I'm back! Nat's first trip to Melbourne began last Sunday and we just came back yesterday. It's been a great but tiring trip and I have only just realised the joys and "stress" of facing your kid 24/7. I want to remember the wonderful moments we experienced, in fact was hoping to blog along the way, but somehow we never managed to find a place with wireless connection. At the end of the trip, I feel the bonds of love between nat and me to be stronger than ever.
Day 1 - Singapore-Melbourne
We left on a late Sunday night flight. Surprisingly, even though it was way past her bedtime, nat was happy and chirpy. Walked around the airport for a bit and boarded the plane. I intentionally kept her milk and waited till the plane was taking off before letting her have her bottle. For a little toddler, she seems to have adapted well to travelling on the plane, kind of like her daddy. She was happy, fidgeting with the knobs on the entertainment console, colouring and munching on the chocolates in the kid's pack given to her by the air stewardess. She even managed to sit still for half and hour to watch her new favourite kids' show In the Night Garden. When the plane touched down, she kept poking at her ear, I think she was experiencing some slight discomfort but just for a little while.
We touched down early Monday morning in Melbourne and made our way to the hotel. Interestingly, I realised that this hotel was the very one we stayed in when gary and I visited Melbourne nearly 8 years ago. Not the most luxurious place to stay but it is located in a great location in the Melbourne CBD area. The room was not ready yet, so we left the lugguage there and went exploring. My efficient man had already printed out all the best places to have breakfast, lunch and dinner in Melbourne so it was really just a matter of deciding where we wanted to try.
One thing I must say is that the weather in Melbourne is great. How i wish we could have this weather in Singapore. Cool, fresh air with sunny skies, sitting by the sidewalk, sipping a cup of latte! Ah ... that's the life! By the way, in our rush, we had forgotten to bring the stroller so throughout the whole trip, we had to alternate between carrying nat and having her walk by herself. She is quite the little trooper though, and managed to walk long distances some of the time.
After we checked in, had a bit of a rest. I was really quite tired, having only slept abt 1 hour throughout the plane ride, and having to manage nat most of the time. It's interesting to travel with kids. Did you know that the plane toilet actually has a changing table that you can pull down to change kid's nappies? haha that's plane trivia for you!
The rest of the day was mostly free and easy. We made our way to the shopping area at Bridge Road by tram. Shopping was not great for me for this trip but that was alright. It was fun just walking around, looking, exploring. nat fell asleep halfway through and poor daddy had to carry her in his arms for nearly an hour. No wonder he was so exhausted that night. It's really convenient getting around Melbourne by tram. Just hop on and hop off, only thing is that a lot of times, payment for the tram ride seems to be based a lot on trust. I saw people hopping on and off without paying. I wonder how they keep tabs on who pays? maybe random checks?
In the evening, we went to the Royal Botanic Gardens. I was just telling gary that the weather is so nice that you really don't mind walking anywhere and everywhere, as you do not end up all sticky and sweaty! Nat had fun chasing birds, and running around the beautiful park. As it was cold, we wrapped her towel around her neck to keep her warm. We had wanted to bring her to the Ian Potter Children's Playground buy unfortunately they close at 4pm and we were only there at 5pm. Pity ...
Throughout this trip, I noticed that nat has one single obesssion, she is constantly looking for her towel. gary thinks that this OCD type of behaviour is from me. I had "cleverly" packed 3 towels in the lugguage to satisfy her obessession but it wasn't enough. One got dirty, the other one got lost and we were left with only one. She needs the towel to smell when she is sleeping and drinking milk and if it is not given to her, she will raise a ruckus. In fact, at one of the places we stayed in, towels were not provided so daddy had to use one of her towels for bathing. When daddy handed the towel back to her, she was not pleased! She said it was wet and demanded for a new one. I tried to bribe her with one of didi's cloth nappies that I had brought along, but she took a sniff at it and threw it back to me, demanding for her own towel. Sigh ...
Ended the day with a great italian meal along Lygon street. Overall, it was a satisfying but tiring first day in Melbourne.
More pics can be found in my facebook!
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