**Super lengthy post ahead**
Hello Parents!
It’s so comforting to finally be home and get back to the routine after 11 days of travelling with the kiddos who require our attention 24/7.
Now that we have settled down, I can spend some time blogging and sharing my experience on our recent family trip.
Memorable? Definitely!
Enjoyable? Yes pretty much
Exhausting? Without a doubt!
Will I do it again? Of course!
Wednesday, 06 December 2023
We flew to HK on SQ896, departing Sgp at 14.40. We let Isaac have his first nap in the morning and left house at 12 pm. Reached the airport, checked in and still had plenty of time to clear immigration and security screening.
Brought Isaac's favourite book to read before take off (It's really quite challenging getting the kids to sit still)
The flight turned out to be quite pleasant. The kids managed to fall asleep even before take off.
3 hours flew by and we finally reached HKIA in the evening! Took a taxi to our hotel. We stayed in Auberge Discovery Bay Hong Kong, which is quite close to the airport.
Ordered in-room dining as it was close the the kids' bedtime. Fed Isaac ready made porridge for his dinner, followed by milk before bedtime and that wrapped our first day!
Thursday, 07 December 2023
We visited Disneyland HK again. Weather was pleasant but it was so crowded and sunny! (sunblock was really important).
Got our tickets from Klook so we did not have to queue to purchase the park tickets but we still needed to queue up to enter. It was quite a line!
I stayed with Isaac most of the time while husband and our friend explored the park with Callum. There was no baby friendly food for Isaac so I fed him ready made porridge again ( of different flavours)
Look at how happy they were, exploring the park with a box of popcorn in hand :)
We did not take many rides, as expected. The only ride that we took was the slow moving boat in "It's a small, small world". Still a great ride, tbh. Callum and Isaac enjoyed it so much!
Tho, along the way Callum got overtired and had quite a meltdown.
We had sushi dinner at a nearby plaza while Callum and Isaac had their hot bento. Our dear friend was kind enough to share some ingredients to cook for Isaac's next day's lunch.
And just like that, our second day in HK was over!
Friday, 08 December 2023
Woke up earlier in the morning to prep Isaac's lunch. Simple Broccoli and potato soup with white rice.
Then we headed for the supermarket to check out what's in store. The grocery prices are pretty much similar to Sgp but eggs are expensive! We also checked out some diapers as we just brought a few pieces from Singapore and also milk powder, in case we did not have enough.
Oh! and we got a new electric lunch box cos the one we brought from Sgp broke down for no apparent reason after the first cook.
In the afternoon, we headed to Ngong Ping 360 and Big Buddha
If you are visiting Ngong Ping 360, don't forget to try out the famous beancurd!
Saturday, 09 December 2023
We were flying to Okinawa on HK Express at 15.50 so we had plenty of time to prep meal and get packing in the morning. This time round was sweet corn and egg soup with rice.
Thankfully Isaac had his morning nap while husband brought Callum down to the plaza for a walk. It was very challenging to have 2 kids in a small hotel room without them disturbing each other.
When Isaac woke up, he and Callum had their lunch. Once done, we washed them up, got changed and checked out of the hotel. Flagged a cab and headed for the airport.
Check in was smooth and we bought checked in baggage in advance (since it is a budget airlines)
<Check out this reel about our experience flying with HK Express for the very first time.>
HTML Link :
https://www.instagram.com/reel/C0qwQ9QyV_y/?igshid=MTc4MmM1YmI2Ng==
Flight time was about 2 hours and I was soooo shagged entertaining these 2 as they just wanted to stick with me :(
Not to mention the huge tantrums that Callum threw in the airport that caused us to receive unwanted attention from passers by (just because of dry skin *faints*)
Reached Okinawa at about 7.30 pm local time and we had to take taxi to our hotel which cost us S$100++ as it is located away from the main city. The ride to our hotel took us about 45 mins *cries*. Btw, we stayed in ANA Intercontinental Hotel Manza Beach.
This was a big mistake that we learnt - we should have booked a hotel in the city (Naha) as it would save us transport cost and it's closer to the airport.
We had to return to the airport the next day to pick up our rental car so staying in the city would be the best choice. Lesson learnt.
When we reached the hotel, it was close to 9 pm, kids were super tired and cranky.
Quickly checked in and settled the kids down for the night. But the saving grace is that the hotel is nice and big enough (considering it's a Japanese hotel) to accommodate all of us.
What a day!
Sunday, 10 December 2023
Had breakfast in the hotel (there was a huge selection of delicious food!) and we headed to the airport to pick up our rental car.
This was my favourite breakfast, purple sweet potato noodles!
Headed out and it was a nice breezy sunny day. We loved it! We took pictures in front of a chapel , near our hotel.
Took the airport shuttle bus from Onna to Naha International Airport. The ride cost us JPY 1600 per adult. Kids ride for free. It took us about 1 hr to reach our destination but we really enjoyed the bus ride and was thankful that Isaac did not make any noise as he had his first morning nap during the bus ride. Same for Callum.
When we reached the airport, we then transferred to a shuttle mini van bound for the rental shop. They have dedicated lanes and they will double check and confirm your reservation before allowing you to get onboard the vehicle (They would not want to ferry wrong passengers 😅)
We rented from Toyota rent-a-car and the service was good. The waiting area was huge with so many sofas (luckily, there was noone when we reached so car collection process was smooth and quick!) The vehicle was clean and in good condition. We also requested baby car seats for the boys (additional charges applied).
After collecting the car and ensuring that everything was good, we headed to the nearest AEON NAHA for lunch and I had one of the best CURRY UDON! ( I am not a big fan of udon, yet i finished the whole bowl of udon- either I was famished or the udon was simply good! *slurps*)
After lunch, we headed to the supermarket and bought some ingredients for next day meals for the boys. I totally love Japanese supermarket. They have a lot of fresh ingredients and many cooking ingredients cannot be found in Sgp.
One of the main cooking ingredients that I must get was dried scallops because I was intending to cook soup for the boys and look at how much a packet of dried scallops costs (JPY 828 or about SGD 8 for a small packet!) There are only 5 big pieces in a packet and 1 is enough to season the soup. We also bought cut sweet corns to save the trouble of cutting the corns cos I did not have any kitchen knife with me.
one scallop as big as 50cents coin
Legit, no kidding. There were only this much of 'gold' in a packet.
(fyi, check out my Instagram story highlight under ‘Travel Tips’ to find out hacks on peeling and cutting your cooking ingredients😉 I pretty much shared everything in my story highlight 😀 or you may DM me personally to ask 😀)
Ingredients we purchased for the day.
Once done shopping, we headed to the arcade for awhile before heading home. One thing we learnt when travelling with LO is to take it slow and to accommodate to them. It's ok if we are unable to explore many places , afterall it should be a stress-free holiday!
And just like that, our second day in Okinawa is wrapped :)
Monday, 11 December 2023
Prepared tofu and potato soup for the boys' lunch. We put it in thermal flask and brought it with us!
What's this fruit, for real?
One of the most anticipated days in Okinawa because we were visiting the famous Okinawa Churaumi Aquarium to see the famous whale shark!
It was about 40 mins drive from our hotel to the aquarium.
There were so many different species of fishes that we've never seen before and those really intrigued the boys.
Admission Ticket price is JPY 2180 per person ( kids enter for free, again!)
Callum asked me what's this thing that's sticking on the glass panel.
I said sea urchin lol! I had no idea what that was and I didn't manage to read the information board.
I am just gonna post a couple of pictures of my fav fishes hehe!
We spent about 2 hours in the aquarium (we would have spent more time had we not have kids lol) then we moved on to our next destination, which is AEON NAGO to have our dinner (the closest AEON to the aquarium)
Dinner set that I shared with Isaac
Unfortunately they did not have baby chair in the restaurant so I had to sit next to Isaac and hold him (Most restaurants provide baby seats, don't worry!)
After dinner, we brought them for arcade kids rides. They loved it!
And we wrapped the day with the famous Okinawan Blue Seal Ice cream. This is Cookies and Sea Salt Flavour. Yums! 😋
Thank you for reading! ❤️
Loves,
Jane
<to be continued...>
