Was informed of some personnel changes at my previous
workplace. Honestly, I wasn’t quite surprised by the movement, and I bet my
last dollar my previous boss wouldn’t be too pleased that his position is the
only stagnant one. Haha. Also found out today that a former working partner is
joining Bu$ Plus. A pity we didn’t have a chance to work together, nonetheless
I feel happy for his upcoming challenge.
Work is just picking
up for me this year. Planned a monthly schedule. Managing projects. well. At the same time, feel grateful for the
flexible work-life harmony that my employer provides. Have considered seeking
an internal transfer but considering the comfortable environment now I guess
I’ll stick around for at least one more year and assess my options along the
way.
So Arsenal ended the season piping Tott to 2nd
place on the last day (thank you, Newcastle). Apparently it was Arsenal’s
highest position in many many years, but also their least points tally in 4
years. This statistic doesn’t ambush the fact that it was Arsenal’s best chance
to win the domestic title, and they only have themselves to blame for it. Oh
well, what’s new.
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Have we really been to Taiwan, is a question my wife and I
have been asking ourselves. The last we checked, yes we did.
The 5 days felt
surreal – every moment our minds were constantly on baby’s well-being hence we
didn’t totally feel at ease like we would if on our own. Thankfully baby
doesn’t mind sitting inside the baby carrier and can sleep quite well in it
(thank you, tula). This made our travelling less taxing except that
front-carrying a baby takes away the joy of eating street food. Nonetheless, I
am glad I managed to have my customary bbq parson’s nose, smelly toufu, pig
blood and ah zong mian xian and overdose of iced milk tea/papaya milkshake.
Also discovered a few good stuff like the braised eggs (@tian tian li), goose
noodles and dumplings in xmd!
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| Yay, on board SQ! Pleasantly surprised with the excellent service. |
Encountered a few hiccups on the last day. We had planned to
shop at wu fen pu, however it poured and we pretty much stayed inside our hotel
room. Secondly, felt distraught when we realized we didn’t bring enough milk
powder! Had to walk 15 mins to Carrefour to realize they don’t carry Nan Pro
(which yx has been consuming since day 1)! Paced up and down before finally
deciding on EnfaPro, thankfully baby didn’t reject it phewwww.
Minus the above hiccups, on the whole we didn’t regret
making this trip, we really enjoyed the quality bonding time and upgraded
ourselves in terms of changing diapers outdoors. Visibly, baby also had a great
time as she was goo-goo-gaa-gaa-ing all the time in our cosy hotel room. She
behaved like her normal self throughout the plane journey too! Managed to
finish a couple of movies and eat meals in peace (whose quality has degraded,
sadly for SQ).
My humble travelling tips for parents with a baby (7-8 months old, not mobile yet):<8 her="" mobile="" months="" not="" o:p="" on="" own="" yet="">
1) Pay more for a comfortable hotel (spacious, clean, quiet)
that is located within walking distance of the MRT station
Our hotel was situated within xmd shopping area (2 mins walk to MTR). Needless to say, everything was accessible and convenient – Watsons, pharmacy, shopping, restaurants, street food, departmental store etc. Apart from its wonderful location, this hotel was highly recommended by friends due to its age (opened just a few years ago), cleanliness and that it supplies Loccitane toiletries!!!
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| This is only 40% of the room. babywyx also enjoyed the huge and comfy bed! |
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| The other 40%. Look at that trendy fridge! |
When you are traveling with a young one, you would pay a little more for comfort and convenience, and that was what we received. For $221 a night, we requested for the biggest room available. Gosh, were we surprised, for the bed was gigantic (bigger than King size!) and there was even a separate living room area plus an additional sink and smart TV! The latter was ideal as if either of us was using the bathroom, the other could still have access to water (to wash bottles, boil water, change diapers etc). The separate living room proved to be useful too, cos when baby has slept, we relaxed and watched cable and ate supper…
Contrary to its website descriptions, the hotel also provided complimentary breakfast that was really not bad! 3 choices available (Western, Chinese or Japanese).
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| Enjoying supper in the living room after baby has fallen asleep |
2) Don’t skip the solid food
We brought jar food along for the trip. However, baby didn’t really take a liking towards the one on the plane so we thought we’d just feed her milk for the 5 days. Bad idea! Due to the lack of solids, her poop turned watery and mashy and resulted in more trouble cleaning her up. So, our advice is, don’t skip the solid food (or bear the consequences).
3) Don’t be overly ambitious in your daily itinerary
Unless you have super fit, agile and experienced, plan your daily itinerary such that you return to hotel every 3-5 hours. Or perhaps if clean nursing rooms are plentiful outside. We just found it a chore to change nappy outside. When we lay her on changing stations elsewhere, baby can recognize unfamiliar surroundings and would start wailing. Making and feeding her milk was manageable if we find ourselves a good resting spot. Hours of baby wearing toiled on my shoulders and I developed shoulder ache after a few days. So yup, have more rest back in your hotel if you can!
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| Konked out on the GIGANTIC bed after tiring herself |
4) Keep your baby close to your body
Babies garner attention everywhere. In Taiwan, the locals gave praises readily and some attempted to touch/play with baby. Keep your baby close to you (we kept her in the tula always) to make sure you can act/react in time if they try anything funny. Better be safe than sorry, you know.
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| Babywyx in tula (so that she keeps her limbs to herself, hehe) |
5) How to bathe baby?
How to bathe baby without our regular bath tub? We have
an inflatable bath tub but it would take up space if the air isn’t fully
released when we return. DING DONG DAISO IS THE ANSWER – bought a big tub for
just $2 and checked it in our luggage. It is functional, lightweight, comes in a variety of colours and did its
job. No more questions.
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| Enjoying bath time (in the Daiso tub!), meddling with the taps and everything else she can lay her hands on |
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Looking forward to our next holiday(s)!
