And not a moment too soon! Now that baby makes FOUR, we’ll still be travelling in threes with her in the formula of Mom+Dad+Kids and soooo excited to do so! But first, we need to update on what’s been going on in our recent travelling past… So the last time I posted I mentioned China. China was an interesting experience for us. What stood out most of all was how much the people there LOVED kids, at least the ones we encountered. Our guide from Aman at Summer Palace in Beijing told us that since they could not have more than one most of the time, they treasured and appreciated children in general.

We began our journey in Shanghai and started it well by forgetting to bring our trusty travel stroller. Smart!

Dobbes rode on Adda's shoulders for awhile on the way to Taikang Lu...

We walked around the shikumen-type shops that day which were a great alternative  to Shanghai’s big, generic, impersonal shopping malls which sprouted up everywhere and anywhere as a testament to the city’s capitalist stance. Taikang Lu is a great place to spend a morning or afternoon exploring and shopping. It’s a great place for handmade buys and you can stop as often as you like for coffee/snacks which is essential when you are travelling with bub.

L'il Keyaan leading the way!

Posing against the brick walls of Taikang Lu

A glimpse into the everyday...

Soon-to-be-extinct Shikumen houses in Taikang Lu

Getting hungry

We were happy to find a nice, inexpensive organic cafe at Taikang Lu. Called Origins cafe, they do great pastas, cakes and smoothies! Keyaan loved the berry smoothie so much we had to come back and get him a second helping.

The boys slurping on the Berry Smoothie. Two thumbs up!

Later on, we couldn’t take it any more and caved in to buy a pram. We went across the Huangpu to the Pudong side and found a Toys R Us at Super Brands Mall. They had a nifty Combi travel stroller that cost only SGD80. Score! It came in lime-green and had a shoulder strap for easy carrying when not in use. I also liked the way it collapsed and can self-stand.

Happy in his new ride!

We were intially staying at the beautiful Les Suites Orient boutique hotel, right on the Bund. It was beautifully artistic with vintage deco pieces in warm, woody hues.

The living room of our suite.

Dobbes in my favourite chair by the bedroom window.

The bund in black and white - view from our room.

It was a very central and lovely location, very near to a lot of food and shops and of course, the lovely boardwalk on the Bund. But after two night, we moved to a different hotel called Parkyard, which was a fair bit away from the city. The good thing about the hotel was that it had a huge heated pool in the basement and there was a funny heartland-type mall beside it that had a Starbucks and lotsa noodle shops.

Dobbes liked the breakfast at Parkyard too.

A Shanghainese Subway

The room service Congee at Parkyard was also pretty good.

And how could we visit Shanghai without indulging in one of their culinary specialities: hairy crab! We were kindly hosted by the good people at Four Seasons Hotel to partake of their in-season crab degustation at at their authentic fine Cantonese and Shanghainese Si Ji Xuan restaurant.

The furred wonder. We had both he as well as she-crabs.

Poached pumpkin and cucumber salad.

Hairy crab meat soup with green veggies.

This was my favourite dish: warm, comforting and yummy. I like meatballs of almost any kind.

Poached hairy crab meatball with turnips.

This was also nice to sup on in chilly weather…

Braised beancurd with hairy crab meat

There is a technique to dining on hairy crab and we were taught well.

All too soon, our Shanghai nights ended and we were off to Beijing via a short plane ride.

Keyaan is such a good traveller!

We met up with my Godmum who lives there and she proceeded to spoil us silly by taking us on a whirlwind tour in Beijing. We stayed with her for a night and she would have had us there longer if not for the fact that Aman Summer Palace had promised us a wonderful three nights stay with them, so we could not refuse!

Entrance to the Aman Summer Palace

The Lobby was vast.

You could hold a prom in here.

Dobbes lounges in the living room of our suite

As a Mum, I love hotels that bother with the little details for their younger guests…

Amenities for Junior

We quickly got down to the business of Beijing. For us, we were very clear on a few important things: the UNESCO sites and Peking duck. Pearls came a little later after we’ve had our fill of history and quacks. We started with a whirlwind tour of Forbidden City… like literally whirlwind, cos we did it so quickly wind blew threw Keyaan’s long locks.

Get me out of this stroller!

Finally free!

The vastness of the Forbidden City has to be experienced to be believed. Being there – in a place that was the backdrop for such movies as The Last Emperor, Raise The Red Lantern, Mulan (well… kind of!) – had me connected with a strong sense of history and grandeur of a different age. We may build sky scraping towers and subterranean malls now, but never again would we see the type of artisanship (and effort) that went into these walls.

Forbidden City - done & dusted.

After such “hard work”, we took a quack crack at Dadong – one of the celebrated places for Peking Duck in Beijing.

Bill of fare...

In case there was any doubt about the accolades.

I’m a big fan of Peking Duck. I love how the tender, slightly smoky-tasting meat and crisped skin is wrapped around little pancakes with a dash of sweet sauce and cucumber in bite sizes. Some people say that Dadong is overrated, that there are better (and cheaper) places to have good Peking Duck in Beijing. I didn’t have time to try out any other so my view is probably biased but this is some damn good duck. The local one at Park Palace restaurant is good, the one in Melbourne’s Hutong Dumpling Bar is better but this one is GUUUUD.

Duck for cover

Post-duck paralysis...

We got up early but not not to bright to get to The Great Wall. We weren’t planning on climbing or trekking, seeing as we were with little Dobbes. Although I doubt if I had been there without him I would have wanted to check out Simitai, a wilder, less restored section of the wall. We settled on Mutianyu which was less crowded than Badaling, the nearest section to the city.

We travelled in threes to The Great Wall!

I was really tickled by all the banners there, advertising how awesome the cellphone reception was at the top of The Great Wall. But they were telling the truth!

"Where am I?? At the top of The Great Wall of course!"

We spent the remainder of our time in Beijing…

Shopping for pearls...

... funny hats...

... groovy tees in hipster boutiques... (spot the Dobbes)

... and the best snack in the world. Ok at least at that time.

Verdict? China is a great place to visit with kids. Like any other place, exercise caution and have a healthy dose of it too. Don’t let kids run free in unfamiliar places and stay at reputable hotels. Don’t skimp on food (or mineral water… some sell “fake” bottles that filled with the tap version) and absorb all the history and culture that the country has to offer.

Like the Summer Palace...

... and the Peking Duck!

Until next time when I update my overdue destinations, Zai Jian!

The WOws will be going to China this Saturday! The tail-end of the Shanghai Expo, tailor-made qipaos, the Great Wall, Summer Palace, Forbidden City and succulent Peking duck await us.

For little Dobbes Ow, it will mean his first overnighter in a sleeper train from Shanghai to Beijing and colder weather (again. The last time we were in Paris, we lost his sock and all the Parisians kept kindly pointing out to us that our son had only one sock on. Current goal for China: keep both footwear on at all times…)

I have more travel clothing and accessories reviews coming up so stay tuned!

1. New York City, NY, USA
2. Paris, France
3. Tokyo, Japan
4. Stockholm, Sweden
5. Melbourne, Australia
6. Ubud, Indonesia

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After all they are often crowded with gawking tourists taking cheesy photographs of themselves pretending to carry the Taj Mahal in their palm or stopping the leaning Tower of Pisa from tumbling down…

I remember what Andara, my concierge in Bali told me about spots that are normally heaving with tourists:

The most beautiful places often have tons of tourists because they are most beautiful places.

And that is why.

So I strive to visit must-see sights not because I want to wear the dome of the Taj Mahal as a hat or replace my head as atop a broken Buddha statue (I saw a couple of blonde jokers do this recently at Borobudur…) but because they inspire me with their beauty, their resilience and their timelessness. For most if not all of this places, there is a spirit (if not spirituality) that tells a story of how human beings have the power to create from nothing.

Here is a short list of the UNESCO sites I have visited so far (with and without Keyaan and Leonard) and this, I promise, will grow:

1. Australia: the Sydney Opera House

2. France: Paris, Banks of the Seine

Dobbes was 6-months old then…

3. India: Taj Mahal in Agra

4. India: Qutab Minar in Delhi

This is the quiet path beside the Qutab…

5. India: Red Fort Complex, Central Delhi

Dobbes romps onsite…

6. Indonesia: Borobudur Temple Compounds, Magelang (Central Java)

I cannot imagine that this massive temple was once completely buried!

Unfortunately, I did not have Mobbes and Dobbes with me when I visited..

7. Indonesia: Prambanan Temple Compounds, Yogyakarta.

Also did not have the other two Ows here…

A relic that is still re-building…

8. Italy: Historic centre of Rome (with friends, pre-Ow)

9. Italy: Historic centre of Florence (with friends, pre-Ow)

10. Malaysia: Melaka (with family and friends, pre-Ow)

11. U.S.A : Statue of Liberty (alone, pre-Ow)

Next moth, Travelling in Threes will be adding more to this list when we visit the Forbidden City, Summer Palace and the Great Wall in China.

So. that makes it 11 down and 900 more to go. 

Life is great.

**********

To see the entire list of places, visit: http://whc.unesco.org/en/list

If ever there was a good reason to stay put in Singapore, it is (ironically) for reasons of travel. I think Singapore is the best basecamp for anyone who is passionate about travelling. First of all, flights out of here are relatively cheap. There is also a lot of variety. Secondly, and perhaps more importantly, we have the best airport in the world. After being in really shitty airports and others not-so-shitty but with annoying customs staff, our efficient, grand, airport with its awesome facilities is something I”m not just proud of but extremely thankful for.

Sure, there are other airports in the world that are bigger, brighter and more architecturally marvellous than the one in this city. Still, there is nothing appealing about being poked, prodded and rudely herded about by surly staff in LAX or JFK at the end of a lovely Napa Valley tour or an awesome month of shopping and feeding in NYC. Or the low ceilings and drab atmosphere of Ngurah Rai in Bali and the spanking-new but tremendously incompetent Terminal 3 of Indira Gandhi International in Delhi.

The Singapore terminals trump all for being huge yet cozy and efficient at the same time.

And do not just take it from me.  Lonely Planet says so too…

And of course the other thing to be proud of is how after all these years and all they have been through, Singapore Airlines is still top of the carrier heap and the first choice of any savvy traveller when it comes to the ultimate in passenger flying experiences. Possibly, only having your private jet would be better.

There are some other carriers that also do a good job. One of my most memorable experiences was flying ANA to Newark. The flight crew were attractive, quietly attentive and passengers experience a feeling of true privilege to be assisted by them, even when asking for an extra pillow or a glass of water. Plus, they had a great “pantry” of cup noodles, choc-bars and Japanese rice-crackers.

Air France also gets my vote for stocking up on ice-cream for late night (mid-flight) foraging during lang-hauls.

I”m dying to check out the other top ten airlines that I have not been on, like Qatar Airways, Aseana and Kingfisher.

Having Singapore as a homebase is basically great all-around; you have our safe streets, planned living and decent food to come home to with your family. Possibly, only the early-morning MRT service sucks, along with present car prices. And then there is that old argument that we are a sterile society. *shrug* I will get my culture, UNESCO world heritage sites and exotica fixes elsewhere. In the meantime, I thank my lucky stars for being Singaporean and here today.