Breaths of our sweet lives - Wayne and Amanda!

Saturday, October 13, 2012

Sawadee-ka Day 2

Day two!

The lobby was so pretty we just had to take photos

Favorite photo of the husband and I

At the entrance of our hotel

Heading out

Started the day with a slow breakfast at Dean and Deluca just down the road from our hotel. (Yes, yes another imported brand but hey, the Singapore outlet was always full!). We made ourselves comfortable in a window seat facing the main road to people watch although there was nothing to watch except for pink taxis passing by. Their fascination with pink!

Dean and Deluca, Bangkok

Pretty chocolate lollipops

Buying our breakfast

Croissant, sandwich and wraps to share

Window seats without a view

We next reached Platinum Mall at close to noon and shopped for two and a half hours, which is really short as some of my friends told me they were able to spend the entire day here. I was all ready to lug a big bag home but unfortunately had to settle for a much smaller shopping bag. I started panicking after walking half the first floor and not seeing anything to buy! But as we walked on, I managed to find some good buys. The higher up the shopping mall, the better the quality of clothes got. Tried a bit of bargaining - from 730 to 700 baht for our passport holders but after all the effort we realised that was only $1.20 in Singapore dollars! Haha oops... so not worth the effort.

Platinum mall

Shopping heaven for both the locals and tourists

Pretty bags

Cute passport holders for me and the kids

At the taxi stand, my bag of loot was the smallest. Gold standard were those carrying 'china bags'. Impressed. Still, mine contained 3 belts, 4 bags, 3 t-shirts, 4 passport holders and a handphone pouch. All for about 3,000 baht, which translates to about S$120 - good deal?

Such a small bag.. the husband 'posing' again

This is how your shopping bag should look like

Ronald saying Sawadee-ka too

Street food everywhere. Didn't dare try any of them, afraid our spoilt and sheltered Singapore tummies wouldn't be able to take it.

All over the city - Street food

While waiting for a taxi, we were somewhat amazed by the different transportation available - BTS, taxis, tuk-tuks and even motorcycles (wow!). The motorcycles offering transport services are identified by the vests donned by the rider (in pink!) and basically just brings you anywhere for an agreed charge just like the tuk-tuks. Not something we have in Singapore.

Tuk tuks - remember to agree a price before hopping on!

The Thai's just love pink!

Had to rush back to the hotel for a pumping break. We ordered room service and tried their Phad Thai and chicken wrapped in pandan leaves which was decent but no where near fantastic. Wasn't expecting too much from hotel food.

Phad Thai

Next stop was to Plan Toys for the kids. Just had to get something for them. We went to the headquarters only to find it closed. We promptly headed to Central World, another shopping centre, and were delighted that there was a sale with some toys up to 50% off. The husband and I got so excited. Decided that there would be too many things to buy (good deal!!) and because we didn't have enough time today (we had to squeeze in a pump break, go for dinner and had a massage appointment at 8pm), we decided to drop by tomorrow instead so that we could take our time to slowly choose which toys to buy for Wayne and Amanda. Missing my two little ones very much.

We then had dinner at Home Kitchen, a local Thai-Chinese restaurant recommended by our hotel's concierge. It was supposedly a place frequented by locals. The food was mediocre. Disappointed.

Our massage after that made up for the average dinner. Divana is a local Thai spa and it was beautiful. Much pricier than Healthland but it felt more like a spa rather than just a massage outlet. At Healthland, although the massage was divine, the environment was more basic. Divana gave you a spa feel with the beautiful garden greeting you as you step in. It also had a whole range of spa products which made you feel pampered just by looking at them and trying them out. Although the massage here was also considered very good , I preferred the massage at Healthland just that little bit more. Huakai on the other hand preferred the one here, I guess it is all dependent on individual therapists. But no doubt, the massage skills in Singapore pales in comparison to both massages we had here.

Local spa chain - Divana

Beautiful garden entrance

Divana's own range of spa products

Choosing our spa treatment

We opted for Aromatherapy again!

In the couple suite

Dessert and tea after the massage

Ended the night missing the kids a lot. My mind was constantly on the kids, wondering what they were doing this Saturday. Another two days before I see them! Meanwhile, more shopping, good food and one more massage tomorrow night before we head home!

Friday, October 12, 2012

Sawadee-ka Day 1

After 3 months of continuous poop cleaning and diaper changes, mommy and daddy are hopping on the plane without both kids for a short getaway (Hello Romance!!! Hello Bangkok!!!).

Will I miss the kids? Definitely!!!! I remember going to Hong Kong when Wayne was 6 months and ended up pretty miserable missing him. I was so attached to him, perhaps being a first time mommy. But now I think I am able to handle being away from my two precious darlings much better. Who knows, I may enjoy the break so much that I see myself on the plane to USA the next moment! Haha, we will see.

We took a 740am flight, arrived at Bangkok and headed straight to the hotel - my boobs were bursting after having not expressed milk for 8 hours. How did I survive!!

Our hotel, Oriental Residences, was fantastic. This trip was to be a relaxing, chill kind of holiday, so it was important we had a nice hotel room to come back to everyday. I knew I could leave it in HK's good hands - he is after all the proven hotel search king, always finding the best hotels on all our trips. Extremely happy with our home for the next 4 days. The service here was immaculate and the decor simply beautiful. Absolutely loved the one bedroom suite we stayed in.

Hotel lobby

Reception and lounge area

Kitchen

Living area

Dining

Bedroom

Bathroom

Thailand's famous mango sticky rice

The hotel was a ten minute walk to the BTS station, though initially I felt it was not necessary as taxis were so cheap (and I would rather much not walk!). But I soon found out otherwise when we encountered massive jams, where traffic was literally at a standstill. What would have been a short taxi ride would have taken us more than an hour in the massive traffic. That was when the BTS brought us to our destination much quicker.

Even with taxis, location was still really important for this trip - because I was a lactating mommy! Not ideal for going on a holiday as I had to express milk every 4-6 hours but it beats not going anywhere. So our days had to be planned carefully and we saw ourselves traveling to and fro our hotel a few times a day just so that meimei gets her milk supply. A hassle but anything for my sweet princess.

First stop for the day, was for lunch (we were famished!) at Siam Paragon. We went to Four Seasons at the recommendation of Ben, our hairstylist who visits Bangkok yearly. Initially when I realised that it was a Chinese restaurant from London, I was like "I'm in Bangkok, give me my Tom Yam Kung and Phad Thai please!". But after one taste of the Four Seasons roast duck I totally understood why Ben said it was the best 'shao ya' he has ever eaten! It was the best I've eaten too!! *Salivates*. Immediately after that meal, we decided we had to come back for the roast duck once more before we headed home.

Mouth watering!

At Siam Paragon, everything was of brand names, not Bangkok shopping material, but I still managed to buy a top for Wayne and some lingerie for me (the selection was too huge to resist!). We also had Krispy Kreme and Starbucks coffee, and by late afternoon, we already felt more relaxed than we had in a long while.

We next had a taste of how awesome the massages in Bangkok were. It is not for nothing that everyone raves about the massages here and have it in their must-do list for any Bangkok holidays, cos it really was the best massage I ever had!! We opted for the Aromatherapy massage at Healthland. We were randomly being assigned therapists, but their skills were just so good it didn't matter. I like my massages relaxing but yet with pressure applied and that was exactly how it was. The 90 minutes was the best ever, it felt like all my tired muscles were being kneaded away, with me halfway in lala land. And it costs just 850baht. Can't find that in Singapore for sure!

So after being put in a state of total relaxation (plus oil), we made our search for Baan Khanitha for a nice authentic Thai dinner. Our journey there was a bit of a hassle as traffic was bad and two taxi drivers refused us. One tried to 'katuk' us by charging a flat 400 baht when it would probably have been less than 60 baht going by the meter. And both tried to redirect us to another 'very good' Thai restaurant nearby, which would probably earn them some commission and leave us 'katuk-ed" by the restaurant. Thankfully, we made it to Baan Khanitha and had our sumptuous dinner.

Baan Khanitha

By ten in the night, we were back in our hotel - we were exhausted from having just three hours of sleep the night before, but we ended the night happy and satisfied. More to come!!

3 months and counting

Dear Amanda,

As you turn three months old, mommy feels all warm and fuzzy as I look back on the last month we have spent together.

You really are every bit our girly girl, as daddy told mommy this morning 'his heart melts when you smile at him'. Yes, you are really that sweet when you are in a good mood and spend your time just smiling and 'talking' to us, both of which you have started to do a lot in the last month. You can go on and on with your baby talk, which makes you absolutely adorable. And this mostly happens in the morning, when you are in the best of moods.

But when you are in your grouchy mood, be it from not being able to fall asleep or from being hungry, you really are quite a terror. Everyone knows how scary your cries can be.. You really do scream your lungs out. That's something mommy really hopes you will stop doing... will you?

At three months, you have also started playing with your saliva! We almost suspect you have started teething with that amount of drool you produce. Kor kor had his first tooth at 5 months, would you be any earlier? Or are you just being playful?

On play, you seem to really enjoy the company of your musical cot buddies. At times, you reach out your hands as though to touch them and other times, we catch you talking to them when we leave you in your cot alone.

You are able to lie in your cot by yourself sometimes up to an hour, usually after a feed. And when we check on you periodically and you catch sight of us, you would frantically wave your arms and kick your leg in excitement, with your bright shiny eyes lighting up, showing us how happy you are to see us. You want us to stay by your cot and talk to you. Sometimes, you flash your megasweet smile at us, and momma can't help but stay by your side although I was supposed to leave you to fall asleep on your own. Which is some thing mommy is quite proud of you - falling asleep by your own in your cot.

Tummy time is still a struggle for you. You do not like it and do not hesitate to show mommy that by screaming after just one or two minutes on your tummy. However, even without tummy time to strengthen your neck, your neck is getting quite firm already and we have progressed to facing you outwards while in the carrier.

Perhaps not surprising as you are really quite big now, weighing 7kg at three months old. Thanks to the amount of milk you drink, at about 140-150ml every three hourly.. We have also upgraded your teats to the "M" flow as well as diapers to the "M" size this month.

On night feeds, you continue getting up only once in the middle of the night around 3 or 4am depending on the time of your last intake.

As with the second month, you have been going out a lot with mommy, meeting various friends for lunch or simply just window shopping with mommy. Most days you are a good girl when outside with mommy, drinking and sleeping without much fuss. Car rides are however a different story. You do not enjoy being strapped in your car seat and when the car stops, you cry your lungs out. Even kor kor knows and would often go "Mei Mei you cannot cry.. The car has to stop as the traffic light is red in color".

Wayne is still the darling kor kor that he is, loving and 'protecting' (in his words) you all the time. Mommy loves hearing him talk to you and you seem to enjoy his interaction with you every bit as much too, which warms my heart. Mommy is so grateful for the both of you.

Continue growing up well Amanda, mommy, daddy and Wayne loves you abundantly. You really bring so much joy to us, sweetie, and you are so so precious to us.

With all mommy's love, happy turning three months old.