Daniel goes to Phuket & video

Posted by spots (Singapore, Singapore) on 17 December 2005 in People & Portrait and Portfolio.

We took Daniel on a short holiday last weekend. It was meant to be an "experiment" to "test" how travelling with an infant would be. We chose Phuket because it's a very laid back place, plus the air tickets on Jet Star Asia were only $28! So we figured, even if it turned out to be disastrous, at least it was cheap bwahahahaha!

So how was the experience of travelling with an infant? Well. It was definitely different from travelling without an infant (DUH). For one, there's all the barang-barang you have to lug along. Imagine going to the beach with a) 4.5kg pram b) 7kg infant c) 1.5kg backpack with emergency items for infant, e.g.,diapers, change of clothes, changing mat, towel etc., We actually "lived out" this scenario - I strapped pram to my shoulder while Husband lugged infant & backpack. Er...needless to say, we didn't get to take any pictures of that excursion - no hands/energy to hold camera! HA.

Most of our time was spent in or near the hotel, Surin Beach Resort, a highly kid-friendly resort that I would recommend for families. (Surin Beach is a quieter beach north of the crass & noisy Patong Beach. It was unaffected by the tsunami and was open for business the day after the tsunami struck.)

During the day, we took Daniel swimming. He looked so cute in his thermal infant swimsuit & infant float. And thankfully, he was very calm & agreeable in the water.

At night, after Daniel obediently fell asleep at 7pm, we would roll him out surreptitiously in the pram & explore the yummy restaurants nearby. Surin Beach Resort is just next to Noon, one of the best Japanese restaurants in Thailand. Scrummy!

Daniel spent most of his time chewing stuff. ^__^ Daddy got to squeeze in a massage and we also spent a lot of time having fun with Daniel (and at Daniel's expense) as this video will show.

Of the three days we spent in Phuket, there was only one very horrible afternoon. Instead of getting his 2h nap at noon, he slept not even 1.5h, not even 1h, not even 45min, not even 30min, but 15min!! It was our fault because we were hauling him from location to location and he couldn't nap properly. As a result, we spent a very tiring afternoon trying to calm him down and getting him to sleep. We did this in a corner of the food court on the 5th floor of Robinson Shopping Centre in Phuket town. We didn't get to do much shopping, but we certainly got to know the food court and its interior very well! It was... a bit run down, very empty and thus very conducive for calming a crying kid. Cough.

All in all, it was a successful experiment. But definitely a less carefree experience than our other Thailand trip. I enjoyed the very good conversations Husband & I had in the evenings whe Daniel knocked off for the day. Travelling with an infant certainly requires some adjustment, but it's not a complete disaster thank God!