We’re back! Decided in the end to not bring the netbook so was off the internet for 3 days! What joy… hehe.. It was a good ‘test’ trip. Am prepared for the longer flight coming this Nov. Packing will be … horrible.. This was only for 3 days and it was a looong process. Imagine for 2 weeks! ack
Slept past midnight and was up by 6 to do some last minute packing. Mister berry slept in a little longer to ready his 3 day workout with the munchkin. Munchkin slept up to the moment we were ready to leave for the airport.
still asleep at 6.45am
Poor boy… Woken up early in the morning to have his clothes and diaper changed. Swarmed by popo with her kisses of goodbye. He was pretty much still very blur til we arrived at the airport. “Oooo.. new place.. New things to see! So many people to stare at!”
The other half of our travelling party
3 bags for 4 adults, 2 children and 2 babies for 3 days, 2 nights
Kung Kung insisted on parking the car and sending his Toby off. Due to some technical problems with the ticketing, he had about 30mins to carry his grandson instead of the usual 5-10mins
Kung Kung fulfilling his daily quota of Toby time
Spent time in the departure hall til the very end. We were the almost last to board the plane! :p
Mucking around at the departure hall
Due to the technical problem, the two families didn’t get to sit together. So berry family 1 was somewhere in the middle of the plane while berry family 2 sat on the first row. (Oh the privileges of traveling with an infant! *grin*) Asked.. well, more like kinda ‘told’ the lady we were sitting with that Toby would be breastfeeding on takeoff. A jet setting Kindermusik parent advised me on how to fly with a baby. Her uncle’s a ENT doctor. Breastfeed a baby on takeoff and from the start of descent. Don’t breastfeed, bottle feed.. I think that’s the cause of many babies crying away on flights. Discomfort in their ears. It bothers adults.. What more babies?? Munchkin slept after his morning feed. Basically he was attached to me, totally knocked out, throughout the flight. From takeoff to touchdown. So that was a very good first flying experience.. A good, extremely SHORT flying experience.
Boarding pass? check!
touchdown KK!
A looong and BO filled car ride later, we arrived at the infamous 1Borneo. Don’t think I’ll go back there again.. Well, not anytime soon anyways.
More waiting.. This time at hotel lobby
A staff at the hotel saw me taking pics of Toby. He offered to take a family picture of us. We sat and Toby was ready. Looked at the camera. Obviously not a photographer used to taking pics of babies.. Worse, DSLRs.. Counted 1..2…3! Of course by then the munchkin had enough of looking at him. What’s funnier was that at the count of 3, the staff member didn’t press the right button. A colleague of his who was standing by his side had to “help” direct his finger to the shutter button.
First impression of Grand Borneo Hotel, “man… the room’s small!” Loved the colour scheme of browns and neutrals though. The highlight of the room, KING SIZED bed! With King sized quilt. Our next MUST buy. We had space.. Lots and lots of glorious space. Especially with Toby co-sleeping with us. And you’ve seen how he sleeps.. All spread out! (So, anyone wants to buy our bed? Queen sized Ikea wooden frame bundled with the mattress.) We were all looking forward to the hotel swimming pool. Indoors with a separate kiddie pool. Sad thing is, it was FREEZING cold. Regardless of the time of day. What a waste of hotel estate. Told mummy Berry that it was such a waste a time on my part to deflate munchkin’s float at home, inflate it at hotel only to deflate it again after 3 mins of usage. Toby’s a water baby. He LOVES water. Regardless of the low temperature. Poor boy was disappointed of the short time we spent in the pool. He kept looking at it when we decided enough was enough. You could see his jaw shivering away from the cold water! Thank goodness for a bathtub. Filled it with nice warm water and let him soak away in there. With adult supervision of course!
While packing for the trip, it occurred to me as of how many things we needed to bring. Did some research online to see if the hotel was a baby friendly hotel. Sadly, no.. but I found out that our Empire is! Surprise surprise! While researching, the money maker gears in brain were working hard to see how feasible it is to open up a baby friendly hotel there in the future. *fingers crossed*
Munckin loved the baby cot that we asked for. First time parents travelling with baby forgot to bring his blanket so we had to share our glorius King sized bed with the baby. It made a good playpen tough! His favourite reason for his love of the cot, good standing height hence ability to bite away.
Mummy & daddy having a little fun after too many failed attempts in stopping the crib biting
First stop after checkin, lunch! Entered Fish & Co at 11.10am. It was empty.. No wait staff in sight either. Why? It opened only at 11.30am. Doh! So a-walking we all went. Shops were closed! or just getting ready to open. =s Walking, walking, walking.. Hungry too. In the end, we had lunch at The Manhatten Fish Market which served less than subpar food and sold Fish Market water.
waiting for food.. which took almost 30 mins!
Munchkin was tired.. Dead tired. He woke up at 6.45 am. Slept only during the plane ride which was for about 20 mins. He woke up once we landed. At the airport, it was a repeat of the “Oooo.. new place.. New things to see! So many people to stare at!” He normally won’t sleep in the stroller. While walking around waiting for Fish & Co to open, he finally succumbed to his tiredness and slept away..
Dinner was planned for at Little Italy but with a price tag of RM150 for a return taxi trip, that would make anyone think twice about going. Ended up at New York New York. It was.. Let’s just say, all the food we had this trip felt very.. ‘Malaysian’. In comparison to Singapore, food just tasted not up to standard! Especially for franchises. I was actually looking forward to dining at New York New York and Fish & Co. Only good food was Little Italy. So good that we didn’t take pics of the scrumptious meal we had of bruschetta, 3 types of raviolis, salads, lasagnas, pastas and chocolate mousse.. Oh dear me, the chocolate mousse.. *swoon*
The joy before tasting the food
Undeniable best buy for Toby. He loves being in the sling for his naps.
The only good dish for the night
1 of 3 desserts ordered: The Deep Fried Mars Bar with Walls? or was it Kingston? Ice Cream. An American franchise serving cheapo Malaysian Ice Cream.. Whooppee doo..
The only proof of us being in Little Italy.
Toby was quite tired by the end of lunch at Little Italy. Was quite fussy and difficult to calm down. Distracted him with the view of the traffic outside the restaurant. He reminded me of Hammie as he was excited and ‘talked’ alot to the trucks that passed by. Only to the trucks.. None for the cars.
Finally had a chance to dine at Fish & Co on our last night. Again, all I can say is.. “nyeh..” To top off our meal at Fish & Co., I found a housefly in my drink WHICH I only discovered half way through my drink. Returned it to the waiter who had the cheek to ask us awhile later when the fly flew into the drink. Does it matter?? From the looks of the fly, It seemed like it was crushed by the ice as the drink was prepared. Made them take it out of our bill which of course we had to repeat to the waiter again.
Look what they serve at Fish & Co..
Messy eater
Finally some alcohol for the men
Toby’s first bread experience
Breakfast was provided by the hotel. Had my first breakfast alone with the munchkin at 6.30am! He didn’t sleep in well since it was a new place and new bed. We were the first customers. The wait staff was scrambling around to serve us properly. For a hotel restaurant, it was disappointing that I couldn’t get fresh orange juice for munchkin’s morning juice. At least there was apple juice.. A family breakfast finally on the last morning we were there.
Look who we saw breakfasting too..
Overrall food experience in Sabah wasn’t impressive except Little Italy of course. Service was *smack in head*.. Only good service we had was from Little Italy and Dome.
Popo Linda gave the munchkin an ang pow for his ‘maiden’ trip. (Her words!) Our purchase from Toys R’Us. Baby boy loves it. Thanks Popo Linda!!
Very important family picture. Of course all were taken on the last day.. (hurry hurry!)
Flight was delayed from Brunei. Heard that a big and windy storm that was blowing away at home caused the plane to be grounded.
waiting..
and more waiting…
let’s have another family picture while we wait
where’s the plane??
finally…
With a longer flight and a longer duration planned in the near future, I’m glad that we took this ’short’ trip. Valuable lessons learnt regarding travelling with a baby..
