Baby Area: Shinsagae Korea

Shinsagae is the Korean equivalent of Japan's Takashimaya or Manila's Rustans.

It has a very big baby area which has an extensive nursing room for breast feeding and pumping moms.  I wasn't able to enter anymore because there were a lot of nursing moms inside.  It even has an area to park the strollers of the babies.

What amused me was that right outside the nursing room, they had a baby play area where your kids can play when they are restless with shopping or for older children, you can leave them to play while you are shopping yourself.

Use of this area is free and it right at the childrens floor and as I've mentioned, outside the nursing rooms.  I think that Korea really puts importance to moms and kids that establishments would have this.  

Breastfeeding Rooms or The Lack Of in London

London is not a mom and baby friendly country.

It did not have any nursing room at Heathrow, London Eye, Harrods, Selfriges, M&S and even at Westfield.  I don't understand on why to one of these establishments had an area to breastfeed babies or to pump.  

These establishments only had baby changing areas for nappy time such as this one at M&S at Bath.

Breastfeeding Room Review: Incheon Airport

The baby room at the Incheon Airport was pretty much complete.  

It had a chair to breastfeed or pump, a changing table and a nursing pillow.

The room also had a bed, perhaps to help a baby sleep.

It had a high chair too if one has to feed a baby.

I find this very much helpful now that Gavin eats solid food as it is very hard to constantly make him eat in the stroller while we are at the mall and other establishments.

The room also had an air decongestant.

The only downside to their nursing room was that it didn't have any sink and faucet to wash your feeding materials.

 It was also hard to find, I had to ask for clear directions from the information desk re where it can be found.

Incheon has high speed wifi for its passengers so it's a big plus that you can go online while pumping milk :)

They also have a great playground for kids!

Visiting London

This summer, my family visited London together with the little one.

In spite of all the hurdles of bringing a baby with us, it was all worth it.

I know he probably won't remember the trip when he grows up, but

I will always remember how happy I was that he was there with us every step of the way.

How great was it for Gavin's first train ride to be going to Scotland, his first taxi ride to London, his first public bus ride to Bath and his first tube trip to Oxford Street?

How fantastic was it to have his little steps at Buckigham Palace and St. Paul's?

Or to sing London Bridge is falling down in front of the actual Tower Bridge?

Then to slowly cross Abbey Road with a little one in tow?

How memorable it was for Lolo to see St. Andrews while carrying you in his arms?

How fun it was to see the Beatles' studio with Lolo and Lola :)

I will always remember how you wanted me to carry you the whole stretch of the bridge from Big Ben to London Eye! Still can't believe I did.  See my not so amused smile below. Haha!

I will always treasure seeing you walk the cobbled stones of Bath.

I will always remember carrying you the whole time whole crossing the Millenium Bridge, ayaw mo talagang magpababa!!!

I will keep in my heart the days without a stroller when I carried you in our Baby Bjorn while going around Edinburgh New Town.  I know that days that you will need my hand to hold while walking will not be for long, so okay lang my love.  

Thank you to Lolo, Lola, Ninang, Titas, Titos and Tita Lola who joined us in this wonderful trip!

We had the greatest time.  As they say, best to build many new memories than to have many new material things :). Tamaaaa! Till our next adventure xxx

Long Haul...Short Trip

Gavin's first airplane ride was a 14 hour long flight to London.

I was dreading the long flight weeks before because I know he will be restless and I will not have a yaya with me, plus it's my first time to fly PAL long haul, so I don't know if their service was fine.

Some notes and realizations on this trip.

1. PAL is not baby friendly

They do give their bulk head seats to passenger with a baby, note that it only for one- the paying passenger and baby on lap. Any accompanying passenger with the one carrying the infant must pay the extra amount to be seated in the bulk head seat, even if no other passenger is occupying it.

PAL will not give you a bassinet if your infant is more than 6 months old.

They base it in age and not in weight, so even of your baby is a 9 kilo one year old, the use of the bassinet is not permitted. 

I usually fly CX and they always let babies below one use their bassinet even if the baby is beyond 10 kilos.  A bassinet for a sleeping baby would have really been a big help.

PAL does not have an infant on lap seat belt.  I asked the flight attendant for one and she simply told me, there isn't any.  My son was jumping and kicking and twirling during take off and landing, totally not safe.

They gave out two Gerbers for baby food going to Heathrow then gave two bottles of baby juice and 4-5 baby food on the flight going back.  I would have appreciated if a blanket was given for Gavin and a small toy to keep him entertained in the long flight.

The worst thing ever was that PAL lost our stroller, even if I left it with them at the actual gate of the aircraft.

After the flight, they said that they checked in the stroller and I would have to get it in the baggage carousel.  Unlike other airlines that give you back the stroller after getting off the aircraft, PAL didn't do it on this particular flight. I hope hey understand that parents need the buggy so you can use it to transport your child since there are long walks required in traversing big airports and strollers are brought to carry infants at all times, right?  Well...not PAL apparently.

The stroller never came out of the conveyor belt and was declared lost when I reported it.

They said at they will send it to our hotel wherever we are and I gave them our itinerary and hotel addresses.  It didn't show up at the hotel either.

I got two missed calls from a UK number which I assumed from PAL, but never got any message.

The website simply stated, stroller en route.  

Before headin back home, I went to the lost baggage office and lo and behold, the stroller was there.

They said they sent it to our first hotel, but we weren't there anymore.

They didn't want to send it to Scotland because it's too far and they simply gave up when the mobile phone wasn't picked up after two tries.

    Pre-flight with his stroller at NAIA, waiting to board.

2. Everything bad that can happen will happen

Food dropped on the blanker, chair and myself...check!

Poo during the flight....check!  Poo again during the flight....check!

Lost items...check!

3. Make sure you have electronic and non electronic toys on hand to keep the baby busy

Books are really useful, a teether, a musical toy, Mickey Mouse and some wooden toys to keep the little hands busy.

4. Bring extra clothes for the adults

Since food was dropped a lot of times, great that I was able to change my shirt before arrival :)

5. For Heathrow flights, they check the breast milk and all baby food in their special machine to check if it is safe to be brought in-flight.  Be patient while this is being done!  

6. A neck pillow for baby and mommy is a big help when sleeping with a baby on your lap.

7. Feed the baby during take off and landing so his ears won't have any problems.  We were lucky that Gavin drank milk during both instances and had no trouble with his ears.

8. Make sure you have a steady supply of infant wipes, diapers, soap free baby cleansers, etc.

Bring a baby carrier (Baby Bjorn) so in case all he'll breaks loose and you loose the stroller, you still have a baby carrier to help you carry your child :)

9. Best to use disposable bibs and bottles during a long haul flight.

10.  Pray that both you and baby have a great time...in spite of :)

 Pray that you survive.  Pray that you will have enough rest to go on for the rest of the trip, haha!

May 11

Business trips suck when it falls on occasions such as Mother's Day :/

Suppliers Review: 1st Birthday

Caterer: Verleo *****

I booked Verleo without trying their food. I read a lot of blogs that had good reviews of them, saying that the food was delicious and it was more than enough of what was reserved for. Since the party was merienda time, our menu was: assorted sandwiches, baked spaghetti, chicken teriyaki, spare ribs, rice and mango crepe for dessert.  The kids had spaghetti, hotdogs w marshmallow, chicken Lillie's and brownies. The service was also great, they managed and chopped the Lechon that we brought in at no extra cost.  Pwede also had a lot of left overs even if we had guests 30pax over what I confirmed for.  The package also had unlimited drinks which was hugely appreciated.

Communication and preparation was just done via email.

The account manager, Ckryz as reliable and easily answered my email queries which was a big plus for working moms like me.

Party Package: JD's Party Shop ****

Inclusive of balloons, Mickey Mouse back drop, two hosts that did games, balloon show, magic show and bubble show; face painting for 100 heads (not a lot did it, sayang), inflatable bouncer, food cart for hotdog on stick, food cart for pop corn and photo booth for two hours.

All of the services mentioned above was for a very decent amount.

Sulit talaga!!! I came across them when I was researching in the Internet.

I also communicated with Jesslyn via email and we met once a month before the party.

She was very easy to deal with.  

I just wished the photo booth had better colors when it printed the shots.

I also hoped that the magic show did not include a stint wherein the clown placed a toy sword in his mouth.  It freaked me out and for a moment there, saw fear in the kids' eyes.  I should have reviewed the magic stints beforehand.  It's a good laugh now, when my family and I talk about it, napaka 80s ng stint na yun!

Oreo Lollies:

The Mickey Oreo Lollies was made by Dollies' Goodies of my cousin, Kookie Ablaza.

Order from them in their Instagram Account @dolliesgoodies :)

Cake:

Fondant cake as from my in-law's, Mai's Bakeshop.

Lechon, Puto and Lumpiang Sariwa:

The delicious and unforgettable, best Lechon ever came from San Rafael, Bulacan.

The fresh lumpia and puto came from my in-law's in San Miguel, Bulacan.

Cupcake:

Mickey cupcakes were home made by yours truly.

Sound System:

The sound syst was care of Rockwell.

Music management was c/o my sister, Monica!!!

Super appreciate it, thanks so much talaga!

DIY:

Invitation was designed by my sister and prizes were sourced by me, my mom and my other sister :)

Thank you to Ninang Aileen for the Mickey medals :)

Caslow Photography ****

Dr. Erik Santos of Caslow did a good job of documenting the party ;)

He arrived few minutes before the agreed upon time and we were able to squeeze some family photos before the guests arrived.  

The CD also arrived quickly a week after and communicating with him through email was efficient.