Merry Christmas and A Happy New Year!

For to us a child is born,
    to us a son is given,
    and the government will be on his shoulders.
And he will be called
    Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
    Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.

~Isaiah 9:6

 May the light of love shine upon you, and may your life be filled with blessings. Here’s to wishing you a warm and blessed Christmas, and may you start the New Year on a beautiful note.

We would like to wish you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! 

Love you All!! 

Is Seoul a stroller friendly place?

If you ever travel to Seoul with toddlers and plan to bring a stroller, buy a super lightweight stroller. Forget about the twin stroller or the bulky buggy stroller. Thank God we didn't bring our Quinny stroller there. Looking for an elevator in Seoul is like digging for gold. If you ever seen one signboard with the word Elevator, "Congratulations! You have found the gold mine!" 

After a long walk from morning to night, your legs are definitely so sore that you do not want to carry the baby stroller with the baby necessities up the stairs. Unfortunately, not all malls or metro come with elevator. Sometimes we have to walk from one end to another end and yet we still couldn't find an elevator. Then, we had to walk all the way back to the right exit and go out by stairs. Furthermore, most of the restaurants or coffee shop are located either at 2nd floor or lower ground floor that you have to use stairs. All I can say is everywhere in Seoul are built with stairs. =/

I was in my 27th weeks pregnancy, with a 2yo and 4yo in hand. Usually I will carry my 2yo down/up the stairs while holding my 4yo's hand. My hubby will carry the stroller together with his backpack filled with all the baby necessities (diapers, bottles, milk, flask, spare clothes etc).

 

You're not allowed to push your stroller up the escalator for safety purpose and yet not all exits are equipped with elevator.

 It was a huge relief for us whenever we see the signboard with the word ELEVATOR.

 Our life saver!! Especially when child is fast asleep in the stroller. We saw a Malaysian family encountered the same situation as well. Her older child was already sleeping in the stroller and they couldn't find the elevator. And the mother was quite hesitated to disturb her son's beauty sleep.

 

They provided this facility for people with wheelchair, but the instructions were all written in Korean and we couldn't understand how to operate it. We've tried many times to press the buttons up and down but nothing happens. We actually saw a Thailand couple carried the father who was in the wheelchair all the way up the stairs.

While waiting for the train, always look for this sign at the waiting door. There is a dedicated space in the train for you to park your stroller/wheelchair. In fact, we hardly see Koreans pushing strollers around with their kids. Most of them babywear their child.

This was our experience traveling in Seoul with a stroller. It was difficult and troublesome at times, sometimes we just think of ditching the stroller away. But, it comes in handy when the kids need to nap and we get to free our hands by hanging our bags/shopping bags on the stroller. If everywhere in Seoul does not come with stairs and are equipped with elevator, this will definitely be an awesome place to travel to. I just fall in love with the cold weather here. And all the lovely kimchi stew and lotte biscuits. =D

Airbnb Family Studio stay at Seoul for 4 guests

This is actually our first time booking accommodation during our recent trip to Busan and Seoul via Airbnb. At first we are not so keen with Airbnb because for a first timer, we are pretty cautious if this whole thing is reliable. What if we reached there and the host is not contactable? What if the host is a scammer? We've read too much about scammers all around...

After much research, we decided to try and book the room with the most reviews.

My first experience with Airbnb:

• Booking is just a click away
• After confirmation and accepted by the host, payment was charged to your card.
• The host response was quick and fast, he can communicate in English so it's already a bonus. We received his SMS/Whatsapp immediately after the confirmation
• Few days before our arrival, the host contacted us and checked on our arrival time/check in time and also if we need any advice about Seoul
• On the day of our arrival, he guided us steps by steps how to walk to his studio from the Seoul Station. 
• Check in was all successful and went on smoothly without any hassle/trouble

Here's the room that we booked (Family studio 5Min. Seoul Station)
If it's your first time booking via Airbnb, GOOD NEWS! Sign up HERE and you will get some discounts on your booking.

Overall, we are pretty satisfied with our stay here. The room is not spacious, but fits perfectly for four of us. All we need is the two queen size bed! The floor comes with heater and this is a lifesaver especially during winter and your clothes can even dry due to the heat. You don't have to over-packed your luggage with lots of clothes, just bring a few and wash them here. Laundry detergent is also provided. Spare your bag's space for shopping!

Booking a studio unit that offers facilities like a home is so convenient especially when you travel with kids. I cooked porridge for the kids everyday and washed their clothes, especially the gloves and socks. if you need any groceries shopping, Lotte Mart is just 5 mins walk away which is located directly inside Seoul Station. That was how convenient this studio unit is.

The only cons about this guesthouse is that there is no Lift. The unit is two floors up, so we have to carry the stroller / luggages / baby and our shopping bags up the stairs.

 The view of the room from the entrance.

 A nice sofa with coffee table for you to lazy out after a long day of walk outside.

 

 Coffee table is well equipped with tourist maps and guides for foreigners.

 A small dining table with two chairs. If only there are 4 chairs available. I actually have difficulties feeding my two kids at the same time and three of us cramp in two chairs.

 Cooking facilities which comes in handy when you need to cook for your kids. Check the expiry date of the salt/pepper/seasonings before you use them. The salt/seasonings were expired few months before.

 Microwave/rice cooker/coffee machine/toaster are also available.

  We didn't have time for TV, but the free wifi is definitely a lifesaver. How can one survive in this world these days without internet. =D

 Towels are provided on the TV cabinet. But we actually used our own towel, the towels look a little old and well-used. If you don't mind, it's ok to use it.

 Bathroom is well equipped with toiletries. Basically, you don't have to bring anything!

And finally, a big Seoul town map sticked on the wall, good for foreigners like us!

If we were to go to Seoul again, we will definitely stay here again. It's only 5-10 mins walk to Seoul Station and there are few restaurants to dine in at the station itself. There is also a Lotte Mart connected to the station, my all-time favorite groceries shopping mart.  Jay (the host) promised to give me good discounts for our next trip. Haha. 

See you soon Seoul! I miss you already ..... =)

Christmas & Anniversary came early !!

First of all, thank you to Mr Hb for a super early Christmas and Anniversary gift! Such a lovely present.

You wouldn't believe me that the last time I bought a watch for myself was in year 2007. I've not changed my DKNY watch since then. It was a lovely watch. I adore it much. I don't have any plans to change to a new watch until it's totally not usable anymore.

One day, the little boy took my watch from the table and wanted to hand it over to me. He ran to me and said, " Mommy, your watch!". The moment I saw him holding my watch, I quickly ran to him so that I can grab my watch asap. Unfortunately, his grip wasn't stable back then (he was only 1yr plus) and pomp! My beautiful watch was lying on the floor, face down. It stopped working since then.

Actually it wasn't the first time my watch laid flat on the ground, so I wouldn't scold him for that. The watch just decided to stop working after that last fall. We sent for repair and it would cost us about RM300+ to change the whole mechanism. Thinking of that amount of money, we can almost buy a new watch. So, we decided to just drop the plan.

I've not been wearing any watch for many months. I felt my left hand is so empty. Today, my better half told me he will get me a new watch. We looked around looking for a more affordable watch, but it's rather unbelievable, watches these days are so expensive! I almost bought a RM13 watch from Padini. But, looking at the plastic-rubbery-not so elegant look, I decided not to own a watch. =/

The hubby insisted and there you go ..... a lovely Christmas & Anniversary gift! Such a lovely box. Christmas is in the air!

Usually I'm more keen on leather watches, but this year, I decided to try something new. A stainless steel watch! A rose-tone stainless steel watch from Fossil! I think the Roman numerals are cool and artistic. Furthermore, I like watches embellished with sparkling crystals. Surprisingly, the stainless steel strap doesn't make me look old at all. It could be the overall design of the watch's interior that makes the whole body looks stunning and elegant. Today, I totally changed my perception on stainless-steel watches.

I just couldn't wait to wear this beautiful piece in our coming trip .. =D

The pictures below are free gifts from FOSSIL. A new diary and some Christmas ornaments.