Flying with Emirates

I have to say Emirates has very good service on board and also throughout check-in and transit. At least, the quality of their service on board the economy cabin which we were in was much much better than Singapore Airlines or Lufthansa (the only 2 airlines which I have flown long distance with a infant/toddler in tow).

My only grouse was, although the little one is below 2 years old and therefore do not need to purchase her own seat, she was too heavy for the bassinet which had a max weight of 11kgs!
We were very fortunate to have empty seats on our SIN-DBX and DBX-JFK route, so Miss K had a seat all to herself. That allowed her to sleep pretty well on both legs of the flight.
On our way back, we had a full flight for both legs, so, we had a really horrible time trying to make ourselves and our little one who has to  (and sleep) on our lap comfortable throughout the whole duration of the flight.

Dubai airport is neat. They have these free Maclaren stroller for toddlers 3 years and below. You will see it at soon as you walk from the aerobridge into the terminal. Very convenient for transit passengers like us.

They also have a transit lounge were passengers on transit (at least in Terminal 1) can sit and have some food and drinks (free of charge) and surf the net (free of charge too). One just has to show their boarding pass.

The range of toys and enterntainment materials for children on board the flight were also more varied. They had bagpacks, colouring and activity booklets, colouring pencils and these hand puppets:

Our collection of the little Emirate "friends".
We were hoping for a cow to complete the collection!

The air stewardess were also going around taking polaroid photos of the kids on board. We had one made into a little booklet (which I have no clue where it is right now, the hubs might have lost it!) and this one which was made into a photoframe.

All in all, very good service with a smile, two thumbs up for Emirates. My airline of choice for now.

My Todd and I in Manhattan

Although Manhattan is not the most child friendly place on earth, Miss K and I managed to fit in some sightseeing, some fun activities and of course not forgetting the many food stops for quesadillas and pizzas along the way.

Central Park was our No.1 spot. We love the lush environment, the cherry blossoms in full bloom, the different breed of doggies taking their walk in the park and of course the ducks and squirrels who made the park their home.

Cherry Blossoms in full bloom.

I stumbled upon this nice park for toddlers at West 68th Street. There are actually many nice playgrounds at Central Park. Should we visit NYC again, we'll definitely explore the other playgrounds at Central Park.

A little too much fun!

A visit to New York will not be complete without visiting the Statue of Liberty. A cheap (free of charge) and less crowded way to see the statue of liberty is by taking the Staten Island Ferry. We had a nice cinnamon pretzel and coffee while waiting for the ferry. Ferry departs every 30 minutes to the hour. It was a nice ferry ride to and back from Staten Island. Miss K was free to walk around the half empty ferry, went out to the deck to look at the low flying seagulls and admired the view within.
It was lovely.

Miss K's first ferry ride :)

A visit to Brooklyn Bridge was totally unplanned. However, I was glad I got lost while taking the subway, hence ended up at the oldest suspension bridge in USA. It was a really HOT day in Manhattan the day we visited the bridge, too hot to walk the length of the longest suspension bridge in the world!
It was also on the bridge when we saw two NYPD helicopter flying really low, circling around while patroling the city. Yes, the heli kept the little one occupied throughout the 30 minutes walk along the bridge.

A very hot day, little one in a bad mood.

On the day we got lost and ended up at Brooklyn bridge, we got lost again on our way back and ended up at Wall Street where the NYSE is located. A place with high security, not interesting for the little one, however, this picture is just for keepsake.



I'm quite glad to say that this trip is actually not ALL about shopping, really!

Shopping for the Toddler in USA

Alright. I told myself that I will practise self-control when it comes to buying clothes for my toddler, but in USA, one just can't help but to shop, shop and SHOP!

If you were to compare prices of Gap, Old Navy, Gymboree and Pumpkin Patch with those you get in Singapore, it is about half the price!
So, which are the shops on sale right now?

I found out that in New Jersey (where I am right now) there are no sales tax on clothing items! Their goods tax is 7%.
(In USA, different states has different taxes on goods. There is no such thing as "GST-free" shopping here)
New York City is 8+%.

Quite dissapointed about shopping for myself - Their XS is like our 'L' back home. So, to date, I only bought A BELT. How dissapointing. I need to spend more money visiting those boutique stores that carries clothing for 'smaller built' people. Normal high street stores are just way out of my size.

No more clothings for today, I need to visit Babies 'R' Us, Walmrt, Target etc and stock up on California Baby products and other necessities.

My Todd's Travel Diary at 19 months

We have been very blessed with opportunities to travel.

Miss K started her air travel when she was 6 months old. We went to Berjaya Hills (Colmar Tropicale) at Kuala Lumpur and then up to Penang by budget airlines Jetstar and AirAsia.

Review on Airasia (SIN-KL-PEN):
Short trip from Changi T1 to Malaysia was rather comfortable.
Stroller was retrieved at the gate when we disembarked the plane.
Milk, water and snacks for infant were allowed on board the plane.
I had to ask for an infant seat belt else am not sure whether I will be given one.

Review on Jetstar (PEN-SIN):
I was given an infant seat belt as soon as I entered the plane.
Air stewardess came to make sure I was familiar with the usage of the infant seat belt.
Drinks and snacks for infant were allowed on board the plane.
Stroller was retrieve only at the baggage claims belt.

At 14 months old, I brought Miss K to Europe and we endured the 16 hours (with 2 hours transit) flight to Berlin. We flew with Singapore Airlines, which was supposed to have the best service in the airline world. However, we did not get very good service then.

Review on SIA (SIN-MUN):
No food for infant until we enquired about it. Food selection (only a choice of 2 types of baby food) arrived after 15 minutes. Took another 30 minutes to heat up baby food. By that time the food came, baby has already fallen asleep, hungry.
Requested for hot water and air stewardess courteously asked for bottle so she could fill it up.
Bassinnet was given as soon as seat belt signs went off. Extra blanket and pillow were also given.
No toys for baby.

We then took Lufthansa for our Munich-Berlin-Munich leg before flying over to london.

Review on Lufthansa (BER-MUN-BER-LHR):
Suprisingly very good service (Travelled form SIN-MUN-SIN once and it was a bad experience)
Baby was given a toy as soon as we board the plane.
For one of the leg, she was also given a cloth book in addition to the toy.
Air stewardess were very friendly with baby.

We took SIA back from London to Singapore. The crew for this flight was much nicer. Service was prompt. Miss K was given a blue soft toy and there were more choices of baby food on board.

It was a pretty smooth ride throughout, just a little struggle to get Miss K to fall asleep on the plane and instances when I had to carry her out of her bassinnet when we flew through turbulence zones, the rest was pretty manageable.

Tonight, we will be flying off to the United States via Dubai on Emirates.
With my 19 month old who is already showing signs of the Terrible Twos, I guess I have to wish myself Bon Voyage a hundred times over.