my cheeky lil’ manj

Happy 10th Month Baby Manj!!

We’ve added yet another nickname into the Sage-tionary

“Manj” – short for “Manja”

For those who do not know what this means – it’s a malay word which is usually used for people (adults more often than not) who want to be pampered or mollycoddled

For more interesting Singlish words, check this Singlish Dictionary here

To round up the month, We’ve had quite a few adventures

1) Diwali came and went – but the catered food from Gayatri will forever be in our hearts – not to mention the Appam and Prata served up fresh from the prata uncle’s sizzling prata pan =) mmmm

Thanks Krishnas!!

2) Welcome 2 Taiwan – we did it – we survived our first overseas family trip! for those looking to bring their lil’ ones on a “not so short but not so long” holiday (because Malaysia / Thailand is too near and Australia is too far), I would highly recommend Taiwan as a destination

The place is baby-friendly TO THE MAX – we had people helping us with the strollers, jumping up to offer their seats to us on the train, random aunties wanting to play / entertain Sage, priority baby-queues, diaper changing stations pretty much everywhere… (and the list goes on and on)

I’m a believer now — indeed – “Welcome 2 Taiwan” 

The flight time was only 4 hrs – and thankfully Sage could still fit the baby bassinet (probably her first and last time – as we had a few flight stewardesses ask us if she was indeed less than 10kgs ……. ) so we made sure we took many photos to remember this by – here’s one (would also like to point out her awesome t-shirt)

Bassinet Baby

I really ought to write a separate post on traveling to Taiwan with your baby…

But in case I don’t (which probably is the case – just managing expectations here – as you all can see, I’m the occasional blogger)…

Here are Bulbie’s Top 5 Tips on How To Travel With Your Baby

i) DO travel with your baby – 50 sgd round-trip plane tickets are hard to come by – seriously.

ii) You will probably feel so exhausted you want to go home within the first 2 days of arriving – you are not alone. Do not be ashamed / guilty for feeling like that (I would like to believe it’s normal especially if you are a working mom and mumnesia has set in and you no longer remember what it’s like taking care of your baby 24-7). The experience is worth it – I don’t believe I saw much of Taiwan at all – truth be told. But worth bonding with the Bub (and Hubs) for sure

iii) DO bring many many MANY MANY different toys for your baby to play with on the plane (a screaming kid on a plane is never funny – be it a 1 hr or a 20 hr flight) – we ended up passing Sage our plastic airline cups and containers to keep her occupied (thank god Eva Air provides plastic cutlery!!) – and no, flash cards are not toys (nor are they treats)

iv) DO overpack for the baby – toys, extra diapers, snacks, shoes (yes we lost a shoe in Taiwan – sadness), stroller (we had the longest debate on whether or not we wanted to bring a stroller as it basically means you have one less pair of hands for another luggage – but when in doubt – trust me – BRING IT! Unless you are happy to lug some 10 kgs of big lovin’ E V E R Y W H E R E, I do suggest you spread that lovin’ around – with a stroller.

In any case, you can convert the stroller into a moving play area too – so the baby can stay entertained while you visit museums – and when they get bored, they just sleep in it, and you pull the shade over – very nice)

Of course, bring the light-weight ones like Aprica / Combi etc etc, not the Bimmer of baby strollers like Quinny – unless you intend to jog with your baby while on holiday (?!)

Sage, Scarf, Stroller

v) DO splurge in a bigger hotel with more space and a nice big bath tub – you will need it to let the lil’ one crawl / run / crawl and run / splash around to tire them out

By 8pm every night, we felt like we had no more energy left – but the Sage was still ready to boogie on. So we had her crawling around the hotel room (try not to think about how dirty the carpets are – desperate times call for desperate measures)

4) Family Photos!

We are aiming to take family pics annually. Will post a couple of pics soon =)

5) Reading:

We’ve taken to reading parenting blogs these days – here are 3 interesting ones we discovered this week:

10 Common Mistakes Parents Make

Importance of Family Culture (if you have time, read Clayton Christensen’s How Will You Measure Your Life?)

On Privileges

6) Horrific Black Friday / Cyber Monday Shopping

Actually, it was too horrific and stressful I don’t really want to talk about it anymore

Well that was a long round-up

Til’ next time!

xoxo

B

p/s: O M G Sage just woke up – at 2am in the morning! help