Travelling with An Infant

I thought this might be a very interesting topic for all the new parents who are planning for their very first family trip with their little ones to other countries! This is not the ultimate guideline to follow, but I would only like to share from experience on what's best to do if you plan to travel with an infant or baby (under 1).

Last July 2014, we headed to South Korea as a family. Back then, my baby girl was just 11-month old. My baby was still on breastmilk (plus her usual solid food). The way I saw it, there was really a lot of advantages to that. What tops the list is being able to feed her without having to worry about not bring enough formula powder whatsoever.

Checklist

OK, let's move to the important stuffs. Here's what you must bring along:

1. Baby carrier - you cannot live without this when going to a hectic city like Seoul. It is not very stroller friendly. I was so grateful I brought the carrier along, and I used it almost all the time! I regretted using stroller once during the trip.

2. Baby stroller - I needed it to let my baby take her nap during our 4-hour transit in HK airport. If your transit is less than 2 hours, you may consider skipping this item. It really takes up a lot of space which may leave you with no option but to take the cab from airport to your hotel. I did that, it costed me RM240 one way. Compared to public transportation, probably around RM30 or less.

3. Baby toiletries - shampoo, baby bath, diapers. You may not wanna try new brands if your baby has sensitive skin. Stick with what works.

4. Baby lotion - If you are travelling during the dry season (mid July was pretty dry for my baby skin actually), bring along a really good baby lotion. I use Cetaphil Intensive Moisturizing Cream for her, BUT... I DID NOT BRING IT! I felt so bad I forgot that and her face got so dry those red flaky patches slowly appeared on her face. I thank God at least she doesn't have very sensitive skin so I bought Johnson & Johnson Soothing Balm from one of the Watson's in South Korea. Here's a pic you can see those red patches on her face :(

5. Snacks - use dry snacks like Happy puffs. You really don't wanna get messy in the plane with liquid and sticky snacks.

6. Eucalyptus oil - to soothe baby's breathing in long hour flight and air conditioned room. You can get this from Guardian/Watson's or any pharmarcies.

7. Toys - limit to space efficient ones. I prefer soft toys and cloth books because you can squeeze them to fit into the bag haha.

8. Baby jacket/sweater

9. Nursing cover

10. Small rice cooker/slow cooker. My trip was 11d/10n, so I didn't want my baby to be on merely instant cereals. I cooked for her. Check out her food :D Ok... I bought those raw ingredients and vege from Lotte in Ansan, including the meat. I brought my own organic buckwheat, millet, and quinoa; plus dried wolfberries! 

11. Instant cereals - I bought "Why Not" instant cereals for emergency use. We gotta always prepare for unexpected situations cos sometimes the hotel may not allow the guests to cook! It was proven useful for some long trips when I did not have enough time to cook.

12. Misc - Thermos container, baby utensils, handkerchief, common infants medication just in case, foldable changing mat.

My Flight Experience

TO DO: Call your airline to book bassinet seat even before check-in window is open. I did not get mine even when I checked in at the airport early. But I am grateful anyway because I was given the bassinet seat for Incheon->PG->KL

PG ->HK: I bf her during take-off and landing. It was a morning flight and my baby loves sleeping in the morning, so generally it was pretty seamless! Here's her happy face upon arrival at HK! 

HK transit: She took her 1 hr nap in her stroller during our lunch. I also breastfed her in the mother's room. HK Airport is absolutely bf friendly!

HK -> Incheon: It was an evening flight, which meant that my baby would be awake during most of flight. She enjoyed the first 2 hours of the flight. Upon the 3rd hour, she was quite cranky due to tiredness, fell asleep a while after I bf her. The last hour of the flight was really challenging as we had to find ways to calm her down, she was frantically kicking and the orange juice spilled on me... haha... it got kinda messy, countless pairs of eyes on us. By then, the "ultimate weapon" which is to bf her did not work anymore. Sigh.. she must be feeling so uncomfortable due to altitude change during landing. I just to had to keep hugging and soothe her until she slowly stopped crying... Not the best experience.

Lessons learnt:

1. Bf or bottle-feed your baby with milk during take-off and landing

2. Never leave unfinished beverages/food on the tray as you never know when baby may kick the tray.

3. Placing baby in the bassinet may not always be the best idea because when the seat belt sign is on, you have to hold your baby again... My baby was so frustrated for being awaken from her slumber. I remember I had to take her in and out 3 times, eventually I gave up placing her in the bassinet altogether. Having bassinet seat is still a good idea for more legroom as it is helpful when travelling with infant.

I won't elaborate further on our journey from Incheon to Penang. Generally coming back was much smoother.

Alright, that's about all I can think of for now. Feel free to leave a comment here if I miss out anything. I'll wrap up with some snapshots from our trip! No regrets travelling with my baby, it was so much fun!

Me and my cheerful baby!

Crazy for milk!

Oh yeah, somehow 90% of the restaurants I visited don't have baby chair. So I always go for those with floor seating

Bali Oct 2010

Never thought I would actually revive my blog, but here I am again. Thanks to a dear friend who encouraged me to do so. Well, gonna keep this with minimal personal stuffs and load u with info on my humble travel tips and pics. Hope u will find it useful.

Money matters

§ Rupiah is widely used in Bali, though some ppl may tell you to use USD, but rates may fluctuate and you may regret having some bad exchange rates for using USD. So my advice is, use rupiah!

§ Hubby & I allocated RM900 for 4D3N (excluding accommodation & transportation). With RM300 averagely daily, you will have just enough for semi-luxurious (not moderate, but semi-luxury, not bad oso lah) shopping/food/flexibility on spending. If you’re on a honeymoon trip and plan to do plenty of shopping, max luxury, everything max, then allocate RM400/day. Our friends all told us that we brought more than enough, but actually it was just enough…

§ Be aware of the last day airport taxthat you must pay CASH in rp (rupiah) during your departure from Bali. 150 000 rp/person. Prepare that money! J

Transportation

§ Cabs are everywhere. You can even rent bicycles/scooters/cars.

§ My suggestion: since you’re not familiar with the island, spend more for more comfort and less worries. Go for private driver! I recommend my previous driver to you, Wayan. Contacts:

bima_1974@yahoo.co.id

Tel: +6281 338 517 551

He speaks moderate English, and BM. Communication is not a problem at all.

§ We were charged 1 000 000 rp (negotiated rate) for a full 3 day private tour, with intermediate stops at anywhere we like, and suggested by tour guide in between spots in our itinerary for photography, sightseeing, meals, etc. Include: Petrol, parking fees, mineral water, tour guide accommodation.

Accommodation

§ Kuta - Range of the 2-3 stars hotel or B&Bs should be 30-35USD. For 4 stars hotel, ~50USD.

§ Ubud – highly recommend going for B&Bs than hotel, because the architecture of B&Bs is so much more traditional and cozy, just like what Ubud really is. Look for those located near paddy fields.

§ Lovina – rates in this town is relatively lower than most places. You can get a nice 3-4 star hotel at 30USD, or even lower if the locals help you get a good deal.

§ Tips:

If you already have a private driver, get him to look out for hotels for you, usually they can get better rates for you (pls do benchmarking online first). Plus they are more aware of places which has so called ‘territories’ where tour company A cannot step into tour company B’s territory. Hence if you accidentally book a hotel which is not of your tour guide’s territory, you will be obliged to take the tour packages (such as snorkeling, boat rides, etc) from the corresponding company.

Food

§ Crispy bebek (duck) – MUST TRY. I had mine in Sari Restaurant at Kintamani

§ Babi guling – it’s really something like ‘siew bak’ in Malaysia, but really famous all over Bali. Well, just try for the heck of it :P

§ Italian fine dining – there’s this restaurant in Seminyak (near to Kuta) where you can overlook beautiful scenery, great place for a romantic dinner. Ask your tour guide about it. Expect >RM120 meal for two.

§ Jimbaran seafood – WARNING: seafood here is really NOT CHEAP! We spent ~RM180 for 2, with 1 big crab, 1 big fish, 4 big prawns. Seriously, sounds kinda expensive, u can get this in Tambun for RM150.

Things to do

§ SPA – 2 hours for RM70 each. I went to Aruman Spa.

§ Go see dolphin if you go to Lovina

§ We went to Banjar hotspring… err.. seriously nothing much to do there lar… water is murky. I think Tambun hotspring is so much better!

§ Waterfall in Gitgit – we didn’t get to go, but seems like a nice waterfall, 80m high. Don’t compare with those in Silver Creek lah!

§ Sightseeing at temples. Uluwatu one is quite nice. Tanah Lot looks nice from outside, but there is really NOTHING inside. Since it’s a landmark of Bali, just go lah! Candi Kuning is a nice temple. My friend advised to NEVER EVER go to Besakih, NEVER!!!! Entrance fee is RM30, other typical temples are RM3-5 only. Journey is 3 hrs from Kuta, not worth it! Remember to bring Sarung if you are wearing anything above knee length. Else you can use theirs, but many ppl use b4, you may not like it. So try to borrow from your friends.

Places to visit:

§ It depends on your itinerary really. Your tour guide should be able to bring u to intermediate stops, so it varies from individual to individual.

§ Mine general itinerary: Kuta à Ubud à Lovina. For more details, kindly go through my albums in facebook. They have all the details of the places we went. Too many to mention here. U see the pics then you choose which one you like lah! My FB album on Bali starts from here.

Shopping:

§ Ubud market: Slash 80% from the initial price. If they say 100 000 rp, u say 20 000 rp. Then they say kenot, u tell them 25 000 rp. They may tell u 40 000 rp. If they still say kenot, just walk away, and you can get it for 25 000 rp. :P

§ Anywhere you go, get at least 70% discount for shopping. Just be street smart ;-)

§ Just keep all your shopping items into your bag so that they don’t see the plastic bag colors given by the previous stall owners. “This is a shopping tip in Bali: Whenever you buy something from the market, the locals will give you generally 3 types of plastic bag. Pink: Customers who don't bargain, Black: Customers who bargain reasonably, White/Black&White: Customers who bargain to the MAXX!!!”