Faith gazing at the pool from the living room of our Banyan Tree Pool VillaOne of the drawbacks of being a consultant (or for that matter, any job that is project-based) is that one seldom has the luxury to control your own time. While one can theoretically take leave as and when one likes, in practical terms, one usually can't. The reason is simple: one can't plan too far ahead for leave because one never knows if a project is ever going to complete as planned.
So, it was with much relief that we headed off to Phuket on Monday, having completed a project the week before. There is nothing quite as relaxing as knowing that you have nothing hanging or waiting for your attention when you get back to work. So it was that Faith's fifth trip overseas - this time to Thailand, Phuket started.
Instead of giving an iternerary of what we did in Phuket, I decided to pen down a few thoughts that arose during this trip. Hopefully, Faith, when you read this when you are older and perhaps when you have your own kids, you'd empathise with what mummy and daddy felt on this short but memorable holiday.
We're getting better at it I still remember when we first brought Faith overseas. This was to Bintan then (20 October 2007) - no flight involved, and we had packed what seemed to be an overwhelming amount of stuffs such as cooker for her porridge, a medicine bag, chopping board etc. On her first flight - to Dubai (29 November 2007), we had for the first time in our lives, used a child seat belt and we were intrigued at what we needed to do to take her in and out of the bassinet when there was turbulence.
7 months and 4 trips later, I would consider ourselves quite pro at travelling with Faith. Perhaps give us two days notice and we'd be able to pack everything. We now have a ready-to-go medical kit for Faith (and one for ourselves), a spare cooker for her travels, a fridge-to-go (to keep veggies fresh for when we arrive to the destination), and all her complete set of toiletries already packed into our green Samsonite luggage bag. Besides these spares already in the luggage, we're getting quite good at putting in her toys, and favourite pillows and bolster. As for flights, when we book the flights now, it comes quite instinctive as to which flight times work best for Faith's meals and sleep times. And on board, we now don't even bother with bassinets on short trips and have learnt to juggle alternating meals and of course, mastered the use of the infant seat belt.
So, it was with much relief that we headed off to Phuket on Monday, having completed a project the week before. There is nothing quite as relaxing as knowing that you have nothing hanging or waiting for your attention when you get back to work. So it was that Faith's fifth trip overseas - this time to Thailand, Phuket started.
Instead of giving an iternerary of what we did in Phuket, I decided to pen down a few thoughts that arose during this trip. Hopefully, Faith, when you read this when you are older and perhaps when you have your own kids, you'd empathise with what mummy and daddy felt on this short but memorable holiday.
We're getting better at it I still remember when we first brought Faith overseas. This was to Bintan then (20 October 2007) - no flight involved, and we had packed what seemed to be an overwhelming amount of stuffs such as cooker for her porridge, a medicine bag, chopping board etc. On her first flight - to Dubai (29 November 2007), we had for the first time in our lives, used a child seat belt and we were intrigued at what we needed to do to take her in and out of the bassinet when there was turbulence.
7 months and 4 trips later, I would consider ourselves quite pro at travelling with Faith. Perhaps give us two days notice and we'd be able to pack everything. We now have a ready-to-go medical kit for Faith (and one for ourselves), a spare cooker for her travels, a fridge-to-go (to keep veggies fresh for when we arrive to the destination), and all her complete set of toiletries already packed into our green Samsonite luggage bag. Besides these spares already in the luggage, we're getting quite good at putting in her toys, and favourite pillows and bolster. As for flights, when we book the flights now, it comes quite instinctive as to which flight times work best for Faith's meals and sleep times. And on board, we now don't even bother with bassinets on short trips and have learnt to juggle alternating meals and of course, mastered the use of the infant seat belt.
Will these holiday memories stay with Faith? Notwithstanding the fact that some part of travelling is now becoming quite routine, there is always something new in every travel we embark. The one thing that constantly on the back of our minds is this: Will Faith remember any of this? Will Faith remember the first time we had our own 'pool' right next to the living room? Will she remember the first use of her ring-float? Will she remember seeing the slightly more tanned Thai faces? Will she remember the toy elephant she received as a welcome gift in her cot? Will she remember how hot this place was? Will she remember how she clung so much to Eve during this trip? This Phuket trip brought many firsts for not only myself and Eve, but probably even more so for Faith. To the extent, I think as a result, she was a bit more clingy to Eve this time round because she is much more conscious of her surroundings compared to when she was younger. Also, the flight, as short as it was, probably contributed some jet lag (and as a result some tiredness and consequently, grouchiness) making her even more insecure.
A brief search on literature showed varying comments on this topic about whether infants remember their holidays. As parents, we secretly hope so. Because it is tiring to bring Faith on a travel, but we also know we would miss her terribly if she were not with us. It just wouldn't be the same. The only consolation thus, we hope, is that she remembers this. This will make all the tiredness in the world well worth the while.
We need to get better at taking our own pictures One of the best things about going for a trip is that we come back with a full GB of pictures and memories. I promised Eve that I wouldn't take the easy way out by converting everything into a slide show, so here's my favourite 15 photo picks apart from those already in this blog.
1 & 2. Faith on her favourite rabbit-back ride. 3. Usual cheeky self 4. Checking out the closet.
5. Faith basking in the afternoon Phuket sun indoors 6. Eve and Faith at the French restaurant 7. Posing
8. 3rd day in our own pool 9. Eve showing Faith how to kick 10. A closer look at the water flow 11. Refraction
12. Fun in the pool 13. At the Banyan beach. 14. Mother-daughter lessons in life 15. Quiet time
One of the worst things is that out of 200 pictures we take, only 5 of them have all three of us in it. It doesn't help that Eve and I absolutely have no skill in holding the camera in front of us, then shooting, or for that matter, using a camera timer. Thankfully, there are kind souls around us who kindly oblige when we're not too thin-skinned to ask.
Overall verdict After having tried out many destinations, Eve and I still feel our favourite chill out place is Banyan in Bintan. Not only is it self-contained in terms of having restaurants with good quality food, it is also nearby which means that Faith isn't subjected to any of the jetlag. Until next time then :)
No comments:
Post a Comment