JahBella’s Flight to Tokyo (Our take on what flights work for toddlers/ kids)

Posted in Holidays, Japan, Travel Planning, Travel with Kids by jahbella

We finally took our long waited holiday (planned almost a year in advance) to Tokyo with Jah and Bella. It was a holiday which we were very much looking forward to but at the same time really nervous about. After all it would be the first time we would be travelling as a family of 4 (with no help), travelling to a city we have never been to before (all our previous trips were to familiar places), taking our longest flight yet (8 hours compared to the previous 5 hours to Perth) and having the two kids nap and sleep in the same room for 11 days (we have never ever succeeded in having them nap in the same room EVER!!!!) Yes so alittle nervous would be an understatement..I wonder what ever propelled me to even attempt it. 😛

All set!

So of course the first hurdle to cross would be enduring that 8 hour flight with 2 kids.! Honestly I wasn’t really worried about dealing with Jah, he is getting pretty good with this whole airplane thing and I was even contemplating doing without our CARES Harness for him. But Bella…oh Bella is a whole different deal…we don’t call her Miss Ants-in-her-pants for nothing.

Miss Ants-in-her-pants…thank goodness she was only annoying the people behind her…Jah and I!

Planning this trip a year in advance left us with a lot of time to second doubt our decisions. We went back and forth with our choice of airline as well as the aircraft configuration and flight timings. Yes lots of thought went into choosing the PERFECT flight and while I would say it definitely wasn’t perfect…we learnt quite abit from our choices.

AIRLINE

We had a choice between Singapore Airlines (SQ), All Nippon Airways (ANA) and Japan Airlines (JL). We eventually chose ANA because we wanted to experience their Dreamliners (supposed quieter cabins, ambient lighting and supposed better cabin pressure), coupled with the fact that their aircraft configuration was 2-4-2 which allowed us to take 2 seats each by the window. That benefit was eventually non-existent because ANA changed their configuration to 3-3-3 (packing in 1 more seat into their Dreamliners :/) Which meant that there was a high chance that we would be seated next to a stranger on an 8 hour flight 😦

Drealimer Economy Class

We were fortunate to snag a last row seat for Jah and I, which was a 2 seater and prayed very hard for Joel and Bella to have an empty seat next to them.

Jah and I had our last row 2 seater

3-3-3 Config..fortunately Bella and Joel had a free seat next to them on this flight..not so lucky on the way back!

So how did our flight on ANA go? Joel and I had pretty different takes on it. He was really impressed by the service on ANA. He felt that it was personal without being intrusive and that the cabin crew were very ‘sincere’ and understanding when it came to their little passengers. However the food left much to be desired and I would have to agree with that.

Kids Meal

Adult’s Meal

I was perhaps a little pickier than him and felt that the meal service was rather messy. I was pretty used to having the kids served first on planes so that the parents can feed them and then attend to themselves later when the kids are fed and happy to continue with their activity. However there was no such thing on ANA and we were all served at the same time. Seems like a small deal but trust me it makes a big difference to a mother trying to multi-task her kid, his food, her food, turbulence, the inflight entertainment system, blankets, pillows and seatbelts. :p That being said, the flight was relatively comfortable and all the complaints I read online about the seats being really uncomfortable because they were shell-scheme seats, well didn’t bother us. I have to say I love the ambient lighting and the fact that you can fade out the window (this meant Jah could still look out the window but we didn’t have to put up with the glare). The big spacious toilets with baby facilities were also fantastic and very well-equipped and comfortable for cleaning up the toddlers and even little kids. The window in the toilets also served as a distraction for them. :p

FLIGHT TIMINGS

So what flight timing works for toddlers and little kids you ask? Well it really depends on your kids. I know of some people who swear by red eye flights so that they get in bright and early and don’t waste a day or have to cope with wide awake kids on the flight.

We tried both types (the full day flight and the red eye flight) on this trip, for reasons that we thought were perfect. The full day flight got us into Tokyo at 7pm, in time for a nice shower and a good night’s rest before we start the day fresh. I can tell you now that the choice of a full day flight at the start of our holiday was the right one for us! We departed Singapore at 10am which meant we only had to deal with the kids for about 2 to 3 hours before they were due for their nap. We were very fortunate that they napped! Both of them! (I have a distant memory of my kids going mad on their Perth flight because they refused to nap and were high and over-stimulated from the lack of sleep..oh that distant memory….)

Awesome! 1 napping kid!

2nd kid napping!! This was after I successfully transferred her from my carrier to the plane seat..

They finally woke at about 4 to 5pm (yes they slept for 3 hours!!!! I couldn’t believe it myself!!) and this meant we only had to deal with them for another 2 hours before it was time to land! So yes awesome flight choice!

Remember to bring lots of activities to keep them occupied!

We contemplated having a full day flight for our return flight but that would mean being at the airport by 9am. Perfectly do-able if we were coming from home but just too stressful a task coming off a holiday so we decided to take the red-eye flight. This gave us a full day in Tokyo with enough time for a good dinner and kids who are showered and ready for ‘bed’ on the flight. Perfect in theory for us but not so perfect in execution. We definitely appreciated the full day in Tokyo but because our flight only departed at midnight. The kids had to be up and about in the airport till that time. Bella fell asleep in her carrier from 10pm to 12 midnight and then was wide awake once we were onboard the flight. OMG! I was fortunate that at least 1 child slept (Jah slept from 1230am to 5am) and only woke because the lights came on for breakfast. We struggled with Bella and only got her to sleep momentarily. The upside to having the red eye on the return is the fact that at least we were on homeground, with two zombie-fied parents dealing with a cranky toddler and a super re-charged kid.

VERDICT

If you asked us whether we would attempt such a trip again? The answer would be yes yes yes!!! The frustrations and crankiness all become a distant memory soon enough and you know what they say..what doesn’t break you, only makes you stronger! We will probably just avoid any red eye flight options for now. :p

Stay Tuned for more posts on what we did on our Tokyo Trip with JahBella!

Stay tuned for more Tokyo Adventures!

JahBella’s Mummy

23Apr2015

Bali Holiday (March 2015) – Pirates Bay Nusa Dua

Posted in Bali, Holidays by jahbella

Jah is currently in his ‘I am a pirate yo ho ho!’ phase. I vaguely remember him being in a similar phase when he was about 1 but I think he was too young to be excited about more than a Jake and the Neverland pirate show. So this time around we thought we would indulge him in his pirate phase when we heard about Pirates Bay in Nusa Dua, Bali.

There is really very little information online about the place. The only things I managed to gather from its website, was the fact that it was a team building site and it also has a cafe with tree top seating.

To be honest, I kind of regret hyping it up to Jah because I was alittle disappointed by the place, myself. To be fair, we only had drinks there since we were going to Ku De Ta in 2 hours. But I think we were fortunate that we were there as a big group because we could at least kick a ball around alittle, bury some little ‘treasures’ (sweets) in the sand for the kids to find and entertain ourselves.

Perhaps the place would be livelier over a weekend (we were there on a Monday) or maybe the ambience would be different after sunset (we went at 10am). If anything, I was quite impressed by how they built the treehouses and pirate ship. We actually saw people working at it while we were there.

Nevertheless, I would say that the place is a simple place to chill out with family. Just remember to bring a book (if your kids will give you some downtime), sand toys and ball for the kids and some of your own treasure to perhaps do your own little treasure hunt. 🙂

P.S – We saw that a Waterpark was being built right next to it. Perhaps it would be a complementary product that could add alittle more excitement for people making a trip there.

JahBella’s Mummy

11Apr2015

Bali Holiday (March 2015) – Villa Bali Blue

Posted in Bali, Holidays, Travel with Kids by jahbella

We were finally off for our long awaited Bali holiday with JahBella and some of JahBella’s uncles and aunties. (yes mummy has many siblings so we had to pick our favourite aunties and uncles to join us for the trip :p just kidding!).

Which favourite uncles and aunties got to go on a holiday? :p

Bella learning to sit still (not quite) in her own seat at 1 year 10 months..lets hope she does better on the next trip (for Papa Joel’s sake)

“Mummy you don’t bother me, I do my own thing and you do your own thing. You fill up your forms.” – True Story!

The advantage of travelling in such a big group (7 adults and 2 kids) is that you get to rent a huge awesome villa and have so much crazy fun in your own private pool.

Our villa (Villa Bali Blue) in Jimbaran was an approximate 20 minutes car ride from the airport which was perfect for kids who can’t endure long car rides. The villa is located on a pretty secluded uphill area which meant that we had to depend on our villa manager and the villa transport when we wanted to leave or return to the villa. But for S$50 a day (12 hours use of the car) for the 9 of us, I’m not complaining. Having to coordinate two cabs back and forth may have cost us more money and/or stress.

The moment we entered the villa, I felt like we were transported to another world. 2 levels, 4 bedrooms, 1 entertainment room, a pool overlooking the ocean front, a pool table and kids toys. The villa manager and his housekeeping team were on hand to assist with any request or questions we had. I will let the photos do the talking.

Given that we arrived in Bali on the eve of Nyepi (Day of Silence), I am really quite relieved that we stayed at Villa Bali Blue. Staying there meant that we were pretty self-sufficient and the kids had enough to keep them occupied even though we were not allowed to go out.

Locals all dressed up on Nyepi Eve while we were in search for any food place that was opened..

Bella enjoying your breakfast and the sunrise…this girl knows how to enjoy…

Simple dinner while the sun sets on Nyepi

Sunset view from our villa

From repeatedly coming down the pool slide (Bella) to going skinny dipping (Jah), the pool was our family’s favourite hang out place and any reason was a good reason to take a quick dip in the pool. In fact the kids gained so much water confidence during the trip, it was really quite amazing to watch them. 🙂

Next Up….Pandawan Beach and Pirates Bay…Stay Tuned! 🙂

JahBella’s Mummy

8Mar2015

Penang Holiday (Oct 2014) – Adventure Zone

Posted in Holidays, penang by jahbella

Adventure Zone was initially meant to be a back-up activity in case it rained during our time in Penang. How could we let good sunny days go to waste, after all we were staying at a hotel with fantastic pool facilities and a nice beach right in front of us. However the kids got alittle bored of swimming everyday and so we had to bring in our stand-by activity.

Adventure zone is a facility with drop slides and play equipments for the whole family. There were slides available for all ages and also for those with little dare devil children (I didn’t know mine were until then). For those who are considering to go to Adventure Zone, please bring along socks, long pants and a long sleeve top , this is to help prevent ‘burns’ when coming down the slides and they are really strict on the dress code.

I know my kids look like they are on a winter holiday

It is located within the grounds of the Shangri-La Rasa Sayang Resort and Golden Sands Resort so it is ultra convenient for families staying there. It is a 3 minute cab ride away from Hard Rock Penang. The good thing about the place is the fact that adults need not pay if they were accompanying a paying child.

Upon entering the facility, you will find lockers for you to keep your belongings and a small café area for the kids to take a break or for parents of older children to ‘hang out’. The café area has an unblocked view of all the slides so that you can keep a watch on your kids from where you are. It is also located right next to the toddler play area which is very convenient.

Toddler Play Area (Separate from the big play area and slides)

We spent alittle bit of time at the toddler play area for Jah and Bella to warm up but they really didn’t need much of that. I think all our indoor playground sessions in Singapore made them a little more adventurous. :p

We initially rode tandem with Jah and Bella on the ‘gurney sack’ slide but it wasn’t long before Jah wanted to go on his own and we were coming down the slide, side by side. The only downside of him having so much fun and wanting to go again and again, was the fact that I had to repeatedly climb up the long flight of stairs for 3 seconds of ‘thrill’.

Whee! It was quite fast!

Thank goodness there were other areas for them to explore and Jah and Bella occupied themselves with climbing up ramps and across ‘bridges’.

Miss Dare Devil Bella

We were there for almost 2 hours and in that 2 hours, Jah had silently worked up the courage to attempt one of the vertical slides. I never knew this boy was so fearless. I have to say that it was probably easier for him to attempt it since I was lowering him down the side whereas other kids and adults (like myself) had to sit on the ledge and well push ourselves off the ledge. Scary stuff!! (And it wasn’t even their scariest slide).

The scariest slide of the lot…we didn’t try it

My little fearless boy looked like a rag doll coming down the slide and he was so disoriented after landing in the ball pit that he wasn’t quite sure where to go but 30 seconds later, he wanted to go again!

I have to say that we didn’t really expect much from Adventure Zone but I guess sometimes all you need are a few slides and a dose of courage! We will be back the next time we are in Penang for sure!

JahBella’s Mummy

21Feb2015

Hong Kong Holiday (May 2014) – Langham Place Mongkok

Posted in Food, Holidays, HongKong by jahbella

During our dating years, it was extremely hard to convince Joel to holiday in Hong Kong and I didn’t quite know the reason for his reluctance. I only found out the reason for it when he finally agreed to visit Hong Kong in 2009. The first thing he said to me as our taxi pulled out of the airport was, “wow! this isn’t like Young and Dangerous at all!” (Yes so now you know which era we are from :p).

So anyway he has been quite in love with Hong Kong since then and it was extremely easy to convince him to bring the kids there (on such short notice) despite just returning from our Perth holiday.

Family Pic before we jet off!

Admiring the Social Tree at T1

Stickers are extremely serous business! Do not let your child discover your secret sticker stash pre-flight!

Pushing his sister around HK Airport

So what is there do do with kids in Hong Kong you ask. Everyone would tell you to “Eat and Shop” however we could only manage the ‘eat’, ‘go to Disneyland’ and ‘eat somemore’.

While staying at one of the Disneyland would probably seem like the most obvious choice, we decided to stay in Mongkok instead. We chose the Langham Place Mongkok for its location and also because the the range of room types that were available for families. (Also the hotels at Disneyland were extremely expensive if we wanted to cater for 3 adults and 2 kids 😦 )

We ended up with two rooms that were inter-connected which gave us our privacy but still allowed us to holiday as a family. Staying at Langham Place also allowed us to head down to the streets at night when the kids were asleep and our helper could still watch out for Jah who was in our room.

We managed to go for massages and awesome suppers without worrying about traffic. Staying in Mongkok also meant that we could have our pick of the local food with the kids without worrying that it was past their bedtime (after all we were only a few streets away from our hotel).

Room 1 with a babycot

Room 2 with a king size bed

The bathroom in the main room – the other toilet only had a WC

The kids were really delighted by the food that we had (dim sum, char chant eng sets and roasted goose rice!) What can I say, my kids love their Chinese food!

Picking up dinner 5 minutes after we checked in

Famished after his flight – we managed to pick up dinner right in front of our hotel..yummy!

Awesome street snacks enjoyed in the comforts of our room with the fantastic city view

Snow Ice at a Dessert shop, a short walk from our hotel

How the loves of my life entertain themselves before food is served

Whack first!

Talk later!

I apologise for the lack of char chan teng pictures. There was a really yummy place in front of our hotel too but yes we were too focused on wolfing down our food each time we went there. I am still dreaming of their Bo Luo Bao and their Satay Beef Noodles.

The only downside of our location was the fact that we had to travel abit to get to Disneyland. (MTR going there and a cab coming back). Given that the kids needed their afternoon naps, we pretty much had to visit Disneyland over two days (a morning and an evening trip).

To be honest, it would definitely be a struggle for me to decide between Langham Place and Disneyland hotels for our next trip. Guess we will just have to see if food or sleep reigns supreme!

JahBella’s Mummy