Saturday, May 27, 2017

hong kong trip - part one

wohoooo!! cheers for me! we survived our hongkong trip. and miraculously, i didn't get insane! as long as i remember, i still keep my cool. although sometimes i wish those kids made up their mind so i can work faster, hahaha.. but we joked about it.. me and my husband. okay.. so i will try to review my trip from many aspects as possible. hope it can inspire you to take your kids with you when you travel!

airlines: cathay pacific. we bought our tickets during promo time, so the baby didn't get discount so we decided to buy full seat for the baby since it was cheaper rather than buying baby seat.
pro: we get spare seats. cons: we asked wrong seating so on our departure flight, the other passenger take advantage of our spare seat. on our return flight, still no advantage since the kids refuse to seat with their grandparents. we ordered kids meal (both flight, they couldn't eat it.. ) and baby food (gerber instant food, and they gave us 3 jars per flight! very generous considering my baby liked it.. hahaha..)

accommodation: the first 3 nights we slept in mongkok, the royal plaza hotel, which is exactly conjoint to moko mall and the east mongkok mtr station. it was recommended by our travel agent, so we just accept it. we got the family room (two double bed) and it was adjoining room with my parents (which got one double bed room). the bed were okay, but we can't move the bed so i have to put pillows around the bed to make sure my second one didn't fall from bed which make the bed even smaller. we also didn't ask for crib for baby, so it was uncomfortable for my baby since he couldn't changing place when he had to nurse. the room also didn't have enough drawers to put our clothes, so we kept them in the organizer, which is a little troublesome since it was scattered around our room. plus the refrigerator wasn't cold enough so i have to finish all the food that i brought from home in two days for my baby. although it was completely cooked, i still worry that it might get bad and make my baby sick. so better be safe and finish them all in two days. luckily i didn't bring much. i planned to finish it in 3 days during our stay in mongkok anyway. accessibility wise, it was a breeze. whenever we were too tired to find dinner, we just went to the mall and grab something to eat. and it was easy to travel by mtr since it was nearby and the mtr station had elevator too so we could bring our stroller.

the next 2 nights we slept in hongkong disneyland hotel. the hotel staff were marvelous. they provided the baby crib and the baby safety gate for our bed so i can sleep better since i don't have to worry about my kid falling down from bed. the room was slightly bigger and it has lots of drawer. yay! however, it has this old feeling vibe. no colorful decorations whatsoever that might connect the theme of the hotel to disneyland. i remember the one in paris (although it wasn't the disneyland hotel), it has castle theme, from the wallpaper to the bed. sooo dreeammmyyy. oh. and i read somewhere that you should roam your drawers to find gimmicks. well, i guess it was for hollywood disneyland hotel. the only prize that we found out was the discount coupon for the bobbidi boutique, which is useless since it only offered 200 hkd discount from 1100 hkd price!
there are two types of breakfast at the hotel. the first one is walt cafe. it was semi-buffet, mainly continental breakfast. but you can order hot meals with extra charge. they also have kids menu. extra charge for kids over 3. the second one is the enchanted garden. it was full buffet, many types of food (except for sushi.. can't find sushi). and the advantages of being in disneyland hotel: you get characters greetings at breakfast! so there will be mickey, minnie, goofy, pluto roaming around the breakfast area and you can take pictures with them. no need to form a line! yayy!! price wise, it was more expensive than the walt one, of course.

food: during our mongkok stay, our first one (5 years old) managed to eat everything that we offer him. hurrayy! it didn't come instantly folks.. but he got used to this travelling trips so he became more acceptable to whatever food that we bought for him. as long as it's familiar to our food back at home. like noodle, fried chicken, ramen, bread, porridge.. for our second one (2 years), she had food strike even at home, so mainly we bought her porridge. she ate it sometimes, but sometimes she refused it. oh well. she still ate bread though. and her milk. and her snacks. so not worry much. she didn't eat a lot at breakfast hotel too, so before heading there, i gave her baby instant porridge (from gerber) together with her baby brother just so she didn't starve. the baby was a breeze. he was 7 months and this was his first trip abroad. and he aced it. he ate whatever i gave him. instant baby food, homemade porridge (i brought rice from home and rice cooker) and cooked meat/fish that i brought frozen from home, porridge from mall, bread.. whatever that i thought he could eat, i gave it to him and he ate it like champion. hahahaa..

baby room: the one in moko was super nice and clean. it was super near to the food court, so the first day when we got accident (read: poop accident), i could clean him quickly. didn't look for one at the museum, but there was a breastfeeding room so there must be a baby room too. the peak upper terminus got baby room and it was clean but old. so it seems creepy. disneyland only offered baby changing table in the woman toilet. but it was clean. unfortunately, the trash bin wasn't near the baby changing table, so i have to bring it with my hands before throwing it out.

stroller around hongkong: it was possible but since we brought double stroller, it wasn't as easy as the single stroller. sometimes the lift was too far from our supposed exit. and there were stairs. and uneven road surface. so most of the time we brought our carriers. but luckily we brought our own stroller at disneyland. the one in disneyland was more like a cart rather than a proper stroller. the one in japan was nicer.

okay.. i guess it was my part one. will explain our itinerary in part two.

Sunday, May 7, 2017

brain dump: mr.ahok

i've been neglecting this blog for so long. mainly because i don't think i have anything to write. my life is boring and my biggest problem is parenting issue, so i don't think it's worth to read for anybody. hence the hiatus. but lately i have something to ease my mind, rumbling thoughts about stuff, and i think i better put in writing.

i know the heat is starting to ease down. with the election is finally over and the winner is already announced. but i don't want to talk about the politics. i just want to talk about the person. before this man came out in the politics world, there's no one like him. he came from minority but he still doesn't care. he knew a lot of people will get pissed off with his way of ruling the big city, but he still doesn't care. he just did what was right and for the people.

now, during the election, i notice that both sides were doing black campaign. from the winning side, they tried to push the idea that he's a blasphemer. from his side, perhaps even though it wasn't his doing, they tried to point out every flaws that the enemy have. the winning side got a lot of negative publicity. the elected governor was pointed out that he wasn't completely honest, that he could change directions anyway that could benefited him. that he would willing to bend rules and regulations to get his aims, even though it would mean to put amazing numbers on the budget. the elected vice governor was also pointed as ungrateful conglomerate. that he himself, was being raised and cared by people that he called infidels. that he forgot to even thank them and even embezzled their money. that he was suspected to have dirty talks with female public figures, something that's out of his characters that was told to be "religious and well-mannered". both elected winning part was accused to have flaws in their characteristics, something that build what kind of men they are. something fundamental if i might say.

but this phenomenal guy, people couldn't put his flaws up front. all they could do was blaming him based on a video that probably has been edited to serve their purpose.  something that probably wasn't true. they didn't accused him for being dishonest person. they didn't accused him for being adulterous. they didn't accused him for being honey-mouthed person. which i think, means that he stands true to what he believe. that is being faithful both to God and the people that he served. i'm not saying that he didn't have flaws in his characters, but they couldn't find one to put it out in the public that might discouraged his voters. they didn't find something interesting about him. he was just a plain and simple guy. no love affairs. no scandal. basically almost nothing.

even american presidency almost always got tainted by scandal. corruption. love affair. but they couldn't find one on this man. i think it's because he believes in God. as a fellow Christians, there's this principle, be light and salt of this world. and i think he really does that. even though he knew the consequences of being public figure, he didn't care. he knew that in his position he could gain anything for himself and his family. but so far nothing. he did what he thought best for his people. without added retribution. he stood firm with his belief. he really does shine. he truly pictures what a Christian should be. honest. reliable. just. especially being a public service officer that is too tainted of being corrupt. he didn't get sidetracked with this position. he still sees white as white, black as black. and i think it's super rare nowadays. no wonder he gets a lot of voters.

i might say that he's a breeze in our politics world. he brought something new. he brought courage. he brought honesty. he brought wisdom. he brought boldness. he brought hope. even though he didn't win, i think many people will see that he could make a change. he was willing to try. so why not follow him? he put hope that there's an honest man, perhaps more than one in this government that could change our country toward good directions. that we shouldn't lose hope in our government. if one man could do so much, why not working together? i think in the next year many younger people will start to join the politics because of him. let's just don't lose hope. don't lose hope that there is only one mr. ahok in our country. that only mr. ahok can make change. let's put his example to a good use, and not just watch, shall we?

after all, i believe there's a saying "don't ask your country what it could give to you, but ask yourself what you can do for your country". now let's be strong and make this country a better place. for you. for me, for us. as for him, thank you sir, for what you have sacrificed for your region. for us. for showing us that there's no need to be afraid to be different. to be honest. to be just. even though you're a minority. even though people underestimate you. even though you didn't win, you've won a lot of people hearts. i hope the best for you and your family, sir. moreover to your eldest son. looking forward to being a colleague of him. cheers!