Asia Archives - Page 12 of 22 - Escapes From The Little Red Dot

Hong Kong 2016 Day 4 – Wet weather program – shopping

Posted on January 29, 2016June 2, 2020 by ziyi

Woke up earlier for almost the same routine. However we were able to get ready earlier since we didn’t have to pack to leave. Ate the Portuguese egg tarts for breakfast while preparing.

The tickling sound of water can be heard and the obvious disappointment followed as after peeking behind the curtains were raindrops on the windows and opened umbrellas can be seen on the streets below. Bad weather.

Nonetheless we were aiming to visit Ocean Park today and we left the room at about 930am hoping that it t was not that bad a weather. All hopes were dashed soon we reached the entrance.

Wet weather program was to continue our shopping at the same mall (CHKC) we went yesterday. However, not all the shops were opened. Walked around G2000 outlet and also to the Mickey Mouse House outlet and purchase some items. Went back to the same nursing room to feed baby K and change his diapers and suddenly there was a blackout. We weren’t worried as I turned on the light on my hp but a staff was there to “rescue” us with his torchlight and helped shone the way for us to get to the mall, which was not affected. Most of the escalators stopped working though.

That was quite an issue as we brought a stroller along and were told to take a detour for the lift. Had to ask the staff to locate the lifts. Made our way to the Geox outlet but wasn’t ready to pay so we left.

While we took a left upon exiting following the arrow to the MTR. Not knowingly, we chose to proceed to the Jordan MTR which was some 15mins walk away instead of choosing the Austin station which was closer, to take a train to Tsim Sha Tsui MTR. Baby K meanwhile snoozed while mommy carried him.

The subway at the Jordan station was not stroller friendly and I had to bring it down the steps. Within the station though, we found lifts that brought us to the train platform and we quickly boarded the train which had just arrived.

One stop and we took our exit. With no real target, we hit the iSquare mall to walk around a bit. Bought a pair of shoes for baby K and myself, scoring the sale items. Went to Baby R Us and bought a toy for baby K and brought back a balloon too (babies have a thing for balloon). There wasn’t much more and as baby K started to become cranky due to hunger, we quickly left (since the restaurants there felt expensive) and went back to Tsui Wah back at one of the TST MTR entrance.

Our stroller had to be left at the doorway for being to big but we were given a table close to it. Ordered some pork with instant noodles and wife got some tasty fish bee hoon. Baby K was hard to manage as he wasn’t really interested in the lunch we cooked him, probably bored from eating the same thing for so long. Fed him some bread that we bought from a bakery.

Then we started to walk southwards along Nathan road and went into SOGO hoping to find a supermarket but it was tiny. We then headed west towards Harbour city. We walked through it, looking at the various on sale options and at the end, returned back to our hotel room for a break, while feeding baby K and giving him a bath and collected the items from the hotel concierge left by my mom that she helped bring for us.

My mom then came along with our aunt from Hong Kong to come see baby K and there we spent some time in the room. Mommy cooked dinner and then tried to get baby K to sleep after my mom and aunt left, but we couldn’t dissipate his energy enough. In the end, we packed and went shopping back at Harbour City and baby K fell asleep as soon as we were back in the open.

Went to the various stores of our favorite brands and many were on sale. I didn’t think I could afford them but my wife manage to get something. Went to Uniqlo but it seemed more expensive than Singapore. After a while, my mom called and informed of the reservation made by our Hong Kong cousin at Crystal Jade restaurant. Met up and we went for dinner, baby K finding hard to get comfortable with his unfamiliar overseas aunt.

Dinner was alright as we fed baby K oatmeal with milk while we dined having a couple of dishes ordered for the 5 of us, inclusive of the popular dumplings. Baby K was always a handful at the dinner table, my mom having to deal with his forte of troublemaking while we had our dinner.

After the dinner, we left for our shopping while they made their way back. Continued to the C!tysuper supermarket which was pretty huge and offered some fresh fish where we could buy for baby K meal preparations. After that, we also purchased some desert of matcha icecream and a puff containing matcha cream and red bean, from Sweets House Cha Cha, pretty tasty but expensive.

Continued to Zara and then going back to the room thereafter, ending a full day of shopping.

Back in the room, we were just exhausted. But the work didn’t start to end till baby K fell asleep at 1130pm and finishing and cleaning at 12. Tiring again, but expected as part and parcel of traveling with a toddler.

Macau and Hong Kong 2016 Day 3 – Ferry to Tsim Sha Tsui

Posted on January 28, 2016June 2, 2020 by ziyi

Learning from the previous day, we woke up at 8am to start the day early. Baby K woke up twice again, once at 230am and another at 630am but my biological clock was already in tune to his feeding time.

The light sound of thunder could be heard and the showers came. Though we were going to leave Macau, it was going to be difficult if the showers continued.

Preparing the food for cooking while wife started packing and baby K still snoozing made us highly productive. We even had time for breakfast which we packed from the day earlier. Only when baby K woke up was when we had to keep an eye on him so that he didn’t hurt himself.

Breakfast bread from the Macau Tower bakery.

After we were all packed, changed and ready, it was past 1030 and we proceeded to first check out the room and then deposit our luggage before visiting the Macau 3D World within the hotel, that was like the Alive museum. It was another 48Hkd for one as we already had a free ticket from the hotel stay.

There were quite some numbers of wall paintings but some were really not that good. The first exhibit had Michael Jackson and some of his album related displays. Then it was dinosaurs and other random but local related activities. We didn’t spend much time there as baby K soon napped as mommy carried him. There was another floor with very limited display of a moving Trex and a dinosaur video superimposed with our image. We left only after 30mins.

Baby K continued to snooze while we explore the 6th floor of the hotel that had some restaurants and fitness center and pool but the food wasn’t affordable and so we ended up waiting at the reception level at one of the chairs of the restaurant. However, we were asked to move as we weren’t customers of the restaurants and so we went back to the 6th floor as there were cushion seats there as well but not other guests that had packed the reception level seating area.

Baby K woke up after 1hr of nap and we proceeded to wait for the free shuttle bus to the terminal just outside the reception, under shelter thankfully, away from the harsh chill and rain outside. Bus frequency was said to be 15mins but it took about 30. We were the 2nd in queue and loaded up the bus quickly. The luggage and stroller was all placed at the front row seats. There were people who couldn’t get up and had to wait which wasn’t long as the 2nd bus came, picked up what’s left and was long gone while the luggage was still being loaded up on our bus.

Queue for shuttle bus to the ferry terminal. Shuttle bus is the same size as that in the photo.

The bus ride to the ferry terminal was rather quick, about 20mins and soon we were at the ferry terminal’s bus stop. However, the alighting point was not sheltered to the bus and so we had to quickly unload the luggage and move it to the shelter. I made the second trip to get the stroller while mommy carried baby K.

Luckily for lifts on both sides of the bus stop and the terminal, we got to the 3rd floor of the ferry terminal for some lunch at 南北麵點小廚 after checking out the next timing for the ferry to Kowloon. Ate at dim sum restaurant 187Hkd which had good noodles but the rest was so so. After that we bought some Portuguese egg tarts from the local products store on the 3rd floor and proceeded to 2nd floor for tickets.

Purchased the 335pm ferry for 444Hkd (baby K had to pay if over 1 year old) which gave us an hour to be ready. However we still had to wait to check in our luggage and was told to come back at 3pm. For 3 pieces including the stroller, it cost us 75Hkd.

After going through the immigrations quickly, we waited a short while at the small waiting area at the gate before boarding the ferry. The weather was not as cold as before. Seated in the middle row, the ferry raced though the seas whereas it was pretty bumpy at times. That made us a little nauseous.

View from waiting area. — View of the rainy weather from waiting area.

Baby K became cranky and when he couldn’t fall asleep, I made a bottle of milk with the lukewarm water because of the leaky vacuum flask and he immediately devoured and went to sleep.

An hour’s ride and we arrived at the ferry terminal in Tsim Sha Tsui. Took the elevator to the arrivals hall where we had to give in to some China tourists who did not give way to us even when we had a sleeping baby in the stroller, pretty annoying. At the immigrations, the queue cleared in 10mins though we had to shift the stroller for the officer to see baby K.

Picked up the luggage that was left on the belt, the last 2 in fact. Left the arrivals and immediately some steps away was the elevator to our hotel – the Royal Pacific hotel. This was so accessible, especially for parents tugging 2 large luggage and a stroller containing my sleeping boy. We made 2 trips up the escalator as I couldn’t find a lift and the checked in was rather quick, given a 19th floor room which had a “ok” view.

Baby K continued to snooze while his parents did a little washing and a whole lot of resting. When he did wake up, he was again on his feet climbing here and there and after changing out his diapers after he pooed, we went downstairs to shop.

As the hotel was smacked in the China Hong Kong city (CHKC), it was just too convenient to have Marketplace by Jasons and shopping at our doorstep. The Marketplace was not really huge though and we didn’t really find fresh fish to cook. There were packets of milk available.

Later we visited the Esprit outlet and while mommy shopped, baby K practiced walking around with me, having fun. As we left, we noticed that there were a few outlet stores here and thought we would returned to check out the other outlets (since there were closed already).

Baby K pooed again and we visited the baby room which was pretty clean but didn’t have a lot of facilities.

At 8 pm we left for dinner but there weren’t many options left as many were closed. We got to an area called podium of restaurants and went into one Kung Fu Dim Sum. Ordered pork ribs rice and beef brisket noodles and a plate of Chee Chiong Fun with Char Siew. The food wasn’t really good. Baby K was cranky as well as the food he ate was a little cold.

Kung Fu Dim Sum restaurant. Manual as a menu.

Went back to room to bath baby K and prepare for the night. The long journey today was tired enough for us to go to bed early.

Macau 2016 Day 2 – Ruins of St. Paul Cathedral, historical town and Macau Tower

Posted on January 27, 2016September 22, 2019 by ziyi

Woken up at 9am after a night where baby K had woken up twice to have milk. He must have felt more thirsty than hungry as the air in the room was dry and cold, the aircon not warming the room up enough.

We then started the day with the feeding of milk for his breakfast and his carrying out his lunch preparation. The gloomy view outside the window corresponded to the week full of rainy weather forecast, only saving grace was that it was not yet raining. After all was done, we left the room at around 11am and made our way to Ruins of St. Paul’s.

It was quite a easy walk there with the cooling weather, just some 15 mins of walking. Took some pictures and bought ourselves some Portuguese egg tarts to eat. Of the many times I have visited Macau, I had never visited this famous landmark and it was just great that I managed finally given the bad weather report we saw before the trip.

Ruins of St. Paul's upclose. — Ruins of St. Paul’s upclose.

View of the town from St. Paul's. — View of the town from St. Paul’s.

Behind this standing wall was an area of little left and further behind was a tiny little crypt and a museum. Took a very short walk around and came out.

Crypt in Ruins of St. Paul's. — Crypt in Ruins of St. Paul’s.

View of Ruins of St. Paul's. — View of Ruins of St. Paul’s.

We were hungry and went to get lunch at a place called 全球居茶餐厅 and ordered the popular pork chop burger while my wife had a plain tasting luncheon meat and fried eggs rice. Fed baby K the porridge cooked just before we left hotel at the restaurant itself. It was very challenging to feed this toddler as he kept moving around constantly.

There was a (Royal) supermarket just opposite of the road but we wanted to go sight seeing first without the food baggage and proceeded to the Fortaleza do Monte (also known as Mount Fortress). Baby K fell asleep and we had to climb the a couple of flights of steps to reach the top with him sleeping in my arms and on the hip seat.

Graffiti. — Graffiti we saw along the way.

Old buildings near St. Paul's. — Old buildings near St. Paul’s.

While on top, I had to remove my jacket as sweat broke while having him in my arms. As he continued to snooze after transferring him to mommy, I went around the nice vantage points of this fort to shoot some photos and enjoy some of the views.

Took over the duty from my wife and she too went around and it was only after a while did baby K awoke and we went down the tiny hill.

From the fort we followed the path where the crowd was and eventually ended up at Senado Square, where large monkey exhibits for Chinese New Year could be seen.

St. Dominic's church. — St. Dominic’s church.

Lunar new year decoration. — Lunar new year decoration near Senado Square.

Continued walking south east and we saw the New Yaohan (reminisced the good old days of Yaohan in Singapore). This nine storey building had the kids section where we changed our baby K diapers in a modern design baby care room and a supermarket on the 7th floor. Bought sashimi salmon and some packets of milk and walked back to our hotel, exhausted after the (20mins) walk.

Back at the hotel, we gave baby K a bath, and got him changed within the toilet itself as it was warmer. Thereafter cooked for baby K dinner with the sashimi salmon in the portable cooker. Then we left the room to go to Macau Tower.

As we waited for taxi at the taxi stand, we were informed by the staff, after 10mins of waiting that we would have more luck getting on the public bus as it was peak period and he was unable get a taxi for us. Taking the plunge, we crossed the road and got onto small public bus 26 as advised by that staff and paid 10hkd for the 2 of us. Seeing that I had a sleeping baby in my arms, someone gave up his seat for me to sit. The granny next to me was kind enough to support baby K overhanging legs. Mommy had to stand and move behind as more and more people boarded the small public bus.

We got off at the stop Torre which was about 15 mins ride, and it was difficult to move through the crowd. Along the way, baby K lost his gloves and I almost couldn’t get off when the door closed before the crowd helped me call out to the driver to let me down.

We went up to the observation deck, paid 135hkd each and took a lift that climbed rather quickly. Once at the deck, I took the limited photos as it was quite blurry outside and it was difficult to do so with baby K asleep in my arms. We took a seat and rested while admiring whatever view there was before taking the lift down. Didn’t choose to do the outdoor observatory as it must have been freezing with this cold weather.

Baby K awoke while the lift went down and we made our way to the Mocha Cafe, cafe that was operated by the casino of that name. Wife ordered fried rice, meat and veg and soup and we were filled, for 330HKD. Baby K had some fun at the Toys R Us there and he cried when he had to leave. Pains of managing a growing baby who knew how to show his emotions now.

We waited for quite a while for taxi at the taxi stand and luckily the queue shortened as the passengers left to board the bus. We considered the bus but didn’t know the direction nor the road to stop. Eventually we managed to get a taxi and arrived at the hotel for about 50Hkd, short 10 mins away.

Back at the room it was all about chasing the little boy around as he walked/crawled all over the place and opening and closing drawers and throwing stuff that he could get his hands on. Managed to only get him to bed at 1030pm after downing a bottle of milk and then it was cleaning up the utensils and cookery.

Blogged till 12plus before going to bed, the necessary additional energy required when traveling with a toddler.

Macau 2016 Day 1 – Arrival in Macau bypassing Hong Kong

Posted on January 26, 2016June 3, 2020 by ziyi

It was a rather hectic week and we had only completed packing on the night before the flight. Equally crazy was baby K’s choice to be cranky on the night before, resulting in the parents clocking only 5hrs of sleep before waking up at 6am to get ready for the 10am flight to Hong Kong.

By 730am, we left the house but having to repeatedly return to pick up the milk and the stroller that we had left behind.

The PIE had sections of slow moving traffic as Tuesday was after all a working day for most. We got to the airport by 830am and checked in at the counter for our 2 luggage and the stroller. Had some drinks at the nearby cafe before bidding farewell to our parents for ferrying us to the airport.

Our flight was at the end of terminal 1 and before getting on the flight, had changed baby K’s diapers and picked up some hot water from the hot water dispenser.

Our bassinet seat was immediately on the right upon boarding which made it easy for us, having tugged along 3 hand carries and a baby. Made formula milk packed in disposable plastic packets (like those storage bags for breast milk but for formula milk powder instead) for baby K and while he happily finished the bottle and dozed off even before taking off. It was a short 1 hr break for us while he snoozed in my arms.

After waking up we had to keep him entertained through the inflight tiny TV and magazines. Had our lunch individually as always, and fed him home cooked porridge after we were done with ours.

The flight was smooth though weather was expected to be rainy with the crazy cold snap coming in on the weekends before we flew. It was still busy and tiring to manage the newly 14month old toddler though.

After touching down at Hong Kong international airport, we could feel the cold bite while at the walkway to the arrivals and immediately put baby K into his one-piece down jacket. This made him more difficult to carry with the puffier size and the slippery surface.

Mommy had gone to purchase the Cotai ferry tickets to Macau, without the need to go through immigrations. At the counters, we only had to provide the luggage tag to the staff who would ensure that the luggage was brought on board the ferry for us. Paid 640hkd in all for the tickets, including a 140hkd for baby K for the 415pm schedule to Taipa (not the main terminal), the only closest time slot we could get (the other one was at 5pm).

Ticketing counter for the ferry tickets.

Made some milk for baby K after changing him out of his diapers and checked that our luggage was retrieved at the ticket checker. We were only allowed to proceed to the gate at the time written on our tickets, supposedly to prevent overcrowding at the gate. There was a short train ride to SkyPier where the ferry was.

Machine to check luggage status, by scanning your tickets.

The road to boarding the ferry was extremely cold as it was opened to the outside. Once on board, we got some nap time for ourselves as baby K had also already fallen asleep on mommy shoulders while waiting for the boarding.

The ride to Macau was slightly bumpy but that had baby K in the snooze for a good hour. We arrived close to 6pm, after an hour and a half on the seas.

Going through immigrations, baby K had us on priority and we were taken to a short queue and we cleared rather quickly. Proceeded to retrieve our luggage at an enclosed area where everyone just stood around and waited. The luggage was to be brought into the room by human labour as there weren’t any belt there. After the doors opened, the luggage containers were brought in while the personnel unloaded the luggage. However collection could only be started after all the luggage was offloaded.

We waited for the crowd to clear before retrieving. The personnel were really kind to offer mommy a seat near the area as she tried to feed baby K and another offered to bring our luggage out on a trolley seeing that we were tugging a lot of luggage but we didn’t accept the offer.

Once out, I checked with one of the staff nearby only to find that there weren’t any free shuttle bus to Sofitel Ponte 16 (which was situated at the other island). So we had to queue for a taxi which had a couple of people before us already waiting. It was too long before we got onto one ourselves and I had issues loading the luggage and the stroller in. The stroller ended up on the front passenger seat with a rather unimpressed taxi driver.

The trip from the Taipa terminal to Sofitel was about 40mins due to the horrendous traffic jams along the way. Upon stopping at the luxurious lobby of Sofitel, a porter helped us unload, we paid about 100hkd for the trip.

Checking in was easy but there was some marketing going on as the receptionist tried to sell upgrades to suites and club privileges but we rejected it. We were given the 15th floor room that had a pretty good view of the sea and the room was luxuriously furnished. Porter came with our luggage some 10mins later.

Prepared some cereal mixed with the baby meal from the flight for baby K, which surprisingly, he liked and finished eating. I was tasked to go get dinner as room service wasn’t affordable and mommy found the cold uninviting for her to step foot outside again for tonight.

Just taking the bigger road, I walked away from the hotel and looked around. Saw some bright signboards and headed to a noodle shop (Loja Sopa Da Fita Cheong Kei) that had tripadvisor sticker on it and asked if taking away was available. Was immediately invited to sit in where it was nice and warm and then decide what I wanted. Ordered wanton noodle and their special. 10 mins and 63hkd later, I left with 2 small package of dinner.

Loja Sopa De Fita Cheong Kei noodle shop.

The food was rather delicious but I wasn’t sure that was biased due to my hunger or not. The portions were small though.

The hotel did not seem to have a good aircon to warm up the place and bathing for baby K was challenging. I filled the tub with warmer-than-usual warm water and after quickly stripping baby K, brought him to the tub and he got used to the water rather well. Unfortunately it seemed like there was some leakage and I had to warm up the tub by reintroducing warm water into the tub.

After getting out of the water, we had to quickly dry baby K and apply the lotion and wear the long sleeve shirt and pants to prepare him for bed. He was shivering a bit before we could finally dressed him.

It was clean up time on the bottles and cooker and containers but all these were far easier than back in the days of breastfeeding where there was simply a hell lot of bottles and equipment to clean.

Baby K snoozed deeply after downing a bottle of milk and the rest of the night was sleep, after a long day to get to Macau.

Escape Plan to Macau and Hong Kong January 2016

Posted on January 25, 2016June 24, 2020 by ziyi

A brief summary on the itinerary

Escape Plan to Macau and Hong Kong 2016:

Total duration 6D5N
Singapore is in the same time zone as Hong Kong.
Flight time is 4hrs on Cathay Pacific from Singapore to Hong Kong.

Morning flight on 26th January at 10am and arrival in Hong Kong at 2pm.
Return flight is on the 31st January at 3:15pm and arrival in Singapore at 7pm.

Day 1 Arrival at Macau
Day 2 Ruins of St. Paul, Historical Town and Macau Tower
Day 3 Transfer to Hong Kong
Day 4 Wet weather program – Shopping
Day 5 Ocean Park
Day 6 Home Sweet Home

This escape plan was to get away from Singapore to celebrate our anniversary but at the same time, we chose a manageable place suited for a toddler. I haven’t visited the ever famous Ruins of St. Paul Cathedral in my last visit last year (for that matter, even way before) due to bad weather and would do it this time since we catered at least 2 days in Macau. It was during this time that a freak cold snap came down from China and froze the cities of Macau and Hong Kong. Weather man gave a rainy/cloudy report for the entire week we were there, which was just hell of a disappointment.

Budget nature: Slightly expensive due to costly hotels in both countries.

We had chosen to stay in more comfortable places and accessible and therefore it was slightly more expensive. Prices were increased as the dates were near the Lunar New Year. Plus my blunder with losing a ticket to Ocean Park, enough said.

Complexity: Easy to get around with the MTR and walkabout and buses in Macau.

The places we covered were very accessible as every tourist would probably go. Plus the fact that the hotels we chose was in an accessible place, it was easier comparatively. However, we tugged along a stroller that wasn’t really compact. That was a bit of a struggle.

Koh Samui 2015 Day 4 – Home Sweet Home

Posted on November 29, 2015September 22, 2019 by ziyi

630am, baby K’s slight cry awoke me and I quickly climbed out of bed to see a yellow round sun already up above the horizon. It was good weather but I didn’t catch the sunrise in time.

The morning would be spent entirely to pack, since we bought a lot of food before our transport from Samuitours come pick us at 11am. This was the cheapest deal I could find as a taxi would cost 100baht more if I booked from the the reception.

Baby and wife slept till 8 and after feeding baby, we went for brekkie. Took some porridge from the staff to bring away so that we wouldn’t need to cook any and then we could quickly packed the pot without having the need to clean. Brought the baby to the beach one last time before we had to go home.

Last few hours were spent packing and cooking and looking out for the baby. Returned the key to the rental car at the reception and also did a check out. The resort staff helped with our luggage up to the mini bus that had also arrived at 11am sharp.

Baby K fell asleep on the journey to the airport. 30 mins past and we arrived, check in was done quickly as all the counters were manned. We brought along the stroller because baby K was still napping away inside.

The gate was some distance away and we had to walk through what looked like a layout of a premium outlet. Bought some Swenson’s to eat before some heavy showers came pouring all of a sudden. Had to wait for the rain to lighten before moving on as it was splashing inwards.

Long walk to the gates flanked by outlet style layout.

The security check just before the gate was especially strict. They removed quite a lot of stuff from our diaper bags and another hand luggage even though we had a baby with us. Baby K who was snoozing peacefully in the stroller was almost asked to be removed from the stroller for checking. It was a frustrating moment.

I heard over the intercom as the staff was calling for me to approach the gate but I knew we were still early. When I arrived and checked with the staff, they said that there was a powerbank in my checked-in luggage and I suddenly remember too. But I was caught by surprise that they were so strict about it. I had to follow the staff (along with a few others) to the luggage check area and remove the power bank, which we could bring on in our hand luggage.

When it was boarding time, I had to bring the stroller and place it at the front of the tram where there was a storage place. It was then taken care of by the staff to load onto the plane.

Trams that ferry passengers to and from the planes.

The flight back was not all smooth. Baby K was cranky maybe due to not having enough sleep or even food. He was moving from one toy to another rather quickly and we were running out of things to keep him entertained. Fortunately he found interests in the passengers sitting behind us and was constantly playing with them. That gave us some rest time before disembarking.

The arrival into the airport was different from what I was used to, we had to go through security scanning, something that was not required previously. But this was not as difficult as the one in Koh Samui but time consuming nonetheless.

It was unusually crowded at immigrations and for Singaporean families more than 4 members there were special shortcuts opened at the side counters to allow faster processing for them. Thankfully we were allowed to go through that path after they processed the bigger families. DFS was also crowded but that was the final queue before meeting Dad at the arrivals hall.

This trip was a short getaway for baby K on his 1yr old birthday. The difference between this trip and the previous ones was that there were a lot less cleaning times but a lot more looking out for baby times since he climbs and crawls everywhere now. We had to bring pressure cookers bought from Taobao and rice and vegetables to cook his meals and also visit supermarkets to buy fish. Our accommodation had a kitchen and a fridge and that made things easier for cooking and storage. I prefer traveling during this period as you get to see more while out and not get restricted by his meal times which were already prepared and pumping times and of course the less strenuous cleaning that came with it.

Koh Samui 2015 Day 3 – Big Buddha, Wat Plai Laem, Lamai Viewpoint, Grandfather and Grandmother rock

Posted on November 28, 2015September 22, 2019 by ziyi

620am and the sun was blocked yet again by the clouds. Back to bed.

Baby K was sleeping late into the morning and had missed a night feeding. He must be really tired! That gave us some time for preparations and immediately after he woke up, we proceeded to breakfast.

Having learnt from yesterday’s breakfast that although the food was free, we had to limit the amount lest we could finished eating. Ordered the eggs florentine and poached eggs and the rest we took from the buffet table. As usual baby K had his special kids set of utensils and he ate the bread and papaya available. I had latte which came with a face. So did the eggs.

Eggs benedict smiley. — Eggs benedict face.

We proceeded to the beach to watch the high tide waves. Today the water actually reached the resort steps. Back at the room, we took a dip in the pool with the opportunistic sun out and about. Then bathed in the huge jacuzzi tub before baby K drank milk (and still puke a little) and then fell asleep in mommy’s arms when she brought him out to listen to the waves from our huge balcony.

Went to book a car for 1500baht from the hotel reception and asked for a small one particularly due to the small roads in Koh Samui. We figured if each taxi trip was going to cost us 500baht, in no time this would equal the costs of a car rental. The only problem was the unfamiliarity of the road and there wasn’t a GPS available.

The first car then was delivered was a Nissan March but the remote was not working. So they sent another car that was a 7 seater Avanza. Not exactly the small car that I wanted but I wasn’t going to wait for another one. It came with an empty tank so I had to pump gas when we go.

Baby K awoke from his nap soon after and we packed and got onto the car for our first attraction, the Big Buddha over at the north of the island. I have downloaded the Google maps offline to get better details and used the map as reference to get there. There was an Esso station on the main 4169 and I asked for 300baht of gas, which gave me half tank, more than enough for the trip. The gas was topped up by the station service staff where I didn’t even need to alight from the car. Just tell him how much and paid after it was done, Then it was 30mins of driving on the single lane road with a mix of upslopes and downslopes. Baby K had lunch in the car en-route.

There were road signs that made navigation easy. As we cross the tiny stretch of land before the location, I parked just on the side of the road on this stretch of land, not sure if there was a official car park in place and we walked to the Big Buddha. We only realized that there was indeed a space reserved for parking as we walked closer but I didn’t bother going back to park the car there.

The Big Buddha sit atop a flight of steps which was not to difficult to reach. Took off our footwear as requested and we climbed to the top for some photos. There was renovation ongoing on the sides but we could still get to the edge to shoot the scenery of the surrounding from the top.

Just around at the ground level were shops selling stuff, mostly souvenirs and so we didn’t stay long and left for the next location, just a short drive away to Wat Phai Laem temple. Taking the left immediately on the main road from the Big Buddha, just a couple of hundreds of meters there was this temple with huge statues. The entrance was quite easy to miss as it was a small road without a clear indication and therefore I had to make a Uturn to get to it after seeing the big statues on the left side of the road.

Parking lot and the surrounding touristy shops.

This time I parked at the parking area and we went in to see the 2 huge statues of the Laughing Buddha and the thousand hands Goddess of Mercy. Bought some fish feed from a machine for 10baht and fed the fishes. There was a temple building that we could also visit that had bright coloured wall paintings and a Buddha statue in it. That was our temporary relief from the sun.

Elephant headed deity beside the laughing Buddha.

At this area was a cafe but we gave it a miss. The next stop was to get to Lamai viewpoint which we thought we could get lunch and on the way, we saw a huge Big C supermart and decided to visit it. Walking around we couldn’t find much eateries except KFC and MK restaurants that serves buffet. We took a stroll in the huge supermarket, something like the Tesco we visited on the first day. Left soon after without buying anything.

Lamai viewpoint didn’t appear on my Google map so I had to follow the road signs. Again we had to turn in at the right into a small road. The signs would indicate a change in direction from going straight to turning right to making a Uturn when you overshot while on the main road, which I did, and had to wait for the many vehicles to pass through. Even after I Uturn, I couldn’t determine the correct small road and entered the one before, driving on it a little and finding it suspiciously incorrect before going out again. Got off and asked some local people and they informed that “Lamai view” was on the next road.

Took the next road in and sure enough there were blue signs directing cars to the carpark. Parked at the near empty carpark (most people biked there) and paid the 100baht entry fees to the view point. The zipline would cost 800baht but we weren’t be doing that because of the baby.

The Valentine stone, small Siva Tara waterfall and the fish spa were just steps away from the entrance, nothing spectacular. The climb up to the viewpoint was a little tiring, especially with the little one and the bags that followed along but it was easy as there were steps all the way to the bar on top. From the viewpoint we could see the Lamai coast. The cloudy weather didn’t provide the best of the scene. The bar was also packed and unfortunately there weren’t any food so we could only have drinks.

Valentine Stone and waterfall. Didn't realise there was a heart shape stone. — Valentine Stone and waterfall. Didn’t realise there was a heart shape stone.

View with cloudy skies at the viewpoint.

Just before we could leave, the light drizzle started to upsize into a huge shower and for a moment it was pretty chaotic as the staff tried to pull down the transparent sheets to block off the rain but the winds were not doing them a favour. Guests were seen helping out as well. We move to the seats closer to the bar away from the rain.

Hiding from the rain with the transparent rain covers.

After some 15mins, we left to descend down the wet steps back to ground floor. Went quickly to the car before the drizzle came back again. Off season weather could be really annoying.

Parking space at the viewpoint ground floor.

Our last stop was the Grandfather and Grandmother rock (Hin Ta and Hin Yai) not too far from the viewpoint. Again the side road was easy to miss. This one was tricky as the road was a one vehicle width road and so you had to wait if there were cars coming out. Going through the road, we reached a split where a kid directed my car into a parking area. It was 30baht for parking but worry-free to park there since it was empty and manned. We had our snack lunch in the car as the rain continue to trickle down.

Finally when it was time to go, we had to pass through one shop selling souvenirs and get to the pathway towards the rocks. Just a few meters away, we could see the grandfather rock but the grandmother one has to go further down towards the sea where there was a split between the rock (see internet pictures to know what you are looking for). We didn’t know where to look until some guide showed another group of tourist the location and we just followed. However the rocks surface was wet from the rain and so we didn’t risk going too near the water plus it was high tide and waves were crashing onto the rock surfaces. Bought some coconut caramel to bring back home while on the way back to the carpark.

Parking lot. The silver car was our rental vehicle. — Parking lot. The silver car was our rental car.

Driving back to the resort was pretty straightforward and it was really close by. Back in the room, wife went for massage round 2 while I entertained the baby before meeting her outside the parlour 1hr later. Proceeded to walk the streets to look for dinner.

It was still very quiet at night with not many tourists in sight. The low season was really bad for business but good for people like us who didn’t enjoy the crowd (like Singapore). We made it to Samui Kangeroo where they served seafood and Thai food. I had a set of 3 tiger prawns and barramundi steak for 399 baht while wife had Tom Yum, prawn cake and fried noodles. We were filled to the brim! Baby K fell asleep while on the way to the restaurant and when he awoke, he was entertained by the very friendly staff that made him comfortable. They even gave him a baby toy to entertain him while we fed him dinner, certainly made our job a lot easier!

A table full of food just for the 2 of us.

As we walked back to the resort, the streets were just as empty and it was already 9pm. Back in the room, we spent some time at the balcony looking at the moon before the drizzle came and then it was all about clean up and packing before retiring for the night. The short 3 day getaway was coming to an end.

Koh Samui 2015 Day 2 – Aquarium and Tiger Zoo and Bophut Fisherman’s Village

Posted on November 27, 2015September 22, 2019 by ziyi

As sunlight peeked through the shades, I awoke at 640am to find cloudy skies, supposedly typical of off season weather. Went back to sleep.

A few more hours and we woke up and the day’s activities were quickly starting, first with feeding the baby. Then we proceeded for breakfast at the breakfast area situated just under our villa. There was a small buffet table but quite a selection of cooked food all for free. There were even fresh juice! We ate till we were very full and returned to the room.

Then it was off to the pool and after a light passing shower, it was a little cold for a dip. Baby K didn’t move for a while once he was in the water until he warmed up. Spent some time out in the pool until it was ready for food (had to bring him out to bath in the warm tub in the room and change him out to PJs but he didn’t sleep). Then he became really cranky, not wanting to sleep even though he looked tired. Tried to feed him some porridge and gave him Cartoon Network which calmed him down a bit but he puked after not being able to swallow some porridge. I guessed it must be some mouthful of water that made him felt unwell.

Afterwards when baby K was feeling better, we brought him out to the Aquarium and Tiger Zoo. The reception got us a taxi for 500baht which felt was very expensive. It was a 15mins short journey and baby K fell asleep in the common brown with yellow top taxi. Upon arriving, the driver asked when we would finish the visit and he would return so we told him 3pm. There weren’t many taxis around the area though.

The tickets for the visit was very expensive, 750baht per person. We paid and went to the sea lion show first which was at 130pm. The show lasted 30mins of which baby K only managed to watch the last 10mins. Immediately after the show was a photo session with one of the sea lion, for 100baht. The show was entertaining but not the best I have seen.

The ticketing counter to the aquarium and zoo.

Next we proceeded to walk to the tiger and bird show which was at 230pm. Bought some banana Nutella and banana vanilla pancakes from a makeshift stall and ate at the eating area just outside the show entrance. Fed baby K porridge while we have our dessert-lunch. The show began soon after and there was quite a crowd comparatively. The bird show started mild with some parrots performing tricks then it was the tiger show and the leopard. Then it was back to the bird show with the toucan and the eagle. This was definitely more entertaining than the sea lion show and baby K loved the birds flying around.

Our banana nutella and banana vanilla pancakes.

Similarly, there was a photo opportunity but we didn’t go for it as there was quite a crowd waiting in line. We went to take photo with a tiger instead. Wanted one with the baby tiger but was advised against it by the trainer who said it was easier to control the bigger one, as we had a baby in tow. So we went for the bigger tiger for 600baht where the helper used our camera to take 5 shots consecutively.

We proceeded to walk through the aquarium (2 of them) and the zoo. The aquariums were a little run down and not as big as the ones we have in Singapore. There were some open top ones with sharks and rays which was interesting as one of the sharks actually splashed some water out when we were standing nearby.

The zoo was also small and we could see some toucan, monkeys and tigers and leopards. There were actually pretty close behind the fenced up areas which was kind of scary.

We left with the same driver who was already waiting for us outside even before we left for the zoo and aquarium. It was another 500baht back to the resort.

Back in the resort, I brought baby K to walk on the beach that was getting high tide waves crashing in while wife went for a Thai massage on the streets outside our resort. Walking northwards, there were quite a couple of resorts at the beach. The beach was not crowded, just a couple of people trying to jump into the waves taking photos. Baby K was soothed into a sleep by the sea breeze and sounds of the sea waves and after taking a few selfies with me, I brought him back to the room.

Fed baby K dinner before heading to Bophut Fisherman’s village, which was only opened on Friday nights. This time the taxi cost 700baht, which sounded more fair then the earlier one where we travelled to an attraction not too far from our resort. 30mins later, we were dropped off at the entrance of the walking street.

Entrance of Fisherman's village. — Entrance of Fisherman’s village.

The initial street towards the main street was not too busy. Once we hit the Main Street that was parallel to the beach, we could see many people around. We had bought some food, since our purpose was mainly to have some dinner but instead of going to one of the many restaurants available there, we ate burgers and satays and drank fruit juices. Bought baby K a Tweety bird balloon that he liked for 50baht. There were some fire dancing show and some fireworks out in the distance, not bad.

On the side street before the busy main ones.

Elephant walk, area packed with restaurants and people.

Stalls selling from accessories to clothings.

Cheap shots were available at many of these stalls. — Cheap cocktails and shots were available at many of these stalls.

After walking to the end of the street, there appeared to be a lot more food stalls but we were already full. We asked the personnel at the entrance (another entrance different from the one we entered) to this walking street for a taxi back and was quoted 600baht. I accepted without bargaining (which I should have tried) and a private vehicle picked us up instead. Not a bad deal.

Bophut walking street, another entrance.

Back at the room, some 30mins later, we fed baby K again. It was then cleaning up the baby and the milk bottles and our bathing time while one of us had to take care of him. He wasn’t getting much sleep in the day and so when we fed him milk again, he felt tired enough to fall asleep. Fell asleep rather quickly from the tiredness of travelling with a super active 1year old.

Koh Samui 2015 Day 1 – Arrival at Koh Samui

Posted on November 26, 2015September 22, 2019 by ziyi

Our baby 1st birthday trip began early in the morning, waking up almost the same time as we normally do when we go to work. As there were still plenty to pack, it was great that we had a helper to cook the porridge early in the morning.

After packing in the last items into the pink 25″ and haversack and feeding baby with milk, we left for the airport on a generally light traffic highway. Due to the school holidays, traffic was light enough that we reached the airport within 40mins.

Checked in at the Silkair counter for 2 luggage and a stroller before clearing the mess due to spillage of milk powder (from the portable dispenser) in the bag before going through immigrations.

As usual, we picked up the Combi stroller from the info counter and brought baby to walk around. 30mins before boarding, changed his diapers at the big “family area” and warmed up his flight milk before going through the walkway onto the small A319 Airbus.

Was asked if we could exchange our aisle seat for the window as the other family is on the other side of the aisle but we rejected as we needed the access to the aisle a lot more. There will be frequent access to the bags overhead to take stuff for the baby.

Baby K was quite well behaved and after downing his milk, he fell asleep in mommy’s arms as the flight took off. Can’t say about the noisy kids behind, fortunately baby K snoozed soundly through it.

After about 45 mins of snoozing, baby K woke up to find his parents eating rather-tasty meals. Warmed up some milk and fed him bread before the plane landed in sunny island Koh Samui.

The tiny airport was serviced by windowless trams. The airport itself was designed looking like a resort. Luggage was brought to the belt by vehicles but it didn’t take long for us to clear. Thankfully being in the front row of the airplane, we cleared immigrations quickly before a queue formed behind the counters.

Proceeding out of the airport after claiming our luggage and stroller, on the left towards the meeting point, the driver from Samui Tours holding a signboard with my name and destination stood waiting. After acknowledging, he went to pick up a Toyota minibus (which was big for our small family of 3) and loaded our luggage for a 30mins travel towards Lamai beach.

Meeting place where our airport transfer rep was waiting.

We went past towns with busy streets lined with low buildings and also stretch of vegetation. Going up the mountain which overlooked the bicolor blue and turquoise waters before turning left into narrow streets before arriving next to the reception building of Ammatara Pura, our accommodation for the next 3 nights. The Thai design made the buildings looked like a temple but the resort was lavishly furnished. It was indeed 5 stars accommodation fit for royalty!

Our villa was the first one next to the reception and it was huge, definitely value for money. The whole place was designed in modernly with Thai culture.

Baby K had lunch at the chill area beside the pool and after some rest, went for dip with me in the really deep pool (1.6m). Then I gave him a bath in the huge stone jacuzzi tub and ordered some room service for late lunch.

We failed to get baby K to sleep so we went out to Tesco by taking the free resort tuk tuk out, about a 5 mins journey.

The Tesco here was quite big, selling a whole range the domestic products. We bought a toy, foodstuff and most importantly, fresh fish necessary for baby K porridge. After supermarket shopping, we got ourselves a coconut ice cream in a coconut just outside.

Coconut ice-cream in a coconut husk bowl.

Baby K fell asleep while we were in the supermarket and woke up after snoozing while we were eating the icecream. Called the resort and the tuk tuk was dispatched again to pick us up, some 10mins later.

Back at the resort we were informed of some Buddhist ritual going on near the pool and so went take a look. Spent some time to look at the performance where there were 3 people wearing cultural Thai costume dancing to a traditional tune played by a live traditional instruments band. Didn’t stay till the end as baby K got bored and so we walked to the beach which was about 20m away.

Sun was already setting and I let baby K feel the sea wave crashing onto his tiny feet. Before returning to our room, we washed our feet at the beach entrance before reentering the resort boundaries.

It was dinner time for baby K as he ate his dinner while multitasking some other activities such as moving around, like all other babies. We were still on Singapore timing since Koh Samui was one hour later. During this time, the room make up staff came and they helped tidy the room while we were still in there. They sorted out the pool jacuzzi that wasn’t working when I tried it earlier in the day and also cleared the lunch plates.

After baby K was done, it was our turn for dinner so we left the room and walked out of the resort. To the right and onwards were long parallel streets of shops consisting of bars, cafes, eateries, massage parlour and retail. It was quite quiet though, not many customers around. Don’t know if it was because it was a Thursday or if it was low season or it was still early to have dinner. We walked about 5mins and u-turned as it seemed never ending.

Muay Thai, where fighters were training. This was located near our resort.

Went back to a eatery called ISky corner restaurant and had Thai food, consisting of omelette pad Thai, seafood Tom Yum and cashew chicken rice. I had banana Choco shake and my wife had a coconut. It cost about 450baht for that much food.

After dinner it was short walk back. The moon was round and bright illuminating the sea around. The rest of the night was about cleaning up the baby and preparations for sleep. Cleaning up bottles were a lot more easier now that baby K was feeding more on formula milk, which meant less cleaning on pump and bottles.

Had to bath a bit later and since the rain shower was out in the open, it was a good thing that the weather was fine. The water pressure wasn’t good enough for a storm shower , more like trickling rain. And I couldn’t seemed to get the temperature as it was consistently warm, which was not a bad issue since I was out in the open.

It was lights off at 1030pm, which was 1130pm in SG, already later than what I used to do since baby K was born. Sleeping early was to make up the constant waking at night and it would be difficult to do without sleep when traveling.

Escape plan to Koh Samui November 2015

Posted on November 25, 2015June 24, 2020 by ziyi

A brief summary on the itinerary

Escape Plan to Koh Samui 2015:

Total duration 4D3N
Singapore is 1hr ahead of Koh Samui.
Flight time is 1.5hrs on Silkair codeshare from Singapore to Koh Samui and return flight on Bangkok Airways.

Morning flight on 26th November at 10.25am and arrival in Koh Samui at 11.05am.
Return flight is on the 29th November at 1.30pm and arrival in Singapore at 4:20pm.

Day 1 Arrival at Koh Samui
Day 2 Samui Aquarium and Tiger Zoo and Bophut Fisherman’s Village
Day 3 Big Buddha, Wat Plai Laem, Lamai Viewpoint and Grandparent’s rocks
Day 4 Home Sweet Home

This escape plan was to plan as a getaway to celebrate my baby boy’s first birthday. We chose a chill-at-the-resort holiday plan for this trip and one that gives my baby his first experience of swimming in a pool. Koh Samui was chosen because of its short flight time and unlike Phuket which could be a little rowdy, my impression of Koh Samui was that it was a little more high class and therefore, better for a baby. Plus it was off season so prices were lower and more affordable.

Budget nature: Could have been cheaper.

Although the flight tickets were initially cheaper than the usual astronomical rates, I had bought the tickets wrongly online, mistaking the only option as the one that I wanted. In the end the change of the tickets was about $150 additional per person.
Taxis were really expensive comparatively in Koh Samui and if we had gotten ourselves a rental car, that could have saved us some money.
Our total spendings was about 500SGD for the whole trip.

Complexity: Easy with taxis or own car.

The usual mode of travelling was either by taxi or by rented vehicles. Many rented motorcycles for its affordability and portability. We rented a car for a day and found it not too difficult to drive around, just that parking could be a challenge.