We visited Kuala Lumpur (KL) 9 years ago on our honeymoon and this time it looked so much older compared to what I remembered. I don’t think the city could have aged that much so it must be me that has changed. My trip to Shanghai has spoiled me and no other place can compete with it.

I generally try to avoid visiting a place more than once because there is so much of the world to see but KL is the best start off point to a visit to the Far East so it was unavoidable. It turns out that its actually nice to visit a place more than once. There is no rushing around to see all the main sights so its more relaxing and you also get to see so many places that wouldn’t otherwise see.

The city was nice and quiet due to the Eid holiday or Hari Raya as they call it in Malaysia. Eid is the Muslim celebration after the month of fasting Ramadhaan. We flew out on the last day of Ramadhaan so we could celebrate Eid there with some friends that live there. In KL theres a group of expats from all over the world who have Eid together. This is very different to how we do it in Bahrain where usually we celebrate with only people from our home countries.

Must do in KL:

• Go to Putrajaya - We were lucky to have our friends showing us around and they took us to Putrajaya, a lovely city about half an hour from KL. The are many beautiful bridges leading into the city and lovely buildings. We went to see 2 mosques which were both stunning and completely different. The Putra mosque also called the pink mosque is traditional in style and in pretty pink tones, it looks like a castle on the banks of the Putrajaya lake. Over the bridge is the super modern Tuanku Mizan Zain Abidin otherwise known as the Iron mosque. This mosque has a very unique cooling system that eliminates the need for airconditioning. We were there on a very hot day and it was so cool and comfortable in the mosque.

• KL Bird park -  I highly recommend visiting the bird park especially if you have children. It is also known as the World’s Largest Free-flight Walk-in Aviary. There is a large variety of birds and many activities for kids and adults. My daughter loved playing with the adorable new born chicks.

• Petronas tower – This is the icon of KL and you cant visit KL without getting a picture in front of these magnificent twin towers. The taxi drivers know all the best places to go where you can get a good picture of the towers. We went up to the bridge between the towers on our last trip so we didn’t go again this time.

Getting around:

We took theKL hop on hop off tour which is very convenient to see all the sights. There was a special offer while we there where if you purchase 24 hours you get another 24 hours for free. The Bird park is one of the stops on the bus and so is the Petronas towers.

In order to avoid getting ripped off by taxis from the airport, I recommend taking a meter taxi. Just after you pass customs you can buy a ticket for a taxi and then you hand ticket outside to the drivers. There will be lots of people approaching you as you leave offering you private transport which is common in many countries and usually they cost a lot more.

Shopping:

The main shopping area is Bukit bintang which has a large number of malls. Pavillion and Berjaya times square have your usual mix of designer and high street stores. Close by is Low Yat plaza which is a must visit for electronic gadgets. Sungei Wang plaza and BB plaza which are adjoined are jammed packed with affordable Asian fashion shops and hair stylists. If you are looking to straighten your hair by rebonding then this is the place to go.

KL has its own China town which is also a stop on the Hop on hop off bus tour. It has the usual fake goods which are typical of China town. In the middle somewhere we found a store called Brands outlet which stocks brands like Burberry and Armani at 70 percent discount. The store says they are last season clothes which wasn’t really an issue for me. I did see other branches of this store around KL but I can’t recall where.

Where to stay:

I recommend you choose either the area close to Bukit bintang or the Petronas Towers. We stayed at the ShangriLa which is right between the two areas but the problem is that you cant walk to either so its better to choose one. The ShangriLa hotel is lovely though, you can see my review here.

In September 2011 we had the most amazing holiday touring the exotic Far East. Our itinerary was

KUALA LUMPUR

4 nights at Shangri-La Hotel, Kuala Lumpur

One way flight from KL to Phuket on Air Asia

PHUKET

6 nights at The Westin Siray Bay Resort & Spa Phuket

One way flight from Phuket to Singapore on Air Asia

SINGAPORE

1 night at Mövenpick Heritage Hotel Sentosa

2 nights Fairmont Singapore

One way flight from Singapore to Bali on Air Asia

BALI

4 nights at The Westin Resort Nusa Dua, Bali

One way flight from Bali to KL on Air Asia, then flight from KL back home

I know this is a slightly strange itinerary with so many countries but we couldnt choose just one so we decided to do a little of each place. I will be posting details of each place and hotel reviews soon.

My 17 month old daughter has taught me a very valuable lesson in the past few weeks. She has taught me that kids are prepared to let go of things and change at their own pace but sometimes its the parents that hold them back. A very wise friend told me once “You don’t get bad children, only bad parents” and now that makes so much sense. Our children learn exactly what we teach them. Kids are born pure with no baggage and its like we slowly load our baggage on them to make them who they are.

I was never keen on using a pacifier because I have very vivid images of kids few years older than me still using a pacifier when I thought I was way too old to be using it. I realised that I wouldn’t want my child going through her toddler years too busy sucking on a pacifier instead of learning to talk and play. And let’s not even talk about the germs with a pacifier falling in the worst places possible like bathrooms and aeroplane floors. But when my daughter was so colicky we were prepared to try anything to soothe her.

We introduced the pacifier when she was two months old, she took to it immediately and looked like this cute little angel sucking on her pacifier. I was warned to only use it for sleeping, which I did, and to give it up when she was 9 months. But as 9 months came along I couldn’t imagine giving it up. My daughter was still getting up several times a night for feeds and I just didn’t have the energy to go through the process of getting rid of something she was quite attached to. We took several trips and I kept using that as an excuse not to be able to give it up. One day she suddenly started refusing it because her nose was quite blocked she was struggling to breathe with the pacifier in her mouth. When her nose got better she didn’t seem so interested in it and I can’t believe I just kept forcing it in. Until my day of enlightenment when I realised she was sending me a message that she just wasn’t interested any more. I immediately hid it away and tried a few days without using it. She didn’t even miss it and never asked for it once! It was so easy to just ignore what she was saying just to make my life easy. My new plan is to listen to her and do things at her pace.

Are you thinking of flying alone with kids under the age of two years? I would say don’t do it!

Ok maybe that’s not fair because there are many factors involved in flying with kids that it is hard to just say, do this or do that. Travelling alone is completely different to having someone with you. Another person that your child is comfortable with makes all the difference in the world and also takes the pressure off you. Also the length of the flight, the number and length of stops, the time of day and lets not forget if the child is sick or teething all make a very big difference. While flying to South Africa from Bahrain, my daughter was getting four teeth at the same time and two of them were molars. Even having my husband with, the flight wasn’t a very pleasant experience however that was nothing compared to when I flew alone with her.

My daughter is 16 months old and she has been on 20 flights since she was born so you could say she is used to flying. Most of them were problem free except for two of those flights when I flew alone. The first time, my daughter was 8 months old and I promised myself I would never do it again after that. We were sitting on a bassinet seat and they placed a man next to me because he wanted the extra legroom. I asked him if he would consider moving to another seat because I needed to breastfeed my daughter during take off and landing but he refused. The flight attendants offered me a seat elsewhere but then I wouldn’t have the bassinet.  I was so upset that they would give this man priority over me when the bassinet seats are meant for mothers with babies. Holding her in my hands for eight hours was not an option so I decided to stay in my seat and had to spend lots of time in the bathroom to feed her. While we were in the seat he did nothing to help me when he could clearly see I was struggling. In fact he just made things worse by shining his bright computer light in my daughters face just as she was falling asleep.

After that experience I swore I would never fly alone again but how was I to stick to my word. We go home to South Africa once or twice a year and my husband can only stay for a short time because he has limited leave from work. This is not half enough time to spend time with all our family so I decided that I would brave the flight alone because how much worse could it be. This time my daughter was 15 months. I was completely stressed the whole week before I left, worrying about the flight so when I got to the airport I explained my situation and requested they not place a man next to me. I highly recommend you ask about this when you are checking in because once again there was a man placed next to me. I was ecstatic when they told me that they would move him to another seat and they were reserving the seat next to me so that no one would sit next to me. This was such a relief and I was kicking myself for wasting a whole week of worrying for nothing.

When we boarded the plane my daughter took a quick nap and once she woke up I had many activities ready for her. I could breast feed her peacefully in my seat when I needed and everything was going well. But then she looked tired so I tried to make her sleep but she just couldn’t wind down. I don’t know if there was too much noise or the lights from the people around us were affecting her but she just kept on getting more and more upset. It felt like the entire plane was glaring at me wondering why I couldn’t get my own child to keep quiet. I tried everything, gave her some pain medication, sang to her, walked with her, fed her but nothing could calm her down. It was so exhausting and stressful trying to keep her from screaming while everyone else was sleeping or should I rather say trying to sleep. As luck would have it, just as we touched down, she fell into an exhausted sleep and nothing disturbed her sleep during my entire stopover waiting for a flight to Bahrain. I wonder if all of this is payback from my days before having a child and looking at other mothers, wondering why they couldnt control their own children. Please forgive me! I know better now.

I would advise you when travelling alone with kids to try not to travel to heavy. The first time I just had a backpack and I could hardly fit any toys or entertainment so I decided the next time I would take a back pack and small trolley bag with wheels. This was so not a good idea because during my stop over I had this exhausted child in my hands, a back pack on my back and I was trying to pull my trolley bag while she kept falling of my shoulder. The airport was so full that I couldn’t find a stroller and I thought I was going to collapse after the already exhausting flight. Luckily a very kind cleaner went to look for one for me. I think if it is possible you should request your stroller as soon as you get off the plane to make it easier.

Another cause for discomfort is pain in the ears when the pressure changes in the plane and this is worse on smaller planes. The best way to alleviate the pain is to give them something to drink or to suck on, like a pacifier. Try to be proactive about this because once they are screaming its very difficult to give them anything. I found that the pain on the descent is worse than the ascent. Also lots of people mistakenly think that the pain will come when the plane is actually landing and this is wrong. The pain comes when the flight starts its descent which is about 30 to 45 minutes before landing so you should take your precautions from then. The pilot usually makes an announcement when he is about to begin the descent but to be safe I always request that the flight attendant let me know five minutes before they begin so I can give my daughter something to drink. This has really worked for us.

Our best flight ever was when we got upgraded to business class from Kuala Lumpur to Bahrain because the flight was overbooked. We had so much space and the chair reclined almost completely so my daughter and I snuggled up and slept most of the flight. There was even such a nice divider between my chair and the one next to me so I could breastfeed in peace, not that I needed it on that flight because my husband was next to me. If you can afford it then business class has loads of benefits but you should keep in mind that as the name suggests there will be businessman who probably have loads of meetings to attend as soon as they land so they will need to sleep well on the plane. They wont look too kindly on a screaming child especially with the price they have paid for the privilege of flying business class.

Knowing myself I will probably extend my stay again on our next trip to South Africa because one week with my Mum is just not enough and most likely have more horror stories for you. Ok, I’ll try to be positive! My daughter will be older then so hopefully it will be better next time. Travelling with kids is not easy but you should not let that stop you from living your life.

A while back I wrote a post about my daughter and her allergies manifesting as eczema and facial swelling and I am very happy to say that we have it mostly under control by giving her an antihistamine daily and avoiding problematic foods. We have to introduce new foods very cautiously and then wait with bated breath hoping there wont be a reaction. I always had a nagging doubt that she might have outgrown the allergies and I was depriving her of valuable nutrients in all the foods that we were avoiding. I did research about all the allergy tests available and it seems like the blood test doesn’t help much because you can get false positives or false negatives which would leave me in the same position. The skin test looked more accurate although some sites said that it only works properly in children over 2 years old.

On our recent trip to South Africa we were lucky to get an appointment with an allergist in Johannesburg and he recommended doing a skin test for her. I was a bit apprehensive about this due to everything I read on the internet but thankfully it went very smoothly. He has a list of common allergens he tests for and does foods on one arm and inhalant allergens on the other arm. The procedure was very simple. We had to hold her hands still while he placed a concentrated droplets on her arm and then very quickly he would light poke the skin under each drop so that it went into the skin. The prick was so light that it didnt even bleed. Then we had to wait a few minutes to see if there was any reaction. I was very excited because I had these visions of him telling me that everything was clear and we would be able to feed her anything. Unfortunately her skin started reacting immediately. Of the 7 food allergens on her arms she reacted to 5. I can now say that my child is definitely allergic to wheat, soya, eggs, cows milk and nuts. It was disappointing to hear this but its also a relief to have some direction. And there was some good news as well, she is not allergic to fish and rice. She outgrew her allergy to rice which he said children usually outgrow after one year. His prognosis was that if we avoid the allergic foods for the next year or two, she is very likely to outgrow her allergies and this is what I am focusing on.

Its impossible for my husband and I to completely give up all the foods that she is allergic to but I try very hard to prepare similar food for all of us. Other kids her age are now eating all foods and it causes lots of stress when we have other kids over or when we go to playgroups because she is too small to understand that she cant eat certain things.  It breaks my heart when she looks at another childs cake or biscuit and points at it, as if asking why cant I have some of that. I just keep reminding myself that there are kids out there with worse problems and we have lots of hope that her allergies are temporary. I’m trying to be more organised by keeping allergy friendly treats available so I can offer them to her at any time. I was overjoyed to discover Orgran products that include biscuits, cake mixes, pastas and many other delicious treats that are all dairy free, wheat free, egg free, nut free, gluten free and soy free. I am still in the experimental stage with my allergy friendly recipes but when I get them right I will share them here.

2011 has been an amazing year and I am almost hesitant for it to end. My husband, daughter and I have had a very busy year of travelling to so many exciting places. I know I have been very scarce with my posts but over the next few weeks I do hope to share my exciting experiences of the past  two months with you. We travelled to the Far East visiting Malaysia, Thailand, Singapore and Indonesia. Even though all those countries are so closely located they are all so different in their own way. We had an amazing holiday touring and relaxing on sun drenched beaches.

Just after returning from this amazing whirldwind of a trip we decided to travel home to South Africa to celebrate Eid with our families which is where I am right now typing this post. I am in my childhod home in Ermelo, a sleepy town in the east of South Africa. I always questioned my grandfathers choice of moving to this boring little town when there were so many exciting cities to choose from, but now after experiencing life in the city I realise it was a very wise decision. I so look forward to coming here on my yearly visit to just relax and unwind while enjoying the farm fresh air and the moderate weather. This trip has been even more rewarding because I have been able to introduce my daughter to things that I always took for granted like playing outside in the sand, walking barefoot on the grass and lying down counting the twinkling stars in the black velvet sky. I have one more week of this “therapy” and I plan to enjoy every minute of it.

Shangri-La West Lake sounds so pleasant and the location couldn’t better, right on the West Lake surrounded by mountains. But unfortunately that is where the praises end. This hotel does not reflect a 5 star hotel in any way. The website lists 2 wings east and west which sounds so fancy but don’t be fooled. They are 2 separate hotels that were taken over by the Shangri-la group and I am pretty certain that not much was done to bring those hotels up to a 5 star standard or to even merge them in any way. You have to use a buggy to get from the east to the west wing where breakfast is served. We didn’t know about the buggy and trudged up and down the many stairs several times with baby and stroller in tow until we saw some guests being dropped off. Many of the staff saw us going up and down the stairs but none of them thought to help us or even suggest the buggy. Overall the staff are unfriendly and unhelpful. The concierge barely understood English and couldn’t give us any indication of what to do and where to go.

With such lovely surroundings both hotels were built without taking the best advantage of the views. We booked a Mountain View room but we got a room facing a concrete parking lot. The décor in the room was drab and the bathrooms were dated. In fact we have stayed in 3 star hotels that looked better. Upon complaining to the manager he said we had been given a Mountain View room and if we looked to the right out of the window we would see the mountain. I was shocked that he could even say such a thing. How can they deceive guests like that? He then suggested we upgrade to a club room which would require us to pay more and the room would be exactly the same but we would get to use club facilities. This made us even more upset since we were not getting the Mountain View that was advertised and that we paid for; and now we were being asked to pay more for the same room. In the end he gave us breakfast for free but it was average at best. We request a baby cot for our infant and we were provided with a laundry basket with a sheet and pillow inside!

Please don’t make the mistake of staying at this hotel. You pay a 5 star rate but receive 2 star service and accommodation. I read the bad reviews on the internet but I thought that it’s Shangri-La so how bad it be. Trust me it is bad. There is a Hyatt Regency at the other side of the lake and even though I didn’t go inside I would recommend you rather take your chances there because I’m sure nothing could be worse than the Shangri-la Westlake. This hotel completely ruined our stay in Hangzhou.

 

Click here for more on our trip to China.

Hangzhou is a 45 min trip from Shanghai by bullet train. Booking tickets are very easily done at the train station. There are very regular trains going from Shanghai to Hangzhou so you will probably not wait more than an hour. You can buy tickets from the counters or from the vending machines. They are not very expensive so we booked first class. The seats are comfortable and recline so you can catch a quick snooze. There is no food service, but you can buy tea, coffee or snacks from the train attendant. If you are travelling with large bags there is space at the back of each compartment.

From the train station there are queues for taxis. You will get many people offering you a ride waving their car keys around. We decided to stick it out with the queue and it moved relatively fast thanks to a security official keeping people in order. Remember to have your hotel name in Chinese to ensure a smooth journey.

Hangzhou is described as little heaven in Chinese and it is truly beautiful. As we approached our hotel we were awestruck by the lovely West Lake and the mountains all around it and were very pleased at how well our hotel was located. Unfortunately this is when all the joy left us. Shangri-La Westlake is the most disappointing hotel I have ever stayed in and in no way reflects the standard of Shangri-La I have experienced previously. Please click here for my review. It is unfortunate that the hotel ruined our stay in Hangzhou and we could not wait to return to Shanghai.

Must do in Hangzhou:

• Impression West lake – This play is on the waters of the West lake and if you do only one thing in Hangzhou then this should be it. Be prepared to see actors rise up from the water and the calm night sky light up in wonderful colors and melodious singing. It was fantastic. Make sure you book your tickets as soon as you arrive because the shows sell out very quickly.
• Walk around Westlake. The lake is very large, a good 5 hours walk so you might not be able be able to walk around the entire lake but the views are lovely and tranquil from any spot. There are gold carts taxiing people around the lake if you get tired of walking.
• Take a cruise to the Yingzhou Island. There are scenic pagodas, quaint bridges and charming gardens.
• Cable car – There is a cable car that goes up the mountain near to the Lingyin temple. It took our taxi a long time to find it but it was worth the wait. The views from the top are amazing and the monastery makes it a very tranquil experience.

Click here for more on our trip to China.

1. Huangpu river cruise – This a 1 hour cruise along the Haungpu river that leaves from the Bund. The best time to go is at sunset so you can see the skyline of Shanghai lighting up. The view is spectacular
2. Walk along the Bund and the riverfront on the Pudong side and the areas around. Walking is one of the best ways to experience Shanghai.
3. Go to Shanghai old city – This is the one place where we saw old Chinese style buildings and it was positively charming.
4. Haggle with the shopkeepers – You cant visit Shanghai without trying your hand at bargaining. See my post on shopping for more details.
5. Walk on Nanjing road – It is the main shopping road in China and one of the worlds longest shopping streets. There are all types of shops on this road from high end luxury to markets.  We went at night and the road is brightly lit with huge neon signs and lots of people, just like a carnival, only for shopping.

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In Shanghai you have to shop, there’s no avoiding it. And the options are endless. There are the luxury malls like the IFC mall that have every designer you can think of Gucci, Prada, Louis Vuitton and more. Then there are affordable malls like Superbrand mall with high street shops like Topshop, Zara and Mango. Superbrand mall is like 7 floors of shopping heaven. There is also Nanjing road which is a famous shopping street in Shanghai with a variety of luxury and high street shops as well as markets.

Besides the malls you have to go to at least one shopping market for the experience. It was so much fun walking through the market and hearing accents from all over the world negotiating prices with the locals. It is like a game for everyone involved. The shopkeeper gives a price and then the customer comes back with a ridiculous counter offer which the shopkeeper pretends to be stunned with and he refuses. Then the customer walks off and the shopkeeper runs after him saying “Ok ok your price is fine”.

You must try your hand at bargaining with the shopkeepers, it is expected. I would advise you to decide how much you want to pay for an item and then stick with it. It is impossible to beat these people at their game; they have far more experience than you. We were advised to start off between 10 to 20 percent of the asking price and work from there. I will admit that both my husband are terrible at bargaining and probably paid a lot more than we should. At one of the first shops we went to we counter offered the shopkeeper 20 percent of his asking price and his retort was “What’s your no joking price”. That kept us laughing for a while. Don’t expect the markets to be outdoors and disorganized. They are actually in doors, air-conditioned and over several floors with escalators. Just remember that everything is fake no matter how real you think it looks.

We went to the Shanghai’s Fake Market at 580 Nanjing West Road. It has 3 floors full of Chinese souvenirs, bags, shoes, clothes, watches and more. Here is the address in Chinese: 南京西路580号. We didn’t expect to be long at this market but landed up spending almost a whole day there. There are restaurants in the market and we had some sandwiches which were of a very decent standard that you would find in any Western country.

We also visited the Yatai Xinyang Fashion and Gift Market which is underground by the Science and Technology Museum. It had pretty much the same things as Shanghai fake market plus many tailors. My husband had a suit tailored at this market, as well as custom made shirts and he was very pleased with the result.

Must buy in Shanghai:

- Tailored suits

- Stuffed pandas

- Chinese souvenirs like fans and chopsticks

- High quality hand bags

- Tea

What to skip:

- Electronics – since the cheap ones are fake and the originals are very overpriced due to taxes.

 

Click here for more on our trip to China