We Heart Bangkok

Long overdue post detailing our by now infamous (at least among our circle of friends with young children but who have yet to dare scoot off on a holiday WITHOUT them) Bangkok trip.


4 days 3 nights in a swanky Marriott suite in the heart of Bangkok.

4 days 3 nights of non stop shopping and eating.

4 days 3 nights of doing absolutely whatever we want, whenever we want with no schedules to adhere to.

4 days 3 nights of absolute freedom from the incessant demands of 2 precocious kids.

What complete, unmitigated bliss...



And yet, the night before we were supposed to leave, i was having 2nd thoughts. (See post on breastfeeding Thane for the last time)



How were the kids going to cope without me?

Who will police them in drinking their daily copious amounts of water?

Who will make sure that every inch of every tooth is brushed every night?

Who will make sure that they dont stuff their faces with junk?

And who will be there for them if they miss us badly?



I know hubby was all ready to berate me for wasting his time and money should i pull out from our couple trip at the last minute, so i bit my tongue and quelled all my fears about leaving the kids behind.

I could hardly sleep that night, disturbed by nightmares about the kids injuring themselves/falling very sick/choking/getting lost/getting run over by traffic cos no one was watching them...yeah i was that paranoid.

You couldnt blame me right? This was the 1st time in almost 5 years that we have actually left their sides for more than a couple of hours!

Of course i was apprehensive!



To make matters worse, my baby started to develop a runny nose the very night before we were supposed to depart.

Talk about the kids always succeeding in sabotaging our plans huh...

Here he is, a little sick but still cheeky as usual

And so, the very next morning, we carted everyone off to my mother in law's house , 2 hours before we were even due to check in.

Hubby called for a cab to the airport and with nary a backward glance, plopped himself in the backseat.

Me, my heart broke when Terelle started crying. I wanted to cry myself and almost wanted to ask hubby not to go after all.

Callously, hubby dragged me into the cab (a move which i would thank him for later) and demanded that i get a grip and that they would be fine without us.

We did eventually make it up the plane, but not before me insisting to call home like twenty times (all in the space of 3 hours before takeoff)

As soon as we landed in Bangkok, the shopaholic in me could not resist the lure of the intoxicating city and my worries over the kids began to fade.

OK i was determined to make the most out of my 4 days of freedom!!

And so, all we really did was eat, shop, rest, swim, have massages, read, watch tv...in no particular order and then eat and shop some more. By the end of the trip we were thoroughly sick of shopping...and i NEVER get sick of shopping...ha...

Waiting for the train to take us to Chatuchak

Oh yes, we totally heart Bangkok!

Hubby totally satiated and outside the public toilets at the weekend market

He said that the toilets were so clean that they put to shame any one of our public toilets back home. Says so much about our society huh?

Shopping in the sweltering heat

The Bangkok traffic - i love the colorful taxis!

Carting home the spoils from the market

Having dinner at the Suna Lom Night Market

Our sumptious and authentic Thai food

Lunch at a hip joint in the heart of the city where we caught up with an old friend

Silly me was too fascinated with these noodles (aptly named Complicated Noodles) that i forgot to take pics of our little lunch party. Gah!!

And what's a trip to Bangkok without risking life and limb on a Tuk Tuk?

Look at our loot! 80% were stuff for the kids - shows how much we missed them! Haha!

The beautiful infinity pool surrounded by the tall buildings dotting the city

Lazing around by the pool

When the time came for us to leave, i was eager to return home, for the first time! Usually i will be very reluctant to end a holiday and will glumly drag myself back to the airport. This time, i was looking forward to seeing the kids cos we really missed them over the 4 days.

Thanks to pragmatic hubby who had the faith that the kids would be fine without us, who actually dragged me onto the plane and who limited my calls home to only twice a day (think without him, i would have called home every hour), i truly enjoyed our very first trip away from our 2 monkeys.

More to come? Hell, yeah!!

This time ill have utterly no qualms about leaving the kids behind!!

Our "romantic" getaway

We are jinxed - by our kids.

What was supposed to be a romantic hotel stay to celebrate our 7th wedding anniversary in June got postphoned 3 times cos all of us took turns to fall sick.

Finally the room was booked over the past weekend and hubby and i were looking forward to spending some quality time together - at last...

And then....

The morning we were supposed to leave for our staycation, Terelle woke up with red, itchy and watery eyes.

Alarm bells rang in my head.

That's it, I thought, there goes our weekend plans. AGAIN!

As she had no other symptoms, Hubby dropped her off at school as usual, only to have her form teacher call me an hour later ordering us to take her home, cos her itchy eyes were bothering her.

We quickly brought her to the gp who diagnosed conjunctivitis and prescribed eye drops.

Time check 1145am.

We still had time to get her sorted out before we set off to check in at 2pm.

Optimistic, we brought her home, administered the eye drops, put her down for her nap and waited for Sis to arrive so we could scram.

To our dismay, she woke up screaming half an hour later, complaining that both her ears were painful. I figured it might be an ear infection so we rushed to the pd immediately cos the gp was by now closed.

Sure enough, pd diagnosed it to be an ear and eye nfection and we were sent home with one eye drop, one eye lotion, ear drops and an anti viral medicine.

By now, our friend was getting increasingly whiny and clingy, it was as if she knew we were going to sneak off!

We were only able to extricate ourselves at 6pm, and checked in at the hotel downtown at 645pm. The idyllic afternoon of shopping, movie and eating that i envisioned just went up in smoke.

We felt uneasy leaving the poor sick gal at home so after a hurried dinner, we drove home again to check on her. Went through the bedtime routines, administered the truckload of meds, gave instructions to helper, sis and dad to call us if her condition worsens in the middle of the night; we finally went back to our supposed "sanctuary" at close to midnight.

Luckily there was a 24 hr TCC nearby to offer some grub and comfort to 2 weary souls.

Comfort food at 2am

It was pretty fun sitting by the sidewalk and gawking at the trannies doing their rounds near Shaw Towers - some of these man chicks were really hot!

The next day, we were determined to enjoy ourselves for a bit.

After repeated phonecalls home, we were satisfied that the kids were still alive without us, so we headed out for a nice dimsum brunch and a leisurely look see at the new ION orchard.

It was EXTREMELY liberating traipsing around town without having to negotiate escalators, staircases and throngs of people with 2 strollers and 2 demanding kids!

That night we had a nice peaceful dinner with the Liews and caught up with old friends over supper.

It was bliss - no schedules to follow, no whiny, demanding kids, no frazzled nerves. It was just us back to pre-kids days, having fun and hanging out with our friends.

Us as we were in the past, not us as parents, as we have inadvertently become.

And although the kids were fine without us at home,

(Thane actually slept through the night without waking up to nurse!

He went without breastmilk for 1.5 days!

Terelle's condition didnt worsen!

Both ate well, slept well and didnt miss us one bit!)

we came back the next morning to fetch them back to the hotel.

Having dinner on the toilet while keeping an eye on the kids in the bath

Can parenthood be more diligent than this?

So there you are, our so called romantic getaway.

We firmly believe we are jinxed. Cos everytime we set up something fun for ourselves or just go out for a couple of hours' break, we'll come back to some calamity involving the kids. Or are we such bad parents that we do not deserve breaks at all?

Hubby thinks this is what transpires between the kids whenever they sense we are going off somewhere without them.

Terelle: Hey pipsqueak! Mummy and Daddy are sneaking off tomorrow.

Thane: Har...does it mean we have to make ourselves sick again?

Terelle: Ya lah, of cos! So isit ur turn or my turn this time?

Thane: Your turn lah! The last time u made me lick the raw meat and i had gastroenteritis for a week!

Terelle: OK OK...so what shall i come down withthis time? Flu? Fever? Baluku on head?

*Out comes a spinner on which is written a myriad of illnesses and injuries. They spin it*

Terelle: Awww man! Conjunctivitis?? Damn its uncomfortable you know!

*Proceeds to touch the toilet and rub her eyes*

Thane: *sniggering* And u think having diarrhea for a week is comfortable??

Plausible, dont you think?

As i write this, im so missing my lazy, hazy saturday already. I really wonder when we can have another break...a proper, guilt free, incident free one...

Sigh...

Kids if you are able to read this now, its payback time!!

Homeward bound!

Day 15 - 22nd October 2006

After a gruelling 14 days, for the daddies and mummies at least, we are finally going home! Usually i will be a little sad at the end of a holiday, and definitely reluctant to leave the country to go back to mundane Singapore. However this time round, i was actually quite happy to be going back home to rest my exhausted, aching body. And i guess everyone else also felt the same way...

Goodbye Monsieur Phillipe and his minion, Arnaud

Just as we were about to board our plane, there was an announcement that the flight would be delayed for an hour. Now why didnt that come as a surprise at all? We have all become immune to the constant delays that we had to endure throughout the past 2 weeks. Sigh...

Nevertheless, the girls managed to charm this adorable 8 year old French boy who was taking the same plane as us. He was so smitten by them that he came over to where we were sitting and refused to leave their sides! He kept carrying them, hugging them, singing to them and lavishing them with kisses! Whoa..they really have a way with French men!

We're bored!! Can we go now??

Finally after much waiting again...we were good to go!

Because it was an afternoon flight, the girls were bouncing off the walls in the plane. They jumped on the seats (or rather Terelle did), walked up and down the aisles, snacked non stop, yakked with each other, watched dvd after dvd...

Help Terelle! You're squashing me!!

Only this could keep them in their seats!

Yippee we're going home!!

All in all it was a memorable, albeit tiring 2 weeks and a holiday of such proportions with 2 babies in tow definitely didnt come cheap. Many of our friends and family members have challenged us by saying that it was a waste to have brought Terelle on such a trip as she is so young and wouldnt be able to remember anything.

I beg to differ...as you see her entire face light up when she sees something she has never seen before or hear her squeals of joy when she is up close and personal with nature or just watch her as she revels in simply being out and about in different surroundings, all the tiredness is worth it and the money is well spent. And i believe these imprints will be with her for a lifetime.

To paraphrase those Mastercard ads: Holiday with kids - $X. But a lifetime of memories - Priceless.

Chateau de Versailles...Opulent and Obnoxious

Day 14 - 21st October 2006
Today's the last day that we'll be running around Paris, and boy are we glad! After 2 weeks our shoulders have become numb from the weight of the overflowing bags and wriggling babies.

Today's itinerary is a visit to Versailles, the official residence of Louis XIV. Everyone was simply gushing over Versailles and told us that a visit to Paris wouldnt be complete if we didnt see it, so in spite of the constant ache in our battered bodies, we braved the half hour train ride out of Paris to view its reputed magnificence.
Apparently it was so grand, so luxurious, and so expensive to maintain that its upkeep and maintenance, including the care and feeding of staff and the royal family, consumed as much as 25 percent of the total income of France!

But then again...almost everything in France is excessive...

Thankfully the queue was bearable when we arrived so we got into the Palace itself rather quickly. However, we were a little horrified when they told us that strollers and even the baby carrier werent allowed inside. How were we to manage 2 crazy toddlers, who were bent on getting their hands on everything, while trying to explore the extensive palace grounds??

In front of the main facade of the Palace

Well too bad for Louis XIV then! We wont be held responsible for any damaged piece of history, his modern day staff had confiscated the very contraptions we had that could restrain our inquisitive babes!

It was heaven for the girls! There were so many things to see and touch and destroy!!

Kings and queens once held court before this fireplace...and what are the girls doing there?

Playing their favourite, row row row your boat!

While their mummies played the part of the wide eyed tourist to great effect!

Some views of the opulent interior, including the chapel (top left) and the bedchambers of the king and queen

Kara making herself at home and hoping to jump onto the huge 4 poster bed

At the heart of the Palace is the Galerie des Glaces or the Hall of Mirrors; it is located between the Peace Drawing Room and the War Drawing Room. It is a spectacular hallway that contains 357 mirrors, placed in seventeen arcades that match seventeen windows on the opposite wall. These mirrors were of an unprecedented size for that particular era.

Louis XIV had also ordered that the benefits of his government be painted on the ceiling; his painter had him appear as a Roman Emperor, a great administrator of his kingdom, and victorious over foreign powers.

If you ask me, this room simply screams narcissicm! Paintings of himself on the ceiling and mirrors everywhere? Just an excuse for Louis XIV to constantly admire and remind himself how great he was!

The Galerie des Glaces

This section of the Hall of Mirrors was undergoing restoration, but the chadeliers still cast dancing lights all around which lent a rare but surreal atmosphere to the otherwise supercilious surroundings

The largest formal gardens ever created in the grounds of Versailles

At the end of our tour, both the girls had fallen asleep in our arms. We were right at the other end of the Palace, so the guys had to go back to the entrance to retrieve the stroller and carrier, while Evon and I waited on benches at the exit.

When they returned, a snooty guard nearby informed them brusquely that strollers were not allowed in the Palace and that if we wanted to load the babies, we had to do it outside in the cold. Come on, we were like just 3metres away, couldnt you bend your thoughtless rules just a little and spare some consideration to the sleeping babies? The stroller definitely weighs much less than your 80kg frame and if you think you're not making a dent in the precious Palace's floor, why should it??

In the end, we just ignored his ramblings and Caleb wheeled the stroller right past him. We loaded the babies slowly, all the while shooting the guard dirty looks and making sure he knew that we were NOT HAPPY with his attitude. After all, it was our last day in France and we were quite fed up with the Parisians' (some of them) uppity attitude and their efficiency at getting things done, if at all.

I forgot to mention that in Paris, in the hierarchy of privileges, babies are ranked below dogs. Why do I say this? Because when we were outside a cafe along Champs-Elysees and the girls started to climb the steps up into the premises, we were stopped by yet another snooty waiter who informed us in condescending tones that babies were not allowed. We were stunned and incensed when just at that moment, a woman with a dog in tow jauntily sauntered inside.

Perhaps that is why the guard treated us the way he did at Versailles. Perhaps it is an unwritten rule that concessions are not to be given to babies, ever!

We were oh so angry...including Terelle!

Us feeding the girls on the train ride back..they were obviously NOT ENJOYING their food...

I dont blame them, 2 weeks of mushy and tasteless jar food is definitely not appetising!

We headed to St Lazare for some last minute shopping. It was another busy town with tons of people and large department stores.

The flurry of activity, just outside the train station

Figuring out the route to a mega sports store

We didnt buy anything in the end cos everything was just too expensive. As we debated on where to go for a good dinner to round off our holiday, the girls were busy taking the store apart.

Terelle finally helping to do some serious research for a good restaurant, probably cos she was hungry too!

We didnt want to venture far as we were all drop dead tired so we decided to try out this little eatery near the Metro. We were pleasantly surprised when we found out that they served authentic Parisian food and even had baby chairs!

Tucking into a sumptous feast...

...while the girls had a rolling good (bread) time!

And leaving a mess after it all

Somewhere in Paris, among the restaurant circles, we believe we have been blacklisted; because our kids made a huge mess by throwing rice, crayons and papers on the floor, smearing food on the baby chairs and even leaving their artistic imprints on the walls.

Dont track us down please...we are truly apologetic...

Traipsing around Paris once again...

Day 13 - 2oth October 2006
After the awful experience we had with the Parisian train system yesterday, we decided to sleep in today, to rest our bone weary souls and recharge a little, instead of rushing from point to point again.
We set off from the hotel at about 11plus. after a satisfying brunch of Macs, croissants and cup noodles! 1st stop of the day was the Louvre, which we didnt get a chance to visit the week before. After all we had travelled half way around the world, we had to see the Mona Lisa if nothing else!
And what exactly do the girls do in a world renowned museum? Nothing less than monkey business of course!

Kara: Hey Terelle this is blocking our way! *pant pant* im trying to move it...

Terelle: Why dont we just climb over it instead??

Phew! That was some workout! Lets just lie here and watch the world go by for awhile!

All of us were definitely not art aficionados, so most of the sculptures and art displays were lost on us. We basically had just one aim; find Mona Lisa and get out of here! Imagine what a true art connoisseur would think of us - Utter desecration of the world's penultimate art museum!

We had a good laugh over this sculpture though...

Now lets get the measuring tape out so its a fair comparison!

Man in blue: *surreptitiously checking*

Sculptures and more sculptures...*yawn*

Alas, photography was prohibited in front of the Mona Lisa. It wasnt a great loss actually, i think she has been photographed enough already; there are pictures of her everywhere!

I was rather disappointed with the actual painting - she was much smaller than expected, and if u ask me, she didnt really knock my socks off. The painting was dark, she wasnt exactly a beauty and that seemingly beatific smile just seemed to be mocking the viewer. It was as if she was saying "Ha ha came all the way just to see me eh?"

So it was goodbye Louvre after that, dont think we'll be back again in this lifetime!

Us wishing we could take a nap in the stroller too...

Tummies rumbling again, we headed towards a nearby sandwich stand for a quick bite in the Tuileries Garden just next to the Louvre. On the way we caught sight of rows and rows of black and white flags that werent there the 1st time we were here! They must have held some significance for being so stark and devoid of color, however we didnt know who to ask for an explanation.

The girls had fun chasing the pigeons in the gardens while we had our jaw breaking sandwiches, they were so hard i think they would have made a dent in the ground had we thrown them! I was absolutely mortified whenever our jumping, kicking and squealing girls sent a huge flock of pigeons fluttering. Birds are just gross, with their beady eyes and nasty droppings and beaks ever ready to sink into ur flesh... i just abhore them, no doubt about it!

Admiring the Obelisk in the Place de la Concorde

Even the statues echo our sentiments regarding the girls' antics!

Sights on the way to Champs-Elysees

The highlight of the day - shopping along Champs-Elysees! Finally no more boring old and musty museums, hello glitz glamour and plastic money!

This way please!!

Our girls got into the action quickly too!

Louis Vuitton...They start young!

The guide book suggested a tea break in this quaint little cafe called Laduree. Evon and I snuck in while the guys were lost in a sports shop. The cakes were simply adorable, each piece painstakingly handmade with love. But they definitely didnt come cheap! The hubbies were not willing to spend good money popping beautiful cakes down their throats so we had no choice but to just take pictures and drool over them...sigh...

This little boy was drooling over the biscuits that Terelle and Kara were eating so we graciously offered him some!

Mummy!! Stop giving away my biscuits!

Satisfied with our buys, we all trooped back to the hotel. And what better way to end the day than with piping hot chinese food? Back to the trusty old Chinese restaurant!

And here's Terelle looking out for Kara, she's helping her with her bad hair day!