Luggage,baggage

I’m jet lagged, my first time blogging in the middle of the night @ 3:30 am. So i’ve decided to share how i packed. When you have a baby with you, you will definitely will have extra baggage.

Are you feeling like this at times when you’re packing? I’m sure you do especially with the ladies and when you have a baby it gets worse. Each time when i travel, i try to think ahead and see if i’m planning to do lot of shopping, which usually is the case we, what the heck am i saying. Do excuse me, it is after all 3:30am . Anyways, i always try to pack half of my luggage size. Most people will use a wheeled luggage of some sort. Do you know what size is your luggage?

I’m going to use Samsonite as a reference so that it’s easier for people to roughly know what i’m talking about. Samsonite is available everywhere and you can always compare the sizes when you need to purchase a extra suitcase or just any suitcase. Each brand comes in different sizes, but it’s just 1 or 2 inches apart.

Samsonite family

The picture above shows the most common sizes of luggages. The biggest one is 25″, then 20″ and cabin size. As i was saying, i usually try to pack half of the size in the luggage so that when i buy things i will have the space and it will be nicely filled up. Having said that, also take into consideration the location of your trip. If you are traveling in the summer or spring it should not be a problem cause the clothes are light and not bulky. When it’s winter it is a little bit more challenging, but it can still be done. These days, life is so much easier with the 4 wheel luggage. You’re just walking with it alongside, don’t even need the strength to drag. Invest in a mid range brand so that you can ensure that the quality is there. The last thing you want to happen is your bag’s wheels die on you on your trip o_O Samsonite is a high end brand, therefore it can be pretty expensive but there are lots of mid range brand out there with good quality.

Pack wisely, how to do that? I’ll be sharing some tips that worked for me and i hope it will work for you too.

Know what you need and how long you’re going for.

I’m pretty sure everyone has gotten into this situation some how. I sure did. If you are packing for winter, you really need to think about what you need first. Always bring a thermo top and bottom it will help you save space from bringing too much super thick sweaters, and it’s also a must have for winter. A zip sweater is also very important. You can always wear something thin inside or as a extra jacket for those super cold days before wearing your coat. My favorite, anything that has fleece in it. Fleece is the best thing that can keep you warm and cozy. I always have a fleece sweater to stand by for those cold icy days. My personal favorite is a fleece zip sweater with a hood A 2 in one For winter you can’t afford to pack extra cause it will take up too much space. Maybe 3-4 light sweater (cause you already have your thermo) 2 pair of jeans, 2 t shirts some accessories like gloves, scarf, ear muffs, hat and a reliable winter coat. I would also recommend to invest in a good winter coat. It will take you longer than you think. At the same time a good winter coat can keep you warm and you don’t need to dress as heavy so you get to save space. Everything else you can mix and match along the way. Who knows, you probably bought some new stuff already . I just hate it when i’m not dressed comfortably when i’m out. I’ll be cold and just want to find a warm place and it’s irritating. If you have the right items, you’ll be ensured that you will be warm throughout your trip. Especially if you are going to be outdoors. Don’t you just want to enjoy the view rather than rushing back inside?

When packing:

• Do not over-fold your clothes (sweaters can be pretty thick after folding it properly,  just fold it twice so that it’s still flat)
• Do not pack your shoes together (put each one of them in a separate plastic bag. It can be stored either at the corner so that it can be place at an angle (for boots) or at the outside pocket of the suitcase (this is only for suitcase that has a big open pocket at the front, not the flat ones)
• Don’t pack your accessories or anything that comes out thick (ex: toiletries: separate them and store it in the small areas around the suitcase)
• Another option is to roll your clothes(recommended for spring/summer clothes, not for winter one because after rolling it’s still thick)

The key thing is to pack as flat as possible so that you can put more things. Otherwise you’ll end up like the picture above. Also if you are using a small bag and try to pack more things that you can actually fit, then you better think again, it just can’t happen. That is why you should always think ahead and have at least a rough estimation. When i travel, there’s no harm in having extra space in my suitcase at all.

Are you overweight?

Each airlines has a different baggage weight and dimension guidelines, check your airline if you think you might be overweight. The charges can be very pricey.

How did i manage my scary baggage o_O without going overweight

I had to be creative when i have so much things! (we caught a lot of attention, lol)

I certainly did not believe that i’ll be coming home with this much baggage. I have 2 26″, 1 cabin size and a duffle bag for spare when i went to Toronto. I bought so much of baby Berry things that i had to buy another suitcase. I purchased a Samsonite 20″ and i’m glad i did. This is what i mean when i say don’t try to pack more things than you can because you just couldn’t. Even though i’ve estimated that i’m going to shop but I didn’t realize it was going to be so much. So i had to resort to buying another suitcase. I was going back and forth whether i should buy a new suitcase because i was worried that i was going to be overweight. Hubby checked with the airline and confirmed that we can have 5 checked in suitcases because we have a baby. Also for carry on as well. With a baby you do get perks like that and they do over look small little things. We had over weight carry on (11kg when the limit is 7kg) and they let us through albeit with a warning

Of course with 5 checked in luggage there’s a high chance we would go over the limit.  Hubby put each bag on the scale and see how much it weigh. Usually you may end up around 3-4kg over the limit. What we did is just open up your bags and redistribute the weight evenly. This comes in handy when you packed but at times you won’t know until the bag reached the scale. Something so small and no one ever realized this is how it’s done. Weighing the bag again and voila! just nice not overweight. Another thing they will also weigh your carry on and you can do the same. Sort things out evenly, notebook, camera, etc can be heavy when they are all together.

Somewhere over the rainbow…..@ Jersey, Saint Helier

Let me get this clear, I’m talking about Jersey, Saint Helier not New Jersey in the States ^_^

Better known as The Channel Island.

2 Rainbows at 1 time? How lucky can i get? Quickly took my camera and snap snap.

It was a cold drizzling weekend some time in December 2009. We stayed at Liberty apartments, situated at Esplanade at the heart of town centre over looking the marina. It was really windy and cold we decided to talk a walk… what were we thinking?!  But i’m glad we did.

Love the place that we were staying. Hubby was send there for a project for 3 months and the office is just right next to the apartment. On top of that we are just 5 mins walk to food, shopping area. Jersey is a very small island so there’s only 1 shopping area.

It’s a tax free place. So a lot of companies will open a office there cause it’s tax free. Especially countries near by like, London. It’s about 45mins flight from London.

I really enjoyed the service apartment we stayed in.

Liberty apartments double room, living area.

I especially love the kitchen. Feels like one of the Ikea showrooms kitchen I made breakfast every morning, lol i can’t believe it.

The room was really cozy. King size bed with a lcd tv in front. The curtains are blackouts, you can sleep forever in there. It was great for me at that time, i was pregnant and needed rest. Felt so tired all the time. I basically slept almost all day. I wake up around 8am make breakfast, hubby go to work by 9. I watch a little tv then i would dose off. Then hubby would come back and take me for lunch around. 12:30pm. Finish lunch around 2, watch more tv then i’ll have a nap. By the time i wake up it’s around 5. It’s already dark. In the winter it gets dark around 4+ and the shops close around 6pm. Of course it’s even colder at night.

This is the toad, if you don’t have a picture of the toad you didn’t go to Jersey. None of us had a picture standing with the toad. It was always too many people there and it was either too dark when we got there. Imagine this we pass by this toad everyday and yet we didn’t manage to get ourselves in it.

I love how their buildings look. It’s heritage like but newly painted.

There were Christmas decorations everywhere and we even saw some caroling over the weekend.

Can you find his face? If it wasn’t for that leash… i would have ……. ^_^

How can i resist such nice red strawberries! My favourite.

Tried some blueberries, love them! Bought some cranberries too, unfortunately it can’t be eaten raw so had to throw them away.

Mont Orgueil Castle protected Jersey for 600 years before the French invasion

Later on it became a prisoner’s castle.

Unfortunately we didn’t go inside because i was pregnant and at the same time the castle was closed. It’s bad aura to go to places like this when your pregnant. I’m not superstitious but who knows it can get kinda scary inside, it’s super huge. Never know what you might see or don’t want to see O_0

Don’t you just like the tree branches. Usually see some fake ones here, lol.

Sun is setting….. hmm i think it was only 4pm.

Hubby went there first for 2 months and i told him to take some pics. Usually he’ll just take pics of places and none of them he’s in it. So this time i told him, make sure there’s YOU in it. This is what he came back with. “There i’m in it”

This is one of his works. What the hell is that? Hubby if you are reading this please let me know what the heck is that.

After staying there for weeks, finally just 2 days before we leave there’s snow.

Up in the air fluffy clouds, next destination….

Looks like it’s snowing in Paris.

Oh Paris!

The Eiffel Tower.

Our trip to Paris Dec 2009 just a few days before Christmas. It was a extremely cold winter.

The Louvre Pyramid in Paris, France, in the court of the Louvre Museum, is a 20.6 meter (about 70 foot) glass structure which acts as an entrance to the museum. It was designed by the American architect I. M. Pei and completed in 1989. It was seen in Davinci Code movie.

Outside of Louvre Museum.

Louvre courtyard

Inside the Louvre Museum was the Mona Lisa painting. It’s protected by bullet proof glass and a security guard beside it and tons of people crowded to take a glimpse of the painting. This is the best picture i can get.

Beautiful ceilings inside the museum.

and….

A lot of nudity paintings and sculptures. It seems that back in the days the Italians, French & Spanish painters embrace the human body a lot.

The famous Notre Dame Cathedral. And there’s no hunchback there

Inside Notre Dame. It would be lovely to have a church wedding there. They have the longest aile.

The streets of Paris.

So long for now, will put up more pics later.

Till next time…

Our next vacation!

Vacation

The Land Of Famous Ipoh Chicken Noodle With Beans Sprouts

When you are in Ipoh must have…. famous Ipoh chicken hor fun (noodle)

Smooth tasty chicken…… makes me hungry just looking at it.

It is well known for it’s smoothness. You are suppose to eat it with the chicken and bean sprouts.

Famous beans sprouts. They are shorter, crispier and juicier.

Closer look, hmmm yummy! I can eat the whole plate by myself

There are so many places you can find Ipoh hor fun in Ipoh. But this is one of my personal pick which is call Cowan Street Ayam Tauge And Koitiau which is of course located at Cowan Street. It is just off the road of Hotel Excelsior. By the way it’s only open at night. Whenever you drop by the land of grace, this can be one of your destination for food. But if you are looking for chicken noodle during the day, there is another one near by Cowan street as well. Just a few blocks away, at Theatre Street, you can find another popular tourist chicken noodle, Low Wong and Onn Kee. Low Wong is open for night time only as Onn Kee is open for lunch and dinner and the kopitiam is air conditioned.

Happy eating, till next time…

Few of my favourite things from Malacca

Satay celup! What can i say, some of you might think it’s lame but i like it. Nothing beats food on a stick in a spicy peanut sauce. My favourites are foo chuk and yul char quay. It’s like a sponge that soak up all the sauce

Another one of my favourite choices are prawn and cockles (see hum)

Dip it in for a few minutes and ready to eat. Some people might find it not hygienic but why are you thinking when your eating Just eat it!

One of the most popular food in Malacca is the Chicken Rice Ball. Personally i don’t really enjoy it. I guess cause i come from the town of chicken noodle don’t really find the chicken appealing. But i do find the rice ball appealing. Ya everyone gotta try and eat rice in a form of a ball ^_^

One of my must have in Malacca is cendol! Very popular Jonker Dessert at Jonker Street. It’s usually very crowded with people on the weekends and holidays.

Not only it’s popular for it’s dessert you can find the shop is decorated with antiques all around.

typewriter is real.

Old shops usually have a fake upstairs.

They have lot’s of choices for cendol on the menu. Not only they serve cendol, there are 2 other stalls that serve Baba laksa and goreng goreng (fried stuff)

We order one regular cendol and one with durian. Some sort of dry noodle and some goreng goreng.

Cendol is a must have. I just love the Malacca brown sugar, yum! If you don’t know what’s cendol, it’s the green thing that looks like a worm. It’s not as disgusting as you think. Cendol in a whole is crush ice with big red bean, cendol, brown sugar and some coconut on top.

When i look at this table and chairs it’s what they use in a kung fu movie.

What’s on Jonker Street? Chinese clogs. I don’t know why but they are lot’s of them.

You will also come across fancy trishaw around the streets

Hmm….

Caps made of Coke and Pepsi cans.

Not sure what this is but i thought it looks kinda creepy.

This wall is popular for wedding shots. I saw it in a couple of bridal shops.

Along the streets…

The Jetty. It’s behind Holiday Inn hotel. It goes far out and they have pubs, and karaoke in the vicinity.

Time to sign off…

Till next time…

Of Cabbages And Condoms…

How is cabbages and condoms related? Cabbages are a common food in Northeast Thailand, in fact they are a staple part of the diet, they are grown in all villages, there are everywhere and everybody uses them. Now, if condoms could be as common and used as often, then some of the population and health problems facing Thailand could be overcome. Let’s take a journey inside the restaurant.

Source Cabbages and Condom (background)

The restaurant is located at Soi 12, Sukhumvit Road, Bangkok a little lane next to a hotel.

There’s a souvenir shop at the restaurant.

Flowers are made of condoms. You will see decorations within the restaurant decorated by condoms.

Rather interesting…

Santa condom and his lovely beach girl condom. You can see everything is made out of condom, creative.

From the entrance onwards i was just snapping away like some freaky tourist. Can’t help myself So how does the restaurant actually look like…..

I was so surprise on the set up, it’s so pretty. I pick to sit outside, great ambience. Luckily that day was not too hot and they did a good mosquito fogging too.

I think upstairs is the smoking section.

They serve traditional Thai food with some Western food. Well.. most visitors there are tourist. Didn’t take any pictures on the food cause i order typical tom yum and pineapple fried rice. The food taste pretty good. In Thailand if you eat local food, it’s pretty safe. I enjoy Thai food and pretty much stick to the same type. Pricing is slighty more expensive than outside but still affordable. Example: if a tom yum cost 180 Baht outside it would cost 250 Baht here.

Last but not least, this is Condom man. It says made from contraceptive pills.

When you pay the bill they will give you condoms for souvenir. They gave me & Peking duck a red and a blue one. It’s a place you should pop by whenever you pay a visit to Bangkok.

Don’t forget to be safe!

Till next time…

Scaring ourselves in Ipoh

During my best friends visit, i took them to the land of grace, Ipoh. Our first stop was at Kellie’s Castle.

If you never heard before about Kellie’s Castle it is well known for being haunted. How haunted is it ? Well i’ve heard stories but don’t how true it is so it’s better off thinking it’s just another tourist attraction. Kellie’s Castle (sometimes also called Kellie’s Folly) is located near Batu Gajah, and is about 20 minutes’ drive from Ipoh, Perak, Malaysia. The unfinished, ruined mansion, was built by a Scottish planter called William Kellie Smith. According to differing accounts, it was either a gift for his wife or a home for his son.

Source wikipedia

There are notices around the castle asking you to be careful. They didn’t have the notices few years ago. I guess now by putting the notice it makes the castle scarier.

This is the famous corridor. It is believed that Kellie’s spirit still wonders about at this corridor in the night. Careful when you take pictures at night here! You might see something you don’t want to see…..

Popular movies stars from Hong Kong like Leon Lai and Shu Qi has filmed in the castle, in fact in this very room.

This is the stairs to the basement and it’s pitch black. It used to be a wine cellar… a lot of people gets freaked out walking down here.. I don’t know why.

The girls were making their way down i am just right behind them. Moment later… AAAAAAAAAAAH!!!

SNAP! And there they were, running out of the cellar shouting. This is taken in the pitch black wine cellar when she extended her hand to snap the picture then ran screaming out. I thought what happen?! GOTCHA! all of us started laughing. Thinking back about it.. makes me laugh again! Haha!

Signs like this within the castle gives you the creeps. As if something will happen.

But nothing happened. *whistles*

On the roof top, girls be careful now… you jump i jump! ^_^

This is the last place we snapped pictures and we’re starting to feel hungry so off we go to stuff our face!

To be continued…

Journey To The Grand Palace, Chao Phraya River & Temple of Dawn, Bangkok

The Grand Palace (Thai: พระบรมมหาราชวัง, Phra Borom Maha Ratcha Wang) is a complex of buildings in Bangkok, Thailand. It served as the official residence of the king of Thailand from the 18th century to the mid-20th century.

Source Wikipedia

If you ever stop by Bangkok, Grand Palace is a place you would not want to miss. Tonnes of picture opportunities!

The mythological giant yak, some sort of a guardian to the Thai culture.

Look at the structure, impressive.

Within the palace complex are several impressive buildings including Wat Phra Kaew (Temple of the Emerald Buddha), which contains the small, very famous and greatly revered Emerald Buddha that dates back to the 14th century. The robes on the Buddha are changed with the seasons by HM The King of Thailand, and forms an important ritual in the Buddhist calendar. Thai Kings stopped living in the palace around the turn of the twentieth century, but the palace complex is still used to mark all kinds of other ceremonial and auspicious happenings.

Source: Wikipedia

What do you think? Kinda creepy if you ask me.

There are hallways with paintings. This is one of them, and the paintings tell a story.

On the way out…

Chakri Mahaprasad Throne Hall in Grand Palace.

The Grand Palace complex sits on the east bank of the Chao Phraya River. The other approaches to the palace are protected by a defensive wall of 1,900 metres in length.

There are different types of boats you can take at the pier. Some are tourist boats with a guide and some are for locals. All at different prices. We took the local boat, it’s just like taking the train. There’s a map provided and you can just stop at whichever pier you wanted to get off at…………………

You can see people using the boats to travel up and down the river.

This is our stop Tha Tien. From here we are taking another boat across the river. Ya the boat just moves across the river which cost about 3.5 baht per person (about 35 cents).

This is Wat Arun, better known as the Temple of Dawn.

The outstanding feature of Wat Arun is its central prang (Khmer-style tower). Steep steps lead to the two terraces. The height is reported by different sources as between 80 m and 86 m. The corners are surrounded by 4 smaller satellite prangs. The prangs are decorated by seashells and bits of porcelain which had previously been used as ballast by boats coming to Bangkok from China. Around the base of the prangs are various figures of ancient Chinese soldiers and animals.

Source Wikipedia

You can see the Grand Palace from Wat Arun and that’s Chao Phraya river.

I enjoy all the sight seeing when i was in Bangkok. Their architecture is exquisite. Now i understand why some of their shows are impressive just like their buildings and its details.

Thailand's Floating Market

Damnoen Saduak (Thai: ดำเนินสะดวก, lit. Comfortable travel) is a district (Amphoe) in central Thailand in the province Ratchaburi. The central town is most famous because of its floating market held every day till noon on a khlong not far from the district office. However as it has become a prime touristical attraction of the Bangkok vicinity the market lost its authenticity.

Source: Wikipedia

We were shocked when we heard that the best time to visit the Floating Market was 7-8am. We were tired from our daily tours from one place to another and now we have to wake up… factor in time for breakfast, about 6am?! And it’s going to take about 1 1/2 hours drive to get there. After much deliberation, we decided to go for it and try to nap in the cab if we’re still sleepy. We booked a cab to get us there. The next morning, I guess our cabbie drove quite fast because before we knew it, once we open our eyes we were at our destination. Feeling relieved and stretching our legs, we got down from the cab and walked to the dock.

We were served with free coconut juice but we were afraid to drink it. There’s no such thing as free lunch, and after our previous experiences, we were wary of such unwarranted niceties; we didn’t want to consume anything before finding out their prices. Basically the trip is a boat ride along the canal. After finding out the price for the boat ride, and paying it, only then we felt comfortable enough to drink the coconut juices .

Right after we took off from the dock.

Wooden stalls along the canal selling souvenirs. Remember to bargain if you want to buy something.

We made a scheduled stop at a coconut sugar farm on the way.

This is how they process the coconut into sugar. It is similar to how people make palm sugar.

We bought a pack of the coconut candy.

It has peanuts inside and it’s very tasty.

Moving along…..

Finally we arrived at the market. As you can see all the wooden stalls are selling mostly souvenirs here.

When we get to the main market, we see some boats selling fruits and other snacks.

Pinocchio is not exactly very cute here. I think the puppets looked a bit scary.

My friend bought a coconut tree lamp made out of coconut and I bought a pair of lazy cats in a lying down position.

Some of the boats were selling food and fruits. We bought mango and ate it along the way.

The whole trip took about 1 1/2 hours. It was a interesting experience. There’s so much things to see and how people live their lives. We saw an old lady taking a shower, ewwww… did she look at the water?! I’m glad we made the decision of waking up early for this visit. It is quite extraordinary.

After that we head on to the elephant ride nearby.

We were riding on this, be sure to have an elephant driver/guide. Some dude blog about his experience when he was in Thailand riding on an elephant without a driver and the elephant just went his own way. Since the elephant trek is in the jungle, the elephant will stop sometimes to pick on some leaves to eat. What goes in must come out….

That’s the elephant my friend is riding on and her elephant needs to pee and take a dump in the middle of the ride. It’s like a running tap, haha! We saw it taking a dump too.

Mr. Cool here is posing for us to take a snapshot.

Overall it was a nice experience. Since we started early in the day, after the floating market we head back to Bangkok and took a ride on the Chao Phraya River and visit Wat Arun, Temple of Dawn.

Till next time…