town

Everything feels so old school…down to the highchair

Jah took a walk with Joel and discovered the beach and a little jetty of sorts..

So the next time you are in Penang with the kids and lament that you can’t enjoy the Penang goodies with kids in tow, you know where to go…:)

JahBella’s Mummy

7Jan2015

Whisk and Paddle Review – Tebing Lane

Posted in Eating Out with Kids, Food, Food Journey, Reviews by jahbella

One would think that we would have discovered this café/ restaurant a lot earlier, given that we live almost right next to it and it has been opened for almost 2 months now. I guess this kinda shows that we haven’t exactly been on our family bike rides much in recent times.

Jah and I chanced upon Whisk and Paddle on Saturday morning when we took a Mummy-Son bike ride. Joel’s bicycle had somehow ‘come apart’ that morning, a combination of his annoying bike tyre problem and Jah messing up the bicycle chain while we were trying to solve the tyre problem. The result being, Joel and Bella were relegated to a morning at the playground (Bella was very pissed off) and Jah insisted that Mummy stuck to the original plan and took him to the park for a ride.

Whisk and Paddle is located at Tebing Lane, with a view of the park and the waters. It would have been a perfect morning outing for mummy and son but ermm mummy didn’t bring any money with her so we were resigned to coming back at another time with papa and little sister.

The view!

We decided to come back on Sunday evening for an early dinner with the other half of the JahBella team. The restaurant does not take reservation on weekend evenings so we did a walk-in. At 6pm, the place was already half filled with the other half of the place fast filling up. We chose to sit further at what I call the family friendly seating area, long tables with sofa benches. The other seating area consisted of more traditional café like tables and chairs. There was a small play area with a tent and some toys to keep the kids occupied. The play area was right smack between the two seating areas which in my opinion was perfect! Rather than have the kids play at some corner where only parents seated at those corners could see what was going on. Having kids right in the middle meant that they could have lots of light and they could spot their parents no matter where they were seated. 🙂

Family friendly seating area

Play area

The restaurant serves all day breakfast and other mains from 3pm onwards.

We ordered Eggs Benedict with Smoked Salmon and Ham for the adults and a Bolognaise Penne for JahBella to share. We wanted to try the chunky fries with truffle mayo but it wasn’t available. We also order a Piccolo Latte, a Babycino, a Crunchie Honeycomb Milkshake and a warm Chocolate Fudge cake with Ice cream. One word sums up our food experience..yummy! Jah was very happy with the food and he was also very happy with the old school snack corner. 🙂

The food plus the laid back ambience, blue skies and fresh air really completed our wonderful weekend. Our kids are very much like us…give them crappy food and we will get very cranky kids. Give them a good ambience and yummy food and we have the sweetest kids ever. :p Suffice to say, our kids were extremely happy and cooperative that day.

We will definitely be bringing the kids back to try more, in fact I think there might already be plans to celebrate our Wedding Anniversary with the kids there this weekend.

For now, we will let the pictures do the talking…:)