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

16Aug2014

3 ‘Must-Have’ Items when flying with kids

Posted in Travel with Kids, Uncategorized by jahbella

Alright so they might not exactly be ‘Must-Haves’ but they have definitely made our family travels a lot easier even if for a short while…

Lets start with the first item, the one item that all of us are very familiar with…yes the iPad. I know there are tons of views and articles of when we should expose our kids to iPads and their equivalents or if we should ever do it. Well that’s a debate for another time or maybe never

For us the iPad works and is especially useful on flights and holidays. I have to say that we are fortunate that Jah is not addicted to his iPad. Well yes there are days where he would insist on watching his ‘eggs Youtube video” on the iPad or watch one more video or play one more game before he showers. But there are also times where he has gone without his iPad for an entire 2 months (we almost forgot where the charger was). So yes we are ok with it and we just make sure to put lots of age appropriate content and educational apps in it.

The iPad comes in very handy when you are travelling on an airline that doesn’t have in-flight entertainment or the movies do not interest your kid. Continue reading →

15Aug2014

Travelling with Toddlers – Your Own In-Flight Entertainment

Posted in Travel with Kids, Uncategorized by jahbella

On a recent flight to Australia, Joel and I were blown away by two super well-behaved little girls (between 3-5 years old). They were travelling with their grandparents and they were glued to their seats for the entire duration of the 5 hour flight. Watching their in-flight movies, eating their meals and they even had their ice-cream and were somehow not bouncing off the airplane walls!!! No firm words from their grandparents, no bribes, no octopus grandmother to hold them down and insist that they keep their seat belts buckled!!! But of course I know by now that this is not exactly how most toddlers/ young children travel and if like me, you have a stubborn, sugar loving energizer bunny for a child then I guess the following tips might come in handy at some point. 😉 Continue reading →